Happy Jack Light by Stephen Bly Happy Jack lighting came to mind recently. I sat at the kitchen table next to the wood stove, straining to read the newspaper, and I realized a couple bulbs in the lamp above me burned out. Then I regretted not buying lightbulbs the last time I traveled to town. […]
Branding & The Christian Seal Many believe the Spanish explorer Conquistador Cortez brought the first cattle to North America. His mark of three Latin crosses brought the first cow branding of hides in the New World. Every year since, someone’s been burning hair and leaving their mark on cows, calves, steers and bulls. And brands […]
Which is Best, Hackamore or Metal Bit? A cowboy’s Spanish produces a rather humorous language. Take the good Spanish word jáquima, meaning headstall, that leather halter you slip over the head of your horse. This word derived from the Old Spanish xaquima. From the Americanized pronunciation of jaquima, the spelling of hackamore entered the written […]
WORKING LIKE A COWBOY by Stephen Bly Everyone wants to be like a cowboy, it seems. Or to know a cowboy. Even in other countries, to be like a cowboy seems popular. I know this because of writing westerns and the responses I get. Such as the Austin-Stoner Series. I can’t count how many letters […]
Legends & Lies Try to pronounce Hassayampa, a legendary old time cowboy word. Some good words like that can’t be let go, even if you don’t know the definition. Cowboys might forget the original source by giving a word a new meaning. For instance, down in Arizona you’ll find a stream named by the Indians […]
Think Like A Cowboy It’s 1954. In the western cowboy novel, Cowboy For A Rainy Afternoon, six Old West cowboys and a 10-year-old boy meet for a weekly cribbage game. While the old men spin tales of days gone by on the trail, a real life adventure stirs around them. The boy with the red […]
Horse Thieves Beware! A friend drove me to a conference in a large eastern city where I would speak. Even though security guards patrolled the parking lot at the event facility, I discovered crowbar looking devices bolted across vehicle steering wheels. “To protect from theft,” my friend explained. In the Old West days, most everyone […]
What To Tell Your Kids and Grandkids About Heaven ** Our kids know our views on politics and sports, on movie stars and music. We express our opinion on most anything, whether they ask us or not. So, why would we hesitate to tell them about something as important as heaven? We don’t know everything […]
Hoolihan Roping Trick by western author Stephen Bly I never laid any claim to being a roper, but I do enjoy tossing a loop now and then. One thing you learn right away. There are different types of throws to lasso a critter. One of the slickest is what old timers call the hoolihan. Most […]
Have You Ever Been Hornswoggled? The man who called me on the phone sounded friendly, maybe too much so. It was the old, “Hi, Stephen, how you doin’? How’s everything in Idaho? The weather treatin’ you and the ranchers right? Know you aren’t thinkin’ about the busy fall yet, but I ran across a deal […]
In the frame short story in this anthology, Ben and Marnie Pearson never intended to start a jewelry collection. But when they were given a box of leftover jewelry at an estate sale, they were intrigued by the colorful contents . . .
The sparkling jewels featured in this collection may have been passed down through generations or discovered accidentally, but each has its own unique short story. From diamonds to emeralds, opals to rubies, these stones have witnessed it all.
Here in The Jeweler's Heart are their fascinating tales told by seventeen of the talented novel writers of ChiLibris. For fans of inspirational fiction and heartwarming tales, The Jeweler's Heart is a treasure.
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