Author of Trail Angel
I will be back at Barnes & Noble in Daytona Beach from 1-5 p.m. on Oct. 14 for the store’s “local authors afternoon.” We’ll still be a month out from the release of “Angel Falls,” but I’ll be signing copies of “Trail Angel” for those who haven’t picked one up yet. You can also pre-order copies of the sequel and get news of a third book in the works. Hope to see you out there.
Here’s the ad copy for the sale of Angel Falls, which will be out in mid-November.
Here’s the synopsis:
In the follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut, Trail Angel, award-winning journalist Derek Catron weaves a thrilling tale of three unforgettable characters: Josey Angel, a Union cavalryman struggling to set aside a violent past and make a life with the woman he loves; Annabelle Rutledge, a Southern war widow who came west to rebuild her family’s fortunes and found love but little peace; and a young Sioux determined to preserve his people’s way of life and earn his warrior name — Crazy Horse.
After Annabelle is seized in a bloody Indian attack, Josey goes on a soul-searing rampage in a daring effort to rescue her. While Crazy Horse plots to kill the white men who have trespassed on his people’s land, he’s tormented by an unrequited love that tears at his sense of honor. The roiling conflicts climax on the bloodiest day of Red Cloud’s War, when Josey and Annabelle must come together to escape tragedy.
You can pre-order a copy of Angel Falls on Amazon.
While we’re still a few months away from the Nov. 15 release date for Angel Falls, I’m thrilled to see how good the advance reader copies look. These are early paperback prints of the book used to help generate advance publicity and reviews. I’ll be mailing these out to reviewers soon in hopes that we get the same kind of positive feedback we had for Trail Angel.
Booklist called it “A finely constructed, well-told western.” And the verdict from Kirkus was “A timeless tale of love and adventure on the American frontier.”
Don’t forget, you can pre-order a copy of Angel Falls on Amazon. And if you haven’t gotten Trail Angel yet, it’s still available online in hardback and e-book formats. Order it here from Amazon. Or here from Barnes and Noble. A large-print copy is on the way. Check back for more news on that.
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While we don’t have a cover yet, I thought this image might help capture some of the mood for the second adventure with Annabelle and Josey Angel. Here’s the synopsis that will appear on the book jacket:
In the follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut, Trail Angel, award-winning journalist Derek Catron weaves a thrilling tale of three unforgettable characters: Josey Angel, a Union cavalryman struggling to set aside a violent past and make a life with the woman he loves; Annabelle Rutledge, a Southern war widow who came west to rebuild her family’s fortunes and found love but little peace; and a young Sioux determined to preserve his people’s way of life and earn his warrior name — Crazy Horse.
After Annabelle is seized in a bloody Indian attack, Josey goes on a soul-searing rampage in a daring effort to rescue her. While Crazy Horse plots to kill the white men who have trespassed on his people’s land, he’s tormented by an unrequited love that tears at his sense of honor. Annabelle finds she must thwart a ploy that would slaughter every soldier at the frontier fort where Josey and her friends have taken refuge.
Sympathies will shift. Loyalties are betrayed. The roiling conflicts climax on the bloodiest day of Red Cloud’s War, the only war in which the Indians defeated the army. To survive, Josey and Annabelle must come together to escape the threat of an unprecedented defeat for the army — and a victory at terrible costs for the Indians and Crazy Horse.
At turns thrilling, romantic and poignant, Angel Falls is a page-turner throughout — a worthy successor to a powerful debut.
If you still haven’t gotten your copy of Trail Angel, there’s still time to order in time for Christmas.
Buy Trail Angel on Barnes & Noble
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Here’s a link to a story I wrote for True West magazine about some of the real-life events that form the backdrop for Trail Angel and its sequel, Angel Falls. The story is about how two women shaped history’s view of one of the worst defeats the Army ever suffered at the hands of American Indians.
by DEREK CATRON
As the small train of wagons drew within sight of Fort Phil Kearny, the weary travelers rejoiced. “I could have clapped my hands for joy,” one wrote of the moment.
On the wind-blown hill overlooking the fort, a picket guard waved a signal flag to announce their arrival. He waved a second signal the newcomers did not understand.
A mounted escort fell in line with the wagons, halting just outside the eight-foot-high pine trunk stockade that encircled the fort near present-day Buffalo, Wyoming. A “strange feeling of apprehension” came over the travelers as another wagon entered the fort ahead of their party. In that wagon, the travelers saw the scalped and naked body of a man “scarcely cold.”
Frances Grummond swallowed back the scream that filled her head: “Let me get within the gate!”
In the nearly four months she lived at the fort, Frances never shed her feeling of apprehension. The comely Southern belle was 21, married for little more than a year to one of the officers newly stationed to the fort. She was three months pregnant when she arrived and within another two months, she would be a widow.
Yet her account of what happened 150 years ago this month—along with that of her friend Margaret Carrington—would foster one of the great and enduring myths of the American West. …
Read the rest of the story here.
Buy Trail Angel 
After Hurricane Matthew washed out my scheduled book signing at the Daytona Beach Barnes & Noble, we’ve rescheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15. Come out and join us at 1900 W. International Speedway Boulevard. Just this month the Daytona Beach News-Journal published a feature story and review of Trail Angel. The story included the news that a sequel, Angel Falls, is scheduled for the fall of 2017. The review called Trail Angel “a fast read with lively writing and a gripping plot.”
After four years, seven drafts and many weekends at the keyboard, “Trail Angel,’ News-Journal Managing Editor Derek Catron’s tale of romance and danger on the Bozeman Trail of 1866 is now in the hands of readers.
By Mark Lane
About four years ago, Derek Catron was unsure about diving into the whole book-writing thing for real.
The News-Journal managing editor had an idea for a novel. He had a compelling main character. And telling stories to pass the time while traveling in Spain, his wife told him he should write a book.
Catron took her up on it, but not before warning her that she’d become “a book widow.” What followed were seven drafts and two years of weekends spent at the keyboard.
The result, published Aug. 17, was “Trail Angel,” (Five Star Publishing, 357 pages, $25.95 hardback), a novel of the old West. Kirkus Reviews called it “an unsentimental but moving tale, composed with emotional intelligence and historical insight” and “a timeless tale of love and adventure on the American frontier.” … (READ the rest of the story here.)
By Cory Lancaster
The Civil War left Annabelle Holcombe a widow, devastated her beloved hometown of Charleston and ruined her family business. She and her parents become swept into a tide of people heading West after the war to find gold and make their fortunes in Montana.
This is the setting for New-Journal Managing Editor Derek Catron’s first novel, “Trail Angel,” released last month. Catron is a good storyteller. This is a fast read with lively writing and a gripping plot.
It’s a fertile time period for a historical novel and love story. The scars of the Civil War lie just beneath the surface as Southerners and Northerners intermingle in the caravan of wagons making the dangerous, months-long trek on the Bozeman Trail. …
Catron artfully describes the characters’ inner worlds and uses colorful writing to set these scenes.
“So many things weren’t the way she imagined them when she lived on a cobblestone street lined with houses, a place where Indians seemed no more real than Amazons or centaurs,” Catron writes of Annabelle. “The world seemed small then. Now she lived in a place where the sky stretched forever, where it seemed she could walk in any direction and never reach an end, where even the most fantastical story sounded more real than the news in the papers at home. Anything could happen.”
(READ the full review here.)
It’s another one of those great moments when an author first sees his book on the shelf at a bookstore. These copies were at the Barnes & Nobel on International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach. They’ve now been duly signed and ready for purchase.
I’ll have announcements on some in-person book signings coming soon!
So I got my first copies of the hard-bound version of Trail Angel, a big event for any first-time author. Even better, some of the people who pre-ordered copies are starting to get theirs, and they’ve shared these really creative photos with me — from a Wisconsin school library where Trail Angel keeps company with otters and minks and bears (oh, my!) — to a Central Florida prairie that looks like it could double as a movie set, and even a cow-hide rug. Thanks to all of you!
If you’re still looking for a copy, you can [eafl id=97 name=”Trail Angel Book Hardcover (Amazon)” text=”order either the hardback”] or [eafl id=97 name=”Trail Angel Book Hardcover (Amazon)” text=”the e-book version here”].
Even if all you have is the dining room table where you opened the box, I hope you’ll share the image.
Trail Angel is a work of fiction. Annabelle, her family, Josey, the Colonel, Lord Byron, Caleb and everyone else in the wagon train never existed. Yet many of the people they come across were real. If you’re like me, on finishing a book of historical fiction you want to know what liberties the author took with the facts. My short answer is: not many. Real-life accounts of wagon train journeys to the west were exciting enough that I never felt a need to stretch the truth. It was the same with the events that precipitated Red Cloud’s War. This summary provides a more in-depth look at the real people and events described in Trail Angel.
William Tecumseh Sherman: The general commanded the armies of the west in 1866. Once I came across a reference to a visit he made to Omaha in May—staying, indeed, at the Herndon House, the finest hotel in the city at that time, despite charging extra for the few rooms equipped with a stove—I felt I had to arrange a meeting with Annabelle. Many of the remarks Sherman makes about his hopes for the west and his frustration in keeping the peace among settlers and the Indians are based on letters and journals he wrote.
Jim Bridger: The legendary mountain man was in his 60s but still scouting for the army when Red Cloud’s War broke out in 1866. Descriptions of the man vary, but nearly everyone found him to be as charming as Annabelle did. He was fond of tall tales and claimed to have been in the West so long that Pike’s Peak was a hole in the ground when he first saw it. Changing the reference to Chimney Rock for the benefit of a pretty young woman who’d never seen Pike’s Peak seems just the sort of liberty he would take. Bridger makes a return appearance in the sequel, Angel Falls.
Henry Carrington: The commander at Fort Phil Kearny was a convenient scapegoat for the army’s failures in the Powder River region. As described in Trail Angel, Carrington had no experience leading men in battle and did not enjoy the confidence of many of his junior officers. Yet he successfully oversaw the construction of the fort under difficult circumstances. The poor weapons and scarcity of ammunition were real concerns. Sherman himself probably couldn’t have fared much better under the circumstances. Carrington’s challenges only grow greater in Angel Falls.
Margaret Carrington: The commander’s wife is also the source for much of what we know about Henry Carrington. Her book, Absaraka: Home of the Crows, is a beautifully written account of her journey to the fort and her life there. Many of the views she expresses about Indians and the difficulty of life on the frontier come from her writings.
Minor characters: Many minor characters, or at least the names, were drawn from historical accounts. I used newspaper advertisements in Omaha to provide the names (and in many cases addresses) of the stores described there. So there really was a Hellman & Co. store and a McCormick’s, though I can’t speak for appearance or manner of the owner. The same is true for many of the soldiers the travelers meet along the way, including Captain Joshua Proctor, the commander at Fort Reno, Doc Hines and the redoubtable Lieutenant Wands and Reverend White.
Events on the trail: Much of what’s described on the trail happened in real life to real people. More emigrants died from illness and accidents than violence. The Indian tribes that lived along the Platte River had been decimated by disease and the loss of good hunting, yet they remained a source of fear among emigrants. The Colonel’s story about Indians taking revenge at Rawhide Creek was one that settlers told around their campfires. Weary travelers came together to celebrate Independence Day. Even the account of luring a curious antelope close by waving a flag came from a traveler’s journal.
Fort Laramie peace treaty: The government did sign a peace treaty with Indians in the summer of 1866, but the Indians who signed on the mostly pacified tribes who lived near the fort. Red Cloud stalked out and threats were made if travelers continued to follow the Bozeman Trail.
Confederate gold: Rumors of hidden or stolen caches of the Southern treasury were commonplace after the war, but most accounts—like this one—are the product of fiction writers’ imaginations.
Crazy Woman Creek: The Indian ambush occurred much as it’s described, though I had to streamline events and characters to accommodate them within this story. The description of soldiers preparing their rifles for a suicide shot came from an account of the Wagon Box Fight. Though that took place in 1867, it didn’t seem a stretch to imagine soldiers would resort to similarly drastic actions under equally dire circumstances. The desperate run for water led by Lieutenant Wands and Reverend White helped sustain the small force until help could arrive—led by Jim Bridger.
I’ve been watching and reading a lot about the Olympics, and I’ve been struck by the parallels between the athletes … and writers?
Bear with me.
The Olympics occur every four years, and when Trail Angel comes out this week, it will mark almost exactly four years since I first started. Delayed gratification is certainly one thing writers have in common with Olympic athletes.
There’s more. While we celebrate the accomplishments of superstars like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles, they are to the games what Stephen King and J.K. Rowling are to the world of book publishing: rare exceptions. Most of the 10,000-plus athletes in Rio will compete with little hope of fame or fortune.
Consider the American women’s rowing team, nine women who are as dominant in their sport as Phelps is in his. They won gold on Saturday, meaning they haven’t lost an Olympic or world rowing championship in 10 years.
Yet the team members live in obscurity. These graduates of top-notch universities postpone careers to train together for four years, living with host families while earning a meager stipend. The daily sacrifices they make during a rigorous training regimen are all in hope of the brief glory that can come with Olympic gold — and something else, I would argue, less tangible but longer lasting.
It sounds trite to call the training its own reward, yet I see something profound in the sense of satisfaction that comes through sacrifice in pursuit of ennobling goals. The dream of Olympic gold drives Olympic athletes, just as writers fantasize about best-seller lists, critical acclaim and movie deals. But that level of success is too rare, too reliant on serendipity to maintain the daily commitment that keeps athletes at their training, writers at their keyboards.
My book comes out this week. Friends, family, maybe even strangers will offer their congratulations and, one can hope, a few words of praise. I’ll be as proud as any gold-medal winner, even if I don’t sell enough books to repay the time and cost of writing it.
Then the moment will pass, nearly as fleeting as the Olympics themselves, and it will be back to the grind: the daily sacrifices that are the price of achieving any worthwhile dream. If you can’t find reward in the striving itself, you’ll never make it to the next games.
Trail Angel will be available in hardback and in Kindle starting Wednesday, but you can pre-order before then at this link.
[eafl id=97 name=”Trail Angel Book (Amazon)” text=”Order Trail Angel on Amazon”]
Author of Trail Angel