I love history, whether reading action/adventure historical novels for pleasure or doing research for one of my books. I suppose that is why I enjoy adding greater depth, flavor or the times, and authenticity to my work by linking historical events in my writing. I pride myself on accuracy when describing these events.

At one point, I found myself avidly involved in genealogy, and the result is that I have a large collection of family names going back, in some cases, to the invention of surnames in some geographic regions of Europe. Still, I find it even more interesting to uncover tales that have been handed down through the generations by family members. Many times, I draw upon these to create a framework for my stories.

And, I love the American west. By heavens, the settings provided are so varied. It has been an incredible canvas for many authors of western tales. I'm glad that I can participate.

Yes, I do like history.

As a youngster, my family moved west over the storied asphalt trail named U.S. Highway 66, the twentieth-century version of the dusty dirt trails of previous times. Completed in 1938, that ribbon of road stretched twenty-four hundred miles from Chicago to Santa Monica, crossing eight states, and three-time zones. Known variously as “the Mother Road,” “Main Street of America,” and “Will Rogers Highway,” it had been celebrated in many different venues.

It was the route that breathed life into my boyhood dreams of adventures about pioneer trails, cowboys herding cattle, and Native Americans riding the open plains, created by books, movies, and magazines of my early days. Decades later, my wife and I retraced this journey and more, in the current mode of the covered wagon, a motorhome complete with several hundred horses, as research took us to most of the locations used in my stories.

There have been several. Yet, for this interview, I cite the treatment of Native Americans in the nineteenth century. I have a better understanding of their plight, as westward expansion took place. Despite being fierce and resourceful, the oncoming tide of settlers ultimately swept Native American aside. This remains an historical stain on our American legacy.

Yes, I do. The novel, "Bride by Mail," is a story of love and adventure and is being published in 2013. Let me tell about it.

Independent and spirited, Eva is determined to seek a life that includes adventure and travel. Living in a small Ohio town in the 1880s, her prospects reduce to Will’s marriage proposal. Through fateful twists, she begins corresponding with Frank, a stranger who lives in the wilds of Washington Territory. As the love story unfolds, he asks her to come west and marry him. The prospect is exhilarating yet daunting. Eva's father adds to the tempest with his frequent lectures on marriage and family, noting that Eva will become an "old maid, in fact and age in a few years, with no one by your side, as you shrivel like a prune."

All the while, Frank's letters captivate Eva’s imagination with his adventures. Along with his brother, the young men head west with a wagon train and encounter dangers—stampedes, cutthroats, and stumbling onto the “silent killer” of early western trails. Unexpectedly reuniting with their uncle, they track outlaws and a stolen gold shipment. Adding to their peril is the scheming owner of the Sourdough Wind Mine in the gold mining camp of Yreka.

Her doubts persist when Frank issues his ultimatum.

My next historical novel is entitled "k," set in a much different locale. It centers in the farming hamlet of Am Furtt, situated at the toll crossing over the Kupi River, presently the border between Slovenia and Croatia. The story spans several centuries, beginning with the vicious attacks by raiders from the Ottoman Empire followed by Napoleon's conquest in the early 1800s, compounded by the confines of a religion that is both strict and corrupt.

For half a millennium, families labor as serfs for absentee landowners, in the serfdom of Kostel. Men are tied to the same farmland, passing the right of use from father to son, generation after generation. Life is hard, and continued existence difficult. Consider that in the eighteenth century, the average age to marry is twenty-six, while average life expectancy is twenty-four years!
.
By the end of the 20th century, serfs are free, and beautiful, dark-haired Katrina is in love with an itinerant, handsome young Italian by the name of Leonardo. He's a happy-go-lucky sort, who loves to sing and tell stories, plays the trumpet, struts a bit, and is downright beguiling to beautiful Katrina. Their passionate love blossoms, only to be faced with the irresistible siren call of a better life in America, and Katrina's wily grandmother—who is sternly old-school, wealthy, and the matriarch of a family living in the same village for four centuries. The woman is set in her ways and, at one point, she informs her granddaughter, "All right, I will provide the funds, but I demand your first child."

“k” is based on true events and will be published in 2015.