Here's the story behind my ghostrider story.
In 1948, Stan Jones wrote a song called Ghostriders in the Sky. A little research turned up the roots of the American ghostrider legend probably hailing from old European legends. There are several renditions: the Wild Huntsman, Herne the Hunter, the Gabriel Hounds or Hellhounds, Odin followed by the Souls of the Dead, and the Orkney Islands' fairies driving stolen cattle ahead of them.
It is a bad omen to witness the Wild Hunt in any of its manifestations, and strife and death always follow if you are unfortunate enough to see it. In all of the legends, the supernatural forces travel the night skies bringing evil with them, or they are searching for those who must be punished in the afterlife to atone for the wrong they did in their lives.
The song, Ghostriders in the Sky, is about spirits of damned cowboys doomed to chase a herd of phantom cattle for all eternity. With that basic idea in mind, I crafted a western romance, Gunslingers & Ghostriders. The hero, gunfighter Matt Caddock, has to face the violence he wrought in his past when the ghostriders come to claim his soul. The heroine, widow Brenna Stirling, is the key to Matt's salvation.
Gunslingers & Ghostriders - http://tinyurl.com/pr948js
***
Now, about National Novel Writing Month...
I'm participating again this year. My plan is to make a good run on the rest of the stories in a sort-of-series (more like theme-linked episodes) of western romances revolving around different women who leave their questionable pasts and identities behind in hopes of starting new lives out West.
I'd love to hook up with writing buddies. Look for me as KayeSpencer.
Until the 30th of next month,
Kaye
Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances
www.kayespencer.com
No comments:
Post a Comment