WESTERN, HER OWN WAY
Happy July. God bless America!
I met Micki last year at the Western Writers of America Convention in South Dakota. She’s a fabulous singer and musician and a very generous woman. I knew right away she would be someone you all would love to get to know. She’s definitely Western, her own way, which makes her so special.
So without further ado, let’s meet the talented and beautiful Micki Furman.
I’m kind of an anomaly in the Western genre. For one thing, I live in the South. I write songs, short stories, magazine articles, and I’m at work on a novel. To be truthful, I have starts on four novels but have recently focused my efforts on finishing one that’s set in Waco, Texas, in the mid-to-late 1800s.
I love book research because it means I get to travel out West. I think nothing of taking solo trips of thousands of miles –traipsing through old forts, historic homes and museums, reading roadside historical markers.
I blame my dad, mostly.
“Rusty” Fuhrman was born in North Dakota, son of an Oklahoman. They did some farming but spent much of their time breaking and trading horses until my dad joined the Army at 18. After a couple of years in Korea, he was stationed in Louisiana and met my mother.
Yes, I was raised a Southerner, but with a cowboy in the house. We spent summers at the Fuhrman place in northwestern Minnesota, which happened to lie on part of the Leech Lake Ojibwe reservation. I got to observe firsthand what it meant to raise cattle, chickens, and to ride their prize Quarterhorses.
As a kid, I got on one of them bareback, only to learn the hard way that she’d never been ridden before.
Still have barbed wire scars on my left arm!
My Grandmother Fuhrman took care of foster kids from the reservation so I always had three or four Ojibwe kids for summer playmates. I slept in what had been my father’s tiny bedroom, shelves loaded with old Zane Grey and other Western novels. I snuggled under quilts and read them all.
After a long career in the music business (touring, recording, etc.), with a foray into commercial construction as a project manager, I became interested in literary writing around 2012.
I wrote a couple of Western short stories (as Vonn McKee) that were published by Trail Blazer, one of which, “The Songbird of Seville,” was named a WWA Spur finalist. Since then, I’ve been a short fiction finalist and a best traditional Western song winner for the WWA Spur Award, and my story, “The Run for Ruby Camp,” won the Western Fictioneers’ Peacemaker Award.
The coolest moment was in 2023 when my Western music album, Westbound, was given the Wrangler Award by the National Cowboy Museum and Hall of Fame. I really wish my cowboy daddy and my schoolteacher mom (who was also a writer) had still been around to see that.
Last fall in Wyoming, I went on a week-long cattle drive and I think I’ll be writing about that incredible experience for years to come. I’m always taking mental notes of landscapes, dialogue and character studies.
I’m not kidding when I say that I often get story or song inspiration just by looking at someone’s face. I’ve written about miners, teachers, store owners, entertainers, homesteaders, pioneer kids and, of course, plenty of cowboys.
I’ve had several careers in my lifetime, but Western writing is, hands down, my favorite. I feel like everything I’ve learned and experienced has led me to it.
Connect with Micki and Learn More About Her Music
VonnMcKee.com
https://wolfpackpublishing.com/pages/about-vonn-mckee
I’m so happy Micki joined us today. Drop your questions and reflections in the comments. She’d love to hear from you.
Nicki sounds like a female version of Louis L’Amour. He was from Jamsetown ND. He wrote about life experiences set in the west. He loved spending time in ghost towns mines and where the railroad got started. He was actually trying to rebuild a ghost town to preserve & share the history of the west when he died. His family went with him on his excursions. I have read every book he wrote before his death. His family has published ones he had in the works after his death. Those on the fence about reading. They have also re-released onse he wrote for catalogs & book alogies under a different name. I will not read those(he did publish one book with an idea of what he wrote)however has said in his biography that he would not publish them under his name as he was given an outline on what they wanted him to write. So he didn’t feel they were truly his stories. Even though his mystery stories were good. Only book I haven’t been able to read is one set between the medieval & western era.
Mick is an amazing artist, writer, and woman, Rayleen. She’s a sweet soul with a big heart. Check out her music and books.
So great to read about Micki. I, too, met her at the WWA conference in South Dakota. She is such a genuine person and has the most beautiful voice. Whatever she sings touches your heart. Looking forward to reading her work, too. I wish she and her band would make it to the San Antonio area. I’d go see that gig!
Thank you for taking the time to connect with Micki. I absolutely agree her music touches the heart. I’d see her band too!