April BlogTalkRadio Red River Writers Live Show

The April Red River Writers Show features authors Gwyn Ramsey and Sherry Monahan who write about the development of the American West. Researching their writing made me think of my own great-grandmothers who packed up children and a wagon full of essentials and set out over raw trails to settle in Kansas in the 1860s. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rrradio/2011/04/11/red-river-writers-live

One left her home and family in Tennessee following the Civil War to spend weeks and months living in a wagon and cooking under a canvas tarpaulin. The other left Cincinnati, a major city, to end up in a small settlement along Mule Creek in Comanche County, Kansas where a coin-flip determined the settlement's name. Initially, they left everything behind, not knowing if ever anyone would return to pick up their family treasures or heirlooms. Often no one did. These women followed their men to areas where they would have to rely on the kindness of fellow migrants and strangers. If they survived and prospered, then they could bring their families westward. That would require a lot of hard work and an equal portion of luck.

Every second Monday of the month at noon Central time, Jon Magee and I host the Red River Writers Live Show on BlogTalkRadio. These shows are recorded and can be found at www.blogtalkradio/rrradio. This radio for writers show was started by April Robins who also started the Red River Writers Association. April has an Ezine, robinfallsmagazine.com. where all her radio shows and hosts are listed.

This month on Red River Writers Live, we are featuring two accomplished Women Writing the West and Western Writers of America authors. The first guest, Gwyn Ramsey writes about the American west migration in the mid 1800s. She has written and continues to write a carefully researched series known as the Anderson Chronicles. This fictional family of stalwart Virginians are put through a series of tests that breathes life into the real life dangers and disasters that faced those who ventured into the wild, untamed American West. Gwyn Ramsey's fourth book in the series, Trails of Destiny, will be released later this year.

The second half of the hour's show will feature the renowned, award-winning Victorian West author, Sherry Monahan who has published four beautifully researched books on that topic, including, The Wicked West: Boozers, Cruisers, Gamblers and More and Tombstone's Treasures: Silver Mines and Golden Saloons. Sherry Monahan has just completed her 8th book. This one is about a lady who leaves English society and follows her husband into the raw American West. When the author meets the lady's granddaughter in England, she finds her research is of great interest to the woman's family.

These two authors make our own history very enjoyable.