A little cowboy's creativity allows him to mix his daily life with imaginary adventures.

The author recounts his post-college discovery that he wanted to be a cowboy, his early days as a poor ranch hand, his marriage and home in an unfinished log cabin, and his eventual attainment of a sprawling ranch. Reprint.

"One of the stories I tell myself when I am trying to fall asleep is that I have tried. I've tagged along after myself in the pages of my own modern Western, and every few years is another chapter to the story. The myth of the cowboy. I chased a dream and it kicked me in the teeth. Yet I find myself falling for it again and again." Across the rugged and beautiful landscape of the contemporary American West, Tom Groneberg paints an unsparing portrait of his flawed, funny, and sometimes triumphant efforts to become a cowboy. It is a classic tale: a young man, facing a future he doesn't want to claim, has an inspiration -- Go West. Leaving behind his friends and family, Groneberg follows his heart and heads to a resort town in the Colorado Rockies, where he earns his spurs as a wrangler leading tourists on horseback. Like an old saddle blanket, the tale unfolds, revealing the clean threads of a new story. Groneberg moves to Montana, working for wages at a number of ranches before getting a chance to become the owner of a sprawling ranch, fifteen square miles of grass and sky. In lean but passionate prose, Groneberg demystifies the image of cowboy as celluloid hero and introduces us to the tough and kindhearted men who teach him how to be a real cowboy, the woman who teaches him how to love, and their son, who teaches him how to be a man. The Secret Life of Cowboys is both a coming-of-age story as stunning as the land itself and a revealing look at America's last frontier.

The Secret Life of Horses is a collection of serious, humorous, profane, introspective and sometimes political poems about both the contemporary and old west as well as film and B western cowboys. It lovingly and sometimes wistfully recounts real and fictional tales about a way of American life that is vanishing. Today's cowboys (when you can find them), are the ranchers, farmers, rodeo performers and dreamers that now carry on a proud tradition that hopefully will never die. Glen Enloe spent his early years between small farms and the suburbs. Today he's a retired advertising writer that retains a deep respect and love of rural and western heritage. He's authored four books of cowboy poetry, two of free verse and a non-fiction book. He's also been published in American Cowboy, the Kansas City Star and many literary journals. Award nominations include the Academy of Western Artists and the Pushcart Prize.

After enduring a semester of some of the worst college hazing: cattle prodding, forced drinking and paddling, pledge Gabe Higgins drowned during the initiation.

Rugged J.D. Holt had a life full of secrets—none of which he intended to share with brainy, beautiful Lydia Cochrane. He wasn't sharing ANYTHING with Lydia—until he found out she'd bought HIS ranch and was now HIS boss! Well, he could handle it. He was tough, wasn't he? But Lydia had a way of getting under a cowboy's skin, making him want things he had no business wanting. A home. A family. A woman like her. Everyone knew she wasn't his kind of woman. But what if "everyone" was wrong—and some secrets were meant to be shared?

A cowboy's bear is a very special friend who is always with him, no matter where he goes or what he does.

Just back from a tour of duty, all Major Brant Western wanted was a hot meal and a warm bed. What he didn't need was the stunning socialite in disguise who'd just shown up at his family's Cold Creek ranch. Scandal trailed bad girl Mimi Van Hoyt—aka "Maura"—everywhere she went. But once Brant discovered her secret, how could he turn her away? Being stranded in the middle of nowhere in a blizzard was not Mimi's idea of a fun time in the Tetons. Then why was she starting to think this sexy soldier could be more than her shelter from the storm? And the more determined Brant was to protect her and her unborn child, the more she believed that this honorable, irresistible military man was the only man for her.

The Brave Cowboy was originally published in 1959 (Harcourt Brace & Co.) and sold over 230,000 copies in four languages. Although the book has been out of print for over 15 years, a faithful following of the work is stillevident as fans continue to post glowing reviews on Amazon.com. New fans of the work are sure to emerge as well because of the irresistible story Joan offers of one boy's special day of imaginative adventure. This adorable gift book for children features Joan's black and red line drawings on cream-colored stock. The red illustrations represent the brave cowboy's imaginary world of bandits, rattlesnakes, stagecoaches, and fair maidens. Joan's inspiration for the main character came from her son when he was about three years old.