Jeannie's creation began when I was a teenager, my pubescent imagination conjuring her up before going to sleep. I'd watched sixties westerns where women barely existed, let alone played the fastest gun, and, because my fascination for the wild west was growing, I wanted to redress the balance and, eventually, to write the novel I wanted to read but no-one had written (until the 1995 movie The Quick and the Dead with Sharon Stone came along).
Years later I became desperate to share Jeannie's story. This stems from the times when my parents and siblings found this incredibly creative and offbeat girl - me - would far rather row a boat than housekeep😝and they found me hard to appreciate. I was down-beaten and teased relentlessly. The fact that Jeannie's a cowgirl and that I played the part at living history events happen to be incidental!
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LIVING HISTORY |
As an artist I illustrated Jeannie to bring her alive, but it took years to achieve her look and persona the way I envisaged them in my mind. I was inspired by magazine photographs of people - usually men - in various heroic poses or with the kind of face I imagined, and used them as reference for drawings of her. It excited me tremendously when I was able to make her credible, but horrendously embarrassed about showing them to anyone. Over the years she became more detailed and OTT.
But that's part of the storyline and a hero/ine for you!
I was a teenager when I created my first painting of her, and mother said: 'Oh - is this your Adonis?' I said: 'It's a woman.' 'Oh.' At least mother considered her beautiful.
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MY 1ST IMAGE OF JEANNIE, IN OILS - A TAD BUTCH, PERHAPS! PAINTED IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES. |
Years later I finally showed them to hubby. I cringed under a pillow while he looked at them. 'She's sexy! Get on with the story, for goodness sake.' I love that man.
I wanted a stunningly beautiful tomboy. Not chocolate box beauty. A beautiful youth look if you will. Obviously not everyone's idea of beauty is the same, but this is mine for Jeannie. I know every bit of her. Every character trait, every facet of her look. Some of the characters in the story describe her as being a 'pretty boy' before they quickly cotton on to her gender. For a nano moment people might mistake her for a boy or youth, but a nano second later her more feminine features confirm that she is female. Her sensual, curved, full lips verify that. Sleek arched eyebrows. Thick eyelashes. Smooth, bronzed hairless skin, slightly shiny. A long, womanly neck. She has a hero's jaw, but that too is smooth and softly squared, not ugly or exaggerated. High cheekbones. Dimpled cheeks which crease with a lopsided toothy grin. See? I've got her all figured out.
She's 5ft ten and half inches tall. Slim, athletic. Broad shoulders, small but definite bosom, slim hips. She's not top heavy or pear shaped. She has a definite waist. Her hands are fairly large, strong and bronzed, but gentle. In one of my first chapters, a character states: 'Ain't never seen no deputy who looks like that!' She has masculine mannerisms and movements, but they're almost graceful, not cumbersome. There's nothing ugly about Jeannie. I was inspired by descriptions of Wild Bill Hickok: Elizabeth Custer said: 'Physically he was a delight to look upon. Tall, light, and free in every emotion, he rode and walked as if every muscle was perfection.' She clearly fancied him! A newspaper article quoted: 'So graceful in his movements that with his long auburn hair tinged with red and gentle soporific eyes he had an almost feminine mien.'
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WILD BILL HICKOK |
Jeannie's hair is thick and corn coloured, wavy and tousled. Romantic. A semi fringe covers her forehead and hair curls before her ears. Her hair is short at the front but reaches over her collar at the back. Definitely romantic. I was inspired by Michelangelo's David.
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MICHELANGELO'S DAVID |
She generally wears a Stetson, man's shirt, close fitting jeans and cowboy boots worn beneath her pants. A gun belt and Colt.45 adorn her hips. A Bowie knife is sheathed at her waist, and sometimes she wears a fringed jacket. She carries a Winchester rifle beneath her saddle. Extremely sexy and stylish. For posh occasions she wears dapper male clothes - long velvet jacket and pants, a white silk shirt, sometimes a cravat, even a cummerbund. Later in the story she wears a bandana around her forehead, Indian style, denoting her respect and friendship with the Shoshonis.
Her mannerisms and character border on mesmerising. She smokes a slim cheroot, winks at people and pale laughter lines spread out from her eyes. Those eyes are something else. A translucent pale blue beneath sleepy eyelids. Hypnotic and unblinking, they can slice you in two. She's pretty scary. Terrifying sometimes. Cold as ice if she doesn't like you. The only person unafraid of her is her Gran. She adopts boy's clothes aged around eight, after pilfering her favourite brother's wardrobe and cutting her long fair hair short, vowing never to wear female clothes ever again. She has great taste in male clothing and looks stunning the older she grows.
She's wild in her youth and hilarious, remaining funny into adulthood. She's capable of great gentility and kindness, particularly towards animals, kids and old folks, who adore her. She's wall-to-wall charismatic magnetism, and many people are jealous of her. She's the centre of attention the moment she appears on the scene.
She's incredibly sexy and, because of her easygoing sexuality, falls in love with women as well as men, who reciprocate easily, sometimes against their better judgement. Particularly men, whose jealousies over her lethal gun and fighting prowess reign supreme. Many men want her dead. She adores sex, passionate or gentle, because it's the only thing that can make her feel good when times are crappy. She loves art and music, plays a mouth organ, and she's good at dancing a jig.
As the years passed as I developed her, she became devastating in looks and persona, unlike the real Calamity Jane, bless her. The geography of the western frontier treats Jeannie well, even if some of its people don't. She relishes life there and wants to be part of it.
People tell me that I tell Jeannie's story with passion. I'm not surprised! She's been in my head forever, and I needed to share her with the world. Why that is, I'm uncertain, and that still taxes my brain! It has everything to do with my past and my mental issues. Whatever the answer, here she is, in all her glory. 😊
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SCARY!
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The result of sharing Jeannie with the world? More than I could imagine. The first professional to assure me that my trilogy, as it eventually became, wasn't rubbish, was my editor. She loved it, made great suggestions and edits, and told me that 'Your writing is 24 carat gold!'. I love you, Caroline!
It's almost a year since I published Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl! on Amazon, and the results have been tremendous. Numerous five star reviews and ratings, and my 850 readers are keen and waiting patiently for Book 3, which I'm currently editing. Because the story is so offbeat, in a niche of its own and hard to market, we - me and my amazing PA hubby - had to put in the extra work to do it. I collaborated with my excellent cover designer to produce the cover graphics, and used Canva computer software to create marketing materials, so my art has came in handy over and over.
What will happen once the whole trilogy is 'out there'? I won't be finished with Jeannie. There's too much history at stake. I've got other ideas for the future, so it definitely won't be 'Ciao!' as in Jeannie's words, but 'See ya soon!'.
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THE AUTHOR |
A devastating cowgirl comes of age on the wild frontier
Her gun is snake strike fast & her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey.
Jeannie Morgan, the fastest gun west of the Mississippi, is a devastating and charismatic pants-wearing cowgirl who is also a magnificent lover to both men and women. As she navigates the unforgiving frontier, she must confront her own identity and desires, all while facing down deadly confrontations and personal tragedies. Will she find happiness or will her her tomboy beauty, her powerful persona and her lethal gun finally be the death of her? Read the series and find out.
Available in E-book, paperback & Kindle Unlimited on Amazon.
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MY ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF
JEANNIE |
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TWO CHAPTER SAMPLES
BOOK 1 |
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BOOK 2 |
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