BRAIN, DON'T DESERT ME NOW!

TWO giveaways...in ebook form...one of Blue Ribbon to one reader. One of Red Hot to another.

I heard a suspicious whine in the air so I thought I'd better fortify the Over Coffee bar. Hot scones will be out of the oven soon, meanwhile help yourself to the fresh coffee and tea. Made cookies last night and they're great with coffee and kick butt on the whine. Just sayin' 

My guest is romance author, Carolyn Brown. She's been dancin' around with way too many sexy cowboys the past couple of weeks, but I'll let her tell you about that problem...

***

So I was about to send a note off to Sia to ask her for an interview rather than a post. My brain was coming up totally empty and for me that’s a first. I can always talk the ears off a politician so what was wrong with my brain. Did I have something terminal? Good Lord, was I going to blank out on the WIP? It’s only a few thousand words over the half way mark…brain don’t desert me now!

Then that little voice inside my head said, “Hey, you have given your brain cells a workout this past two weeks and they are demanding a vacation? Plus you've been layin’ off sugar and your fat cells are whinin’. The brain cells demand the right to whine along with them.”

One can not argue with the truth but it can be explained.

I was typing along on the third book in the Burnt Boot series and was on top of the mountain. That’s when I hit the half way mark. I've climbed, struggled, slipped in several places and slid backwards in even more. But now I’m on the top. I can see where I've been and where I’m going and the backside doesn't look nearly as formidable as getting to the top.

Then I got the first round edits for Daisies in the Canyon and it does involve more than adding commas and question marks. No problem, put the WIP on hold. I've reached the top so it’s not any big deal, right?’

Wrong! I get half way through the Daisies in the Canyon and I get the first round edits for The Trouble with Texas Cowboys. Both of my publishers are putting out a book next January—one at the beginning of the month; one at the end. So I leave Daisies in the Canyon and work on The Trouble with Texas Cowboys because the deadline for it comes first. Remember now, I was half way through with the WIP, One Cowboy Too Many.

Three sets of characters dashing around in my head which means a lot of hot cowboys. I turned on the fans and drank a lot of really cold water. I could do this. I could eat an elephant a bite at a time. So still no problem, right?”

Wrong again! My awesome editor called to say that since we’d decided to go another route with the last two books in the Burnt Boot series, the launch materials did not fit anymore. So I left behind Daisies in the Canyon, The Trouble with Texas Cowboys and One Cowboy Too Many and whipped out new launch materials. Then I had five sets of characters in my head, all of them involving hot cowboys and I needed more than a fan, dear hearts! Where were those little white pills to prevent hot flashes? I know I had some left in the cabinet.

And that is why my brain cells are whining today! But hey, I wanted to be a writer. I asked all the higher powers to let me be a writer. And now I am one so my brain cells can suck it up and help me think of a decent post so Sia won’t be disappointed. And my fat cells can be

The one and only Chester Fat Boy. He told
Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, it was
his turn to be the star.

quiet, too, or I’ll start cleaning house and sweat a few of them out just to show them I’m still the boss.

Oh, and I finished all the edits, the launch materials and worked on a few more new ideas for the WIP. Got to admit I probably couldn't have done it without my muse so meet Chester Fat Boy, who has been beside me every day for two weeks. Yes, he does have his own pillow and yes, he does sleep a lot but he never forsakes me. I bet he’d even have something very interesting to write a post about and he wouldn't whine like my brain and fat cells!

I spent a week in Cadillac, Texas (you can read about it here). Both books are great stories and you have a chance to win an e-book of either, The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society (Book I) or the current book, The Red-Hot Chili Cook-Off (Book II and they can be read as a stand-alone). 

BTW, Sia is never disappointed with any of Carolyn Brown's writing. Just sayin'.

                                                                                                                                                          

BUY: AMAZON, B&N,
CHAPTERS INDIGO ca, INDIEBOUND

More Than the Chili's Heating Up Cadillac, Texas

Carlene Lovelle, co-owner of Bless My Bloomers lingerie shop, found a pair of fancy red-silk panties in her husband's briefcase, and all hell is breaking loose. She custom-made those fancy bloomers herself—and she remembers the bimbo who bought them. If her husband had a lick of sense, he'd known there are no secrets in a town like Cadillac.

Carlene's cohorts—and their mamas—plan to exact revenge on Lenny Joe where it'll hurt the most: break his ten-year winning streak at the prestigious Red-Hot Chili Cook-Off. Never before has a woman dared to compete. But the ladies of Bless My Bloomers are cooking up a storm...and it seems the whole town is taking sides in the showdown.

Welcome to Cadillac, Texas, where the chili is hot, the gossip is hotter, and friends stick by each other, no matter what the challenge.

                                                                                                                     

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with more than fifty books published, and credits her eclectic family for her humor and writing ideas. She writes bestselling single title cowboy and country music mass market romances. Born in Texas and raised in southern Oklahoma, Carolyn and her husband now make their home in the town of Davis, Oklahoma, where she continues to write more cowboy romances! For more information, please visit www.CarolynLBrown.com and Facebook.

MONDAY'S MUSINGS—TOOK A TRIP AND NEVER LEFT THE RANCH

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. Mine was great and I got to spend some time with my mother on Saturday and got to see her mama cat's new litter of babies. She has them in one of her extra bedrooms—now a nursery, lol! That's my mom J.

We have a winner for M.L. Buchman's Pure Heat: Farawayeyes. If you'll contact me I'll arrange for you to pick up your copy. Congratulations!

While I was recuperating and restless I had the chance to read some books that I enjoyed. Somewhere along the way my sense of restlessness was assuaged by my 'travels'. I've been to Texas, Colorado, Montana and slipped up into northwest Canadian wilderness, traveled all the way over to Pennsylvania and up to Maine.  Pretty nifty. Take a trip and never leave the farm, J  I’d thought I share a few with you (All were at least 4 1/2 stars in rating). 

Being restless I wanted something different. Something to pique my interest and divert me from hurting. I do have eclectic taste in reading. And it is very much mood driven. About the only thing I don’t read is horror (sorry horror fans), I don’t care for heavy-duty erotic romance (I like a bit left to my imagination), and kid’s books (my kid’s all grown up). I've read and enjoyed a few YA—but I really have to be in the mood to read YA (preferably when I don’t have a house load of young adults running in and out or playing Dear Abby with me). 

I have a towering stack of TBR books I can read but nothing appealed. Have you had those times? 

A friend of mine who writes sexy and fun cowboys also writes women’s fiction (which I hadn't read yet). She has a great sense of humor and I've laughed a lot reading her books, her turn of phrase, her realistic settings, sense of family and community. I needed some laughter and so I thought, why not?

TheBlue-Ribbon Jalapeño Society Jubilee and the second, The Red Hot Chilli Cookoff, by Carolyn Brown. 

“Welcome to Cadillac, Texas, where the jalapeños are hot, the gossip is hotter, and at the end of the day, it's the priceless friendships that are left standing...”

Oh, I am so glad I passed that welcome sign! That was five days of fun and laughter spent in Cadillac, Texas. Just what the doctor ordered.  What drew me to her stories?  Well, I loved watching movies like Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes, and absolutely loved Designing Woman series on TV. These books encapsulate the best of those shows. The southern humor, laughter and tears, diverse multi-generational women and how they deal with life, and strong friendships that see you through everything life throws you. Scratch the surface of the southern charm and you’ll find some very strong women who can take you to the cleaners without breaking a sweat and smile graciously while doing it, bless their hearts. I have to tell you, I fell in love with the feisty Agnes! The woman is diabolical and Lord love her, she can have my back anytime. She is a character in both books. All I can say is I’m glad I’m not the pretentious Violet (I loved how that played out!).

If you like a face paced page-turner and laugh out loud situations these two stories are a must read this summer.

I tried a new, to me, author, Mark Nykanen. I haven’t read any of his books but that will change henceforth. I read his thriller, Primitive Excellent story. Definitely intense. I like stories that grab from current issues facing us and in this case it was climate control and what dangers could be facing our world if steps aren't  taken to correct consumption. I've read a lot about the issue. But Primitive doesn't preach and it is an involving, multi-layered thriller about climate change theories. It starts with a kidnapping of a well-known model, Sonya Adams, to act as a spokesperson for their group’s agenda and subsequent media frenzy and some darker governmental agencies involved. It kept me turning pages and I liked the growth of Sonya and how she found her own tough core to survive. There is a well-developed layer in the story that says the surface may not show the whole and that’s especially true in the relationship between Sonya and her estranged daughter, Darcy. They seem at first glance to be polar opposites and yet at the core of both are more similar they either believes. Tightly constructed and entertaining story. Makes you think. If you like a good suspense/thriller it’s worth the read!

Another new to me author, but not for long, is Melinda Leigh. I read her romantic suspense, Midnight Exposure. Another multi-layered page-turner. I really liked the reasons for the creepy villains actions. She developed that well without tipping her hand by prematurely revealing him (I knew one character had to be involved but minute clues said he wasn't the main bad guy and that kept me guessing for awhile). You really got to see the bad guy’s arc and goals and motivations. Still a very creepy guy but very well done. This one starts with the disappearance of two hikers, which is blamed on the snowstorms in the Maine wilderness, but it’s oh so much more. Add in the attempted kidnapping of visitor, Jayne Sullivan, a tall red-headed beauty who is a part time tabloid photographer, a reclusive sculptor with past, and sparks fly. There is a well done happy ever after but not before some serious danger to traverse and problems, one of which is to keep Jayne out of the hands of a creepy Druid with an agenda. I really enjoyed the story—clever in execution and fast paced with a good romance attached. Hope you will, too.

So, how was your Mother's Day? Do anything fun? Read any good books you'd like to share?