Kim Redford | How a Pink and Aqua Peacock Christmas Tree Inspired Me to Write

When I started to write A COWBOY FIREFIGHTER FOR CHRISTMAS, I definitely needed holiday inspiration to get me into the right frame of mind. In reality, I was experiencing summer in Texas, so that meant a hundred degrees in the shade. My thoughts were on cool comfort like shorts and lemonade instead of warm sweaters and hot chocolate. What was I to do? Okay, I’d waterskied on Christmas Day in the past, so Texas can be hot in December. I decided my small North Texas town creation of Wildcat Bluff would be experiencing a heatwave and drought so I could write about what I was living at the moment. But I still didn’t have enough holiday inspiration to get me jumpstarted on my novel.

After a bit of thought, I decided beautiful, colorful visuals would inspire me, but my holiday decorations were packed away. Besides, I figured something new and unusual would be just the ticket to set me on the right path. About the time I was looking for a dedicated Christmas store in town, my cowgirl cousin from the country called to see if I was available to go to market. She needed holiday gifts and decorations for her store. I needed inspiration.

As soon as she arrived at my home, we set off for the huge—and I do mean big as in floor after floor of showroom after showroom—June Total Home and Gift Market in Dallas Market Center. As we made our way from one display to the next, we took advantage of tasty free food and drinks to keep up our energy, or so we explained away our indulgence. She shopped while I snapped photos of decorations. I exclaimed in delight over small Western tree ornaments such as cowboy boots with bright red and green holly to twelve-foot- tall Christmas trees with red velvet bows and gold glass balls to a lighted green palm tree. But still nothing quite had what it took to inspire me or maybe I was simply overwhelmed by all the choices. In any case, I took photographs while my cousin made several orders.

Market was winding down and folks were streaming toward exit doors, but I still hadn’t been struck by inspiration. I know. How could I not be when the best of the best Christmas decorations were right before my eyes? But I was holding out for that special something. My cousin warned me there was time for only one more showroom. I figured I’d take a few photos of gorgeous trees and that’d be it for the day. We walked tiredly into that final room filled to the brim with brightly tinted holiday décor. As she shopped, I trailed behind her, weaving in and out of tightly packed displays, turned a corner, and stopped in astonishment.

A Christmas tree decorated in neon pink balls, aqua feathers, and lapis flowers led upward to a huge, colorful peacock with spread tail plumage placed right on top. Inspiration struck. I could hardly wait to get home and start creating the small Texas town with its quirky residents who’d love a nontraditional tree like this one.

And so I was finally ready to write A COWBOY FIREFIGHTER FOR CHRISTMAS.

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About Kim Redford

Kim Redford draws her inspiration from a Texas lifestyle of cowboys, cowgirls, horses, cattle, rodeos and small towns to create her bestselling novels. When she's not writing steamy romances, she's a rescue cat wrangler and horseback rider.

She divides her time between Texas and Oklahoma. A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas is first in her Smokin' Hot Cowboys series with Blazing Hot Cowboy coming soon.

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About A COWBOY FIREFIGHTER FOR CHRISTMAS

Warm up this Christmas with a sexy cowboy firefighter who knows how to ignite flames as well as put them out...

He's hotter than a wildfire Trey Duval is a rancher, proud as can be of his Wildcat Ranch. He's also the top volunteer firefighter of Wildcat Bluff, Texas, the town that pulls out all the stops for its Christmas festivities.

City girl Misty Reynolds comes to Wildcat Bluff just in time to help Trey put out a suspicious fire, leading him to dub her his "Christmas angel." Unfortunately, Misty's past has left her with terrible memories of fire, and of Christmastime.

As the two are thrown together again and again, Trey finds himself wanting Misty more and more, and Misty feels stronger and braver when Trey is around. Though their trust grows slowly, their passion for each other is burning hot...