E.E.Burke's Best of the West: Living the Dream

Well, it's bulls and blood

It's dust and mud

It's the roar of a Sunday crowd
It's the white in his knuckles
The gold in the buckle
He'll win the next go 'round

It's boots and chaps
It's cowboy hats
It's spurs and latigo

It's the ropes and the reins

And the joy and the pain
And they call the thing rodeo

~ Garth Brooks

This summer, I was behind the scenes at the Deadwood PBR Rodeo and met some of the men and women who live this life day in and day out. They’re polite young cowboys who seem to have come from a time gone by, their wives were hanging out, visiting around the campers while the kids played. They are following a dream.

I know what it’s like pursue a dream, and how rough it can sometimes be, and how often you have to tell yourself the sacrifice is worth it. 

Though chasing my dream doesn’t involve the physical challenges faced by bull riders. I generally don't get hurt, banging away at the laptop! 

It takes real fortitude and amazing "grit" to get on top of a bull. Just being behind the scenes and seeing these guys prepare for the ride gave me goosebumps. 

Some riders pace, others stand still and take deep breaths, some swing their arms like they're in an imaginary fight, I saw one guy doing calisthenics. They do whatever it takes to for them to get their minds focused and prepare for an adrenaline rush like no other.

The gate opens. The crowd goes wild!

This is Chase Outlaw, who was having one of the best seasons of his career before he was seriously injured. Like so many of these tough cowboys, he takes the dream seriously and is determined to get back in the game. Frankly, it'll take a while before he's well enough to climb back on. 

What happens when a rider like Chase gets hurt? The medical bills, the time off from work, and the emotional and financial toll on the rider and the family are daunting. 

These cowboys, with their courage and determination, inspired a group of writers to get together to support them. We decided to do what we do best--write stories--to raise money for the Western Sports Foundation. The WSF was created to provide a safety net for athletes who face what could be insurmountable obstacles. It's a great organization and has the riders best interests at heart. Whether they need help getting back on their feet or planning for the future, the WSF is there for them. www.westernsportsfoundation.org

Wild Deadwood Tales includes 17 original short works of fiction. From rodeos to romance, Wild West excitement and adventure, and even a few ghost stories.  Five of the authors featured in the anthology are members of GLIAS: E.E. Burke, Angi Morgan, Liz Selvig, Amanda McIntyre and our newest crew member, Jacqui Nelson.

Every dollar we earn on book sales is donated to the Western Sports Foundation.

Read great stories, help these cowboys and their families reach their dreams.

Where to buy your limited edition copy:

Amazon  |  iBooks  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

Available in eBook and Paperback

Purchase WILD DEADWOOD TALES today and we’ll turn it into a donation! 

LIKE us on Facebook and help us spread the word about this great cause!

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Tell us about a time when you were inspired to do something to help others. 

Leave a comment for a chance to win an eBook copy of Wild Deadwood Tales. Be sure to include your email. We'll draw a winner this coming Friday.

E.E. Burke's Best of the West: Celebrating Cowboys

Cowboys are as American as apple pie and baseball. This weekend we're celebrating National Day of the Cowboy with tributes to famous cowboys and spotlights on books we've written about cowboys, the Western lifestyle and our unique Western history.

We're also giving away an awesome prize package. Read on to find out more!

Do you know these famous cowboys?

Will Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935)

William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers was a Native American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, social commentator and motion picture actor. He was one of the world's most famous stars in the 1920s and 1930s. 

Known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son", Rogers was born to a prominent Cherokee Nation family in Indian Territory. 

On a trip to New York City, Rogers was at Madison Square Garden, on April 27, 1905, when a wild steer broke out of the arena and began to climb into the viewing stands. Rogers roped the steer to the delight of the crowd. The feat got front page attention from the newspapers, giving him valuable publicity and an audience eager to see more. Willie Hammerstein saw his vaudeville act and signed Rogers to appear on the Victoria Roof—which was literally on a rooftop—with his pony. 

He traveled around the world three times, made 71 movies, wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure. By the mid-1930s, the American people adored Rogers. He was the leading political wit of the Progressive Era and was the top-paid Hollywood movie star at the time.  (Source: Wikipedia)

“Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.” ~ Will Rogers


Nat Love (June 1854 – 1921)

Love was born a slave on a Tennessee plantation around 1854. His father was a slave foreman on the plantation's fields, and his mother the manager of its kitchen. Despite slavery-era statutes that outlawed black literacy, he learned to read and write as a child with the help of his father. When slavery ended, Nat took a job working on a local farm and was noted as having a gift for breaking horses. After some time of working extra odd jobs in the area, he won a horse in a raffle, which he then sold back to the owner for $50. He used the money to leave town and, at the age of 16, headed West. He worked on the Duval Ranch in the Texas Panhandle, where according to his autobiography he fought rustlers and endured inclement weather, and trained himself to become an expert marksman and cowboy. After driving a herd of cattle to the railhead in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, he entered a rodeo on the 4th of July in 1876  and won the rope, throw, tie, bridle, saddle, and bronco riding contests. It was at this rodeo that he claims friends and fans gave him the nickname "Deadwood Dick", a reference to a literary character created by Edward Lytton Wheeler, a dime novelist of the day. (Source: Legends of America)

"Mounted on my favorite horse, my lariat near my hand and my trusty guns in my belt...I felt I could defy the world." ~ The Life and Adventures of Nat Love, 1907.

Purchase Today

Read great stories, help a cowboy

This year a group of bestselling authors came together to write an anthology benefitting the Western Sports Foundation, an organization that provides critical support to athletes participating in Western lifestyle sports.   

If you love cowboys and rodeo, be sure to pick up a copy of this anthology. Every purchase is a donation and goes toward helping cowboys stay strong and keep riding.

Wild Deadwood Tales features 17 short stories set in the quintessential Western town of Deadwood, S.D. 

Included are stories from five GLIAS authors: E.E. Burke, Amanda McIntyre, Angi Morgan, Jacqui Nelson and Liz Selvig.

Here's an excerpt from E.E. from her story, Unexpected Calamity:

The bartender wiped out a glass with his apron and set it in front of her. For some reason, he held the bottle upright instead of pouring. “That’ll be two bits.”

“I’ll pay when I’m finished.” Jane reached for the bottle.

He held it away and narrowed his eyes. “Here, you pay before you drink.” 

If she had anything to pay with, she’d have pulled out the coins. As it was, she was broke. She could always pay later. “How do I know it ain’t bluestone swill?”

“Pay or go elsewhere,” he insisted.

“Don’t you recognize me?” She took off her hat. “Calamity Jane. I’ve been featured in dime books with Deadwood Dick. That’s worth a free drink.”

“Not in here it isn’t.”

“I’ll buy her a drink.” From behind, a man reached out and laid two bits on the bar. She glimpsed his strong, long-fingered hand and neatly trimmed nails, which were almost familiar...

When she spun to look at him, she couldn’t see his face on account of it being so dark inside and him having a wide hat brim pulled low over his eyes. But she could make out the light brown mustache framing his mouth.

A shiver rippled over her skin like an unexpected cold snap.

As he sauntered away, she stared in disbelief at the fine frock coat stretched across his shoulders, the long golden hair hanging from beneath the hat. With his back to her, he dragged out a chair. It looked like he was rejoining a poker game with four others.

 A gambler. Of course, he just reminded her of Wild Bill.

“Hey, mister,” she called out.

He didn’t turn around. Some of the other men glanced up at her but went right back to playing cards.

“Here’s your drink,” the bartender said.

Jane gave her attention to the whiskey long enough to toss it back in one burning gulp, set the glass on the bar and turned to give the stranger her thanks.

He was gone. In fact, there wasn’t even a chair where he’d been sitting.

The celebration continues tomorrow... 

Cowboy Treats

Celebrate the weekend with a special prize package:

From E.E. Burke: a signed copy of the anthology Wild Deadwood Tales and her debut novel, Her Bodyguard, along with candles created especially to honor the two Western heroes in those books--Wild Bill and Buck. (I call these romance-scented candles, Old Flames. And boy, do they smell good!)

From Jacqui Nelson: Three eBooks including, Between Love and Lies, Adella's Enemy and The Calling Birds.

From Angi Morgan: Ranger Guardian

From Amanda McIntyre: Closer to You

Enter to win this special prize package using the Rafflecopter. Don't forget to comment.

Who are some of your favorite cowboy heroes? What makes them so special?

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Go Wild in Deadwood This Summer with Angi, E.E., Liz and Amanda

Come hang out with some of your favorite authors and meet new friends at the Wild Deadwood Reads Book Signing and Legendary Events in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Four of our very own crew members will be there: Angi Morgan, E.E. Burke, Jacqui Nelson, Amanda McIntyre and Lizbeth Selvig, along with lots of other bestselling authors in all genres. Find our latest short stories in Wild Deadwood Tales, a benefit for the Western Sports Foundation. We'll be signing these books with the other authors involved at the Deadwood rodeo and at some of the events listed below!

Wild Deadwood Reads has grown since year one, with close to 100 authors. To accommodate this bigger and more Legendary event, we're taking over the entire, amenity-packed Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel, and we've negotiated a fabulous rate for guest rooms for you from Wednesday through Sunday night, so you can come in early, stay an extra day, or do both!
Our Hotel - the new and upscale Deadwood Mountain Grand

THURSDAY, JUNE 7

Everything starts Thursday evening, June 7, with a Meet-and-Greet Cocktail Hour on the patio overlooking Deadwood. Check out the view!

 View of Deadwood from the Deadwood Mountain Grand.


FRIDAY, JUNE 8

Get ready to jump onto a luxury motorcoach with authors and other readers on Friday morning for an all-inclusive sightseeing tour including three amazing destinations around the Black Hills. (E.E. Burke and Amanda McIntyre will be two of your sponsors that day!)

Big Thunder Gold Mine

Crazy Horse Monument
Prairie Berry Winery


SATURDAY, JUNE 9

Saturday morning you'll enjoy a hot, delicious Breakfast With the Authors right in our hotel, in the Deadwood Mountain Grand's Event Center. The Wild Deadwood Reads Book Fair begins Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. We'll even have vendor tables where local small businesses will tempt you with everything from hair pretties to chocolate!

During the Book Signing, you'll have the chance to win something fabulous at the Basket Raffle, which will support a local non-profit organization. Authors, cover models, sponsors, and vendors are all very busy dreaming up the perfect goodies to place into a basket to catch your attention! 

Check out our Rodeo Raffle basket! It's worth the trip for these one-on-a-kind finds.


SATURDAY NIGHT

Saturday evening we have The Rodeo! Right in town, it's a gasp-provoking PBR rodeo with the rankest bulls in the territory. We're lucky to have an exclusive VIP Package, Behind the Chutes, where PBR Bullriders and stock contractors will show us how they load the bulls into the chutes, and how the cowboys get themselves settled onto the bulls - for at least 8 seconds! We'll enjoy VIP reserved seating for the rodeo, bus transportation both to and from the rodeo grounds, a special catered dinner, and afterward, we head over to the No. 10 Saloon for a live band at the official after-hours hangout for the bull riders and all the rodeo staff. Get your cameras ready - they love to show off their belt buckles!

There's so much to do and see in Deadwood and all around the area, you'll have a must-see list that'll keep you busy all weekend. And we give you plenty of time to explore on your own! Walking the streets of historic downtown Deadwood, you can easily imagine Wild Bill Hickok tipping his hat as he passes you on the sidewalk. Or Calamity Jane causing a ruckus at a noisy saloon. Or Seth Bullock facing down a gunslinger and sending him on his way to Mount Moriah Cemetery, just up the hill from town. And, well, you don't have to imagine any of this. Deadwood stages free shootouts right on Main Street!




REGISTER TODAY FOR ONLY $10

Wild Deadwood Reads Reader Registration is only $10 which includes a handy neck wallet and two more wonderful gifts which are listed for you on the website. Besides being the perfect spot for your phone and other essentials, the neck wallet holds your name tag which allows you to sign up for all the great weekend events listed above, some of which are FREE, or at a greatly reduced price thanks to our author sponsors!

Check out the website http://wilddeadwoodreads.com/ and our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/wilddeadwoodreads/ to see everything that you can experience!

We're thrilled to be going to Deadwood in June, and we don't want to make sure you don't miss this awesome opportunity.

Have you ever been to the Deadwood area, or is there anything in the area you'd like to see?