The Psychology Behind the Wings of the West Series by Kristy McCaffrey

 

By Kristy McCaffrey

When I began developing characters and ideas for my historical western romance Wings series, the titles intuitively came to me—The Wren, The Dove, The Sparrow, The Blackbird, and The Bluebird. How I would tie the birds into the storylines was a great unknown as I began each tale, but one thing emerged rather quickly—an underlying psychological theme of the journey of the feminine psyche.

In The Wren (Book One), the heroine Molly has been abducted by Comanche when she is nine years old. At nineteen, she finally finds the means to return home to Texas, to search for the life she’d lost so abruptly. We must all leave the safety of “home” at some point in our lives to grow, whether physically or metaphorically, and the lesson is always that home isn’t a place outside of us but an internal sanctuary that we must nurture within ourselves. Molly’s journey comes full circle when she makes a home with the hero, Matt.

In The Dove (Book Two), Claire lives in a saloon run by her mama. Claire isn't a soiled dove, but she still grapples with themes of “prostitution,” although not necessarily of the sexual kind. She doesn’t feel worthy to be a doctor and mutes her own ambitions. This story addresses the desire of the psyche to be healed and whole, but doing so through outside, external means is only effective up to a point. This leads to the next book.

In The Sparrow (Book Three), Emma undergoes a shamanic journey of initiation while in the Grand Canyon. During this process, she is helped by her power animal, Sparrow. Life causes wounds—we all have them—and while mending these are often sought through medicine, at some point an internal journey will be required. It’s the only way to truly heal the soul. While today we might seek the counsel of a trained psychologist, many indigenous people used the medicine man or shaman. The techniques of both are strikingly similar.

In The Blackbird (Book Four), Tess is a storyteller, A Keeper of the Old Ways; this is, and always has been, connected with imparting wisdom and magic to listeners through the telling of tales. She meets a hero who nurtures and protects this side of her, as any true life-partner should. Stories have the power to heal. It is yet the next step in mending the heart and the soul.

In The Bluebird (Book Five), the heroine Molly Rose (niece to the Molly in the first book) yearns to travel and see the world. She connects with a man who can help her achieve these goals. The final step in the psychological journey—once healing has been undertaken and a new, better version of oneself is achieved—is to take all that’s been learned and go forth in the world. Life is an adventure and is meant to be experienced as such.

Learn more about the Wings series at Kristy's website.

 

The Wave

By Kristy McCaffrey

The Wave

In 2012, I had the opportunity to hike to the Wave—an iconic and well-photographed sandstone alcove, located along the Arizona/Utah border. To enter the area where the Wave is located, you must have a permit. Only 20 people per day are allowed—10 through a lottery system and 10 for walk-in permits submitted the previous day. It took my dad two tries to gain two permits and to my great fortune he invited me along.

We arrived the preceding day in Page, Arizona and stayed the night in a hotel. Arising early the next morning, we found a Denny’s open at 6 a.m. and ate a hearty breakfast since our day packs weren’t filled with anything hot and tasty. The drive to the Wire Pass parking lot—the start of the trailhead—was about 43 miles from Page. The last 8 miles were on a dirt road that is impassable when wet, the red clay turning into a slippery muck. With the day overcast and the air a bit misty, the fact that we threw a few sleeping bags into the back of my dad’s truck at the last minute suddenly seemed like a good idea.

Me signing the hiking register.

The parking lot housed a restroom and a sign-in—we’re here in December but there have been deaths of people trekking to the Wave during the hot summer months. Keeping track of hikers is a must for the local rangers.

We made sure we were as prepared as possible with a detailed map provided by the Bureau of Land Management, a compass, and a GPS (courtesy of my smartphone). But that confidence soon wavered—the start of the trailhead led to a non-trail and we didn’t pay close enough attention to the landmarks provided on the map. We spent the first hour in the wrong direction. The GPS did indicate that we were moving farther away from our target, but it was the first time I’d used the GPS app on my smartphone and I figured we were taking a circuitous route that would eventually bring us to where we needed to be. Our detour did lead to an awesome slot canyon, however. After backtracking, we were soon headed in the right direction. We made certain we nailed every landmark thereafter.

My dad and I were lost the first hour and ended up in this
slot canyon.

The 5.5 mile hike, scrambling over sandy hills and red rock, took about 2 hours. The terrain offered sweeping views of sandstone pillars and red rock buttes, tiny cacti growing in crevices, and giant juniper trees standing vigil. It’s a desolate and quiet place, far from civilization.

At last, we climbed a hill just below a prominent landmark called “the Black Crack” and entered the alcove known as the Wave. The undulating swells of sandstone greeted us and we were awed, but admittedly slightly confused. Is this all there is? We both thought it would be more like a bowl viewed from above.

Another hiker arrived and, having been here before, explained the layout. We needed to climb above the alcove to find the picture-perfect spot, the one that he staked out with his tripod and camera for the next several hours.

We took awesome and surreal pictures, the rock flowing like water around us, and found the Second Wave and Hamburger Rock (per the hiker’s directions).

The Second Wave

Hamburger Rock

There were dinosaur tracks in the area, but we couldn’t muster enough enthusiasm to begin the search. Instead, we dropped into a small canyon below and explored the narrow curves of the walls as they closed in on us. We ate lunch there, since it sheltered us from the wind, then decided to begin the return hike.

The way back wasn’t difficult but the landmarks weren’t easily discernible, blending into one another in a blur of red rock upon red rock. We referenced the map and GPS frequently. My dad attempted a few compass readings, but the simple device was deceptive. In our weary state, we realized neither of us really knew how to use it. Luckily, my phone battery was still above fifty percent so we relied on the GPS. We were quite happy when we finally made it back to the car.

My dad and I at the Wave.

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The Wren (Wings of the West Book 1)

Captured by Comanche as a child, Molly Hart was assumed dead. Ten years later, Texas Ranger Matt Ryan finds a woman with the same blue eyes.

The Dove (Wings of the West Book 2)

Reunited with Logan Ryan on the steps of the White Dove Saloon, Claire Waters hides under the guise of a fancy girl...and lets the ex-deputy believe the worst.

The Sparrow (Wings of the West Book 3)

In Grand Canyon, Emma Hart braves the unknown and the sudden appearance of Texas Ranger Nathan Blackmore.

The Blackbird (Wings of the West Book 4)

Haunted by a deadly attack, Tess turns to bounty hunter Cale Walker to find her missing padre. But in the land of the Apache, can he free her heart?

Into the Land of Shadows

In the land of the Navajo, spirits and desire draw Ethan and Kate close, leading them deeper into the shadows and to each other.

Las Vegas, New Mexico

By Kristy McCaffrey

When you hear Las Vegas you immediately think of the gambling mecca in Nevada, but there is another.

Las Vegas, New Mexico—located east of Santa Fe—was established in 1835 on the Gallinas River, near the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains

It prospered as a stop on the Santa Fe Trail and was 30 miles from Fort Union, a large Army outpost.

Fort Union

Las Vegas had a unique combination of Spanish and Anglo traditions. The white people held balls and church socials while the Spanish community held fandangos, or neighborhood dances, and fiestas.

The railroad arrived in 1879 and Las Vegas soon became one of the largest cities in the American southwest. The sophisticated town supported an opera house, social and literary clubs, an orchestra, and a theater. But Las Vegas also had a reputation for rowdiness, and had its fair share of gamblers, hoodlums, and fallen women. Infamous characters such as Doc Holliday and his companion, Big Nose Kate, as well as Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Wyatt Earp all passed through in the late 19^th century. The area later became known as a resort town because of its dry, temperate climate and the hot springs north of town, attracting wealthy patrons from as far off as Europe. These luxury resorts flourished during the 1880’s and early 1890’s.

Las Vegas, New Mexico

Many movies have been filmed here, beginning with silent western films, from 1913 to 1915, to Easy Rider, Convoy, Wyatt Earp (starring Kevin Costner), All the Pretty Horses (with Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz), No Country for Old Men (with Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem) and Paul (with Simon Pegg and Kristen Wiig).

My second book in my Old West romance series, The Dove, is set in Las Vegas and the surrounding countryside.

THE DOVE

Wings of the West Series: Book Two

Disappointment hits ex-deputy Logan Ryan hard when he finds Claire Waters in the midst of a bustling Santa Fe Trail town. The woman he remembers is gone—in her place is a working girl with enticing curves and a load of trouble. As a web of deceit entangles them with men both desperate and dangerous, Logan tries to protect Claire, unaware his own past poses the greatest threat.

Plagued by shame all her life, Claire is stunned when Logan catches her on the doorstep of The White Dove Saloon dressed as a prostitute. She lets him believe the worst, but with her mama missing and the fancy girls deserting the place, she's hard-pressed to refuse his offer of help. As she embarks on a journey that will unravel the fabric of her life, one thing becomes clear—opening her heart may be the most dangerous proposition of all.

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Naming A Series After Birds by Kristy McCaffrey #OldWest #Romance

By Kristy McCaffrey

I wrote my first novel, The Wren, more than ten years ago. I was a young stay-at-home mom with four kids all under the age of five running amuck. I'd been writing since I was seven years old, but I didn't envision penning a novel until I was too tired from mothering to realize that what I was about to attempt would be tremendously difficult, yet so rewarding. Not much different than becoming a mom, right?

I'm sometimes asked how I came up with the titles for my Wings of the West series. The simple version is that they just came to me, which for the most part is true. I've long known the titles, and the order in which they appear, before I had a clear picture of characters and storylines—The Wren, The Dove, The Sparrow, The Blackbird, and the final installment, The Bluebird. But there are deeper meanings as well.

Many years ago I enjoyed a television show called "Ned Blessing: The Story of My Life and Times," starring Brad Johnson. Maybe some of you remember it. A recurring character was a woman in town—a soiled dove—who was secretly in love with Ned. She was called "the Wren." For some reason, that stuck with me when, years later, I began developing my Old West series. In my story, however, the heroine, Molly, isn't a prostitute (that theme is addressed in the next book, the aptly titled The Dove). As a child, Molly is quite adept with a slingshot, which she's named "the Wren" because she believes that the rocks she uses may have been dropped by wrens. Rock Wrens have a habit of leaving a stone path to their nests. This encompasses the broader theme of Molly trying to find her way home after she was thought dead at the hands of the Comanche ten years prior.

In the second book, The Dove, I dealt with the well-used theme of prostitution. The heroine in this story, Claire, lives in a saloon, run by her mama. While Claire herself isn't a soiled dove, she still faces the decisions many women face—does she live a life for herself, or for others? How many times do women prostitute themselves because they don't feel they're worthy, or they perceive they have no choice? How do we 'use' others to gain our own ends?

In The Sparrow, my heroine Emma undergoes a shamanic journey of initiation while traversing the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. During this process, she is helped by her power animal, Sparrow. I will admit, this is a novel that took a strange turn, but I did my best to follow the bones laid before me, and write the story as best I could. Sparrows are known as common birds who speak to the inherent magnificence that can be present in all of us. As I wrote the tale, I knew this bird encompassed perfectly the tone of Emma's pilgrimage.

I'm in the midst of writing The Blackbird, so am not certain how the bird angle will play out. I've learned to trust that the muses will offer me insights along the way. I found a Tennyson quote that mentions blackbirds. The heroine, Tess, while of Mexican descent also has an Irish papa, and through him a connection to Tennyson. Blackbirds are mystical birds, linking us to the world of enchantment. Tess is a storyteller, a Keeper of the Old Ways; this is, and always has been, connected with imparting wisdom and magic to listeners through the telling of tales. I look forward to learning more as I continue to write this manuscript.

Coming March 2015

The last book, The Bluebird, is still just a fragment of ideas, but I have faith that the pieces will reveal themselves in time. This story jumps ahead several years and features Molly Rose, niece to the first Molly from The Wren. While the bird references have helped to shape the series, I always knew I'd begin with a Molly and end with a Molly, which was the nickname of my great-grandmother.

My hope is to release THE BLUEBIRD in December 2015.
Fingers crossed!

 Available in digital formats for only 99cents.

THE WREN

Wings of the West Series: Book One

Rating: Steamy

Ten years have passed since her ranch was attacked, her folks murdered and Molly Hart was abducted. Now, at nineteen, she’s finally returning home to north Texas after spending the remainder of her childhood with a tribe of Kwahadi Comanche. What she finds is a deserted home coated with dust and the passage of time, the chilling discovery of her own gravesite, and the presence of a man she thought never to see again.

Matt Ryan is pushed by a restless wind to the broken-down remains of the Hart ranch. Recently recovered from an imprisonment that nearly ended his life, the drive for truth and fairness has all but abandoned him. For ten years he faithfully served the U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers, seeking justice for the brutal murder of a little girl, only to find closure and healing beyond his grasp. Returning to the place where it all began, he’s surprised to stumble across a woman with the same blue eyes as the child he can’t put out of his mind.

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