FIT TO BE TIED - Robin Lee Hatcher - Free Book

I've been looking forward to this interview. Welcome back, Robin Lee. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

For my historical romances, it’s because I’m a romantic at heart and history has always been a passion of mine, going all the way back to junior high school. Combining the two is fun for me and hopefully for the reader as well. For my contemporary women’s fiction, it’s because God has been so gracious to me in a life where I’ve stumbled a lot. I want to share that with readers, to maybe cast a little bit of light onto their paths.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

I would have to name two of them, the days my daughters were born. When I look at the beautiful women, wives, and mothers they have become, I always realize that no matter how many times I messed up as a mom, I must have done a few things right.

I know what you mean about that. How has being published changed your life?

I have been published for nearly 26 years, so it’s kind of hard to remember how it changed my life. {{grin}} Seriously, becoming a published authors opened doors for me to know and become friends with so many different people—writers, editors, agents. It caused me to begin traveling more (I need to visit seven more states to be able to say I’ve been to them all). It opened doors for speaking engagements; leading women’s retreats is absolutely a favorite thing for me to do.

I love the opportunity to really become friends with people in the industry, too. What are you reading right now?

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire, the sequel to Wicked: The Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West which I read about 14 years ago. I’m a big fan of The Wizard of Oz, and I loved Maguire’s inventive spin on Elphaba (the green-skinned girl who became the Wicked Witch). I’ve been meaning to read Son of a Witch ever since I heard of its release and finally got around to it. I’m enjoying it, although I wish I’d reread Wicked first.

I’m also reading/studying the textbook, Grasping God’s Word by Duvall and Hays. It’s a course meant to teach students to go deeper, deeper, and deeper in their study and reading of the Bible. Challenging!

I love a good spiritual challenge. What is your current work in progress?

I’m awaiting the revision letter for A Matter of Character (Daphne’s story), the third and final book of the Sisters of Bethlehem Springs series. Next up is a stand-alone old-fashioned western romance, followed by a new historical romance series that is still in the fuzzy stage.

What would be your dream vacation?

A lengthy trip to visit England, Ireland, and Sweden, the countries of my ancestry. And then, just for good measure, a nice long stay in Tuscany.

I, too, have Irish and Swedish ancestry. How do you choose your settings for each book?

Most of my books are set in Idaho. I love living here and enjoy letting others get a glimpse of the beautiful country that makes up this state.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

I ran lots of people through my mind when I came to this question. I could think of several people on the world stage, especially some politicians, who I would like to meet. But to tell you the truth, I’m pretty fed up with the whole lot of them and I think I would spend the evening giving any one of them a piece of my mind. It wouldn’t be a fun evening for either one of us.

Then I realized that I would most like to spend an evening with Beth Moore. I’d love to pick her brain on her favorite study tools and how she goes about writing her Bible studies.

She does have a special gift. What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

A couple of years ago, I took up knitting again after a 25 year break from it. And last Christmas I invested in a really nice camera and have hopes of becoming a reasonably good amateur photographer.

At ACFW national conference, I was talking to Camy Tang and a couple of other people, and I started knitting Victorian lace when I got home. What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Not letting life distract me from getting the behind in the chair and the words on the paper. The only way I know to overcome it is to say “No!”

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Read, read, read and write, write, write. For a novelist, no reading goes to waste, be it history, fiction, biographies, even articles in magazines or the dictionary. A novelist needs knowledge about all kinds of things and must be a student of the human condition. As for the second part, I firmly believe that a writer learns far more from the act of writing than they will ever learn in a class or workshop or from reading a how-to book. You need to write a book, then write another book, then write another book.

Tell us about the featured book?

Fit To Be Tied is Cleo Arlington’s story. Cleo is one of those characters who I fell in love with the instant I met her. I knew readers would become attached to her as they read Gwen’s story (they’re fraternal twins) in A Vote of Confidence. The trick was discovering who would be the perfect hero for the novel. I found him in Sherwood Statham, an English lord.

Here’s the blurb:

Cleo Arlington dresses like a cowboy, is fearless and fun-loving, and can ride, rope, and wrangle a horse as well as any man. In 1916, however, those talents aren’t what most young women aspire to. But Cleo isn’t most women. Twenty-nine years old and single, Cleo loves life on her father’s Idaho ranch. Still, she hopes someday to marry and have children.

Enter Sherwood Statham, an English aristocrat whose father has sentenced him to a year of work in America to “straighten him out.” Sherwood, who expected a desk job at a posh spa, isn’t happy to be stuck on an Idaho ranch. And he has no idea how to handle Cleo, who’s been challenged with transforming this uptight playboy into a down-home cowboy.

Just about everything either of them says or does leaves the other, well, fit to be tied. And though Cleo believes God’s plan for her includes a husband, it couldn’t possibly be Sherwood Statham. Could it?

I love the premise. Please give us the first page of the book.

Prologue

Dunacombe Manor, England
March 1916

“Your father is waiting in the library, my lord.”

“Thank you, Chadworth.” Head pounding from the previous night’s enjoyments, Sherwood Reginald Wakeley Statham, the youngest son of the Duke of Dunacombe, shrugged out of his coat and handed it to the butler, followed by his hat and gloves. “Is Mother with him?”

“No, sir. I believe her grace has taken to her bed.”

Sherwood flinched. That didn’t bode well for this meeting. His mother had acted as a buffer between him and his father’s anger since he was a boy. “Is she ill? Maybe I should go up to see her first.”

Chadworth lifted his eyebrows but said nothing. He didn’t have to. Sherwood knew he was expected in the library immediately, not fifteen or thirty minutes from now. The duke hated to be kept waiting, especially by Sherwood, the son who disappointed him at every turn.

“I’ll go straight in.” Might as well receive whatever dressing down his father wanted to mete out.
“Very good, my lord.”

Sherwood followed the long hallway to the library, accompanied by the sound of his uneven gait—a sharp click upon the tiled floor followed by a soft slide. He hated it. Hated even more how the walk down this hallway for a meeting with his father never failed to make him feel ten years old again. Not a good feeling for a man of thirty years.

He caught a glimpse of himself as he passed a large, ornate mirror and was immediately sorry. The ragged scar on his face blazed a bright red against his pale skin. Dark circles ringed his eyes, evidence of the many nights he’d gone without sleep, instead drinking and gambling till morning.

When he entered the library, he found the duke standing near the windows that overlooked the extensive gardens of Dunacombe Manor, hands clasped behind his back.

Oh, I love it. I can't wait until my copy comes. How can readers find you on the Internet?

My web site: http://www.robinleehatcher.com/
My blog: http://robinlee.typepad.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=robinleehatcher
Twitter: http://twitter.com/robinleehatcher

Thank you, Robin Lee, for spending this time with us.

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