Thank you for reading Romance Rides the River. Life on the Diamond S Ranch near Madera, California, in the 1880s fascinated me so much when I wrote Romance Rides the Range that I didn’t want to leave. I also wanted to get better acquainted with Seth and Dori, who clamored to step back on the stage—in this case, stagecoach. Romance Rides the River was born.
As a tweenager, my favorite reading place was an enormous willow tree outside our home near a small logging town. Two sturdy branches crossed close to the trunk and made a seat. There I read Zane Grey’s exciting book The Border Legion. A red bandana with the corners tied on top lay beside me. It held a comb, toothbrush, and extra socks. Should I be kidnapped like the heroine in my book, I was prepared with the same things Joan Randle had in her saddlebags when she was abducted.
Reading those exciting westerns and traveling through the western states with my family fostered dreams of someday writing books of my own, especially westerns. Frontiers and Frontier Brides [Barbour Publishing] are two of my best-selling collections.
I hope that seeing God at work in Seth’s and Dori’s lives reminded you how much He cares for us, especially in times of trouble. It did me!
Colleen