December 1, 2015

Cowboys Forever!



Candlelight Vigil

Over the summer, I read a newspaper article about a dead raccoon found on a sidewalk in Toronto who received its own candlelight vigil, flowers, and memorial. Not to mention, a hashtag and free press! You can read more about it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/11/dead-raccoon-memorial_n_7776856.html




When my children were young, we used to drive down to Ohio to visit family. It was about a three hour drive. My children didn’t have video’s to watch nor video games at that time. Poor kids, right?

So to keep them occupied we played the regular car games like ABC signs or State license plates. Sometimes, though we played… Name that Roadkill. Some were easy to recognize while others were just a guess. While it was a strange game, it did keep two kids occupied and me sane for many trips.
But when I heard about the Toronto Raccoon, I was a little ticked. I had already decided on using the roadkill to make a statement. Most people don’t even pay attention to roadkill as they drive on the roads, but millions of animals’ lives are ended by cars. I thought that if we dressed them up, maybe painted their toe-nailsit would make people take a second look and slow down.

Fast forward to writing Claiming a Cowboy’s Heart. I knew that I had to have my heroine do something this silly and crazy. Here’s a sneak peek at the scene where we meet the heroine, Michelle Alt and shows the poor animal.


EXCERPT:

With her floral shoulder bag hanging from her arm, Michelle Alt approached the dead raccoon. The smell overwhelmed her. Pinching her nose, she took deep breaths through her mouth. The full moon illuminated the intersection across from her school. People should learn to drive slower on this street. This time a raccoon, someday a child.

She squatted and dumped the contents of her purse on the asphalt. Removing the cheap dollar-store clothespin from her purse, she dealt with the smell and closed off her nose. The spring had just enough strength to press her nostrils together without hurting. With her hands free, she selected a yellow pair of sunglasses from inside her bag and slipped them on the raccoon’s face. A smile flitted across her lips.

“That’s a start.” Looking at the pile of junk sitting at her side, she removed a couple of more items, setting a red plastic cup with a paper umbrella next to the raccoon’s hand. Last, she inserted a small bottle of sunscreen between his arm and body then cleaned up the remaining materials, stuffing them into her bag.

It’s perfect. He looks like he’s resting in the sun. Another day at the beach for Mr. Raccoon.


How do you feel about the enormous amount of roadkill? What fun games did you make up while traveling?





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Claiming a Cowboy’s Heart
Melissa Keir







14 comments:

  1. I play the silliest games when I drive. When I used to drive straight to South Carolina from Michigan, we were in the car for over 20 hours. It was crazy time!

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    1. 20 hour car ride? I'd be going nuts... Congratulations on this anthology! It looks great.

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    2. Was the same person driving, because that's too long to drive.

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    3. It wasn't the same person. My husband and I switched off but I did most of it. We would sleep on the floor when we weren't driving. The trip was planned so that the kids would be asleep most of the time.

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  2. I remember the License plate game! We also played I Spy. Love this bundle!

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    1. I Spy is fun but you have to make the rule that what you see is in the car because if it's outside, you might miss it as you drive by.

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  3. Poor little raccoon! Great story!

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  4. Love road trips. This was a creative scene in your story.

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  5. You're right--people don't notice roadkill. They don't realize that was once a living, breathing, feeling creature that lost its life.
    I loved your excerpt--and I'm super excited to read this bundle--and your story.

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    1. They'll notice if it's a moose, hit by a log truck. If they don't, they'll be roadkill as welll.

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    2. It's hard that they don't notice. I have the worst time when it's a pet.

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    3. Here's a true event. People in CT kept reporting mountain lions and the wildlife peep kept insisting they were see tabby cats. Finally, one got hit by a car, so the peeps had proof it was a mtn lion. They declared it belonged in Montana and had to be the only one. I couldn't make any sense out of their attitude until I researched further. Turns out if they don't recognize them, they cannot be protected. So the Northeast prefers to claim there are NO mountain lions so they kill the ones who have the audacity to exist.

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