August 18, 2009
Review – Love’s Rescue
by Tammy Barley
It’s 1863. To escape the ravages of war, Jessica Hale’s family leaves their beloved home in Kentucky for a new life in the Nevada Territory.
Je
ssica’s brother, Ambrose, is determined to help defend their southern homestead. Against his father’s wishes, the young man joins ranks with the Kentucky militia and returns to the south. When Ambrose goes missing in the midst of the War Between the States, Jessica’s attempts to find him set off a chain of events that will change her life forever.
In the wake of a close encounter with political fanatics, Jessica loses everything that matters and then finds herself spirited away to a remote ranch in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. There, Jessica’s every effort to escape is thwarted by handsome rancher Jake Bennett and his loyal cattlemen.
Jake knows what it’s like to lose everything. He’s determined to protect Jessica through her time of loss. There are those who would harm the young woman for nothing more than being a Southerner, and Jake and his men have no intention of allowing that to happen. Still, how can he help Jessica’s wounded heart to heal when she so deeply resents him for what she perceives as his failure to save her family? He can’t make her see the truth, but he can protect her, and he can pray while her eyes are opened and her broken heart mends.
Tammy Barley’s action-packed debut novel is wonderfully rich in historical detail. It’s a tightly woven, riveting tale of love and loss, faith under fire, and wild hearts on the run. As the author unfolds this spellbinding story, a vivid picture of life in the Old West is revealed with stunning clarity and depth. Love’s Rescue provides everything a reader expects from this era: cowboys and Indians, damsels in distress, good guys and bad hombres, gunfights and moonlit nights. The last page leaves the reader longing for more of Jess and Jake. It’s an absolute must-read for the lover of historical romance.
A masterpiece of storytelling intricately woven with spiritual wisdom and insight, and threaded throughout with the good, the bad, and the ugly of love, life, and humanity.
Bravo, Ms. Barley!
It’s 1863. To escape the ravages of war, Jessica Hale’s family leaves their beloved home in Kentucky for a new life in the Nevada Territory.
Jessica’s brother, Ambrose, is determined to help defend their southern homestead. Against his father’s wishes, the young man joins ranks with the Kentucky militia and returns to the south. When Ambrose goes missing in the midst of the War Between the States, Jessica’s attempts to find him set off a chain of events that will change her life forever.
In the wake of a close encounter with political fanatics, Jessica loses everything that matters and then finds herself spirited away to a remote ranch in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. There, Jessica’s every effort to escape is thwarted by handsome rancher Jake Bennett and his loyal cattlemen.
Jake knows what it’s like to lose everything. He’s determined to protect Jessica through her time of loss. There are those who would harm the young woman for nothing more than being a Southerner, and Jake and his men have no intention of allowing that to happen. Still, how can he help Jessica’s wounded heart to heal when she so deeply resents him for what she perceives as his failure to save her family? He can’t make her see the truth, but he can protect her, and he can pray while her eyes are opened and her broken heart mends.
Tammy Barley’s action-packed debut novel is wonderfully rich in historical detail. It’s a tightly woven, riveting tale of love and loss, faith under fire, and wild hearts on the run. As the author unfolds this spellbinding story, a vivid picture of life in the Old West is revealed with stunning clarity and depth. Love’s Rescue provides everything a reader expects from this era: cowboys and Indians, damsels in distress, good guys and bad hombres, gunfights and moonlit nights. The last page leaves the reader longing for more of Jess and Jake. It’s an absolute must-read for the lover of historical romance.
A masterpiece of storytelling intricately woven with spiritual wisdom and insight, and threaded throughout with the good, the bad, and the ugly of love, life, and humanity. Bravo, Ms. Barley!
February 15, 2009
Outlaw Marshal
by Al & JoAnna Lacy
It’s 1887, in and around Denver, Colorado. Chief United States Marshal John Brockman, (already known to many readers as “The Stranger”) is back in the saddle, keeping law and order by capturing outlaws and adding stars to his crown by winning souls.
In Outlaw Marshal, Brockman brings several wanted men to justice, including well-known robber Whip Langford. As Brockman continues to visit Whip each time he brings a new inmate to the prison, he tries to lead the younger man to the Lord, but Whip doesn’t want to hear the story of salvation. Nevertheless, the two men find themselves developing a strong friendship.
Released from prison after saving the warden’s life, Whip winds up in Denver, where he meets Annabeth Cooper – a young widowed nurse, and a good friend of Brockman’s wife. Brockman hires him as a deputy, and now Whip is off fighting the crime in which he once partook.
It doesn’t take a lot to make Whip fall in love with Annabeth, but falling in love with Jesus is another story. It takes a hair-raising near-death experience to bring the former robber to his knees after being framed for murder.
Outlaw Marshal is an old-fashioned western with a twist – strong and persistent references to Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. It’s rather interesting to think of blatantly God-fearing Christian men in the role of old-western heroes…sporting not only the familiar star on the chest but a loaded gun and the ability to use it well. The Lacy’s paint a unique picture of Christianity in the wild, wild west while delivering a blatant biblical message.
Al & JoAnna Lacy
It is my distinct pleasure to welcome husband-and-wife writing team Al and JoAnna Lacy to My Book Bag. We’re going to discuss their new fiction title, Outlaw Marshal, but first let’s find out who they are.
Tell us about Al & JoAnna, the couple next door.
Well, Al was a pastor for eleven years, and the Lord blessed. We started a church with ourselves, our three children, and twelve adults in April 1961. When Al was led by the Lord to enter the field of full-time evangelism in April 1972, the church was running over 1,600 in attendance. Al has been in evangelism since then, and as she did when he was a pastor, JoAnna has stayed faithfully at his side. JoAnna has been a Licensed Practical Nurse since 1956, and just retired in 2008.
While in evangelism full time, Al began writing western and historical novels on the side for well-known secular publishers in 1980. He wrote forty-seven novels for them by 1990. In 1992, Al began writing western and historical novels for Multnomah Publishers… a Christian organization. In 1997, the president of Multnomah Publishers asked JoAnna to become Al’s coauthor because she had helped him with a series he wrote about a nurse in the 19th century, by giving him good ideas for medical stories and things about children. She became her husband’s coauthor quite soon.
I’ve been doing a little online research, and I’m amazed at the sheer number of novels you’ve produced. How many books have you published?
Al’s total of published novels is one hundred and fourteen (114). Of those, JoAnna has coauthored thirty-eight with him.
That’s a lot of writing! Do you have a personal favorite – one that’s closest to your heart?
Of my one hundred and fourteen novels, I have lots of favorites. One of the most favorite is the first book in a trilogy that JoAnna wrote with me on the Mexican-American War, called “The Kane Legacy.” It tells the story of the battle at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, when on February 23, 1836, a large number of soldiers of the Mexican army attacked the few American men who were defending the Alamo. The title of the book is A Line in the Sand. I have been to the Alamo in San Antonio twice while preaching evangelistic meetings in my evangelistic career. This book is indeed, close to my heart.
Tell us about Outlaw Marshal, which released in January.
The book Outlaw Marshal, which was released in January 2009, is the first book in a trilogy called “Return of the Stranger.” I wrote two series for Multnomah Publishers about a man in the Old West called “The Stranger,” whose name was John Brockman. The first series was called “Journeys of the Stranger.” In this series, as a lovely young Christian nurse whose name was Breanna Baylor. The second series was called “Angel Of Mercy.” In the second series, John and Breanna married, and John became Chief United States Marshal of the country’s Western District, with his office in Denver, Colorado. So many of the fans of the Stranger and Breanna contacted our publisher, asking for another series about them. We are now doing a trilogy in response, called “Return of the Stranger.” The first book in the trilogy is entitled Outlaw Marshal. Chief John Brockman leads an outlaw to the Lord, who had been in prison, and he is so good with a gun that John hires him as one of his deputy U.S. marshals. A Denver newspaper picks up on it, and calls the man, whose name is Whip Langford, the Outlaw Marshal.
JoAnna, I understand you’re a retired nurse. Did you write while working in the medical field?
Yes, JoAnna did write as my coauthor while working in the medical field.
How long have the two of you been writing as a team?
We have been writing as a team for 12 years.
Al, you’re an evangelist, which I’m well aware can become quite time-consuming. With a whole other ministry going on, how much time do you actually devote to writing?
As I said earlier, I entered evangelism in April 1972. From 1980 until 1990, while writing novels for the secular publishers, I wrote them in my motel rooms while traveling and holding meetings. It was the same when I started writing for Multnomah Publishers in 1992. By 2005, from the time I had entered evangelism, I had traveled on commercial airliners, preaching in all 50 states of this country, and in 28 foreign countries, two and a half million miles. This heavy schedule took its toll on my health, and in 2005, I was having serious fatigue problems.
My doctors told me I would have to stop traveling like that. I was not to fly anymore. So… I still preach in churches in Colorado, since I can drive there, but even then, only a few times a year. Since I still am affected by the fatigue, I can only work about five hours a day, six days a week, writing novels.
Well, it sounds like you make excellent use of your time! Any advice for new and aspiring writers?
My advice to new and aspiring authors is to read lots of books written by their favorite authors. Not to copy from them, but to learn how to put stories together. Long before I ever began writing western and historical novels, I read books by Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, Max Brand, Lewis B. Patten, and Ernest Haycox. I have never infringed on their stories, but I learned from them how to describe all kinds of scenes, and the thoughts and actions of characters in happiness, in sorrow, in trouble, and in fear.
Al and JoAnna, I appreciate the two of you hanging out at My Book Bag for awhile. I know my readers will be eager to read Outlaw Marshal - as am I! Where can we get it?
Any Christian bookstore can get it for you from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, if they do not already have it on their shelves.
