OVER THE EDGE - Mary Connealy - One Free Book, Plus Blog Tour

I know you speak at various conferences and meetings. What do you have coming up in 2012?

I’m doing a lesson for my local authors group in October about Dr. Stanley William’s Moral Premise. I’m hoping I can make sense of it.

If you were planning a women’s retreat, what would be the theme for it?

My first reaction is to gather with other writers. That’s what I’d love. We’d talk, then write, then talk some more. I met with an author friend, Erica Vetsch at a bed and breakfast in Iowa called The Blue Belle Inn, owned by Sherrie Hanson, an author of Christian fiction. She owns the most beautiful Victorian home and it was a wonderful weekend.  Sherrie had invited Erica and me back to a larger writer’s retreat she holds every other year, no date set yet. I want to go so badly, just to stay in that beautiful inn.

Who would you want as speakers and why?

I don’t know if I’d want speakers necessarily. My writer’s retreat would be for writing. Quiet time for extended forward progress in my book, broken up by the kinds of conversations only authors can have. (because everyone else in the world ends up bored out of their minds) I just love talking with other authors, with time for devotion and lots of food.

Where would you hold the retreat and why?

The location wouldn’t matter. It would be the company that made the retreat wonderful. I guess I’ll go back to the Blue Belle Inn, in St. Ansgar, Iowa.

Do you read print books or ebooks? Or a combination of the two?

I’ve just recently purchased an ereader and I’m still mostly reading regular books. When it comes to books I love I like to reread them, thumb through them to scenes that I find really well written. That’s hard to do with an ereader. But I love the instant delivery of ebooks. Talk about Instant Gratification! I’ll click on that buy link and BAM I’ve got the book, and I LOVE THAT!

That’s an interesting title. How did you come up with it?

My publisher, Bethany House, came up with these titles for the Kincaid Brides Series. I had some idea and we tweaked them until all three matched and gave just the impression I was hoping for. Book #1 Out of Control about the controlling oldest brother Rafe, Book #2 In Too Deep about the shallow charmer middle brother Ethan and Book #3 Over the Edge about the reckless-or-maybe-crazy youngest brother Seth.

So what is the book about?

Seth Kincaid survived a fire in a cave, but he's never been the same. He was always a reckless youth, but now he's gone over the edge. He ran off to the Civil War and came back crazier than ever.

After the war, nearly dead from his injuries, it appears Seth got married. Oh, he's got a lot of excuses, but his wife isn't happy to find out Seth doesn't remember her. Callie has searched, prayed, and worried. Now she's come to the Kincaid family's ranch in Colorado to find her lost husband.

Callie isn't a long-suffering woman. Once she knows her husband is alive, she wants to kill him. She's not even close to forgiving him for abandoning her.

Then more trouble shows up in the form of a secret Seth's pa kept for years. The Kincaid brothers might lose their ranch if they can't sort things out. It's enough to drive a man insane--but somehow it's all making Seth see things more clearly. And now that he knows what he wants, no one better stand in his way.

I’ve read all three of these books, and they’re awesome. Please give us the first page of the book.

Over the Edge

October 30, 1866

Chapter One

A bullet slammed through the door of the stagecoach, threading a needle to miss all four passengers.

“It’s a hold-up!” Callie grabbed her rifle. “Get down!”

The stage driver yelled and cracked his whip. More flying lead hit, higher on the stagecoach. The man riding shotgun got his rifle into action.

“Get on the floor.” The woman sitting across from Callie was frozen with fear. That endangered Connor and it made Callie furious.

The bullets came fast. They were going slow on a long uphill slope. With the driver's shout the stage picked up speed. From the roof came a steady volley of deafening return fire.

Reaching across, Callie grabbed the woman by the ruffled front of her pink gingham dress and dragged her off the seat. The woman shrieked but didn’t put up a fight, which was smart of her. Callie would’ve won that fight.

Somewhat more gently, Callie picked Connor up from the seat beside her and set him on the woman’s lap. Eight-month-old Connor yelped, more a shout of anger than a cry. But crying would come soon enough. Her little wild man didn’t do anything quietly.

“Can you shoot?” She shouted at the young man, hoping he’d snap out of whatever panic had seized him. He shook his head frantically. “Get on the floor.”

Callie used her whiplash voice and hoped it got the man moving. She threw herself across to the woman’s seat to face backward. With her Colt in her left hand and her Winchester in her right, she shoved the curtain aside. The flare of the orange and yellow aspen lining the road blocked any sign of the gunmen.

Callie didn’t bother to push the man to the floor. Let the idiot figure that out himself. She got a glimpse of the robbers riding around a curve. Bullets hailed on the coach. Callie held back, waiting for a clear shot.

Connor’s yelling turned to a cry. Callie was enraged that her son was in such terrible danger when he should have been safe on her father’s ranch in Texas.

The noise overhead said the driver’d slid off his high seat to use the stage as cover. She heard the man riding shotgun land flat on his belly on the roof. The driver's shouting and the gunfire slashed like a sharp knife through the cool October morning.

“Try and calm Connor down.” Not much chance of that. Connor had been a whirlwind since birth. And the two caring for him were more upset than he was.

She counted four outlaws. The varmints had picked this uphill slope a few miles outside of Colorado City because the stage slowed to a crawl.

Callie had plenty of bullets but she was a conservative woman, and she didn’t intend to fire blind and waste lead. She was mighty low on money and she needed ammunition for when she finally tracked down that worthless Seth Kincaid.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com/ Seekerville-for aspiring writers
http://petticoatsandpistols.com/ Petticoats and Pistols-for western romance lovers

http://mconnealy.blogspot.com/ My Blog

http://www.maryconnealy.com/  My Website
http://www.maryconnealy.com/newsletter.html To sign up for my Newsletter https://www.facebook.com/maryconnealyfanpage Facebook

http://twitter.com/maryconnealy Twitter

There will be a Blog Tour Party for Mary's new release on Facebook on August 29. I will get the information for that put on this interview, so check back later for the info. 

Thank you, Mary, for the wonderful books you write for us readers.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Over the Edge (The Kincaid Brides) - paperback
Over the Edge (The Kincaid Brides Book #3) - Kindle

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 4 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

OVER THE EDGE - Brandilyn Collins - Free Book

I'm welcoming one of my favorite redheads today. Tell us about your salvation experience.

I grew up in a Christian home and can’t remember a time when I didn’t go to church. So when I first became a Christian, I can’t say. Thirty years ago when I got married, Mark and I rededicated our lives—and marriage—to God. Then in 1998 I had a deeper experience with Christ, with the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

You’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be and why?

I’m choosing from the ABA since I know so many CBA novelists and have been with them and/or had them to my home at one time or another. Anne Rivers Siddons—characters. (And I love her vocabulary!) Dean Koontz—characters and wordsmithing. (Plus he seems like such a cool guy.) Harlan Coban. (Great suspense author.) Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants. Loved that book.

Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

I teach the craft of fiction at writers conferences whenever I can. I also emcee the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) conference. And I present keynote speeches—again when my schedule allows me to. Any speaking does pull time away from writing, so I have to be careful not to over schedule.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?

This didn’t really embarrass me as much as make me blink—hard. I was on my very first live radio interview regarding one of my early novels. And the very first caller to phone in was an elderly woman who accusingly demanded to know how in the world could I—who called myself a Christian—write novels, because they were lies.

Sheesh. Welcome to live radio.

I told her that truth can be told through Story—as Jesus did through His parables. I elaborated a bit on that and managed not to stumble. Later I had to laugh. What a way to break into interviewing.

People are always telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you, too. What would you tell someone who came up to you and said that?

I’m polite and ask the person what the book would be about. I nod and smile. Inside I’m thinking, “Don’t quit your day job.” I know that sounds harsh—but that’s reality. You don’t just sit down and write an effective book. Especially fiction. Learning the craft takes years of hard work.

Tell us about the featured book.

Over the Edge is the book I was born to write. It focuses on Lyme disease—a disease I know all too personally, as I’ve fought it myself. And it’s built around the “Lyme wars”—the battle Lyme patients have to fight against the medical community for proper treatment and testing. The story is exciting, suspenseful, and lives up to my Seatbelt Suspense® brand. At the same time readers will learn something about Lyme disease. At the back of the book is an Author’s Note that gives further information about Lyme disease and the treatment wars.

Publishers Weekly calls Over the Edge “a taut, heartbreaking thriller. Collins is a fine writer who knows how to both horrify readers and keep them turning pages.”

Here’s the back cover copy:

Janessa McNeil’s life looks perfect. Her husband, Dr. Brock McNeil, is a renowned researcher and professor at Stanford University’s Department of Medicine. They have a beautiful home and can give their daughter everything she needs. Theirs is a life others envy.

But nothing is as it seems.

Forces are at work that will shatter everything—Janessa’s marriage, her way of life, even her safety. For her husband’s highly respected assertion that chronic Lyme disease doesn’t exist has done more than inform medical and insurance professionals. It’s ruined lives. One man’s life in particular.

Now it’s time to make Dr. Brock McNeil face the truth. To make him see the devastation Lyme disease causes—up close and personal. And this bitter man has found the perfect tools to extract his revenge …

Janessa and her daughter

Please give us the first page of the book.

How about the complete prologue? You can read it here.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Please check out my web site to read about all my books, including the first chapters. I’m on Facebook here. Oh, and very soon now—all of you with iPads or iPhones or iWhatevers—you’ll be able to download the free Tick Squish game created for Over the Edge. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? (But then, so does Angry Birds.) It’s a kick to play. And for those wanting a free sample of the book—conquering each level of the game unlocks another chapter of the book, from the prologue to chapters one through three.

Thanks for dropping by, Brandilyn,

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