I don’t think I’ve actually put a real person into my books.
But my life has influenced everything I write. Being a single mother is one of
my themes, because I’ve been there. Now I write “seasoned romance” and “second
chance” books because I’ve been there too. I can relate to many emotions,
because over the years I’ve had them. I’m sure there’s a little bit of me in
everything I write.
However, most of my books come from my imagination. Let’s
face it, I’ve never been a jockey, a bull rider, or a horse trainer. I’ve shot
a gun only once at a firing range. It’s hard for me to think up bad things to
happen to my characters, because I don’t like bad things.
I do sometimes use my experiences in a book. Take this partial
scene from Kentucky Cowboy, for
example.
Ten
minutes later, outside of town on a back-country road, Mandy screamed, “Stop
the truck!”
Judd’s
heart spiked as he swerved to the right, tires squealing. He braked hard. The
front and back tires lurched to a stop in the grassy slope by the side of the
road.
Mandy
threw open the passenger side door and disappeared around the back of the
vehicle.
Georgia
scrambled out behind her.
He
was shaken. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve
got to save them!” the little girl shouted over her shoulder.
He
threw open his door and stepped down from the cab just in time to see several
ducklings scurrying into the underbrush on the other side of the road. Mandy
and Georgia squatted over a limp mother mallard lying on the opposite shoulder
of the two-lane highway. After looking both ways, he crossed the pavement.
“She’s
dead,” Judd said.
Mandy
climbed to her feet. “We know.”
“It’s
so sad,” Georgia wailed. “They were just crossing the road in a line when that
stupid car hit them.”
Although
he had noticed the passing car, he had been looking down the road and had
missed seeing the tragic hit and run. Mandy and Georgia had witnessed
everything.
“Do
you have a box in the truck?” Mandy glanced toward the brush where the ducks
had disappeared. He recognized that determined look in her eyes. She was
putting on her game face, readying for action.
“No,
but I have a duffle bag.”
“Get
it. Georgia and I are going to catch those babies.” Mandy turned away from him
and plunged into the thicket. Georgia followed without hesitation.
Were
they crazy? Judd ran back across the highway, opened his topper, and dug around
in the truck bed for his duffle bag. By the time he’d emptied all his equipment—a
handmade bull rope, riding gloves, and leather chaps—Mandy and Georgia had
vanished.
This
is suicide. He crossed the road again, dodging a fast-moving truck. “Mandy,
this is dangerous.”
“No
more so than riding bulls.”
She
had him there.
Georgia
poked her head out of the brush. “We need your help.”
Judd
looked at the serious expression on Georgia’s sweet face. He eyed the tangle of
scrub trees and brambles. Oh, heck. “I’ll help.” He ducked under a limb and picked
his way slowly through the underbrush.
The
first thing he noticed was that it was dangerous. Georgia’s little legs were already
scratched and bleeding. He had the protection of jeans and boots, but Mandy and
Georgia were wearing sandals.
“I
caught one.” Mandy appeared with a small scrap of tan fluff cupped in her hands.
She looked pleased with herself. A strand of hair had slipped from her
once-proper ponytail.
Peep,
peep, peep.
Judd
opened the mouth of the bag and Mandy slid one little bird inside.
“There
are eight of them.”
Her
eyes were bright. Damn, she was determined. And beautiful.
“What
do you want me to do?”
She
peered at him. “Will you hold the bag?”
“Sure.”
He
waited and watched, sweat pouring down his back, soaking his shirt. It was hot
and humid, another sweltering Kentucky summer evening.
Georgia
came up to him holding another baby. “This makes two.”
The
ducklings might be tiny, but they were quick wild creatures that were terrified
of humans, even humans wanting to help. The minutes ticked by as Mandy and
Georgia tried to corner the frightened ducklings. Slowly, the count in the bag
rose to three, four, and then five.
That actually happened to me and my daughter who became a
veterinarian. We saved eight ducklings and took them to a wildlife rescue. Only
five survived to be released into the wild. Sadly, there wasn’t a hunky bull
rider with us.
Kentucky Cowboy
is now available as an ebook at many retailers. It was a fun book to research
and write, and put a little of myself into.
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