A constant question from my readers has been, "How much of this is true?" Many of my stories are based in fact. I really did see a white kangaroo on my ranch. I suspect he escaped from an exotics farm up river. An uncle really did fix a fire truck and try to wash off the front of his house. A cousin really did get in a bar fight much like the one described.

Many other stories are based on news stories and some others are wholly imaginary. I've lived the ranching life and birthed and buried my fair share of goats, God bless their fragile, short lives.

One part of this work of fiction is entirely real: the beauty of Texas in the spring, the desperate struggle to wrench a living from the unforgiving land, the unrelenting work of fencing, feeding, and caring for a ranch, and, of course, the inevitable heartbreak of it all.