Cowboys? Really?

Somehow in between all my sewing, I managed to write some books… Once a Champion, book one of my Montana Way series, comes out this month. When people ask me what I write, I tell them mostly cowboy stories. Cowboy appears to be a rather divisive occupation because I then usually hear one of two things:

(a) “I love cowboys!”

(b) “I don’t read cowboys.”

I write cowboys because I live in a ranching area and my neighbors are cowboys and ranchers. Many of them have day jobs out of necessity because agriculture is an iffy business. My parents raise cattle in Montana.  Their operation has been pared down as they've gotten older, but they still have a herd. 

So, what do I know about cows? 

Not a lot, because I prefer ponies.

Cowboys are often stereotyped, but my cowboys are based on the lives of people I know. Here is one of  my good friends working his cows on the weekend after a full week at his day job.

This is his daughter.

And his son.

And this is me and his wife, my best friend, doing what we do best during the breaks in the action. Talking. 

Cowboying is a lifestyle with ups and downs, heartaches and triumphs, just like most other occupations and that’s what I try to get across when I write cowboy stories, because I write about people, not occupations. So if you haven’t tried a cowboy book, you might consider giving it a go. It isn’t all hats and boots.

But hats and boots help.