How I Wrote a Cowboy Character for My First Western by Nina Romano

It was super important for the character to live in my mind—I practically inhabited his skin as a real person while narrating the cowboy’s story. The first thing I did was choose his name: Cayo Bradley, Cayo short for Coyote, an unusual name, a memorable one that I hoped would stick in readers’ brains.
 
Many authors write a list of characteristics about their characters—I’ve never done this—I simply imagine him, and for Cayo, I had to imagine him in different stages of his life: as a boy before he was captured, as a youth growing up with the Jicarilla Apache, and as a man returning to the white man’s world.

I was able to convey these in writing by imagining his actions and mentally following him around to see what he was doing. I related his backstory and tried to make this part of his life as interesting as his “present–day aura.” I made sure that his goals and desires were attainable, even if they’re not completely reached in the novel, they were always at the forefront.

Writing about Cayo’s background, upbringing, or whatever he was doing “in the now,” I needed to understand why he was the way he was, and it helped me to distinguish the workings of his psyche—the mechanisms of his brain intimately. I made my cowboy a flawed individual. Cayo Bradley commits a heinous crime that stays with him for the rest of his life. He seeks forgiveness for the guilt he carries throughout the entire novel and seeking redemption, almost secures it by the end of the novel.
  
I found that there was no need to describe his entire physical appearance, so I didn’t, instead I depicted a few impressionable details for the reader—his high cheek bones in a sun-tanned rugged face. He has a swagger, looks great in long-legged jeans, and has a strong build.

I researched all the things I had to know about being a cowboy in the years that I presented him as a living, breathing individual. I investigated the following: horses, guns, rifles, knives, roping, branding, wattling, and herding cattle. I researched cowboy songs of the past, how to make arrows, wanted posters for criminals, food, the Jicarilla Apache Nation—their history and the geographical area of New Mexico where they were situated in during the 1850’s to the1870’s.
​
Although at times, my cowboy appears tough, I gave him a loving soul. I bestowed on him a past hurtful love story from which he is reborn despite being left scarred and damaged. He then becomes a man who, although bereft by a failed union, searches for and finds love. This love is painful, but in a completely different way than his first love.

There are many traits that in my mind a cowboy should possess: a loyal heart to his true love is among the top ones. He should be trustworthy, and not afraid to act in a courageous manner when necessary or forced.  He should demonstrate manners, such as helping a lady out of a ditch when her carriage goes off the road.  A cowboy should show kindness to his elders—and my character Cayo does this with his adopted grandmother and his mentor, the old wise, blind man, Gray Wolf.

I described Cayo as a hard worker on the ranch, one who loves animals, especially horses. One who has keen intuition and communes with beasts of the wild—especially wild Mustangs. He has intimate relationships with horses and speaks to them in a most gentle voice. Sometimes he uses Spanish because it is a sweeter sounding language than English. And I have a scene where he is very caring toward a little calf.

A cowboy should be brave and honorable, and to this end, I have several scenes devoted to showing Cayo’s bravery. One is a scene where he kills a rattlesnake that entered his adopted grandmother’s tipi. Another scene is where he displays great courage, sacrificing his horse to save his captor during a buffalo hunt when he is with the Jicarilla Apache. He takes care of his women, even if it means avenging their murder.
​
Most of the cowboy traits I furnished for Cayo are difficult to find in the modern world, and that’s probably the main reason why it was such a wonderful experience writing these qualities. In my mind, the cowboy hero is the embodiment of the ideal male, not without imperfections, but with courage to surmount them, and he’s never too big a man to say he’s sorry or exhibit tenderness.

The Girl Who Loved Cayo Bradley, a superbly crafted American Western Romance, is a deftly spun saga of ill-starred sweethearts—an expertly woven story with clever dialogue, a fast-paced plot, and enchanting, elegant prose! 
—Michelle Cox, author of the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series

Romano’s story sizzles with the tension of lovers—one struggling to blend Apache ways and White, the other torn between East and West—searching for a way to join two lives traversing in opposite directions. 
—Ruth Hull Chatlien, author of Blood Moon, and The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte

Book Blurb
A brutal killing shackles Cayo Bradley more than his captivity by Apaches until his salvation—falling obsessively in love with Darby McPhee.

Can a deathbed promise ever be broken? This dilemma confronts Darby McPhee, an untutored farm girl caught in a tedious routine of caring for her father, brothers, and working in a mercantile since her mother’s death. Darby falls in love with Cayo Bradley, a high-spirited cowboy from a nearby ranch, struggling to settle back into White Society after his captivity by the Jicarilla Apache in northeastern New Mexico.

Darby is torn between her love for Cayo and the vow at her mother’s side to seek an education. This choice stands in the way of her heart’s desire to belong to the untamed ranch hand. If she maintains her promise it will cleave apart her world, despite knowing she’s Cayo’s redemption.
​
In this haunting tale of stunning love and loss, Darby learns regardless of what transpires she’ll always be THE GIRL WHO LOVED CAYO BRADLEY . . .

Buy Link: Amazon amzn.to/3LbZexp
​
Social Media: X Twitter: @ninsthewriter

Author Bio
 
Nina Romano’s most recent historical thriller, Dark Eyes, is the winner of the thriller category for Pencraft Book Awards, is short-listed for the Clue Awards, and the Goethe Awards and is a semifinalist in the Clue Awards.
 
The novels of Romano's historical Wayfarer Trilogy: The Secret Language of Women, Book #1, is the Gold Medal winner of the Independent Publisher’s 2016 IPPY Book Award, and a Foreword Reviews Book Award Finalist. Lemon Blossoms, Book #2, was also a Foreword Reviews Book Award Finalist. Book #3, In America, was a finalist in Chanticleer Media’s Chatelaine Book Awards.
 
Romano’s Western Historical Romance, The Girl Who Loved Cayo Bradley, Book #1 of the Darby’s Quest series, is a semifinalist for the Laramie Book Awards.  Book # 2 of this series, Star on a Summer Morning, is forthcoming from Speaking Volumes.
 
Romano is also the co-author of the non-fiction work Writing in a Changing World, and a short story collection The Other Side of the Gates. She has also written seven poetry collections, which were traditionally published. Romano has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize in Poetry. 
 
Nina Romano earned a B.S. from Ithaca College, an M.A. from Adelphi University,a B.A. and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from FIU. A world traveler and lover of history, she lived in Rome, Italy for twenty years, and is fluent in Italian and Spanish. She has taught English and Literature as an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University, Miami, and has facilitated numerous Creative Writing and Poetry Workshops at Writing Conferences throughout the United States. Romano has also presented her poetry and fiction at the Miami International Book Fair.