Earthen Trinkets

by Kieran York

Bryana Hays and her long-time partner, Michelle Dawson, were in their early sixties. They had dreamed of a comfortable retirement in Denver, Colorado. They could never have envisioned being penniless and living on a Kansas farm. The farm was located near Buffalo Plains, Kansas, a town controlled by the wealthy, powerful, and bigoted Roland family. The Rolands had a special disdain for the two new residents of their community. Tank Roland’s land bordered the Hays farm. He would like nothing better than to expand his wild game hunting reserve by getting title to Bryana and Michelle’s property. The women were overwhelmed with their work, so their best friend from Denver, L.J. Tracy, arrived with what she thought might be an answer to their farmhand problem. Ricki James was an ex-juvenile delinquent, a hardcore dyke, and was not meant for the homophobic small town. Bryana questioned if she and Michelle would ever again know peace and tranquility. She wondered if they could save the farm — not only for themselves, but also for the wildlife. The thought remained. Year after year, her father had tended the land… And now she understood the peril involved when the gamble was against fate. Just as her parents had taken their stewardship over the land seriously, Bryana knew the land required reverence.

230 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2014

About the author

Author of APPOINTMENT WITH A SMILE, 2012 - Blue Feather Books, 2013 Lambda Literary Award Finalist; TIMBER CITY MASKS, CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN VEILS, SUGAR WITH SPICE - short story collection, and WET VIOLETS - poetry collection contributor.

Appointment with a Smile is available through Blue Feather Books Limited. Please visit the site at www.bluefeatherbooks.com. Or through Bella Books Distribution for books or as an e-book. It is also available from Amazon. Wet Violets: Sappho's Corner Poetry Series, Volume 2, is published by UltraVioletLovePublishing and is available through UltraVioletLovePublishing or Amazon.

Kieran York worked as a reporter and reviewer for both newspapers and magazines and was a magazine publisher for three years. She has written mainstream works including poetry and general fiction and is the author of two Royce Madison mysteries, Timber City Masks and Crystal Mountain Veils. She also wrote a collection of lesbian short stories entitled Sugar With Spice.

During the seventies, she wrote and performed songs with a woman's band.
Kieran has been a guest lecturer and panel member at various events, including Rocky Mountain Book Exhibition, Colorado Woman Musicians Series, and Sisters in Crime Mystery Writers programs. She has written for "Journal of Mystery Readers International." In addition, she has given numerous campus and coffeehouse poetry readings and taught poetry and creative writing workshops.

She graduated from a Kansas university and attended Mexico's University of the Americas her junior year. She has done graduate work at the University of Colorado.

Kieran lives in the Rocky Mountain foothills with her schnauzer, Clover. She enjoys gardening, music, literature, art, and theatre. She considers her valuables to include Clover and other family and friends, her library, her antique typewriter collection, her guitar, and her garden.