E. Joe Brown

     I looked at my blogs this year and saw that I had said little, if anything, about Charlie Kelly and his beautiful wife, Susan, in a long time. That's just wrong—really wrong!

     For those of you who weren't around from the start, let me get you up to date. Charlie Kelly (my protagonist) is loosely based on my maternal grandfather, who, as a young man, was a cowboy on the world-famous Miller's 101 Ranch in northern Oklahoma. He was there at the time of my story, which follows the life of Charlie Kelly, in other words, about a hundred years ago.

     My grandfather was born in Stephens County, Oklahoma, outside Loco, Oklahoma. I use that area in the story. He and his family lived and worked on a ranch outside Fort Sumner, New Mexico, before Granddaddy went to the 101 Ranch. I use that in the story, too.

     I also use some stories from his tales about working at the 101. Kelly Can as a title came from one of those stories.

When I began writing the first novel, A Cowboy's Destiny, the character Susan Kramer-Blackaby was not in the story. That has been an amazing puzzle for me. How she became an essential part of the Kelly Can Saga Series was a natural part of the storyline. It happened very organically. I didn't think of it and insert her into the plot; it just happened as I wrote the story.

     The Kelly Can novels are historical fiction. As a lover of history and storytelling, I wanted to involve my characters in what happened at the time depicted in the novels. So, that meant I could use real people, places, and events if I did everything right. Well, no one is perfect, and certainly not me. But I am doing my best to be true to the time period and limit my chances of a major screw-up. (a little humor there)

I used Susan as a way for Charlie and the story to access much of what I find interesting coming from the period of World War One and the Roaring Twenties. As the heir to her father's fortune, Susan allows me to place her and Charlie into interesting situations. I find it challenging sometimes to give them conflicts that are difficult enough to keep the story interesting, but I'm working on it (a little more humor).

     If you have read Destiny and Fortune, you may have seen how I've used the real Miller brothers, E. W. Marland and Bill Skelly. J. Paul Getty, Harry Sinclair, and some others in the first two novels. I used real places like the 101 Ranch, Agency Hill, and the Million Dollar Elm in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and the Hotel Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Agency Hill still exists today, but the 101, the Elm, and the Hotel Tulsa are no longer there. But one hundred years ago, they were significant players in what was happening in Oklahoma and the nation. We now have huge ranches, big oil, the FBI, and a movie called "Killers of the Flower Moon" today because of what happened during the time of Charlie Kelly's story.

     So, what's on the horizon for Charlie and Susan? You'll need to read the books. (a little more humor)

Think of these things:

1. Tulsa Race Riots

2. Women’s Suffrage

3. Prohibition

4. Growth of the Mafia

5. Businesses boomed in the 1920s

6. Growth of the movie industry

7. Big changes in transportation and communication

As a writer, I have a lot to work with. I'm now revising/editing book three (A Cowboy's Dilemma) with a targeted publication date next year. I have completed major work (60,000 words drafted) on books four and five. You can expect that the seven areas I've mentioned will be part of Charlie and Susan's ongoing story. I'm excited to see where the story goes because I already know some of it. But I'm always pleasantly surprised when the story and characters take over and change what ends up on the page.

 

Happy Trails,

Joe