Q&A with Maisey Yates, The True Cowboy of Sunset Ridge

Please give the elevator pitch for The True Cowboy of Sunset Ridge.  

When Mallory Chance finally ditches her deadbeat boyfriend and moves to Gold Valley, Oregon to start over she's ready for adventure. So when she locks eyes with a hot cowboy across the bar in town, she decides to throw caution to the wind and do something she's never done before - have one hot night with a stranger. 

But her hot night is complicated by the fact that it turns out her anonymous hook up is Colt Daniels - related to her brother by marriage, and also, her new landlord. And when Colt ends up caring for his deceased friend's tiny baby, he needs help. But playing house with strong, handsome Colt makes Mallory long for things she thought she'd let go of. In the end will they be torn apart, or will they be able to set aside their grief and make a family?

Which came first, the characters or the plot line?

Colt and Mallory have both been in different books in the Gold Valley series, so they came first for me, and then when it was time to tell their stories, the plot came from them. That's how it usually works for me, characters come in strongly first and then I figure out how to place them. 

Why do you love Mallory and Colt and why should readers root for them?

Both Mallory and Colt have suffered a lot of loss in their lives, but they both give a lot to their families, but have a hard time accepting love for themselves. Also, there's a gratuitous scene where Mallory walks in on Colt in the bath tub, and i was really rooting for them both there. 

What was your last 5 star read?

I'm Only Wicked With You by Julie Anne Long. The hero, Hugh Cassidy is one of the best romance heroes I've ever read. He's a rogueish American and the way he plays off of the very aristocratic heroine is so perfect. It's breathtakingly romantic, and everyone should read it right now!

What is one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you?

I'm glad that I didn't know too much about publishing when I started out! I didn't have any expectations, I was just amazed that someone thought my book was good enough for people to read. And when things get challenging in publishing - as they sometimes do - I try to go back to that simple thing. I get to write stories, and people read them. And it doesn't get more amazing than that!

Q&A with Anna E. Collins, Love at First Sight

Love at First Spite is your debut novel. Tell us about your journey to get here.

I started writing full-length fiction twelve years ago when my kids were little as an escape from the eating/sleeping/changing diapers rut. Initially, it was just a fun experiment, but my perception of my writing as merely a hobby really transformed when I got into PitchWars in 2017. It was a sort of recognition that I had something worth cultivating, and it also introduced that most crucial aspect of a writer’s life - the writing community. I learned so much from that - about the writing and editing process, about querying, about persistence, and about the importance of not going at it alone. I didn’t sign with my agent (Kimberley Cameron of Kimberley Cameron & Associates) through PitchWars though, but from a cold query about six months later. 

At that point I was writing exclusively women’s fiction. We went on sub with the book that Kimberley signed me on in 2018 and then with another one in 2019, and for a long time nothing happened. We had lots of rejections - polite and complimentary ones, yes, but still rejections. I think this is something authors don’t often talk about, but it happens to most of us. You have to develop a thick skin and always write the next thing.

So, 2020 arrived, I had two books on long-term sub, I had written yet another WF manuscript, and was considering my next project. With Covid shutting everything down with no end in sight, I needed a change, so I decided to try my hand at writing something more light-hearted. Said and done - with the cheerleading of my writing group (also closest friends) spurring me on, Love at First Spite was born. Turns out some flirty banter and revenge shenanigans were exactly what my writerly quarantine year needed!

As luck would have it, I actually ended up signing my two WF books with a smaller press at the end of 2020, and shortly after that, Graydon House acquired Love at First Spite and set a publication date that would make it my debut. And here we are!

What inspired this story?

I keep a running list of ideas for stories that I add to whenever I see or hear something that strikes me as interesting, or when I read about a topic that seems off-beat or unusual. Often, a title relating to the topic will come to me first, so I’ll jot down that and a brief line about it. In this case, I had read an article about spite houses around the world probably a year or so prior, found the lengths some people go to for revenge fascinating, and consequently made a note of it on my list. The exact words were “The Spite House - building a building to get revenge.” That was it - no genre, no characters, nothing. When I decided I wanted to write a romcom, this title stood out to me in my list as I could easily picture the pettiness required for such a build being ripe for comedic situations. It’s over-the-top right away as far as revenge goes, which seemed like a good place to start.

What research did you do for this book?

I’m neither an interior designer nor an architect like my two main characters, so I obviously had to do some research into what day-to-day life might look like in those fields. I also researched zoning laws for the city where the story takes place, fence regulations, construction terms, house building processes, common neighbor disputes (there are some pretty colorful ones on the internet), video surveillance systems, and how to tuft figures out of wool. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few things, but that’s at least a general overview of my search history during that period of writing.

What are you working on now?

Currently, I’m wrapping up a second romcom that I can’t currently talk about, while also finishing copy edits for my first women’s fiction title, These Numbered Days, which will be out some time in spring/summer 2022. And brainstorming my next project, of course. Always brainstorming!

Q&A with Kimberly Belle, My Darling Husband

Your cover really draws you in. Are you involved with the cover process? What do you hope this cover tells potential readers?

Thank you! And I agree; the designers at Park Row really nailed this one. Typically, I don’t have a lot of involvement with the cover until it’s nearly finished, which means it’s already gotten approval from my editorial team as well as the folks in sales and marketing before I get to see it. That moment when the email lands in my inbox – A sneak peek at your cover! – is always so exciting. 

In my mind, what makes the My Darling Husband cover so strong is that it gives us a view of Jade’s face but none of her husband Cam’s, only a slice of his shoulder. For me, this makes Cam feel somewhat elusive, and it hopefully puts the reader on alert that things with him may not be what they seem. Especially in combination with the title, the image lets the reader know that the husband in this story may not be so darling after all. 

What research did you need to conduct for this book and how did you do it?

I did a lot of research around a couple of plot points that if I mentioned them here, would give a big chunk of the story away. What I can mention is my research around raising a child prodigy and the kinds of stresses that degree of talent can put on both the family and the child. Beatrix is nine and has played violin since she was a toddler, when she picked up one in the toy aisle at Target. As amazing as her talent is, it’s also a daily hurdle. Lessons, practice time, the drive to succeed, the pressure to not “waste” your talent by frittering away your time with normal childhood pursuits – it can all feel very isolating. She’s a brilliant, brave kid who is much more mature than she should be, as illustrated with this line: “Most parents want their children to grow up. Cam and I should have spent more time coaxing Beatrix to grow down.”  

What is your elevator pitch for My Darling Husband?

My Darling Husband is the story of a mother held captive with her two children in their own home while her husband scrambles for the ransom, and the masked invader who’s about to turn their family secrets into a public scandal.

Which came first, the story or the title?

I turned this book in as “Book #7” so definitely the story came first. Seven books in, and not one of my titles has ever stuck, so I’ve stopped worrying about what the story will be called when I’m writing it. My publisher has a fabulous team of experts who are so much more versed in the process than I am. While I’m only thinking of the story, they’re looking at big-picture items like comparable stories, market trends, which words are hitting a collective chord (remember all the books with “girl” in the title?). All this goes to say, they know what they’re doing, and I am happy to let them work their magic!

What is your favorite season and why?

My favorite season has always been fall. I never mind the shorter days and cooler air, all the more reason to light a fire and wrap myself up in an oversized sweater. For me, fall has all the bests–the best fashion and the best food (soup season!) and the best festivities, ones that are centered around family. That’s hands-down my favorite part of fall, when all my people are gathered under one roof.

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Q&A with Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Good Son

What is your elevator pitch for the book?

When Thea’s college-age son is released from prison after serving time for killing his girlfriend, Thea must battle not only a community that hates him, but also her son’s despair. And then, she soon learns that the night of the girlfriend’s death is much more mysterious, and much more shocking, than she could ever have imagined.

What inspired the book?

Years before I ever wrote this story, I was in a coffee line at a big hotel where I was speaking at a writer’s conference. The woman in front of me dropped her book; I picked it up and asked if she was attending the conference. No, she said. She told me stayed at this hotel every weekend to visit her son, who was in prison and would be in prison for at least twenty more years. He was just nineteen years old. Oh no, I thought, oh no, don’t tell me why … but she did: Her son had murdered the only girl he ever loved, while so strung out on drugs that he didn’t even remember the death. She went on to say that one day, she was in their hometown cemetery bringing roses to the girl’s grave, when the girl’s mother appeared. The boy’s mother was terrified: What would happen? Would the woman shout at her, hit her? Instead, the two, who’d once been good friends, fell sobbing into each other’s arms. The mother of the lost girl then said the most heart-wrenching thing. “At least,” she told the boy’s mother, “You can still touch him.” When my agent heard the story, he said that it was impossible for me to make those characters sympathetic – but he now admits he was wrong.

Who is your favorite character in the book?

It’s Stefan, the boy who went to prison for murder. It was very hard to write about someone convicted of murder but he also was so filled with grief and remorse and, at 20, had no way to imagine any future at all.

Which character was the hardest to write? Easiest?

It was honestly hardest to create the main character, Thea, because to be effective at making a character come to life, you have to let yourself inhabit her emotions as fully as is possible – and I really didn’t want to imagine standing in her shoes. I once saw a speech by Sue Klebold, the mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the Columbine shooters. She said, of course, she still loved her son. And I knew there were people in that audience thinking, how could she? But I could not stop crying because I felt such pity for her and also admired her enormous courage. 

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Oh my goodness! That’s like asking, what’s your favorite song? Jhumpa Lahiri, Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, Charles Finch, Hilary Mantel, Stephen King, Curtis Sittenfield, Kazuo Ishiguro, John le Carre, Celeste Ng, Dennis LeHane, Hilary St. John Mandel, Julia Phillips, Charles Portis, Betty Smith, Shirley Jackson, Julia Phillips, Colson Whitehead … I could do this all day.

What is the best part of writing for you?

It’s that rare time when I find a way to let the reader really see what I see and hear what I hear – not necessarily believe what I believe but … to find a way to bring the reader onto the same emotional wavelength

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

 Every single thing about it is hard for me. Coming up with the idea … fleshing out the idea … sustaining the narrative through all its peaks and valleys, writing the beginning, writing the end. Writing the ending is probably not quite so hard as the rest.

What is your writing set-up like? Do you have a designated writing space?

It’s my bed, on a lap desk. I burn through about one $25 lap desk a year, the kind with the flax seed or plastic bean bottom that fits over your legs. I once had an office but I just wandered around it, looking at the shelves.

Do you have a guilty music and/or entertainment pleasure?

Oh, I am a transfixed, unrepentant and abashed fan of true crime podcasts, true crime narratives, true crime anything, The Sopranos, Dexter, The Wire … while being truly terrified of being the victim of a crime of any kind.

Q&A with Suzanne Feldman, Sisters of the Great War

Your books have won quite a few awards. Do you ever feel pressure when you write a new book to make it an award winning book?

I do love awards and who doesn’t? (I’m striving for a Pulitzer!) But awards are sort of a wonderful perk for what I already love doing, which is making something big from a little spark of an idea. I think it’s a stretch to think to yourself, ‘I’m going to write something for THIS award.’ because what if the book doesn’t win anything? I’m much happier just writing and editing until I think it’s ready to go out into the world--then we’ll see how it does.

What inspired this book?

Sisters of the Great War was a four-year project that started one morning as I walked into my classroom at some pre-dawn hour. I’d been thinking about my next project after ‘Absalom’s Daughters’ and I knew I wanted to write a war story--but there were already so many books about WW2. So I thought, what about WW1? Could I write something epic yet intimate about that period? I wrote on a post-it: ‘WW1; epic yet intimate,’ and put it in my pocket. After school that day, I found the post-it and by some miracle, I still knew what I’d meant.

I started doing research and realized pretty quickly that the reason WW1 literature peaked with All Quiet on the Western Front was because it was a trench war, and over the space of four years, the trenches barely moved so there were very few ‘victories.’ The war itself was awful beyond description. Troops went out and were mowed down by new weapons, like the machine gun, tanks, and poisonous gas. It’s hard to write a glorious book about a barbaric war that had no real point, so I decided to explore the lives of the forgotten women--the nurses and ambulance drivers who were in the thick of the action, but not really mentioned in the movies and books about the period.

Where is your favorite place to write?

I have a room where I write, my ‘office.’ I have all my favorite art, my most-loved books, and a bed for my dog. I love being able to close the door and just get into the groove of writing, but I have been known to write in coffee shops and libraries. When I was teaching, when I would get an idea, I would write on a post-it and put it in my pocket, so, yes, technically I have written at work as well.

Do you have a writing routine?

My writing routine involves getting really wired on coffee in the morning and then taking a long walk with my dog, sometimes by the river and sometimes in the mountains. I get my ideas for the day in order, and the dog gets tired. Then I spend about four hours working on writing projects--sometimes novels, sometimes short stories, and drinking a lot more coffee. By then the dog has woken up, and we go out for another walk. I like to treat writing as a job. It’s not too exciting, but it works for me.

Are you a plotter or pantser when it comes to writing?

I’m a pantser and proud of it! I love not really knowing what’s going to happen, and I love the discovery of plot points and personalities that might not show up in an outline. My favorite part is when a character does something on the page that I never thought of, and I get to go with that. What’s funny is that as a teacher (before I retired) I needed a plan for everything!

What is a fun fact about you?

I was a high school art teacher for almost 30 years, and I am also a visual artist. I do a lot of abstract painting, which you can see on my Instagram account, Suzanne Feldman Author. I’ve taught every art class you can imagine, from darkroom photography to ceramics. I had a wonderful time teaching, and I loved nearly all of my students.

Lessons Behind Dash and Nikki and The Jellybean Game by Anthony C. Delauney

I am almost a week away from the official release of my first children's book, Dash and Nikki and The Jellybean Game and I want to share with you a secret I discovered when bringing this book to life. One of the key lessons in the Dash and Nikki story is the importance of patience. Two children are given an opportunity and also a choice. Eat ten jellybeans now, or wait and allow their jellybean piles to grow by five more jellybeans every hour until the end of the day.

As adults, we think the choice is clear and easy. We can envision how many jellybeans will exist at the end of the day or do the math to determine just how many we will have if we wait. Children’s minds are easily distracted. They can’t always imagine the future result because so much is swirling around in their curious heads.

While it seems like a simple concept, I would challenge all of you to consider just how hard it is as adults to apply the same concept of patience to the decisions we make every day. Jellybeans are tangible. We can see them and feel them. It’s easy to know how many you will have in the future if you play the game. The decisions we have to make as adults are usually not as tangible.

If you have to choose between fruit or a bag of chips when ordering lunch, you can’t see the calories, carbs, or fat that you put into your body with each choice. When investing for a future goal, you can’t imagine how the compounding growth of your investment will generate a much larger portfolio in the future.

Some individuals might say that I’m 100% wrong in what I just said. You can do the math. You can read the side labels of the chips bag to compare its calorie content to that of the fruit. You can use a financial calculator to determine what your investments will yield if you save a certain amount and it achieves a certain rate of return.

The key question is, “Do you?” Do you take the time to make an informed decision, or do you allow your hunger to get the better of you when ordering lunch? Do you stick to your workout schedule or find a reason to sleep in? Do you take the time to determine what you need to save to achieve your long-term financial planning goals, or do you allow the impulse purchase to win the day?

Every adult shares the same difficult choice that Dash and Nikki experience in the Jellybean Game. Do we allow the time to make an informed, unemotional decision when working toward our goals, or do we allow our emotions and the distractions of life to cloud our decision-making and rob us of our goals and our future dreams?

It’s not an easy path. Every day, more distractions seem to pop up to sidetrack us from working on our goals. It takes discipline, patience, and planning to stay on track. The sooner we learn how to recognize the emotions and distractions, the easier it becomes to subdue and overcome or avoid them.

Dash and Nikki and The Jellybean Game helps young children begin to develop the tools and behaviors needed to recognize these emotions and distractions. The earlier they understand that patience is a good thing and that immediate gratification is not always the best decision, the easier their lives will be as they enter adulthood and confront more critical choices and opportunities.

If you know a young child who could benefit from the lessons shared in Dash and Nikki and The Jellybean Game, please consider this book as a gift for the holidays. It will be the gift that keeps on giving!