GETTING THERE

My guest is romance author, Joanne Kennedy. Joan has published over eight books but she's also face many trials in pursuit of her dream of writing. I think every writer faces various insecurities and aspiring writers, at times, look at those published as ones who have it made and with no problems. That's just not true.

Joanne shares a bit about the worries and the triumphs she's faced as a writer.

The road to publication is a long road, paved with rejections and frustration—but I made it. I’m finally “there” – but now that I’ve reached my goal, I’m surprised to find that, in the words of Gertrude Stein, “there is no ‘there’ there.”

When you first start writing, you think to yourself, “If I could just finish this…”

You finish it. Then you hope to win a contest. Then you begin the long process of submission, aiming for goals like getting requests for partial manuscripts, then fulls, then getting offers of representation from agents.

When I signed with my agent, I really thought I was “there.” And I was close—closer than a lot of writers get with their first agent, because I was lucky enough to strike gold the first time out and sign with a really good agent who’s also a fine human being (actually, I think she’s a goddess). But even with her knowledge and contacts, it took over a year, many revisions, and finally a second manuscript, to make a sale. 

I can always find something to worry about.

But in some ways, that’s a good thing. No matter how well the book does, I’ll always be reaching for the next milestone. Bestseller lists. Awards. Making a living if I’m lucky, and then a better living.

The striving never ends—and that’s good. Life loses its flavor when you have nothing to aspire to.

But that realization showed me that the ultimate reward writing offers doesn’t lie in any of these achievements. The real reward is in the writing itself—the good days when the words flow freely, the triumphs when I solve a particularly gnarly plot problem, the weird, almost mystical joy of creating a world and characters who inhabit it and make it real, and even the satisfaction of knuckling down and getting the job done on a difficult day.

If you don’t take joy in the simple act of doing what you love, forget the other goals. Because if you think achieving any of them is going to complete your life, you’re wrong.

Whether your talent lies in writing, painting, teaching children, or running a business, you’re lucky if you’ve found what you were meant to do. Doing what you love is a privilege and a joy.

In the all-consuming quest for success, it’s easy to forget the biggest blessing of all: you have a talent that only you can offer. You have a place in the world.

So for all you aspiring writers out there, and everyone else who is always aiming for some elusive goal, take heart. When you sit down at your desk or your piano or your word processor, take a deep breath, and light into the day’s work, you’re already “there.”

• What do you love to do?
  What are your goals, and how would achieving them change your life?

                                                                                                                                                                                              
 

This cowboy is living a charmed life

Winning comes naturally to bronc rider Brady Caine. Ruggedly handsome, careless and charismatic, the rodeo fans adore him and the buckle bunnies are his for the taking. He's riding high when he lands an endorsement deal with Lariat Western Wear that pairs him up with champion barrel racer Suze Carlyle.

Until one wrong move changes everything

A stupid move on Brady's part lands Suze in the hospital, her career in tatters. Now it's a whole new game for both of them. Brady is desperate to help Suze rebuild her life, but he's the last person she wants around now. Suze's got plenty of grit and determination-learning to trust Brady again is a very different matter.

BUY: Amazon Barnes and Noble iBooks 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                 

Joanne Kennedy's lifelong fascination with Wyoming's unique blend of past and present inspires her to write contemporary Western romances with traditional ranch settings. In 2010 she was nominated for a RITA award for One Fine Cowboy. At various times, Joanne has dabbled in horse training, chicken farming, and bridezilla wrangling at a department store wedding registry. Her fascination with literature led to careers in bookselling and writing. She lives with two dogs and a retired fighter pilot in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

You can find Joanne:

Website  

Goodreads

Facebook

 

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

My guest is western romance author Joanne Kennedy. She shares with us her recent battle with Chronic Pain—how she's coped with it and distractions that have helped.

Sometimes when the going gets tough, the tough need a little escape from reality. That’s why I love romance novels. There’s nothing like plunging into the glittering world of the Regency era, joining hunky Navy S.E.A.L.s on a stateside mission, or riding the range with a hot hunky cowboy to take your mind off your troubles.

Once in a while, I hear from a reader who says my books helped them through a difficult time. Writing stories that offer solace when someone is ill or dealing with loss gives my work a whole new purpose.

But this year, the roles were reversed: It was knowing that there were readers out there waiting for my stories that kept me going through my own tough times. Because last year I joined the estimated 35 million Americans who suffer from chronic pain. 

It’s not easy to admit to this. I feel like I’m coming out of some dark closet, or admitting to alcoholism. Though there shouldn’t be a stigma surrounding something you can’t help, we instinctively keep pain hidden, like an injured animal who crawls off and hides so no one will see his vulnerability. We don’t want to risk being dismissed as neurotics or hypochondriacs. Besides, we all know the surest way to end a conversation is to answer the question “how are you” honestly.

In some ways, I was lucky. The source of my pain was obvious—jaw joints severely degenerated from arthritis, and two discs in my neck that protruded into my spinal cord. So nobody dismissed my pain, and there were concrete solutions. But millions of people, especially women, suffer from illnesses like fibromyalgia that are more or less invisible. In addition to being in pain, they have to deal with the fact that some folks—sometimes family and friends, and even doctors—don’t believe their suffering is real.

That’s why those of us who deal with chronic pain need to talk, not about the problem but about the solution. And the first solution is the talking itself, because it’s hard to solve a secret.

The best solution I’ve found is distraction, and the best distraction is creativity. The only really bad days were the days when I couldn’t perform the physical task of writing. For two weeks after my neck surgery, I couldn’t type; I could barely hold up a paperback book and read. All I can say is thank God for podcasts and audio books! They kept me sane.

Once I could write again, I could escape reality and lose myself in my characters and their world. My heroine in Cowboy Crazy is a little troubled and angsty, probably because of how I was feeling when I wrote the book. But rodeo cowboy Lane Carrigan helped her through her tough times, and he helped me, too.

All things happen for a reason, and I learned a lot from this experience. I learned that it’s important to have balance in your life—to get up and walk rather than spending eight straight hours at the computer. I learned that it’s important to listen to your body, and make adjustments when it gives you a little twinge to remind you you’re not taking care of it. I learned to keep trying, to persevere and never give up. Recently I found a doctor who’s able to help me, and I feel like I’m finally on the road to recovery.

Most of all, I learned to appreciate what I do and the people who allow me to do it. Thank you to all my readers for keeping me going. You have no idea how much it means to know you care about my stories. Because of you, the characters I love actually live out there in hearts and minds, and bringing them alive for you is what kept me going through some very difficult days.

• What keeps you going through the hard times? Do you treat yourself to something special, lose yourself in a good book, or take off on flights of creativity? 

COWBOY CRAZY BY JOANNE KENNEDY

 IN STORES JUNE 2012

Sparks fly when sexy cowboys collide with determined heroines in a West filled with quirky characters and sizzling romance. Acclaimed for delivering “a fresh take on the traditional contemporary Western“ Joanne Kennedy’s books might just be your next great discovery!

From stable to boardroom…

Sarah Landon’s Ivy League scholarship transforms her from a wide-eyed country girl into a poised professional. Until she’s assigned to do damage control with the boss’s rebellious brother Lane, who’s the burr in everybody’s saddle. He’s determined to save his community from oil drilling, and she’s not going back to the ranch she left forever. Spurs will shine in this saucy romp about ranchers and roots, redemption and second chances.  EXCERPT

To purchase Joanne’s latest release, Cowboy Crazy, please visit ganxy.com/p/62834.

Joanne Kennedy is the author of four contemporary Western romances for Sourcebooks: Cowboy Trouble One Fine Cowboy, Cowboy Fever, and Tall, Dark and Cowboy. She brings a wide variety of experience, ranging from chicken farming to horse training, to her sexy, spicy cowboy stories. She is a 2011 finalist in the prestigious Romance Writers of American RITA© Awards, for One Fine Cowboy. Joanne lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she is working on her next book, Cowboy Tough (Fall 2012). 
For more information, please visit http://joannekennedybooks.com/. 

A CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE

Joanne Kennedy is my guest and she's brought her Hooligans, a bit of small town Americana, and some fun conversations. Oh, let's not forget the tall dark cowboy!


Actually, like the song says, he's not that easy to forget...*contented sigh.

I love hearing from readers. But recently, I received an e-mail that gave me a stab of remorse.

“Your books make me want to move to a small town,” it said. “One where I can find a cowboy who will really love me and my three kids.”

I write about ranch life and small towns, celebrating old-fashioned values like community and caring. But was I raising readers’ expectations too high? There aren’t many storybook places in the real world—are there?

I’ve been living in the city for too long. It was time for a road trip—one that would confirm that the world I was writing about really existed. Loading my husband and the Hooligans into my trusty Subaru, I headed for the closest cluster of small towns.

The first town was proof that reality doesn’t always match the wishful world of fiction. It was November, so the bright sky of summer had changed to solid, wintry gray. The wind was cold and biting. A string of battered buildings huddled together in a crooked row beside a street pockmarked with holes and patched asphalt. There were no sounds except wind rattling dry sagebrush, and the harsh, lonely cry of a crow.

And I was encouraging people to believe this was some kind of romantic paradise.

Worse yet, I was hungry, and the only place to eat in the next town was the Longhorn Grocery and Cafe. You can usually judge a small-town eatery by the number of trucks parked outside—and there wasn’t a single one.

But it was early in the day. When noon struck, the place filled up quickly. And as the townspeople filed in, my world—the world of my novels—bloomed right before my eyes.

“Oh, you brought the boys!” the cook crowed as a middle-aged lady walked in. I turned, expecting to see a couple of kids, but instead two fragile elderly gentlemen stumped in, canes tapping. The crowd grew, and sure enough, everybody knew everybody else. Gossip and greetings filled the air. It was just like one of my books—except the dialogue was even better. Here’s a sample:

Lady #1: “What happened to you?”

Lady with Arm in Sling: “I fell downstairs. But at least I didn’t run over myself like Bob did.”

 Run over yourself? I thought. How do you do that?

 Gentleman #1: “He never learns. He left that pickup running while he went in the post office the other day. Says he puts it in park now, though.”

Gentleman #2: “That’s not as bad as Ed Simmons. He got hit by the school bus. Didn’t hurt him much, but he yelled at the driver. He said, ‘What’d ya hit me for? You know I turn here every day!’” 

By the time I finished my cheeseburger, my conscience was cleared along with my plate. These towns might look bleak from the street, but once you took the time to step inside, they’re full of life and love.

And I realized that it’s the bleakness, the hardship, and the challenge of living in this part of the world that brings these people together. Community is created by common interests and shared enemies like the weather and the wind.

So when you’re driving through small-town America, keep in mind that even in a place that looks hopeless on the outside, there’s life and love and family behind the lighted windows—just like in a romance novel.

Tall, Dark and Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy—In Stores November 2011
 
She’s looking for an old friend…

 In the wake of a nasty divorce, Lacey Bradford heads for Wyoming where she’s sure her old friend will take her in. But her high school pal Chase Caldwell is no longer the gangly boy who would follow her anywhere. For one thing, he’s now incredibly buff and handsome, but that’s not all that’s changed… 

What she finds is one hot cowboy…

 Chase has been through tough times and is less than thrilled to see the girl who once broke his heart. But try as he might to resist her, while Lacey’s putting her life back together, he’s finding new ways to be part of it. Excerpt

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Joanne Kennedy is the author of three previous contemporary Western romances for Sourcebooks. She brings a wide variety of experience, ranging from chicken farming to horse training, to her sexy, spicy cowboy stories. She is a 2011 finalist in the prestigious Romance Writers of American RITA© Awards, for One Fine Cowboy. Joanne lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she is working on her next book, Cowboy Crazy (June 2012). 

For more information, please visit http://joannekennedybooks.com/.