A book from JJ Bach

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About the Author

Some people seem to think that you should write about what you know. Well...since I agree with that theory for the most part, here's what I know.

Once upon a time there was a guy living in a flyover state. Every once in awhile he would look up at the con trails the jets were leaving as they flew their way west to various destinations. Those jets always reminded him of where he had spent years of his life. Some great years of his life. School in Montana, river guiding in Idaho, amazing telemark skiing in the powder at Lost Trail Pass, first job, love and marriage, first house, kids - all "out west".

Life's second chapter started in 1998 with a move from "out west" to... the midwest. Simple living, way less traffic, beaucoup sunshine, and agriculture everywhere. No dormant volcanoes on the horizon, no mountain passes with avalanche chutes to look up as you drove by. But no mist either. Amazing bike roads. And a cost of living that was way better. One more kid came along and the world's best dog ever also arrived.

That guy was and still is the father of three daughters. On road trips through midwest flyover country he would spin yarns about a set of sisters growing up on a ranch in the outback of Idaho. To his surprise, his young daughters listened. They stayed awake in their car seats and quit asking how much farther they had to go. So he kept telling road trip stories about these sisters growing up wild on a ranch in Idaho. The road trip stories got bigger and bigger, as the girls in the car started school, the girls in the story started school. It kept on going. The guy realized he had never read a book involving grandparents, so he added them in along with other family members you never read about. Soon there were real places in this story. From Lolo Pass to the Tendoy store, from Shoup and the turn at North Fork to Stanley and the Payette River canyon. Beautiful wild places that needed a little showing and sharing, too beautiful to ignore.

Along with many other ideas and people and places, this is the provenance of River and Ranch. Along the way some mystery and intrigue via rare earth minerals and some Chinese global manipulations weave their way into the story line as well!