Tag: Jill Haymaker

Author Jill Haymaker’s Peaktop Dude Ranch — Fact or Fiction?

by Jill Haymaker

Thanks for having me, Karen. Today I’m going to talk about my Peaktop Dude Ranch series. The comment I get most often from readers of this series is “I want to vacation at Peaktop Dude Ranch. Is it a real place?”

peaktop dude ranch–Is it real?

The short answer is no. Sorry, but Peaktop Dude Ranch is not real. Neither is Peakview County where the ranch is located or the two nearby towns of Peakview and Aspen Ridge, which are other series I’ve written.

A little history

Having said that, Peaktop Dude Ranch is based on my extensive experiences of both staying as a guest and working on dude ranches in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. My love for dude ranches started when I was five years old, and my parents took our family to a Colorado dude ranch where I got my first experience of riding a horse.

Dude Ranch

I still remember that small, black and white horse named Little Joe (those of you who are old enough to remember “Bonanza” will understand the name). Anyway, we continued to vacation at a different dude ranch each summer until I was thirteen. That’s when we found Lost Valley Ranch near Deckers, Colorado. We loved it so much that we vacationed there as a family for the next six years, and later I worked there for three years. I always refer to it as “my happy place.”

Beautiful Memories

In my adult life, I have spent many weekends in the spring and fall there with my kids and grandkids. Four generations of my family have now fallen in love with the dude ranch

The inspiration behind the ranch

Peaktop Dude Ranch is based on my personal experiences at Lost Valley and other dude ranches. You can be sure that when you read my books, they authentically portray a dude ranch. Several of the books in all three of my Colorado series have covers that were taken at Lost Valley Ranch. In my Peaktop Dude Ranch series, the corral in the background of Peaktop Dude Ranch Homecoming is the actual corral and some of the wranglers at Lost Valley.

the fires

In the fall of 2020, when Fort Collins, where I live, was blanketed in smoke and ash from the Cameron Peak wildfire, I was inspired to write a romance including a Colorado wildfire, so Peaktop Dude Ranch Aflame was born. Click on the title to check it out.

Lost Valley Ranch was actually in the middle of the Hayman Fire, one of the largest wildfires in Colorado history in 2002.

As a result of thousands of people praying for the ranch worldwide, a thirty foot wall of flames that roared through the canyon and came within a mile of the ranch shifted and went around the ranch, burning all the surrounding hillsides, but not a single building of the ranch. (If you ever doubt the power of prayer, all you have to do is look at the photos from after the fire).

Colorado Fires

The fire at Peaktop Dude Ranch is loosely based on that. The photo on the cover of the book is an actual photo taken by firefighters right outside of the Lost Valley ranch house after everyone had been evacuated.

If you read my series and want to vacation at a real dude ranch, you can go the Dude Ranch Association website and connect with hundreds of dude ranches spread throughout the western United States. It is a truly magical vacation if you want to ride horses and pretend to be a cowboy or cowgirl for a few days.

(c) 2022 Jill Haymaker

Currently she is busy writing a Montana Pines Series, set in western Montana. She also has had several short stories published by Chicken Soup for the Soul, the most recent in the book my Hilarious, Heroic, Human Dog.

Jill Haymaker was born and raised in Indiana and Ohio. After high school, and college she moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. She practiced family law in Fort Collins for over 20 years before closing her law office to become a full-time author. She has three grown children, a son and two daughters. She also has six granddaughters and one grandson.

When not writing, Jill enjoys the Colorado mountains, horseback riding, gardening, long walks with her Toy Australian Shepherd, Merlin, and spending time with her children and grandchildren. She enjoys their numerous sporting events. She is also an avid football and basketball fan and can be found on weekends cheering on her favorite teams. She has a passion for working with high school youth, she serves as a mentor to at-risk youth, is a youth group leader at her church, coaches a high school mock trial team, and is a volunteer at cross country and track meets. She loves to hear from readers. Feel free to email her at jillhaymaker@aol.com or follow her website and blog at www.jillhaymaker.com

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Publish Don’t Perish Tip #8 – MAKE LEMONADE FROM LIFE’S LEMONS

Lemons

Life isn’t easy, and when you’re dealt lemons, Tip # 8 encourages us to make some lemonade. Right now all of us are in the largest crisis of our lives. To say that we were dealt lemons is a gross understatement, but we must make lemonade in the meantime.

As writers, you may ask, “What does that looks like?”

Relationships

Life is all about relationships, and the success of our books is all about relationships as well:

  • Relationships between our characters,
  • The feelings we stir between our readers and our characters (also a relationship), and
  • Marketing our books.

With today’s on-the-go society, very few families spend time together. The Stay-at-Home Order has provided an opportunity for families to spend time together and hopefully strengthen those relationships. Of course the opposite is possible, but we’ll be hopeful that’s not the case.

Great Family Time!

In today’s high tech society, we have the opportunity to reach out to each other electronically to continue our social interaction with others and deepen those relationships. It is also placing those who were not technically savvy to become more proficient. As writers, those are critical tools.

Emotions

It’s hard to make your characters’ emotions “real” without experiencing those emotions yourself. The COVID-19 pandemic has put us all in a position to feel emotions we may never have experienced — EXTREME, to say the least. We can use those emotions we feel to make those emotions “real” in our characters.

COVID-19

More Writing Time

Under normal circumstances, quite a few writers are not able to write full time because they still have to support themselves and their families. With the Stay-at-Home Order in place, those who are unable to work, have more writing time. Those who are now working remotely, can use their drive time for writing.

Support

There are so many concerns and variables associated with those concerns. Some of us have “children” who are on the front lines of this battle. My daughter is a neurosurgery resident who is in the forefront, along with the daughter of a fellow writer in my writers’ group, Jill Haymaker, whose daughter is an ER doctor.

THE MEDICAL STAFF ARE OUR HEROES

Prayer is our sword and comfort. The medical staff are the heroes in this battle and need our support and prayers.

A Big Thank You to Our Heroes!!

Let us stand together as a community of writers and lend a hand of support, encouragement, and prayer.

What recommendations do you have to pay our support forward?

(c) 2020 Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer

On Writing Full Time with Jill Haymaker

I would like to welcome Jill Haymaker as our guest today on Thyme for Writers. Jill was born and raised in Indiana and Ohio. After high school, she attended Bowling Green State University before moving to Fort Collins, Colorado. Ms. Haymaker made her home in Fort Collins until her recent move to East Texas. She practiced family law in Fort Collins for the past 20 years. She has three grown children, a son and two daughters. She also has three granddaughters.

Jill Haymaker, writing, full time, author, Peakview, Colorado Series, marketing, writing schedule
Jill Haymaker

Jill has always had a passion for writing. Colorado Sunset was her first full length romance novel in her Peakview, Colorado series. Her latest book, Colorado Summer Stars is the seventh book in the series. If you love small town romance, you will love the characters in this series. She also has had several short stories published by Chicken Soup for the Soul, the most recent in the book Random Acts of Kindness.

When not practicing law or writing, Jill enjoys The Colorado mountains, horseback riding, gardening, long walks with her Shetland Sheepdog, Laddie, and spending time with her children and grandchildren. She enjoys their numerous sporting events. She is also an avid football fan and can be found on autumn weekends cheering on her favorite teams. She has a passion for working with high school youth- she is a youth group leader at her church, coaches a high school mock trial team and is a volunteer at cross country and track meets.

On Writing Full Time

by Jill Haymaker

Jill Haymaker, writing, full time, author, Peakview, Colorado Series, marketing, writing schedule
Time
On Writing Full Time
Jill Haymaker

I recently quit my day job and moved to a new town and home, so that I could write full time. I was so excited. This would be great, nothing to do but write—all day, every day. But then the reality set in. I now had to figure out how to make a living writing. And how to manage my time.
Until now, my writing schedule had consisted of an hour or two here, an hour or two there. I soon learned, that if this was my full-time job, I needed to be more structured. I set up eight hour work days. Every morning I write for three or four hours, stopping every hour or two to stand up, stretch and take a short walk around my neighborhood, then I’m back at it until noon or after.

Most afternoons, I spend more time on marketing than actual writing. Back to paragraph one, where I said I need to make a living. I can’t say I’ve figured marketing out yet, but I’m getting closer. I keep trying new things, learning new techniques, and exploring social media for ideas. I now have time to read all those articles about marketing that I’ve saved over the years.

For the most part, I’m glad I made the leap. The solitariness of what I’m doing is hard sometimes. I need more interaction with the real world. On days when I feel isolated, I allow myself to take a day off. Last week I volunteered at a low income preschool one morning, and the next afternoon I helped cook and serve a meal at a homeless shelter. Both of these activities refreshed me and got me back to writing.

Jill Haymaker, writing, full time, author, Peakview, Colorado Series, marketing, writing schedule
Thyme to Write

Sometimes I worry that my writing is not making a difference in the world, but then I read an email or review from a reader who says my books give them hope, help them to never give up on finding love or happiness. I hope they do that. It’s definitely the message I try to convey. Meanwhile, I now have a job that’s flexible enough to work in many volunteer hours. I feel truly blessed by this opportunity that God has given me and I intend to make the most of it each and every day for as long as I can continue to write. I truly love what I do.

You can contact Jill or purchase her Peakview Series with the following links:

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075TF1WZQ

Social Media links:

Email: jillhaymaker@aol.com

Website/blog: http://jillhaymaker.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JillLHaymaker

Instagram: https://instagram.com/jillhaymaker.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjillhaymaker

Goodreads: https://www/goodreads.com/author/13636693.Jill_Haymaker

Jill Haymaker, writing, full time, author, Peakview, Colorado Series, marketing, writing schedule
Colorado Summer Stars by Jill Haymaker

Colorado Summer Stars by Jill Haymaker

How did her relationship go so wrong? When NICOLE PHILLIPS flees San Francisco after her boyfriend’s jealousy turns violent, she doesn’t know where to go next. Out of a job and a place to live, she heads to the only place she feels safe—her childhood home in the tiny town of Peakview, nestled high in the Colorado Rockies. The one place she’d sworn to never live again.

RICK BRADY was a skinny, nerdy kid, earning him the not-so-flattering nickname of Scarecrow in high school. He’d been glad to escape his reputation and leave Peakview behind. When his parents’ health begins to fail, he returns to Peakview and opens his own veterinarian practice on their ranch. He’s never really been in love, unless you count that crush he had on the most popular girl in school from kindergarten through senior year.

Now fifteen years after they both left town, they are back home and searching for answers to questions they can’t define. Beneath the beauty of the Colorado summer stars, they reconnect. They soon discover that it’s not easy to leave the past behind. To move forward and find true love, they must overcome their insecurities and doubts and learn to trust again.
Come home to Peakview, Colorado where everyone has a chance at love.