If you’ve spent any time with my fictional Weaver family, you know they’re a lively bunch. They tease one another mercilessly, laugh a lot, work hard, and when enough of them gather in one place, there’s a good chance something unexpected is going to happen.
Readers sometimes ask where authors get their ideas. In the case of the Weavers, I didn’t have to look very far. I grew up with them. Well… sort of.
My Aunt and Uncle had twelve children, that’s twelve cousins who became part of the inspiration for the Weaver family. I didn’t take Cousin A and turn him into one Weaver, or Cousin B and turn her into another. The fictional family came from something bigger than that. It came from the spirit of my cousins. Things I remember from summers at their ranch as a kid when my dad and mom would go help with the wheat harvest.
They are quick-witted, fun, hardworking, and they laugh. A lot. Put a bunch of them together and the stories start flying. Recently, we lost one of those twelve. and as sometimes happens after a loss in the family, I found myself looking backward and learning things about some of my cousins that I’d never known. That’s how I stumbled across a newspaper column from the East Oregonian about my cousin Joe. And let me tell you, after reading it, I thought, Well, there you go. No wonder I created the Weavers so easily.
My cousins come from ranching country in Eastern Oregon. They’re wheat farmers, but cattle ranching is also a big part of the operation.
Horses, cattle, corrals, farm equipment, wheat fields stretching over the hills, it’s not scenery they visit on vacation. It’s part of their lives. The article about Joe described a day spent touring his farming and cattle operations near Ione and through South Morrow County. And apparently, when Joe gives you a ranch tour, you had better clear your calendar.
The writer began the day riding around with him in a farm truck. Okay, that’s normal enough. Then Joe took him back to the farm, walked him over to what looked like a machine shed and introduced him to the next mode of transportation: A 1952 Super Cub airplane. The runway? A patch of wheat stubble.
Of course it was. Joe flew him over remote ranch country, pointing out ridges where he’d landed over the years. According to Joe, “sometimes on purpose and sometimes in an emergency.” And it gets better.
Joe built a contraption beneath the wings of the airplane that allowed him to carry salt blocks for cattle grazing in hard-to-reach areas. He could fly low, operate a pulley system, and drop the salt block where the cattle needed it. The writer admitted imagining some unsuspecting cow getting clobbered by a sixty-pound salt block falling out of the sky. Joe assured him he’d always missed the cattle.
After the airplane tour, they got back into the pickup and drove into the mountains, eventually reaching a fully furnished house in the middle of the ranch country. There, Joe made lunch. Then came the four-wheelers. For the next couple of hours, they toured rough country where thousands of cattle spent the summer. The writer described Joe charging up a primitive road at about thirty-five miles an hour through snow, ice, and ruts.
At one point the writer of the article later told his son, “He took off up the road like a madman on that machine.” His son’s response? “You were the perfect companion.”
See what I mean? This is my family. And they’re wonderful.
Cousin Joe explained to the writer of the article, that his generation had plenty of family around while growing up. The article mentions the twelve children in Joe’s family, eleven cousins across the canyon, and another group of eight children closer to Ione.
At times, the school bus picked up twenty or more of Joes relatives at the homeplace.
Can you imagine being the poor unsuspecting child who boarded that bus after all of them?
No wonder big fictional families have always felt completely normal to me!
That’s really what inspired the Weavers. Not twelve specific characters copied from twelve specific cousins. It was the atmosphere. A big rural family. Wheat and cattle. Horses and corrals. Hard work. People who know how to pitch in because there’s always something that needs doing. Who tease one another because they know each other too well to get away with much.
People who can turn an ordinary workday into a story everyone will still be laughing about years later. And, most importantly, people who enjoy one another.
I think that last part is what found its way most strongly into the Weavers. They may fuss and meddle. They may get themselves into ridiculous situations. But beneath all of it is family, and that sense that whatever happens, nobody is facing it alone.
The Weavers themselves are entirely fictional. But the laughter? The chaos? The enormous family and ranching life? That part came from someplace very real. And now, after discovering Cousin Joe once took off from a wheat field in an airplane rigged to drop salt blocks from the sky, I’m starting to wonder if maybe I’ve been too restrained with the Weavers.
If you’d like to read the article about Cousin Joe, you can find it HERE
How about your family? Do you have a larger-than-life relative who could walk straight into the pages of a novel?
Or is there someone in your family whose personality or adventures have inspired one of your own stories?
I’d love to hear about them! I’ve giving away a copy of Harvest with the Weavers to one lucky commenter!
USA Today bestselling author Kit Morgan is the author of over 180 books of historical and contemporary western romance! Her stories are fun, sweet stories full of love, laughter, and just a little bit of mayhem! Kit creates her stories in her little log cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. An avid reader and knitter, when not writing, she can be found with either a book or a pair of knitting needles in her hands! Oh, and the occasional smidge of chocolate!
My brother Jim has gotten less outrageous with age. When he was in 2nd grade, he helped Mom make banana bread and while transporting the pan of uncooked batter to the oven, he dropped and spilled it (why he was allowed to do this step at that age is a mystery to me). Waste not, want not! He scooped most of it back into the pan, into the oven, and baked it. The next day was a school day; he took a piece of that rescued bread with him and gave it to his teacher. He told Mrs. Joseph the story of its creation after she’d eaten it.
LOL! Of course he did! That’s a great story, Mary!
P.S. We’re one of those big families, Kit. I’m the oldest of 10. To date, two of my sisters in law have passed on. But we’re suburban folk, growing up in Prince George’s County, MD right outside S.E. Washington, D.C. in a densely populated town that used to be a bedroom community for Andrews A.F.B. (Joint Base, now).
Oh wow, Mary. Ten! There are four of us and sometimes I wished I’d grown up in a bigger family.
None.
Yeah, I hear you. My immediate family, we’re a pretty quiet bunch. Until you get us together.
Hubs is the middle of 7 in a large farm family – and yeah the extended family is well over 100 now – as the originals have aged and passed on their stories get told now at funerals mostly – very sad to me to see a generation die off and the importance of farming go with them.
It is sad. My cousin that passed is the first of our generation to go. My dad the last of the previous generation.
Good morning Kit! What a wonderful story about one of your many family members! And those Weavers? My Mom and I still talk about them! She is reading Harvest with the Weavers now. She asked,”Do you remember the Weavers Kit Morgan wrote?” I said,”I sure do! I still talk about them!” That is one of the best series I have ever read!
I don’t think I can beat you in the big family Kit. But, I can combine my mother’s side and my father’s side! My mother side had 9 and my father had 8. And many cousins. Though all my aunts and uncles have their personalities, I think my Grandma Tom’s personality is the largest in my mind. Back in the ‘70s her children(the 9) asked what she wanted for her birthday? She said,”All my children here.” Thus began our Tomlinson Family Reunion. It happens each 2nd Saturday in October for many years and after her death. Close to her birthday, October 9, 1905.
We no longer have the family reunion. My aunts and uncles are either nearing their 80’s are there. My mother is the longest living one now at 88 years old. She was the 4th child. My children still talk about the family reunions. And what an interesting bunch the family was. Nearly all were talented. The women were artists, quilters, crafters,etc. The uncles were all in service. And all readers!
I could go on and make my post as long (or longer)as your article about one! I get it! A special group; family. The most important resource today!
Best blessings always Kit! I plan to read Harvest with The Weavers! One day I will read the series over again. Which is a compliment! There are few books I have read more than once or twice!
I’m so glad you enjoy reading my books about the Weavers. They’re fun to write. I can’t believe I’m into a third generation of them. And what a big family you have Tracy!
My one brother and his wife are both DAV. He from IFOR and she from the Gulf War. They’ve seen things.
I repelled off a building and off a military tower (did the whole military obstacle course with rope bridges, etc…) for a leadership class in college (they tried to recruit for ROTC). I’ve been in a hot air balloon.
Although I don’t come from a large family, I had a Granny who would have fit right in with the Weaver’s. She was the one who took charge, didn’t mince words and made sure things were done right the first time. I am familiar with the setting in Eastern Oregon having been through the area numerous times while hauling cattle. Great ranch and farmland, but not for everyone. I’m looking forward to reading the article about Cousin Joe.
I’m enjoying “Harvest at the Weaver’s”.
I’m glad you’re enjoying Harvest with the Weavers. Can you believe we’re into third generation Weavers? And my, how the family has grown! Your Granny sounds like my kind of gal! My aunt was like that. And I agree, that part of Eastern Oregon isn’t for everybody. I used to think my aunt and uncle’s ranch was so isolated (which it was) but with such a big family, it isn’t really.
I have a very large family on my mom’s side. I haven’t even met a lot of my cousins. None of them were take charge kind of person.
I have a really big family on my mom’s side too. In fact, there’s a bunch of cousins I haven’t met either, Barbara. And we have a load of relatives in Kentucky I’ve never met.
My family has reduced in size over the years. Some were quite the characters and made for joyous dinners.
Those are the best kind of dinners, Debra. Big family dinners with lots of laughter.
What a great tribute to your family!
Thanks, Rachel!
My grandmother was one of 11 children and most of them stayed in the area. Several times I met someone who I later found out was related to, but we don’t get together much except for a family reunions. The people I met usually don’t show up at for the reunions. I once told a coworker I was probably related to most people in our rural county, but I didn’t know them. As for stories I’m sure they are many that I don’t know.
You know, there’s a lot of big families spread out, that hardly see one another except at reunions, yet they really don’t live that far from one another when it comes down to it.
No, there isn’t.
My immediate family, well, we’re a quiet bunch. Nothing like the cousins, Diana.
None in my family They were industrious and hard working people but not very adventurous
They sound like me! Ha! My idea of a big adventure is a cruise, Joye, and I had to be talked into that.
No one relative stands out as a larger than life character. We didn’t have a very large family but very hard workers and nice people.
Same here as far as the immediate family goes. Though we all have/had interesting careers.
We have 2 adult grown children, our daughter has a 20 yr old daughter and a just turned 18 year old son, well, when our grandaughter was in her Senior year in HS she was the Valedictorian for her class and now she is about to start her first year of Nursing School, her brother our grandson now graduated HS in May and he was also the Valedictorian for his class and he just started College yesterday. When our daughter graduated HS she was #3 of her Class, needless to say we are so Very proud of them all. Our daughter and our son in law are both RN’s and they have Always been there for their 2 children and still are . Our son has 1 son-our grandson and he just started his sophomore year in HS, he is our youngest grandson he is doing great also. Your book sounds like a great read. Have a great week. My husband told my daughter to write a book about how to raise a Valedictorian You can tell I am a Very Proud granny.
She should at least write an article for a parenting magazine, Alicia. Wow, that’s a lot of Valedictorians in the family!
no
My own family is pretty quiet compared to our cousins.
What a wonderful family. I am the youngest of 7. My daddy was the youngest of 11 and my mama was somewhere in the middle of 11. We always had so much fun in our family. Mother would get out in the front yard and play ball with us. We used a tennis ball, guess that was all we had, but it was so much fun. We always had something going on whether a ballgame, Red Rover, Annie Over, Hide and Seek, Tag or whatever, Mother always made it fun. Even work. She always whistled or sang while working and taught us to work. I’m glad to see some people are still having large families even though I’m sure it is hard economically. Can’t wait to read about the Weavers.
That’s so great of your mom to do all those things with you! Even better, I like the way she taught you how to work and made it so fun.
What a great article! Pretty sure your cousin and my dad would have gotten along just fine! Dad was a cowboy, his family had cattle and he started work on a neighboring ranch at age 13, after his father was diagnosed with cancer. He died when Dad was a senior in high school, and Dad continued working on the ranch until he married my mom at age 21. They continued to raise beef cattle, and also had horses, mules, donkeys, chickens, dogs, and occasionally pigs and goats, right up until Dad died from cancer at age 75. I still miss him terribly. Mom still has a donkey, a horse, and a dog. She’s 82 years old and still gets out and feeds them, with a little help. I always wanted to write a book of Dad’s cowboy stories, and I wish I had videotaped him telling them before he passed.
Wow Kim! And you should write a book! That would be cool. Nothing like a life well lived.
My immediate family is small and we are not that adventurous.
Joannie, I think my immediate family might be hobbits! We’re not near as adventurous as our cousins!
That would be my daughter who marches to her own drummer. I never know what she will come up with next. She definitely keeps me guessing.
My daughter is the same way, Cherie, always thinking outside the box!
No one in my family would make a good story.
I had no idea our cousins were running such a huge operation. Shows what I know. But there are also little stories that make their way into life. And sometimes those are the best kind.
My father would make a good story or even series of stories he has so many stories he could tell from Elementary School to present and yes he has that many because he is currently 86 years old and still going
Hurray for your dad still going at 86! Get some of those stories recorded onto a phone or something, Crystal, so you have them.
My dad was an only child and my mom was in the middle of seven. All of my aunts and uncles lived within 10 miles of one another and there were 26 of us first cousins. Most of us got together for grandpa’s birthday, June 20, or Father’s Day which was close to the birthday. Almost all of us got together at our farm for Thanksgiving and what fun we kids would have. An hour or two after dinner the uncles and some of the boy cousins would pack up leftovers, decide who was riding with whom, move gear from one vehicle to another and head for their deer hunting camp in the Adirondack Park. They had a three mile hike once they got to the parking lot. So many stories shared about those adventures. One cousin eventually moved to Alaska and became a fishing guide and tour boat operator at Talkeetna. He really took to the outdoor adventure life.
Your one cousin in Alaska sounds like my brother, Alice. He goes up to Alaska to some lodge up there and works as a fishing guide for about six weeks every summer. Your childhood sounds like you had a lot of fun with all those cousins!
I think large families are something you need to be a part of to really understand them. I am the oldest of six siblings. My mother was one of 9 children, all of whom married (sometimes multiple times) and had families of their own, although our’s was the biggest. I lost count at 65 cousins. Family get togethers were chaotic and the kids could always find someone their age to play with. We were the only ones that lived in the country, not on a farm, and many weekends there would be 15 or more of us kids sleeping on the floor and playing hide and seek in the dark. It actually gave my mom a bit of a break. She had her sisters there on Sunday to visit, help fix dinner and pick up the kids. I was one of the three oldest. Sadly, everyone started moving away, we got older, and the grandparents and my parent’s generation is mostly gone. There hasn’t been a reunion in many years which is too bad. I try to get together with some of the cousins whenever I get back “home.” With farming and ranching families, it is a bit different. There is a connection and tying to the land. It keeps most of the family there and is always a draw for the relatives. They either come to visit and enjoy what there is to offer or show up to help when needed. Are there stories to share? Certainly, but in many cases the names would definitely have to be changed to protect the guilty.
Thanks for triggering a trip down memory lane.
I would love to read this book…