Whatever happened to the Cowboy?
I had a hankering for a good western, with a strong cowboy, with tons of romantic elements, framed in the sweeping majestic landscape of the plains. So standing in my local big name bookstore I searched, searched, searched again, and searched some more. I found a few. To give an exact count, I found five. Out of all the romances I was looking at, (which was two isles, filled on both sides) for a long time, I found five western based romances. And there was only one book for each of those five. So, it actually was only five books. Really five. No kidding five. On-line book stores carry a better selection, but many I had already read in the 90’s.What happened to the cowboy? Did he ride off into the sunset and just simply get lost? No GPS to bring him back over that ridge so we could see his romantic silhouette, urging his horse into a gallop against the blazing orange sky? I guess not, because I sure couldn’t find him. Well, that wasn’t exactly true, I found five, and two were contemporary westerns. Do they count?The world of publishing is fickle. For those who love to read and write westerns it is a year to year guessing game as to whether they’ll make a push back into the mainstream of romance. For the authors, they sit quietly on the sidelines waiting for the right moment to burst forward again. Even for RWA, which has a several excellent special interest on-line groups, there is nothing specifically for the western. They do have Hearts through History, which covers all the historical genres.At every conference I’ve attended in the past, there was the whisper, that westerns were making a come back, after a long stretch of CPR. There hasn’t been a western on the best sellers list in years. I checked today, there isn’t one there, unless it is way down at the bottom of the heap, like number 1,000 or something. So if their making a come back, where are they? Were is the romantic image, of the rugged no-nonsense cowboy, who sweeps he’s hat off his tousled head, as his spurs jingle, when a lady passes by. The market is flooded with kilts and highland lovers ever since the Outlander series was released. The brooding image of the sword welding Scotsman, hasn’t shown any sign of slowing down, although, the industry says it’s snowed under in tartans. Okay, not a bad place to be considering whats under the kilt. But, even with that thought, my hankering for that epic western romance has not been dashed.I’ve written a couple of contemporay westerns, and entered one in a contest. It didn’t do well. The reason, the judge didn’t like cowboys. She made that fact perfectly clear when she claimed they were a cliche. And added that no one wore cowboy hats, at least not anymore. Really I got marked down for all that. There was more, but I won’t repeat it here. To say the least, my reaction was p-r-e-t-t-y strong.So what is a cowboy loving girl to do? Hang in there, the CPR is still going on, there is glimmer of life in the subject, and just maybe my epic romantic western will make an appearance soon. I’ll keep looking.Question of the Day: One of my favorite cowboys, of course was John Wayne. I loved Kevin Costner in both Dancing with Wolves, and in Open Range. I’ve got a lot more, but will save them for another time. Who is your favorite Cowboy?
August 8th, 2008
Lee 
in
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Everyone loves a good hero, but what do readers, agents, editors, and writers love most? Join us as we delve under the covers and find out!
August 8th, 2008 at 7:55 am
**Okay, not a bad place to be considering whats under the kilt!** LOL!!! What a great observation about lack of cowboys, Lee. As I’m now a wannabe Texan [here a whole month now =) ], I can tell you that they still exist. The hero in one of my romantic suspense books [that hasn’t sold yet] is a sort of cowboy. Cowboy sensibilities, rancher, horse lover, etc. I LOVE him as a hero. It would be nice to see a comeback. The vaudeville aspect of the old west would be fun to write and read about.
I don’t know that I have a favorite cowboy, though. Clint Eastwood would top the list. Unforgiven was amazing. And his old movies pack a punch.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Oh, I beat you see plenty of cowboys and hats in your new home. I’ve been to Texas a couple of times, and they do take a lot of pride in there cowboy past.
I have always loved Clint Eastwood movies and his cowboy portrayals. Another one of my favorite cowboys is my dad. He is such an old cow poke, still wears his best hat out to dinner, and his polished boots. The old dusty ones are always by the door.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Hey, Lee! Great blog, and I’m with ya. John Wayne tops my list. I also loved Open Range, and Lonesome Dove. I’d say Robert Duvall is one the best out there today. He’s a man of his word guy, and stands up for what he believes in those cowboy roles. A little more mature, but wise and I love that! He has a John Wayne “feel.” LOL.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Hey, I left the a off of my name above. Uh, oh….
August 8th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Lee, I’ll go with Clint Eastwood. And Lonesome Dove was great too.
Have you tried Kensington? Hilary Sares is Jan Kenny’s editor. Jan writes historical westerns, but Kensington also publishes contemps. Hilary might like the cowbou contemporary combination. It sounds good to me!
And I hate it when judges let their prejudices color their scoring. Writing is subjective, but we’re judging the writing and the story telling abilities. The hero being a cowboy or a Harlequin sheik should have nothing to do with the scores.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Oh, Lonesome Dove. I loved that series! You guys are really making me hanker for a great cowboy story!
Hilary Sares, hmmmm……I’ll have to look into that.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Lee,
I loved Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves, too. And Russell Crowe in 3:10 to Yuma. Although the other guy in that movie was a bit too worn-out for me. I like cowboys who have a bit of “juiciness” and life still to ‘em. If they seem leathery and sun-baked, it’s not my thing. Stacy Kayne writes cowboys for Harlequin Historicals. There’s definitely a come back coming!
August 8th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Oh, cowboys are not lost, they have a thing for other cowboys. I love my cowboys too, but they are hard to find if you want straight romance. Most of my cowboy stories lately have been found in the M-M romance and erotica sections.
August 8th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I don’t usually do the whole cowboy thing. But, I did love Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones in Lonesome Dove. I think westerns today are of Texas Rangers and law enforcement in Texas, that kind of thing. Stacey Kayne too.
August 8th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
How about Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday in Tombstone? Love him. Do Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid count as cowboys? If so, I’ll place them in my top 5! Love Paul Newman and Robert Redford. =)
August 8th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
OMG, everyone is coming up with my favorites. I loved Tombstone!!! Kurt Russell was great as Wyatt Earp. Did tell everyone my dad meet Wyatt Earp when was a kid. The famous marshall was hunting in Northern Minnasota, and my dad’s counsin was his guide.
Okay back to movies, 3:10 to Yuma….So many great cowboys. I do agree, I do like my cowboys straight. And of course Butch and Sundance count. I was young when that movie came out and had a massive crush on both of them.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
This has been a great blog, and so much fun. The funny thing happened, I met up with my friend Jill at the local Starbucks, and what do you think she gives me, a new Intrigue modern western…She had picked up at conference for me…That’s my girl, she knows me well. So I’ll review in for my featured next Thursday, I’ve already tore into it.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Lee, Dances With Wolves was a terrific movie, I really loved it. One of my favorite westerns was St. Agnes’ Stand. Not a romance, but a great western novel.