My New Journey

February 14, 2025February 14, 2025 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

Well, after more than two decades at the computer writing my tales on the “trails to tenderness”, I find myself on a new path of family and well-being. Those writing days are riding off into the sunset. Many of my older titles are no longer available, and after much thought and prayer, I have decided that self-publishing them is just not something I want to pursue.

Sad? Relieved? A bit of both, but mostly joy. I made lifelong friends, worked with fabulous editors including Cheryl Pierson, Nic D’Arenza, Nicola Martinez, and Lisa McCaskill, who all taught and inspired me. Good memories and real books in my hand. It’s been a great ride with lots of hills and valleys, exciting awards and nominations, and a healthy dose of rejections, too. Since 2010, I’ve been honored to be part of Pelican Book Group where I will have a new Christmas story out this year. It’s a medieval1 And I’m thinking about one more Hearts Crossing Ranch prequel. But that is in the Lord’s hands right now–He will let me know if the simmering idea reaches a boiling point.

Right now, traveling with my hubby is a joyful use of my time. I enjoy retirement and spoiling our four grandkids and one dilute calico kitty. There’s always my succulents to work on, another trip to plan…and my 8-year old granddaughter MIGHT want to get a sewing machine all her own with Gramma as her teacher. Since I love fashion, I am hopeful.

Currently, I’m making framable collages of all my book covers.

Most important, every week this year, I write down a blessing I’ve experienced. In these troubled times, I pray to shut out the division, noise, and chaos all around, and my Mason jar of scribbles will be treat to re-read next New Year’s Eve.

May 2025 bring all of us good things!

Much love,

~Tanya

…come to Christmas at Hearts Crossing Ranch

October 5, 2024October 5, 2024 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

….before it became Hearts Crossing Ranch! My Christmas prequel, The Heart of a Stranger, has you meet Elena Montoya and James Martin at the start of the Martin dynasty. The dynasty exists until this day in my long-running series at Pelican Book Group. I’m honored to be one of 24 authors featured in this year’s Christmas Extravaganza, and in November and December, I’ll be featuring the books, blurbs, bios and buy-links of a lot of my fellow authors. Stay tuned!

So…it’s December 1876, and a stranger shows up claiming Elena’s land is his land. Well, how can that be? But she has always believed in God’s word that strangers can be angels unaware and to treat them as such. How can she turn James Martin away when a blizzard starts to rage? And how can she not keep him safe when somebody on the ranch threatens his life? Somebody she trusts who has killed before. Oh, yes, this is truly a love story but it turned into a bit of a murder mystery, which surprised me, too.

Here’s the gorgeous cover designed by the inimitable artist Nicola Martinez. How is it she can see right inside my head–and my heart?

More soon, and God bless.

The Heart of a Stranger~Christmas 2024!

July 12, 2024 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

Howdy! Welcome to my world of writing. The upcoming The Heart of a Stranger was a joy to write. I’m both honored and thrilled to announce that this prequel to the Hearts Crossing Ranch series has been selected as one of only 24 stories for Pelican Book Group’s annual Christmas Extravaganza! I’ve gone back to my origins for this one–historical Western romance. It’s December 1876, and the ranch’s heir Elena Montoya meets handsome interloper James Martin as the family graveyard. He claims he owns the ranch. Of course it’s love at first sight, but then he nearly dies in her arms. It’s a story of love for sure, Christmas comfort and joy, faith always, and a fine little mystery. Is Hector, her long-time trusted ranch boss, actually a killer?

I hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it. Hearts Crossing Ranch began in 2010 after I entered a writing contest at Pelican book Group. Since then, my fictional Colorado ranch has inspired thirteen stories. I just can’t stop filling it with people–their love stories and faith journeys.

My editor-in-chief Nicola Martinez is amazingly supporting, both professionally and personally. Not long ago, she helped me through a health challenge. Honestly, she’s the first person I confided in. And Lisa McCaskill, who along with Nicola edits my books, is also near-perfection. These ladies give life to my ranch and help my dreams come true. Thanks and love to both.

And just sayin’…Wordpress gives me absolute fits. But it did auto-generate this lovely image for me.

Bye for now. I’ll be starting a Scents And Scentsibility page soon (What’s that? Stay tuned!) as well as a writer’s tool box. Gotta put my career as a Catholic high school English teacher to use in my retirement. And I reckon new ideas will get me back here more often.

Please come back. Love to all who’ve wandered by on my trail to tenderness.

It’s Here–LOVE at FIRST SNOW

November 3, 2023 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

Yep, my prequel to the Hearts Crossing Ranch stories is now available! Release date is called a “book birthday”, but in this case, it’s a Christmas treat! Part of the Christmas Extravaganza at my wonderful publishing house, Pelican Book Group. Each year, PBG selects 24 authors for their Christmas stories of holiday traditions, families, hope, and faith. I am so pleased to be one of the bunch for the fourth time!

I love Christmas stories as much as I adore Christmas movies. I read and watch both all year long. So…it’s easy to get inspired to write an Extravaganza.

I came up with the title first, reckoning somehow I’d figure out a Christmas Extravaganza story that fit. All my stories take place at my fictional Hearts Crossing Ranch in fictional Mountain Cove, Colorado, each one featuring a member of the Martin clan. So…this time I decided on a prequel of how their ma and pa met in 1976. Such a fun hobble down memory for my editor Lisa and me. I wrote the story for the Watershed line, since present-day matriarch Elaine is twenty years old in the book, refusing to go back to college after taking time after her father’s death. Yeah, it’s labeled YA, but it’s suitable for all ages, I promise. Something about first love we can all relate to. Sigh. And for some of us, like Elaine and me, it lasts forever!

Book Link:

Love at First Snow…

July 12, 2023 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

LOVE AT FIRST SNOW...coming December 2023!

If you’ve known me longer than ten seconds, you know I like nothing better than writing Christmas stories and watching Christmas movies. I’m already recording practically every second of Hallmark and GACs’s “Christmas In July” programming. Ought to keep me busy until, uh, Christmas.

But I’m here today to announce that the next installment to my Hearts Crossing Ranch series over at PelicanBookGroup, LOVE AT FIRST SNOW, will be part of their wonderful CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA, featuring 24 stories by select authors. I can’t wait to cuddle up with every single one, my impossibly spoiled calico kitty Leigh snug on my lap…

LAFS was an amazingly enjoyable story to write, as it’s set back in 1976. It’s origin story of how Hearts Crossing matriarch Elaine Martin meets the love of her life, Alex Kennedy. While this makes one dozen novellas in this series about the Martin family of Mountain Cove, Colorado, never fear: each book is stand-alone. So…Kennedy? Yet it’s the Martin family? Find out how and why Alex takes his bride’s last name.

I’m thinking…just like “Yellowstone” (love it or hate it LOL…) next year’s Christmas story just might take me back to my original writing roots–the Old West, and how Josephus Martin started the ranch in the first place…

Stay tuned for more deets. And enjoy this lovely summer “Christmas in July” day!

Me at Lake Tahoe, last November

Time Goes So Fast…

May 1, 2023May 1, 2023 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

I am not the only one who thinks the world is spinning faster and there are fewer seconds each day. But if I ever catch up, I’ll just have to start all over again. Thing is, I have a beautiful story out right now, Royalty at the Ranch. about a cowboy who’s a prince. Incognito with a college chum at Hearts Crossing Ranch for Christmas, Brodie (aka Prince Anders) finds his heart stolen by the ranch’s granddaughter. (You can read more about her in Seeing Daylight.) But he lives in (fictional) Dornfeld, Addie in Colorado. Oh, what to do? Of course you know me, and you know a happy ending’s in store. And that I believe in Christmas Miracles. Thanks to my amazing publisher, Pelican Book group’s Christmas Extravaganza, and Watershed lines, for bringing my story to life. It’s so hard to leave Hearts Crossing Ranch that my brain is always exploding with new plots and characters, all set in that perfect little part of Colorado. Fingers crossed for next Christmas!

It Is What It is LOL…

April 30, 2021April 30, 2021 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

Well, as you see, I don’t update much. Losing a loved one to Covid, training a new kitten companion during lockdown, and accepting some health issues of my own and others kept me pretty busy the whole last year. Not to mention–writing a book that came out last Christmas! It’s set at my favorite place on earth, Hearts Crossing Ranch,

My Valentine book is a separate release from a successful multi-author anthology, arranged by the wonderful and award winning Mary Manners.

So while I honestly try to update things over the next few weeks…I hope you enjoy Holly Hearts and Heart of Hope.

Oh, be joyful! Sing and rejoice before the Lord. Here’s our little granddaughter showing how to get it done.

Merry Almost Christmas!

November 10, 2020 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is img_2219.jpg — A happy trail near my home.

So glad the trail led you here to my homestead. Kick off your boots and make yourself welcome. It doesn’t snow around here, so I enjoy writing and reading Christmas stories all year long so I can pretend. Hang around barefoot as long as you want here along the beaches of California’s central coast.

Well, this was a tough year. I needed to remind myself of miracles a whole bunch. Our hearts broke at losing a loved one to Covid, and I gotta isolate a much as I can, due to a medication that messes up my immune system. Seeing the four grands and planning for Christmas are big challenges for sure. But hey, God’s in charge, always has been, aways will be.

Anyway, I hope you’ll return to Hearts Crossing Ranch in my latest novella for the series, Holly Hearts, and enjoy a merry little Christmas with Elli and Haggai. A kindergartener in Sanctuary, ranch granddaughter Ella Martin is now old enough to be a teenager with a heart and heartbreak all her own! When the hottest guy at school–not to mention her dad’s favorite ranch hand–breaks their date for the Winter Formal, she’s got to hold it together. Especially when she finds out Haggs is worried about his mom’s medical crisis. Well, she knows all about loving–and losing a mom–she’s lost one and trying to love another–so whatever Haggs needs, she’ll be there at his side.

The characters might be teenagers, but the theme of this book resonates with all ages. I mean, we’ve all been sixteen once, right? Helped somebody we love through a bad time, and hopefully trusted in God. It’s a sweet romance with a faith message, but as you know, my stories are never judge-y. It’s truly a story for everybody, all ages, all believers. And I know for sure Jesus held my hand while I wrote this. Please enjoy your journey back to Hearts Crossing Ranch!

Where of course, it snows every Christmas!

Happy and new!

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

Following a new trail…

So glad the trail led you to my homestead. This country gramma and California beach girl welcomes you any time, so kick off your boots or flip flops and stay a while. The picture above is a lovely park near our home where my grandkids romp after school, and it so reminds me of peace and tranquility mixed with their laughter and joy. Those four rug-rats will make sure I have a blessed 2020.

But it can only happen with trust in the Lord. 2019 had some difficult moments of family trauma, and 2020 is bringing me some health challenges, but all I have to do to remind myself Who’s in charge is to lift my eyes to the hills and mountains around me, and recite Psalm 121:1.

I do believe my creative muse is rousing herself after some much-needed time away, and the fingers are itching for a keyboard. I am confident I’ll find editors who’ll go with my two sweet novellas, Sorry and Heart of Hope, now off-market, but that did well as part of two amazing anthologies headed by Stacey Coverstone and Mary Manners. I’ll be busy updating this website over the next few weeks and working on two romance manuscripts. But I gotta say, I think a family saga with a dark side is next for me.

So stay tuned. And don’t be a stranger. Much love to you, and may Jesus enrich your spirit and heart in 2020.

How about some snow with your palm trees?

Introducing Heart of Hope…

January 17, 2019April 16, 2019 / Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

heart_of_hope_med_96 — I’m beyond blessed to have this novella included in the “Love, Sweet Love” anthology.

So glad the trail led you here. I’m pleased as punch to announce the recent release of Heart of Hope, in the already-bestselling Valentine anthology Love, Sweet Love. Five novellas, five authors in sweetheart stories filled with romance, family, food, and faith. And of course, happy endings.

How Heart of Hope came about: Well, in June 2017, family stuff got me thinking that I needed some time away from writing and blogging. Some good including a baby granddaughter who’s now a vivacious toddler. Some not so good–my mother in law is still ailing. So I decided 12 months was a good break.

Funny how the Lord works. June 2018 rolls around. Exactly one year later. Four amazing authors invite me to participate in this Valentine anthology. Wow. I need to thank Mary Manners, Delia Latham, Dora Hiers, and Zoe McCarthy for all the support and handholding.

And I decided the setting had to be in my beloved California, so I picked a fictional world I’d thought up years ago for Faithful Danger. Rancho Lorena, loosely based on Santa Ynez. It’s rustic charm and Wild West history simply demanded my hero be–shocker–a cowboy. So Akron McCrory and Bree Bellflower’s story was born–sprinkled with my own Aunt Grace’s banana bread. (Each L,SL story was tied to a recipe.)

Here’s a snippet about all our stories. Oh, and did I mention we reached best-selling Amazon status? That is a true first for li’l ole me. Thank you, God.

HEART OF HOPE: He gave Bree her first kiss, but can he give her a future? She’s back in Rancho Lorena but not to stay—until Akron steals her heart. For good this time. But his ranch is in financial trouble, and she’s a rich developer. A recipe for disaster. Until they find the missing ingredients of love, happiness, and hope when they help out together at a home for young women in need.

LIKE A DANCE by Delia Latham

A former celebrity dancer with a child she adores. A successful but burnt-out therapist to Hollywood’s rich and famous. When they show up in Hummingbird Hollow at the same time, sparks fly… but can they fan the flames?

LANDING IN LOVE by Mary Manners

Erin Mulvaney is comfortable in front of both crowds and cameras. It’s the tango of one-on-one relationships, especially when it comes to men, that ties up her tongue. When handsome Kyle arrives to renovate her family’s restaurant, can she conquer her fears to cover the project along side him?

HER VALENTINE VET by Dora Hiers

Veterinarian Murphy Denton doesn’t trust people. Heiress Micaela Stanford would donate her fortune to care for abandoned animals. Her generous spirit crushes his defenses. Will his dysfunctional past prevent them from a happily-ever-after?

GOOD BREAKS by Zoe M. McCarthy

Life has dealt a mammography tech and an entrepreneur bad breaks and led them to a small North Carolina ski town. A new bad break introduces them. Can they share more than a love of skiing? Or is she intent only on fixing his flaws?

Best you cuddle up now with some sweets–I suggest chocolate–and a good cup of coffee. Or just maybe a glass of a big bold red–Heart of Hope is set in wine country, after all.

Cheers!

Tanya Hanson, romance author

Uncategorized