Back when our son was a toddler, I was taking him grocery shopping. We live in a very rural area, about ten miles from a city of seven thousand. On my rural drive to the store, I saw something on the side of the road. It was cowish, but it wasn’t a cow. I wasn’t sure what it was, but around here, if you see a neighbor’s cow out, you tell them.
This was before I had a cell phone. The people who owned the property where I saw the cowish thing also owned a convenience store a few miles farther down the road. I stopped there, unfastened my son out of his booster seat and went inside.
I walked up to the counter and the conversation went something like this:
Me: “I saw something out of the fence by your house. It wasn’t a cow, but I’m not sure it was.”
Store owner’s son: “It’s a beefalo.”
Me: “A what?”
Store owner’s son: “Part cow, part buffalo. Our neighbor breeds them. I’ll call and tell him it’s out. Thanks for stopping.”
Me: “Okay. Thanks.”
I walked out in a bit of a daze and hoped the creature would still be visible on my way home, so I could get another look. It wasn’t. Being the curious person that I am, I Googled it when I got home. Once I learned some things about beefalo, I knew it was going in a book someday. Even though, I was unpublished at the time. And I never saw any live ones again.
Fast forward sixteen years, over one hundred rejections, and seventeen published books in the last ten years, I’m writing cowboy romance for Love Inspired. My current series is set on three ranches in Medina, Texas. My father-in-law lived there until he passed a dozen years ago. We still have family there and visit every few years or so. Each ranch is based on his.
I know the ranches there struggle to survive. They often experience droughts, which makes it hard to raise cattle when there’s no grass for grazing. Most ranch owners have cattle, but they have a job too. I set about trying to come up with ways my three ranchers could draw income from their property.
Since my dad was a rodeo announcer at our very small town rodeo and I worked in the concession stand as a teen, book one is about my heroine starting a rodeo on her childhood ranch. In book two, the hero invests in beefalo.
Beefalo are hardier than cattle. They can withstand extreme cold or heat. They’re extremely efficient foragers and can graze on dried up grass and weeds. They don’t require grain to supplement their diets. They have a longer reproductive lifespan and their calves have a higher survival rate than cows. They’re docile like cows, but their meat is lean like buffalo, with less fat, cholesterol, and calories. They’d be the perfect cattle to raise in dry Medina, Texas.
The only problem with ranchers raising beefalo is that it’s hard to convince stores to carry the meat because they can’t keep up with supply unless they have a large herd. So my cowboy plans to expand his operation by buying a large beefalo ranch in Fort Worth. To earn the down payment, he competes in the rodeo, which sets his story into motion.
A few years back, my cousin’s daughter started college to be an occupational therapist. I’d never heard of it, so of course it had to go in a book. I learned they deal with the hands and fingers, fine motor skills. A lot of therapy for injured patients consists of card games, board games, or playing catch. All three consist of small repetitive movements that the patient doesn’t even realize they’re doing to improve their grip and hand control.
Since my cowboy has memory and balance issues also, my heroine’s job blurs the lines into physical therapist and counseling in order to help him. But she’s a family friend and is willing to stretch her skill set. Part of her charm is wearing scrubs with fun prints since her former job required her to wear the same, solid color on a daily basis.
It was fun researching the hero and heroine’s occupations for this book. I dedicated it to my second cousin and she’s probably squirming because I didn’t get the facts right.
One of the things that fascinated me about beefalo—while some have the curly forehead like a buffalo, most just look like a beefed up cow. If you’d like to see more pics of beefalo or scrubs my heroine wears, along with images that inspired scenes, here’s my Pinterest page for the book: https://www.pinterest.com/stvannatter/the-cowboys-missing-memory/
Question for Readers: Have you learned something new that interests you lately?
Follow my blog tour for a chance to win:
June 2: Jennifer Heeren’s Blog: https://jenniferheeren.com/blog/
June 11: Joy Avery Melville’s Blog: https://www.journeystojoy.net/
June 25: Laurie Wood’s Blog: https://www.lauriewoodauthor.com/author-my-blog
June 25: Reading is My Superpower Blog: https://readingismysuperpower.org
June 30: Catherine Castle’s Blog: https://catherinecastle1.wordpress.com/blog/
July 3: Inkslinger Blog: https://shannontaylorvannatter.com/inkslinger-blog/
July 6: Amy Anguish’s Blog: https://abitofanguish.weebly.com/blog
July 7: Inkslinger Blog: https://shannontaylorvannatter.com/inkslinger-blog/
July 10: Linda Rondeau’s Blog: https://lindarondeau.com/snarksensibility
Five copies of The Cowboy’s Missing Memory and five copies of my Western Collection two in one with Jill Lynn – Counting on the Cowboy and Her Texas Cowboy will be split among commentors. Winner’s will be revealed on Shannon’s Blog on July 15th.
Can he reclaim his past…and build a future?
He needs to remember.
She’s his best hope…
After a rodeo accident took away Clint Rawlins’s mobility and two years’ worth of memories, occupational therapist Lexie Parker is his only shot at recovering and regaining independence. Lexie is drawn to Clint…but she’s wary of the amnesiac’s all-too-vulnerable feelings. And with the possibility of him returning to his dangerous bull-riding side job, she refuses to risk her heart. But resisting her charming patient may be harder than she expected…
(Available in Walmart mid-June through mid-July)
The Cowboy’s Missing Memory – Amazon
The Cowboy’s Missing Memory – Christian Book
Award winning author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance and has over a dozen published titles. A romance reader since her teens, she hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as she demonstrates that love doesn’t conquer all—Jesus does.
She gleans fodder for her fiction in rural Arkansas where she spent her teenage summers working the concession stand with her rodeo announcing dad and married a Texan who morphed into a pastor. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and son, flea marketing, and doing craft projects.
Connect with her: Shannon’s Website, Shannon’s Blog, Shannon’s Facebook, Shannon’s Goodreads, Shannon’s Pinterest, Shannon’s Twitter, Newsletter Archives, Shannon’s Amazon Author Page and Shannon’s Bookbub. Sign up for her Newsletter to get a free e-book, recipes, behind the scenes info, & enter exclusive giveaways: Shannon’s Newsletter
As a former educator, I consider myself a lifelong learner. I make it my business to learn at least one, and hopefully a lot more, new thing(s) each day. My latest interest involves Pinterest. It took me many years to get on board with this fun and inspiring platform, but I’m hooked! :0} I enjoy looking at the boards of other sewing designers, seamstresses/stitchers, children’s and adult fiction authors, and gardeners. I also find it exciting to find new photos to add to my boards and to create new ‘Pins’. *Thanks for offering this great giveaway. I love reading Love Inspired novels, and would enjoy the opportunity to read one of yours, Shannon! :0}
I love Pinterest, June. I started out with crafting boards. Now I make a board for my books. I add pictures that might inspire scenes and people that inspired the characters. It’s so handy. When it comes time to send the cover artist info, I have the pictures ready. And if a character visits in a future book, I can go back and see what they looked like for description.
I have recently learned that I forgot how bad the heat can be here. We had mild heat over Memorial weekend and our air conditioning quit. It wasn’t until 3 days later when our Freon was refilled that we got it back. I had forgotten the days when you’re sweating when you get out of the shower and coolness is a forgotten memory!
Hey Linda. I’m a huge fan of air conditioning and not a fan of summer. I feel your pain.
I just recently read my first book of yours and really enjoyed it. I will look forward to this.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Susan. You made my day.
Learned that mask we have to wear to protect us from the virus is very hot and uncomfortable! LOL
Agreed Shelia. I’m so sick of this mess.
Wow, I’ve never heard about Beefalo lol sorry it sounds funny 🙂 definitely learned something new today!
They are also called cattalo. Imagine my confusion when I saw one. It had the curly forehead and buffalo horns. But no hump so otherwise it looked like a cow.
I learned something new by reading this post today. I’ve never heard of beefalo, they look like a body builder on steriods, lol!
I’ll have to go over to your Pinterest page to check out more pictures. Thanks for the fun post & giveaway chance to win a copy of “The Cowboy’s Missing Memories”.
They do look like they’re on steroids, Trixi. My aunt found some beefalo meat in our local Walmart once. She said it was really good. But they don’t have it all the time. I’ve read that beefalo ranchers have a hard time with distribution.
The many things I have learned lately are mostly medical related. My son is an ICU nurse and has worked with covid patients and has explained to me how the virus is so serious. I also am educating myself about my own medical issues after the surgery I had.
I’m hoping the world will get back to normal, Maryann. I hope you fully recover and get back to normal too.
Wow this is the first time I’ve ever heard of beefalo. They sound of intriguing and the book sounds great.
Thanks Patricia. Trust me, they are intriguing to see.
I just checked my review blog and I have not read any of your books yet! I would love to! This book sounds so good!
Thanks Sonja. You can go to my website and sign up for my newsletter to get a free e-book of Rodeo Dust.
I’ve learned that I dislike being told to stay home, I don’t like fixing every stinkin’ meal & when I do get brave, mask up & go to the grocery store I buy way too many snacks. 🙂 Life is good! Thanks for sharing about the beefalo, that was very interesting. Stay safe.
Agreed on the staying home and cooking, Robin. I hate cooking. It consistently makes me mad. Every time. I burn my finger, spill something, or make a mess when I cook. It’s better in our area and the restrictions have let up, so thankfully we’ve been getting to eat out again.
I’m learning to love those around me in a deeper way.
That’s wonderful, Caryl. It’s so easy to take our loved ones for granted. And even other people. Recently, there have been two people I’ve known my whole life that I saw in passing and didn’t take any time, figuring I’d see them again. I did, at their funerals. I’m trying to not always be so busy and in a hurry, so that when I see someone in passing, I take some time instead. Just in case.