where do the busted angels go

adventures in trying to write books

[blackcrookedoak]

Hi. I've set up this blog to house my anxiety and research for my novel, the first in a series, as I ready it for queries and begin to work on the rest of the stories. It's a western romance set along the Idaho-Nevada border in 1876. It features a commune-style ranch where a family of outlaws live and find love through their criminal misadventures. If you are interested, welcome!

[digitalfashionmuseum]

Green Taffeta Visiting Dress, ca. 1870.

Augusta Auctions.

North America's #1 auction house for Couture & Vintage Fashion. Augusta Auctions accepts consignments of historic clothing and textiles from

[blackcrookedoak]

In the treacherous terrain of the West, bullets fly, hearts race, and blood runs deep.

Rebekah is trapped. The death of her father and the ruthless grip of her uncle have left her at his mercy with nowhere to turn. When she crosses paths with Will, a notorious outlaw on the run, everything changes.

In the midst of a shootout, Rebekah and Will share an electric moment, and can't seem to shake each other from their minds. But when Rebekah uncovers evidence that her uncle may have murdered her father, she has to act fast.

Will is determined to keep Rebekah quiet about what she saw. Instead, she offers a dangerous deal: she'll stay silent, if he and his gang get rid of her uncle.

Helplessly drawn to Rebekah's beauty and troubled heart, Will refuses to rope her into his wayward life, but he didn't count on falling for her. She is everything he's ever wanted: fierce, bold, and independent.

Rebekah wants her freedom, she wants her vengeance, and she wants Will.

With each passing moment, danger looms closer. Rebekah and Will fear that there can be no happy ending. Together, they must find a way to keep their newfound love alive in a lawless land.

Dark intrigue, pulse-pounding action, and simmering passion collide in The Deadeye, a gripping tale of love and redemption set against the backdrop of the untamed West.

[blackcrookedoak]

Have to make a website 😣

[blackcrookedoak]

Have to add content to the website, like marketing copy and other such devilry 🫠

[blackcrookedoak]

[boydswan]

William Holden & Glenn Ford in Texas (1941)

[blackcrookedoak]

Have to make a website 😣

[blackcrookedoak]

Have to add content to the website, like marketing copy and other such devilry 🫠

[blackcrookedoak]

Creating a mapped-out timeline for the novel with real dates got me wonderin'... what was going on at the time? Other than the obvious. The Nevada Library Cooperative has amazing scans of contemporary newspapers, including this copy of The Virginia Evening Chronicle of July 3, 1876, from Virginia, Nevada—better known to us as Virginia City. Hard to read, but this story caught my eye, about the search for men who escaped from what I figure must have been Sugar House Prison in Salt Lake City on July 1. "The Elko Independent says: Marshal Nelson and his deputies are still in pursuit of the escaped convicts. The house of one Cook, on the west shore of Utah Lake, was watched without result, but it was ascertained that shortly after the officers departed Willis, Patterson and Cain were received at Cook's, and were furnished with provisions and allowed to rest themselves and horses. Mrs. Cook informed the officers upon their arrival that she had aided the convicts and intended to do so whenever she had an opportunity."

[blackcrookedoak]

Have to make a website 😣

[blackcrookedoak]

The boys' horses:

Mal - Donnacha, big buckskin stallion

Will - Rosie, strawberry roan

Jacob - Gideon, black Morgan

Byrd - Venus, Palomino

Joaquín - Fernanda, blue roan blanket Appaloosa

Ben - Patience, skewbald tobiano

Luke - Ace, grullo stallion

[blackcrookedoak]

The Chrisman sisters near Goheen settlement on Lieban Creek, Custer County, Nebraska, 1886

(L to R) Harriet (Hattie), Elizabeth (Lizzie), Lucy (Lutie) and Jennie Ruth (Ruth)

Hattie and Ruth are wearing dresses made of brown and white percale. Both Lizzie and Lutie are wearing dresses made of brown and white gingham. Hattie’s horse was “Bet,” and Ruth’s was “Jessie.” The elaborate brocade of on Ruth’s shawl was not apparent until digital technology revealed details previously hidden in Butcher’s original glass plate negative.

[blackcrookedoak]

Cowgirl standing with horse, 1900-1910

[blackcrookedoak]

"Bloomer Costumes of Women's Emancipation" political cartoon, 1853

[blackcrookedoak]

1878 dress, British

[blackcrookedoak]

1868-1870 Dress of mauve gray watered silk, Manchester Art Gallery Costume Collection

[blackcrookedoak]

Two ladies day dresses, 1870-1880

ivory silk faille, 2-piece, handmade Brussels lace neck flounce emerald green leaf pattern silk brocade, trained bustle back skirt

[blackcrookedoak]

[blackcrookedoak]

A Pleasant Arrangement

Prisoners committed to the city jail are favored above ordinary sinners in other parts of the world. Elsewhere it is considered the thing to take precaution against the escape of men sentenced to confinement. Here the authorities consider it a favor when a prisoner slides out of the door and relieves the city of the expense of keeping him.

Mike McGowan, the “maneater,” who has spent about ten of the twelve months of the past year in jail, because of his convivial and cannibalistic tastes, was sentenced the other day to forty days’ imprisonment. Yesterday he was set at work with a shovel on Mill street, and managed to bolt. The last seen of him he was curled up upon the roof of a freight car, and is now supposed to be in Carson.

On Wednesday two men, named Davis and Putney, were convicted of vagrancy, and were permitted by the Police Judge to go upon their own recognizance for the six hours which the law allows between judgment and sentence. The vags took the kindly hint and disappeared. They have been seen in Reno.

The Virginia Evening Chronicle, July 1, 1876