SUMMARY:  A short silly discussion about what’s wrong with Bonanza.  It’s meant to be a light-hearted story and not to be taken seriously.

rating = T  word count = 865

SUMMARY:  My entry for the March 2018 poetry challenge — It’s a little discussion among the brothers about loves lost which is spoken in three voices.

rating = PG13    word count = 282

SUMMARY:  What is kindness?  Kindness can get you into a relationship that is toxic not only to you but to others. There can be serious consequences to being kind.

Rating = T    Word count = 3556

SUMMARY:  There are times when one of the Cartwright ends up playing the game of romance even when he hadn’t planned on it and didn’t want to play, but it gets even more complicated when a brother wants to play too.

rating = T  word count = 3369

SUMMARY:  This is the fourth story in the First Kiss series: a cattle drive, a horse sale, the desert, outlaws, a desert rat, and all sorts of trouble for the family in this one before it all gets sorted out.  This concluded the Bonano and NaNoWriMo story challenges.

Rating = T    Word count =  20517

First Kiss Series, links to stories of this series included.

SUMMARY:  My entry for the Ancestry Challenge.  Ben has had three wives and they all had relatives, many of whom he never knew.  One shows up with a selfish ulterior motive focused on one son. 

Rating = T  Word count = 8308

SUMMARY:  The third story in the First Kiss series has Joe still scheming. Of course Ben won’t scheme, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be affected by the schemes Joe has hatched. The story of Adam and Anita continues first as the catalyst for a scheme and then as a crisis envelops the two.

Rating = T Word count = 23,409

First Kiss Series, links to stories of this series included.

SUMMARY: This is the second story in the First Kiss series and features Hoss, but Adam plays an important role in the story too. The story jumps ahead a bit in time answering a few questions from the first story and setting the stage for more to happen. It’s time for Hoss to have a romance as he felt especially lonely after Adam and Anita began theirs.

Rating = T      Word Count = 11,510

First Kiss Series, links to stories of this series included.

SUMMARY:  This is the sequel to Red Night that can probably stand alone but may read more easily if you have read the first story.  Answers to the questions left hanging in the first story are woven into this one which is about five years later.  A prologue fills in the intervening years somewhat . It won’t be an easy homecoming for Adam because of a new tragedy and the lingering turmoil that sent him away originally.

rating = T   word count = 18,147

Red Night Series, links to stories of this series included.

SUMMARY:  A year late but here is the 2017 Once Upon a Midnight Dreary challenge to write a Gothic story in the style of Poe.  This is my entry for the 2018 Better Late Than Never challenge.  There’s murder and mayhem in Virginia City and the limited evidence points toward an unlikely suspect.  The gruesome deeds occur off scene for it is the aftermath that matters most.

rating = T. word count = 7497

Red Night Series, links for all the stories of this series included.

Summary: The first in a series of four stories, this one features Adam ensnared in a number of difficult situations as his brothers try to help by playing matchmaker for him. It doesn’t go well of course as romance should never be attempted by a team.  

Rating = T     Word count = 17,959

First Kiss Series, links to stories of this series included.

Summary: During the Christmas season, six-year-old Little Joe learns the importance of a letter and the impact it can have.  He learns too about consequences, and learns both lessons well.  Years later, the importance of a letter is still strong.  

rating = K  word count = 2593

This story was written for the 2017 Advent Calendar – Day 6

Summary:  An unexpected visitor stirs up confusion when Adam keeps a promise.

Rating:  T  (2,400 words)

Summary: While Hoss and Joe chase an elusive turkey, Adam remembers an earlier Thanksgiving when Ben was away and there was a storm raging outside and turmoil inside among the brothers until the two intersected.

Rating = K   WC = 3631

Summary: Adam finds himself in dire straits and needs help to extricate himself, but he has to flee to avoid worse trouble.  He makes a friend but manipulation takes from him something he had hoped never to lose.  His family worries about him and wonders if he will keep his promise to come home one day.  

Rating = T  WC = 25,590