Wednesday, May 25, 2011

DEEP TROUBLE - Mary Connealy - Free Book

I always love having this author come to my blog. She's a barrel of laughs. Welcome, Mary. You have a lot of books out now. What is your favorite setting to use in your books?

When an author writes westerns she has to fight the need to put the book in Texas. I found out I love mountains and bitter cold. These make great settings that can challenge a character, built in drama, great changes for cliffhangers if you’ve got real cliffs. With Deep Trouble though, I decided to set the book somewhere spectacular, a character in itself, the Grand Canyon. I loved researching it and using all the challenging things about it.

What do you look for when you’re shopping for a book to buy for yourself?

I shop almost exclusively by author. I have authors I love and I am ready when they have a new book release. Though lately, for some odd reason, I have been on a binge of regency romances. I’m not sure why? So I’ve been shopping a bit by genre in this particular instance.

Give us a little tour of the setting for this book.

The book starts in Mesa Verde (somewhat fictionalized ‘cliff dwellings’) and ends in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The heights, when we begin my heroine is being attacked and left in a high cliff, the only ladder she and her companions have is one rickety ladder they find laying in the dust, probably hundreds if not thousands of years old. So, in a bout of cruelty, these villains, rather than kill her, strand her in that high, unreachable(without the ladder) cave and the hero comes along to save her.
The depths, my heroine is searching for the lost Kingdom of Quivera and she has a treasure map. She believes she’ll find a city of gold in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The skeptical hero, who saves her from the heights, comes along to the depths, figuring she’ll need to be rescued again.

What other books do you have coming out soon?

In August I begin a new series that I’m really excited about. The Kincaid Brides, Book #1 Out of Control. This is a book I’ve wanted to write for years. Of course I’ve had a LOT of books I’ve wanted to write for years, but now it’s time for this one. Much like the Grand Canyon journey in Deep Trouble, I’ve picked a fantastic setting for Out of Control. A cavern. Not unlike Carlsbad Cavern, where three young boys find beauty and danger and ultimately a tragedy that nearly destroys them all. As adults they are still haunted by that tragedy and now each must face peril in that cavern to protect the woman he loves and save their own lives. I just had a ridiculous amount of fun with these books.

Please give us a glimpse inside your home.

WHAT?????????? Are you crazy, Lena? A glimpse inside my home? Okay, I’m not dusting, so by glimpse you mean, I can DESCRIBE IT? Okay. I live in a large, three-floored central block with two smaller flanking service wings. The external facade was designed in the French neo-classical influence. The principal rooms of the palace are contained behind the west-facing garden facade at the rear of the house. The centre of this ornate suite of state rooms is the Music Room, its large bow the dominant feature of the facade. Flanking the Music Room are the Blue and the White Drawing rooms. At the centre of the suite, serving as a corridor to link the state rooms, is the Picture Gallery, which is top-lit.
Oh, oops, sorry, Lena. My fingers slipped on the mouse and I accidentally cut and pasted a description of Buckingham Palace into this answer. My house is pretty much the same though, ‘cept for the mold and rodents in my basement…and who’s to say Buckingham Palace doesn’t have mold and rodents in its basement, huh?

Mary, you had me laughing out loud with that one. Is this novel part of a series or a stand-alone book?

Deep Trouble is connected to Cowboy Christmas, but both novels stand alone, the plots aren’t interwoven at all. But a strong secondary character in Cowboy Christmas, Gabe Lasley, is the hero in Deep Trouble. I fell in love with Gabe while writing Cowboy Christmas and wanted to give him his own happily ever after.

I know what you mean. My second book in my second series for Charisma House will actually tell the story of a character in a former book, but I had to change his name, because it's a different publisher. Tell us about your story.

Shannon Dysart is searching for a city of gold, the lost city of Quivera, which she believes is in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Gabe Lasley is trying to keep her alive until she comes to her senses. The only way he can figure to prove to her there’s no city of gold down there is to show her. And he needs to keep her alive until she admits she’s a lunatic. At which point she’ll come to her senses (he hopes) and then he plans on marrying her.
This is a plan that has Gabe a little nervous, what with him planning to marry a crazy woman, but there aren’t that many women around and he’s lonely.
Gabe has left his ranch in Wyoming because of his strong feelings for a married woman. He finds Shannon stranded in a mountaintop cave and saves her. She is on a quest to prove her father’s research isn’t the work of a madman, that he really did find a treasure in the wild west.

With trouble on their back trail from the villains who still want Shannon’s map, the dream of gold coloring every decision Shannon makes, and Gabe’s surprising need to protect her, they sets out to find a city of gold.
Along the way they find that true treasure is rooted in love. And that was within their reach all along.

I know I'm going to love it. Please give us the first page of the book.

Chapter One

“Where’s the gold!”
Shannon Dysart fell back a step in the face of her guide’s fury then squared her shoulders. Showing weakness to Lobo Cutter was a mistake. Hiring him was a mistake. Leaving St. Louis was a mistake.
Mr. Cutter, I employed you to help me find an ancient city. We’ve done that. It’s spectacular. Imagine the research—”
Cutter stormed right up to Shannon’s face. The spurs on his boots made an ugly metallic ring with every step. “A city of gold, them was your own words when you asked me to sign aboard this trip into the west.”
His fists clenched and moved too close to the Colt six shooter in his holster. He was a brute of a man brought along mainly to handle the pack animals. But once they’d found this place he’d worked as hard as any of the six people in their expedition searching these ruins.
But he’d finally faced the same fact Shannon just had—after three days of searching this ancient cliff city. There was no gold.
            “I wasn’t searching for this city to make myself rich, Mr. Cutter. My father’s research was—”
“Your father was an old fool.”

Yeah, I need to read it soon. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Seekerville
Petticoats and Pistols
My Blog
My Website

You always give me a lot of fun when you drop by, Mary. I'm looking forward to the next time.

Readers, here's a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 6 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

38 comments:

From Snowflakes To Hotcakes said...

This story looks great, and I'd love to read it! Thanks for the chance!

Snowflakes2Hotcakes from sunny, steamy-hot South Georgia.

Unknown said...

i would love to win Deep Trouble by Mary Connealy. Thanks for the chance to win. mitzi_wanham[at]yahoo[dot]com from Peace River Country, Alberta

Mary Connealy said...

Good morning. Thanks for having me on.
Any morning I wake up and haven't been swept away by some terrible storm or earthquake is a good one.

What is with this crazy weather?

No wonder people paid attention to that minister with his rapture prophecies.

And my real home, mainly clutter. Stacks of books. A bungalow (I learned that word recently and have applied it to my house). We live in an old country farmhouse my husband's grandfather built in about 1925.
It is tiny. Four bedrooms, each about the same size as a bed, zero space. And one of those bedrooms is actually the front porch, which we enclosed.
One story, not counting the basement, and trust me, the basement does NOT count.
Water flows in the basement in the springtime.
Mold grows shortly thereafter.
Vermine of a wide variety, though mainly mice, eat the mushrooms to survive...and thrive.
I know I've made it sound glamorous, try to control your envy.
I've suggested we move but my husband is a rancher/farmer and he says we have to live next door to his cows.
:(

karenk said...

thanks for the chance to read this fabulous novel :)

karenk...from PA
kmkuka at yahoo dot com

A J Hawke said...

Mary, your home sounds lovely... wait a minute, that's not the descriptions of your home? I could just see you in a Regency gown coming down the long stairway..tripping halfway down and being caught at the buttom by the handsome prince.

All kidding aside, any book by Mary Connealy is a treat and Deep Trouble will be sure to be extra intriguing with the strong settings.

A J Hawke
Texas

Unknown said...

Oh I want to read this one super bad! I've seen it every where online and it looks so good! Thanks for the chance to win!
Kari in ORegon

Krista said...

Oh my goodness. I absolutely LOVE Mary Connealy books- and I can't wait to read this one!

Krista in Gresham, OR

Mary Connealy said...

AJ I am elegance itself in my hoop skirts.

(shuddering!)

Mary Connealy said...

Kari, you've seen it everywhere online? Seriously?

wow, cool.

apple blossom said...

oh, yes, please enter me for this one thanks
I live in ND

ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com

Mary Connealy said...

Apple Blossom, have you heard about the flooding Missouri River? They mentioned flooding (or potential flooding) in Bismark. I'm from Nebraska and live near the river so I'm really paying attention. We are in a flood plain, but we are boaters and we're watching the raging river with dismay!

Judy Cooper said...

Loved the interview and I always enjoy reading Mary's books. Please count me in. Judy C. in Louisiana

Janet Sketchley said...

I've heard so many good things about Mary's books and somehow still haven't read one yet. That needs to change, and this sounds like the book to change it with! Enter me please, Lena :)

lovelylady said...

This sounds like a great read! I haven't read anything by Mary yet as she is a new author to me.

lovelylady from IN

Mary Connealy said...

Janet and Lovelylady, good luck in teh drawing.
And that comment I wrote about the Missouri and flooding and Bismark ND I said we ARE in a flood plain but I meant we AREN'T in a flood plain.

Most typos are just easy for the reader to fix, but that one really changes the meaning of my comment. NO FLOODING. We live in the bluffs along the Missouri River and the water can't begin to reach us. Not even our farm/ranch land, it's all high and rugged and beautiful, a pain to try and plant crops on a lot of it through, which is why we have cattle.

Karen Sue Kimberly said...

I would love to win Deep Trouble by Mary Connealy. I have her series "Sophie's Daughters". I live in Mt. Orab,OH

Courtney said...

I would love to read this book! Mary is one of my favorite authors! :-) Thanks for the chance to win!

Courtney from Washington state

Abigail Mitchell said...

Would love to win a copy.
Abigail Richmond
Blanch, N.C.

kylady717 said...

Wow! Deep Trouble sounds like a great book.....hope to win this copy.Thanks

Mona G./Ohio

Anonymous said...

Lisa/Oklahoma
I love Mary Connealy she is hilarious! I would love to read this book.

sugarplumtree032000atyahoodotcom

Patsy said...

I love Mary's writing. Would love to read this book.
From the Bible Belt

plhouston(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Jan Drexler said...

Hey Mary! You turn up in the darndest places...oh, not that Lena's place is...well...I'll stop now.

The creek that runs behind out house (in Rapid City, SD) eventually empties into the Missouri. I'll tell the water to give you a wave as it passes by your bungalow on the bluff!

I'd love to win a copy of Deep Trouble - I'm in the middle of Gingham Mountain right now, and am blaming Mary Connealy for keeping me up too late last night :)

May the K9 Spy (and KC Frantzen) said...

Go Mary GO!

Every time you tell us more about you, we love you more.

Looking forward to this one too. So enjoy your work!!!

may at maythek9spy dot com

(just got power restored a couple of hours ago - y'all be careful in the storms!!!)

Kristie said...

I'm going to the Grand Canyon for the first time in September. This would be a great read to prepare for my adventure. I'm from Ohio. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.

misskallie2000 said...

Love Mary Connealyn and I love this book already. Please add my name to the giveaway for Deep Trouble.

Live in Middle Georgia where the rain is North, South, West or East of us. lol

misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

Bakersdozen said...

I want to read this. It looks like a lot of fun and I am interested in what she will reveal about the Grand Canyon area. I live in S. CA.

Mary Connealy said...

Jan Drexler, you make my home, in the bluffs overlooking the river sound so glamours, charming, lovely.

We live in the bluffs five miles away from the river. It IS beautiful but when my cowboy husband is threatening to roll his tractor off a treacherous side hill, the thrill begins to ebb.

Anna Weaver Hurtt said...

Please enter me in the giveaway. If Mary's name is on the cover, I know it's gonna be a great read! :-D

Anna W. from North GA

Angela Carpenter said...

Would love to win this book. Thanks

A. C./Ohio

Jackie S. said...

Love Mary's books, and am very anxious to read this one. Thanks for the chance!
Live in NE Georgia

Shirley Thompson said...

This really sounds like my kind of books.Would love to win this.
Thanks

Shirley T./Illinois

Jo said...

I would love to read this story. It looks great! I'm from Southern Arizona

Blessings,
Jo
ladijo40(at)aol(dot)com

Mary Connealy said...

Jo, if you're from Arizona, I'd love to hear if you're familiar with the Grand Canyon and, if you read Deep Trouble, how you think I did. I haven't been to the canyon only once, and that was years ago. But the researcy made me almost desperate to go back.

Tonja said...

Thanks for the interview with Mary. I have fallen in love with her writing style since I first read "Cowboy Christmas". I just finished "Doctor in Petticoats" and I can't wait to read "Deep Trouble" Please enter me in the contest to win the book.
Tonja in Texas

Lady DragonKeeper said...

This interview made me smile --Mary Connealy is always fun to read about (and her books are great as well)! Thank you for the chance to win one!

jafuchi7[at]hawaii[dot]edu

(I guess from my e-mail it's a bit of a "duh" answer, but I'm from Hawaii). =)

Tracy Smith said...

This sounds like a wonderful book. Would love the chance to read it.

countrysunset40 (at) aol dot com from the Ohio valley

peachykath said...

I love Mary Connealy's books. She is one of the authors who's books I do buy for the author. I also love westerns. Please enter me in the drawing for this book. Thank you.
Katherine

peachykath79[at]yahoo[dot]com

Katherine from Northern California

Merry said...

A lonely man, a crazy lady and the Grand Canyon sounds like another great book by Mary. I love her humor!
Merry in TX