Mystery, Suspense
Date Published: 06-17-2024
Publisher: Adventure & Quest, LLC
Her sixteenth birthday looming, Seattle urbanite Charley Kensey
recklessly invites herself to her Pap’s West Texas sheep ranch—a
man she’s never met, a man her mother has always distanced her from. If
her dad were still around, he could’ve stopped her. Her mom can’t.
Pap is a hard and difficult man, and the Llano Estacado—the Texas Staked
Plains—is every bit as hostile. Charley would turn right around and go
home except for the mysterious horse that shows up on the ranch. Things
quickly spiral out of control when Pap vows to shoot the blind animal she
believes came to the ranch to be hers. Now she can’t
leave—who’s going to stand in the way of Pap’s bullet?
Against his orders, Charley turns to local veterinarian Dr. Ben for
information about the horse, but his harmless reminiscing over her mom
dismantles everything Charley thought she knew of her family when he portrays
a mother she doesn’t even recognize, and innocently exposes the secret
that split her family apart. Charley is the only clueless party:
“Everybody in this little town of Quitaque knows your mother’s
business,” affirms veterinarian summer assistant, cowboy-crush Brett
Littleton. Except for Brett, the summer would be lost.
When Pap’s savage anger turns violent, Charley and her horse bolt for
the open plains and flee for the very place she’s been warned not to go.
Nightflower of Comanche Mound is a contemporary action-adventure thriller
steeped in conflict, tension, and family dysfunction between three
generations.
2025 Western Writers of America Spur Finalist – Young Adult Novel
2022 Writers League of Texas Manuscript Finalist – Young Adult
Action-Adventure Thriller
Excerpt
The plane touched down in Lubbock a little after three in the afternoon.
Jet engines shut down immediately so I felt the scorching afternoon heat
before I ever stepped onto the Staked Plains. The passengers had all filed
off, but I sat rigid in the upright seat, a cynical thought sweeping over me,
not for the first time: I’d made a colossal mistake.
The flight attendant was eye-balling me. I checked my hair in a mirror, dotted
on faint-pink lipstick Mom had warned me against bringing. Drawing a deep
breath, I held it in, thinking it would help settle my jitters. Time to get
this show on the road. Pap will be waiting. Or he won’t. Either way, I
had nobody to blame but myself.
* * *
I spotted him through the glass barrier, hands clasped casually over an ample
belly. We locked eyes as I rolled through the revolving door. Did he have a
picture of me? My grip tightened on the cheap ten-dollar flute Mom had given
me to practice; she was proud I took an interest in music, and wanted me to
keep my lips stuck to a version of flute that was less to lose. It suddenly
felt more a lifeline than a companion.
It’s not true that all people shrink when they get old. Pap stood
straight and tall under a light-colored, broad-brimmed hat that rested low on
his forehead just above white, bushy brows. Deep grooves ran around his mouth
and down a chin he hadn’t bothered to shave.
I didn’t exactly expect a warm snuggle from him—Mom had prepared
me for that. Still, deep down I couldn’t help thinking she might be
wrong. I had imagined I would run and throw my arms around him and all my
doubts would fly away when he pulled me into a tight squeeze.
Instead, we squared off and studied one another, eyes never wavering.
I stuck out my hand. “I’m Charley.”
Weight lifted from my shoulder as he took hold of my backpack. “Heck of
a name for a girl.” With a quick nod to the long cement aisle, he said,
“Go that way.”
I’d like to think he held out hope that he’d passed inspection, as
did I.
About the Author
Katlyn Bates writes contemporary fiction for young adults. Her debut
novel, Nightflower of Comanche Mound was named a 2025 Spur Finalist by Western
Writers of America (WWA) in the Juvenile-Young Adult Fiction category. The
recognition, along with multiple 5-Star book reviews from Readers’
Favorite, encouraged her to dust off old stuff she wrote just for fun, and
look at them with fresh eyes.
Drawn to action and adventure that is grounded in real life, Katlyn finds
inspiration in the wildness of the world around us. “Nature
doesn’t care what we think. It’s wild and ferocious and
unpredictable—a good reminder not to take ourselves too seriously. The
downright ridiculous seems to call for a twist of humor. What I can’t
see, I can imagine.”
Juggling family, work, and life, over the years Katlyn grasped whatever time
she had available for a writing class when she could—poetry, creative, a
bit of journalism. What she discovered was that stories come from deep within
us…a moment. A memory. An experience or impression or dream. Only when
they surface, can you add texture and color.
A late-bloomer by her own description, Katlyn’s writing kicked off when
she joined Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators
(SCBWI), a community of like-minded people who selflessly share, uplift, and
guide, one meeting at a time. “There’s so much to learn, just for
the listening. Other writers energize me, challenge me to ‘say it
better’. Everyone has a natural style, and it always amazes me how many
ways there are to tell a story. From SCBWI to the Writers’ League of
Texas (WLT)—where Nightflower of Comanche Mound was a 2022
Thriller/Action-Adventure Finalist in the Manuscript Contest—on to
Western Writers of America and Women Writing the West (WWW), Katlyn has found
that it’s networks of writers that encourage her “No matter what
stage of writing skill, anyone, at any age, with a yearning to write should
seek out others who love what you love. Don’t wait.”
A native Texan, Katlyn Bates lives near Dallas, TX, outside a small town
that—like so many inter-connected communities, is quickly becoming
absorbed by the sprawl. “As for me, it’s open skies and nature and
landscape that frame a plot, and lend power to a story.”
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