I'd like to brag that I wrote this book to catch the cross-genre (Western to Mystery) marketplace. There has been recent discussion among many western writers about the decline of the genre, and I recognized that. But I didn't recognize it when I began writing Fury in Sumner County. It wasn't until after the book was out and languishing on book shelves that I thought of the "Mystery, history and ESP" promotion line.

My initial impetus was to break a pattern I'd seen in my writing. It seemed most of my stories were some sort of Odyssey, with my protagonists trekking great distances as the story revolved around them. I also noticed that none of my heroes were "family people." They were orphans or other displaced persons who struggled without support of siblings or parents. I wanted to prove to myself I could write a variety of character types and stories.

I knew, however, that an interesting story needed a main character with a set of qualities that would make her (I knew the protagonist would be a woman) unique and compelling. I quickly decided my protagonist would be clairvoyant. This satisfied my own continual interests in Extrasensory Phenomena.

I also wanted to tell about cattle drives and the beginning of the "Cowboy Era." Since most traditional westerns take place in this short-lived era (1870 - 1905) I wanted to show its infancy, before cowboy boots and hats, before barbed wire; so that became the backdrop. The murder that sparks the whole story developed when I traveled to southern Kansas and spent considerable time reading old journals and Kansas history in the libraries of Caldwell and Wellington.

I pursued more studies on ESP so I could present a believable character. The material was fascinating. In the nineteenth century, the acceptance and expansion of mysticism was steadily increasing. By the 1850s, seances and meditation groups were common among America's elite; minstrel shows and charlatans kept the urban lower-classes amused, while rural areas were rife with increased beliefs that an individual with certain mental abilities could affect lives around them. Among the traditionally religious, the term "hex" sprang up (1850s), and with it, the increase of phrases and symbols to ward off the attending evil. Throughout the South, this rural attitude became enhanced with pantheistic legends and rituals of American Indians and transplanted African slaves. Along the Gulf Coast, voodoo was not considered entertainment.

With my newfound knowledge, I developed my charagter to be somewhat troubled by her "gift." Her personal development through the story was to come to terms with her abilities.

Getting all this in place didn't simplify the writing process, however. I still had to overcome my initial tendencies to write an Odyssey. I gave my character a family--a mother and father, and two younger brothers--and plunked her down in a settlement that showed a composite of 1868 Kansas people. Kansas was the melting pot's melting pot, especially right after the War Between the States. So in the settlement there's an ex-confederate family, a former mountain man, a black couple raising cattle. They have a run-in with Osage Indians, and cattle drives bring in a variety of. Of course, a Kansas story wouldn't be complete with out the weather--particularly a tornado or two.

The character who became Ellen Hargrove--widowed teacher, began as Lori Ann Jarvis, a plucky 19-year-old still living at home. The first draft read like a YA book, which I didn't want. So Lori Ann evolved to a more mature person--her name changing several times--and her reason for living with her parents and two brothers is her recent widowhood. I made her family of in-laws slightly mysterious, adding a secondary mystery to the whole. She has suitors: Reed Carter, an intenerate gambler, and the flamboyant U.S. Marshall Stamford. The farthest she goes from home is twenty miles.

While I worked, I considered this could develop into a series called KANSAS DREAMER, with each book taking place in a different Kansas county and the story line revealing a piece of interesting history from that county. Ellen would have her brothers to possibly initiate some trouble, the Marshall to aid her in the legal aspects, the gambler to get information on the "shady side" of things...I had great plans.

To date, however, Fury in Sumner County is the only Ellen Hargrove book. I am quite pleased that I overcame my non-family, trek-around tendencies. I've even developed a presentation, "Mysticism in the 19th Century" that I give at libraries and schools. While the book hasn't made a best seller list, the audio company Books In Motion liked the Mystery/history combination (that I didn't recognize until after the fact) and has produced it for their line of audio cassettes and CDs; it's even in MP3 format.