Hi Everyone, I’m Paty Jager and I write western romance. Historical,contemporary and paranormal (though I don’t feel it’s paranormal)
For me a cowboy is someone who, while being strong and a champion of women,children and animals, is gentle. He’s honest, loyal, and someone you can count on.
Looking good in jeans and a cowboy hat is a bonus.
Gil Halsey in my first book, Marshal in Petticoats, is just such a man. He gets diverted from his mission while helping the heroine and her younger brother. When he discovers the mayor is in cahoots with outlaws he readily falls into helping Darcy.
What are some traits you admire in cowboys and is there story in westerns that have been over done?
You didn’t mention stubborn, moody (from all that hero he hides inside :)), and silent until he feels the need to speak. Then it’s important to listen! lol I love my cowboys. Yours sound great.
Paty,
Love the post. I love the trait of being honest and loyal.
Have a great weekend.
Walk in harmony,
Melinda
I love cowboys and Indians. They are bigger than life and in every fantasy just way too good looking.
I love western stories. I like a cowboy who is basically a loner but risks all to help someone else.
I do love me some cowboys! Their honesty and loyalty that you mentioned is their best trait of all. They always seem to stand by their women and are alway there when you need them. Also very hard workers. We don’t have enough of those this day in time.
I like cowboys because they have a code they live by and the fact that they are usually pretty darn good looking in their jeans!
Great post! I like cowboys because they are loyal and honest. I also like them because they seem like they are there for you when you need them. Of course, they do look good in their jeans and it is a nice view to look at when they are working.
Hi Calisa,Not all cowboys are brooding but they there sure are a lot of them in romance
novels. LOL
Thanks, Melinda!
I agree, Chris. The heroes in westerns are larger than life. It goes with the fantasy.
Caroline, Loners are good.Too be a true cowboy who rode the range and worked the cattle you had to enjoy your solitude.
I agree,Virginia. They are hard workers and stand by their women.
Jean,LOL so true!
Becky, Yes, they do fill out a pair of jeans nicely.
I’m sorry this post wasn’t as full as the others.I forgot to grab the flash drive that had the full post on it before we headed to the boonies. And it was hard to think at 5 am to get this up.
What are some traits of Native American heroes that you like? I like their quiet reserve and respective of their women and the world in which they live. Also the fact they have a fun sense of humor.
I like kindness and a sense of humor in cowboys, and it doesn’t hurt to look good in jeans.
Joan
The traits I admire in cowboys are loyalty, courage and strength – of character & physically. A MAN!!!
Cowboys are independent, hardworking individuals. They know the job they must do and get it done. Long hours, bad weather, uncooperative creatures, not enough rest or good hot meals just go with the territory. If you want someone you know you can depend on, call a cowboy. You can’t ask for a more honest and reliable friend.
As for Native American heroes, there is a quiet dignity and respect for the world around them. They operate on a code of honor, a sense of duty to protect their people, their families, their homes.
Their lives and actions are based on ancient traditions which guide them.
Both share a love and respect for the land and a sense of duty to those they love. You can’t ask for much more than that in a hero.
librarypat AT comcast DOT net
As far as the Native Americans go I love the fact that they pass down their believes and legends through the years from father to son and mother to daughter. This way their believes stay alive.
Joan,I agree. All heroes need a sense of humor otherwise life would be pretty boring.
Mary, I agree!
Pat, That is so true.
For me, cowboys and Native American heroes have several similarities. They both have am affinity with the land. They both have a code of ethics around hard work, contributing to their community, and protecting their own. In books, at least, cowboys seem to be portrayed a little more fun loving and often teasing; whereas Native American heroes tend to be portrayed as noble and more about giving up something important for their people. I suspect both are fun loving and teasing AND both would give up something for their people. Considering all this, it’s too bad that most of us grew up with the cowboys and indians as enemies mythos. By the way, Paty, I love your books and all your characters are the type of men I love to read and get to know.
I love a man with a strong moral code, and cowboy heroes tend to have one. I think ‘save the ranch’ stories and ‘fishout of water’ stories are a bit overdone, but they still draw me in when done well. Great tour, paty! Love your ‘In Petticoats’ series!
Got to love cowboys. My family will probably tease me for writing a ‘cowboy’ hero, in the contemporary I’m working on but I grew up in horse and wrangler territory and there were a few modern cowboys that stayed with me long after high school.
I admire cowboys because they take a stand for what they believe in and Indians for respecting nature. As to overdone stories in westerns, probably not so long as the author twists the plot–although there does seem to be a lot of lawmen or sheriffs. I prefer other story lines–the wanderer, the loner, and the down on his luck hero.