Charles Clay Smith publishes first book: ‘Rodeo Gypsy’

Charles Clay Smith of Van Buren Township has completed a novel, “Rodeo Gypsy,” that was recently published by Covenant Books.
Smith, a graduate of Michigan State University, served as a Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputy and then with Airport Police for a total of 30 years as a police officer.
Over the years, he said he wrote hundreds of reports and honed his writing skills to author stories without exaggeration or embellishment, concisely and to the point.
He first wrote the story as a screenplay. He envisioned it becoming a movie and in his imagination, actress Jennifer Lawrence who starred in “The Hunger Games,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” and many other films, would play the lead.
But he couldn’t find a script agent to get it to a movie-maker, so he changed the format into book form.
He said the story in his book is about one woman’s journey to recover and heal from her grief following three life-changing losses that lead her down a spiral of despair and grief.
Susan Donnely Rowe has suffered three great losses in her life: The abandonment by her mother when she was 12, the sudden death of her father two years later, and then the death of her husband who was killed by a bull in a rodeo bull-riding competition.
She and her husband were about to leave their rodeo life, where they traveled the rodeo circuit like Western gypsies, and settle down to life on their ranch and have their children.
After her husband’s loss, Susan suffers a complete breakdown and loses herself in a spiral of grief and depression. The story is about her journey out of her grief and depression and, how after one week with new people who came into her life, she fought her way back.
Smith said he hopes that readers will enjoy this story because in many ways, this story is about all of us.
Covenant Books is an international Christian-owned-and-operated publishing house based in South Carolina. It specializes in all genres of work which appeal to the Christian market.
Readers can purchase “Rodeo Gypsy” at bookstores everywhere or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kindle.