Summary:  After his father is shot, Joe fights to keep him alive while hiding a deadly secret
Rating:  Teens  28,500 words

Summary: A Christmas story. Joe and Hoss are heading out to control the herd
Rating: G Word Count: 3900

Summary:  After the death of his dearest friend, Joe takes a downward spiral.  Can his father stop him before he surrenders to old temptations?  This story follows my story, Absolute Faith.
Rating:  T  (24,890)

Summary: Joe and a saloon dancer accidentally meet, and more problems arise than Joe ever expected.
Rating: PG Word Count: 19000

Summary: Have you ever wondered why Joe is such a good shot? Maybe that’s how it happened.
Rating: PG Word Count: 15000

Summary: This is a prequel with Adam home from college at about 23, Hoss at about age 17, and Joe at about age 11. Returning from a trip to Sacramento, Adam has two disturbing encounters, one with someone he thought could be a friend and another with outlaws. Then he has another one with his father. The rest of the story develops from those until the issues can be resolved.
Rating – T  Word Count – 32,154

Joe let himself smile for half a second before sobering and shaking his head. “I’ve known you a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this. Maybe you got this way when I was too young to notice or wasn’t around to remember, but… I don’t know, seeing you down here tonight all alone, I sort of got worried.” Or, after Laura Dayton’s departure, Joe finds his oldest brother in need of some consolation. A WHN for the “Triangle.”

Word Count: 2,316   Rating: PG

Canon refers to Ben leaving the Ponderosa for a time after Marie’s death. This story presents a possibility for how Adam managed during this time. (This is an Old Ned story.)

Summary: A missing scene from Emily. Joe finds an ambushed money transport with a dead and injured man lying next to it. He fires three shots to call for help, but he gets shot in the back. Hoss and Candy arrive at the scene shortly after Deputy Wade.
Rating: PG Word Count: 1600

Summary: A Cat and Hoss teach a hard-hearted boy about love and forgiveness.
This piece started out as a pinecone in August 2023, then I developed it a bit more into a short story.
It was also inspired by a story I heard on the radio long ago.

Rating: T  Wordcount: 2,228

Summary: This is a sequel to A Shadow Calling with the same OCs. A tragic experience from a decade earlier has consequences for the Cartwright family and triggers memories and fears until the threat is faced. It is a story within a story, and both tales are told.
T  12,921

Summary:  A special and personal poem about what Bonanza means to me.

Rated G          Wordcount: 478

Summary:  Faced with the trials of heart failure, young Adam Cartwright embarks on a journey of courage and resilience, drawing on the memories of the mother he never knew and the solidarity of his loving family to confront his limitations and cherish every moment of life. Rating:  K+ Word Count:…

Summary: A follow-up to The Crucible.  An unexpected visitor helps Adam Cartwright heal his broken heart before breaking it again.  A story for Valentine’s Day.
Word count: 3296
Rated: G

Summary: Just when it seems like certain scars have begun to fade, a chance encounter sends Adam spiraling back into the torment that still follows him more than a year after Eastgate. A WHN for The Crucible. Word Count: 7,332  Rating: G

Summary: Another prequel, but Little Joe is eleven in this one, Hoss is seventeen, and Adam is twenty-three. Climbing that pine tree is again key to the story, but it is what happens after that which is most significant.
Rating: T  Word count: 5, 575

Summary: The third story in the Vine series answers the last question of who sent the vine, but there is also an examination of Marie’s background to explain the motivation for that act. The story may not make sense in every part unless you have read the first two stories in the series.
Rating: T  Word count: 5,865

Summary: While it’s become abundantly clear that some hurts never heal, a small bullet wound and a night trapped out in the rain reveal that the scars that stick around do so with a vengeance. Every time Adam tries to take a step toward healing, his mind forces him to take two steps back. This time around, Joe is there to have his back. A WHN for The Crucible.
Word Count: 2,561  Rating: G

Summary: Heading out on a hunting trip that Adam had requested for his birthday, the family runs into a lot more trouble than expected when they find signs of rustlers working on the Ponderosa.
Rating: T  Word count: 2,919

Summary: Ben witnessed a robbery and murder. Threats to his life have caused him to go into hiding until the trial, but it is Adam who suffers the consequences as accomplices of the accused set out to find Ben’s location by questioning Adam who finds that his mind is his only weapon against their relentless brutal inquisition.   
Rating T  Word count 4,354

Summary: The Ponderosa is in crisis and the family asks Adam to come home to help, but that sets in motion a plot that leads to tragedy and loss and surprises too with the two drifters who showed up on the ranch. 
22,010  T

Summary: !5-year-old Adam is awaiting a letter from San Francisco, but his plan to  check for its arrival at Cass’ store are detoured by his father’s directive to head the opposite direction for the day instead. Something about this feels off to Adam, and he lets his frustration at being kept from his simple request billow into anger. After hearing something that seems to confirm his feeling that all is not right with this situation; he lets his emotions ride unchecked, causing a chain of  painful events he has to sort through. He settles on writing it all out just as it happened, including each step and misstep he made and the feeling that drove it. Meanwhile his father will have to examine his part it what happened as well, and we see this conclusion through Adam’s eyes as well.

Rating: K          Word Count:  16841

Summary: A poker game leads to some dire problems for Adam, but with the family members helping, a solution is found for those problems and for the ones that led up to that situation.
Rating: T  Word count: 11,327

Summary: The first Christmas after Hoss is gone is difficult for everyone even with Adam there.
Rating: PG  Word count: 1223

Summary: a prequel story with Adam at 26, Hoss at 20, and Joe at 14 on a trip to capture some wild horses when wind, earth, and water elements create havoc with their plans.
Rating: PG  Word count: 10,815

Summary: This is a sequel to Choosing Blue with the same OCs. The family has to deal with sabotage and assault without knowing the source or the purpose. Working together, they defend themselves against a plot hatched by men from their past who form an unlikely alliance against them.
Rating: T  Word count: 17,610
Part of the Choosing Series, links to all stories included within.

Summary: This is a series that starts with an unusual story –Never To Submit Or Yield is a story of struggle and overcoming great difficulties and how and why Adam left the Ponderosa.  –Awake, Arise, Or Be Forever Fallen is a story of Adam falling in love with a woman who has lived through similar trauma. As their relationship develops, clues to the conspiracy begin to emerge. –Torn tells of how Adam is pressured by his family to go on a cattle drive to reestablish his role, but Joe has to adjust too so there is some friction, and there is trouble from others who want to take advantage of the situation.   Luckily, Candy is there to help out.–Melinda Returns is a short story in which she tries to manipulate things with Grace who is about to deliver her child. There is closure. –Epilogue. 
Rating: T  Word count: 50,040

Summary: Working together, the brothers find trouble, and only their father knows the reason for what happens to them.
Rating: T  Word count: 3,478