Lancer is a 1969 western, set in California of 1870. Murdoch Lancer's vast ranch (100,000 acres) is threatened by "land pirates" who are trying to run him off the estancia. He sends for his two sons to help him - Scott, who he has only seen briefly once when Scott was five (his first wife died in childbirth and her family took Scott and raised him in wealth and privilege in Boston) and Johnny, who was taken before his second birthday by Murdoch's second wife when she ran away with a gambler. So there are the bones of the story : proud, remote landowner, rich Boston dandy, and a half-Mexican gunfighter better known as Johnny Madrid, all learning to be a family.
The only other thing you need to know is that Johnny Madrid - ("Madrid's an awfully expensive gun to hire." "The suddenest man I ever saw." "The fastest thing west of the Mississippi and east of China." "I've heard stories about John Madrid from here clear down to the Mexican border." "What's another dead man to Johnny Madrid?" "How would you like to be dead?") - is the first of the messy-dark-haired men that I fell in love with. Johnny is just gorgeous.
An episode tag for Shadow of a Dead Man, in which Jessamie bakes biscuits, Grady goes to school and Scott brings letters and a photograph.
Genre Challenge
A recent meme on LiveJournal took 10 fiction genres and invited people to write a single sentence for each that would both show off their fandom and be a miniature example of the genre. Only 10? I ended up with 25
Musings of a dancehall girl, or how to be a character in a dime novel about a famous gunfighter. Episode tag for Foley.
Lessons
A response to the Winter 2009 challenge at the Lancer Writers Yahoo group. Five tiny 55 word ficlets adding up to a still tiny single fic.
The Old Maid's Tale latest
The story of a greeny-yallery dress. Episode Tag for The Kid
The Hackamore Sequence
A series of short stories charting the progress of the new family adjusting to itself. Not all of the stories are completed yet.
xxA little revolution down Mexico way.
xxScott accepts an invitation to go West
x
xxThe first supper.
4. Long Upon The Land (in progress)
5. Should Auld Aquaintance (in progress)
xx
xxDr Sam Jenkins deals with the aftermath of battle.
xxThe Lancers start to adjust.
xxThe partnership deed is signed.