Cowboys – General

Learning to Write Westerns When I Had No Clue

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Please welcome special guest author Lisa Jordan to the Junction!

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Several years ago, I had a wonderful conversation with my editor at Love Inspired, asking her input about what I could do to increase my readership.

She said, “Write Amish or cowboy stories. That’s what’s really selling right now.”

At that time, my husband and I had started watching Heartland, too, and I fell in love with the family dynamic as they worked through the trials and triumphs of ranching and all things horses. I appreciated her advice, took it to the Lord, and determined that it was time to move away from my fictional town in PA and head to CO—at least, fictitiously.

The only problem was I’ve only been to a hotel in Colorado for the 2009 ACFW conference. Oh, yeah, I’ve never been on a ranch. And come to think of it, I haven’t ridden a horse since middle school…and Queenie was the gentlest pony on the planet.

So creating a fictional family on a fictional ranch in a fictional town shouldn’t be too hard, right?

How was I going to create a four-book series and make it realistic?

When it came time to decide where my fictional town was going to be located, I pulled up Google Maps and determined my fictional town of Aspen Ridge was going to be set about forty-five minutes outside of Durando, Colorado.

I learned to lean on my friends, who were able to help with some geographical aspects of the terrain, the weather, and even little things like what brands of ice cream were popular—I needed that info to write one sentence in my book coming out in April 2025. Another friend, Dalyn Weller, lives on a ranch in Washington and shared information pertaining to care, feeding, and tacking horses.

I’ve purchased books and magazines to help with research…and the other articles inspired new ideas.

YouTube is one of the best sources of information. I searched for videos for that part of the state for visuals to build storyworld into my scenes. I watched videos about ranching, tacking horses, growing strawberries in that area. I also took visual tours of the San Juan Mountains that overlook my fictional town.

In my book series, my fictional family expands their ranch to include a guest ranch. Instead of building cabins, which can be quite costly, I decided the Stone family was going to put yurts on their property. For the past three years, my husband and I have camped in a yurt for a week in July. Since nothing is wasted in a writer’s life, it was the perfect inspiration for a novel.

My husband and I visited a local rodeo where I spent the afternoon and evening taking lots of pictures and video to create a realistic bull rider in my series. Additionally, we watched a wonderful (and painfully-looking) documentary about bull riders, bull riding, and all that goes into the sport.

I’ve visited online forums like Reddit to get a real, down-to-earth view about different aspects from people who live out their days running ranches, caring and riding horses, and trying to make a living for their families.

And finally, one of my favorite ways to research my newly-released book, Bonding with the Cowboy’s Daughter, was to visit a nearby horse rescue. My new friend Nola, who has a huge heart for saving the beautiful animals, took me on a tour of her small non-profit horse farm and walked me through what she’s done to start and grow her organization. A couple of times, I was moved to tears as she shared a few stories of heartbreak in trying to save the animals.

I’ve learned to not be limited by what I know when it comes to writing new stories. It’s become an adventure to learn something new and use that knowledge to inspire readers.

I will be giving away a signed copy of Bonding with the Cowboy’s Daughter. Post a comment below and tell me what you love most about reading westerns.

Bonding with the Cowboy’s Daughter

She’s left her old life behind

…only to find a new love waiting

After a broken engagement, Callie Morgan decides to move to Aspen Ridge, Colorado, to fix up her late grandmother’s gift shop. But the shop is in bad shape and Callie runs out of money faster than expected. Old childhood friend and single dad Wyatt Stone comes to the rescue, offering her a job at his family’s ranch, Stone River Ranch. While their friendship is rekindled, will Callie ever risk loving again…even as Wyatt’s little girl is already stealing her heart?

 

AMAZON LINK

Turning My Hero into a Cowboy & A Giveaway

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When I first met my husband, he was very anti-cowboy. Except for the Dallas football team. 
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Got him to “try on” the cowboy look a couple years ago for our 30th anniversary.
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Despite being raised in Texas, he hated country music and wanted nothing to do with trucks. He preferred sporty cars and high tech gadgets. But after over 30 years of living with me, he’s slowly turning into my very own cowboy hero. I got him into a pair of Wrangler jeans a couple years ago, then he bought himself a pair of boots for my birthday this year.
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Here we are boot-to-boot during my birthday trip to Wildcatter Ranch.
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And this month he traded in his sporty car for a . . . truck!
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Now, there still won’t be any country music twanging from the speakers, and there is a whole host of high tech gadgets for him to play with, but it’s still a truck. A BIG truck. The side mirrors are taller than I am.
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His old car was starting to fall apart and we both want to get a travel trailer eventually, so we decided we’d take the first step by getting the truck that will pull the trailer whenever we can afford to buy that piece of the travel puzzle.
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But for now, I’m enjoying watching my man embrace the inner cowboy he never knew was there.
Giveaway!
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This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the American Christian Fiction Conference in New Orleans. While I was there I got to enjoy lunch with two of my P&P Filly Sisters – Winnie and Mary.
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Also, while I was there, I had the opportunity to pick up a couple of free books. I thought I’d share the fun with one of our P&P readers. Leave a comment for a chance to win these two romantic suspense books set in the west.
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Do you have cowboys/cowgirls in your family, or do most of your cowboy friends live inside books?

New Release! Training the K-9 Companion {Giveaway!}

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Meadow background, book cover Training the K-9 Companion by Jill Kemerer, text "New Release & Giveaway, Petticoats & Pistols"

The third book in my Wyoming Legacies series is in stores now! TRAINING THE K-9 COMPANION follows Cade Moulten, a rancher opening a high-end horse-boarding operation, and Mackenzie Howard, the new veterinarian in town, as they train little Tulip to be a therapy dog for his grandmother. This Love Inspired book takes place during the summer in fictional Jewel River, Wyoming.

I enjoyed learning how rural vets utilize mobile trailers to treat cattle and horses on ranches. I also love writing books with dogs in them. Talk about a win-win! Mackenzie’s trying to convince local ranchers to trust her with their cattle, but she’s terrified she’ll make a mistake and lose an animal. And Cade needs high-paying clients to offset the reduced rates he plans on charging the locals to board horses at his new stables. On top of that, Cade’s mother insists on training a therapy dog to comfort his beloved grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s. Poor Cade never knows what to expect when he visits Nana.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s are terrible diseases. My father suffered from Parkinson’s and dementia, and I spent a lot of time at the nursing home with him before he passed away. I’m blessed with a supportive family who loves Jesus, and this story reflects it.

Don’t worry–the book isn’t all gloom and sadness! Cade’s mom is an unrelenting matchmaker. Add the warm, rowdy members of the Jewel River Legacy Club, and you won’t want to put the book down.

 

Book cover Training the K-9 Companion by Jill Kemerer. Mountain background, Pomeranian in meadow with daisies

Man’s best friend…
Could be the key to a second chance.

When rancher Cade Moulten decides to get a therapy dog for his ailing grandmother, he doesn’t expect a fluffy Pomeranian—or a pretty veterinarian trainer. But Cade will do anything to prove he’s a changed man, even train the small K-9 alongside Mackenzie Howard. Soon the weekly sessions with Mackenzie have Cade wishing for more. But will he risk revealing his shameful past for a chance at acceptance?

 

Purchase Training the K-9 Companion

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Read an excerpt!

As usual, the restlessness snuck up on him, and, too late, Cade Moulten realized his mistake. Offering to help his mother train a therapy dog was just another attempt to atone for his past.

He couldn’t back out now. He wouldn’t if he could. Cade had other reasons—good ones—for being here.

“It’s not much to look at, is it?” His mother, Christy Moulten, sat in the passenger seat of his truck and stared at the small industrial building with faded gray aluminum siding. Next to it, a matching structure roughly three times its size shared the parking lot. The early June sunshine began to fade as the day wound down.

Cade cut the engine, and his mom bent to pick up her purse. A few months shy of turning sixty-four, his mother hadn’t slowed a bit. Her stylish blond bob, subtle makeup and smile lines gave her the appearance of someone who enjoyed life, but she also had a stubborn streak wider than a country mile.

At thirty-five, he’d mellowed to the point of not minding driving her around town whenever her driver’s license was suspended—and that was often—nor did he mind living with her in the big house on the ranch. Kept her out of trouble.

Maybe they kept each other out of trouble.

He pocketed his keys. “What’s it supposed to look like? It’s a vet clinic, not a spa, Ma.”

Cade had personally taken a loss on this property by selling it to the new veterinarian and her father for pennies on the dollar. Anything to convince a vet to take a chance on moving to Jewel River. When Dr. Bill Banks, the only veterinarian within two hours of here, retired last fall, it had affected every rancher and pet owner in this swath of Wyoming.

Jewel River needed a veterinarian ASAP.

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Want to read more? Purchase Training the K-9 Companion!

You can find Training the K-9 Companion in Walmart and all stores that carry Love Inspired books!

To celebrate, I’m giving away one copy of  Training the K-9 Companion (US winner will receive a signed paperback, International winner will receive an ebook, void where prohibited by law.). Simply leave a comment below, and I’ll select a winner via random number generator. Giveaway ends on July 3, 2024 at noon EST, and winner will be announced in the comments of this post and in a separate post!

Do you love books with dogs and cowboys? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you for celebrating my new release with me!

Love Inspired Western Stories

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Thank you for inviting me to your blog. It’s been several years since I posted here, and I’m delighted to be back. Today I’d like to address the topic of Love Inspired western stories. Why are these some of our bestsellers? Because these are my favorite books to read, perhaps our LI readers agree will with me.

First of all, the American Wild West is legendary around the world, fed by the plethora of western movies and television shows over the past century. I grew up watching those shows and fell in love with the Cowboy mythos. The cowboy hero is manly, and the cowgirl heroine is feminine. Both are honest, strong, and hardworking. They face the hardships of the untamed West with courage and resilience. We all love brave characters who overcome adversity and the Bad Guy. Throw in a few horses, a herd of cattle, and we are cheering for them to earn their happily-ever-after.

A couple of years ago, I rewatched almost the entire twenty years of Gunsmoke on INSP. Part of it was for nostalgia, and part for research, since I’d begun writing historical western stories for Love Inspired. I fell in love again with Marshal Dillon, Miss Kitty, Chester, Festus, and all the rest. My favorite character was Doc Adams, and every frontier doctor I ever include in my stories, whether historical or contemporary, is modeled on that dear old man. All of my heroes have a hint of Matt Dillon in them. And while my female characters have very different occupations from Miss Kitty (ahem, we won’t go there), they all have her courage and feminine resiliency.

Loving westerns as I do, it was natural for me to write them. My first was a novella, Yuletide Reunion (LIH 2010). Inspired by the little ranch where my late sister retired, I set my story beside the Rio Grande in New Mexico Territory and created the Mattson family of five brothers, each of whom deserved his own story. I took time out to write a six-book historical western series set in Colorado (also a family saga), then came back to New Mexico to explore more about those five brothers. In the end, each brother found his happily-ever-after with the perfect heroine for his personality. I’m honored to say Finding Her Frontier Family and Finding Her Frontier Home were both finalists for the prestigious Selah Award. These stories were so much fun write, and I was sad to leave this family behind. With the Love Inspired Historical line coming to an end, I was doubly sad, because I love to write historicals. By the way, you can find my complete Booklist and more info about my writing at my website: https://louisemgougeauthor.blogspot.com/ 

After LIH closed, I was feeling a little bit adrift and searching for something contemporary to write. Then it occurred to me that I could write about the modern Mattson family! I mean, think about it. If there were five ranching brothers in the late 1800s, just think about how many descendants they would have! And many of them would have stories worth telling! My editor at Love Inspired loved the idea, and so far, I’ve written two more books in the series. The first one, Safe Haven Ranch, was released last month, and I’ll save the news about the next book, A Faithful Guardian, for another day.

Here’s the story of Safe Haven Ranch:

Can two little children help turn a feud into a family?

It should be easy for widow Olivia Ortiz to despise Will Mattson, the man keeping her from buying the ranchland she needs for herself and her daughter, Emily. But when Emily becomes instant friends with Will’s nephew, Jemmy, Olivia and Will find themselves growing closer as well. And as Olivia’s feelings for the handsome cowboy shift, competing for the property could be the start of something more…

GIVEAWAY: I’m delighted to give away one print copy of Safe Haven Ranch to a U. S. resident. Please leave a comment below and answer this question: Do you have a favorite Western hero or heroine from the old movies and television shows? What did you admire about that character? Full sentences, please.

South Carolina author Louise M. Gouge writes contemporary and historical romance fiction, winning the prestigious IRCA in 2006 and placing as a finalist in 2011, 2015, 2016, and 2017. She was also a finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Awards in 2005, 2007, and 2008, and placed in the Laurel Wreath contest in 2012. Most recently, she was a finalist in the 2023 Selah Awards and is a current finalist for the 2024 Selah Awards. A former college English and humanities professor, Louise is a member of the Christian PEN and has been copyediting for well-known authors for fifteen years. Married for fifty-four happy years to her beloved husband, David, Louise is now widowed and spends her days researching and writing her next novel.

Website at https://louisemgougeauthor.blogspot.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LouiseMGougeAuthor

Follow me on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/louise-m-gouge

Banter is in the Eye of the Beholder by Valerie Comer

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I’m no rom com author, which is a very sad state of affairs. You see, I love a good smirk, even though I rarely truly LOL at the snark in stories. If a story billed as humorous makes me smile or snicker once or twice, I figure it’s done its job, because my sense of humor is a little on the oddball side, and a direct score is rare.

Which makes me all kinds of nervous as a writer. I know better than to claim to be funny, but I do always hope my readers will find something to smile about here and there. Dare I hope for an actual laugh? Maybe? I’m also happy to hear if readers shed a tear or two. Yeah, I’m mean that way.

Therefore, I don’t like to claim “fun banter” for my stories. I wait until a few readers have commented before I believe that my sense of humor has any sort of appeal to the wider range of readers. So humor me a moment. (See what I did there? Sorry. Couldn’t resist…)

To set the stage, Paisley and Weston have been working at the same ranch resort for over a year. She’s determined to crack his shell. He’s equally determined to keep her at arm’s length. She joins him on a trail ride against his wishes as they seek out a good camping spot for a group of tweens coming to Sweet River Ranch the following week. They’ve now reached their destination and are settling in with their lunch.

“What’s in your thermos?” Weston lifted it.

“Uncorrupted Earl Grey tea.”

He sent her a questioning look. “Uncorrupted?”

“Tea the way God intended. No sugar. No cream. Just black as sin.”

“Sin is corruption.”

It took her a moment before she burst out laughing. “Did you just crack a funny, cowboy? I’m impressed.”

That lopsided grin nearly hit both of his cheeks before flattening out. Progress.

“If you want some tea, I can share.”

Weston shuddered. “Coffee all the way over here. I brought a billy can.”

It was her turn to wonder what he meant. “Billy can?”

“For cowboy coffee. Who needs a thermos when they can brew up their own when they want?”

She settled on a rock and unscrewed the thermos’s lid. “Yet here I sit with my hot tea and don’t have to work for it right now.” She poured some into the cup that formed the lid and saluted him with it.

Weston had gathered a few twigs at some point. Now he added a handful of dry moss from the lower branches of a nearby tree and struck a match to it.

“Oh, a match! I thought you might rub two sticks together.”

He glowered at her before bending to puff gently on the tiny flame. It caught on the moss and then the twigs before flickering to ignite the slender sticks. Weston cracked a couple of thicker pieces against his knee and fed them in as the fire grew.

“Impressive.” She munched a handful of trail mix as she leaned back against a log.

Weston shot her a glare and held out his palm. “Can I have some?”

“May I?”

“Never mind.” He pulled his hand back.

“Teasing you, cowboy. Here. Have a handful, and I’ll get out the sandwiches.”

When he didn’t reach out again, she tossed the bag at him. Whatever. He might have loosened up a little, but apparently the big bad wolf was still present and in no mood to be teased about his grammar.

If you find that excerpt amusing or at least mildly interesting, you might enjoy my writing style! A Sunny Sweetheart for the Cowboy is the third Sweet River Ranch Romance title. There’s some general series setup in the previous installments, but Paisley and Weston’s story is complete within this one, and enough background is revealed for you to quickly catch on.

GIVEAWAY – A Sunny Sweetheart for the Cowboy is releasing in two weeks, on Thursday, June 27. Are you interested in an ARC (advanced reader copy)? I’m giving away five digital ARCs to those who’d like to read (and hopefully review) A Sunny Sweetheart for the Cowboy early.

To toss your name in the proverbial hat, tell me what story (title/author) you’ve read recently that tickled your funny bone and what you loved about it. Which author(s) can you count on to provide levity in your reading experience? Bonus points for funny contemporary romance with a Christian worldview!

I’ll go first. Authors of Christian rom com whom I consistently look to for a laugh are Krista Phillips, Heather Gray, Becca Kinzer, and Sarah Monzon. I could probably name a dozen others!

Who’s your go-to?

Five winners, anywhere in the world, will be awarded e-book copies of A Sunny Sweetheart for the Cowboy via Book Funnel. I’m sorry; I can’t send paperback review copies. However, I expect both e-book and paperback versions to be “live” on Amazon on June 27. If reading in Kindle Unlimited is your thing, please look up my cowboys!

Valerie Comer is known for writing engaging characters, strong communities, and deep faith into her green clean romances. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, sharing farm life in western Canada with her husband, adult children, and adorable grandkids. Valerie is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner.
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Learn more about Valerie and her books at https://valeriecomer.com.

How My Love for the Wild West Started … And How It’s Going! by Tanya Agler

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Hello! I’m Tanya Agler, and this is my first guest blog post on Petticoats & Pistols. It’s an honor to be here and thank you so much for the opportunity to sit back and spend some time with you.

Growing up, my love for stories with a Western setting began by listening to my grandmother talk about visiting the nickelodeon whenever her favorite cowboy, Tom Mix, starred in the movies. Grandma Jinx would watch him on the silver screen and then go home and recreate those scenes in her backyard. Not only was my grandmother a huge fan of cowboy movies, so was my father, who loved John Ford movies. Dad always made it a point to watch The Searchers with John Wayne and Natalie Wood whenever it was on television, and he’d treat me to an afternoon at the movies whenever a new Clint Eastwood film was released. I spent many summer vacations reading historical pioneer romances with stoic cowboys and strong heroines. The stories captivated me with their Western settings and interesting plots.

So, I was thrilled when I found out I had a chance to write a Western romance for Harlequin Heartwarming. There’s something about the West with its independent spirit and wide-open vistas that calls out for stories to be written about it. No sooner than I started the proposal than the idea for the town of Violet Ridge was born. While I spent time fashioning stories around the three rodeo friends who became a family and the cornerstone of the Rodeo Stars of Violet Ridge series, I also researched small towns in Colorado and fashioned a backstory for Violet Ridge. Soon, the town’s history came alive to me with pioneer settler Linus Irwin naming the town after his beloved wife Tilly’s favorite flower: violets. Linus and Tilly were energetic visionaries who built a town around a small ranching community and purchased land for what would become the Double I Ranch. In my mind, this young couple struggled against the elements and prospered. Soon after Linus and Tilly founded Violet Ridge, the Sullivans, a family of dreamers and schemers, settled nearby and staked a claim for the Silver Horseshoe Ranch, which has now been in their family for generations. Through the years, the Irwin and Sullivan families have been neighbors as their descendants continued their legacy of ranching. The Double I Ranch is the setting for my latest book, Her Temporary Cowgirl, in which rancher Elizabeth Irwin wants to build bunkhouses for female employees and introduce a new breed of cattle to the ranch while preparing for her father’s wedding to a world-famous bluegrass singer. Linus and Tilly would be proud knowing their love of the land continues in Elizabeth.

Recently, my love for all things Western has come full circle when my family traveled to Colorado for vacation. We visited state parks, hiked to red rock formations and waterfalls, and explored various areas. Someday I hope to return there and vacation at a dude ranch like the fictional Lazy River Dude Ranch owned by the Virtue family in my upcoming series revolving around four siblings, whose grandparents own and operate the facility.

 

What is your favorite Western town, fictional or real? I’d love to chat in the comments about some of your favorite places out West. I’ll be giving away one e-copy of Caught by the Cowgirl (the first in the Rodeo Stars of Violet Ridge) series to one commenter!

10 years of Cowboys & Christmas

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Tomorrow is a big day for me.

It’s the 10th annual Cowboys & Christmas Celebration on Facebook – a party that gives me an excuse to have a day of fun with my author and reader friends while raising funds and awareness for the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund.

Ten years.

When I hosted the first party, I never imagined it would turn into an annual event. But it has, and I’m so glad!

It all started with a trip Captain Cavedweller and I took to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

We were at the airport, waiting to catch our flight home, and I noticed there were a lot of other rodeo attendees waiting to go home as well. The airport was a sea of cowboy hats!

As we sat there, I started thinking about how fun it would be for a rodeo cowboy to meet an uptight business executive at the airport and fall in love.

By the time we landed, The Christmas Cowboy, the first book in the Rodeo Romance series, was already taking shape.

After I began writing the story, though, I wanted to know how much care an injured rodeo cowboy would receive right there at the rodeo arena before they sent him to the hospital.

In the story, the hero is a saddle bronc rider named Tate who sustains an injury at a rodeo. In an attempt to get my facts straight for the story, I reached out to the Justin Sportsmedicine Team®. Through mobile medical centers, they provide care at more than 125 PRCA rodeos annually. Their responses to my questions were extremely helpful and I was so impressed with them, I wanted to do a little something in return.

That’s when I learned about the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund.

Most rodeo athletes aren’t able to get insurance because it isn’t a matter of “if” they get hurt but “when.” Because of that, when they sustain injuries that leave them unable to compete (and earn money) for an extended time, it can leave them in a financially challenging situation.

That’s where the JCCF comes in. They give a hand up to those athletes, helping them cover their bills so they can focus on healing.  The other wonderful thing about the JCCF is that 100 percent of all donations go into the fund.

In 2013, I launched a campaign to donate a portion of my book sales to the JCCF during the month of December and held the first party to help spread the word.

In 2015, I added the month of November to my promotion, giving two months to raise funds for JCCF. Then I extended the promotion period for my Read a Book, Help a Cowboy campaign to October 1!

So from October 1 through December 24, ten percent of the net proceeds from all my book sales (eBook, paperback, hardback, and audio all count!) will be donated to the JCCF.

I hope to see you at the party tomorrow! The fun begins at 10 a.m. (Pacific Time: 11 a.m. MT, Noon CT, 1 p.m. ET). Join the party by clicking the button below. It will be a day full of connecting with some of your favorite authors, games, giveaways, and more!

And if Facebook parties aren’t your thing, you can still support the Read A Book, Help A Cowboy campaign through every book you purchase between now and Christmas Eve.

In fact, I have a brand new book coming November 30 in the Rodeo Romance series!

Will an innocent offer of help lead two obstinate hearts along the road to love?

Truitt Lucas is the guy who brings laughter wherever he goes and refuses to take life too seriously. Beneath his carefree exterior, though, he yearns for more adventure and excitement than he’ll find working on the family ranch alongside his cousin and grandmother. When the opportunity arises to assist a trick rider, Truitt eagerly lends a hand. However, he soon finds himself drawn to the perplexing woman who barely tolerates him.

Jolee Judson is living her dream as a trick rider on the rodeo circuit, using her lifelong passion for horses and gymnastics to wow the crowds. But when her partner unexpectedly abandons her, Jolee is just desperate enough to accept a good-natured cowboy’s offer to help. Fascinated and infuriated by Truitt and his shenanigans, Jolee struggles against her growing feelings for him. Falling for Truitt could spell disaster for her future and derail everything she’s worked for.

Can the two of them find common ground where trust is earned and love becomes a cherished gift?

A sweet holiday novel full of the magic of Christmas, Tricking Christmas brims with small-town humor, heartwarming moments, and wholesome romance..

If you were hosting a holiday party,

and could invite anyone,

who would you like to attend?
Post your answer for a chance to win a digital copy of the first three books in the Rodeo Romance series!

A Cowboy with a Different Kind of Ride

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Good Morning (or whenever you choose to read this),

When we think of cowboys, we certainly have a prototype in mind, a clear picture of what a cowboy is. I would bet that cowboy is not in a wheelchair for most of you. Well, in the book I’m releasing the end of next week, the hero is a cowboy with all the heart, honesty, and beliefs of a cowboy, he lives on a ranch and works hard. In fact, he works very hard, and he’s also in a wheelchair.

You may be thinking, how can that be? If he has no legs or no ability to use his legs, how does he ride a horse? Those are good questions (and also questions people are sometimes afraid to ask for fear of legitimately hurting others). The answer is, in many cases, yes. Paraplegics can ride horses. Let’s chat about it.

This is Brendon Ruse, he is a former Army Ranger and suffered a debilitating spinal injury. After recovering, he becomes a clinical psychologist and offers counseling to victims of human trafficking at Wayside Ranch. While he’s not a wrangler as many of the men on the ranch are, he still enjoys riding.

Brendon has worked hard and enjoys his life on the ranch. He has an all-terrain wheelchair that helps him move around on the rougher terrain of a rural setting. His chair looks something like this one (this one is from Razor Blade Terrain).

  This chair with wider front wheels is light and maneuverable 
This is similar to what Brendon would use, except Sam made his and it’s a manual hoist that he uses himself. Image from lifelifts.com

 

 

 

With this chair, Brendon can go almost anywhere he wishes to. The only places really inaccessible are homes with stairs and no railing (he is capable of using a narrow railing and his arms, but he doesn’t prefer to do so).
With his riding mount assist, he can mount a horse without help, though it does perturb him that Connor requires a spotter for him in case the chain would slip from his grasp and he’d land on the floor, potentially injuring himself). All of this came through research. I knew paraplegics could ride from another story I wrote, but I never understood (because while I had mobility issues, I certainly felt disabled) that many people in wheelchairs actually don’t feel disabled. They don’t want to be treated differently. They just want to happily live their lives. And that’s kind of the revelation I wanted to pass on in Operation: Discovery.

Now, to be honest, there’s a lot more in the book than just Brendon’s grappling with one particular woman who he thinks treated him as incomplete when they dated in the past. It is a second-chance romance, but it also sheds light on a horrible situation in this world, human trafficking. The whole series does, but this one is sensitive because it’s about children. Fair warning if you preorder the book.

Bottom line, if a cowboy is made by the condition of his heart, character, and work ethic, Brendon is definitely a cowboy and he’ll ride off into the sunset to prove it.

 

Enjoy the Journey with Jodi Thomas

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A big welcome to Jodi Thomas today! We’re so pleased to have her join us again!

The Wild Lavender Bookshop is my second book in the Someday Valley series, a spin off of my Honey Creek series. The Wild Lavender Bookshop will be out in April of 2024. I enjoyed writing this book for two reasons. One, I love bookstores. When I was writing about the bookshop it was fun to describe the people I see in bookstores and libraries every day. Two, I enjoyed writing a character who had no idea where he was going in life.  

It seemed when I was young I could never decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was working in high school and I was in the bottom fourth of my class, but I decided I should go to college because Tom (my then future husband) was going to college, and I was crazy about him my senior year. Of course, he never even talked to me. But he was going so I decided to go too. The only thing was I had no idea what to major in. I wanted to be a writer, but I can’t spell. And my mother told me to major in home economics because it was a course that would always be there. I went to Amarillo College and then Texas Tech and got a degree in family studies and became a marriage counselor. I hated it. People came in and yelled all the time, so I went back and got a degree in counseling, majoring in grief. I still didn’t know what I wanted to be, but I was happy.  

When I started this book, I had a character in mind who was drifting too, just like I had. Sometimes, you’re not looking for a thing; you’re looking for a person. My character, Noah, wanted to be a writer, so I began to think about how most writers stumble into their careers. I think most people through life look for their place in the world, and some of them spend their whole lives looking. While a rare few actually find what they’re searching for.  

As always, when I write small towns, I met many interesting characters. And I brought back a few characters from Strawberry Lane that I loved. I hope you’ll join me in Honey Creek again in The Wild Lavender Bookshop and enjoy the journey as much as I did.  

Giveaway!

For a chance to win a free autographed copy of Strawberry Lane,
just share about a dream you had of going somewhere for years.
Was it as exciting as you expected when you got there?
I had always dreamed of going to Paris, and when I got there it was beautiful, but I was ready to come home.
I find when I’m driving alone between Amarillo and Lubbock, that is a most beautiful prairie drive.

With millions of books in print, Jodi Thomas is both a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 60 novels and countless short story collections. Her stories travel through the past and present days of Texas and draw readers from around the world.

 In July 2006, Jodi was the 11th writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. With five RITA’s to her credit, along with National Readers’ Choice Awards and Booksellers’ Best Awards, Thomas has proven her skill as a master storyteller.

 Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, Thomas also served as Writer in Residence at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. Jodi was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame in 2022.

 When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling, renovating a historic home, and “checking on” two grown sons and four grandchildren.

 

Legend of the American Cowboy by Jan Scarbrough

by

The Legend of the American Cowboy

Why do we love the legendary American cowboy?
Answer: Because he (or she) is who we want to be.

Real cowboys (and cowgirls like Annie Oakley) became romanticized in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, because the public admired the qualities they represented.

Duncan Emrich in a book entitled Folklore in the American Land claims that America has two original legends: Santa Claus and the cowboy.

In his book, Emrich lists these common attributes of an American cowboy.

  • Individualism
  • Independence
  • Freedom
  • Not given to bragging (I’ll insert “humble” here)
  • Courage
  • Cheerfulness
  • Pride
  • Loyalty
  • True to his word
  • Generosity
  • Kindness
  • Unbeatable

Women readers love a good cowboy tale because true cowboys esteem women. Emrich writes, “One of the strictest codes of the West was to respect women. No other class of men looked upon women with greater reverence.”

So, when you see the hunky cowboys on the covers of modern romance novels, remember they should represent an American ideal and someone we want to fall in love with.

I’ve written two contemporary Western romance series. One four book series is called Ghost Mountain Ranch. It’s not simply a sweet romance, but there’s a mystery element to all three books, which you must read to finally find the “bad guy.”

BUY LINK

I’ve combined The Ghost Mountain Ranch into a box set and into a paperback. I’ll give away one paperback book to one lucky reader who answers these questions in the comments: I mostly read eBooks on my Kindle app. Do you buy eBooks? Paperbacks? Do you like to hold a paperback book in your hand, or do you prefer to swipe to turn pages?

Also, if you read eBooks and you’d like one of my eBooks free, sign up for my newsletter HERE  and download a book!