Beyond the Book: Cowgirls

Peyton O'Malley had never ridden a horse before she came to Rest Thy Head, but here are some cowgirls to inspire her.

Dale Evans

"Cowgirl" is an attitude really. A pioneer spirit, a special American brand of courage. The cowgirl faces life head-on, lives by her own lights, and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands; they speak up. They defend things they hold dear."

Guys, have you read Rest Thy Head? Peyton has a lot in common with Dale Evans.

Annie Oakley

Aim at a high mark, and you will hit it.

I don't know if Annie was talking just about guns or not, but it's great advice. My heroine Peyton was taught to aim high from the time she was a child, but until she ran away to Rest Thy Head, she couldn't find the high mark she wanted to achieve.

Fannie Sperry Steele

“To the yesterdays that are gone, to the cowboys I used to know, to the bronc busters that rode beside me, to the horses beneath me, I take off my hat.  I wouldn’t have missed one minute of it.”

Fannie Steele started riding at age two. Before her career ended she had raced Thoroughbreds, became the Lady Bucking Horse Champion of the West twice, performed with Buffalo Bill Cody, and was a charter member of the Cowboy Hall of Fame. She was also the first woman in Montana to get an outfitter's license.

Like Fannie Steele, my Peyton knows exactly what she wants and isn't willing to live life on other people's terms. 

Rest Thy Head is set in Wyoming, so come back next week, and we'll talk cowboys and cowgirls again.

Rest Thy Head is on sale for a limited time at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.


Picture credits:

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
photo by Alan Light [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Annie Oakley
By Stacy Co., Brooklyn, N.Y. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Fannie Sperry Steele
By Edward F. Marcell [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons