Love Bytes gives a bit warm welcome to author Jackie North who is here to talk about her new release : Wild as the West Texas Wind”.
Jackie tells us about Tam and brought a wonderful giveaway for our readers.
Welcome Jackie 🙂

How Tam Stole the Show

I’ve been traumatized by years of Disney animal movies where at least one animal, usually more, dies a sad and tragic death. Bambi’s Mom, anyone? How about Mrs. Dumbo, Dumbo’s Mom? I could go on and on, but you get the drift.

I felt so attacked by these kinds of movies that to this day I refuse to watch a movie or read a book where an animal dies. (And yes, I know I’m missing out on The War Horse, but that’s fine with me, I couldn’t bear to see Joey suffering!) Thusly, never was it never my intention to put an animal in any of my stories on account of I didn’t want to deal with all of the emotions that well up in me about Mrs. Bambi and Mrs. Dumbo and all the rest of them. If I stayed away, I’ll be safe. You know?

Well, as I was writing Wild as the West Texas Wind, a story set in New Mexico Territory in 1892, I needed to have some horses in there, so already that rule was broken: I was going to write about an animal. (Who never dies or is hurt, that is my promise to my readers.)

I made the horse a buckskin because I think buckskin are pretty. I made her a mare, because the look and feel of the word “mare” conjures up all kinds of lovely images about a sweet horse. The horse, I decided, belonged to the desperate outlaw, Layton Blue, and her name was Tam.

Tam was meant to be merely part of the scenery, one of Layton’s worldly possessions, and his means of transportation. What happened, however, took me by surprise.

Turned out, Layton is lonely, and so, throughout the book, he talks to Tam as though she understands him. He spends a great deal of time keeping her groomed and polished, as he secretly suspects that she used to belong to some fine lady and is used to an extra level of care. He braids her mane and tail as often as he can, puts purple thistle flowers in the braids, and tells her that she’s pretty.

The whole concept expanded from there. Tam, for her part, responds to Layton as though she is human and can understand. When he decks her in petals, she arches her neck and holds her head high. When he whistles for her, she comes running as though pleased to be called. The love and affection between man and horse is reciprocal, and readers have commented to me how much they adore her role as Layton’s best friend.

Layton, of course, will meet a young man, Zach, who has been yanked into the past. And know what Layton’s major concern is? That Tam and Zach get along. I had a feeling in the back of my head that if Tam didn’t approve of Zach, then Layton and Zach would not be getting together. Sweet Tam is, in fact, in almost every scene.

And that, dear readers, is how Tam stole the show!