A Mountain Wedding

By Courtney Pierce

This week I will celebrate a lot of things in my life and, since we’re so close to the Fourth of July, one of them will be my freedom as an American independent writer. I’m honored to be in like company, many of whom are contributors to Romancing the Genres and colleagues at Windtree Press. Like most of us, my genre-ista niche is hardly narrow. I write humorous and heartfelt women’s fiction for baby boomers, we folk who’ve found the shut-off valve on our hot flashes and still act like children when we’re around our siblings. We are the largest group of regressing “seniors” in history, but I believe I’m blazing my own dusty trail with a posse of 73 Million people.

Speaking of riding the trail, I will fall from the crowded grid for the next two weeks to marry an amazing man—a deep thinker, a devotee of the mountains with hands that can do anything, especially with wood, and who sports a sense of humor that requires my keeping certain muscles toned. Men like him are a gift to gals like me: he can do plumbing and electrical and owns every kind of tool imaginable. By the publishing of this article, I will have a garage full of specialty implements, antlers over a mid-century fireplace, and hiking boots parked next to my blue suede pumps.

After a small mountain wedding, my new husband and I will spend our honeymoon backpacking through the hills and meadows of Mount Rainier in Washington state. No

bubblegum bride here. I’m willing to log some serious FitBit steps for this man. The anticipation that accompanies this amazing experience reminds me of Western Romance, like those novels of Paty Jager. Morning mist clings to the petals of perfumed wildflowers. Throaty calls of elusive mountain birds with a keen eye on breakfast. The snap and crackle of twigs in a smoky campfire that invites conversation of dreams and wishes. And, of course, the explosive moment when the man shows his lover how to shoot a rifle to protect her life. Yes, I will learn.

Paty’s books speak to falling in love in the rural wilderness and conquering emotional ghosts. Her Spirit series connects to me with themes of duty, trust, and honor against the pull of love, lust, and risk. In her Letters of Fate series, Paty leans into the raw messages of finding love again after heartbreak and starting over to become whole. I connect to these stories because they follow my own heart’s course. Cranking up one’s steam is cathartic in life’s third act, as if I’ve been awarded a last-chance bonus round to be happy. With the spin of the wheel, all my pistons fire as I take aim for high stakes, just like Paty’s Mayan archaeology series: burning romance, historical intrigue, and the curiosity to unthread a puzzle.

Since meeting my husband (also a writer, by the way), I look forward to traversing nature’s obstacles to earn the sweet reward of a rarely seen view. A new-found respect blooms as I absorb the many parallels of alpine hiking to my own struggles over the years. One must earn these moments. If they were easy, then the trails least traveled would be crowded.

When we planned our honeymoon, he texted me, “What will you say when your heels are bleeding with blisters, deer flies won’t leave you alone, and you’re so tired you can’t take another step?”

“Kiss my feet,” I wrote back. “Then let’s keep goin’.”

I held my breath as the screen quieted for a moment. When my phone finally chimed with a response, he said, “My soulmate.”

Books follow life . . . or is it the other way around? I’m not quite sure. No matter where I am, no matter what I face, there’s probably an author who has written about it. If not, then Paty or I will.

Don't forget to check out all of Paty Jager's books at www.patyjager.net

Photo: Loma Smith

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her new family. She writes for baby boomers. By day, Courtney is an executive in the entertainment industry and uses her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor and mystery. She has studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, she is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and She Writes. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal.

Information about Courtney's books can be found at:

courtney-pierce.com and windtreepress.com. Both print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com.

The Dushane Sisters are back in Indigo Lake. More laughs, more tears...and more

trouble. Protecting Mom's reputation might get the sisters killed―or give one of them the story she's been dying to live.

New York Times best-selling author Karen Karbo says, "Courtney Pierce spins a madcap tale of family grudges, sisterly love, unexpected romance, mysterious mobsters and dog love. Reading Indigo Lake is like drinking champagne with a chaser of Mountain Dew. Pure Delight."

Colorful characters come alive in Courtney's trilogy about the Dushane sisters. Beginning with The Executrix, three middle-age sisters find a manuscript for a murder mystery in their mother's safe after her death. Mom’s book gives them a whole new view of their mother and their future. Is it fiction . . . or truth? 

Get out the popcorn as the Dushane Sisters Trilogy comes to a scrumptious conclusion with Indigo Legacy. Due out in fall of 2017.