Dare to Dream

At the start of the 1940s, Montana cowgirl Nettie Brady Moser has overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles on the journey toward her dream of being a professional rodeo rider. In the 1920s, she struggled against her family’s expectations and social prejudice against rodeo cowgirls. During the Great Depression, falling in love and marrying Jake Moser, then raising their son Neil took priority over rodeos, as did the constant struggle in search of grass for their horses in the drought-stricken dust bowl years. And then when Nettie did resume riding, she was devastated by the death of her friend and mentor, Marie Gibson, in a rodeo accident.

In the spring of 1941, Nettie, now 36, has grieved the loss of her friend. To regain her heart and spirit, Nettie is determined to ride again at a Cheyenne, Wyoming. To her dismay, the male-dominated Rodeo Association of America (RAA) enforces its rule barring women from riding rough stock and denies her the chance to ride. Her fury at the discrimination can’t change things for women-yet.

Heidi M. Thomas grew up on a working ranch in eastern Montana, riding and gathering cattle for branding and shipping. She had parents who taught her a love of books and a grandmother who rode bucking stock in rodeos. She followed her dream of writing with a journalism degree from the University of Montana and then wrote for the Daily Missoulian for several years and did freelance work over a period of 15 years for a number of magazines, including Montana Magazine, Front Sight Magazine, and the Business Monthly. Her first novel, Cowgirl Dreams, won an EPIC Award and the USA Book News Best Book Finalist award.