Marie Duess...
History author, freelance writer, and novelist known as Patrice Garfield
I fell in love with all the characters...twin sisters, Elizabeth and Emily, identical looking but as different as any two sisters could be, Jack Drummond, Princeton-educated cowboy from Colorado with a sad secret that makes him vulnerable, angry and infuriating all at the same time. And Rone Dani
els, Jack's best friend--half white, half native American--who carries a secret of his own. Jack's ranch, River Pines, seems like a character in the story, too, and all the people who live there and all the people who love both Elizabeth and Jack are caught up in the whirlwind that becomes their marriage and passion. (This is definitely a "chick" book.)River Pines is one of my very favorite "places" and every once in awhile I revisit it to remind myself that I can indeed create wonderful characters and tell a good story. It's not sophisticated, it's not the great American novel, but it's great fun.
While writing River Pines, the prequel to Rone Daniels, I had killed off the character Rone Daniels several times and in several ways--always at
night, right before I stopped writing for the day and went to bed. And every morning, I went back to my computer and deleted the passages in which I "killed" Rone. Perhaps I had fallen in love with him and just couldn't live without him. Or maybe he wouldn't let me. Most novelists will tell you that it isn't uncommon for a character to decide his or her own fate despite what the author intended at first. So Rone not only lived, but got his own book. He's my favorite character, and even in a third book in the series, which was never published, he survives to grow old. Rone is very special, and his adventures with Jack and Elizabeth were terrifying and fun all at once. Of the two, this is my favorite book. I only wish that the third one could have been published so that we could have seen this very handsome, intelligent, and spiritual man grow old as gracefully as he lived as a young man.
Both River Pines and Rone Daniels were called "page turners" by reviewers, and that was evident from the phone calls I received from friends in the middle of the night who read them in one evening and just had to talk to me about them. Even my husband's grandfather, a fan of all the old time western writers--such as Zane Gray, Louis L'Amour, James Fennimore Cooper, and others--told me he couldn't put it down. That was the highest praise for me!
River Pines and Rone Daniels were published in the 1990s. They received great reviews, but unfortunately the publisher, a small publishing company in Utah, just couldn't compete with the large publishing firms in New York. Just after releasing the Rone Daniels the company closed and three subsequent books for which I had contracted with them fell to the wayside. I lost heart in the business of publishing after that. At the same time, my mother was handicapped and became very ill. My children were in elementary school--involved in sports and other after-school activities and demanding more of my attention--and there just wasn't enough hours in the day. Excellent excuses...but none good enough to explain why I would give up my passion for writing. To all my "fans" who keep asking me when I'm going to write a book again...I'm back!
Although both River Pines and Rone Daniels are out of print, they seem to be available through Amazon.com (although I don't receive royalties any longer). I also have two boxes in my possession in case anyone would like to read them. Visit my guest book and let me know.
