Author Debut ~ Taryn Raye

Today, I'm pleased as punch to present Taryn Raye, a fellow Kentucky writer--and a sweetheart of a gal--who's just published her first historical romance novel titled Castaway Hearts. I hope you'll help me give her a warm welcome to the romance publishing world. She'd sure love to hear from you, so come on in and say howdy!

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Castaway Hearts blurb:

Twice orphaned, Catherine Barrett arrives in Virginia a stranger to her closest kin and secretly engaged to the one man her family would disapprove of- her seafaring grandfather’s apprentice. Add to her troubles, the rich and intriguing older brother of her secret betrothed, Dawson Randolph, a plantation owner who is as heartless as he is handsome. Heartbroken when her intended sets sail for his maiden voyage, Catherine finds it difficult to adjust to her new life, hoping to befriend the one man who is, undoubtedly, the match her grandparents wish for her. Dawson’s distaste for her secret engagement to his brother makes it clear he has no designs for marriage to anyone. Especially her.

Ten years since the tragic loss of his young wife and infant son, Dawson Randolph is convinced love and marriage is a fool’s game and resents being pardon to his brother’s hidden engagement. Damned by his instant attraction and his own growing desire, Dawson vows to befriend her against his better judgment. Determined to bring her happiness in a time of fear and uncertainty, Dawson puts aside his animosity to become her confidant, only to realize Catherine holds the key to his heart. When tragedy strikes at sea, Catherine’s guilt pushes Dawson to the fringes of her life as madness consumes her.

Can his love save her before she drowns in her own grief? Or is he doomed to love her from a distance, always in the shadow of her love for his dead brother?

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Excerpt:

“Would you like to get down and walk a bit?” His voice whispered deep and thick from his throat. Catherine wasn’t sure of the changes, but the alteration in his tone of voice and his manner made her heart pitter-patter in anticipation of what may come.

Another kiss, perhaps?

Dread and hope battled in her stomach.

Do I really want that?

Catherine nodded her assent, her heart disappointed at her own wishful thoughts as they both slid down from the horse’s back. Dawson led Gypsy by the reins with one hand and took Catherine’s hand in the other. Pitch-black sky hovered over the beach and a few twinkling stars danced above, white gemstones, decorating the heavens. As the moon waned, it left the world in deep shadowy stillness.

Catherine didn’t jerk away when Dawson’s fingers entwined with hers. Instead, she enjoyed the companionable silence between them, the water lapping at the beach. Their boots crunched across the sand, and she felt a chill as a stiff breeze gusted by.

“Watch out for pieces of driftwood. I wouldn’t want you to trip.” Dawson whispered, his words gentle, his thumb drawing a lazy circle across the top of hers. A different kind of shiver rippled through her, but she steered her thoughts back to enjoying this time with her friend.

It was an unexpected comfort and a welcome reprieve from the arguments they shared with familiarity since they first met. Catherine broke the silence as they turned around and headed back up the beach toward the house.

“Are we becoming friends now?” Her heart paused, as she waited, hoping for assurance of the change.

Dawson squeezed her fingers and jostled her hand tenderly, “I believe so.”

When they returned to the house, Dawson let go of her hand, the simple act leaving her chilled again. He tied Gypsy at the hitching post and walked Catherine to the bottom of the balcony stairs on the other side of the house.

She took three steps up before she turned around and smiled down at Dawson.

“Goodnight, and thank you,” Catherine words were hushed as she rested her hand on the wooden banister.

“Thank you,” Dawson covered her hand with the weight of his, warming her all over. His lips tilted into a thoughtful smile. “Goodnight, my Catherine, I hope you have pleasant dreams.”

Catherine nodded at the idea and then paused.

“You won’t tell, promise—”

His thumb grazed the top of her hand again as he leaned closer. Catherine’s breath caught in her throat.

Was he going to kiss her?

“I promise,” Dawson’s lips were so close to her ear she heard him lick them and could feel his breath, warm against the nape of her neck. “It’s ours.”

“Ours?”

“This is just for you and me.”

Without another word, Dawson disappeared in the shadows and Catherine entered the house, slipping under her bedcovers with a contented sigh. An atrocious day had transformed into a fine night and she found a new hope had taken up residence in her heart. There would be new and better tomorrows ahead.
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Castaway Hearts: available now at Amazon, Turquoise Morning Press, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords

Western Romance Authors ~ A Baker's Dozen!!

The new group site, Cowboy Kisses, is all set to launch at the beginning of April. But before we saddle up, I want to give you the lineup of authors who will be contributing regularly to the blog. Also, our number has increased to thirteen authors and here we are... (drum roll, please)

Alison Bruce           Caroline Clemmons      Ciara Gold

Devon Matthews     Ellen O'Connell            Ginger Simpson
Jacquie Rogers        Lauri Robinson             Lyn Horner
Meg Mims               Paty Jager                    Peggy L. Henderson
Sharla Rae

I hope all of you will come join the site. It promises to be a rip-snortin' ride!

While I'm here, I'd also like to invite you to the new readers and authors group Jacquie Rogers started for all of us on Facebook. The Western Historical Romance Book Club is a place where readers and authors mix and mingle to discuss favorite western historical romances. You're sure to see a few keepers that have slipped through your lariet. If you're more into things visual, you can browse through all the gorgeous cover art. You'll also find plenty of pics and videos of your favorite cowboy hunks. In only a few days, our members number more than sixty so you're sure to find some of your friends already there. So, come on over, pull up a chair and cool your heels a while!

Devon

Chaos Winding Down

For the past week, I've been up to my eyeballs in chaos. I was right in the middle of an edit on my manuscript and haven't gotten back to it yet. I've done nothing but shuffle things around the house, trying to find some place to put them. Oh, I got all the major stuff done. It's the little things that are driving me to distraction.

The good news is, my son left his job in Richmond and walked right into another one here at home. It just so happened that my husband's part-time lady had to stop working for personal reasons, so my son stepped into her position. For the past three days, he's been at the store, learning the ropes.

Meanwhile, I finished reading "Pieces of Sky" by Kaki Warner. All I can say is, wow! It reminded me of--and yet it was not the same because it didn't go into a lot of daily life detail-- the reason why I fell in love with western historical romance all those years ago and decided those were the kinds of stories I wanted to write. Remember those? The historicals that actually had a story to go with the romance? I'm not going to give out any spoilers but I will say that parts of the story were absolutely haunting and will stay with me for a long time. If you love westerns that are all realism and no fluff like I do, then I highly recommend. The romance was beautifully played and kept me on the edge of my seat right up to the very end. I did NOT know for certain how this one was going to end. But I will tell you that I closed the book at the end with a weepy smile on my face.

I received "Open Country," the second book in Ms. Warner's Blood Rose Trilogy, but haven't even had a chance to look at it yet. Why? Because the moment it arrived, hubby snatched it and put it on his nightstand. He's one of those people who must read each night before he falls asleep, so it looks like I'm second in line to read the book. Again. He did the same thing with "Pieces of Sky."

Happy reading and writing!

Devon

That Was Then

Several years ago, I read a feature article in a magazine about author Pat Conroy. It's been in the back of my mind all this time because his writing process for some of his early books was so amazing. I'm sure the article comes to mind because one of the things he did was keep a word list. Any word he came across or heard in conversation and liked, he added to his list and found a way to incorporate it into his writing. I've started doing this with words that I see and hear all the time, but don't normally use. When I come across them, I write them down in a notebook, then look up the precise meanings and write those down, too. I keep the list handy and, while I'm writing, I occasionally take a look to see if I can use any of the words in my manuscript. In this way, I feel I'm broadening my vocabulary. After all, what is a writer without an extensive arsenal of words?

But back to Pat Conroy. At the time the article was written, he had secluded himself in a scenic old lighthouse on the Carolina coast to write a manuscript. He stayed there, alone, and did nothing but write until the manuscript was finished. His food, drink, and other necessities were delivered to his doorstep by friends so he didn't have to leave his writing zone.

Here's the really amazing part. His writing process was simply to write. And write, and write. The initial drafts for the books titled Prince of Tides and Beach Music ended up at something just over 2,000 pages each. He wrote the scenes as they came to him, and in no particular order. By his own admission, he ended up with a mess of manuscript that he couldn't make heads or tails of. It was his editor, Nan Talese, who took those gi-normous manuscripts, pored through them page by page, slashing whole sections and rearranging, until they became the books that eventually went on to become bestsellers. How incredible is that?

It makes me wonder. In today's publishing climate, where editors want everything as close to perfection as possible on submission--so there's a minimum of editing--how far would Pat Conroy's ponderous manuscripts have gotten? Probably about as far as my first manuscript, which ran just slightly over 700 pages--a wee pittance compared to Mr. Conroy's tomes. Green as spring grass, I queried that monster to agents. I received a note from one, who shall remain nameless (because he's still agenting today), that was absolutely priceless. He said, and I quote: "Are you kidding me with this?" But back to Mr. Conroy. I'm going to take the optimistic high road and say that I'm sure he would have worked through the whole culling and editing process himself, eventually. Those books would still have been published and gone on to become bestsellers. But how much longer would the road to publication have taken?

I thought Mr. Conroy's story was interesting and I think it serves as a good example of how much the publishing industry has changed in recent years. I have to wonder, though, if there are any authors in this day and time who still receive that kind of special treatment from their publishers.

Devon

Sad Day For Romance

Why, oh why, did I choose this particular time to start paying attention to what's going on in the romance community again? Today was a train wreck and, as usual, I couldn't stop looking. Today, Harlequin--the grand old dame, the backbone of romance--was stripped of it's publisher eligibility by RWA. And rightly so. But what a nightmare for all the Harlequin authors, past and present. My heart goes out to them tonight and I hope RWA can find a way to keep their priveleges intact.

I'm not going over all the points of what's happened. It's already being talked to death on all the loops and the popular blogs. Speaking as an author who still has the dream of being published with one of the big, mass-market publishers, this is the last thing we needed. Romance writers already take enough hits. The literary world will have a field day with this latest drama. It's days like this that make me yearn for the days before the internet and all the yahoogroups and blogs came into being. There wasn't very much drama back then. Only us writers and our stories. It's days like this that make me think anyone must be out of her mind to want to be a published author.

The big media is already picking up on the story. Here's a link to a very demeaning little article in The New Yorker.

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Devon

Remembering A Legend

If you're a fan of westerns, then I'm sure you've read Louis L'Amour. During his lifetime, he published well over a hundred books, and his novels continue in popularity today. His stories have also been made into some marvelous made-for-tv movies and mini-series. Who can forget The Sacketts with Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck, and Jeff Osterhage. Back when I first started writing westerns (I started out writing straight westerns, then later moved to romance), Louis L'Amour was one of my personal inspirations.

On Monday, July 20th, Mr. L'Amour's son, Beau, will be blogging about his father over on Petticoats and Pistols. If you're a fan, and even if you're not familiar with his work, I hope you'll drop by there and see what the son has to say about his legendary father.

Devon

Edit: it appears P&P has taken down the guest blog announcement. Don't know if that means it's off, but I'll find out and let you know.

She's Back!

Have you ever run across an author whose writing you enjoyed so much, you went looking for her entire backlist? For me, Rebecca Sinclair was such an author. I have her entire list of Western Historicals, plus a couple of her Scottish Medievals. To me, her appeal wasn't in her great storytelling ability, it was in her in-depth sensual details (and I'm not talking about sexual encounters, although she had those, too). As a writer, it was those passages of detailed sensuality that fascinated me.

I devoured her books. Then, ten years ago she suddenly disappeared from the radar. After doing a little digging, I discovered she'd quit writing.

I was really sad about that, so I held onto all her books and I've reread "Forbidden Desires" so many times the pages are coming loose from the binding.

Well, surprise, surprise. Last night, I logged onto MySpace and, suddenly, there she was. And she's got a new book titled "Murphy's Law" out from Kensington, her old publisher. I immediately popped over to Amazon and discovered the book is only available in Kindle edition. Bummer. I don't have a Kindle. So I went looking again. The e-book is available other places, but I'm leery of buying from them. The only successful downloads I've bought have been from the Harlequin site. Twice I've bought something from Fictionwise and they've taken my credit card number then sent the download zinging off into cyberspace and complete oblivion. I have no idea where they went. I only know they didn't end up in my computer.

I must have this book! This snowbound cabin cover looks so cozy and inviting. Here's the blurb I picked up over on Amazon:

Murphy's Law reigns supreme...

What else can explain how Murphy McKenna managed to get herself stuck in an unexpected, early-in-the-season Maine blizzard? In a very remote cabin. With dead phones. And impassable roads. Could there be a worse time for a desperate, badly wounded man to show up on her doorstep?

Instinct demands Murphy not trust Garrett Thayer. After all, the man refuses to give her a straight answer about anything. Even her precious Himalayan cat, Moonshine, is suspicious. Who wouldn't be? Not only is Garrett hurt, he's also apparently been out wandering in the storm with nothing more than a duffel bag stuffed with money, antique jewelry (a bottle of antihistamines?) -- and a gun.

Will Murphy's conscience allow her to turn her back on the handsome stranger who may be a thief, a bank robber, or worse ...?

This storyline appeals to me. I used a very similar plot device in "Maura's Outlaw," my historical romance set in late 19th century Missouri.

Just as an aside, I think it's interesting--in light of the current digital vs. print debate in romanceland--that Kensington has released this book in e-format only. Despite my bad luck with downloading e-books, I'll probably give it another try. Probably before the day is over. Maybe. Darn it. I wish they'd released this one in print.

Devon