RESEARCH & ROMANCE

Stephen Bly

Stephen Bly

Copyright©2003

When a cowboy writer does research, the sight of a landmark can spark an idea for a full-fledged novel ... or just a poem.  

Southeast of Four Corners, New Mexico is Shiprock, an impressive example of a volcanic neck or a central feeder pipe formed by a long ago eruption.

Shiprock, New Mexico

In Monument Valley, west of this location, the pillars tower one after another. But Shiprock stands alone. With its spire in the shape of the rigging of an ocean bound vessel, the silhouette looks very much like a tall ship on the horizon.  

No wonder the old-timers trudging across the desert rubbed their eyes in disbelief at the view. If you ever get a chance to visit this site, we have found between March and May to be the best times. If you have already been there, what did the vision of it inspire in you? 

Aim For Stetson&Justin&Kelley Quality

Stephen Bly

Stephen Bly

Copyright©1994

Long before radio and TV, even among the cowboys and ranchers of the Old West, brand names meant something to them.

John B. Stetson made beaver hats with high crowns and wide brims like no one else. A man only had to buy one Stetson in his lifetime, unless a footpad or sneak thief stole it.

Another man named Joe Justin settled into Old Spanish Fort in 1879 on the Texas side of the Red River and began making boots. Without help from advertising agencies or basketball star endorsements he managed to gain such a reputation that a pair of Justin's still denote distinctive boots. 

Janet Chester Bly in office

Janet Chester Bly
Copyright©2013


This morning I was helping gals from our small church take down the Christmas decorations and do overall cleaning of the building. While mopping the bathrooms, a memory of long ago came to mind.

Aimee Semple McPherson

Back in the early 1970s while hubby attended Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, we also served as youth workers in a northeast Los Angeles church that provided housing. We also helped with part-time church facility housekeeping.

Interview with Stuart Brannon

Stuart Brannon

Janet Chester Bly Copyright©2012

JCB: Stuart, how come you’re not too fond of Christmas time?

BRANNON: Oh, I enjoy celebrating the birth of Jesus my Savior. It’s just that Christmas also brings some tough memories … lost my wife and baby back in 1875 on Christmas Day. Then, after my cattle got wiped out with the disease, riding through a bitter blizzard to a hard winter at Broken Arrow Crossing the Christmas of ’76. Tended to a wounded prospector, an abused, pregnant Indian girl, and faced off with a band of wild outlaws. All that comes rushing back on a blustery December day.

Recipes From Author Cheryl Wyatt's New Novel

Doctor to the Rescue

 

Eagle Point Emergency Recipes: 

Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings  

Ingredients:   

2 apples sliced and cored. 

2 sticks butter. 

2 cups sugar.