WHAT INSPIRED ME TO BE A WRITER

Roberta C.M. DeCaprio
http://www.robertadecaprio.com

In 1950 I was born with a birth injury, left to navigate through life using canes (and in recent years occasionally a wheelchair). Not being able to run and play as the other children could, I turned to books for fun and adventure. The words on each page swept me away, cultivating an imagination I would come to call upon in the years that followed. Reading begets writing, and even at a young age I was composing poems, writing short stories, and even plays . . . using paper dolls and sock puppets as characters to act out the story's scenes. Reading was the first factor that inspired me to be a writer.

My most favorite television show during the 50's was THE LONE RANGER. I loved watching westerns with my father, but many of the other shows portrayed Indians as ruthless heathens....except for THE LONE RANGER. Clayton Moore played the part of the masked hero, and Jay Silverheels was his trusted friend, Tonto. A different side of the Native Americans was brought into view, and it made a huge impression on me. I actually met Clayton Moore in 1958, and he gave me a silver bullet shell as a memento of our meeting. Thirty years later, in 1988 I had the opportunity to meet him again, showed him the silver bullet shell (which I still have), and he remembered me immediately. I also explained to him how his show inspired me to write my first novel, THE GOLDEN LADY (released in 2009 by The Wild Rose Press), which told the story of a white woman falling in love with and marrying an Apache Warrior in 1864. THE LONE RANGER & TONTO were the second factor that inspired me to be a writer.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR ENEMY? the tag line for THE GOLDEN LADY read. And indeed, during 1864 the white man and red man were at war with each other. Using factual accounts, my fictional characters struggled through all odds, true love prevailing. And here lies the third factor that inspired me to be a writer . . . the late, great, romance author, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. After reading her novel, A ROSE IN WINTER, I knew exactly how to write the story of my heart's desire. But it would take 25 years for THE GOLDEN LADY to be available to the public. It just goes to show you what can happen when you never give up on something you believe in.


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