CKN Christian Publishing is excited to announce a new Christian Western series, Wild Cow Ranch. This series is co-authored by Denise F. McAllister and Natalie Bright. With the release of book one, Maverick Heart, just around the corner, we decided it would be a great time to get to know the authors and learn a little more about the series.
CKN Christian Publishing: There are so many great writing duos out there, but I assume it takes a lot of work and communication, how did the two of you decide to become a team?
Natalie Bright: Denise had been providing professional editing on several of my books, and it just seemed like a right fit. We were standing in line at a Western Writers of America conference waiting on the bus when the notion first hit me that we could work together. Denise had always wanted to write Christian fiction, but I knew nothing about that genre. Lauren Bridges, editor with CKN, happened to be standing nearby. We roped her in to the conversation and this crazy collaboration became a three-book series.
Denise F. McAllister: We met in 2015 in Lubbock, Texas at the Western Writers of America convention. We just hit it off and corresponded after that and I edited a few projects for Natalie. In 2019 Natalie came to Atlanta to speak at the Booth Western Art Museum’s Writers Guild meeting. She stayed at my house, and in one of our conversations she shared her idea for a story. One thing led to another and we said, “Let’s write it together!” With input from both of us, the initial proposal morphed and grew into a complex drama with a cast of characters.
CKN: If you were to combine your names to create an author pen name, what would it be?
NB: Funny you should ask that because I actually had an elaborate spreadsheet with names of our relatives, friends, famous people, but no combination seemed right.
DFM: We’ve struggled with that. Do we use our middle names? Faye Kay? Uh, no. Mac Bright? Deni Bright?
CKN: Living in different states, what is your communication style like with one another?
NB: Our communication has evolved to include texting, phone calls, emails, highlighted text in the manuscript, and Dropbox messages; the only thing missing are face-to-face work sessions. We hope to make that happen once or twice a year after the pandemic.
DFM: Well, we text and email a lot, sometimes every day; then every so often we have a brainstorming phone call. We wanted to have an in-person visit and I was all ready to fly to Natalie’s ranch in Texas when COVID hit.
Usually, we each write certain scenes or chapters and post to Dropbox. Then we each edit and revise these chapters (many, many times!) before compiling them into one manuscript file (more revisions). We’re pleased that beta readers have told us the story sounds like one voice, one author.
CKN: What advice would you give anyone looking to co-author a novel?
NB: If you’re thinking about co-authoring with someone, realize that there are two creative brains instead of one. The story in my head is not the story in Denise’s head, and I remind myself to keep an open mind throughout the process. For example, in the book we’re working on now, Denise wrote in a puppy which totally threw me off course. Now I think it is a cute scene and a new element that we can have some fun with. Another example was in book three which Denise took the lead on for the first draft. I’m all about cowboys, cattle rustlers, and stampedes, but Denise had the idea for a riding school and working with troubled teens, I think it’s a great story and I had fun developing it with her. In the end, it’s staying true to the character’s journeys.
DFM: The most important ingredient for a successful partnership is a willingness to bend, to compromise. You also need to have the sincere desire and commitment to work at the relationship. Egos must take a backseat. Our favorite words or ideas may have to be sacrificed if they don’t work for the good of the whole story. We must be willing to delete them and trust our partner. Natalie and I encourage one another. We’re not harsh if we don’t initially agree or understand something in the story.
Some authors have told me, “I could never do that. I don’t want to give up control.” For Natalie and I, we take joy in contributing to the project and hearing each other’s ideas. I think it inspires us and helps to create new and better ideas. It’s two brains!
CKN: What has been the most exciting part of bringing these books to life during the publishing process?
NB: In my mind, the best part about this experience was the interest our editor, Lauren Bridges, has shown from the beginning. She truly believed we could do this and never lost enthusiasm in our idea from the moment we mentioned the collaboration. I never thought we would reach the point of seeing a book on Amazon, but here we are.
DFM: The most exciting part of all this, for me, has been the amazing support from family, friends, and colleagues in the writing biz. People sound genuinely excited that we’ve done this. They say they can’t wait to purchase copies of our books. Wow, how nice is that?
They also have been extraordinarily kind to say what an accomplishment this is for us. Some know it’s a dream come true. I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid, but then life and my day job got in the way, so to speak.
I know some authors who have published 20 or 50 or 100 books. To be honest, I used to put other writers on a pedestal (and I still do somewhat) and thought I could never achieve what they have accomplished. But I now know we’re all on different journeys. And I’m grateful and excited for however many books we’re able to complete and bring to readers.
CKN: Who originally brought Carli to life and how did the character come to you? 
NB: I’ve always loved transplant stories about characters who live in one place and for various reasons end up somewhere completely opposite and foreign from the life they’d known. I had an idea for a girl who inherits a ranch located in the Texas Panhandle, based on our real ranch and cow/calf operation. I liked the idea that the treeless landscape, endless sky, crazy weather, and overly friendly small-town community would be completely foreign to her. Carli then evolved from both of our minds.
DFM: It was Natalie’s initial idea, but maybe we both “birthed” her. Right from the beginning it was like cooking a stew. We’d have conversations about Carli and one of us would excitedly say, “And then she could do this!” And the other would jump in and say, “What about this? This could happen.” It was back and forth, each of us adding a spice or a meatball or a carrot.
The fun part now is when Carli or another character appears in our dreams. We wake up the next morning bursting to write what happened or flesh out the seed of an idea. The strange thing is when both Natalie and I dream the same thing! Now that’s a little weird.
CKN: What is your favorite and least favorite thing about Carli?
NB: I like that our main character, Carli, second guesses and doubts everything she does. She is a worrier and is unsure about what she wants and her newfound faith. She’s like all the rest of us in a way, but her courage and resolve propel her forward. She finds it very hard to trust and she is stubborn about giving her heart away, but we will watch her develop relationships and find the family she’s always wanted.
DFM: I like a lot of things about Carli, especially her love of horses and riding. I like how she was successful in horse shows and with her equine business. She’s a hard worker. Mostly I like her heart, that she wants to help young people, that she yearns for love and family, and also that she survived her childhood.
What I don’t care for so much is that Carli seems to worry about situations. But then I remember she’s young, 28 years old. And a lot of things have happened to her. She appears to be all alone in the world and she’s had her life turned upside down, moving from Georgia to Texas. I remember being her age and I might have appeared a bit flighty at times, searching for where I belonged in the world.
CKN: So far, which book has been the most challenging to write?
NB: Definitely the most difficult for me was writing the first book, Maverick Heart, while we tried to figure out the creative writing process and how our minds differed.
DFM: I think book three, Follow a Wild Heart, was a challenge. Plot lines had to be tied up and we had to decide what direction these characters were going to follow. Sometimes we had to wait for the characters to tell us.
But also book one, Maverick Heart, was challenging because it was our first one. We had to figure out our process, what worked the best to get the job done. We’re still learning new ways to fine-tune that.
CKN: If the Wild Cow Ranch series were to become a movie, who would you want cast as Carli?
NB: Hailee Steinfeld is the first character that comes to my mind to play our Carli, only because I loved her work as Mattie Ross in the remake of True Grit with Jeff Bridges.
DFM: I loved Julianne Hough in Safe Haven. And Jennifer Lawrence from The Hunger Games. But maybe an unknown actress would be best, someone who is really involved with horses.
CKN: I know you both incorporated personal experience and knowledge into these books, did that bring up any memories from the past you might’ve forgotten about?
NB: It has been bittersweet for me remembering life in the small-town of Dimmitt where I grew up since my parents are both gone, and so many precious friends and neighbors who come to mind. We were so busy back then, always something going on in our farming community and it’s been fun recreating that sense of neighborhood in the fictitious town of Dixon for this new series.
DFM: The parts of the story about horse showing really conjured up memories for me. I showed various horses in the Atlanta area for about 15 years. It was a really special time in my life. Also, a challenging time. I don’t think I was as proficient as Carli is and many times I felt like a “nervous nilly.” Luckily, I had trainers and friends who helped me.
Unfortunately, I also had two tragic experiences with my beloved horses—barn fires. We weave a barn fire into book one, Maverick Heart. It brought back some sad memories for me.
CKN: What do you hope readers take away from Maverick Heart?
NB: I hope readers are entertained and find a fun escape when reading the Wild Cow Ranch series. The stories are real Texas with small-town antics. I hope they’ll laugh and cry along with our displaced Georgia girl as she learns to love the treeless, windswept Texas plains as much as the Georgia woodlands that she left.
DFM: I’m hoping they get immersed in the stories and that they root for Carli and the other characters. I hope they can appreciate that we tried to create real-world stories, people with real struggles who persevere. It’s not just fluff or a fairy tale. And when Carli learns about faith and God, I hope readers will be open to learning how to have that in their own lives as well.
Gosh, this interview was fun to read….having been in the background as Denise and Natalie brainstormed their collaboration. I wish them much success!!!