Texas Rangers, Indians and Spaniards - Just your typical Texan Town With Special Guest Shannon Vannatter

Today we have a special guest here to share the history and charm behind her Texas town setting!
*Psst...Giveaway at the end of the post too!

Award winning, central Arkansas author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom/pastor’s wife. She once climbed a mountain wearing gold wedge-heeled sandals which became known as her hiking boots.

She has twelve published titles and is contracted for three more. Her books are available online. Learn more about Shannon and her books at http://shannonvannatter.com and check out her real life romance blog at http://shannonvannatter.com/blog/ with weekly book giveaways.

Connect with her: Shannon’s Facebook, Shannon’s Goodreads, Shannon’s Pinterest, Shannon’s Twitter, and  Shannon’s Amazon Author Page.

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Almost thirty-three years ago, I married a transplanted Texan. Since then we’ve made countless treks from Arkansas to Texas Hill Country to visit his dad. Since his dad’s passing, our usual vacation destination is his ranch to see my husband’s step-mom, who we call Texas mom. The ranch is fifteen minutes from Bandera. With my rodeo series set in Aubrey winding down, I knew Bandera was the perfect place to set my next series.

Old storefronts line Main Street with diagonal parking in front instead of parallel. The most prominent building in the city is the courthouse built in 1890. Behind the courthouse, is the First Baptist Church of Bandera. My father-in-law pastored the church in the 90’s, then was interim there until a few months before he passed away.

Bandera First Baptist

The town has a rich history. First populated by Indians, then the Spanish in the early eighteenth century. Bandera is the Spanish word for flag. Legend has several explanations of how Bandera got its name. One says that a Spanish general named Bandera led an expedition in the area against the Apaches after the Indians raided their fort. Another relates that after pursuing the Indians to Bandera the Spanish left a flag or flags to warn against future raids. And a third legend claims that in 1752 (or 1732) a council was held between Spanish and Indian leaders, during which the Spanish pledged never to go north of the pass if the Indians agreed to cease their raids in the south, and a red flag was placed on the pass as a symbol of the treaty.

It’s safe to say, no one knows for certain. But the name was in use by 1842, when a group of Texas Rangers defeated Comanches at Bandera Pass. In 1853, the town was established with the purpose of setting up a sawmill town on the Medina River to cut the huge cypress trees that grew there for shingles. By the fall of the same year, there was a horse-powered sawmill and a commissary store.

Cedar and Cypress Table

Cypress along Medina River

Cypress still grows along the Medina River, which flows across the back of the Vannatter ranch. A few years ago when we visited, my husband spotted a dead, fallen cypress. He brought the stump home and built this end table for our den. It fits our rustic decor in that room and has special meaning to us.

Hollywood even discovered Bandera. It was featured in the reality show a few years ago and a 1975 horror film. I never saw either one. To us, it’s just part of home away from home.

We still stroll the sidewalks, shop for unique Texas treasures at Old West Imports, and eat at Old Spanish Trail when we visit. Seeing the gigantic stuffed elk overlooking the breakfast bar always evokes fond memories of my father-in-law. Even nine years after he left this earth for Heaven, it’s just not the same without him. But being in Bandera, always makes us feel closer to him and it’s a joy to share those experiences in my Texas Cowboy series.

And, Shannon is offering a giveaway!

Giveaway details: Comment to enter the drawing for a copy of Winning Over the Cowboy. Eleven copies will be split among names drawn during the blog tour from April 3 -20. One winner will receive a fishing themed memory board personally crafted by the author. This fabric is special because my son loves to fish as do the characters in the book. Great for displaying kids or grandkids or as a gift for the little fisherman in your life. Winners will be revealed on the author’s blog on April 29th. Sign up to enter more giveaways: http://shannonvannatter.com/sign-up-for-shannons-newsletter/

Follow my blog tour for more chances to win Winning Over the Cowboy:

April 3 – http://www.danarlynn.com/blog/ 

April 4 – http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com/

April 4 – LI Release Party - https://www.facebook.com/events/1858400871097392/?__mref=mb

April 6 – http://www.pattishene.com/theover50writer

April 4 & 7 – http://shannonvannatter.com/blog/

April 10 – https://whispersinpurple.blogspot.com/

 April 11 – http://brendaandersonbooks.com/blog/

April 13 – http://eahendryx.blogspot.com/

April 13 – http://www.castlegatepress.com/blog/

April 17 - http://www.inspyromance.com/

April 20 - http://seekerville.blogspot.com/

April 20 – http://www.whollyloved.com/blog-1/

Zippity Do Dah! Zippity MEME!

Hello all you lovely people! Caryl McAdoo here! 

Do you know what  a meme is? Up until a few months ago, I didn’t! I was even making them, but had no idea what they were called. I started noticing them showing up.  

My cousin’s daughter kept posting the coolest collages of her photos…and I'd see lovely scripture references…and authors posted such nice photos with their book covers in them along with text.

One young lady, still in high school but with her first book published already. I’d made friends with her and so asked how she did that. She told me at PicMonkey, so I went there and found it very user friendly, even for a Grami! You can do all sorts of things there. They have truly awesome tutorials!

Digital Birthday Blessings, Congratulations messages, fun thank yous! Anything your imagination can conceive!

Memes are creative ways to get the word out, bring joy to someone you love and even to people you don't know! Tell them all sorts of things like 'God loves you'! 

And don't forget the holidays! Memes are a great way to say Happy Happy Day!

My husband calls me an addict! Ah ha ha ha! I'd just be a contented lady if I could design memes all day :) I love seeing how creative others get and try to hone my skills! They are boss when advertising a sale...like the one I have going on now! A Little Lower Than the Angels is volume one in my newest series, The Generations, Biblical fiction. I personally don't believe God's story should be changed at all - not a jot or tittle! But I love bringing His stories to life! This first on is about the first man, and his helpmate and sons..with a liberal dose of angels, and how they live in Heaven, the good battle evil.

And if you see any memes advertising a sale of one of your favorite authors, do click share to let your friends know about the great price they can get on a fantastic novel! Good for friends, and good for your author. You've done something to help others!

And there's Facebook banners. Change them as often as you like and have fun at PicMonkey. They've got the perfect size! (Be sure not to put anything in the lower left hand corner you don't want covered up with your profile photo! Do you hear the voice of experience? :) Here's one that has all my newest titles - those since March 2014!

    

I know there are other sites as well where you can make memes. Y'all mention other ones if you know of them and tell me if you've seen any you particularly enjoyed. In the meanwhile - - - go forth and MEME! And have a blessed, favor filled day! For a comment, I'll put your name in the drawing for a FREE COPY of my new JULY RELEASE > ONE AND DONE < It's a contemporary Red River Romance with a Texas Ranger pitcher for a hero!   So LEAVE A COMMENT! 

    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  And BE BLESSED!  

Caryl McAdoo currently writes three series: the historical Christian ‘Texas Romance’; a contemporary ‘Red River Romance’; and The Generations, her Biblical fiction. The novelist loves singing new songs the Lord gives her, and she paints. In 2008, she and her high school sweetheart-husband Ron moved from the DFW area—home for fifty-five years—to the woods of Red River County. Caryl counts four children and fourteen grandsugars life’s biggest blessings believing all good things come from God. Praying her story gives God glory, she hopes each one will also minister His love, mercy, and grace to its readers. Caryl and Ron live in Clarksville, the county seat, in the far northeast corner of the Lone Star State.

Links: All Books  /  Website  /  The Caryler Newsletter  /  Facebook  /  Blog        

A Gentleman of America's Game

A little on the history of one of the greatest - maybe THE greatest pitcher of all time. Well, I do love Nolan Ryan, and he did break one of Mister Johnson’s records. 

     The elder struck out 3,508 batters, and that record held until 1983 when our Texas Ranger beat it. I still remember cheering for Mister Nolan that season.

     Some researching is so much fun! See, I’m so blessed to be the wife of not only the kindest and most honorable man I know, but the wisest, too. My husband’s brain just amazes me, and he turned me on to Walter Johnson when we started discussing plans for a baseball story. He coached all our 3 sons and all but two of our eight grandsons, too, so we've lived many a summer at the ballpark.


     On the right is from 1983, when my sons played: Baby Russell, Cathryn, Matt and Greg, plus Ron and I, of course.
     And on the left, 2009 with the four grandsons God saw fit to give us to rear :) A second set of Matt & Greg (Matthew and Gregory to help keep things straight) with Christian and Benjamen--plus my beloved and me. The man in the black shirt on left is my firstborn, Matthew, the one in glasses on the right. Family so easily distracts, don't they? Who doesn't love sharing their families?

     Back to Walter Johnson!I found this quote the renowned pitcher said of himself: "I was the greenest rookie that ever was. One evening I was standing out on the sidewalk when a stranger approached and said, 'You're famous already, kid. See, they've named a hotel for you.' I looked across the street and, sure enough, there was a big illuminated sign that read, 'Johnson Hotel.'   Well, do you know that I was so green that I actually believed the man?"
   
     I love humble and chose him to be my hero’s great-great uncle in my new contemporary baseball-backdrop romance, One and Done. Matter of fact, his Pappaw named him after the family ancestor and the Babe, too, because he didn’t know if his grandson would be a hurler or a hitter. George Herman Walter Johnson proved a big name to grow into for Jidge.
   

Wary over leaving his farm home for the big city, the nineteen-year-old Johnson, joined the American League playing for the Washington Senators in 1907 and began gaining fame right away for his pitching. "There’s only one way to time Johnson’s fastball. When you see the arm start forward-swing," Birdie McCree, an executive of the New York Highlanders, claimed in 1908.
     And it didn’t take Ty Cobb, a Detroit Tiger, long at all to recognize the remarkable talent of the pitcher nicknamed 'Sir Walter' and the 'White Knight' for his legendary good sportsmanship and gentlemanly ways. Mister Cobb said, “The first time I faced him, I watched him take that easy windup – and then something went past me that made me flinch. I hardly saw the pitch, but I heard it. Every one of us knew we’d met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ballpark.”
     Regularly honored with the All-Star and Most Valuable Player Awards during the first seventeen years of his career, Mister Walter finally took the Senators to the Word Series in 1924, and with President and First Lady Coolidge in the stands, beat the Giants 4-3. Johnson’s mother, Minnie, attended, too, her very first major league ballgame. All accounts say he doted on her.
   

     The Senators went back once to the series, but lost, and The Big Train, another moniker given him because of his size, six-foot-four, and velocity of his throws (no radar back then). Johnson retired in 1927 after a twenty-one-year career with 416 wins in the record books, 110 of them shut outs, the strikeouts mentioned, and a 2.17 ERA.
     He came back two years later as manager of the Senators, but that didn't last long. In honor of his contributions to the game of baseball, Johnson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936 with Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, three years after the All-Star break was instituted.

   
     And speaking of the All-Star break (sneaky segue, right?), traditionally falling mid-season to pump up renewed fan support, that’s when One and Done debuts! It’s book three of my Red River Romance series and should be ready for pre-order at Amazon soon.

     A Dallas weather girl, Samantha Danielle, is thrilled and flabbergasted when her station sends her to Mexico wanting her to scoop the rumor that the Texas Rangers are interested in a hard throwing rookie. What comes down after that, proves way more astonishing! Sammi Dan can hardly believe the whirlwind she gets caught up in!
   
     This is a story you can enjoy then pass on to your husband then to your teens! My motto is: Praying my story gives God glory!

BE SURE TO COMMENT to enter TWO giveaways: a FREE copy of One and Done AND a chance to win A Hemorrhaging of Souls by Nicola Furlong

And copy and tweet this:

#Giveaway Enter to win 1 of 2 #freebooks Comment or tweet! #NewRelease #TexasRangerBaseball backdrop by @CarylMcAdoo  http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com/

Bio: Christian, hybrid (Simon & Schuster & Indie) author Caryl McAdoo is currently writing three series from a perspective of faith: her historical Texas Romances; the contemporary Red River Romances; and The Generations, her Biblical fiction. The novelist loves singing new songs the Lord gives her and painting. In 2008, she and her high-school-sweetheart husband Ron moved from the DFW area—home for fifty-eight years—to the woods of Red River County. Caryl counts four children and fifteen grandsugars life’s biggest blessings believing all good things come from above. Praying each story gives God glory, she hopes it also ministers His love, mercy, and grace to its readers. Caryl and Ron live in Clarksville, the county seat, in the far northeast corner of the Lone Star State.

Links: AllBooks  /  Website  /  Newsletter  /  Facebook  /  Blog  /  GoodReads  /  Google+  /  Twitter   /  Pinterest