Okay folks, today we have one of my favorite western romance authors visiting with us today! Please help me give a warm welcome to Carolyn Brown!
Good Morning, everyone! Thank you, Kimberly, for
inviting me to visit here today. It’s only a week until Mistletoe Cowboy
hits the book stores and I’m so excited about it. Wouldn’t it be fun to find a
cowboy like Creed under your Christmas tree?
KL: What inspired you to become a
western romance author?
CB: Write
about what you know. That’s what folks tell us and I believe it. If I tried to
write about a chef in New York City,
it would come across as fake and believe me readers can spot a fake in the
first paragraph. I have written both contemporary and historical books, series
and stand alone titles in both, and somehow the rancher or cowboy seems to come
through in all of them. It’s what I know and love. It’s where I live and what I
see on a daily basis. I was inspired to write romance because it’s all about
emotion. Whether historical, contemporary, regency or paranormal, it’s the
emotion in the book that touches the reader. If an author can make a reader feel
those emotions—tears, laughter, anger, fear—they’ve succeeded in their mission.
Cowboys are usually pretty good at touching reader’s emotions!
KL: Do you ever bring events that have
happened from your life experiences into your novels?
CB: Of
course. My life experiences, my step-father’s (he ran moonshine in prohibition
days), my granny’s (she was a young bride when the flu epidemic hit in 1919),
my granddaughter’s (she was scared on the first day of kindergarten). We use
what we have and what we know. We dress it up, dress it down, change the names
but it all goes back to writing what we know. Yes, I’ve been rolled in the snow
but no, I have not been skinny dipping with a handsome cowboy (I kept my
bathing suit on).
KL: If you had to pick one of your books
(or series) to be made into a movie, which would you choose and why? Do you
have any particular actors & actresses in mind for the leading roles?
CB: I would
love to see the Spikes & Spurs made into a movie or even a mini-series.
Since I was asked to do a casting call for Love Drunk Cowboy and Red’s
Hot Cowboy previously, let’s put out a casting call for Mistletoe Cowboy
today. Timothy Olymphant could play Creed. I love his swagger and smile.
Katherine Heigl’s would be perfect for Sage’s role. The dynamics between those
two would be awesome.
KL: How do you come up with your
stories? Do you carefully plan each detail out before you start writing or are
you a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of writer?
CB: I try to
do that detail stuff but it never works. My characters work with me on the
first chapter and by chapter two they’ve tossed all the details out in the yard
and taken over. They tell me how the story goes and what to write. And they’re
right demanding. They can and will wake me up out of a dead sleep to tell me
that I wrote the last scene wrong and need to fix it before I go on.
KL: Mistletoe Cowboy comes out in
October. What can readers expect to see from you in this novel?
CB: The title
says that it’s a Christmas book. They will see a match making grandmother on a
long distance mission to make her granddaughter, Sage, find true love. They’ll
see mistletoe temptation every time Sage turns around. And a sexy cowboy with a
killer smile. Put them all together for three weeks in a violent winter storm
that closes the roads into the Palo
Duro Canyon
and cuts off the power, shake well, and see what happens.
KL: Were there any particular scenes
or chapters of Mistletoe Cowboy that you enjoyed writing?
CB: I loved
the scene when they meet for the first time. He thinks he’s got it made. There
is no way that she can get to the ranch with the roads closed. She thinks her
grandmother can’t possibly get out of the canyon with the snow storm in full
blast. Surprise, surprise when he barrels in the back door looking like the
abominable snow man and the ugliest dog on the face of the earth dashes in
ahead of him.
KL: After Mistletoe Cowboy you have
Just a Cowboy and His Baby coming out in December. Would you care to share
anything about that novel?
CB: This is Gemma’s
story. She’s the youngest sibling in the O’Donnell family (Love Drunk
Cowboy and Darn Good Cowboy Christmas) and she’s determined to be
the second woman to win the buckle and the money for saddle bronc busting in Las Vegas at the Pro
Rodeo competition. Only trouble is she’s going up against Trace Coleman, who is
just as determined to win so he can buy his dream ranch. Only one can win and
it’s a fight to the finish, even when a baby gets dropped right in their laps
during the rodeo tour.
KL: What do you have in store for your
readers next year? Please say more sexy cowboys:-)
CB: Oh, yes.
Keep your boots on and your hat handy because there are definitely more cowboys
on the way. A brand new set of single titles will debut in the spring when a
billionaire cowboy buys a bride. Then in October there’s a cowboy who did not
believe in internet dating until he spent a year in Kuwait and comes home at Christmas
to find a big surprise waiting for him. And after that we’ll finish up the
Spikes & Spurs with Dewar’s story as he and his cousins drive a hundred
head of cattle from north Texas
to Dodge City
in a reenactment for a reality television show. AND…I love that word because it
means more! My very first women’s fiction book will be published by Sourcebooks
in March—The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society Jubilee. Full of humor, it’s
about four friends who stick together through tough times in Cadillac, Texas.
And now it’s time for some “just
for fun” questions:-)
KL: If you were stranded on a deserted
island and had the luxury of having 3 books, and only 3, which 3 would you
choose and why?
CB: Oh, my! Only three? Okay, I’ll have
to choose carefully. The Bible because it’ll give me hours and hours of reading
instead of just one day. Cold Sassy Tree because it makes me laugh. And Scarlett
because I really wanted Scarlett O’Hara to have a happy ever after.
KL: List 5 things you absolutely
cannot live without:
CB: As in
food: doughnuts, coffee, hamburgers, warm chocolate chip cookies and milk. As
in other than food: books, friends, books, family and books.
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MISTLETOE COWBOY
'Tis the season for...
A matchmaking grandmother on a long distance mission...
Mistletoe temptation in every doorway...
And a sexy cowboy with a killer smile.
When Grand Presley agrees to sell Creed Riley the Rockin' C
Ranch for a song at Christmas time, he
can hardly believe his good fortune. There's just one little catch...her tantalizing granddaughter, Sage, is
part of the plan.
Please enjoy this excerpt from Mistletoe Cowboy!
Her hand flew up to her pounding heart and she backed up against the cabinet.
The abominable snowman pushed his way into the house behind something that was either the ugliest dog on the face of the earth or an alien from a faraway planet. The huge thing set a galvanized bucket of milk on the table and a basket of eggs right beside it before he stomped his feet on the rug under the coat rack. The dog stopped in the middle of the kitchen floor and shook from shoulder to tail, sending even more snow flying everywhere in her kitchen. When it melted there would be water everywhere and her socks would be soaked.
“Who the hell are you? Get out of here and take that miserable mutt with you,” Sage said.
Creed removed his old felt cowboy hat and pulled off the face mask. His nose was scarlet and his dark eyelashes dusted with snowflakes. And of all the crazy things, there was a spring of mistletoe stuck in the snow on his shoulder as if it had grown there.
“I’m Creed Riley, ma’am, and I reckon if you want to throw your dog out in the snow that’s your business, but I’m not that mean or cruel to animals. And I’m here to stay since I’m the cowboy who bought this ranch. I guess you’d be Sage Presley. I didn’t think you’d make it home in this blizzard. I heard the roads were closed off.”
He was well over six feet tall because Sage had to look up to him. His brown hair was a bit too long, and his mossy green eyes were rimmed with black lashes topped with heavy dark brows. His deep voice held a definite Texas drawl.
She backed up to the cabinet and braced herself against it. “Where is Grand? Is she behind you?”
“No, left a day early since the storm was coming in. I expect she’s in Pennsylvania by now where it’s fifty degrees and sunshiny today. Crazy, ain’t it? We get a blizzard and the east coast is downright pleasant. At least it was yesterday when she called to tell me that she’d made it fine and to tell you so when you got home. Guess her cell phone’s battery was dead and her sister didn’t have one so she called on a pay phone from the airport.”
Sage rolled her eyes. “You have got to be kiddin’ me!”
“No, ma’am! That’s the truth and that’s really not my dog. I’m bringing my two huntin’ dogs out here soon as we make this sale legal, but this old boy just appeared out of nowhere this morning and rushed right in with me. I figured he belonged on the property. He wasn’t none too pretty when he was covered in snow, but it was covering a multitude of ugly, wasn’t it?”
Sage crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.
He ignored her and started peeling away layers of clothing, taking the time to hang them on a coat rack just inside the back door. He didn’t stop until he was down to jeans, socks, and a red and black flannel shirt.
What have you done, Grand? she thought.
The blizzard would end. The sun would come out and melt the snow. Electricity would be restored along with power lines and cell phone coverage. And Sage could have talked her out of the sale a hell of a lot easier face to face than over the telephone—if they ever got service back in the canyon.
This was Sage’s home and it wasn’t supposed to be sold to some rank stranger, even if his green eyes were sexy as hell with snow hanging on the lashes like that fake stuff out of a can that she and Grand sprayed on the windows when she was a little girl.
“Coffee smells good. Reckon it’s about ready?” he asked. “Thank goodness for a full propane tank. Miz Ada told me that she has a standing order with the propane company out of Claude. And you can wipe that mean look off your face, lady. We’re stuck here together until this ends. I’m not real happy about being holed up with you either, but it’s the way it is and we might as well make the best of it.”
Her eyes narrowed and her brow wrinkled.
You want your face to freeze with that nasty look on it? Her grandmother’s words came back to haunt her.
“Number one, Mr. Riley, you don’t tell me how to look or what to do. Number two, Mr. Riley, Grand won’t ever sell you this place, so don’t get too comfortable.”
“Rule number one, lady, I speak my mind, so get used to it. Rule number two, I’m settling in and getting comfortable because I think she will sell the ranch to me. The deed will say that you get to live on the ranch as long as you want when the sale is sealed, signed, and finished. And back to rule number one, darlin’, if you want your face to freeze like that, then just hold on to that nasty look,” Creed said.
Her face softened, but she wasn’t ready to smile and welcome the damn cowboy. Not yet, probably not ever.
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About Carolyn Brown
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Carolyn
Brown has published more than sixty books. Her books have been reprinted in
large print, translated into foreign languages, reprinted in Manga, and three
are now available in audio books. She and her Husband, a retired English
teacher who does not read her work until it is published, live in southern Oklahoma. They have
three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young forever...and
two tom cats who rule the back yard.
__________________________________________________________________
Giveaway!
Wow, I don't know about y'all but I'm excited to read this book! Lucky for you Carolyn will be giving away 2 paperback copies of Mistletoe Cowboy to two random commentors on this post! So if you want to read more of Creed and Sage's story leave a comment below for your chance to win! I'll draw the winners and announce them on October 3rd! Good luck to all who enter!
And Carolyn, thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog today! It's an honor having you here:-)
