A B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree

The Lonely Spirit won first place (best in category) in the Chanticleer International Book Awards for short story collections and novellas!

The Lonely Spirit is also a winner for historical fiction in the Firebird Book Awards. It was long listed for the Historical Fiction Company's Book of the Year Awards, and received the “highly recommended” award of excellence from the Historical Fiction Company.

“This book is exemplary… A quick read with a huge plot that will leave the reader wanting more. Quinn is a great character. The time period of the mid 1800s in the West and the tensions between the Comanches and the Army is well described and adds a wonderful dimension to the story of Quinn…. What a nice read! I didn't know what to expect as I began to read and I enjoyed every aspect of it. The pacing, organization and structure were well executed. You bring the reader right into the heart of the story as Quinn begins his journey to find out who he truly is. His story is so compelling, I was literally turning the pages to find out what happens next. Great job! … Quinn is a fantastic character. He doesn't fit into either world and must forge his own way to discover who he is and where he does belong. He's so well fleshed out and so compelling, I was actually sad when I came to the end. The secondary characters were also well fleshed out and believable. You do a good job creating another character in the Old West itself. You bring the location to life in a vivid way.” (Judge, 30th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards)

The Lonely Spirit is a short story collection sprawled across the Old West. As the only half-Comanche US marshal, L.S. Quinn straddles two worlds, searching for peace in both. Quinn is one of the best marshals, well-respected for finding criminals and bringing them to justice.

His adventures pit him against criminals like Florence Finnegan, the famous brothel owner and gunslinger, and Jack Mattherson, whose attack on US Senator William Quincy brings out Quinn’s desire for revenge. But Quinn isn’t always lucky: when one of his partners turns into his enemy on a lonely stretch of land, Quinn no longer knows whom to trust.

The fight between the Comanche and the United States Army is never far from Quinn’s mind, either. When the army kills his fiancée, Quinn must rebuild his life, even as he finds himself a lasting enemy in Colonel Ranald Mackenzie, a respected Civil War veteran.

But Quinn’s journeys also bring him into contact with kindness he does not anticipate in such a wild land. To his surprise, sympathy comes in the form of Colonel Robert Graypool, whose levelheaded command of the Comanche reservation at Fort Sill brings out Quinn’s respect when he least expects it. Humanity also resides in Dr. Mary Newcomb, one of the few women physicians of the day. In both of them, Quinn finds some of the community for which he searches.