Hello cowboys & vampires!

Tucker and Lizzie

“There are lots and lots of vampire stories out there. Way back in the day, Anne Rice’s “Interview With a Vampire” was the book that got the ball rolling for me. From there the genre has run the gamut, and the “Twilight” series brought vampires to the forefront in recent years by picking up the lucrative market of teenage girls. So what could possibly be done that could be new?”

Why, cowboys of course…. read more from Renee Struthers at the Eastern Oregonian based in Pendleton (the heart of cowboy country).продвижение и раскрутка сайто

While gnomes are not as exciting as cowboys, or vampires, they have a certain air of mystery, perhaps because of their scarcity. In fact, some people believe a dark anti-gnome  may also exist, deep in the ancient forests in the still pristine and wild areas known only to Big Foot, called a were-gnome. Recently, I discovered possible evidence of the were-gnome entirely be accident.

As a former geologist, my tendency is to always look at the ground when I walk, chin perpetually touching chest, seeking out the surface clues to that which moves — slowly — beneath. A few months ago on a trail in the Gifford-Pinchot Forest in Washington State, it was this habit that led the Cowboy and I straight to the World Headquarters of the Gnome Navy. Read the rest of this entry »

“I discovered this original blend of two of 20th centuries greatest book selling subject matters, cowboys and vampires this fall from a random tweet. Social media at it’s finest!  How can you say no? The two authors are a husband and wife team who came up with this little endeavor over coffee, pie and cigarettes at a lone truck stop in Oregon. It was two people from two different walks of life who concocted an idea to test the waters out with one of the hardest relationships other than marriage ever, co-authoring. Kathleen with her scientific and journalistic background and Clark being the poetry writing cowboy brought their two worlds together and ended up with this incredible tale.”

Read the review of Blood and Whiskey from The Cabin Goddess, a book blogger with insightful and witty perspectives on books, a cool dedication to indies, and a helluva interesting story herself. Plus get a recipe for Cowboy Punch! Yum.deeo

In 2010, we traveled from Portland to Plush, Oregon. The land of gemstones, hot springs and antelope, is also the land of mosquitoes the size of humming birds, gnarly cowboys collecting unemployment with ever-present  shotguns, and absolutely no vegan food, other than french fries.

And yet, we fell in love. What country. What beautiful country. We dug for sunstones at the mine now owned collectively by the hippie tribe who had migrated here from California in the 1970s, lots of teenagers with tie-dyed running the place now. We visited Hart Mountain, where we watched a herd of antelope gently gallop by and then found an isolated hot springs and went skinny dipping. We spent the night at a local ranch and ate potatoes cooked over an open fire and then slept so hard, so deeply, that the next day felt like a divine resurrection.

We were so struck by the ragged beauty of the area and the friendly people, naturally we decided to feature it in our latest book Blood and Whiskey. The action centers around a particular gemstone (plagiocalse feldspar), more commonly known as Sunstone. Just beyond the Plush General Store pictured above, there’s a feedlot where Vampires are harvesting humans for easy consumption. Sanguine: American Western Human Blood juice packaged conveniently with sippy straws. The discovery of the feedlot and the tragic people suffering and dying inside it nearly ends the lifelong friendship between Tucker and Lenny.сайт

Dear Cowboy,

I recently started seeing a cowboy, and I am a city girl. He is the kindest man I have ever known and he always takes care of me in every way. Lately he has been introducing me to the country life, and I love it. My question is, how do you know when a cowboy loves you?

Hey there, City Girl, thanks for writing. It’s nice to know cross-cultural relationships are alive and well. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that if your fellow is taking care of you in every way, it’s a pretty safe bet he’s in love with you. The thing about cowboys is that they are kind of simple, in the good way; uncomplicated, you might say. The cowboys I know, and I know a lot, aren’t into playing games … unless of course it’s low-stakes poker like for matches or pennies.

If he wasn’t in love with you, he’d probably just be nice to you and then ride off into the sunset at the first opportunity.

Just sticking around, of course, ain’t reason enough assume love might be occurring.

Here are a few absolutely foolproof signs that a cowboy truly loves you.

Read the rest of this entry »