Bad Girls of the Wild West

In celebration of my upcoming release, Black Hills Desperado, where my heroine is a bank robber,  I’m going to talk about infamous and famous females of the Old West.

1. The Rose of Cimarron: Rose Dunn, a Wild West Bonnie Parker had a thing for bad boys and adrenaline rushes. Not only did she date an outlaw, she was one, joining a gang, robbing coaches and banks. She died in the 1950s, in her 80’s, long lived for a woman who worked on the wrong side of a gun.

2. Cattle Kate: In battles over open range with the Wyoming Cattlemen’s society, Ellen Liddy Watson and her lover, James Averell, met their fates together at the ends of a lynch mob’s ropes. Accused of cattle-rustling, Kate became the first woman to be hung in Wyoming’s history. She was never violent or charged with a crime, but inevitably made her place in history books as an outlaw.

3. Lillian Smith: Annie Oakley’s rival would do anything to steal the show. Cold, ruthless, Lillian pulled no punches and shot better than most men could walk. A Wild West diva of epic proportions, Lillian dressed in a non-conservative manner, cursed with the best of them and began her career as a sideshow trick-shooter at the age of fifteen. She never did replace Annie, but she sure gave her a run for her money.

4. Pearl de Vere: The Soiled Dove of Cripple Creek was a business woman foremost, driving hard bargains and running one of the most infamous brothels in the Wild West. A red-headed knockout, Pearl was most famous for being the first madam to have high-dollar call girls. No pictures exist of her, but legend has it she was one of the most beautiful women in the West.

5. Pearl Hart: Canadian born, Pearl migrated to the United States with her new gambler husband at the tender age of 17. However there was nothing tender about her. When her husband ran off and joined the Spanish-American war, Pearl met Joe Boot and began her life of crime, robbing stage coaches. She is best known for her quote, when awaiting trial for her crimes, "I shall not consent to be tried under a law in which my sex had no voice in making." She eventually was released and vanished. What became of her remains a mystery to this day.

6.Etta Place: School teacher turned bad girl, Etta is best known as Butch Cassidy’s girlfriend. Not only did she ride along with his gang, she helped him to rob banks. She was not with the Cassidy gang when they were killed in South America, and not much is known about what happened to her after that. She simply disappeared.

7. Josephine Sarah Marcus: The other woman. Josephine stole Wyatt Earp’s heart and ultimately destroyed his and her own marriage to Sheriff John Behan. It was rumored this beauty triggered the infamous OK Corral gun fight. Josephine claimed to her dying breath, Wyatt was her one and only true love.

8. Calamity Jane: Martha Jane Canary, better known as the heroine Calamity Jane, saved six passengers on a stagecoach and a captain in South Dakota, where she received her nick-name. This whiskey drinking darling had no problem holding her own with the men in Wild Bill’s Wild West Show. She died in 1903 and asked to be buried next to Wild Bill. It was rumored, even though she was married to another man, Bill Cody was the only man she’d ever loved.

9. Charley Parkhurst: Famous lesbian? Nobody really knows. This young lady lived her entire adult life as a man, driving a stage coach in the Wild West. In fact, her true sex wasn’t known until her death, much to the surprise of all her friends. It is rumored, she is the first American woman to cast a ballot as a registered voter in an election. This woman defied social standards of the day and lived her life as she wanted.

10. Belle Starr: Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed, hid by Frank and Jessie James as a child, this true blue female outlaw ran with a gang, robbed banks and counterfeited currency. She ultimately met her end on the wrong side of a gun. It isn’t clear to this day, if her death was an accident or murder.

11. Annie Oakley: Perhaps the most memorable woman of The Wild West, Phoebe Ann Oakley Moses wasn’t an outlaw or a bad girl by any standard, but boy could she shoot. Annie’s name is synonymous with the Wild West. Annie Oakley could shoot better than almost any man who picked up a rifle. Not only an American legend, Annie was modest in dress and faithful to a fault. This crack shot lived her life by her rules and a place in Wild West history. She died penniless in 1926. It was discovered shortly thereafter, her entire fortune had been given to charities to support women’s rights and help needy children.

So, if you’d like to read about a modern day bad girl, pick up your copy of the Black Hills Wolves story, Black Hills Desperado. It’s available for preorder now and releases on January 23rd.

Preorder Black Hills Desperado here.

D. L. Jackson is an award-winning author of urban fantasy, science fiction, military romance and erotic romance. She loves to incorporate crazy plot twists, comedy and the unexpected into her worlds. As a U.S. Army veteran, she naturally adores men in uniform and feels the world could always use more. She does her part by incorporating as many sexy soldiers in her novels as she can. When she isn't writing or running the roads, you can often find her online chatting with her peers and readers. Grab a cup of iced coffee, pull up your virtual chair and say hi. She loves emails and blog visits from her readers. www.authordljackson.com

2015 Decadent Publishing's New Series: Black Hills Wolves

A new year brings new shifter stories....

Dawn has come to Los Lobos and a nearly decimated wolf pack has found its feet again. Drew Tao has ousted his father, the Alpha, reclaimed his mate, and is determined to make things better than they ever were before. Decadent Publishing invites you to join the Black Hills Wolves pack.

Wolf's Return

Black Hills Wolves Book 1
Rebecca Royce

....A hidden wolf pack. Lies. Intrigue. And reluctant heroes. Get to know the Black Hills…
....Drew Tao left the Black Hills in disgrace, banished by his father. He has spent the last ten years a lone wolf, living on his own. Called back home, he finally gets the chance to set things right. If such a thing is possible….
....Betty Holden has hated her mate every day for the last ten years for abandoning her and their pack. She's been running things in Los Lobos, and she has no intention of letting Drew Tao slip back into her life like nothing has changed-even if she has never been able to resist him. 
....Can there be forgiveness? And can he protect her when another enemy arrives?

Release Date: January 9, 2015
Preorder Here

What a Wolf Wants

Black Hills Wolves Book 2
Heather Long

He runs alone...
....Ryker Grey is used to being on the outside looking in. For more than fifty years, he has worked as Pack Enforcer for the Black Hills Wolves, rising to his rank swiftly. Compelled by duty and devotion to his people, he fought to keep them protected from within and without—earning a few enemies and fewer friends. Drew’s return has sparked healing in the fraying pack, but Ryker remains vigilant.

She needs a place to call her own...
....Saja Lyons has spent her life studying cultures, but never really being a part of them. Completing a double specialty in psychology and sociology, she decides to take the three months after her graduation to find herself on a cross-country drive. She embraces the nomadic road trip until her car breaks down on a deserted stretch of road in the middle of nowhere South Dakota.

Two lonely lives collide in the cold...
....Ryker catches Saja’s scent from a mile away, loneliness edged in fear, frustration, and utter femininity. He approaches her in order to lend her a hand and get her out of the pack’s way...the sooner she’s gone from Los Lobos, the safer the pack will be. When their gazes meet, her playful hostility arouses the hunter in him, and for the first time in fifty years, the enforcer tastes what it’s like to not be alone...
....But what if the best thing that ever happened to him is a danger to the Black Hills Wolves?

Release Date: January 16, 2015
Preorder Here 

Black Hills Desperado

Black Hills Wolves Book 3
D.L. Jackson

....She’s a bad girlfriend.
....Nothing Xio Davis does is right. When she abandons her pack, riding out of town on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle, she finds she’s bitten off more than she can chew. First, it’s small-time crimes, then bank robbery. As Xio sinks into the criminal underworld, the FBI catches up with her. Now, she’s got one way out: snitch.
....When Xio turns state's evidence against a Mexican drug lord, Agent Marcus Cazador steps up to take her home, giving up his career, his place in the El Paso pack, and all he knows to protect her. 
....Xio claims she’s not the same wolf who left ten years before, but can she convince Marcus she’s changed her wicked ways? Or will the Black Hills be the end of the road on her long journey to redemption?

Release Date: January 23, 2015
Preorder Here

Wolf's Song

Black Hills Wolves Book 4
Taryn Kincaid

....Ten years ago, visions of death and the babble of lupine voices in his head drove lone wolf Brick Northridge to challenge his cruel and greedy pack Alpha. Beaten by the Alpha’s thugs and banished from the pack, Brick lives a life of seclusion in a mountain cabin in the Black Hills.
....Born into a rival clan of feline shifters, skinwalker Summer McCoy, in her guise as a raven, watches Brick from afar, giving him back a reason to live through her sweet songs and special gifts. 
....But when her clan attempts to tear them apart and threatens the pack that banished Brick so many years before, will their love be strong enough to withstand the forces bent on their destruction?

Release Date: January 30, 2015
Preorder Here