When Moody Publishers contemplated dropping their fiction line, staff began some dedicated lobbying against such a decision. “A few of us who love fiction, and know the impact it has on the reader, started a “save fiction” campaign of sorts,” explains Deb Kaiser—now associate publisher for Moody’s devoted fiction line, River North. Deb can proudly say their campaign was a roaring success! Susan Page Davis, Darlene Franklin and Vickie McDonough have become part of the triumphant River North story with Texas Trails.
Darlene Franklin
Darlene Franklin kicks off the series with Lone Star Trail and introduces Jud Morgan, who fights his attraction for a German immigrant as he opposes the immigrants’ plans for a new Germany. Darlene also pens the fourth book, A Ranger’s Trail, which takes place 30 years later and features Jud’s son Buck, a Texas Ranger who seeks justice while a widow is set on revenge. Prejudice and injustice are themes Darlene explores, as she explains “Both books deal with prejudice between two Caucasian groups. In Lone Star Trail, both Jud and Wande have to work through prejudices, dangers and misunderstandings that separate them. A Ranger’s Trail takes the tension a step further, and prejudice leads to deadly violence. Leta wants vengeance but is denied any kind of justice.” Darlene considered it a privilege to work with her friends, whose writing talent she admires greatly. “Diversity and creativity go hand in hand. My work with Susan and Vickie on Texas Trails reinforced that truth. The three of us brought a much better glimpse into Texas’s sprawling history than any one of us could have by herself. Our stories are different, and the series is richer for it.”
Susan Page Davis
Combing through a timeline of Texan historical events and selecting ones they were fascinated by was the beginning of an excellent collaboration, according to Susan Page Davis. “We narrowed it down to our strongest interests and arranged our stories by decade. We then developed our stories individually, with the characters overlapping the books only minimally.” Susan pursues spiritual themes of forgiveness and reconciliation in books two and five, Captive Trail and Cowgirl Trail, with both books featuring women as leading protagonists. Captive Trail explores the psyche of a child taken captive by Indians, an area of interest for Susan. “I have always been intrigued by stories of captivity, and have collected first-person accounts and written about this topic before. I knew that I wanted to write about a girl who made a successful transition back into the world of the whites. My research told me that this was fairly rare. But I couldn’t give up hope that it could happen.” Taabe Waipu in Captive Trail and Cowgirl Trail’s Maggie Porter must learn to forgive other people and themselves in order to be reconciled to their families and to God, making these books challenging as well as entertaining.
Vickie McDonough
Writing the third book, Long Trail Home, was a little easier than penning the final installment, fittingly titled End of the Trail, according to Vickie McDonough. “Writing the last book in a series is always a mixed bag of feelings. It’s good to finally wrap up a series but also a bit melancholic as you say goodbye to characters that you’ve lived and worked with for so long.” Sharing the journey with Susan and Darlene was a blessing but not without some give and take, as Vickie explains. “Each of us had our own ideas for the series, and at one time or another, had to compromise to make it all work. I think that the end product turned out fabulously and readers will love it.” With a son in the armed forces, Vickie wrote from personal experience in Long Trail Home when creating Riley Morgan, a soldier who returns from the War Between the States. And Vickie had fun with Brooks Morgan, the cocky drifter in End of the Trail, who hides his problems behind smiles and jokes. Through him she revealed the spiritual message that God works in our lives even when we don’t realize it or yet believe in Him.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2012 issue of FamilyFiction digital magazine. Subscribe for free today!
The series:
Lone Star Trail (Texas Trail #1)
Captive Trail (Texas Trail #2)
The Long Trail Home (Texas Trail #3)
A Ranger’s Trail (Texas Trail #4)
Cowgirl Trail (Texas Trail #5)
End of the Trail (Texas Trail #6)