Wide Open Spaces Paperback - 2014

Cadee Brystal had forgotten all about reading for fun. A full-time job, husband and small children, she simply had run out of time. The business she and her husband owned and the hobby farm they maintained both demanded extra effort and the very notion of reading for fun slipped away. Recreational reading rebounded into Cadee's life when the couple's older daughter wanted to read a popular series about vampires. Cadee began reading the books to see if they were appropriate, and rediscovered her own love of reading. Soon she was devouring novels, and family members began to tease Cadee, saying, "You should be writing them, not reading them!" Characters formed in Cadee's mind and she began recording the scenes they played out. She would awaken early and compose the stories for an hour or so before the rest of the household would begin the day. Cadee grew up in a small town in South Dakota, and after earning her college degrees in agriculture and journalism, she found her place on the staff of a large weekly newspaper in her home state. Cadee says she loves the pace of her work. "It has a rhythm and a cycle, but each day is new and different." While she does not see herself leaving the newspaper staff, Cadee reports that writing fiction gives her a creative outlet that had been missing. In addition to writing fiction, Cadee loves horses and most other domestic animals. She and her husband enjoy gardening on a large scale and spending time with family members. "I want to assure readers that if they choose to purchase one of my stories, they will not be shocked by sexual content, drinking or partying, or foul language," Cadee says. "There's no need to panic if your kids or your mother start paging through my stories." Cadee strives to deliver clean, uplifting stories, with Christian messages. But insists that there must be more to the story than boy-meets-girl. "There has to be substance to the plot. The characters need to grow and develop and the storyline needs to keep the readers alert," she says.