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| Barbara White Daille |
Thanks to Romancing the Genres for inviting me to chat with you
about Western Romance.
I grew up in a small city on the East Coast, where we never laid
eyes on a cowboy except in the old movies my dad watched on television. Then, what's a city girl like me doing
spending most of her time with cowboys?
Well, let's see...
I'm a reader
like you. If I'm going to write about
any hero, he's got to be one I want to read about, too. One I can fall for. Because we all know we can't be romance
readers without lusting after the hero of a story once in a while, if not with
every book we read. ;)
Who better to
love than a cowboy or rancher? They work
hard, hold high values, and know how to stay on a bull. Of course, they're sexy. And they're rough, tough heroes with heart.
Heart.
That's
important to me in all my story people.
Whether I'm reading or writing a book, my focus stays on the
character. No matter how compelling the
plot, what keeps my attention is seeing how the characters are impacted by the
story—and the impact they make on events themselves.
A cowboy is
as deep and complex as any character we love to read about, but because he's
got that rough, tough exterior, we have to work harder to get to know him. To learn where he draws the line on
issues. To find out what buttons must be
pushed before he'll open up. And best of
all, to get closer and closer to the secrets he's keeping that, when finally
told, will reveal to us who he truly is.
In other
words, we get to the heart of him.
I'd like to
introduce you to a couple of my favorite cowboys. Both come from the tiny town of Flagman's
Folly, New Mexico, where folks always want to...shall we say..."stay
up-to-date" on everyone else's business and to "help" run their
love lives, as well.
Sam
Robertson, the hero of A RANCHER'S PRIDE, is a solitary man whose life is
turned upside down when his ex-wife leaves him with a four-year-old he's never
known existed. Then he discovers his
child is deaf and he has no way to communicate with her. And then he learns the child's
aunt wants to take his daughter away from him.
In my new
release, HONORABLE RANCHER, Ben Sawyer has always loved Dana Wright from
afar. But she's the wife of his best
friend, a soldier recently killed in combat.
Folks in town want to bestow an honor on their fallen hero. An honor guaranteed to put Dana out of Ben's
reach forever.
In all the years since then, nothing
had ever come between Paul and Dana. Ben
had always honored that. Now he had to
make doubly sure not to cross the line.
"Today has to be hard for you," he said, keeping his voice
low.
"Seeing Tess and Caleb so
happy? Why should that cause me any
trouble? I'm glad they're finally
together."
She meant it, he knew, though her
words sounded as brittle as the chipped ice in the banquet hall's champagne
buckets. In the moonlight, her eyes
glittered. Had she tried for a lighter
tone to keep tears from overflowing? Or
to prove how comfortable she felt around him?
Why did she have to prove anything? Why the heck couldn't she enjoy his company,
the way she always used to? If she'd
just give him that, he'd feel satisfied.
Sure, he would.
She'd grown quiet again, and he
gestured toward the fountain. "What
brought you out here? Wanting to make a
wish?"
She shook her head. "No.
Those are for people who aren't willing to work hard to get what they
want."
"I can't argue with you there." Still, he felt tempted to toss a coin into
the water for a wish of his own....
Sam and Ben
face problems they’ve never before encountered.
They're plunged into situations that make them vulnerable and let us see
into their hearts. That's why I love these
two cowboys. If you happen to run across
either of them, I hope you get to know and love them, too. ;)
There you have just a few of the reasons I like being a Western writer.
And now, I
hope you'll share with us what you like about cowboys—or about
any other type of hero who has a place on your must-read list.
Originally from the East Coast, award-winning author Barbara White
Daille now lives with her husband in the warm, sunny Southwest, where they love
the lizards in the front yard but could do without the scorpions in the
bathroom.
From the time she was a toddler, Barbara found herself fascinated
by those things her mom called "books." Once she learned the words between the covers
held the magic of storytelling, she wanted to see her words in print so
she could weave that spell for others.
Barbara hopes you will enjoy reading her stories and will find
your own storytelling magic in them!
You
can find her at
her website: www.barbarawhitedaille.com and
on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
and Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille
