A warm welcome to author Nicki Bennett joining us today to talk about new release “Bad to the Bone”, part of the Dreamspinner Press “Dreamspun Desires” Collection
It wasn’t actually intentional, but both my Dreamspun Desires take place at least in part in Oklahoma. I’ve never lived there, but I have spent a lot of time driving through it on trips between my home town of Chicago and Texas, where I’ve lived for the past 25+ years.
Something about the state seems to speak to me. I enjoy the differences in terrain, since I live in probably the only non-scenic part of Texas—the area around Dallas, which is flat and full of strip malls and boring suburban housing. During our drives along Interstate 69, which slants through the eastern quarter of the state from the Texas border to Missouri, I enjoy the craggy hills around Stringtown and the water on both sides of the road through Lake Eufaula and the Canadian River area. It’s especially impressive if you’re driving through at sunset or during a thunderstorm.
When I was looking for a hometown as far from the urban Dallas experience as possible for Jonah, the admin in love with his boss in The Cattle Baron’s Bogus Boyfriend, the tracts of farmland in the northeast of the state were the perfect hunting ground. From Checotah to the border, the landscape consists of fields of golden hay, pastures of grazing cattle and the occasional cluster of horses, and row after row of hay rolls. I chose Oktaha as the location for Jonah’s family farm as much for the sound of the name as for its population (under 400) and its location (close enough to drive into big-city Muskogee for dinner).
While I was developing the background for the characters in Bad to the Bone, I wanted Ricky Lee to be half Indian. According to NPR, about one in twelve Oklahomans is Native American, a larger percentage than any other state. Oklahoma was originally part of the Indian Territory set aside by the US government in the 1830s as Native American land. Indigenous tribes such as the Apache, Arapaho, Comanche, Kiowa, Osage, and Wichita were joined by tribes “relocated” from the Eastern states, including the Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Quapaw, and Wyandotte. In all, the US government moved a total of sixty-seven Native tribes to Indian Territory over a period of fifty-plus years.
As more and more Native tribes were forced into it, the size of the Indian Territory continued to shrink. Increased Western expansion, aided by the growth of cross-country railroads, created a demand for more land for settlers. The incorporation of states such as Kansas and Nebraska eventually reduced Indian Territory to present-day Oklahoma. And by the 1880’s, the Dawes Act broke up tribal land ownership into individual allotments, further reducing Native lands and opening up large tracts for homesteading. On April 22, 1889, the Oklahoma land rush offered nearly two million acres of former Indian Territory land to any settler who claimed a parcel and lived on it for five years, free and clear.
As a result Oklahoma doesn’t have Indian “reservations,” but it does have tribal jurisdictional areas, usually consisting of regions in which tribes traditionally lived or were relocated to, that can provide some types of government services. One of the secondary characters introduced in Bad to the Bone is a tribal police officer who plays a role in unraveling one of the story’s mysteries.
Possibly the most visible Indian presence in Oklahoma today is the tribal casinos. Many tribes use the proceeds from these enterprises for general tribal welfare, but for plot purposes I needed a tribe that distributed funds directly to tribal members. As it happens, the only tribe in Oklahoma to do so is the Comanche. The Comanche tribal jurisdiction area is located in the southwest of the state, so I set the story in the fiction town of Freeland (a rather ironic reference to the Oklahoma land run), just south of the tribal capital of Lawton.
Ricky Lee’s mother was Comanche, but his father was white, and kept him from learning about the Native side of his heritage. I found it interesting to learn more about Native history in Oklahoma as I did research for Bad to the Bone, and I hope you’ll enjoy the results.
Blurb:
A second chance at first love—if he has the courage to take it.
Alex can’t think of himself as anything but a failure. In high school, he was on the fast track to a career in pro football when he forged an unlikely friendship with a half-Comanche boy from the wrong part of town, Ricky Lee Jennings. Their shared love of books could have grown into more—but a homophobic teammate attacked Ricky Lee, and Alex wouldn’t risk his scholarship to defend him. Ricky Lee was kicked out of school, and Alex never heard from him again.
Now Alex’s glory days are nothing but a memory. An injury ended his football aspirations, his marriage fell apart, and his dreams of making a difference as an environmental lobbyist are as dead as his fantasies of sports stardom.
But all that could change in one magical night, when Ricky Lee shows up at their high-school reunion.
“You have any preference on where to have dinner tonight?” Ricky Lee asked. “There’s a restaurant in the hotel, but it’s mostly burgers and sandwiches.”
“Freeland hasn’t exactly become a mecca of fine dining since you left.” Alex tilted his head, considering. “There’s not much unless you want to head up 44 to Lawton.” Stupid, Morrison, he told himself as soon as he said it. Remind him again of having to leave town.
“Maybe some other time,” Ricky Lee answered, and Alex could swear his deep voice went even huskier. “I think I’d rather stay close tonight.”
Alex hoped that was because he was tired from working on the build all morning and not because he’d put his foot in his mouth mentioning Lawton. At least it implies there may be another time. “Honestly, some of the best food in town is at the little mom-and-pop places along Wichita and Main. There’s a pretty good taqueria we could walk to from your hotel, or if you’ve had enough Mexican for the day, there’s the pizzeria, though they mostly do carryout.”
“Tacos sound good. Want to meet in the hotel lobby around six?”
“If you can wait until six thirty, that will give me time to help Alanna close up.”
“Works for me.” Ricky Lee unhooked his thumbs and took a step forward. “There’s just one more thing.” He moved even closer, backing Alex up against the ladders he’d just racked. “I’ve been wanting to do this all day.”
Ricky Lee lowered his head and brushed his lips against Alex’s. Alex drew in a startled breath, and Ricky Lee swallowed the exhale, closing his mouth over Alex’s. He raised his hands to grasp the shelves on either side of Alex’s head, pinning him in place—not that Alex made any move to get free. He clutched at Ricky Lee’s hips and opened himself to the kiss that bore as little resemblance to the innocent touch of eleven years ago as a wildfire did to the flicker of a birthday candle.
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Growing up in Chicago, Nicki Bennett spent every Saturday at the central library, losing herself in the world of books. A voracious reader, she eventually found it difficult to find enough of the kind of stories she liked to read and decided to start writing them herself.
You can find Nicki on her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011754789784