Western Author Stephen Bly Speaks About Western Women
My guest today is Author Stephen Bly, a longtime Western author. Here’s Stephen:
“A WESTERN WOMAN’S CHARM
For cowboys, sticking up for a woman’s honor…no debate. They don’t blink. And they don’t hesitate to offer help for a damsel in distress. But most cowboys admire strong women. That’s why I write about them. Gals like. . .wayward, banished Grace Denison in The Senator’s Other Daughter. Lixie Miller and her fight for peace and purpose (The General’s Notorious Widow). Determined Oliole Fontenot’s attempt to succeed or fail on her own merit (Miss Fontenot). Isabel Leon’s struggle with heartache and revenge in The Marquesa. Alena Louisa as a confident entrepreneur in a man’s world in Red Dove of Monterey. Christina Swan of Proud Quail of the San Joaquin, who strikes out on her own to oversee newly acquired family property that is barren, hot, and almost impossible to cultivate. Carolina Cantrell (Sweet Carolina), who is used to running her family’s import business, but finds a very difficult challenge to her business sense in the untamed Montana Territory.
But my favorite heroine is gutsy Martina Swan, the Last Swan in Sacramento. In a land and a time where reputations were gained and lost in a matter of weeks, Martina Swan discovers whether she has the faith and courage to survive. They were supposed to live happily ever after. Instead, Martina Swan, daughter of the legendary Wilson and Alena Merced, grappled to find peace in a marriage that is falling apart. Her husband is in Virginia City, Nevada, trying his luck at mining the Comstock Lode. A promise to come home a wealthy man “in three weeks” was given a year before. Meanwhile, Martina struggled to keep the family store solvent in Sacramento. And the pressures mount as she seeks to raise their child, the bank tries to close the store, and armed outlaws insist she possesses their stolen treasure.
Always living in the shadow of her mother’s beauty and her father’s valor, Martina finds that her one true source of joy is her daughter. But when a stranger shows up with a message from her husband, Martina determines to go and bring her man home. A shocking and toughening experience awaits her as she fights the most difficult battle of her life—learning to forgive and love again as she faces a deep lesson about herself, the nature of love, and God’s unwavering concern for her entire family.
My newest release, Cowboy For A Rainy Afternoon, features not a female protagonist, but a 10-year-old boy in 1954 who suffers a first crush on his own damsel in distress. . .a woman who reminds him of a movie star like Clara Bow, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe.
It was Grace Kelly in High Noon that stole my own ten-year-old heart. I figured she wasn’t too smart, ‘cause she couldn’t understand why Will had to turn back and try to save the town. Shoot, that’s in a cowboy’s bones. . .and in the grit of a strong woman. But, my oh my, she surely was purdy. “–Stephen Bly. Christy Award Winner for Westerns”
Thanks, Stephen, that was quite a list of strong women. How many of you enjoy a good Western?
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