Local Woman’s ‘Red Dirt’ Book Series Takes Readers Back in Time

GREENFIELD – Ever since its release earlier this year, Brooke Cowan’s “Red Dirt Paradise” has been entertaining Blaine County readers with a nostalgic portrait of young love and rock ‘n’ roll in the 1980s.

Cowan, a Greenfield native who set her debut novel in the places she grew up, recently sat down with the Watonga Republican to talk about “Red Dirt Paradise,” how she got started writing, what inspired her story and the books to come.

The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about growing up around here, and what you do now.

I was born over by Greenfield, and went to school here in Watonga. My grandparents farm, and I've always worked for them. I love it, and I still work for them. My husband and I, we've kind of taken over the farm, so we kind of do everything. My dad helps, still. I love the lifestyle. I wouldn't have it any other way.

How did you start writing?

Really, I've always liked to write little songs and little poems here and there. Even when I was in elementary school. I remember the first poem I wrote was to my grandpa, probably in the fifth or sixth grade, and it's still hanging on his wall today, so that's pretty cool.

I didn't major in English or anything. I went to SWOSU and majored in criminal justice. Never really thought about writing or anything. I mean, it's just something I've always done, just because I like doing it, as a hobby.

I have a friend that writes. She kind of inspired me to write more, because that's just really all she does. So I got to thinking about it more, and I was on the tractor one day. It had been a long day. I was just listening to the songs on the radio, and they were kind of just playing through my mind like a picture show, like a movie. One song came on by Eric Church, and I thought, "This would make a really good movie. Or a book. Maybe I'll write a book."

So I came up with the characters right then, and stumbled on the storyline later. That's just kind of how it happened.

Are you a big reader as well?

I am. I'm not a huge reader, not like a huge bookworm. But I do read, I read a lot of nonfiction. A lot of autobiographies, just learning about different people and their stories.

I read some Nicholas Sparks, Carolyn Brown novels, that kind of thing. I'm a romance junkie.

When did you finish "Red Dirt Paradise"?

I started it in 2016, and I wrote the entire series which was four books, to begin with. Then I just kind of sat it aside and started reading craft books, because it wasn't great. My first draft was horrible, that's just how it is.

So I just took the time and read craft books. Steven King's "The Craft" was a big one. I just studied the skills, and the writing voice and the style. And I wrote a few other stories, half-finished. I'll probably never publish them — or I may go back to it, who knows?

Then I had my son in 2020, so last year. And I took this series back, started on it, re-wrote them, and kind of just fixed them. I condensed it to three books. I'm working on the third one right now. The second one is being beta read.

What kind of feedback have you been getting since this came out?

I've been getting some pretty good feedback. A lot of people say it's nostalgic, and it takes them back. Especially if they grew up in the '80s, they really like it. Even people I graduated with, obviously we didn't go to school in the '80s, but they still like it. I think it resonates with everyone, just because it's smalltown romance, and this is a small town. People have been through a lot of what my characters go through.

Why did you decide to set your books in the '80s, and how did you get the information to make that realistic?

I love the '80s. The music, the books, everything about the '80s, and I always have. Even when I was little, I was classic rock and old movies all the way.

My dad grew up in the '80s, and he's a terrific storyteller. Just the best. So I incorporated a bunch of his stories. He went to Geary. I wish I could see the '80s through his eyes. What he lived through, it's fascinating the stories he tells. I wanted to go back there myself, so I just thought I'll set it in the '80s so I can kind of live those times and show other people those times, too. My dad helped a lot with this book.

Why did you decide to set it in real places?

Honestly, I didn't even think about setting it anywhere else. Just because I know this area, I love this area, I can describe this area. I think it's really fun, because a lot of the places are kind of fictitious. Like in Greenfield, obviously it's a little bit bigger in the book. So it's not all based on real things and real events. There's some fiction in there. But I just, I love these small towns. They're just my heart and soul, and I wanted to set the book there. I didn't think about setting it anywhere else.

Are you going to continue writing after the Red Dirt series is over?

Oh, yeah. I can't even imagine not writing now. Every single day I do it. I love it, it's my passion.

What's your process?

I brainstorm while I work on the tractor. My head's in the clouds. Just plotting storylines, thinking up characters. They're talking all the time, back and forth conversations.

When I'm on the tractor, I think of certain scenes, put them in the notes on my phone, and then at night I'll go back and edit them. I'll have the first draft — which is obviously terrible. I do three or four drafts before I send it to a beta reader, and I have probably five or six of them. They'll just give me feedback about it — what they liked, didn't like, what didn't make sense, plot holes. Anything and everything.

And then I'll go back and edit, then send it to another reader. Some stuff they tell me I keep, some I drop or change. So I do that for a while.

When it comes to publishing, I self-publish. I didn't go through an agent or anything. The reason I did that was because I wanted to do them my way.

This series is a little different in that it actually jumps genres. So like, the first one could be considered young adult — it is considered young adult — and the second one is adult. It's very dark in some places, and very intense, and I don't think I could ever find an agent who would want to deal with that.

Are these characters coming back from the first book?

Yes. It's all the same characters, and there's some new ones. It jumps three years in the future, so they're like 20, 21, going through hard stuff. Real stuff. I didn't sugarcoat any of it. It will be interesting releasing it, because it's such a different read from "Red Dirt Paradise." It's told from Cass's point of view.

I wanted to do it my way. I didn't want to be put in a box where I could or couldn't say this or that; I just wanted to write from my heart. My dad has helped me a lot with the second book. He's actually reading it now. I won't release it until he OKs it, basically. I'm excited for it.

What's the second book called?

"Red Dirt Heartache."

When will it come out?

Probably late spring or early summer. Next year sometime. I don't know when; it's a long process, and it's going to be a hard book for me to release, anyway, just because it's so deep and touches on a lot of really hard subjects to discuss and talk about.

How much of your personal experience goes in these books?

A lot. I'm a lot like Austin and I'm a lot like Cass, too. Austin's love for this place. Some of the things in the first book, I've lived through that — but a lot of people have lived through that. It's stuff we all do.

Like I said, the second one is based on a lot of my dad's experiences, things he's lived to tell about. It's based a lot on me and my dad, honestly.

If someone wants to read "Red Dirt Paradise," how can they find it?

Amazon, Petals and Pearls here in town, Langston's in the Stockyards in the city, and the Lazy Longhorn in Geary.