Author J. Hoolihan Clayton Brings Historical Fiction Series to Dillon Book Signing

DILLON, Mont. — Author J. Hoolihan Clayton will visit The Bookstore on Saturday, Sept. 19, for a reading and signing featuring her five-book Discretion series.

The event runs from 2 to 4 p.m., with a reading from her newest novel, Discretion and Folly: A Novel of Factual History Concerning Murder, Metis, Soldiers and Sitting Bull, scheduled for approximately 2:30 p.m.

Clayton, a First Nations Plains Cree author, was adopted by a white family and raised on a Wyoming cattle ranch. Her experience includes working as a cowboy and wildland firefighter.

A University of Montana graduate, she taught history and Native American studies for several years before becoming a full-time author and research consultant.

Set in the American West following the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Discretion series follows Charles Wolfe Collins, an Irish immigrant whose background includes secret service work during the Civil War. His assignments lead him into dangerous situations, friendships with Native people and discoveries that challenge his understanding of the world around him.

According to the event announcement, the novels combine fictional storytelling with historical figures, documents and events, inviting readers to reconsider familiar portrayals of the West and Native American peoples.

The series has received recognition from several book awards programs. Its first two books were High Plains Book Awards finalists in 2022 and 2023, and the series was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist in 2024 and 2025.

The third book won a New Mexico/Arizona Book Award in 2024. The fourth installment, Discretion is Valor, received the Historical Society of New Mexico’s Ralph Emerson Twitchell Award in 2025 and was a New Mexico Book Awards finalist that year.

Clayton will sign all five books in the series during her Dillon visit.

For more information or to reserve copies, call The Bookstore at 406-683-6807.