By Kristy McCaffrey
I’d like to share background on the formation of my
historical western romance series, the Wings of the West. When I began
developing characters and ideas, the titles intuitively came to me—The Wren, The
Dove, The Sparrow, The Blackbird, and the forthcoming
final installment, 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. 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? Claire also yearns to become a
doctor, and this addresses the idea of healing through outside, external means.
These can be effective, but only to a point. This leads to the next book.
In The Sparrow (Book Three), the 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. 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 ~ coming October 31st), 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.
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