"Wherever men have lived there is a story to be told." Henry David Thoreau

Thursday, February 27, 2020

The Inspiration for The Last Rodeo

The Story

Dev Summers wants nothing more than to quit the grind of the rodeo and return to his grandfather’s Nevada ranch. At thirty-five, and battling serious injuries, his decision to retire from professional bull riding thrusts him into conflict with his freewheeling dad and brother . . . and into the arms of July Jones, a woman he dare not love.

Running from a failed marriage and an empty life, July is searching for meaning to her existence. She seeks sanctuary at the ranch with Dev, her long-time friend and confidante. As she struggles with her own inner conflict and her growing desire to be more than Dev’s friend, she becomes the catalyst that sets his family on a course they did not seek, nor could have foreseen. But before their broken lives can mend, tragedy and a murderous plot will force them to face what they have become.

Behind the Story

Interestingly enough, The Last Rodeo was one of the first books I ever endeavored to write. I can’t remember what single thing inspired it, only that I was in my early 20s at the time. It started out as a simple coming of age story about two brothers who lit out on their own, escaping a rundown ranch where their father’s alcoholism had made their lives miserable. They were only twelve and sixteen when they saddled their horses (their only means of transportation) and ended up on a neighboring Nevada ranch where they were taken in by a kindly rancher. From there, the oldest brother planned to take care of himself and his brother by becoming a bull rider. I couldn’t have known then that these two brothers would become larger than life and would remain so for many years to come.

Over the course of the next several decades, The Last Rodeo mostly rested on the shelf, its characters waiting for me to write a dozen other books that were more marketable. But occasionally they called out to me from their shadowy corners to take up their story again. At last, I did, but by then I’d married, traveled the country, raised three daughters, ran a ranch with my husband, lost a parent, and become a grandparent.

The brothers in my story, too, had become adults and experienced a good deal of life. The oldest brother had succeeded in becoming a world-famous bull rider but had reached the age where it was time to let it go. He had married, divorced, and had a teenage daughter who was mature beyond her years. He yearned for the love of a woman who was married to his biggest rival. The youngest brother was having his own life’s crisis by being forever in the shadow of his older, more successful brother. Their father clung to his own youthful fame as a bull rider, living off his sons’ careers and his Jack Daniels. Their mother had abandoned their father—and them—long ago to find a more stable life with another man. They had a grandfather who grounded them, an old widowed rancher who saw his life fading away, hoping that one of his grandsons would take over the Nevada ranch he’d spent his life building.

The book now spanned four generations of people. Over the years, it was written, rewritten, and shelved many times. It grew, changed, and matured, as did the characters, and as did I as a person and a writer. After living with these characters for decades, it was fulfilling to complete their story at last, but it was sad to let them go. The only constant in their story, it seems, was that they were characters who had stood over my shoulders for years, patiently waiting for me to tell their story. How could I let them down?

Reviews

“A unique and highly recommended piece of western fiction.” Midwest Book Review

“Duty makes a difference in this tale . . . the apex of the story is one you’d never guess, making for some darn good storytelling.” Roundup Magazine

“A powerful story that shows Sandifer’s intimate connection with the West.” Rod Miller, Cowboy Poet and Author

“Great story-telling, a stunning sense of place . . . one of the finest and most authentic western novels to come along in ages.” Irene Bennett Brown, author of Miss Royal’s Mules

The Last Rodeo brings the world of professional bull riders into sharp focus—the swagger, the glory, the danger, the pain—along with the pride and heartache of the women who love them.” Dee Marvine, author of The Lady Rode Bucking Horses

Purchase at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

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