Jane Little Botkin
Author Interview - Jane Little Botkin
Author of The Pink Dress, A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen
Growing up in West Texas, Jane Little Botkin didn’t have designs on becoming a beauty queen. But not long after joining a pageant on a whim in college, she became the first protégé of El Paso’s Richard Guy and Rex Holt, known as the “Kings of Beauty”—just as the 1970’s counterculture movement began to take off.
A pink, rose-covered gown—a Guyrex creation—symbolizes the fairy tale life that young women in Jane’s time imagined beauty queens had. Its near destruction exposes reality: the author’s failed relationship with her mother, and her parents’ failed relationship with one another. Weaving these narrative threads together is the Wild West notion that anything is possible, especially do-overs.
The Pink Dress awakens nostalgia for the 1960s and 1970s, the era’s conflicts and growth pains. A common expectation that women went to college to get “MRS” degrees—to find a husband and become a stay-at-home wife and mother—often prevailed. How does one swim upstream against this notion among feminist voices that protest “If You Want Meat, Go to a Butcher!” at beauty pageants, two flamboyant showmen, and a developing awareness of self? Torn between women’s traditional roles and what women could be, Guyrex Girls evolved, as did the author.
As far as Guyrex goes, the two men went on to produce six Miss USAs, all Miss Texases, presenting them at the Miss Universe pageant in western dress, i.e. cowgirls! This helped contribute to how the world views the United States, even today.
Author Interview - Jane Little Botkin
Author I draw inspiration from:
C. L. Sonnichsen, western nonfiction, such as Tularosa. Willa Cather, western fiction, My Antonia. I definitely prefer books on the West or set in the West. I went through a Civil War phase growing up, again because of some family history, but as an adult, I have no more interest. And, after teaching British literature to seniors for thirty years, I'm burned out there as well though I can still recite Chaucer's prologue to Canterbury Tales in Middle English!
Author Interview - Jane Little Botkin | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
Anywhere. I always have stacks of books placed everywhere I stop to relax. I am usually reading four or five books at a time. Usually only one fiction and the rest nonfiction for some type of book research I am doing. At night, I have my Kindle by my bed.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
This isn't really me. (I'm sorry!)
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
Perhaps third grade. I wrote a story about a captive sparrow that was published in a local small-town newspaper. Later my cat ate the bird. :( That notion, writing, was forgotten until I was 58 years old and retiring from teaching 30 years. My first book was published the year I turned 65. I'm working on my fourth book now and writing magazine articles. My husband says I should never have taught but started out as a writer. I disagree. I needed the experience of teaching American and British literature, short stories and novels.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I normally write scholarly nonfiction, so I prefer the endurance of a hardback-the solidity of all the work that went into its production. Plus, I am a bibliophile. I want my books to live on. With that said, my newest book, a paperback, feels so good in my hands, not like other paperback books I have. Personal prejudice or a true tangible difference? I do enjoy reading a Kindle for the comfort it brings my eyes. As for audiobooks, with new AI voices, I'm slightly repelled.
The last book I read:
No Gun Man of Texas by Laura Hamner. An old biography about Charles Goodnight. I am currently writing Mary Ann Goodnight's biography. She is responsible for saving the Southern Bison herd from extinction. I tend to read everything I can about my subjects while I research. I found Hamner's 1935 book fascinating though she gives little credit to Mary Ann Goodnight. A sign of the times!
Author Interview - Jane Little Botkin | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Definitely computer! I can't read my own handwriting! I dream my story line, threads or themes, etc. My brain turns on around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, even as I doze. I keep a pad near my bed to write these down. Other times, when I get ideas, I enter them on the calendar on my phone. Later I enter all these notes on to my computer. I used to think I was a "pantser" when it came to planning a book, but I've decided that is not true at all (writing by the seat of my pants). Truth is, I am OCD! The outline for my next book is almost 300 pages long, so I may be an overachiever instead. Of course, I'll cull my work down, but I don't want to miss any idea, connection, personal bit of info about my subject, or theme along the way. Once I start actually writing, I can't stop except to eat and sleep. Definitely not healthy!
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Now this is hard because I rarely read fiction books. So "characters" don't really fit with my interest. But I would like to have met Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird. I would love to how she was able to weave the themes she had in her book. I taught her book for thirty years, sometimes five times a day. And I still was floored at the end. This book was really the only one that made a difference in Lee's life. I'd like to ask her why.
Author Interview - Jane Little Botkin | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
Being an author is my dream career and my second chance at doing something that matters in life! My first career was teaching high school English for 30 years. I always thought my students wrote better than I did. Some of them are my biggest fans today.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
Probably the 1920s. I like the freedom of expression - flapper faze. With that said, I was a hippie in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Women's lib movement, etc. Kind of the same attitude as the 1920s. Today everything is boring. There are no barriers, no lines to cross, no shame.
Place I’d most like to travel:
Alaska. I have a family connection to its history--the gold rush in 1898. I never knew my great-grandfather because he died on the Klondike Trail. I'd like to walk his story.
My signature drink:
Margarita, of course! I'm originally an El Paso girl. The margarita was invented at the Kentucky Club in the 1930s in Juarez, Mexico, El Paso's sister city. BUT, I want my margarita dirty. Toss in some green olives! Otherwise, water is my choice of beverage.
Favorite artist:
I change favorites all the time. My music is eclectic - Van Halen and Jim Brickman. Led Zepplin and Lady Gaga. New York Philharmonic and Vaughan Williams. Johnny Cash and The Piano Guys. Too interested to focus on one artist. I'm always interested in learning more, listening to new music, and appreciating new artists. Some of my best friends are musicians. I love supporting them.
Number one on my bucket list:
I've already traveled much of the United States, Europe, Africa, Mexico, Canada, and Central America. I'm too chicken to skydive (like some folks want to do), but I did zip line ten miles in Costa Rica despite my fear of heights! Honestly, I'm living my bucket list right now. Writing in an isolated cabin in New Mexico's White Mountain Wilderness! Heavy snow six months of the year and wonderful wildflowers and wildlife the other six months. After a life of schedules, deadlines, and traffic congestion, I've found bliss on a mountain where there is "slow living."
Anything else you'd like to add:
I am a western historian and writer in my second life. I love writing historical biographies, and I love searching rabbit trails regarding my topics. I guess I live to research! It's truly an addiction. During Covid, I couldn't leave home to research. The result is that I wrote about another topic I knew intimately--The Pink Dress! I still couldn't help myself, however, in that when writing this book, I looked at the historical and cultural aspects of the setting as an outsider. That makes this memoir different from other memoirs, generally. And, perhaps, these aspects enrich the memoir. At least I hope so!
Thank you for supporting authors!
Find more from the author:
Website https://janelittlebotkin.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaneLittleBotkin/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jane_l_botkin
About Jane Little Botkin:
Author Interview - Jane Little Botkin
National award-winning author Jane Little Botkin melds personal narratives of American families, often with compelling stories of western women. Her books have won numerous awards in biography, western historical nonfiction, and women’s studies, including two Spur Awards, two Caroline Bancroft History Prizes, the Barbara Sudler Award for best book about the American West by a woman. Finalist awards include Women Writing the West’s Willa Literary Award, the Colorado Book Award, Oklahoma Book Award, High Plains Book Award, and the Sarton Book Award.
Recently completed, The Pink Dress, Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen will release September 10, 2024 (She Writes Press pub/Simon & Schuster distributor). Jane is currently working on The Breath of a Buffalo, a biography of Mary Ann (Molly) Goodnight, tentatively scheduled for release in early 2026.
A member of Western Writers of America since 2017, Jane sits on its board of directors and serves as vice president. She also judges entries for the WWA's prestigious Spur Award, reviews new releases, and writes articles for various magazines.
A late-bloomer, Jane served as a public-school teacher for thirty years before turning to historical investigation and writing. In 2008 the Texas state legislature honored her career in education by formal resolution. Now she blissfully escapes into her literary world in the remote White Mountain Wilderness near Nogal, New Mexico.
