Gold Medal in Readers Favorite International Book Awards 2024.

Distinguished Favorite Independent Press Award 2025.

Bronze Medal in Independent Publisher Book Award 2025.

First Place, Publications: Memoir, Wyoming Historical Society 2025.

Selected as Wyoming’s adult “Great Reads from Great Places” pick for 2025 (National Book Festival)

“Outstanding memoir . . . as well as closely
observed, poignant, and wistful.”
—C. J. Box

A Sometimes Paradise is a poignant journey into the rugged beauty and challenges of Wyoming ranch life that shaped Mark Miller as a boy and then as a young man. Through countless failures and occasional successes, Mark learned to adapt to this unique rural environment, forging an unbreakable connection with the land. An eloquent memoir of self-discovery, A Sometimes Paradise is a testament to the enduring spirit of the American West and the people who call it home.

Released May 7, 2024, by Sandra Jonas Publishing.

Our thanks to Dalton Darnell and 310 Ranch Life for the video of the I Lazy D Ranch.

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“This is an original Wyoming work and one
of its most compelling.”

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Meet Mark E. Miller, PhD

Mark was raised on his family’s ranch in Carbon County, Wyoming, working there for 33 years until after he finished a PhD in anthropology. Following graduate work . . .

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The Dam That Didn’t Stand a Chance

The HO pasture was our winter range in the early 1980s, a broad sweep of Wyoming land where cattle roamed far and wide. Getting to the eastern reaches to check the herd meant crossing Dirtyman Draw, and that was never easy. The two-track road dropped down into a cut that sometimes ran twenty feet deep and then crossed the drainage channel where Dirtyman spilled into Seminoe Reservoir. When the reservoir was full, the shoreline turned into a soggy mess, too wet to cross.

Aug 302 min read

A Messy Suspension

My dad typically hired young boys to help on the ranch, and our relatives were no exception. My stepson, Shawn, and his cousin worked for him one summer, but they mostly played. They also got into things they shouldn’t have, as young boys do.

Jun 293 min read

This Isn’t the Fourth of July

My dad typically hired young boys to help on the ranch, and our relatives were no exception. My stepson, Shawn, and his cousin worked for him one summer, but they mostly played. They also got into things they shouldn’t have, as young boys do.

May 273 min read

Eaten by Deer Flies

When I was a young boy, we built pasture fences and corral pens all over the ranch. Our shearing pens were centrally located, and secure corrals were critical there for holding livestock between moves from pasture to pasture. One year, a couple of us dug scores of holes three feet deep to sink treated railroad ties as corral posts, which gave added strength to the pens. It was back-breaking work. Sticky sweat dripped into our eyes and poured down our bodies in dust-clogged ri

Apr 233 min read

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In the Press

Columnist Candy Moulton writes, “I recently read of ‘A Sometimes Paradise’ by Mark Miller. This is a gritty, poignant account of ranching in Carbon County that reflects the impact Miller’s family had on the land — and how the land itself shaped his life.” Read more of her review here!

Candy Moutlon

Cowboy State Daily – Laramie Boomerang

“This is an original Wyoming work and one of its most compelling.”