Welcome back, Mary. What
genre(s) do you write and why?
This book is so fun because it’s a little departure from
what I normally write. I write Romantic comedy with cowboys. Historical western
romance. The change for this novella collection, The Cowboys of Summer is,
it’s contemporary. It was so much fun to let my characters have cars and cell
phones!
I love the cover. If
you were to choose one superpower, what would it be?
Do you remember on the old Bewitched TV series, Samantha
could speed herself up and clean her mess house in fast motion in like ten
seconds? I’d like to do that. But I suppose if I did have that superpower I’d
never use it for that. I’d probably just read and write faster. But does your
brain speed up? Would I get ideas at superspeed?
So many conflicts!
Do you ever get stuck
when you’re writing a book? What do you do to get unstuck?
My method for when I don’t know where to go next is to just
power through. I want to get the book down and then fix it. Once I accept I
just can’t get it right the first time, I can go on. I skim through a scene.
I’m not sure that’s the same exactly as being stuck, but honestly, I just don’t
get stuck. I’ve never had what I’d call writer’s block. There are those who
might say I’ve written things that SHOULD be blocked, but too bad. I kept
writing.
What is your least
favorite part of writing?
This is hard, Lena , because
I LOVE WRITING. I love that blank page when I’m starting a new book. I love the
original creation. I love revisions. I love the editorial process and the help
I get from my publisher to make the book better. I think it just took me so
long to get published that I still delight in the fact it ever happened. And
that’s true right now as my 56th book comes out. Can you believe
that? Dr. Tess and the Cowboy, my novella in this collection is my
55th book! 32 full length books and the rest novellas. (ps I’m counting them
whether I should or not!!!)
I was contracted by a
different publisher earlier in the year. They wanted a list of my books. I’d
lost the list I’d made a few years ago when my computer died, so I gave up. I
went through and compiled a new list. I had 45 books. The one I’m writing now
on that contract is number 46. Amazing, isn’t it? If we came to your house for
dinner, what would you prepare for us?
It’s finally nice weather after the longest, coldest,
gloomiest winter ever. I’d grill. My Cowboy, which is what I call my husband on
Facebook, is a good hand on the grill. I think he can’t help but think of all
the cows that have kicked him when he’s grilling. It’s seasoning. So I’d grill
you a steak, bake a sweet potato. We’re big gardeners so I’d serve whatever is
fresh from the garden, tomatoes, sweet corn, potatoes. Have you ever had baby potatoes
just dug up from the ground? Have you ever eaten a green bean right off the
bush and into the pot to boil? We’re almost vegetarians in the summer. We eat
steak of course, because YUM! But we eat less of it because we’re trying to
gobble down all the fresh veggies.
Oh, yes, I love
eating vegetables right out of the garden. I even like to pick the very small
green beans and eat them raw. Yum. My husband doesn’t like them though, so I
would just pick a few, wipe the dirt off, and eat them right there in the
garden. What is your typical day like?
My typical day is me, sitting in front of the computer, at
home, typing, checking emails, whatever I want, all at home. I write 1000 words
a day, but that is sometimes first thing in the morning, sometimes late at
night, whenever I want. My Cowboy comes in after morning chores and we have a
cup of coffee together. It’s almost a date! Beyond that, dinner at noon, supper
at six. My Cowboy cooks as often (or maybe more often) than I do.
What is most
difficult for you to write? Characters, conflict, or emotions? Why?
None of it is hard. It’s all a joy. I am most conscious, I
think, of emotion. Because making the reader FEEL is the bedrock of great
writing, and I do that by making my characters feel. So that has to be on the
page.
How likely are the
people you meet going to end up in your next book?
Sometimes shades of them might show up but mostly people are
too sensible, too sane, to make good book characters. People are usually making
decent decisions and trying to reduce the drama in their lives. Unlike my
characters who are always making things worse for themselves!
Tell us about your
hero. Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.
Joe Holt. I really love this guy. A college professor who
loves dinosaurs, finds a rhino skull on his property and wants to set a big old
chunk of his small ranch aside as an archeological dig. “Hi, Joe, I’m taking
your ranch.”
Can love be far behind? He’s home from serving in the
military. Settled and happy helping his not-old-but-slowing-down-a-little
parents on the ranch. If she takes this land they don’t have enough left to
support them all. So her exciting find…and it is exciting…will destroy his
chance to come home and ranch. And he likes what she’s found and agrees it’s
important. But what about him?
Please give us the text
on the first page of your first chapter.
“Get
off of my land.”
Tessa
Rhoades leapt up, whirled, the sandy ground under her feet caved. She slid
backward, ash, sand and dirt crumbling and flying around her. She landed hard
on her back at the bottom of a ravine.
Blinking,
the gritty air salting her eyes, she felt a hard thunk on her belly drew her.
She looked into blank eye sockets. Blank for a few million years.
“I’ve
got a rhino skull on my stomach.” The awe echoed in her voice, her mind, her
heart.
“Who
are you?”
That
took her eyes off the skull but only barely.
A
man stood on the top of the gully, and was that a rifle in his hand?
The
rhino skull? An armed gunman?
She’d
only started work this morning. If she lived, it could be the most interesting
job of her life.
“Don’t
shoot.”
More
ash. This time in her mouth. Interesting quality, as fine and soft as baby
powder. She’d just made a paleontological discovery that might make her famous.
If she lived.
“I’m
not going to shoot you.” The man started down the side of the gully.
“No!”
Tess leapt to her feet, rhino skull firmly but gently clutched in her hands.
“Don’t step on the—”
He
was down.
“—wall
of the gully.” Tess thought she saw a leg bone between his feet.
Her
heart was pounding now with excitement. And he didn’t have a rifle. It was a
rake. With a price tag attached.
She
knew who it was. “Mr. Holt,” Tess Rhoades extended her hand (rhino skull carefully
balanced in the other hand) and tried to talk and breathe at the same time. “Home
from town I see.”
“Get
off of my land.”
“Yes,
well,” no, she wasn’t going to say, ‘it’s my land now, loser, this rhino right
here says so.’ Instead, she said, “Let’s go talk to your dad. He knows I’m
here. I have his permission.”
She
lifted the skull. Shook her head as it gave her a bony grin. Two bones, if the
one between his feet was real. Two bones and she’d been looking two minutes.
She
didn’t have time to go talk to Vince Holt again. “Better yet, you go talk to
your father. I’m busy.” She turned back to the five-foot-wide vein of ash. It
was an ash sandwich between sand on the bottom and sandstone on the top. That
sandstone had sealed it and kept it all from eroding. Until now. Until it had
eroded in a gully washing flood.
And
this powdery ash had washed up downstream on the banks of the Dismal River
along with a few bones.
She’d
traced it back to here.
“You’re
coming. I’m not leaving you out here alone.” His hand clamped on her bi-cep.
Every
paleontologically-trained bone in her body got shoved aside and she almost
bashed him in the head with the rhino skull.
But
in the end scientific love for a precious artifact proved stronger than rage.
“You’re
Mr. Holt, Joe Holt? Your father said you lived here with him.” She took a step
down the center of the gully.
He
took a step toward climbing the side of the gully.
“Stop!”
She threw herself in his path and plowed her shoulder into his belly. He was a
lot taller than she was, but he’d seemed so much shorter once he wasn’t twenty
feet overhead on the top of the ravine. A good solid shoulder hit.
It
didn’t move him an inch.
“You’ve
wandered away from an attendant, haven’t you?”
She
detected his sarcasm and, although by most metrics she was a genius, she didn’t
have to tap into her classy IQ.
He
had more to say of course. “Let’s get someone out here who will help you find
your way home.”
“Don’t
you know a rhino skull when you see one?” She shook (gently) the head, only
inches from his eyeballs.
“That’s
it.” He tugged a phone out of a holster on his belt. She noticed he had a big
folded knife in a pouch, a screw driver in one loop, a hammer in another and a
pair of plyers also handy.
Batman
wasn’t this well-equipped. Although Batman probably wouldn’t have had a lame
flip-phone.
“I’m
going to tell the sheriff to bring a net.”
As if she was the crazy one in this little couple.
Tell us about your
next book and when is it being published?
My next book (keeping in mind I’ve had three books come out
in ONE MONTH) is The Reluctant Warrior,
book #2 in the High Sierra Sweethearts series. It releases in October. Union army officer Cameron Scott is used to being obeyed,
but nothing about this journey to Lake Tahoe
has gone as expected. He's come to fetch his daughter and nephew, and seek
revenge on the people who killed his brother. Instead he finds himself trapped
by a blizzard with two children who are terrified of him and stubborn but
beautiful Gwen Harkness, who he worries may be trying to keep the children.
When danger descends on the cabin where they're huddled,Cam
is injured trying to protect everyone and now finds Gwen caring for him too. He
soon realizes why the kids love her so much and wonders if it might be best for
him to move on without them. When she sees his broken heart, Gwen decides to
help him win back their affection--and in the process he might just win her
heart as well.
When danger descends on the cabin where they're huddled,
Where can my readers find you online.
http://petticoatsandpistols.com/
http://mconnealy.blogspot.com/
http://www.maryconnealy.com/http://www.maryconnealy.com/newsletter.html
http://mconnealy.blogspot.com/
http://www.maryconnealy.com/http://www.maryconnealy.com/newsletter.html
Thank you, Mary, for
sharing this new collection, containing your novella, with us. I’m eager to
read it.
Readers, here’s a link to the ebook.
Cowboys of Summer
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the ebook. You must follow these
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16 comments:
Sounds like a good story. I'd like to read more
Linda in CA
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
I always love Mary Connealy's books. I'm currently reading The Accidental Guardian and enjoying it very much. It will be fun to read a contemporary book by Mary since she usually writes historicals. Thanks for interviewing Mary and for the chance to win Cowboys of Summer.
pmkellogg56[at]gmail[dot]com
Kansas
Thank you for the wonderful interview with author Mary Connealy and a glimpse into her book "COWBOYS OF SUMMER".
Love the cover and would appreciate the chance to explore the wonderful pages between the covers. Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy!
Kay Garrett from Mountain View, AR
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Love Mary's books. Lincoln Nebraska.
I always love the humor in Mary's books. Eating veggies from the garden takes me back to the huge gardens we had growing up.....a interesting interview! I have read and enjoyed a number of Mary's books and always look forward to new releases. Thanks! Jane in TX
I'm from Paris, Texas. I LOVE Mary Connealy's books as well as keeping up with her Cowboy's adventures on the ranch!
"COWBOYS OF SUMMER by Mary Connealy sounds wonderful.Have a good week. Thank you for the opportunity to win. I enjoy reading your books.PA.
Hi Mary & Lena. I also love to eat raw green beans. When I'm picking them I always have to sample them!
Blessings!
Connie from KY
cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com
Mary, I just love your books! I enjoy the humor but also the honesty of the characters! The story lines and the settings are great! Can't wait to read the new boxed set! I'm going to Texas this Sept. to meet a new grandbaby and I'll be in cowboy country - Yee HAW!!!!!!
I'm surprised you never get writer's block! But I have learned to get something down first. You can always come back and revise.
I'm from NC, and thanks for the opportunity.
Wow!I need to start reading faster if I want to keep up to Mary's writing! That's a heap of books! I'd love to win a copy of her book.
Winnie T from Utah
Mary Conneally's books always make me snicker, and this one sounds like it will do the same. I love that in a book. Would love to win this collection.
Pam in OH
sounds so good! Shelia from Mississippi
I enjoyed the first page! The cover is lovely also.
Beth from Iowa
I thought the winner was supposed to be chosen today. Am I missing something?
Love the Cover, would love to win.
Lourdes Long Island, NY
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