Book Spotlight: Of Faith and Dreams

Tonya Ashley became my friend several years ago when we both attended KenTen Writers' Retreat. Sadly, the retreat is no more, but Tonya and I have kept up with each other on Facebook. And last year, she became one of my authors I do content edits for. This newest book of hers, which is absolutely lovely, y'all, I got a sneak peek at long before I discovered I'd get to do the content edits. And she had me hooked back then. I think she'll do the same for you. Be sure to read all the way through as she tells you more.

​Discovering Unexpected Treasure While Balancing Fact and Fiction
The wind rolls in from the river, mussing my hair as I stand on the short dock at the Lee Creek Park boat launch. A tugboat pushes several barges slowly down the Arkansas River. Closing my eyes, I try to imagine a steamboat in place of the tugboat and green grass over the paved parking lot. The task is easier than erasing streetlights and motor vehicles from Main Street.
There’s something about historic Main Street towns that spark my imagination and Van Buren, Arkansas has long been one of my favorites. Its restored Victorian buildings, Old Frisco Depot, King Opera House, and trolley transport me back in time. The past and present are seamlessly woven together in Van Buren’s historical attractions, antique shops, art galleries, restaurants, and more. My favorite hangout, Chapters on Main, offers new and used books alongside deliciously creative espresso drinks. All this, along with the warmth and friendliness of its residents, make it so easy to fall in love with this delightful Main Street town.

Overflowing with charm, the quaint riverside town also has a rough-and-tumble side to its history. For nearly 100 years, Arkansas sat on the edge of Indian Territory with Van Buren as the gateway to the West. Many frontier states neighboring territorial areas were saddled with wild reputations but outgrew those reputations as the territories around them attained statehood. Arkansas, however, not only retained an unfavorable notoriety, but word of its infamy grew, spreading into the plains and Southwest. In fact, in the November 3, 1849 issue of the Arkansas Intelligencer, the Van Buren newspaper editor wrote:
“People at a distance easily come to the conclusion that…a typical Arkansian is…a person in a semi-barbaric state, half alligator, half horse…armed to the teeth, bristling with knives and pistols, a rollicking daredevil type of personage, made up of coarseness, ignorance, and bombast.”
The rough quality of men attracted to Arkansas were commonly armed with pistols and a Bowie knife, also called an Arkansas Toothpick. Van Buren saw its fair share of gritty characters including the notable Wyatt Earp. But before he was a lawman in Dodge City, Kansas he was arrested for horse theft in Indian Territory and brought to the federal court at Van Buren where he escaped before standing trial. Pearl Starr, daughter of infamous female outlaw Belle Starr, worked as a prostitute in Van Buren and eventually opened a brothel in Fort Smith.
So, how does a writer create a fictional version of a real-world town replete with such a mixed bag of charm and incivility in its history?
It was important to balance the allure of history with its unruliness. My goal was to weave together the endearing sweetness of Janette Oke’s frontier stories with the untamed adventure of Western fiction. About halfway through the first draft of Of Faith and Dreams, the story felt too syrupy. It didn’t have enough texture and I wasn’t sure what to do.
It was then I remembered what my grandfather had said to me before he died. “Don’t let anything get in your way. Not even the devil himself.” It was also at that point I remembered Grandpa’s favorite writers: Larry McMurtry, Louis L’Amour, and Zane Grey. I immersed myself for a couple of weeks in the TV miniseries version of Lonesome Dove and several collections of L’Amour’s and Grey’s short stories on audio.
In trying to strike a balance between fact and fiction, I stumbled upon a real-life personal connection to my grandfather. These are the unexpected treasures that make writing so grand. I think Grandpa would have loved the Western flair incorporated into this story and I hope readers will too!
Research sources:
Bolton, S. C. (2024). Louisiana Purchase through early statehood, 1803 through 1860. Retrieved from https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/louisiana-purchase-through-early-statehood-1803-through-1860-398/
Williams, C. F. (1980). The Bear State Image: Arkansas in the Nineteenth Century. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 39(2), 99–111. https://doi.org/10.2307/40023900

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Of Faith and Dreams
When Van Buren, Arkansas, is inundated with Forty-Niners seeking to outfit themselves with horses before heading west, Justin Hogue sees the perfect opportunity to step out of his father’s shadow to establish a horse ranch. The same influx of prospectors ushers in a competitive horse trader who wants him out of the way. Further complicating things, Justin is challenged with a new tenant at the Hogue family boardinghouse.
Eliza Dawn is an independent, headstrong seamstress who claims to follow the prospectors west to sell her garments. Justin believes she’s hiding something. So, he keeps his distance until a mysterious letter and ring unite them in searching for an unknown prospector.
Can they find one man in a thousand before the gold expeditions leave town? What will put Justin’s dreams at greater risk—conflict with the horse trader or Eliza Dawn’s secrets?
Available at https://scrivenings.link/offaithanddreams

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Tonya B. Ashley makes her novel debut with Of Faith and Dreams, the Book One in the Lost and Found Series. Tonya enjoys a thread of adventure, whether in story or life. Fascinated with people, places, and nature, she loves to explore through writing, reading, hiking, and artwork.
She and her firefighter/paramedic husband are parents of a middle-school son who is teaching himself electric guitar and an adult son, a newly married firefighter. They're delighted to add a girl to the bunch in the form of a precious daughter-in-law who is a nurse.
Author Links
https://www.facebook.com/tonya.b.ashley.author
https://scriveningspress.com/tonya-b-ashley/
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CJRS731F
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