I was 12 when my grandmother died, and when my dad and I
went through her photo albums, he casually mentioned, “Your grandma rode steers
in rodeos, and she competed with Marie Gibson (a world-champion bronc rider from
Montana in the 1920s and ’30s).”
That was a surprise to me, although I knew she loved riding
the range and preferred the back of a horse to a dustmop any day. But I thought
that was pretty cool, to have a rodeo-riding grandmother.
I stored that tidbit of information away in the back of my
mind for many years. I went on to a career in journalism (when I figured if I
ever wrote a book it would be non-fiction), several years as a freelancer, and
a non-creative 13 years as a 9-1-1 dispatcher. When I hungered for creativity
in my life again, I took a class in writing for children, just to see if I
still liked to write. I did.
The instructor told us that biographies were great for kids,
and they didn’t need to be about famous people. My cowgirl grandmother immediately
came to mind. But the idea still needed several more years to gel.
When I was ready to try my hand at writing a book, I tried
writing vignettes for a straight biography. But it wasn’t working. Grandma hadn’t
become a world-champion bronc or bull rider, and my characterization was coming
off too flat. I was too close to the subject.
When I gave myself permission to write her story as fiction,
it came alive. I was able to fill in the gaps, create emotion and conflict, and
write a character that was well-rounded, likeable and active. The result has
been a trilogy: Cowgirl Dreams, Follow the Dream, and Dare to Dream.
After all the research I did for my three novels, based on
my grandmother’s life, I had enough information to try my hand at that
non-fiction book. Cowgirl Up! A History
of Rodeo Women has just been released.
From a casual conversation and one tiny bit of family
history has come four published books!
You never know what treasure an idea will become. Where have some of your book ideas come from?
-----------------------------
A native Montanan, Heidi M. Thomas now lives in North-central Arizona. Her first novel, Cowgirl Dreams, is based on her grandmother, the sequel, Follow the Dream, won the national WILLA Award, and Dare to Dream rounds out the trilogy. In addition a non-fiction book, Cowgirl Up! A History of Rodeo Women has just been released. Heidi has a degree in journalism, a
certificate in fiction writing, and is a member of the Independent
Editors Guild. She teaches writing, edits, and blogs.
4 comments:
Heidi, Congratulations on your new book. How interesting that you took events from you family and history to create a series of books. Having a rodeo-riding grandma is great fodder for stories!
Thank you, Karen! Our grandmothers often leave us wonderful legacies.
" But the idea still needed several more years to gel."
" When I gave myself permission to write her story as fiction ..."
These two statements resonated with me.
I liked how you tucked the idea in the back of your mind and you kept "doing life" until the time came. You also didn't keep at something you knew was not working.
Far too often the tone is write, write, write! Push, push, push! But it's okay for some ideas need to percolate for awhile. And if something isn't gelling, it doesn't mean it's not a good idea. It means there's another way to look at it.
Congratulations on your new book!
You're right. We all have kernels of stories all around us. The trick is to find the ones we're passionate about, and find the best way to bring them alive. I think it was a smart decision to fictionalize your grandma's story.
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