To continue celebrating One Year of Murder for the one year anniversary of the MOCC (Murders On Cripple Creek), let’s dive into the lingo! Only a proper cowboy (or cowgirl) would know it and so after this, you’ll be ready to hop on your steed and ride!

You might be asking though, how did this glossary come about and why? Well first, if you’ve read my novel and it didn’t have the glossary, you’d be rounding me like cattle asking me for one! So many of my friends text me for words or told me they had to google them. So low and behold, the glossary! I had a friend suggest it for the second edition and so I incorporated it. It was hilariously fun to research the phrases in the first place but writing them into the glossary made them come to life even more!

So now, let’s round a few up together and see where you can find them in the MOCC!

Grass Widow – The grass in grass widow is a reference to the makeshift bed of grass or hay (as opposed to a real bed with a mattress and sheets) on which a woman might lie with her lover before he rises and abandons her—leaving her a widow, so to speak, in the grass.

“Come to think of it, she looks like a grass widow to me,” Griffin said, glancing over at Lark and scrutinizing her further. Lark didn’t move as he surveyed her. “We’ve got better things up the road.”

Chiseler – A person who cheats or tricks; a swindler.

“Are you a chiseler?” Lark Livingston called across the bank, her pistol still held out in front. Her revolver was her father’s Derringer double shot. It was a beautiful revolver too, with a wolf engraved on the pearl handle. Even though it was old, Lark knew how to wield it just fine.

“Am I a chiseler?” Colt came out from behind the bushes, grinning. He put his hand against the spot where the bullet hole nicked far from his head. He rubbed the bark a bit on the pine tree and brushed the bark between his fingers.

Duck on a June Bug – An expression for someone leaping at opportunity quickly.

“They only stick because you make ‘em,” Colt said dismissively.

“Aye they stick alright, like a duck on a June bug,” Rodrigo said, rising from the table to let Gloria know he’d be leaving soon.

Calico Ball – Stems from an 1855 New York City event in which women were encouraged to wear a dress made of simple calico which would be donated for the benefit of the poor after the party.

Jane’s younger sister, Georgia Parker, was across the room. Georgia and Jane’s emerald eyes were nearly identical, but their personalities could not be more different. Georgia was a wild woman and she put on these Calico balls supposedly for charity to distribute gently used clothing to the poor. But Jane knew better.

Now that you know some of the lingo, you’re ready to ride! Head on over to my Instagram or Tiktok to enter the giveaway for an autographed copy of my book! Winner announced Sunday!