Friday, January 30, 2009

Friday's Special Is...Lonely Places!


Lonely Places by A.L. Debran

Wounded and left to die on the Colorado plains, Elliotte Sorin is a woman with incomplete memories. Beau Hyatt saves her life and she vows that with this handsome brooding man she will never be alone again. As his gunfighter past intrudes into their lives, and his absences from her increase, her loneliness deepens.

She turns to Liam Mederi and finds endless love in his welcoming arms and smiling green eyes. Deadly jealousy rages when Beau questions the paternity of her unborn child and the two men meet in a violent confrontation that threatens to destroy more than one life.

Order from Cobblestone Press.

Visit A.L. Debran's website.



Excerpt of LONELY PLACES:

When Beau Hyatt stepped out of the line shack, the diffused brightness of the cloud-covered sunrise on the snow-covered prairie greeted him. There was no breeze, not a whisper of air. He surveyed the rolling landscape and inhaled the cold, crisp air as he saddled his horse and swung into the saddle, glad that the snowfall hadn’t turned into a blizzard overnight.

An hour later, he started down a ravine and pulled up sharply. Damn it. I’ll get myself killed if I’m not more careful. Ahead of him, a packhorse stood over an unmoving horse on the ground. The packhorse nickered and whinnied, glad to see someone. A distant, answering whinny reached his ear. He cocked his head toward the sound, but heard nothing more.

He sat the gray a comfortable and cautious twenty feet away and contemplated the scene. He took in the dead horse with the gear still in place, the packhorse with the lead line dragging, and that there was another over the hill. Slight movement by the dead horse caught his eye. He frowned and looked around. He stepped down, dropped the reins to ground tie his mount, and walked to the horses.

The free side of a blanket trapped under the dead horse flapped in the growing breeze. Squatting on his heels, he lifted an edge of the blanket and snow scattered around him in a swirling gust. He expected to find a body beneath the blanket, but discovering it was a woman caught him completely off guard.

He hesitated. Staying out of other peoples’ business had kept him alive. He stuck his neck out for few people, especially strangers, female or not. Scenes of his life with another woman passed through his mind, but he forced them away. With an uncharacteristically sympathetic decision, he un-cinched the saddle and pulled the woman, along with the saddle, from under the horse. Once more, he hesitated. If he tried to save her life, his own would be forever changed.

He took off a glove and slipped a bare hand inside her coat. Cool, but warm enough. Her face, ears, and fingers were pink. Matted brown hair stuck to her face with bloody ice crystals and dirt. There was no telling how long she’d been there, but he knew the blanket and the warmth from the dead horse had kept her from freezing.

Grabbing his glove, he stared at his hand. Blood. He pulled her coat open and found her clothing stiff with dried blood while fresh blood trickled from an injury high on her chest or shoulder. Checking further, he found three holes in her coat: two in the upper left shoulder and one on the same side midway down her back.

Antsy and wary, he rocked back on his heels and studied his surroundings, analyzing the situation. No sign of self-defense. The holes in her coat entered from the back. He figured the horse had taken a shot to the flank and had gone down with her still in the saddle.

“Who are you? Why the hell are you out here all alone?”

*******************************************

Please answer the following question for a chance to win a free copy of LONELY PLACES, or just pop in to chat with A.L. Debran!!

Out on the prairie, you lift up a blanket and find your mother snoozing red-faced with two empty bottles of tequila. Do you wake her up, and if so, what is the first thing you say?

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Friday, everyone! And welcome, A.L. Debran!!

I trust that THIS won't be one of the Lonely Places. Let's rock!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

You know, some days are diamonds, some days are stone...tried to correct a glaring misspelling and now I look like an ultra maroon for deleting the post.....Oh, well, I'll try again.

A.L. Debran here and looking forward to the day. Checking my spelling, looking to make sure my skirt isn't tucked into the back of my panty hose, no spinach between my teeth...

Yeah, I'm ready for today. :-)

Chris Eldin said...

I'd wanna know why ma' was dippin' into my drink.
;-)

This looks like a fun roast!
:-)

Anonymous said...

Hey, A.L., great to see you! Your skirt looks fine. :) A fine day for a roast, don't you think?

Anonymous said...

A.L., where do you get your inspiration for the western atmosphere in your work? Were you raised in that world? Long for it? Walked the prairie in another life?

Anonymous said...

Jason, I did walk the prairie in another life. I was a dance hall girl. lol

Seriously, I grew up on a ranch in northeastern Colorado so I've literally walked the walk, so to speak.

laughingwolf said...

welcome, a.l. :D

i'm a sucker for a good duster, few are written these days, so this is a treat!

if i found ma sleeping it off from two bottles of cactus juice, i'd wake her and ask what was wrong, since it generally takes at least 12 to just her tipsy ;) lol

laughingwolf said...

dang!

that should read: to just GET her tipsy [knew i shudda skipped that drink final last night! :O j/k]

Anonymous said...

I don't wake her up. Whatever she did, she had a good time and deserves her sleep.

Juanita said...

I would wake her up and say: Hey Ma - Where is mine? LOL

Anonymous said...

I would wake her - and then ask her why she didn't wait for me? (since I had the Margarita mix and the salt!)

kherbrand at comcast dot net

Charles Gramlich said...

When done well, the amnesia angle can produce some incredible suspense. The sample certainly shows that this one was done well.

Jennifer Macaire said...

Hell yes, I wake her up! And I say, "Dammit Ma - I tole you ta leave some for me!"

:-)

Sounds like a great story! Loved the excerpt!

darbyscloset said...

I've learned the hard way to let sleeping dogs lie. So, NO I do not wake up Ma!
Fun times here always!!
Darby
darbyscloset at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

I agree with you, laughingwolf, I'm also a sucker for a good duster. There aren't nearly enough old fashioned westerns around anymore. Books, movies, or tv.

laughingwolf said...

oh boy... seems i canna even fix stuff properly:(

Anonymous said...

Where can one get a nice duster these days?

Anonymous said...

Jason,

There's probably a cleaning service in your area and very likely there's a "duster" on staff. Now, whether they're nice or not, I couldn't say. lolololol

laughingwolf said...

precisely so, a.l. :P lol

Anonymous said...

A.L., thanks for being a wonderful guest! The contest is now closed. You can go ahead and pick your winner.

Thanks everyone!

Anonymous said...

I want to mention that "Lonely Places" is a western that might bring a bittersweet tear to your eye by the end. I'm working on the sequel for the cowboy who didn't get his happy ever after because he let another man take his place in the heroine's life.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I liked all the comments, so I numbered the responses and my granddaughter picked the winner...drum roll please...the winner is Jennifer.

Jennifer, email me at: al_debran.westerns@yahoo.com and we'll get together on the details of sending your prize.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jason and everyone else at Book Roast for having me over for a visit today. A big thanks to everyone who stopped by to leave a comment. This was my maiden voyage at Book Roast and I plan to be back soon with another of my westerns.

It was fun.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, A.L.! Can't wait to have you back. :)

(And bittersweet in the best.)

macbeaner said...

Dang mom. 2 bottles of Tequila? I trust you weren't alone?

(me and my mom are cool like that)

laughingwolf said...

grats jennifer, you lucky dog :O lol

and thx, a.l., i'll be looking for your book here in the great white north :D

Anonymous said...

I would say, "Ma, did you drink all that or use it on a snakebite?"

Happy Sunday to my favorite Western writer!

Love ya,
Eve Boston