Hello!
Been a while since I visited with you and shared something here but this is something I can't keep to myself!
I am, once again,
feeling the awe associated with hosting one of my favorite and most successful
authors on my blog. Jodi Thomas is an award winning, multi-published author on
the NYT Bestseller List and USA Today. Besides being able to take readers into
small Texas towns full of life and history she weaves story lines with
characters we all know.
The new series, RANSOM
CANYON, takes us out of Harmony. WINTER’S CAMP is the prequel to RANSOM CANYON.
Readers meet James Kirkland in WINTER’S CAMP. He has lived his
life as a rover and loner. As time passes he begins to yearn for a home. The
day comes when he happens to come up on an Apache camp where he is welcome but
alert. He notices a young woman standing to the back with her head down. She is
still and is covered in mud from the top of her head to her toes. She stinks.
She is treated cruelly. When she looks up and Kirkland sees she has blue eyes
he realizes she’s a captive. He bargains for her and leaves with her. One day,
out of the blue, she tells Kirkland her name is Millie. Trust
is slow to come.
As Kirkland and Millie
travel they begin to trust. He is taking her to the place called Ransom
Canyon where he plans to build his home. After a multitude of hurdles
they marry and begin the Kirkland legacy in Ransom Canyon.
Generations later in
RANSOM CANYON Staten Kirkland has become a loner after losing
his wife and child. He rarely leaves his ranch. There are times when the
loneliness and despair threaten to overrule him. He seeks out fellow loner Quinn
O’Gradywho was his wife’s best friend. Eventually, friendship becomes more
but Staten isn’t ready for anyone to know. When Quinn’s past horror comes back
to haunt her it is Staten who pulls her out of the darkness.
Lucas Reyes is a dependable high school kid who wants
nothing more than to go to college. He has worked with his family as ranch
hands all of his life. One night Lucas and his friends go to a place that is
forbidden. An accident happens that injures the girl Lucas secretly feels more
than friendship for, Lauren is injured. Another friend, Reid, talks
to the police and other authorities about the accident. He blames it on Lucas
and tells the story making himself the hero. Friendships shatter.
Yancey Grey walks into Ransom Canyon a free man.
Recently released from prison he looks things over and finds a place to stay in
a senior retirement community. He works as a handyman for them and lives in the
back of an office. Yancey has spent his life in and out of foster homes and other
facilities. He is shy and has never had a true friend. The older citizens take
Yancey under their wings. He is grateful but can’t understand it. Ellie, almost
a nurse (she’s a student), sees to the health needs of the senior community.
She’s all business and serious. After a near fatal shooting on Staten’s ranch
Yancy and Ellie become friendlier.
I liked every character
but as a retired nurse I fell hard for Ellie. I could see me in her. I’m
looking forward to being a member of the Ransom Canyon Community.
A fifth-generation Texan, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jodi
Thomas chooses to set the majority of her novels in her home state, where her
grandmother was born in a covered wagon. A former teacher, Thomas traces the
beginning of her storytelling career to the days when her twin sisters were
young and impressionable.
With a degree in family studies, Thomas is a marriage
and family counselor by education, a background that enables her to write about
family dynamics. Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech
University in Lubbock, Thomas enjoys interacting with students on the West
Texas A&M University campus, where she currently serves as Writer in
Residence.
Commenting on her contribution to the arts, Thomas
said, “When I was teaching classes full-time, I thought I was making the world
a better place. Now I think of a teacher or nurse or mother settling back and
relaxing with one of my books. I want to take her away on an adventure that
will entertain her. Maybe, in a small way, I’m still making the world a better
place.”
When not working on a novel or inspiring students
to pursue a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband,
renovating a historic home they bought in Amarillo and “checking up” on their
two grown sons.
For more information, please
visit Jodi’s website at www.jodithomas.com.
