The Romance Reviews

Thursday 29 April 2010

Bluebonnets, Blue Eyes, and Texas Blue

The title of my latest release, Texas Blue, was conceived when I learned my heroine, Marilee Weston, and her little daughter, Josie, had sky-blue eyes—or bluebonnet blue eyes. How did this knowledge come about? Because the hero, Buck Cameron looked into the young woman’s eyes, and…

Buck paused, hoping she would speak soon so he would know where he stood. He could now see her eyes. They were a striking blue, yet round with terror. Her fear tore at his heart.

Next, Buck became acquainted with the little daughter, four-year-old Josie, and thought her eyes looked the same blue as a bluebonnet.
Buck hunkered down in front of her to be on her eye level. “Look at those pretty blue eyes, just like a bluebonnet.”

“My mama sings ‘Put on your pretty blue bonnet.’ I like that song.”
Buck had to think about that statement a minute. Then, he threw his head back and laughed. “I meant a flower called a bluebonnet. You’ve never seen one?”

“No.” Josie told him, “but I have seen sunflowers, Johnny-Jump-Ups, and dandelions, here and on the road to Mrs. Eggers’s farm.”

At the end of the story, Buck and Marilee are married and now have another baby girl. He stands on the porch and gazes at his ranchland.
The pastureland, carpeted in large patches of blue, was interspersed with bright, green grass, groves of oak trees, and clumps of mesquite trees. The Texas bluebonnet, the herald of spring, bloomed in a glorious show of color, and its faithful companion, the coral-tipped Indian paintbrush, appeared in patches among the blue. Buck smiled to himself. This must be the most beautiful place on the face of the earth.

Little Josie gets to go into the bedroom and see her little sister, tucked into Marilee’s arms.

“What’re we gonna name her?”

“Well, I don’t know, yet. Let’s look at her and see if we can figure out a proper name.”

Josie looked closely into the infant’s tiny face, and as she did so, the baby opened her eyes, blinked, and looked right at Josie.

“Her eyes are blue. A real blue.”


Buck asked, “You mean a true blue?”

“Yes, a truly blue. So, we’ll name her Tru-ly Cameron.” Josie announced.

“Oh, well, I don’t know, sweetie,” said Marilee.

But Buck motioned to Marilee, the name seemed right. He said to Josie, “Then you mean her name will be True Lee Cameron?”


“Yes!” Josie jumped up and down, then leaned over and kissed the baby’s cheek. “Hello, True, I’m your big sister, Josie.”



__________________________

NOTE: all the photos were taken in Central Texas, and some right here in my own neighborhood. I hope you enjoyed the post.

Celia Yeary
Romance…and a little bit o' Texas

TEXAS BLUE-eBook and Print
SHOWDOWN IN SOUTHFORK—eBook
ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS-eBook and Print

Published by: The Wild Rose Press







27 comments:

Lindsay Townsend said...

Wonderful, imaginative use of blue and blue eyes, Celia! I love the similies and the excerpts. And your photos are so pretty!

Lovely post - thank you!

(PS My mother has very dark, very bright blue eyes and they do look amazing.)

Unknown said...

Thanks, Lindsay--I have very brown eyes from my mother. My daddy had the prettiest blue eyes, and our son got them, and his son got them. But Daddy sang snatches of that old song to mother--"Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes, I'll never love blue eyes again." Sweet, huh? Celia

LK Hunsaker said...

Celia, I especially like the last photo that shows the roadside covered in blue! Clever way to choose the baby's name. :-)

Maggie Toussaint said...

I love the pix and the linkage to blue bonnets. Nice imagery.

Wishing you all the best with Texas Blue.

Maggie
maggietoussaint.com

Keena Kincaid said...

Wow, Celia. Your photos are beautiful. Now I want to road trip through Texas. Between these and Steph's photos of Budapest, I'm not going to anything done today but daydreaming.

Mona Risk said...

What a pretty baby girl. I want to hold her!!! I love the blue flowers along the roads. Very nice use of blue, Celia. Texas Blue promises to be a nice read.

Nancy said...

Oh Celia, those excerpts made me all teary-eyed.. excellent!
Nan

Stephanie Burkhart said...

Celia, what a beautiful theme, blue eyes! I love the opening pics with all the bluebells. Sigh... Gorgeous. And I loved the excerpts, especially the ending one where they are deciding what to name the baby.

Smiles
Steph

Savanna Kougar said...

Celia, True-ly a gorgeous blog, the pics and the story.

When I first saw your title I didn't think of bluebonnets or blue eyes. However, it's perfect.

Thank you, for sharing!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Lorraine--I appreciate your visit--And the name? Something that just happened without even thinking. Celia

Unknown said...

MAGGIE--thank you for taking time out of our extremely busy day to drop by.Is Georgia pretty this year? Celia

Unknown said...

KEENA--oh, that's right--you're the big travelers. Well, come on down sometime! Celia

Unknown said...

MONA--yes, the baby girl is beautiful. since I only have grandsons--who are also gorgeous!--I have to look at other people's babies. Celia

Unknown said...

NANCY--even I cry when I read it--and I wrote it! Celia

Unknown said...

STEPH--thanks! I'm glad you like the ending--other readers did, too. Little Josie--the blond--is the heroine in my coming soon Texas Promise from DB. Celia

Unknown said...

SAVANNA--actually, I didn't think of it either until we started taking so many photos! Thanks--Celia

Redameter said...

Bluebonnets are what God Blessed Texas with, along with Indian Paint brushes and buttercups, and sunflowers. And he also gave us the wonderful pecan trees.

Nice pics.
Love and blessings
Rita

Mary Ricksen said...

Great story and lovely pictures.
Very nice blog Celia as usual!!!

Unknown said...

RITA--YOU are so right. God didn't bless us, but we got them anyway, droughts and tornadoes. Nice to hear from you. Celia

Unknown said...

Oh, thank you, Mary--such a nice complement. Celia

Anonymous said...

Fantastic photos! I just adored this post. What a way to bring visualization and the mind's eye together. Such beautiful details with breathtaking scenery. Loved it!

Jan Bowles said...

Hi Celia

I'm a little late in coming to your blog, but I was so taken with your descriptions that I had to leave a comment.

I can still feel goosebumps, as you described the first meeting when Buck looked into their eyes.

Thank you
Jan

Linda Swift said...

Dear Celia, I'm late but I'm so glad I came. Your photos are so beautiful. And blue is my favorite color for flowers. I already know and love these characters from reading your second book and I'm eager to continue my acquaintence with the next generation in books three and four. Wishing you success with all of these wonderful stories. Linda

Unknown said...

EA--thank you! I love your compliments! Celia

Unknown said...

Oh, Jan, thank you for visiting. I love your comments--that is the kind of thing I love to hear. Celia

Unknown said...

LINDA--my dearest and most loyal friend--thank you so much. You'll be sure to know when Texas Promise is released--it's little Josie's story as a grown woman. I can tell you, she has more trouble than you can imagine! She sort of goes from Hull and back! Celia

Liana Laverentz said...

Gorgeous pictures, Celia. I wish you all the best with Texas Blue!