The "Big Screen"
Breaking into the Hollywood scene takes a level of dedication I simply didn’t have at the time. My priorities were elsewhere—first and foremost on being a good wife to the man of my dreams, and a devoted mother to our two beautiful daughters. Hollywood could wait.
Life was already full and rewarding. I was producing three television series, one of which focused on saving threatened and endangered species. Our family was deeply involved in the Quarter Horse industry, ranching, and a horse breeding operation. We also raised and showed Rottweilers, and I was actively competing for an NCHA Non-Pro World title—while both daughters were showing as well.
On top of that, I was a NAUI/SSI Advanced Open Water and Nitrox instructor, passionate about scuba diving, underwater photography, and videography. Between the travel and our many pursuits, there was little time—or desire—to chase a film career. The truth is, my heart wasn’t in it. To succeed in the movie industry, you have to want it more than anything else in the world, and my heart was already spoken for.
In 1987, I went to the bookstore to research the history of Parker County, Texas—the area where the early Wills Ranch stood for 45 years alongside Hwy 377 between Benbrook and Granbury. On the back acreage near the creek, I discovered several arrowheads, which sparked my curiosity about the region’s past. That led me to explore the history of Parker County, and before long, I found myself surrounded by books and historical records about Nocona & Quanah, TX., and Parker's Fort near Groesbeck, TX.
After browsing through two titles, Ride the Wind and Lonesome Dove (before the TV series), my search took me to the Dallas Library, where I read preserved chronicles about the real people behind these stories—particularly the Parker family, who were captured during Native American raids on white settlements in the 1860s. One such raid occurred at Parker’s Fort, and as I followed the accounts of those who survived—children and adults alike—I became deeply interested in their lives, their hardships, and their resilience as captives among various tribes. What I learned inspired the movie treatment I wrote titled Suvate which is Comanche for "it is finished." I initially thought a 90 min. movie when I first submitted it to my agent, who initially turned it down because "Hollywood wasn't doing that genre anymore" adding that my script was too brutal, so I hired another agent who submitted it to Geffen. I sent that letter to Bill, & you can see his response. By then, I was too busy doing PBS nature programs to go back to that heart-wrenching script.
I’ve been a prolific photographer, videographer, author, and scriptwriter for as long as I can remember—and I pray that passion never fades. I began my career in television, writing hundreds of feature scripts for Criterion Productions’ On the Right Track horse racing series and their groundbreaking Travel Show, both among the first original programs to air on cable. After learning the ropes, I struck out on my own and produced three popular weekly TV series: Water Sports Weekly (cable), Trinity Meadows TV (Gaylord Super Station), and post-production for Hoof Beats (Gaylord Super Station).
To say it was exhausting would be an understatement. Managing every aspect of production—from executive producing to writing, filming, and editing—while balancing my life as a wife and mother was no small feat, especially at a time when women rarely filled those roles in television.
What I loved most was writing and producing nature programs for PBS and escaping into the imaginary worlds of the screenplays I wrote for the big screen. In many ways, I was ahead of my time. It wasn’t until much later that Taylor Sheridan’s powerful storytelling on Paramount echoed the same raw, realistic style I was creating in the 1980s—scripts my agent, Bill Kerwin, once deemed “too brutal” for the era. My work even predated Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves and the TV series Lonesome Dove—one of the very books that first inspired me to write Suvate. Sheridan’s Tulsa King reminds me of The Ragman, his 1800s epic mirrors Suvate, and Yellowstone carries traces of Yesterday’s Cowboy.
If there’s one lesson I’ve taken from all my professional adventures, it’s the importance of timing. In truth, it’s much like riding, training, and showing cutting horses—it’s all about timing.
And with that, I can honestly say that my timing for founding Justapedia couldn’t have been more perfect.