rodeo

Cowboys Always Place Horseshoes Up

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This week we welcome award-winning inspirational author Linda Goodnight and she has an interesting blog for us. She also has a GIVEAWAY so don’t miss that at the bottom.

How many of you, as kids walking down a sidewalk, chanted, “Step on a crack and break your mama’s back” and did your best to skip over those cracks? Are you superstitious? I’m not really, but I think it’s fun to hear about them.

Athletes in particular are a superstitious bunch, whether for fun, ritual, or whatever. For instance, one famous basketball player wore the same pair of ankle-flopping socks throughout his career. Serena Williams, the tennis champ, is known to always tie her shoes exactly the same way before a game. Some athletes insist on eating the same pregame meal or wearing the same (sometimes unwashed) article of clothing. Instead of superstitions, they call these “routines” or pregame rituals. Putting their uniform on in the same order. Stretching in the same spot on the nine-yard line. Regardless of whether the behaviors are routines or superstitions, athletes do them because they think they’ll play better if they do. They’ll laugh about it, but they still do it.

Cowboys, including rodeo cowboys, have their own set of unique superstitions. According to one rodeo source, as many as 75% of rodeo athletes adhere to at least one superstition.

Walker Littlefield, the hero in To Protect His Brother’s Baby would quietly grin and shake his head if asked if he was superstitious. He wasn’t. But some of his rodeo buddies were. That’s why I thought it would be fun to discuss some cowboy and/or rodeo superstitions that are still around today.

Let’s look at ten.

  1. Never put your hat on a bed, especially brim down. All the luck will run out. Several theories about the origin exist, including warnings of impending injury or death. Eek! But a more reasonable origin could be the fact that cowboys back in the wild west only bathed occasionally and had headlice. A hat on the bed could spread the vermin. The only thing to do if your hat is accidentally placed on the bed is spit in it, throw it down, and stomp it flat. Problem solved. ?
  2. Place your hat upside down on the table or other surface when removing to keep the good luck inside. Better yet, hang it up.
  3. A horseshoe over the door or tack room brings good luck as long as it’s “heels up.” “Heels down” drains out all the luck.
  4. Never eat chicken before a rodeo. Eat a hotdog instead. You are what you eat.
  5. Don’t wear yellow in the arena. It means you’re a coward.
  6. Never carry change in your pocket when competing. That’s all the money you’ll win.
  7. Don’t kick a paper cup that someone tossed on the ground. It’s bad luck. And could spook your horse!
  8. Never cross your boots when removing them to keep from getting “tripped up.”

       9. Never accept a gift of old boots. You will step into the old owner’s troubles.

 * *10. And my very favorite: Finding a feather in the arena is good luck. It’s a reminder that angels are watching over you.

 So, there you have them, just in time for Halloween!

Leave a comment about a ritual or superstition you or someone you know has. You’ll go into a drawing for a copy of my latest book, To Protect His Brother’s Baby.  GOOD LUCK in the drawing!

 

About Linda:

Linda has appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, and Christian bestseller lists, and her romance novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages. A  former nurse and teacher, Linda loves writing fiction that carries a message of hope and light in a sometimes dark world. Linda enjoys cooking, reading, and travel. Next on her bucket list are Israel and Scotland. She lives in Oklahoma with husband, Gene, who, ironically, doesn’t travel at all.

Rodeo Cowboys–Competitors, Friends, and Even Family

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Today we welcome Danica Favorite to the Petticoats and Pistols corral.

One of my favorite parts of the rodeo is the bronc riding. It’s such a great combo of talent, skill and a little bit of luck. The announcer at a rodeo series I often watch has always been good about sharing some of the inside stories of the cowboys, and one of the things I fell in love with was how many times he’d talk about how cowboys competing against each other were often close friends and traveling buddies. You think about rodeos as competitions, but it reminded me of my life growing up in the rodeo scene. The people do become like family, even if you spend all season vying for the top spots.

So when I came up with this series, I thought a lot about that sense of family, not just in my Shepherd’s Creek community, but also among these rodeo cowboys. That became the heart of The Bronc Rider’s Twins. What do you do when someone in that found family dies, leaving behind a mess? For Wyatt Nelson, that meant stepping up and being the husband and father his best friend couldn’t be.

Family is equally important to Laura Fisher. For those who read the first book in the series, Journey to Forgiveness, you know that the Shepherd’s Creek family is working through a very painful past. You don’t have to have read it to read The Bronc Rider’s Twins, but for me, this series isn’t just about each of the family members, but about the way they’ve found their way back to each other after being estranged for so long.

Though there is, of course, a happy ending, what I love about this book, and this series, is that we see how messy families can be, and how sometimes working through these issues can take a lot of time, patience, and love. And, even though we have a picture in our heads of what a family is supposed to look like, the family in this series isn’t your traditional family. But together, they find healing and hope.

About The Bronc Rider’s Twins:
A family he doesn’t expect…

But will protect at all costs.

Convinced he caused his best friend’s death, rodeo cowboy Wyatt Nelson will do whatever it takes to look after widow Laura Fisher and her infant twins—even propose to her. A marriage of convenience is the perfect solution to keep custody from Laura’s overbearing in-laws. But as Wyatt begins to fall for the little family, will he let guilt get in the way of his heart?

About Danica Favorite:
Danica Favorite has spent her life in love with good books.  Never did she imagine that the people who took her to far away places would someday be the same folks she now calls friends.

A mountain girl at heart, she lives in the Denver area with her family and ever-changing menagerie of animals.

Put it all together, and you find an adventurous writer who likes to explore what it means to be human and follow people on the journey to happily ever after.

Giveaway:
Danica will be giving away a copy of The Bronc Rider’s Twins. To be entered in the random drawing, leave a comment about someone you’re not technically related to, but you consider family, and how has that person helped you in your life?

 

A New Series For Danica Favorite

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Danica Favorite, a bestselling inspirational romance author, has dropped by to talk about a new series she’s just begun. We’re so happy to have her. She also has a giveaway so be sure to leave a comment.

 

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for having me! I’m so glad to spend some time with you and tell you about my new book, Journey to Forgiveness, with Love Inspired. It’s the start of a new series called Shepherd’s Creek. Each book, of course, is a standalone, but I hope that once you read book one, you’ll be eager to pick up the others when they come out as well.

About the book:

The one place she wants to avoid…
Is the home she needs to save.

Josie Shepherd never expected to inherit her estranged father’s horse stables—not after fifteen years of painful silence. But keeping the failing business is the only way to protect her hometown from developers, even if it means partnering with Brady King—the man who once broke her heart. Saving the property won’t be easy…but could forgiveness be the key to reopening their hearts?

For me, this series has been super fun to write as it hits very close to home. My daughters have been part of a horse program for the past twelve years, and I’ve gotten to explore so many different facets of the horse world. Journey to Forgiveness features trick riding, which is something my youngest daughter does.

Yes, this is my daughter! It takes a lot of practice and hard work as well as nerves of steel to do this! And yes, it still scares mom to watch. But I love my daughter, and seeing her live her passion is really important to me. It’s also nice to have a live-in horse expert. Even though she thinks it’s gross to read romance written by her mother, she does read every horse scene to make sure I got it right.

I love being able to incorporate a little of my world into my books. On Sunday, I was writing in my backyard and the horses were grazing nearby. They occasionally stopped by to say hi to me, and I felt so grateful that I get to share this world with my readers.

For me, though, it’s not just about the horses. Journey to Forgiveness, is, as the title suggests, very much about forgiveness on multiple levels. It’s interesting to me, because as I write, I often find that I am learning a piece of the lesson my characters are learning as well. Over the weekend, as I worked on book three in the series, I found myself revisiting the forgiveness lesson from this first book, and I had to stop writing for a bit because I was prompted on something I needed to forgive in my own life.

But that is what I love about this journey as a writer, and I hope it’s something you find valuable as a reader. We are constantly in the process of being refined, and looking at the lessons we thought we already learned, only on a deeper level. And of course, we have to have fun along the way, which is why the horses are so important!

The next book in the series, The Bronc Rider’s Twins, is all about… you guessed it! A bronc rider! Thankfully, it’s not a women’s sport, so my little adrenaline junkie will not be doing that one, but I go to a lot of rodeos to watch her, plus I grew up in the rodeo world, so it’s been a lot of fun taking a look at that aspect of the horse world. That book will be out in March 2023, and I hope, after reading Journey to Forgiveness, you’ll preorder it.

Thank you again for letting me spend time with you today!

I’d love to hear about the horse-related things you enjoy reading about. I have one copy of Journey to Forgiveness to give to one lucky commenter.

You can order a copy HERE, or at your favorite retailer. If you do spot it in stores, I’d love for you to share a pic and tag me on social media.

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ABOUT DANICA

With four active kids, and a flock of birds, Danica Favorite is never short on inspiration for her latest story, whether entertaining a live audience or crafting her latest novel. She and her family recently moved from the city to the Colorado mountains, where they’re living a brand-new adventure!

 

Small Town Rodeo

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I love our local rodeo. The contestants are for the most part local folk, so the cheering sections are loud once the rodeo begins, but it starts off quietly with cowboys getting their equipment ready and mentally preparing for their events.

Prepping the rein prior to a bronc ride.

The stock is quiet. The contestants are quiet.

The ambulance gets into position. Thankfully, there wasn’t any call for an ambulance trip during this rodeo.

The rodeo opens with a performance from the drill team that my mom coaches. She rode as part of the team until she was 76 and it’s still a big part of her life.

Things start getting busier behind the chutes. The guy with his feet in the air is saddling a bronc. The cowboys handle their own broncs prior to riding, sometimes with the help of a friend.

When the action begins, everyone is very excited. This is why they came, after all.

Not all rides go well.

Darkness falls and the lights come on.

After the official rodeo ends, there’s an event called wild cow milking, and it’s exactly whaat it sounds like. Teams of cowboys rope and milk a wild cow. After the cowboy gets a small amount of milk in the bottle (enough to drink) they race to the finish line.

And that’s the end of the small town rodeo for this year. I love my big rodeos, particularly the Reno Rodeo, but this one allows the fans to enjoy all the action behind the scenes.

And that’s the end of this small town Montana rodeo until next year. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Women in Today’s Sport of Professional Rodeo

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I love that we’re seeing more and more women participating in sports traditionally dominated by men. And I’m happy that rodeo has become one of those sports. Yes, you say, women have long competed in barrel racing. But did you know in the early days of rodeo, 1850s to 1900s, women competed against men in all rodeo events, including rough stock?

Eventually, they got pushed out (grrrr), and in 1948 the Girls Rodeo Association was formed with the intent of advancing women in professional rodeo. The Girls Rodeo Association later became know by its current name, the Woman’s Professional Rodeo Association. Yay! Go girls. Um, I mean women.

While women still don’t compete against men in today’s professional rodeos, they do have their own rodeos and are no longer restricted to just barrel racing. Breakaway roping and team roping have become sanctioned events, and women from all over the world compete on local and National levels. Pretty impressive. I’ve tried roping and couldn’t even get the rope to land correctly on a stationary practice dummy. Can’t imagine succeeding while chasing a live calf on a fast moving horse.

 

Photo by Kirstie Marie Photography

There are also some brave and talented women who compete in non-sanctioned events such as tie-down roping, steer wrestling, bull riding and bronc riding. Picture yourself climbing onto the back of a two-thousand pound bull and letting him toss you around like a bean bag. Nope. I can’t, either. Even with all the safety equipment. Talk about dangerous. But I admire the women who are paving the way for future generations.

Daily Mail Online

I especially like that these rodeo events are open to ages thirteen and up, giving opportunity to young women they didn’t have just a short time ago and opening doors for future generations. Who knows what women in rodeo will look like twenty years from now, or even ten?

At the 2020 Inaugural Women’s World Rodeo Championship last November in Las Vegas, four women became the first in history to claim the title of Women’s Rodeo World Champion (besides barrel racing, breakaway roping, and team roping, a title was also given for heading and heeling).This is an amazing step forward, and I hope more events will be added in the future.

I haven’t yet put a professional woman rodeo athlete in one of my books. Thinking maybe I should. And one of these days I’ll travel to Las Vegas to attend the rodeo. I read somewhere that CBS will be airing the final rounds for this year’s 2021 Women’s World Rodeo Championship on Sunday, October 31st. I’m marking my calendar 🙂

Roping Christmas

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Picture yourself as the owner of a small business (you and one employee). You’re struggling to compete with bigger, more established businesses. Then, you suddenly find a goose laying golden eggs (okay, so it’s not a goose but a billionaire who is interested in hiring you – but close enough to a goose with golden eggs!). All you have to do is prove yourself and your business savvy to that ol’ goose.

Unbeknownst to you, part of earning his business is going to involve a quest to learn things you never dreamed you’d known how to do. 


That’s the basis for my new sweet holiday romance, Roping Christmas. And it releases tomorrow! 

There is still time to pre-order it today (just $3.99!). When you do, you can enter your purchase info into this form, and you’ll get a free Bonus Bundle that includes a short story that leads into the book, a recipe, rodeo photographs, and a set of printable, unique, western gift tags! 

 

A focused cowboy, a distracted executive, and a hilarious quest make for an unforgettable holiday . . .

Wyatt Nash is a professional tie-down roper, a good ranch hand, and not too shabby when it comes to attracting women. But according to his five-year-old niece, he needs to work on both his roping skills and his dating game. His sister thinks he needs to settle down. And don’t get him started on the advice he gets from well-meaning friends. When his rodeo sponsor, billionaire Jon Sinclair, asks for his assistance in tutoring a clueless city girl about Sinclair Industries, Wyatt doesn’t feel like he can say no. Then he discovers he’ll be teaching none other than the one woman on the planet who wants nothing to do with him.

Ashley Jarrett would do almost anything to turn her small publicity firm into a huge success. When Jon Sinclair expresses interest in working with her, she readily agrees to his crazy idea to have her learn about his company through hands-on projects. Not only is she forced far outside her comfort zone, but the man documenting every bumbling misstep she takes is an infuriating cowboy she’s determined to ignore.

Packed with small-town charm and the wonder of falling in love, Roping Christmas is a sweet holiday romance sure to bring laughter and infuse hearts Christmas cheer.

Available on Amazon

Add to Goodreads

Also, I want to invite you to an upcoming celebration! 

You’re invited to join in a celebration to officially kick of the Read a Book, Help a Cowboy campaign. The fun gets underway November 12 at 10 a.m. (Pacific Time) on Facebook in the Wholesome Hearts Events group with guest authors, giveaways, and more!

 

For a chance to win, fill out this form. The prize includes a beautiful Coldwater Creek fleece throw, an autographed copy of Roping Christmas, a box of delicious holiday tea, Godiva chocolates, a tube of body cream from Bath & Body Works, a boot Christmas ornament, and a swag bag to carry all the goodies.

The giveaway runs through October 30, 2020. The winner will be notified by November 15, 2020, and will be given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Void where prohibited by law or logistics. The giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

Just for fun, I’d love to know what you’d do if you were in Ashley’s shoes? Would you prove yourself to the billionaire, or would you look for a less demanding goose? 

 

The Fourth of July, Frontier Style

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The Fourth of July was celebrated big time in the Old West.  From mining camps to wild cow towns, those early settlers used the day to whoop it up with dances, speeches, parades, foot races, and turkey shoots.  Not to be left out, even American Indians celebrated the day with pow-wows and dances. 

Some celebrations even took place in remote areas. In 1830, Mountain man William L. Sublette, on his way to Wind River with 81 men and 10 wagons, celebrated the holiday next to a large 130-foot-high rock.  Claiming to have “kept the 4th of July in due style,” Sublette named the large boulder Independence Rock.

Independence Rock

Located in what is now Wyoming, the rock became a signpost for travelers on the Oregon and Mormon trails. Companies arriving at the rock by July fourth knew they had made good time and would beat the mountain snows.  Celebrations included inscribing names on the rock and shooting off guns. 

Not every community celebrated with guns and fireworks.  In 1864, a mining town in Nevada decided to celebrate its first fourth with a dance.  Music, flag, and dance committees were formed. Of the three, the music committee was the most challenging as the only musician was a violinist who had an affinity for whiskey. His drinks had to be carefully regulated before the celebration.  

Stag Dance

Since the town lacked a flag, the flag committee pieced one together from a quilt.  Fortunately, a traveling family camping nearby provided the blue fabric.  The family included a mother and four girls, which meant more women for the dance.  The problem was the girls had no shoes, which would have made it difficult to dance on the rough wood floors.   The miners solved the problem by taking up a collection of brogans, and the dance went off without a hitch. 

William “Buffalo Bill” Cody made history in North Platte, Nebraska on July 4, 1882, when he mounted an exhibition of cowboy “sports.”  This was the beginning of his Wild West shows and what we now call a rodeo.

Not to be outdone, Dodge City did something different two years later for the Fourth of July to attract attention and business; It hosted the first professional Mexican bullfight on U.S. soil. Though the event was a financial success, it was not without controversy.  Many, including Henry Bergh, founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals, denounced the sport as barbaric.

Compared to the rest of the country, Denver’s first Fourth of July celebration was oddly subdued. Drinking or carousing was not allowed.  Instead, the Declaration of Independence was read, followed by prayers, “chaste and appropriate oration” and wholesome band music.

This year, most public celebrations have been canceled.  But we Americans will find a way to keep “the 4th of July in due style.”  Just like they did in the Old West.

How are you and your family celebrating the Fourth this year?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He may be a Texas Ranger, but he only has eyes for the outlaw’s beautiful daughter. Amazon

B&N

 

Kaylie Newell: It’s Rodeo Time!

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For our last guest of the month, we have romance writer Kaylie Newell. Yippee! Get ready to talk about cowboys! She has an exciting new book plus a giveaway so leave a comment to enter the drawing. Please make her welcome!

 

Hello, everyone- It’s such a pleasure to be here at Petticoats & Pistols talking about my new release, Betting on the Bull Rider!  This cowboy romance was so much fun to write, mostly because the characters took the reins (literally and figuratively!), and told me exactly where they wanted to go.

My hero, Jake Elliott, is a bull rider, so researching was especially fun.  The Wild Rogue Pro-Rodeo is our local rodeo here in Southern Oregon, and my husband and I take our girls every year.  Drawing on those experiences, as well as time spent with our ranching friends, helped me write this story, and give it what I hope is texture and life.  There’s nothing like the sweet smell of a horse up close, or the feel of an old saddle creaking underneath you.  But most importantly, there’s nothing like that feeling of loving someone who holds your heart in their hands.

I’d love to hear from you all about your own rodeo experiences.  Do you go?  What’s your favorite event? (Mine’s the cowboy watching, of course.) I’ll be giving away a signed paperback copy, so be sure to comment!

Thank you again for reading!  Xo

Here’s an excerpt from Betting on the Bull Rider, which is the second book in my Elliotts of Montana series…..

 

Jake looked around. The stands were packed. The Copper Mountain Rodeo always brought in a good crowd, but today was especially perfect, with the sun coming out for the first time in days, and the temperature rising into the sixties—a rarity for this late in September.

The sharp smell of sawdust and animals filled his senses. The sound of the music, of the crowd cheering, of hooves thundering over the arena floor, made him anticipate what was coming. He’d drawn a bull named Tequila Sunrise, who was small and wiry, and who had a habit of spinning like an absolute thing of beauty. But it was his name that Jake kept coming back to. Even now as he stretched his arm over his chest and felt the muscles and tendons there pull with a distinct tightness.

Tequila… Tequila, or more specifically tequila shots, and the night at the Wolf Den kept trying to work their way past his frontal lobe. But out of a need for pure survival, Jake had pushed it to the furthest, darkest corners of his mind these last few weeks. He hadn’t allowed himself to think about Alice, to wonder what she was doing, or who she might be doing it with. And when he had gone there in a moment of weakness, he’d climbed onto his motorcycle and headed to the fairgrounds, a place where he’d always felt the most in control, to scrub his mind clean of her. So there were only thoughts of rodeo, of getting back into the game, and the money, where he belonged.

Still, his heart had a way of betraying him. At the weirdest times, when he should’ve been one hundred percent invested in climbing on the back of a bull and thinking only of staying the hell on. She always came back to him. Her face, her scent, the way she’d felt in his arms just that once. But it’d only taken one time to show him a glimpse of a life he didn’t feel like he deserved, or that he’d be any good at. What if he failed? What if he failed her? In the end, the night they’d slept together had been a fork in Jake’s country road—embark on a journey he wasn’t altogether sure he’d finish, or take the easy route, the route that was tried and true, and had never caused him any heartache. Not once.

So, here he was. A coward in the simplest terms. He pulled his Stetson low over his eyes and rolled his head from one shoulder to the other. It didn’t matter. He was back on the circuit. And hell, maybe it wouldn’t last much longer, but wasn’t that what he’d told himself he’d wanted? To rodeo until he couldn’t anymore? And he’d continue telling himself that, right along with the fact that he didn’t need Alice.

He didn’t need anyone…

* * * * * * *

Kaylie writes romances, romantic suspense, and women’s fiction and won numerous awards along the way. She was a finalist in the Romance of America’s RITA contest for Christmas at the Graf.

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Amazon Author Page

Bareback Riders and Rodeo Romance

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I love a good rodeo. It’s true.

In fact, I love rodeos so much, I have a whole series of books that’s about… you guessed it – Rodeo! 

In my latest release, the hero in the story is a bareback rider. 

If you aren’t familiar with the sport, bareback riding is much like it sounds. There’s no saddle. No pad. 

 

The cowboy is basically trying to stay on the back of thousand-pound wildly bucking horse holding onto his leather rigging. The rigging greatly resembles a suitcase handle attached to a strap, which is placed on top of the horse’s withers and secured with a cinch.

Some say bareback riding is equivalent to attempting to ride a jackhammer with one hand. Bareback riders endure more physical abuse, suffer more injuries, and sustain more long-term damage than all other rodeo cowboys.

 

To compete, when the horse and rider bust out of the chute, the cowboy’s spurs must be touching the horse’s shoulders until the horse’s feet hit the ground after the initial move out of the chute. This is called “marking out.” If a cowboy fails to keep his spurs in position, he is disqualified.  The bronc bucks and the rider pulls his knees up, rolling his spurs up the horse’s shoulders. As the horse comes back down, he straightens his legs, returning his spurs over the point of the horse’s shoulders, anticipating the next move.

 

A qualified ride requires more than just strength. The cowboy is judged on his spurring technique, the degree his toes remain turned out while he’s spurring, and his willingness to take whatever comes along during the ride. 

 

In Keeping Christmas, Gage Taggart is a bareback rider on his way to making the national finals. He rides a motorcycle, has the world on a string, and is sure of his future… until a freak accident leaves him at the mercy of his best friend’s sister who just happens to be a nurse. 

Here is an excerpt from their first encounter in the story: 

There was no way on earth or beyond she was going behind the chutes. The last time she’d done that had cured her on rodeos and rodeo cowboys for life. She had no intention of repeating the experience. The very thought of going back there left her thoroughly disturbed.

She sent a text to Gage, telling him to meet her near the ticket booth. It was only after she hit send that she realized she should have mentioned she was the one there, not Trevor.

Gage would figure it out soon enough, she supposed.

She leaned against the corner of the ticket booth, out of the way, and watched the faces of those coming and going. Through the crowd, she caught a glimpse of a face that looked familiar as a cowboy jogged her way.

Tally sucked in a gulp of air, unprepared for how much Gage had changed since she’d last seen him in person. The boy she’d had a crush on had morphed into a very handsome man. His dark brown hair was shorter, his shoulders broader, his body a finely-tuned machine of muscle. She noticed a scar on his right cheek that hadn’t been there before, yet it only added to his rugged appeal.

But his eyes were the same magnificent shade of blue, and his lips still appeared incredibly kissable. When he looked at a little girl wearing a pink tutu over her denim overalls, his grin kicked up the left side of his mouth just as she remembered.

He didn’t appear to have gotten taller than his already six-foot height, but he looked stronger and more capable than he had all those years ago.

Tally noticed several women eyeing him as he made his way through the crowd. He didn’t even seem to notice them as he scanned the faces, no doubt searching for her brother. She stepped away from the ticket booth and headed toward him.

She tried to catch his eye, but he looked right past her, as though she didn’t exist. Not that it surprised her. Guys like Gage weren’t interested in girls like her — girls who would never be mistaken for a model, had brains in their heads, and held to an unyielding set of morals.

Nope. There was nothing about her that would be of the slightest interest to a cowboy like Gage.

Tally waited until she was standing directly behind him to tap him on the shoulder.

“Gage Taggart,” she said in a voice she used to subdue unruly patients. He jerked and turned around to stare at her.

She could see him struggling to pull her identity from his memories. Insulted he hadn’t yet figured out who she was, someone jostled into her and she bumped against Gage. Something electric and completely unexpected arced between the two of them. Tally wanted no part of whatever it was and moved back.

Eager to get the torturous errand over with, she held the gear bag out to him. “Trevor sent me with this.”

“Where’s Trev?” Gage asked, taking the bag and looking around like her brother might suddenly materialize. “Who was I texting a minute ago if it wasn’t him?”

“That would be me. I’m sure you don’t remember, but I’m Trevor’s sister.”

“Tally? You’re little Tally?” He held his hand down near his waist, indicating the height he thought she should be.

She nodded and Gage broke into a wide grin.

“You were always such a cute kid with those big gray eyes, sturdy little legs, and chubby cheeks.” He reached out and playfully pinched her cheek. “You haven’t changed a bit. Aren’t you like, fifteen, maybe sixteen?”

 

For a chance to win a digital copy of Keeping Christmas, please share one thing that is bringing you joy today. 

Read a Book, Have a Party, Help a Cowboy! By Pam Crooks

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Just like football players, hockey players, soccer players, etc, professional rodeo cowboys get hurt, too.  Sometimes badly and without the protection of over-sized pads. They are athletes in every sense of the word, and when they are knocked out of the competition due to injuries, their paychecks take a big hit, too.  

That’s where the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund (JCCF) comes in.  The Justin Boot Company teemed up with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association to form the JCCF as a non-profit charity organization.

To learn more:  https://www.justincowboycrisisfund.org

From the JCCF website:

“JCCF had awarded nearly $8 million in need-based financial assistance to almost 1,100 injured rodeo athletes and their families.

100% of all proceeds go to eligible athletes.”

I love that.  100%.

Who hasn’t heard of big name charities who pay their CEOs hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses and benefits and who rake in millions of dollars to pay fancy overhead when the donors think they are helping the needy?  They are, of course, but on a smaller level and not as much as they think they are.

Also from the JCCF website:

“This uncommon practice for a charitable organization (100% of proceeds) is made possible by the joint commitment of the Justin Boot Company and the PRCA, which underwrite all administrative costs associated with managing the JCCF, leaving all monies received through contributions (and as investment earnings) to serve their intended purpose.”

Bravo!!

And that’s where the rest of us come in.  Raising the funds to help the JCCF do their wonderful and charitable works of which 100% goes to qualifying professional rodeo cowboys.

Well . . . it just so happens that TODAY Shanna Hatfield is hosting her 6th annual “Cowboys and Christmas Facebook Party” and it’s bigger than ever.  I have the honor of kicking off the festivities, and I’ll be joined by sister filly Kit Morgan–and Shanna, of course. Fifteen guest authors in all.

Shanna explains:

“The party gets underway Thursday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time (so that’s 11 Mountain, Noon Central, and 1 Eastern). Entries for giveaways will remain open until the following morning, so even if you can’t participate in the party during all the action, you can still check in after the fact and get in on the goodies!”

Trust me.  There will be a TON of goodies. 

Please come!  Just click – Cowboys and Christmas – to join the group!

It’ll be fast-paced and fun.  Here are the particulars:

We hope to see you there!

 

 

Do you have a favorite charity?  Do you try to give to the less fortunate at this special time of year?  Are you coming to Shanna’s party? (I know some of you are!)  Are you a little cautious about donating to big-name charities because of their high overhead?

 

Petticoats & Pistols