Romancing the Genres: Sheriff

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Colored Pencils, Crayons & 19th Century Law Enforcement

Today's sheriffs have several methods for identifying criminals, and quickly sharing that vital info with other branches, departments, and offices.

Can you imagine the frustration of small-town, old west lawmen? Without today's resources, they survived by wits, skills, intellect, and often brute force.

Sheriff August "Gus" Rose had the benefit of ten years' experience in USMS (United States Marshals Service), but nothing could have prepared him for the unidentified gang pestering Mountain Home, Colorado and surrounding valley. Pranks turned into costly property destruction, and rapidly escalated to hanging crimes.

Gus had no motive, two ill-experienced deputies, two failed attempts to track the bandits, and townsfolk losing confidence. The only thing that seemed to be going right is one witness who can identify the miscreants' leader and she's mighty skilled with a pencil. Her sketches of the outlaws assisted Gus in identifying the bad guys--assistance he desperately needed.

Anyone who's walked through an art museum knows paints (watercolors and oils) have been around a good long while. When were colored pencils and crayons invented? Wax-based artistic materials (like crayons) have been around since the Greek Golden Age. Artist-grade colored pencils (as we know them) began wide-spread production in the early 20th century. But colored pencils for "checking and marking" had been around for decades. Staedtler invented colored oil pastels (pencils) in 1834. "Conté crayons, out of Paris, are a hybrid between a pastel and a conventional crayon; used since the late 1790s as a drawing crayon for artists [source]."

Because I'm a freak for historical accuracy, I intentionally didn't qualify how Noelle added color to her portraits of the bad guys. Noelle's determination to help Gus identify and apprehend the criminals makes all the difference. She's a tough woman, determined to not only save herself, but prevent the evil men from killing the man she loves. I respect men in the uniform (or tin star), and doubly respect the women who love their law-defending men.

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The Marshal's Surrender, a sweet (rated PG) western historical romance novel [about 42,000 words] debuts today! This title is more gun-intense than anything I've written, set in the Colorado Rockies in December 1900, and is a stand-alone book within a series of stand-alone titles: Holidays in Mountain Home series. While it's a Christmas book, it's far more "winter" and romantic suspense than a classic Christmas novel. The violence is on the mild side of PG, and entirely 'clean' by every other measure.

This title is markedly reduced for just a few more days! Pick it up for 99-cents, or enjoy it with your kindleunlimited subscription. By the end of the week, the price will increase to $2.99.

Read the book description.

Oh! One more thing...

Hi! I'm Kristin Holt, USA Today Bestselling Author.

I write frequent articles (or view recent posts easily on my Home Page, scroll down) about the nineteenth century American west–every subject of possible interest to readers, amateur historians, authors…as all of these tidbits surfaced while researching for my books. I also blog monthly at Sweet Americana Sweethearts (first Friday of each month) and Romancing the Genres (third Tuesday of each Month).

I love to hear from readers! Please drop me a note. Or find me on Facebook.

Sweet Romance Appropriate for All Audiences

Friday, October 10, 2014

Near Death Experience, Maybe?

By Diana McCollum

Years ago while living in Michigan, out of town in the country side, one of our friends was the local Sheriff. My husband at the time was doing some remodeling for a fellow who had moved to our small town.

This new fellow, I’ll call him Sam, spent money like crazy, and paid for everything in cash, including the $30,000 dollar remodel my husband did for him.

Sam took us for a celebration dinner after the project was completed. He told us he wanted my husband to build him a safe room in his basement, a room no one would know was there. Of course we were excited at the prospect of more work in a slow economy.

Our Sheriff friend calls us both into his office. He tells us about our “New” friend Sam. Sheriff holds up a rap sheet of previous crimes Sam had been convicted of, including Armed Robbery, Rape, Automobile Theft, you name it, it was probably on the list. His life of crime started at fourteen and he was around forty when we met him. Sam was under surveillance for recent unsolved store robberies in the county. Sam and his wife had moved from another state to our tiny town of four hundred people, right before the armed robberies started.

So we were told to report anything we heard from him or his wife such as if they were going out of town, if they bought something big and new, etc. Sam’s number was on my wall list of phone numbers next to the Sheriff’s. My husband called to say Sam was going to buy a new car in the next town over.

I dialed the Sheriff and Sam answered!! Oddly enough the numbers were one digit off. I said wrong number and hung up. Called the right number and told the Sheriff the mistake I had made. He told me to leave the house in case Sam was coming over. The Sheriff and Deputies had received evidence linking Sam to the local crime wave and were on their way to arrest him.

There’s a knock at the door, I see it is Sam, (this was before cell phones) I hid in the bedroom and called 911. Luckily for me, he left after knocking for five minutes.

Sam was arrested down the road from our house.

Have you ever been duped by a friend who turned out to be not at all who you thought he/she was?

Here's a blurb and the cover of my November 25th release, "The Witch with the Trident Tattoo".

Blurb:

Gifted witch Ella Stone, born with an inherited affinity for water and the ability to talk to sea creatures, is on a mission. Ocean life is disappearing off the Atlantic Coast, and Poseidon needs her to find out why. She’ll do anything she can to find answers, even if that means hiring handsome, brooding sea captain Noah Drago to help.

Ella leads an isolated existence, keeping her secrets close. To the world at large she’s a scientist, but deep down she’s a lonely witch, wanting a deeper connection but afraid of reaching out. When Noah accidentally learns of her magic, she’ll have to trust him.

Noah has been a commercial fisherman all his life, except for five years as a Navy Seal. He’s seen and done things that scarred him, so he keeps to himself. But when Ella hires him, his life changes as quickly as a storm at sea. The sexy scientist’s kisses turn Noah’s world upside-down. Soon, he’s plunging into a world of myth, magic and passion.

But will their growing connection—their love—be enough to save them from an encroaching evil bent on destroying all life as they know it?