Q. how did you come to write Bull Rider?

A. Writing about rodeo is a natural for me because I live in Nevada with horses and cows across the street and cowboys for neighbors. I can't remember when I saw my first horse show or rodeo. Bull Rider started out as a book for very young readers about Cam O'Mara who wanted to be a bull rider but his mother said no. But it was the brother I created for Cam - Ben, who was injured in Iraq - whose story I kept coming back to. When I figured out that Bull Rider was the story of the two brothers, I knew it needed to be a book for older readers and the book you know began to take shape.