January 12, 2013
Firstly, thank you to my writing pal and fellow CaRWA http://www.calgaryrwa.com member, Victoria Chatham – http://victoriachathamauthor.wordpress.com -for inviting me to participate in this blog hop. I’m on Facebook and on Twitter, but I’ve been remiss in blogging in the latter part of 2012. One of my 2013 goals was to increase the frequency of my blog posts in the New Year. No time like the present.
What is the working title of your book?
In 2012, I published several books in the contemporary romance genre. I’m changing genres in 2013 and currently working on revisions to Book One of my historical western Spirit Creek Series, No More.
Where did the idea come from?
I’ve been an avid reader of historical American west romance for years. The genre is my first love and my writing mentors always said ‘write what you know’. I suppose write what you enjoy qualifies, too. The plot just popped into my head one day.
What genre does your novel fall under?
As I mentioned above, it’s historical American west romance. The story is set in Spirit Creek, a fictional frontier town located south of Miles City in the south-east part of Montana. No More takes place in 1889, the year Montana received its statehood.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it became a movie?
Oh, my. That’s something I’ve never thought about until now. Let’s see… The heroine is a former school teacher and the sheriff’s recent widow. Maggie Burns is left destitute with a four-year-old son to raise alone. So someone with a backbone but motherly, too. Can you imagine Sandra Bullock in calico? As for my hero, Luke Carlyle is a wealthy rancher and widower. Maybe we could pair up Bullock with Keanu Reeves again. Can you visualize Reeves with a six shooter strapped to his hip while riding a tall stallion across prairie rangeland in pursuit of cattle rustlers? 🙂 Maybe not. I think this will require a bit more thought.
What is the one-sentence blurb for the book?
Although left destitute by her late husband’s lies and deceptions, a young mother encounters more trouble than she could imagine after entering into a marriage of convenience for her son’s sake.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Definitely self-published.
How long did it take to get to the final draft of the MS?
Actually, it feels like there’s been a gazillion drafts so far, and I haven’t completed the final draft. The book won’t be released until late spring or early summer.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I think western stories written by my favorite author, Linda Lael Miller. Ms. Miller wrote about the characters (mostly hunky cowboys) in her fictional town of Stone Creek, and I’ve invented a whole collection of Spirit Creek citizens who can’t wait to tell their stories, including a few hunky cowboys of my own.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
When I first started writing, I concentrated on short stories. This book started as an idea for a short story and then evolved from there. After completing several drafts of this first book, the idea for Book Two, No Time, popped into my mind and the notion of turning it into a series grew. To date, I’ve plotted ideas for Book Three and Book Four, and the series could continue for some time. I’ve been working on these books for almost a dozen years, and the citizens of Spirit Creek feel like old friends. Somehow I got sidetracked with contemporary stories, but my ‘friends from Spirit Creek’ will appear in publication in 2013. Finally!
What else about your book might pique a reader’s interest?
Maggie Burns is a mother. Any readers who enjoy stories about women who put their children’s safety and security ahead of their own needs, no matter the consequences, will enjoy reading this book. And hopefully, the entire series as each subsequent book is released. It seems the men from Spirit Creek keep marrying the schoolteachers, and finding suitable replacements is becoming a full-time job for the chairman of the school committee. There’s no telling who he might unknowingly hire.
I hope you enjoyed this blog. Please continue to mosey on down the blog hop trail and check out fellow author of western historical romance, Charlene Birt Raddon at http://www.charleneraddon.blogspot.com/
