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

• Amazon 
• Barnes&Noble
• Indie Bound Books
• Books-A-Million
• iTunes

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/.

Making Characters Real

I like to welcome Joanne Kennedy back to Over Coffee.  Joanne believes in Romancing The West. She's a bonafide denim and lace western girl who writes about hot cowboys.  Her believable stories have towns and critters, romance and love, along with danger and suspense.  She is also a RITA finalist for One Fine Cowboy. 

What draws us to cowboys? Maybe a touch of the rebel, for sure a bit of bad-boy, but there is also the image of tradition, respect, and moral strength. The strength to fight against the odds.  At the core, they're men and women of the land. 

They're almost larger than life, aren't they?

Still, cowboys are everyday people with quirks, foibles, good and bad. If you're writing cowboys or any character you have to make them realistic and three dimensional. After all, you are telling a story about people which your readers will love, hate, like or dislike. Give them personalities they can to relate to.

Joanne chats a bit about her characters, two and four legged, and the world they inhabit.


A compelling plot and great writing draw us into a story—but what we stay for is the characters. Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy; Jane Eyre and Rochester—what’s a romance without great lovers who come alive on the page?

Giving life to characters is the best part of writing. I love creating a small town of my own, peopled by characters who hopefully come alive for the reader. They’re certainly real to me!

I spend a lot of time in my fictional universe, and my characters become like friends—or maybe more like family, because much as I love them, they sometimes drive me crazy. Demanding, difficult, and determined—they’re just like real people!

Teague and Jodi have been with me a long time, waiting for their story to be told and gradually revealing who they are and what they want. By the time I actually sat down to write the book, they’d taken on so much personality that it was all I could do to keep them under control. It wasn’t easy to keep them out of bed, either. These two were definitely made for each other.

The best part about having a new book released is knowing that my characters are out there in the world, living in readers’ minds as well as my own. I’m thrilled when readers love them as much as I do, and reviews that praise them warm me up with the kind of pride you feel when your kid gets a straight-A report card.

And it’s not just the hero and heroine I love. Every one of my books has a whole community of characters, animal as well as human. Here’s a partial roster of the cast of Cowboy Fever:

• Teague Treadwell is possibly my favorite cowboy hero ever. He’s a good man overcoming a rough past, working hard to turn his life around and earn a place in his community and the heart of the town’s golden girl. He’s turned his alcoholic father’s played-out ranch into a first-class roughstock operation, raising bucking horses and bulls and competing in rodeos.
• Jodi Brand is a former Miss Rodeo America who’s been back East modeling and earning a degree in special education. She once promised to return and make her hometown a better place, and she’s keeping that promise by starting a therapy riding program for children with disabilities. She’s also coming back to see Teague, but that’s not something she’s ready to admit to herself.
• Troy Treadwell is Teague’s older brother and Jodi’s inspiration for working with the disabled. He has Down’s Syndrome, but his disability doesn’t define him. Troy wants to live an independent, fulfilling life of his own, but it’s hard for his brother to let him go; it’s taking care of Troy that inspired Teague to turn his life around.
• Courtney Skelton never really had a chance. The daughter of difficult but wealthy parents who bought her everything she wanted but paid little attention to her, she’s spoiled, self-involved, and accustomed to getting whatever she wants. Right now, she wants Teague—and that’s where the trouble starts.
• Cissy is Jodi’s best friend. She married her high school sweetheart only to discover he’s abusive. Now she counts on Teague for protection—but can he keep her safe without risking a return of the rough streak that made him the town bad boy?

And then there are the animals. In my books, they’re almost as important as the people, and a big part of my hero and heroine’s lives.

• Vegas is Teague’s old horse. He plays a part in all Teague’s best childhood memories—and Jodi’s, too. Now nearly blind, he’s ready for a new life as a therapy horse.
• Luna, Teague’s bossy border collie has one goal: getting Teague and Jodi together.
• Beelzebub, a.k.a. Beelzy, is a goat who’s supposed to keep Vegas company, but he spends most of his time dreaming up devilment.
• Honeybucket, Courtney’s teacup Pomeranian is a pocket pet who wants to be a real dog.

That’s just a partial list of the dramatis personae of Cowboy Fever. There’s a small town full of people who help Teague and Jodi’s story spin out, but in the end what matters most is the love they’ve had for each other all along. It’s not easy to leave the past behind, but I think you’ll agree that these two deserve a new future—and they deserve to spend it together.

Animals play a big part in my books.

Do you have a favorite animal hero or heroine from romance? 

COWBOY FEVER

Miss Rodeo Wyoming Jodie Bryce is back from the big city to find that her childhood friend Teague Treadwell’s rugged cowboy charm never looked better. But Teague thinks Jodie’s success lifted her out of his reach, and now he’s got to shed his bad boy image to be worthy of the girl next door. Excerpt.

Buy:  Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Indiebound  Format: paperback and e-book

~*~~*~~*~~

After 25 years in the business of selling books, Joanne finally decided to sit down and write one. Five years and a lot of hard work later, came Cowboy Trouble.

A member of Romance Writers of America and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Joanne Kennedy won first place in the Colorado Gold Writing Contest and second in the Heart of the Rockies contest in 2007. Her first novel, Cowboy Trouble, was released by Sourcebooks Casablanca in March 2010, and will be followed by One Fine Cowboy in September 2010. Two more contemporary western romances are scheduled for release in 2011. Joanne lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming.


FaceBook
 
 
.