Carol Severson - author / photographer - Horses, action, romance and fun combine in "Lost In Flames" and "The Winter Lion" trilogy.

   I have been writing for over half a century.  There, now that that is over, I can say that the first book "Lost In Flames" was one of the first stories I ever wrote.  In my tender teen years, I imagined what my main character would look like, and had ideas about my other characters.  

    Several factors led to finally putting the book together.

    1) My daughter, Ariel, became enamored with horses.

    2)  I was able to visit the Black Hills again and determined that my love of them would make the perfect setting.

    3) Taylor Lautner came to my notice, and reminded me of someone from the past.  He looked exactly like I had imagined Clay Graham would look.  But I never saw Taylor Lautner with a hat or the right horse.  So I used the hat of a friend, Daniel,..and his horse.  Grandson, Rylan, isn't too far from looking like Taylor Lautner.

    4) My nights became cluttered with ideas that needed to be included in the book.

    5)  Watching horse shows and the Cowboy Mounted Shooting exhibition at Equifest in Kansas spurred me on.

    6)  I had wonderful people who helped me with making the book factual...the Colby Fire Chief read the fire bits so I could burn a house down properly.  My son-in-law, David, sent me "How To Build a House 101". My daughter, Jennifer, helped me with editing.  Reagan Coulter told me what good times would be for roping contests. 

    7)  Ariel, Wally (my husband) and several dear, long-suffering friends read the book and gave me input.  

 

     So I wrote the book.  By the time I was finished, I

had all this research and a second book that just sort of coalesced on its own.