Books by Dana Glossbrenner
Low Water Crossing is a tribute to those who endure heartache and nevertheless celebrate, to those who wait—and live full lives while waiting.
A backhoe unearths a human skeleton buried on Wayne Cheadham’s West Texas ranch. The investigation points a grisly finger at Wayne’s first wife. And so begins the wild ride through a history of love and heartbreak.
Wayne’s a highly eligible bachelor who runs into trouble, first because he’s naïve, and next because, well, life is unpredictable. He’s a loveable guy with a peaceful outlook. Just about anyone wants the best for him, dang it. To cope with sadness, he arranges for an old steel-girded bridge to be placed in the dry pasture in front of his house. Says it helps him adjust his perspective. Others say it’s the world’s largest yard ornament. He takes in stray emus and abandoned horses and becomes a mentor to a loveable little boy without much family. He sits and ponders his plight at a low-water crossing over the creek.
A cast of characters from the fictional small West Texas town of Sulfur Gap—the staff of a high school burger shop hangout on the Interstate, coffee groups at the Navaho Café, hair stylists from the Wild Hare, a local sheriff and his deputies, and the band at the local honky-tonk—knits together the community surrounding Wayne, and all bring their own quirks. People you’d find anywhere, some with thicker Texas twangs than others.
The town, the ranch, and familiar Texas cities such as San Angelo, Abilene, and Austin provide a backdrop for universal themes of love, grief, and loyalty.
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Advance Praise for Low Water Crossing:
In Low Water Crossing, Dana Glossbrenner nails the sights, smells, and human interactions so typical in a small West Texas town. Murder, dark secrets, shame, and revenge interweave in colorful personalities who pass through Wayne Cheatham's life. Heavy doses of tongue-in-cheek humor lighten and entertain as Wayne brings the plot full circle with truth, justice, and honor: the Cowboy Way.
Jean Stinnett, LPC, author of Please Pray with Me
Glossbrenner successfully presents several love stories and a mystery all in one tale, with a hefty dose of Texas small town gossip, charm, and spunky characters. (Lone Star Literary Life Review)
Low Water Crossing
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"It's not about low water--it's a low place, a low crossing, might take you through swift-running water if there's a lot of rain. You have to be careful. The rushing water could push you off the road. That's why there's always warning signs." from Low Water Crossing.
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Author Dana Glossbrenner is deft with dialogue and rather sparing with description, giving us just enough detail to let our imaginations fill in the blanks. Her writing has a lyrical quality – simple language about complicated people – that makes you feel the wind in your hair even as you’re wanting to reach out and (alternately) give a character a good shaking or a comforting pat on the back. (Melissa A. Bartell, Bibliotica)
Dana Glossbrenner’s writing is literary and engaging throughout, with the reader longing for more by the end because all the characters are so interesting, and the Texas setting draws in the reader and encourages further exploration. Low Water Crossing is perfect for anyone who likes their romance mixed with a whole lot of mystery and drama as big as the great state of Texas. (Ruthie Jones, Reading by Moonlight)
I found the changes in first person POV to be a little confusing at first, but I got used to it. As the story continued to develop, however, I actually enjoyed the style. It brought a somewhat unique perspective to everything. We learn things from the wives that even Wayne will never know. To me, that’s pretty intimate.
I really empathized with the characters. I was never sure what would happen with the different relationships but kept turning the pages to find out if there would be a happy ending for all the characters involved.
The Lark:
Book 1 of the Sulfur Gap Series
New edition with a group discussion guide and new cover.
Advance praise:
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The Lark is my favorite kind of book, in that it has it all – a little romance, a little mystery, characters you feel like you have known all your life, and a lot of laughs. Then, just when I’d settled in for what I thought was a lighthearted romp, bam, it hit me right in the feels. Charming, funny, and real.
Kim Hunt Harris, author of best-selling Trailer Park Princess series
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Charley Bristow takes some things seriously--work, dancing, pool-playing, and women, but maybe not in that order. He finds the true importance of friends and family.
Rick Smith, San Angelo Standard Times
Glossbrenner has crafted a totally engaging quest for happiness, set it in a totally genuine contemporary Texas, and delivered up great characters for a great read." --Cliff Hudder, author of Splinterville and Pretty Enough for You.
Women Behind Stained Glass: West Texas Pioneers
Women Behind Stained Glass chronicles the lives of three women whose struggles led them to the frontier town of Santa Angela, where they left such a mark that their survivors dedicated large, stained-glass windows to them. Their stories blow away conventional stereotypes. Careful research reveals lives of courage and perseverance in the face of death, divorce, poverty, and danger in the wide expanse of the unknown.