Peter’s latest book is up and available for sale on Amazon, in paperback and ebook!
Silver In the Stones
What comes with a silver boom?
Back stabbers, claim jumpers and con men, and that’s just to start.
Walt Ames is working to keep his ranch afloat and his transport business in motion when silver is discovered on his property. It’s going to take cunning, determination and a little luck to investigate the claim before the predators find him.
Can he keep his business and integrity intact or is everything he loves going to fall prey to the dangers of a silver rush?
For this book, Peter literally went and drove the roads laid down over old trails, and went up and in the mountains, even taking me on a steam engine train ride on the Royal Gorge Railroad, while talking with the folks about now-defunct lines in the area.
That was fun, because I remember steam engines coming down the tracks as a kid, but never rode one before, just amtrack. Peter, on the other hand, has ridden miles and miles of them in Africa, going flat out at commuter speeds with the ash and occasional cinder flying in the carriage. So this was an oddly touristified and non-ashy experience for him, and oddly upscale and different sounds / feel of travel for me, and much more leisurely than either of us were used to. He spent a lot of the trip going “Remains of blah blah there, and yes, I see how they had issues constructing this part because, and how much blasting needed…” and I was going “Oh, look at the folding in those rocks! And what an angle of upthrust! Oh, that’s an active mining claim right there. Oooh, I see how they’re piping the water for the sluice, that’s clever!”
…I have patchy memories of the trip because I wasn’t getting enough oxygen, but my darling did his best to keep me entertained while digging into serious research. And while the route may have gone up over passes and wound through very small remnants of silver boomtowns, and past certain ranches, it was also charted to go from coffee shop to coffee shop. Because he loves me.
So if you want the Old West as it was, seen through the eyes of his characters to cover some historical events that actually happened, as well as a rollicking good tale, get Silver In the Stones today!
Mad Genius Club 
I’ve only seen the Royal Gorge Railroad from about a thousand feet above, walking over the Royal Gorge Bridge, but from that I know the scenery is amazing! Next time I’m back in that part of Colorado it is on my to do list.
Congratulations to Peter! And, it’s a great cover.
I am looking forward to reading this book. I have already purchased my copy. Your comment about driving the old trails reminded me of a favorite book, sadly now long out of print, titled The Wake of the Prairie Schooner. By Irene Paden. The author and her family spent much of the 1930s and early 40s traveling primarily by car along the old Oregon and California trails. At the time, many of these trails were much more extant than they are today. Her stories were fascinating bits of history.
I can’t wait to dive into Peter’s newest book!