Main Character Monday Maggie Gallagher Interview

Welcome to this week’s Main Character Monday interview with Maggie Gallagher. Maggie is the main character in When the Cowboy Rides Away by Molly Noble Bull. Let’s get right to the interview. Maggie, let’s start off with a little bit about who you are.

My name is Maggie Gallagher, and today is May 1, 1880. I live on our family ranch in South Texas about twenty miles from the Gulf of Mexico and forty miles from the Rio Grande River. It is not a big ranch, compared to the huge ranches around here, but at twenty-three thousand acres, it’s big enough for us. We run cattle and horses, and like most local ranchers today, I speak both English and Spanish. In fact Sarah Ann, my ten-year-old sister, speaks Spanish more than English most of the time.

Both of our parents died of a fever several years ago, and my older sister, Sadie, died in childbirth. Besides running the ranch, I take care of Sarah Ann and John Anthony, Sadie’s two-year-old baby boy. We also have an Aunt Violet who lives in Brownsville, Texas, but we don’t get to see her as much as we would like.

Wow. It sounds like you keep busy with family and the ranch. Tell us something about you that readers may find surprising.

I’m only in my early twenties. Nevertheless, I run the ranch as its foreman—or forewoman in my case. Cattle ranch foremen order grown men around all the time; check those fences; round up the herd; it’s time to ship. I have to be tough in order to do my job. But I’m not as tough as I pretend to be, and Alex Lancaster knows it.

Hmm. Alex Lancaster. You’ve caught my interest. But let’s avoid rabbit trails and stick with the original interview plan. What is your favorite book of the Old Testament?

I love the Bible. I read it every day, but I like Genesis best because of all the wonderful stories in it. In fact, I just love to read. I’m trying to get my sister, Sarah, to read the Bible, but that’s not as easy as it might sound.

I teach her here at home along with my other duties, and I love her dearly. But that child has a head as hard as a rock.

I’ve got siblings myself, and I think I’ve probably said the same about them! But maybe all the stories in Genesis will encourage her to get into it. Is there a book of the Bible you have trouble getting through?

Well, the Book of Revelation is pretty hard to understand, but I’m reading it. Slowly!

It can be really confusing. If you could meet anyone from scripture, excluding Jesus, who would it be?

I love them all—Moses, David. I especially like Jacob and his romance with Rachel found in the Book of Genesis, chapter twenty-nine. Beside the Bible, I like to read mysteries, and if there is a love story in it, I like it even better.

All of those are great choices. And I can agree with a good love story. There’s nothing better on a rainy day that curling up with a great romance. Jesus said we are to be His light in the world. What does this mean to you?

As a true believer, I am a part of the Body of Christ, and we have an inner light. It’s up to us to make our lights shine

You said you liked to read about the romance between Jacob and Rachel in the Book of Genesis. Is there a man in your life? Maybe the Mr. Alex Lancaster that you mentioned earlier?

You might not believe this, but Alex and I are just good friends.

That’s interesting. I would’ve guessed it might be a little more than that. But we don’t have time to get into that right now. We have two more questions and some fun questions. If you could leave readers with one message, what would it be?

Jesus is coming soon. He could come today, May 1, 1880, or sometime in the future. Are you ready?

That is a great thought to leave readers with. Now for some fun. Don’t think. Just answer. Dark or Milk Chocolate?

Milk Chocolate

Roses or Daisies?

Roses

Salad or Soup?

Soup

Final question; in three words or less, can you describe Molly Noble Bull?

Mom or Mother.

I want to thank you Maggie Gallagher for joining me for this Main Character Monday interview. And thank you readers, for spending time with us today. Keep reading to find out more about the author of When the Cowboy Rides Away, Molly Noble Bull. 

Meet Molly:

My name is Molly Noble Bull. A recent widow with three grown sons, I am also a Christian novelist. I was born and raised in the ranching country of South Texas, a little over an hour drive from the Mexican border, and my father and grandfather were cattle ranch foremen. I spent part of my growing up years on a sixty thousand acre cattle ranch. It is not surprising that I like to write westerns.

When the Cowboy Rides Away is a historical Christian Western, and it is not new. The novel was first published in 2015 with a different cover, and Scrivenings Press republished it in 2021. The book with its South Texas setting won a contest for published authors in 2016 and placed in another contest that same year. With Brownsville, Texas mentioned in the storyline, When the Cowboy Rides Away has a kind of historical background connection to the Mexican Border and what is happening in America now.

Social Media Links:

In the last few years, I’ve not been as social media active as I might have liked to be due to my late husband’s long illness, but I do have a website, www.mollynoblebull.com. I also have over three thousand friends on Facebook and try to post at least one Bible verse there daily. I sometimes post information regarding my books at my Facebook page as well, and they are available in bookstores and on Amazon, http://bit.ly/mollynoblebull. To buy a copy of When the Cowboy Rides Away, click here.  scrivenings.link/whenthecowboyridesaway