All those Zane Grey novels I read when I was young, the movies with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and Rex Allen, the Arizona Cowboy, the cowboy songs like Red River Valley:
"Just remember the Red River Valley
And the cowboy who loved you so true."
I imagined myself on horseback at roundups and on cattle drives. Rodeos seemed romantic and a little dangerous, just like the men who rode the bucking broncos and bulls.
The most romantic place to live, of course, was a big cattle ranch. One with a bunkhouse full of cowboys and a foreman named Will or Sonny or Blackie.
I still like cowboy movies, old and new, and the reruns of favorite television westerns like Wagon Train, Gunsmoke and Have Gun, Will Travel.
So is it any wonder there's a cowboy in the short romance I'm writing? If a girl is trying her hardest to stay out of love, who has a better chance of winning her over than a cowboy?
The first half is written and has been critiqued. Now I need to tell the rest of the story. I'm posting about it here to nudge the Muse (also known as Nagging Whisper) and get her attention (and mine) back to those sweet cowboy days.
Are you writing today? What are you working on?
12 comments:
Pat - Oh, there's no doubt that the cowboy life - or at least as it's been portrayed - has a lot of romantic appeal. I don't wonder at all that you loved those movies and songs...
Every now and then I'm in the mood for a good western. Rough life though.
I'd love to be a cowboy. Have you read Leif Enger's Peace Like a River? Modern day cowboy. It's a great story. I'm not writing at the moment; I'm in Rochester NY for healings and an event. Happy writing :)
I'm just finishing my poems for A to Z, got about 4 more to do then jusst wait for April 1st.
Somehow I could imagine you in the wild west,
Not the Calamity Jane sort but the sort that had a little hut , fetching and carring water.
I think I better shut up Patricia,
Have a good day,
Yvonne.
Margot and Alex, as an old farm kid, I know how to rough it a bit, but at least we didn't have to deal with cattle rustlers and and other armed desperadoes.
Simon, I did read Peace Like a River, and you've nudged me to get a copy and read it again. Maybe I'll pick up a couple of Louis L'Amour novels, too.
Yvonne, you have me all wrong. If I lived in the old west, I'd want to own the ranch and ride, rope, and brand like the guys. I'd make the men fetch the water. :)
Karen -- good for you to take piano lessons. I took enough piano lessons when I was young to read music, so I'd like to try another instrument now. Maybe a guitar. Happy writing, and happy music making.
I just finished the final run through of my 4th Blackthorne, Inc. book, and sent it to a former crit partner to read as a stand alone book. In my first Blackthorne book, Ryan is the cowboy (or was before he left the ranch to become a covert ops specialist.
Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery
I love cowboys! Not that I speak from personal experience or anything... : )
I'm working on my next novel! Having lots of fun writing it so far.
Cowboys are cool!
I'm playing catch-up today. Writing a book review for a deadline that's today and in my spare time, I'm rewriting a Western short story.
Donna
Nothing quite like a cowboy for a romance story! I've got one in one of my stories as well :)
Well Pat you know where my heart is. Cowboys and cowgirls are so cool! Happy writing. Cowboys and romance just go together.
Jen and I are watching through Roku an Australian series (I LOVE Australian movies) of two half-sisters who are what I think you would call "cow girls." It's called McLeod's Daughters. I think you might like it. I'm addicted!
It appears I'm not the only one who loves cowboys...
Ann, I'll look up McLeod's Daughters. I also like stories set in Australia.
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