Paty Jager is an award-winning author of fifty-three novels, eight novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work have Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. Learn more about Paty and her books at her Blog and Website where you’ll also find links to her other social media accounts..jpg)
The Wallowa Mountains
When readers asked for more outdoor adventures in my Gabriel Hawke novels, I let my mind wander with how I could have my character out in the wilderness more and still be working on a murder mystery.
Since Gabriel Hawke is an Oregon State Trooper with the Fish and Wildlife Division, basically what used to be called a game warden, he does spend a lot of time outdoors. But when he is following leads on a homicide, he needs to be closer to communications and labs to gather the information he needs to find the killer.
In the latest book, Owl’s Silent Strike, I start off with Hawke on a week’s vacation, helping his friend Dani Singer travel into the mountains by horseback in early December to fly out her helicopter. Dani owns Charlie’s Lodge a minimalist resort in the Wallowa Mountains that can only be accessed by foot, horseback, or air. She had already flown her small airplane out and wanted her helicopter in the “valley” over the winter to work on it.
When a snowstorm hits the mountain before they arrive at the lodge, Hawke has to use all of his winter skills to not only keep them alive but to discover the identity of a body he finds in the barn. While reading books about avalanches and winter tracking and conducting my own study of blood droplets in snow, I tried putting myself in Hawke’s snowshoes as he searched for a missing person and ventured up into the mountains more than once to find the evidence needed to bring justice to the body in the barn.
Yes, I said my own study of blood droplets. Using blood saved from homegrown beef I had thawed to cook, I made droplets in the snow and watched them for several days to see how they reacted to the snow and cold. It was a fun experiment, and it gave me insight into what my character would see while tracking a person with a gunshot wound.
Growing up at the base of the Wallowa Mountains, I have experienced deep snow, riding horses, and snowshoeing. Luckily, I haven’t had frostbite, but I’ve had some extremities that have felt like ice. Warming them up isn’t fun. Using some of my experiences, I hope I was able to make the trials that Hawke and Dani go through feel real.
What I didn’t know from experience, I read up on, Googled, and asked people for help. I have a pretty long line of thank-yous for this book. From beta readers who picked up on law enforcement and medical actions that weren’t correct to a critique partner who highlighted multiple uses of some of my favorite words. And a wonderful pilot reader/fan who answers all my aircraft questions.
It’s this community of readers/fans and specialists who help me do the best I can to be accurate while writing fiction stories.
The next book in this series will begin in Montana. I spent a week there recently driving dirt roads and taking photos to help me better see the story that will take Hawke to Salmon Lake and the surrounding area. In this book, he will again be outside a lot as he tries to find his sister who is running from a murderer.
A Gabriel Hawke Novel, Book 9
Unexpected snowstorm…
Unfortunate accident…
And a body…
What started out as a favor and a leisurely trip into the mountains, soon turns State Trooper Gabriel Hawke’s life upside down. The snowstorm they were trying to beat comes early, a horse accident breaks Dani Singer’s leg, and Hawke finds a body in the barn at Charlie’s Lodge.
Hawke sets Dani’s leg, then follows the bloody trail of a suspect trying to flee the snow-drifted mountains. Hawke is torn between getting the woman he loves medical care and knowing he can’t leave a possible killer on the mountain.
Before the killer is brought to justice, Dani and Hawke will put their relationship to the test and his job on the line.
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2 comments:
Thank you for having me here, today!
You’re very welcome, Paty!
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