The Sunstone Brooch : Time Travel Romance by Katherine Logan (comprehension books .TXT) 📗

spent many hours with my TR expert Dr. Tom Appleton. Tom was always available to answer questions, but I couldn’t pin him down about how TR would have reacted to Ensley. TR supported women’s suffrage and became a champion of women’s rights, so I believe he would have enjoyed her company. Their interactions are strictly my imagination at work, except for the book discussions. Those were all based on TR’s reading preferences.

The fall into the ice pond, the cattle arriving on the train, the stampede, and the roundup were all actual events during TR’s time in the Badlands.

In future books, we’ll see him again when he becomes police commissioner in New York City, then as a Rough Rider, and finally as president. And with each of these “visits,” Tavis, Remy, and James Cullen will find their soul mates.

The Sunstone Brooch started as a love story set during TR’s time at Elkhorn Ranch, but once James Cullen left Ensley behind, the story took off in another direction. But that’s what usually happens when brooches are activated, and a short book became an extra-long one.

When I sit down to write, I rarely have a plan, and I’m often shocked by the turn of events. From the beginning, I didn’t even know the identity of Ensley’s soul mate. But of the four men, Austin was the only one ready for love.

While visiting my daughter during the 2019 Christmas holiday, I asked my son-in-law for an accident that could end a professional basketball player’s career. We tossed around some ideas, and then he suggested I google Jay Williams. Williams’s basketball career ended when he had a motorcycle accident. Williams has since turned his successful basketball career into a successful sportscasting career on ESPN. But in the Celtic brooch world, Austin gets a second chance to play the game he loved.

Paul Brodie was a complete surprise, and I didn’t know what role he would play when he first showed up on the page. And I didn’t know about Tavis’s secret life until he went into the fog with Erik’s body.

And Erik, wow! What a surprise he was. If you were shocked…well, so was I. Hopefully, we’re finished with the Vikings, although the Illuminati will probably show up again.

As for what happened to JC in Asia, I don’t have any idea. He was unable to talk about it before he went to the monastery, and by the time he gets home, it might not matter.

It was hard writing through a pandemic, and my focus suffered. Since I couldn’t visit my children and grandchildren, I brought home an eight-week-old Goldendoodle named Maddie, and yes, she loves to play ball, and of course, she had to show up in the book.

It was fun to see the clan back together for a songfest and to hear David’s sax again. Check out The Sunstone Brooch playlist on Spotify.

If you want to travel to Bhutan, it’s not as easy as the MacKlennas made it seem. Independent travel isn’t allowed. All travelers must make travel arrangements through an authorized tour operator on a preplanned, prepaid, and escorted all-inclusive tour package. The tour operators take care of all land arrangements, including in-country travel/road permits, temple permits, and special permits.

It takes a village to write and produce one of these big books. And I couldn’t do it without the assistance of a lot of people. If you’re reading the print version, check out the Author Notes for The Sunstone Brooch for links.

•    Chief Editor and Content Editor: Faith Freewoman

•    Virtual Assistant, Fact Checker, Researcher, and Keeper of the MacKlenna Clan Series Bible: Annette Glahn

•    Freelance Proofreader: Elaini Caruso

•    Beta Readers: Lori Seiderman, Paula Retelsdorf, and Jen Coleman

•    Marine Advisor: John Retelsdorf

•    Medical Advisor: Dr. Ken Muse

•    Historical/Theodore Roosevelt Expert: Dr. Tom Appleton

•    Cover Design by Damonza

•    Interior Design by BB eBooks

•    Cover image by photographer Jerry Blank

Some sites you might want to check out:

•    Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

•    Theodore Roosevelt’s Reading List

•    Elkhorn Ranch

•    Bill Sewall & Wilmot Dow

•    Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch House Plan

•    The layout of the house at Elkhorn Ranch

•    Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation

•    Roosevelt Island

•    The early years of Chicago’s Palmer House

•    Chicago—Passage of Time 1880s

•    The Rarest Horse on Earth (Akhal-Teke)

•    Jarlshof from Above

•    Tiger’s Next Trek

•    What It’s Like To Visit Taktsang Monastery (Tiger’s Nest) In Bhutan

•    Dresses of Bhutan – Traditional Dress of The Himalayan Kingdom

•    Official railroad map of Dakota issued by the railroad commissioners, November 1st, 1886.

•    No flint? No problem. How to find a rock that will spark like flint

•    Clovis Point

•    How to make a survival spear

•    Making birch bark bowls

•    Becky’s thimble

•    Yggdrasil: The Sacred Ash Tree of Norse Mythology

Places that inspired my imagination:

•    MacKlenna Ranch in Colorado

•    James Cullen’s house in Washington, D.C.

•    The Williams’s house in Cambridge

•    Flat Top Ranch

•    Elliott’s airplane

A few books about Theodore Roosevelt that are now part of my library:

•    Bill Sewall’s Story of Theodore Roosevelt by William Sewall

•    Hunting Trips of a Ranchman: Sketches of Sport on the Northern Cattle Plains by Theodore Roosevelt

•    Roosevelt in the Bad Lands by Hermann Hagedorn

•    Roosevelt’s Ranch Life In North Dakota by Albert Tangeman Vollweiler

•    The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, A Lifetime of Exploration, and the Triumph of American Natural History by Darrin Lunde

•    The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

•    The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of the American Athlete by Ryan Swanson

•    Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography

•    Theodore Roosevelt: A Literary Life by Thomas Bailey

•    Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands: A Young Politician’s Quest for Recovery in the American West by Roger I. Silvestro

What’s next? The Bloodstone Brooch is set in 1895 New York City with Tavis, Remy, JC, Paul, and Austin. When will it be out? It takes a year to research and to write a brooch book—the length of three regular-sized romance novels. I wish I could write faster.

How many brooch books will there be? I don’t know. I turn 71 this year, and as long as I can keep writing and readers still want to read them, I’ll keep doing what I love doing—writing in the MacKlenna World!

Blessings,

Katherine

THE CELTIC BROOCH SERIES

THE RUBY BROOCH (Book 1)

Kitherina MacKlenna and Cullen Montgomery’s love story

THE LAST MACKLENNA (Book 2 – not a time travel story)

Meredith Montgomery and Elliott Fraser’s love story

THE SAPPHIRE BROOCH (Book 3)

Charlotte Mallory and Braham