NATIONAL DAY OF THE COWBOY—Who Knew? By Connie Vines

NATIONAL DAY OF THE COWBOY

National Day of the Cowboy is observed annually on the fourth Saturday in July here in the United States (July 27th).

I write western novels, shouldn't I have been aware of this fact?

However, I was not aware that a national day celebrated the western-working man.

Most of us are aware of how the era of the cowboy came to be.

The era of the cowboy began after the Civil War in the heart of Texas.  Cattle were herded long before this time, but in Texas, they grew wild and unchecked.  As the country expanded, the demand for beef in the northern territories and states increased. With nearly 5 million head of cattle, cowboys moved the herds on long drives to where the profits were.

The draw of riches and adventure mixed with tales of violence and a backdrop of the Great Plains gave way to the mythological image of the cowboy.

Where the dust settles reveal much of the stoic truth of the American cowboy and cowgirl. The life of a cowboy required a particular ability to live in a frontier world.  To do so requires respect, loyalty and a willingness to work hard.

In the words of the former President Bush (Texan), “We celebrate the Cowboy as a symbol of the grand history of the American West. The Cowboy’s love of the land and love of the country are examples for all Americans.”

HOW TO OBSERVE

To quote snippet of one of my reviews: “Everyone loves a cowboy!”

 Celebrate with a cowboy you know and post on social media using #NationalDayOfTheCowboy.  Enjoy a western novel or movie, attend a rodeo and embrace the cowboy way of life.
Learn to dance the Texas-Two-Step.  Sing a cowboy song or two.

HISTORY

According to the National Day of the Cowboy Organization, this day “…is a day set aside to celebrate the contributions of the Cowboy and Cowgirl to America’s culture and heritage.” The NDOC continuously pursues national recognition of National Day of the Cowboy.  The first celebration was in 2005. 

CELEBRATING LIKE A COWBOY

Having a few friends over to celebrate the event? Or need a fun activity to share with your children?

Here are a few ideas:

• Texas-Size Art contest
• Cowboy Celebration Parade
• Watermelon Eating Contests
• Most Worn-Out Boot Contest
• Best Mustache Contest (Home-grown, or Make-your-own)
• Rib Eating Contest
• Cowboy Karaoke Contest
• Cattle Drive (City Folk will improvise: dogs, cats, stuffed animals) 
“Round’em up, move'em-out!

To end your day of celebration, or while sitting around a camp fire you can enjoy a cup of coffee.

Cowboy Coffee

Out on the trail, coffee was a staple among cowboys. Piping hot coffee helped a cowboy shake off the stiffness from sleeping on the hard desert ground, and it was also a good beverage to wash down the morning sour dough biscuits.  But cowboys didn’t have the luxury of fancy coffee brewers or French presses. They had to pack light, so all they usually had was a metal coffee pot, sans filter, to brew their coffee in. No matter. A cowboy could still make a decent cup of coffee.

Bring water to a near boil over your campfire.

Throw your coffee grounds right into the water. That’s right. Filters are for city slickers.

Stir the coffee over the fire for a minute or two.

Remove the pot from the fire and let the coffee sit for a minute or two to allow the grounds to settle at the bottom of the pot. Add a bit of cold water to help speed along the settling process.

Carefully pour the coffee into your tin cup so that the grounds stay in the pot.

Stand around the fire with your left thumb in your belt loop and your coffee cup in your right hand. Take slow sips and meditate on the trek ahead.

Looking for a way to celebrate National Cowboy day?  Why not spend the day, or two, with a rodeo cowboy?

Stop by Brede's ranch and spend a night under the stars:

What woman doesn't love a cowboy?  Lynx Maddox will gallop into your heart.  Just you, and Lynx Maddox under that star-filled Montana sky!

Books We Love

More Shopping Links:

Lynx, Rodeo Romance

Brede

Happy National Day of the Cowboy!

Connie

Do you Really Know the Characters in your Novel? by Connie Vines

Before a writer starts the first draft of a novel, the writer has the plot-points drafted.  The setting, profession, manner of dress and speech have been established.  The writer knows what the character looks like. 

The writer knows the characters, right?

Maybe.  Or maybe not.

Yes, there are character questionnaires, we’ve all seen them and groaned.  Two- hundred plus questions, who has time for that?

Do:

• Approach it as a brainstorming exercise
• Understand that your in-depth knowledge of the character will bleed into your writing, even if the vast majority of this information is never written in your manuscript

Don't:

• Use it to start building a character - you should already have the broad brushstrokes of your character, including what drives them and their biggest flaw
• Use all of the information in your novel - most of the answers should be internalized, not spelled out

Basic Character Questions

1. First name?
2. Surname?
   
3. Middle names?
4. Nicknames?

Physical / Appearance

1. Height?
2. Weight?
3. Build?

The seven questions listed above are standard. 

I work my characterization backwards.

1.       .1 What is my main character’s profession?

2 This will determine a great deal of his/her physical, mental abilities, and personality traits.

For example:  branches of the military have requirements, moving up in rank require additional skills.

·         A rodeo clowns’ skill set is different from a bronc-rider, or a bull-rider.

·         Where as a spy and an under-cover cop may share some of the same skill set, but the focus and the personality/ training would be more selective.

·         A professional blogger and home-cook vs a food-critic who’s travel-the-world and only dines at 5-star restaurants.

2.       How do they wear their clothes?

3.       What are their feet like? (type of shoes, state of shoes, socks, feet, pristine, dirty, worn, etc)

4.       Race / Ethnicity?

5.       Mannerisms?

6.       Are they in good health?  An athlete will have had injuries.

7.       Do they have any secrets? 

8.       What haunts them?

Personality (this is something that pops into my head during the writing of the 1^st draft)

1. Catchphrase?
2. Bad habits?
3. What makes them laugh out loud?
4. How do they display affection?
5. How do they want to be seen by others? (this can be a secret)
6. How do they see themselves?
7. Strongest character trait?
8. Weakest character trait?
9. How do they react to praise?
10. How do they react to criticism? (this can be a trigger for a villain)
11. What is their greatest fear?
12. What will they stand up for? Willing to die for?
13. Who do they quote? (The Commissioner in the TV show, Blue Bloods quotes Teddy Roosevelt.)

Friends and Family

1. Is their family big or small? Who does it consist of?
   
2. What is their perception of family?
3. Do they have siblings? Older or younger?
4. Describe their best friend.
5. Do they have any pets?
6. Who are their natural allies?
7. Who are their surprising allies?

Past and Future

1. What was your character like as a baby? As a child? (This is something the hero/heroine can wonder about or even ask.)
2. Did they grow up rich or poor?
3. Did they grow up nurtured or neglected?
4. What smells remind them of their childhood?
5. Has anyone ever saved their life?
6. Strongest childhood memory?

Conflict

1. How do they respond to a threat?
2. Are they most likely to fight with their fists or their tongue?
3. What is your character’s kryptonite?
4. How do they perceive strangers?
5. What is their choice of weapon? (the home-cook could serve a crispy and dry mac and cheese casserole.)
6. Where do they go when they’re angry?
7. Who are their enemies and why?

Possessions

1. What is in their fridge:
2. What is in their purse or wallet?
3. What is in their pockets?
4. What is their most treasured possession?

Values

1. What do they think is the worst thing that can be done to a person?
2. Did they keep or break their last promise?

Miscellaneous

1. What would they do if they won the lottery?
2. What fairy-tale do they hate? Why?
3. Do they believe in happy endings?
4. What would they ask a fortune teller?
5. If they could have a superpower, what would they choose?

My questionnaire is just a little over 50 questions.  However, the important answers pop into my mind when I’m writing the first draft.  Others are answered when I’m working on a revision.

And as every writer knows, at some point during the writing process, the characters take-over and a great deal of careful plotting gets tossed out the window.

Along with the links to my novels, I’ve included a recipe for a potato-side dish (remember the reference to the food-blogger/home cook?

Lynx                 Brede             Tanayia 

Here Today Zombie Tomorrow

This is a hot casserole for dinner, lunch, or breakfast.  I often make it for a potluck, church social, or divide it into individual containers and freeze and reheat for future meals.

8 ingredient/Gluten Free  

9 X 14-inch casserole dish (bottom coated with oil/butter).

350-degree preheated oven

Potato Casserole

1 small onion, diced

1 bag 30 oz. frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

1 can cream of chicken soup

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

Dash of garlic powder (optional

1 stick of butter, melted

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese (1/2 of the cheese in the mixture)

1 cup sour cream

·         In a large bowl add ingredients one-by-one, folding each into the mixture with a large spoon or spatula.

·         Pour n the melted butter and then add the cheese and sour cream.

·         Toss into casserole dish, moving the mixture so it is evenly distributed and touches the all sides of the dish.

Add the reminding cheese on top of the casserole.  Since my family loves cheese, I was much more generous with the cheese topping.

 Stop by my website: www.novelsbyconnievines.com

My weblog:https://mizging.blogspot.com/ 

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, too!

Happy Reading, 

Connie Vines

Pets and Assorted Animals in Stories. Love ‘um or Not? By Connie Vines

When I am a guest speaker at an elementary or middle school, public library, or even during a workshop.  Someone always asks about the pets or other animals in my stories. What function do they perform in the story? Do they need to have a function? Can they be a character?  

Since I am an animal lover and owner of a multitude of pets (exotic, barnyard, and typical suburban) at various times during my life, it only goes to reason that I will have them peppering my short stories, novellas, and novels.  My Rodeo Romance Series (understandably) incorporates a cast of horses, sheep, cattle, dogs, cats, etc.  Some of these animals only have Cameo roles, while others are characters in their own right.  My Fun & Sassy Fantasy Series also features a pet as a main character in each story line.  Gertie, a pet Teddy-Bear Hamster, is Zombie Meredith’s BF in “Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow”.  “Brede” Rodeo Romance, Book 2 features a horse and cattle dog.  “Lynx” Rodeo Romance, Book 1, features the hero’s horse named Texas. The next book in my series, “Rand” Rodeo Romance, Book 3 features a poodle who belongs to the heroine.  Rand’s interaction with this very unrodeo-like dog is priceless!

For realistic purposes I select animals/breeds that I either have owned, or have working personal knowledge (chickens, turkeys, quail, pheasant, pigs, sheep— bred for. . .well, dinner during my rural days).  My dogs: Greyhound (my favorite & a rescue) Poodle (AKC champion pedigree), and– my husband’s dog, a Chi-wienie (Chihuahua Dachshund mix). I also like to add my horses (Quarter horse, Arabian, and a Paint –a retired rodeo barrel racer) into the mix.  Due to my allergies to cats, my info in developing feline character comes mostly via friends and the Animal Channel.  Now the unconventional pet experiences, were discovered firsthand (I did raise two sons and I have three younger brothers).  Pet mice, geckos, iguanas, horned toads & lizards, hamsters, parakeets, an Amazon parrot, a runaway (flyaway?) cockatiel, and canary have a way of finding a place in my life and my stories. 

Future adventure with pets?  Probably. 

I simply adore baby pygmy goats.  Mind you, I reside in the suburbs of Southern California.  Frequently, my husband reminds me, “You cannot raise a goat in our backyard, there are zoning laws.” 

Of course, I know there are zoning laws.  I also know goats are herd animals.  “We will need to have two goats.” 

“We?” He grunts and goes back to his ‘man-cave’.

If you look at a YouTube video and read the mentioned online article titled: Pigmy Goats. The opening hook states: You should reconsider your choice in pets if you want an animal to stay indoors with you.

 I did find one particular fact of interest—and an unexpected sidebar of living in an all-male household: ‘Goats are messy eaters too, pulling feed out of buckets and leaving it on the floor.  Once it’s trampled, they really don’t want to touch it.’  Reminded me of the bygone days with teenage sons and friends.

While my characters do not always have pet, my characters have often had a pet during childhood, interact with an animal, or (YA stories) would like a pet. 

Why, do I believe animals are important to a story line?

It is a way to show character, good and bad.

How people treat animals will give a reader insight into my main character, or my villain.  I believe treatment of an animal hints at how he/she will treat a vulnerable person (child/spouse).  If the hero seems uncaring and selfish to outsiders, give the heroine a view into an unguarded moment he shares with an injured puppy, or his care of his horse.  His truck may be battered and dirty, but his horse is well groomed, fed, and sheltered each night.

However, my animals need to have a purpose.  Sometimes it may only be comic relief, or a confidant in a YA novel, but unless it is a Cameo role (or red herring), my animals have a personality and a place in the storyline.

Who doesn’t remember, “Call of the Wild”, “Old Yeller”, “Misty of Chincoteague”?

I believe pets, can enrich a story—my novels, as are (in my opinion) most genre novels, a story about life and the human need for love and companionship.

Not every novel calls for an animal to part of the story. 
Not every person wishes to be responsible for a pet.

I did a bit of research and discovered these stats (the info about fish surprised me).

*Stats: 2014, 83.2 million dogs live in U.S. households, 95.5 million freshwater fish live in U.S. household, and 85.8 million cats live in U.S. households.
* Statista.com

So, what do you think?  How do you feel?

Do you have fond memories of a pet? Unfortunate events? (I have a scar on my knee from a rabbit bite.)

Happy Reading,

Connie 

BWL Link

LYNX

BREDE

Tayayia--Whisper upon the Water

Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow