RW: Hi, Killarney. Welcome to my blog. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?
KS: Wow, just a little bit? LOL! I'm married almost 17 yrs now to a retired dairy farmer who turned beef and have 5 school-aged kids. Before becoming an author I was a Natural Horsemanship trainer, farrier (horse-shoer), equine massage therapist, and level 1 English and Western coach. I also did and still do breed thoroughbreds and appendix horses.
RW: How long have you been writing?
KS: I started as a kid (twelve years old) on my Mom's old manual typewriter. The 'e' and 'g' keys stuck so you had to hit them really hard on the old ink ribbon. I had a great school teacher who encouraged me to write despite being dyslexic and even submitted some of my stuff into various school-aged competitions. I never won anything but I did place a few times. I placed for my first novel Buck about a buckskin color mustang stallion. (I still say Walt Disney stole that idea from me LMAO!) I quit writing late in high school as showing horses and working to put myself through college and pay the rent became priorities. I started again after getting married and having the first three kids because it was easy to do while they were napping. (Incidentally I penned my first historical romance “The Horseguard's Lady” at this time which ended up being my third novel accepted by MuseItUp Publishing ten yrs later!)
RW: What is/are your favorite genre/s?
KS: Definitely historical romance. I cut my teeth learning from great writers like the now deceased Kathleen E Woodwiss who was and still is the Queen of tagless writing, and Canadian Jo Beverley a fifteen time best seller and five time RTA winner (who was kind enough to guest on my blog last month). However I do dabble in a little other stuff. I have two soft erotica romances, one 'Chained' set to release October 28, set in 1974 and one book in the coming 2012 MuseItHot Lacey's Lamp series. I have also penned MuseItUp's first accepted steampunk (historical romance-ish) and am working on a tween fantasy (at my kids’ request), a Flapper romance (1924) and an historical/thriller with another Muse author, Nancy Bell. Basically anything post 1980's is fair game for me.
RW: Who are your favorite authors?
KS: As I mentioned earlier for historical romance it is Jo Beverley for her amazing description of settings and Kathleen E Woodwiss for her incredible way of going tagless and still keeping you in the scene. My early favorites growing up were Walter Farely- The Black Stallion Series, the Trixie Beldon series, Nancy Drew and great classics like Sounder, Little House on the Prairie and the Big Red series. (Not the cartoon one, but the one about the Irish setter farm).
RW: What is a typical day like for you, and when do you get your best writing done?
KS: LOL, I push pull and drag the kids off to school, go like stink off a skunk to get the animal chores and housework done then write from noon to four PM when the kids get home. If I am lucky I don't have to run one of my athletic or 4H kids somewhere and I can squeeze in another couple hours while everyone is watching TV before bed.
RW: What else have you published?
KS: I have seven historical romances with MuseItUp and two soft erotica shorts with MuseItHot (under pen name Kelli Key). I have just finished my longest project yet of almost eighty thousand words and sent it off in hopes of getting an agent that will get me into one of my two favorite publishing houses, Avon or Zebra, as well as finishing up my tween fantasy to send to a Canadian children's publisher. In addition to that I am my local newspaper's reporter/columnist for local events and human interest stories.
RW: If you went to “that God-forsaken rock the Moon,” what one special thing would you take?
KS: Just one??? My computer for sure but if I could I would definitely sneak in a gallon of vanilla bean ice cream and a large Tim Horton's french vanilla coffee! Oh yeah, and my orange kitty cat 'Bad Baby' and my thoroughbred stallion 'Stamp de Gold' aka 'Love Monkey'. Those two just keep me in stitches and so much unconditional love every day.
Editor’s Note: Someone did sneak a pair of cats aboard the shuttle with the first wave of prisoners to the Moon. Crystal Petrie found them in with the livestock. Didn’t take Eve long to deliver her first litter, either—brazen little hussy. But I suspect the shuttle crew would notice a horse. And on a three-day trip, your ice cream would melt and your coffee would get cold. You’d have to sneak a bag or four of the beans and brew it yourself.
RW: Tell us about your current book. How many words/pages is it?
KS: My second release came out in September called Stand & Deliver Your Heart. It is about a female 1800's highway woman (coach robber). Through Mother Nature's stormy whim she unwittingly rescues a suicidal lord in a failed robbery attempt. Her conscience compels her to take him in, but he knows her secret. Will he keep it? Can he save her from the hangman's noose? Who will stand and deliver their heart first? You’ve got to read it to find out. (;
Tag Line: “This is not a fairy tale. No prince is going to come on his white horse and rescue me.”
RW: Where did the idea come from?
KS: I honestly can't remember LOL. My ideas come from some pretty strange places sometimes—from my nine year-old son's black Holland lop rabbit Dexter (the star of a work in progress about a female magician), to a documentary I watched on Marie Antoinette (my 2013 release entitled Marie based on the thought “What if Marie had escaped beheading?”). What it boils down to is I am just a hopeless romantic who thinks that life should be fair. (Yes, I'm a Libra. LOL).
RW: How did you choose your setting? Have you woven any of your own life or environment into it? If not, how did you research the details of the area?
KS: Well since I write historical romance, history is the key to it all. I use reference books and internet sites to research my stories. (Interestingly enough, I hated social studies/history in school. LOL). There is always a bit of me in every story I pen. For example, my June 2011 release Guilty Kisses has a scene with an...ah...mammary gland dilemma...I am not going to explain it, lol. Read the book. In Stand & Deliver your Heart my second release, I suppose it is her relationship with her horse 'Shadow,' which mirrors how I feel about my stallion. As for my Oct/ 28 soft erotica release Chained, well, it is her whole dairy farm experience. After being married to a man who dairy farmed for thirty years, I have a unique and humorous outlook on the industry and slobbering cows in general. LOL!
RW: Who is your favorite character in the story?
KS: That is a tough one. I don't think I have a favorite character but rather favorite traits in each one I write. For example, In Guilty Kisses I love Cassie's, (the heroine’s) naivety. In Stand & Deliver your Heart I love Sara's determination and refusal to accept the world as it is. As for Chained, well I just love Shianne's crass outlook on everything in general. LOL.
RW: How many drafts did you do before the manuscript was ready for submission?
KS: I do one draft, refuse to character plot because I prefer my heroes and heroines to take the story wherever they please, then I fine tune and submit. I like to keep things simple and I write a fast paced, action filled read because, well a slow story or detail-filled scene bores me. I need a romance that isn't just about the love. Give me ship wrecks, damsels in distress, high speed horse chases and duels and I am hooked!
RW: What’s the one thing you hope readers will take away with them when they finish reading.
KS: I hope they had a chance to step out of their stressful world of kids, ringing phones, work demands and crazy schedules. I want to give them hope that love can be found/will be found in any situation if you believe.
Editor’s Note: When I read Guilty Kisses, I couldn’t put it down and read straight through a family barbecue on Father’s Day. To be fair, it took the kids until ten PM to put together the gas grill my daughter bought her boyfriend and it was cold outside. But even when we finally ate at eleven PM, I still couldn’t put the book down until I finished it.
RW: Where can we buy?
KS: You can find all my releases at www.museituppublishing.com amazon.ca, and twenty or so other e-book and paperback vendors. The complete list is on the MuseItUp site.
RW: How can we reach you?
and my soon to be unveiled all in one site:
Excerpt: From 'Stand & Deliver Your Heart'
Another fork of lightning lit up the sky, and she wondered if the weather was an omen of
terrible things to come. She tried to keep from stiffening in the cold, flexing her limbs slowly so
as not to spook their nervous mounts. Her horse shifted its weight, lowering its head away
from the pelting rain.
Sarah listened for any sound indicating an approaching carriage. Where is it? Has the driver turned around and headed back to London because of the storm? Maybe we are wasting our time sitting out here in the rain. perhaps the lady in question is not coming.
Just when she was about to give up, the mare lifted her head, ears pricked forward.
Sarah listened closely. After a few tense moments the sound of jingling harnesses and the rattle of an approaching coach made itself heard over the wind and rain.
“All right men, here she comes,” she whispered over her shoulder. “Get ready.”
KB: Thank you so much for having me here today!
RW: You’re so welcome, and thank you for swapping blogs. Tomorrow Killarney will be hosting me on her blog. Stop by to meet Scott McGowan, the hero of Rock Crazy, and comment for a chance to win on my blog tour. One lucky person will be able to choose a signed copy of my first book, Rock Bound, or a Rock Crazy tee-shirt or mug. And don’t forget to go next-door and comment on my review of Marva Dasef’s Missing, Assumed Dead. Here are the links:
Killarney’s Blog: Http://killarneysheffield.blogspot.com
Rochelle’s Reviews: http://rochellesreviews.blogspot.com
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