God's Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana

I Screwed Up

My two published novels, God's Thunderbolt and Gold Under Ice, both stand on as firm and well researched a historical foundation as I could possibly make them.

But recently, to my dismay, I uncovered a serious error in historical fact underlying the Vigilantes' activities. While he is helping to bury Nicholas Tbalt, the books' protagonist, Daniel Stark, thinks about all the factors contribting to the need for a Vigilante group. He lists among others this one: "... if Congress had allocated the Constitution to the Territory when they formed it."

When I wrote that, I thought no law existed in (what was then) Idaho Territory because Congress did not include the Constitution in the Organic Act that formed the territory.

I didn't read the Organic Act.

My bad.

The wonderful librarians at the Idaho Legislative Research Library pointed out my error to me. After I got over being embarrassed, I read the Organic Acts of Idaho and Montana. Sure enough, Section 6 of both tie the territories to the U. S. Constitution.

Then I went on to read more. I made a wonderful discovery that I'm not ready to share quite yet, but I found evidence that there truly was no law in Idaho Territory between March 3, 1863 and January 3, 1864. If there was no law in Idaho, neither was there any in Montana.

God's Thunderbolt and the ABNA

In January 2010 I entered God's Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA). That year the ABNA was opened for the first time to self-published novels, as well as to those previously unpublished, so I thought, Why not?

God's Thunderbolt started the contest with another 4,999 entries, and ended in the top 50. That's 1%. It did not win, but I'm happy with its placing. The contest was not about the best book. It was about finding a book that Penguin editors felt they could make into a work of significant fiction. They eventually found that book, and I'm delighted and pleased for the winner. I hope her career takes off and that she will write more good books for Penguin.

I got a lot out of the contest. I had a shot at a contract with Penguin, one of the major publishers in the world, without the intervening step of finding an agent. That in itself can take years. Believe me. I've been there.

The 2009 Spur Award for Best First Novel

The Western Writers of America awarded God's Thunderbolt the 2009 Spur Award for Best First Novel.

"Since 1953, the nonprofit Western Writers of America (www.westernwriters.org) has promoted and honored the best in Western literature with the annual Spur Awards, selected by panels of judges. Awards, for material published last year, are given for works whose inspirations, image and literary excellence best represent the reality and spirit of the American West."

God's Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana

December 1863. Daniel Stark, New York lawyer and radical abolitionist, has come to Alder Gulch to get enough gold to redeem his family from disgrace after his father ’s suicide God's Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana (front cover) revealed that he had gambled away his clients’ assets. But as travelers are robbed and murdered, Dan realizes that he will likely not survive. Then a friend is murdered, and Dan successfully prosecutes the suspected murderer in miners court. After testimony during the trial reveals a criminal conspiracy operating in the area, Dan joins a Vigilante group that unites Union and Confederate sympathizers in establishing the law where ruffians rule and murder is tolerated. But as the Vigilantes close in on the conspirators, Dan, now the Vigilante prosecutor, faces the horrible prospect of hanging both a friend and the husband of the woman he has come to love.

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2009 Spur Award
The Spur Award