Southwest Kansas, May 1879 The lone rider was half a day east of Dodge when he saw the covered wagon. It was bumping along the flat prairie north of the road, pulled by two mules and driven by two men. The rider reined in and watched them approach. At first …

Could the sun shine any brighter, the day be any warmer than perfection? The scent of every crop and flower mushroomed with abundance, filling the air of Welcome, Tennessee, where everyone smiled and nodded as they passed, polite and welcoming as could be. Howell Rogers, the blind mayor of Welcome …

“Mr. Acurso, I’ve got an idea you’ll want to write,” said a teenage kid, his quavering voice cutting through the calming background noise of Acurso’s favorite coffee shop. The award-winning writer always started his mornings working at his laptop on his Mars-detective series. The barista had served him with her …