My Heroes Will Always Be . . .

Wanted – Dead or Alive (Photo credit: twm1340)

Have you ever been asked why you’re a writer? I’ve thought about it a lot. It’s not because I can’t not write. (I’m tops at procrastination.)

I’m a writer because I enjoy making up stories, but I’m a romance writer because I watched TV as a kid. Weird? LOL. Probably.

To understand that, you have to get my definition of a romance novel: a romance as a book with one hero, one heroine and ends with Happily Ever After.

So when I was a little girl, my family watched (and loved) All Cowboy TV with good guys such as Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, Annie Oakley, Wild Bill Hickok and the Cisco Kid.

Whether they were new or reruns, we rarely missed shows such as The Rebel (♪♫ Johnny Yuma was a rebel, he roamed through the west . . . ♪♫) Wagon Train, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, Wanted Dead or Alive and the big daddy, Gunsmoke.

Because I experienced that time of All Cowboy TV (and I believe we learn everything we need to know about life at our mother’s knee) I’ve found I go there to create characters.

♪♫ My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys ♫♪

🙂

Think about it. Book heroes can be tough or even a bad boys, but one thing every romance has is a hero that, deep in his heart, is honorable.

Think Roy Rogers, Matt Dillon or Rowdy Yates.

Heroines might be self-centered, flighty or feisty, but when you get to know them really, they have a heart of gold, and they’re honorable.

Remember Annie Oakley? Dale Evans? Miss Kitty?  🙂

The good guy wears a white hat and takes good care of his horse. The bad guy doesn’t. (Not quite that simple, but you get my drift.)

So . . . every hero I create is a cowboy, whether he rides a horse or not.

And when he meets his heroine, no matter how wrong they are for each other, love will find a way, and in the end they’ll ride off into the sunset.

Happily. Ever. After.

So at its very heart, a romance novel is in truth a cowboy story.

Who knew?