Book 1: Riley’s Story

A little girl’s body has been found in the wilderness near the desert community of Rubicon Ranch. Was it an accident? Or . . . murder! But who would want to kill a child? Everyone in this upscale housing development is hiding something. Everyone has an agenda. Everyone’s life will be different after they have encountered the Rubicon. Rubicon Ranch, that is.

Rubicon Ranch: Riley’s Story, was collaborative novel written online by the authors of Second Wind Publishing. The story is now finished, and all the chapters are available for your reading enjoyment. If you prefer to read the book on an ereading device, Rubicon Ranch: Riley’s Story is available as a free download from Smashwords in the ebook format of your choice.

• Welcome to Rubicon Ranch
• Chapter 1: Melanie Gray — by Pat Bertram
• Chapter 2: Seth Bryan — by Lazarus Barnhill
• Chapter 3: Jeff and Kourtney Peterson — by J B Kohl and Eric Beetner
• Chapter 4: Dylan McKenzie — by Nancy A. Niles
• Chapter 5: Mary “Moody” Sinclair — by JJ Dare
• Chapter 6: Cooper Dahlsing — by Christine Husom
• Chapter 7: Mark and Jamie Westbrook — by Nichole R. Bennett
• Chapter 8: Eloy Franklin — by Deborah J Ledford
• Chapter 9: Melanie Gray — by Pat Bertram
• Chapter 10: Seth Bryan — by Lazarus Barnhill
• Chapter 11: Jeff and Kourtney Peterson — by J B Kohl and Eric Beetner
• Chapter 12: Dylan McKenzie — by Nancy A. Niles
• Chapter 13: Mary “Moody” Sinclair — by JJ Dare
• Chapter 14: Cooper Dahlsing — by Christine Husom
• Chapter 15: Mark and Jamie Westbrook — by Nichole R. Bennett
• Chapter 16: Eloy Franklin — by Deborah J Ledford
• Chapter 17: Melanie Gray — by Pat Bertram
• Chapter 18: Seth Bryan — by Lazarus Barnhill
• Chapter 19: Jeff and Kourtney Peterson — by J B Kohl and Eric Beetner
• Chapter 20: Dylan McKenzie — by Nancy A. Niles
• Chapter 21: Mary “Moody” Sinclair — by JJ Dare
• Chapter 22: Cooper Dahlsing — by Christine Husom
• Chapter 23: Mark and Jamie Westbrook — by Nichole R. Bennett
• Chapter 24: Eloy Franklin — by Deborah J Ledford
• Chapter 25: Seth Bryan — by Lazarus Barnhill
• Chapter 26: Melanie Gray — by Pat Bertram
• Chapter 27: Jeff and Kourtney Peterson — by J B Kohl and Eric Beetner
• Chapter 28: Dylan McKenzie — by Nancy A. Niles
• Chapter 29: Mary “Moody” Sinclair — by JJ Dare
• Chapter 30: Cooper Dahlsing — by Christine Husom
• Chapter 31: Mark and Jamie Westbrook — by Nichole R. Bennett
• Chapter 32: Eloy Franklin — by Deborah J Ledford
• Chapter 33: Seth Bryan — by Lazarus Barnhill
• Chapter 34: Melanie Gray — by Pat Bertram
• Chapter 35: Jeff and Kourtney Peterson — by J B Kohl and Eric Beetner
• Chapter 36: Dylan McKenzie — by Nancy A. Niles
• Chapter 37: Cooper Dahlsing — by Christine Husom
• Chapter 38: Mary “Moody” Sinclair — by JJ Dare
• Chapter 39: Mark and Jamie Westbrook — by Nichole R. Bennett
• Chapter 40: Eloy Franklin — by Deborah J Ledford
• Chapter 41: Seth Bryan — by Lazarus Barnhill
• Chapter 42: Melanie Gray — by Pat Bertram

Authors who participated in the writing of Rubicon Ranch: Riley’s Story

• Pat Bertram is a native of Colorado. When the traditional publishers stopped publishing her favorite type of book — character and story driven novels that can’t easily be slotted into a genre — she decided to write her own. Light Bringer is Bertram’s fourth novel to be published by Second Wind Publishing, LLC. Also available are Daughter Am I, More Deaths Than One and A Spark of Heavenly Fire.
• Deborah J Ledford, author of music themed suspense thrillers Staccato and Snare, is a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize and a nominee for the Hillerman Sky Award at Left Coast Crime 2011. Her award-winning short stories appear in numerous print publications and anthologies, most recently, How NOT to Survive a Vacation (Sisters in Crime Chapter Desert Sleuths).
• Lazarus Barnhill, author of The Medicine People and Lacey Took a Holiday, is a native of Oklahoma who has lived all over the south. He holds three degrees, including a Doctorate in Spiritual Development. He has been obsessed with writing since he was a boy. A father of three and grandfather of three, he resides in North Carolina with his wife of 34 years.
• Nichole R Bennett, an avid mystery reader from a young age, has devoured Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe, and Agatha Christie. Nichole has also had an ongoing fascination with the supernatural — everything from angels and spirits to ghosts and hauntings. It’s only natural that she combine her two interests to create Ghost Mountain, a mystery with a paranormal twist.
• Nancy Niles, author of Vendetta: A Deadly Win, is a native Las Vegan who has traveled extensively by road from coast to coast and into Canada and Mexico. She is a member of the Private Eye Writer’s of America and has had numerous poems published by The International Library of Poetry. Her poem “Red Cross Thoughts,” won an Editor’s Choice Award. Nancy is a graphic artist and worked as an extra in the movie Con Air.
•  J J Dare, an author since age seven, fondly recalls her first book and its “A+” review from her second grade teacher. Love for the amazing worlds the written word opens up keeps Dare writing. With two published novels under her belt, False Positive and False World, Dare continues to write thrillers and mysteries, with occasional romances, fantasies and dramas thrown into the mix.
• Christine Husom lives in Minnesota. She is the author of Murder in Winnebago County, Buried in Wolf Lake, and An Altar by the River in the Winnebago County mystery thriller series. Husom is a former corrections officer, mental health practitioner, and deputy sheriff. She enjoys solving mysteries in stories and in real life, and believes fact is usually stranger than fiction.
• JB Kohl and Eric Beetner are the authors of One Too Many Blows to the Head and Borrowed Trouble. JB Kohl works as a medical and technical writer as well as a fiction writer. She lives in Virginia with her husband and three children. Eric Beetner is a TV and film editor, director and producer, and an award-winning short story and screenwriter who lives in L.A. with his wife and two daughters.

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