Happy Independence Day. Please remember: freedom isn't free. Thank a vet.
I’d like to welcome Barbara White Daille
to my blog this week.
I’d like to welcome
Barbara White Daille to my blog this week. If you checked us out on Monday, you’ll
see the questions have changed and the excerpt is longer. I apologize. I used
the wrong file.
RW: What is the best thing about being a
writer?
BWD: Telling the stories of all the people who
run around inside my head, and then having the stories connect with readers.
RW: Do you have a favorite comment or
question from a reader?
BWD: In Rancher at Risk I wanted to write about
a woman like any other woman, who just happens to be deaf. After the book came
out, I was thrilled to receive a letter from a reader who said she has many
deaf family members and that I “got it right” when it came to Lianne.
RW: After you’ve written your book and it’s
been published, do you ever read it?
BWD: Yes, I read all my books after publication.
I want to make sure I’m growing as a writer. And of course, as I love all my
characters and settings, I like to revisit them. It always feels like going
home.
RW: Who are your favorite characters among
the books you’ve written?
BWB: This is such a tough question, because as I
always say, it’s like asking a mom which is her favorite child. The truth is, I
love them all!
That said, I will admit my most
challenging characters have turned out to be among my favorites, and those
include Lianne from Rancher at Risk,
a deaf woman struggling to find her place in both the deaf and hearing worlds.
Another is Sam, the hero from A Rancher’s Pride, who learns he has a deaf
four-year old daughter he has no way to communicate with. (These are my only
two books with deaf characters and, coincidentally, the four-year-old child is
Lianne’s niece.)
Finally, I would have to say Jason,
from Cowboy in Charge, broke my heart.
Not only does he have to make amends for abandoning his wife and unborn child,
he has to find it in his heart to accept another man’s child as his own.
RW: What makes a good book?
BWB: For me, it’s a story that introduces you to
characters you grow to love as much as you do your family and friends. It’s
also a story that welcomes you into a world you want to visit again and again.
RW: Where do you hope to be five years from
now?
BWB: Still writing! I have many more stories to
tell and other genres of books I’d like to write, but I would hope that in five
years I’ll still be writing romance and sharing home and family stories with
quirky characters and a little bit of humor.
RW: Tell us about your latest book. What
motivated the story? Where did the idea come from?
BWB: That would be Cowboy in Charge. The heroine appears as the sister of another
character in a previous book in the Hitching Post Hotel series. The idea came
because I was intrigued by the thought of a couple who had terrible odds to
overcome before they could reunite. What motivated me to write the story was I
knew they had been married to and divorced from each other, and he had walked
away from her when she was pregnant. It was a very difficult book to write, because
they were both at fault in the past, and yet I wanted to make them sympathetic.
I hope readers will find I did them both justice!
RW: Bubble baths or steamy showers? Ocean or
mountains? Puppies or kittens? Chocolate or caramel?
BWD: Bubble baths, because that’s where I get
most of my best ideas and can take notes for them. Ocean, because I love the
soothing sound of the surf. Puppies, but really, they’re both so cute! And
chocolate—do I really need a reason?
RW: What are your thoughts on love scenes in
romance novels?
BWB: I’m a romance writer, so I love them. However,
I tend to write either closed-door love scenes or, more often, love scenes that
focus less on physical descriptions and more on the characters’ shared history,
current connections and conflict, and hopes and dreams.
RW: What can we expect from you in the
future?
BWB: I’ll have two more books in the Hitching
Post Hotel series. The next, The Cowboy’s
Triple Surprise, tells the story of a woman determined never to marry a
cowboy and a playboy cowboy who swears he’ll never be tied down. But nine
months after their one-night stand, (you guessed it) three infants steal their
hearts. I’ll also have a three-book series from Entangled Bliss beginning this Fall,
and I’m having such fun writing about the three “bad-luck” Barnett sisters, who
find the magic of the holiday season helping them find true love.
Cowboy in Charge
Timing is everything.
Single mom Layne Slater thought she’d seen the last of Jason
McAndry when he chose the rodeo over her and their unborn son. Now Jason’s back
in Cowboy Creek and just as handsome as ever. But Layne can’t give in to those
feelings again. She has to protect her children—and her heart.
Jason wants to try to make up for the pain he caused when he
left. The least he can do is help Layne while he’s home. Before long, Jason
realizes he’s finally ready to be the husband, father and man his family
deserves. But can Jason prove to Layne that this time, their love is forever?
Bio:
Barbara White Daille lives with her husband in the sunny
Southwest. Though they love the warm winters and the lizards in their front
yard, they haven’t gotten used to the scorpions in the bathroom.
Cowboy in Charge,
the latest book in The Hitching Post Hotel series, is a brand-new release!
Other books in the series will follow. A larger print reissue of A Rancher’s Pride, book one in Barbara’s
popular Flagman’s Folly series, is now available exclusively from Harlequin,
while the e-book version is available everywhere. And at the end of 2016, she
begins a new sweet romance series for Entangled Bliss.
Excerpt
(A bit of setup: Layne is dealing with
the flu, and prior to this scene, she passed out. Jason has just admitted he
lied to her about how long she was unconscious.)
Her breath caught. “Why?”
“The baby was wailing and the boy looked scared to death and
you sure didn’t seem in any shape for more bad news at that moment. The moment
right before you ran off to toss your cookies. Remember that?”
“Yes,” she snapped. She appreciated that he had been there at
the time, but she didn’t like having to feel grateful to him for anything. She
didn’t want to feel anything for him at all. “Then, thank you for carrying me
in and taking care of supper. But I’m fine now. You can go.”
He opened his arms wide, unknowingly allowing her a look at
well-defined pecs and six-pack abs. He gestured around the room. “You’re on the
verge of collapse, and you expect me to leave you by yourself with two kids?
What kind of man would that make me?”
“As far as I recall, the same kind who walked out when I was
pregnant with one of
those kids.”
A muscle in his jaw worked hard, telling her he was having
trouble holding back another response. The sight made her uneasy, not out of
fear of him but from her memories of past fights. No matter how often they
argued, he had almost always been better at hanging on to his anger than she
had.
“You refused to talk to me,” he said finally, his tone harsh
but even. “And you kicked me out. Have you got a recollection of that day,
too?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “I remember it very well.”
“Great. Then remember this, too. I didn’t drop in only to say
hello. I…I want to talk with you. But that can wait until you’re feeling better
again. I’ll go. As soon as you call someone and they show up to stay with you.”
He crossed his arms again. “Dammit, Layne, you always were the most stubborn…”
It was his turn to take a deep breath. She bit her lip to keep
from responding.
“Look," he continued, “you could barely handle the baby
when she started squirming. And you were hanging on to the kitchen table with
one hand while you stood up to strap her into her seat. You want to risk a
serious accident while you’re alone with the kids?”
She flushed. “Of course not.”
“Then—”
“I don’t have anyone to call.”
“The baby’s daddy—”
“He’s not in the picture,” she said shortly.
She could see him hesitate, as if her admission had thrown
him. But he simply said, “What about your brother?”
“No. Cole’s the best man in a wedding, and tonight’s the
rehearsal dinner. Everybody I know is involved one way or another in prepping
for the wedding. Or they’re working.”
“Well, that settles it.” He returned to his seat across from
her at the table and leaned forward until they were almost nose-to-nose. “You’ve
got yourself an overnight guest.”
Buy Links:
Contact Barbara:
Author Website: http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com
Author Blog: http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com/blog
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002J6B0QQ
Hi, Rochelle - thanks a bunch for sharing news about Cowboy in Charge and for letting me add a few more answers to the Q&As.
ReplyDeleteYou ask such great questions, I couldn't resist. ;)
And Readers, I'm always happy to chat!