Tag: Gabriel Hawke

Back in the Groove

At least I hope so! I’m trying to get back on top of my writing and keeping my with my blog, and everything else writing related.

Covid didn’t take away my time or creativity, it is having a teenager in the house again and attending all the activities that go with a teenager in sports and her last year of school. When I offered to take in our oldest granddaughter a year ago, after 20 years of no kids in the house, I had forgotten how much time and energy they require.

As I said, this is her senior year, and hopefully, after a year of getting back in the swing of things, I can get my writing back on track.

After taking an online workshop on book covers, I worked with my cover designer to rework the Spotted Pony Casino Mystery books. I went from this:

To this:

Trying to add more suspense/mystery, intrigue to the covers. And I feel keeping them clean and simple also helps the reader let their own imagination work more.

Besides we working the covers, I’ve been doing the final read through of Churlish Badger. Book 8 in the Gabriel Hawke Mystery series. This book will be available in ebook on December 1st. I’m excited for the ideas I have for the two books following this one. They will get Hawke back out in the wilderness tracking. One will be set in the Wallowa Mountains in a snow storm and the other will be set in the Montana Wilderness.

I have started gathering information on tracking in the snow and what pitfalls he’ll have to over come while not only tracking a person they believe is a killer but also keeping his significant other safe. I’m feeling the suspense of it already and haven’t even begun writing it!

Before I can write it, I have to finish up House Edge, which has an incident in it that will be the murder mystery in Double Down. Again, I am excited to begin writing that one, but it won’t happen until after I write Hawke’s book 9.

This is what keeps me writing and enjoying the whole process. I get excited about the plot or concept of a book and that keeps me pushing through each one to get on to writing the next one. I will continue to write until I no longer am excited about writing the next book.

Freezeout Trip

The latest Gabriel Hawke book I’m writing starts at Freezeout Trailhead in the Hells Canyon Wilderness on the Oregon side of the Snake River. An abandoned vehicle is found there by my character State Trooper Gabriel Hawke.

one side of the Imnaha store

While most of this series is set in Wallowa County where I grew up, I didn’t travel around the county as much as my brothers did. I tended to stay home and read, while they were out fishing, hunting, hiking, skiing, and other out door activities.

When I start a book, I look at the maps of the area, and use google earth to discover how or where I want the murder to happen. Then I use the maps, google earth, and hiking books to help me get a feel for the terrain. But it never fails, I always need to make a trip to the area to see it for myself.

That’s what my husband and I did a few weeks ago. We drove to Imnaha. It had been a long time since I’d been to the store and area. We went inside, visited a bit with the owner and I took a couple photos. Then we took the upper Imnaha road to Freezeout Trailhead.

Imnaha River

I was so good we made the trip. The area at the trailhead didn’t look a think like what I’d envisioned from the photos and google earth. It wasn’t as flat nor as large as I’d thought. When I returned home, I had to change up some scenes to accommodate the location and size.

loading ramp at the trailhead

Traveling up the road, alongside the river, we saw some nice farms and wildlife. Some of the farm ground would have been thrilling to try and farm back in the day they used horses. I would have been a bit leery of using modern equipment on some of the side hill fields.

Doe and fawns cooling their feet in the river.

We stopped at a Hells Canyon viewpoint, but it was so smoky from fires all over the Pacific Northwest that we didn’t see much.

Hells Canyon overlook

We could see how families would have lived off the land and enjoyed the solitary life at the bottom of the canyon along the Imnaha River. Since we were headed back to SE Oregon, we continued on up the river and on over to Halfway, Oregon. It had been years since we’d been to this town. Neither one of us remembered it being as populated. We remembered only a couple of buildings. Unless we had mistook another small town for Halfway. We’re still puzzling that. We are excited to go back there again and check it out more.

From Halfway we headed to Baker City and then on home. It was an 850+ mile round trip that weekend, but it was worth it for me to see the area I was writing about.

I love research trips!

So Much Going On! by Paty Jager

I found buttercup!

The winter seemed to lag and while I was busy writing and doing some kid sitting and book signings, it is now spring and I’m looking forward to late spring and early summer. I have some great opportunities for me as a write, you as a reader,and you as a writer. (I know I have people who are one or two or all three of these following my blog. 😉 )

First! Book 3 of the Gabriel Hawke series is releasing this week. I’ll put up the info here when it is live. This book while fun to write took a lot of brain power to keep in tradition with my twists in a mystery and to make it work with the title I’d already given the book. I usually wait until I have written part of a book before I title it but for some reason, with the Hawke books, I feel compelled to have the title and then make the book conform to the title. Weird- but it’s working. LOL

I’m excited to be a guest at a book club the end of April. It’s two hours from where I live. They picked Spirit of the Mountain as the book they are reading. There will be so many things I can talk about when I’m there not only about the book but other books they might like if they liked Wren and Himiin’s story.

May has two in-person events, I’m doing. On is May 17th in Asotin, WA. For part of a Cowboy Poetry and Country Music event. Four authors who write about the west, (me along with Kathy Moss, Lauralee Northcott, and Carmen Peone will be at the Asotin County Library from 10am – noon with a program tentatively called, Women Writing the West. I’ll have 15 minutes to talk, so I have to come up with something good and brief. 😉

Our usual booth at Sumpter

Later in the month- Memorial weekend to be exact, I’ll be set up at the Sumpter, OR Flea Market with Mary Vine for our usual book selling event. We have a new tent this year to help keep the wind and rain out, should the weather not be hospitable.

June is another busy month! I”ll be giving a workshop and signing books at The Frontier Writers Rendezvous a 2 day event June 7th & 8th in Canyon City, Oregon. There will be writing workshops, readings, and books. You can go to this link: https://oregonguidespublishing.com/fwc/ to see the great workshops and the times and authors who will be reading from their works. The workshops are $20 and the readings are free. I’ll be giving a workshop on Characterization- Making Your Characters Come to Life.

The other thing I am most excited about in June…. I’m going to Iceland!! The Authors Guild I belong to has a 6 day excursion to Iceland. It was a decent price and I could see Hawke going there for an international law enforcement conference and teaching a class on tracking. Not only will I be able to go to all the fabulous places the trip has included, I’ll be scoping out places to have Hawke venture to while ??? That’s what I’ll have to figure out while I’m there. Who dies and how he can use his tracking skills to help.

That’s what I have coming up in the next three months. What are your plans?

What Month Is It? by Paty Jager

Wallowa Mountains- where I grew up and where Gabriel Hawke series is set.

Wow! Just Wow!

I started the month watching two of my granddaughter’s while our daughter and her husband went on a much needed vacation. As their parents were leaving it started snowing and by the time it stopped we were under two feet of snow.

One of the several times my granddaughter removed snow from the patio.

The oldest and I dug paths for small dogs to potty and so I could hopefully turn around and get out the uphill driveway. There wasn’t any school for four days, then Friday I had to transport the girls around to school and events. We hunkered down over the weekend and they had school on Tuesday and I was able to come home on Wednesday when their parents returned.

I arrived home to laundry, cleaning up after a husband and three dogs, and packing for a two stop book signing trip. I was home a day and a half and headed back out on the road for the signings.

I was able to spend several hours with my dad who is in a senior living facility before my first event in the county where I grew up and where I’ve set my Gabriel Hawke series.

After a good night’s sleep there, I set off to Clarkston, WA for my signing from noon to three on Saturday. I had a beautiful drive with sunshine and snowy hills.

Rattlesnake grade: the only way in or out of the county to the north.

I met up with my brother and his wife, to see where they live now and learn more about his new job. After a night and morning with them, I headed to Pendleton, OR. I wanted to go to the Tamástslikt Cultural Center, but while everything in the Casino/motel where I stayed, that is next door, said it opened at 9 am, I arrived and found it wouldn’t open until 10. I’d already sat around for two hours waiting for 9 o’clock to roll around and decided to just head for home.

I had great roads on the drive home and stopped off at Ontario, Oregon to do some grocery shopping before arriving home around 3 pm. And that’s when I realized nearly half of March had gone by while I was watching granddaughters and traveling for book signings. My hubby was on the phone to his mother wishing her a happy birthday. I said, “It’s the twelfth already?”

I came home to sunshine and thoughts of riding my new horse, but now…it is snowing again. Not sure when winter will decided it’s over and spring can lighten everyone’s moods.

I hope you are having a safe winter and jump into spring with both feet when it finally arrives.

Pass It Along Giveaway

To help boost the number of sales for the first book of my new series, I’ve made a contest. All you have to do is share my book through the links below at your favorite social media and you’re name will go into rafflecopter for a chance to win autographed print copies of the first three books in the series and a $50 gift card.

the ancient indian art of tracking is his greatest strength... and also his biggest weakness.

Here are the rules:

Share Murder of Ravens with links below on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Bookbub, and Pinterest. Each time you share your name will go in the Rafflecopter. Giveaway ends on Jan. 31st. The winner will be announced here and contacted on February 5th.

At Goodreads add to TBR list

At Bookbub click and share

At twitter go to my page and share the tweet about the book Murder of Ravens

Go to my pinterest page and pin the book to your pinterest page

Visit my author FaceBook page and share the comment about the new release.

Click below to go to Rafflecopter and the links to get your points!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Meet Gabriel Hawke

Gabriel Hawke LogoFish and Wildlife State Trooper Gabriel Hawke works in Wallowa County. It is in the NE Corner of Oregon and has a population of just over 7,000 people and covers 3,152 square miles

In my books, I use the same geographical area, but I’ve made some of the towns a bit larger than they really are and gave them names from old towns that had once been in the county. I’ve also populated the county with fictional people and businesses. Having grown up in the area, I didn’t want people to think I was writing about them. all of my characters and situations are figments of my imagination.

Hawke, who prefers to be called that rather than Gabriel, was born on the Lapwai Reservation in Idaho. After his parents divorced his mother moved to the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon where her family lived. Hawke is Nez Perce. His father’s people were of the treaty Nez Perce and his mother a descendant of the non-treaty Nez Perce.  Reading this series will teach you the difference and how it has affected Hawke’s way of thinking and life.

When I saw a photo of Adam Beach from the movie  “The Watchman’s Canoe”, I knew this was my prototype for Hawke.  He’s 52 years-old, divorced.  His wife left him when Hawke arrested her brother on drug charges. That’s when he decided living on his own and having no one to be responsible for, was the best option.

After a short stint in the military, Hawke returned and applied for the Oregon State Police Academy. He was accepted and after five years as a patrol trooper, he was able to get on with the Fish and Wildlife State Troopers as a Game Warden in Wallowa County.  Land that has remained dear to the Nez Perce. What propelled him into the Fish and Wildlife division was his master tracking skills that he’d learned from his grandfather.

It is his love of the Wallowa country, his tracking skills, and a keen sense of justice that propels him in the books in the series.

Hawke is introduced to my readers in book 12 of my Shandra Higheagle series, Homicide Hideaway releasing Jan. 4th.

MURDER OF RAVENS

1 GH Murder of Ravens 5x8The ancient Indian art of tracking is his greatest strength…

And also his biggest weakness.

Fish and Wildlife State Trooper Gabriel Hawke believes he’s chasing poachers.

However, he comes upon a wildlife biologist standing over a body that is wearing a wolf tracking collar.

He uses master tracker skills taught to him by his Nez Perce grandfather to follow clues on the mountain. Paper trails and the whisper of rumors in the rural community where he works, draws Hawke to a conclusion that he finds bitter.

Arresting his brother-in-law ended his marriage, could solving this murder ruin a friendship?

Universal Buy Link: https://www.books2read.com/u/bxZwMP

Book 2, Mouse Trail Ends will be on pre-order in January and releases February 20th.

MOUSE TRAIL ENDS

Parents are killed while on a camping trip.

Daughter is missing.

Fish and Wildlife State Trooper Gabriel Hawke remembers coming across the missing family in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. When he finds their camp, the parents have been shot. All the clues show the girl is on the run. Using his tracking skills, Hawke gets closer to the girl and discovers someone is also trailing him. Believing it is whoever killed the parents and wants to silence the child, he moves faster to catch up to the wily nine- year-old.

Can he reach the girl without compromising her or will his need to save her put others he knows and cares for in danger?

Book 3 in the Gabriel Hawke series, Rattlesnake Brothers, will release March 20th.

RATTLESNAKE BROTHERS

Corrupt officials.

Death to those who dare complain.

Fish and Wildlife State Trooper Gabriel Hawke encounters a hunter with an illegal tag. The name on the tag belongs to the Wallowa County District Attorney and the man holding the tag isn’t the public official.  As Hawke digs to find out if the DA is corrupt the hunter’s body is found.  Zeroing in on the DA, Hawke finds his hands tied by both the county and the State Police.

Being suspended doesn’t stop Hawke from digging deep into the lives of the county officials and dodging a murderer out to stop his investigation.

Murder of Ravens blog tour

tour banner

The next ten days the first book in the Gabriel Hawke Novel series, Murder of Ravens, will be highlighted either in a review or a blog post at the following blogs. At each one you can enter for a chance to win a signed print copy of Murder of Ravens.

MURDER OF RAVENS TOUR PARTICIPANTS

January 15 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

January 15 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW

January 16 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST

January 16 – The Power of Words – REVIEW

January 17 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST

January 17 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW

January 18 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

January 18 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

January 19 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW

January 19 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 20 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

January 20 – Mythical Books – SPOTLIGHT

January 21 – Laura`s Interests – REVIEW

January 22 – A Blue Million Books – CHARACTER GUEST POST

January 23 – FUONLYKNEW – REVIEW

January 24 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST

January 24 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT

January 25 – Here’s How It Happened – REVIEW

January 25 – My Reading Journeys – CHARACTER GUEST POST