Linda recently attended the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, held every year in early December. This is what Linda has to say: “I always look forward to the event—but this year, it was even more exciting than usual. I was on the Flint Rasmussen Show—Flint is a former rodeo clown (they’re called bull-fighters now), a major radio personality, and one of my favorite people. He’s from my mom’s hometown, Choteau, Montana, which practically makes him kin. My fabulous Harlequin family teamed up with Caesar’s Entertainment for some special appearances and signings at the Paris casino and, of course, there was the rodeo itself—my favorite event being the bull-riding, since my dad was a bull-rider, back in the day. A cowboy has to be real brave—or real crazy—to ride these enormous critters and live to tell the story.

“Why do I love the rodeo so much? Because it represents the Western way of life, and I’m all about that. I love the excitement and the fireworks and the gathering of thousands of good, salt-of-the-earth people under one roof, especially when they sing the National Anthem. I love that cowboys are “tough enough to wear pink” one day of the rodeo—and they all do—to promote a cure for breast cancer.

Heck, I just plain love cowboys, period. And there’ll be a lot of hat at the NFR, as we country types say.”

Watch Jayne Hoogenberk, Harlequin’s Community manager, interview with Linda.