Heaviest Themed Book I've Written
By Kristy McCaffrey
The heaviest themed book I’ve written is hands down The Blackbird.
If you’ve read the first four Wings novels, then you might be aware of the overarching theme of healing in each one. (The Wren is about finding your way back home, physically and metaphorically, and honoring your truest self. The Dove is about outward healing using medicine. The Sparrow is about spiritual healing. And The Blackbird is all about soul healing.)
The heroine, Tess, has experienced trauma, and with it lingering PTSD (but it wasn’t called that in the 1800’s). Full disclosure—in her backstory she was raped by one of her pa’s gang members. This is not on page. My goal wasn’t to focus on such a heinous act, but to follow Tess’s path back to a place of love. And for that I knew my hero, Cale Walker, would need to be very special.
Cale’s backstory includes a brush with violence (he rode with Tess’s father’s gang years prior), but he managed to extricate himself knowing the broken morality such a path carried. This insight allows him to straddle both worlds (good and evil) so he can lead Tess through it and ultimately help her find the peace she needs.
As a writer myself, I’m fascinated by the magic of storytelling, and so I developed Tess’s character into a cuentista, a kind of professional storyteller. It becomes a way for her to help others and also herself with mythical narratives. Finding the tales I used in the book was a big challenge, but I included local Hispanic lore alongside Apache stories as well as Irish ones (Tess is part-Mexican, part-Irish).
The alchemy that a storyteller practices is as real as a blacksmith’s hammer and anvil. I hope that I was able to show through Cale and Tess’s love story that pain can be transformed into something better and more beautiful.
While The Blackbird carries a heavy theme, it’s a book I’m deeply proud of, and I was thrilled it won the 2015 Laramie for Best in Romantic Western Fiction.
Cale and Tess’s eldest daughter, Dolores, will appear as a side character in the next Wings of the West book. The Swan will release July 10, 2025.
*****
If you missed any of my other posts about my books, here are the links.
The Most Challenging Books I’ve Written
My Most Favorite Books I’ve Written
Books That Were The Most Fun To Write
Favorite Scene I’ve Written
The heaviest themed book I’ve written is hands down The Blackbird.
If you’ve read the first four Wings novels, then you might be aware of the overarching theme of healing in each one. (The Wren is about finding your way back home, physically and metaphorically, and honoring your truest self. The Dove is about outward healing using medicine. The Sparrow is about spiritual healing. And The Blackbird is all about soul healing.)
The heroine, Tess, has experienced trauma, and with it lingering PTSD (but it wasn’t called that in the 1800’s). Full disclosure—in her backstory she was raped by one of her pa’s gang members. This is not on page. My goal wasn’t to focus on such a heinous act, but to follow Tess’s path back to a place of love. And for that I knew my hero, Cale Walker, would need to be very special.
Cale’s backstory includes a brush with violence (he rode with Tess’s father’s gang years prior), but he managed to extricate himself knowing the broken morality such a path carried. This insight allows him to straddle both worlds (good and evil) so he can lead Tess through it and ultimately help her find the peace she needs.
As a writer myself, I’m fascinated by the magic of storytelling, and so I developed Tess’s character into a cuentista, a kind of professional storyteller. It becomes a way for her to help others and also herself with mythical narratives. Finding the tales I used in the book was a big challenge, but I included local Hispanic lore alongside Apache stories as well as Irish ones (Tess is part-Mexican, part-Irish).
The alchemy that a storyteller practices is as real as a blacksmith’s hammer and anvil. I hope that I was able to show through Cale and Tess’s love story that pain can be transformed into something better and more beautiful.
While The Blackbird carries a heavy theme, it’s a book I’m deeply proud of, and I was thrilled it won the 2015 Laramie for Best in Romantic Western Fiction.
Cale and Tess’s eldest daughter, Dolores, will appear as a side character in the next Wings of the West book. The Swan will release July 10, 2025.
*****
If you missed any of my other posts about my books, here are the links.
The Most Challenging Books I’ve Written
My Most Favorite Books I’ve Written
Books That Were The Most Fun To Write
Favorite Scene I’ve Written
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Author Kristy McCaffrey
Kristy McCaffrey writes western historical and contemporary romances. She and her husband live in Arizona with their two dogs. Visit her online at kristymccaffrey.com.
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