Stories & Articles by Vicky J. Rose, Author

AKA V.J. Rose and Easy Jackson

Writing true stories for anthologies is nice, but doing interviews is sometimes scary and fun. Always park your car facing the exit.

Love them or hate them, no one can deny the Texas Rangers in the Old West had grit. One of the roughest and toughest was Cicero Rufus Perry. Semi-illiterate, earthy, salty, a bit too amorous, possessor of a keen, dry wit that was often too frank, he never fitted polite society’s mold of a perfect Ranger. Nor did he care—he loved living life on the edge too much. Read my Western Fictioneers blog about Texas Ranger "Old Rufe" Perry.

Kirk Ellis, Andrew J. Fenady, and C. Courtney Joyner, all writers and/or producers-directors, were kind enough to give me great interviews about the state of western movies in today's world. "Lust in the Trail Dust: Cravings for Western Movies" appeared in Roundup magazine.

The Bastrop County Bar Association recreates trials in which the audience gets to vote guilty or not guilty. They did one on "The Killing of Deputy Sheriff Bose Heffington," a sensational trial from the late 1800s. Attorney David Bragg did the research and wrote the script. "Digging Into Old Trials: A Lawyer's Perspective" appeared in Roundup's "Researching the West" column.

When I was a little girl, I thought Tom Tryon as Disney's Texas John Slaughter was one of the best looking men on the planet - right up there with Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates and Robert Fuller as Cooper Smith. Later on, I learned the real John Slaughter, although not nearly as handsome, had a fascinating personality and lived a life full of adventure. The Tombstone Times printed: "John Slaughter: Guided by God or El Diablo?" (By the way, Tom Tryon went on to have a much more successful career as an author than as an actor.)

Have you ever experienced something out of the ordinary, and when you tried to tell others about it, nobody believed you? That happened to me and a friend when we were little girls. Rusty and I are pictured at left as 16-year-olds, but this "Fishing" story happened when we were much younger. It appeared in a Texas Folklore Society Anthology.

A Will Rogers Medallion Winner

Tennessee Smith arrives in Texas as a reluctant mail-order bride. When her husband dies on their wedding night, she's left with three little hellion stepsons. The town's elite tell her she's lost the ranch, and her only recourse is to become the town's marshal. Tennie thinks they are joking - but it becomes apparent it's either accept their offer or send the boys to an orphanage, because no one else wants them. And no one else wants the job of town marshal of Ring Bit, the most hell-raising town in Texas.

A two-book series:

A BAD PLACE TO DIE

A SEASON IN HELL

Coming in February 2020:

MUSKRAT HILL

While playing near the river, Kit Robertson and his best friend, Whitey, stumble upon the body of a mutilated young woman. As they race back to town, they meet Asa Jenkins, the town’s half-white, half-Comanche, marshal. Asa begs Kit’s father, Pope, a former ranger, to help him solve the murder. Resentful that his father is so old, Kit nevertheless assists Pope and Asa as they struggle to uncover a killer who strikes again and again. Driven into a frenzy of fear, the townspeople lash out at every person they see as different. Pope must stand alone in defending Asa against a hysterical crowd gone mad with terror, while Kit and Whitey strive to overcome the hardships life has dealt them.