WHY THE WILD WEST?
Not a clue! My fascination for the wild west began in my teens. I live in southern UK, parts of which are very bucolic, which makes my passion a tad bemusing, beyond the fact that I'm a UK gal.
Apart from the possibility that I'm a reincarnation of Calamity Jane - the paranormal is another serious interest - I've tried to work out where that fascination comes from. A bit fat 'No idea.' is the answer. However, over the years my parents, knowing about and encouraging me in my deep interest (bless 'em!) and thoroughly bemused, told me bits of family history that captivated and intrigued me. I researched some of it and found out a fair amount of knowledge of these ancestors, on both sides of the family.
On the maternal side, my mother's
I was initially influenced by TV westerns during the sixties and seventies, and, after I married, my soulmate hubby encouraged me in my endeavours and I began to acquire western kit in the form of fringed buckskins and weapons. Eventually, when our kids were very young, we joined wild west living history camps under our aliases Kitty Le Roy, prospector and adventurer, and JC (Doc Jack Coltrane).
But it was the lack of decent female role models in those TV westerns, much less the fastest gun, that inspired my need to write about a female protagonist who's role followed that of a conventional western hero. The idea became very exciting and I love it. It's the story I wanted to read, and it became a trilogy.