Why I Write the West

The first Western Romance novel I read was “This Calder Range” by Janet Dailey. Before that, my adult reading material came in groups. One genre kept me busy for months or years, until I moved on to another. The first genre was Science Fiction, and I read dozens over a period of a year or so. But I cannot remember one author or one title. The plots and otherworldly creatures fascinated me, but I soon selected something else. So many books—so little time! I began Willa Cather’s books, and when I’d finished all those, I selected a new kind of novel I’d not seen—women’s fiction. Maeve Binchy, Rosamund Pilcher, Belva Plain. Each author received my undivided attention until I’d read all I could find. Next, westerns. Plain old shoot-’em-ups, cattle drives, rustlers, outlaws, and lawmen. Oh, I loved these novels, and Louis L’Amour became my favorite because he often had a little love story in there.

Romance? Didn’t read it. None, zip, nada. Too trite, I’d heard—the novels always ended the same way—happily-ever-after. Same plot, boy meets girl, they fall in love, have a falling-out, make-up, get married. What’s wrong with that? I asked a cynical friend who only read literary works. And in my ignorance, I thought all romance novels were published by Harlequin.

Then, one day in 1990, I visited a used-book store and bought a paperback by Janet Dailey titled This Calder Range. I couldn’t put it down. Remember, I love Westerns, and this had the requisite HEA. I fell in love. I searched the used-book stores and eventually the library until I’d found and read all ten in the Calder series. Her latest, I believe was released a couple of years ago. From there, I discovered LaVyrle Spencer, a master of romance writing, Dorothy Garlock, Maggie Osborne, Linda Lael Miller, and Jodi Thomas—plus many more. I still search for new authors who write exciting, satisfying Western Romance.

In 2003, I sat down and began to write a story. And yes, it was a Western romance—a historical. Probably I’ll never be in the same category with other favorite authors, but each one has been an inspiration and a benchmark for me.

My first release, All My Hopes and Dreams, takes place in West Texas, in the far western edge of the Texas frontier. The year is 1880.
BLURB:
To escape an arranged marriage, beautiful, proper Cynthia Harrington from East Texas impulsively marries Ricardo Romero, a striking, sensual Spaniard who ranches on the far western edge of the Texas frontier. Innocently, she steps into a hotbed of anger, rivalry, and strong wills. As she struggles to gain a foothold in the hostile household and foreign ranch community, she finds that her biggest challenge is to make her husband love her.

Ricardo creates his own problems by marrying an outsider, angering his mother, father, and his jealous ex-lady friend. Then, the Texas Rangers arrive looking for a killer, and Cynthia saves Ricardo’s mother in a confrontation with the wanted man. Ricardo realizes that his delicate bride has more grit and spunk than he thought, and his greatest trial becomes a race to pursue his own wife and persuade her to stay with him.
Read about their adventures and how they fall in love. Purchase the eBook here:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/celia-yeary-m-366.html

Or purchase the print here: http://www.amazon.com/books-used-books-textbooks/b/ref=sa_menu_bo0_b?ie=UTF8&node=283155

Thank you, Celia Yeary