And, asked me to be her friend. **sigh**
Hopefully, some of her writer's enthusiasm will rub off on me. Once again I'm guilty of not using my time to it's greatest potential. My bad. Again.
Anywhoo...on with the good stuff. I will post the interview first, then get on with the promo stuff.
BTW, I have read Sawyer's Rose and have deemed it one of the best romantic historical westerns I've ever read. Yep, pardner, it's that good.
The Interview:
What author's do you read? Your favorite?
That is a hard question. Mostly because since I joined RWA and GRW I have read stories to support the other writers there as well as my critique partners. Because of my own writing I mostly listen to books on Audible on the way to and from work and my interests are eclectic. I just finished listening to the entire Longmire Series by Craig Johnson as I loved it on Television. It was great! Before that I spent 18 months listening to the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I have also read the entire Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I think I do prefer historical so I have been listening to one book at a time of the Wagon's West series by Dana Fuller Ross. It is an old series, but I love the post civil war period and all through the cowboys years and even until the 1920s. I suppose I couldn't name a favorite and try a lot of different things.
Do you outline, or are you a pantser?
My characters make me panster. I do try to write an outline and use story boards and planning, but even when I plan well and can see it all happening, those cowboys move the story some other way and most often if I let them it ends up better. I keep a book of character profiles that have the specific, eye color hair color and height and build. I keep a list of characters and which story they show up in so I don't get confused. It's amazing when you build a little town and get to a new story you can forget who the barber was.
What are some of your favorite writing craft books?
I am such an alpha personality that emotion is something I always need to work hard on in my stories. So sitting nearby is usually The Emotional Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. I have all their books actually and love love love them! I use the flip Dictionary a good bit since I recently ordered it. (Carol turned me on to that one.) When I write I use my 17 inch lap top because I can move around the house and my girls are always on the big computer. I even purchased extra batteries for my computer so I can go to soccer and gymnastics with the girls and still keep writing.
Do you take any writing courses online, and what are they?
I have taken a few online courses but that is sometimes hard with a full time job and two kids. I get most of my learning through GRW speakers and writer conferences. A lot of times because I am on my laptop writing I just click online and search for what I need. Simpler that way. But I do believe you have to study the craft and the best way I think I have learned is to critique for others. I can find things in other's writings that I may miss in my own.
What is your weakest and strongest part of the writing process?
Weakest is the craft itself. I have a lot to learn and even when you think you got something you can keep learning more and more about it. I suppose like anything you want to do well you keep studying it and I do. Like I said I have to work on emotion and better tags and dialogue. As far as what is strongest with my writing, I'd have to say the fact I have characters that people don't want to leave, and stories that make you feel like you are there. Where I get into trouble is that my stories sell as romance, and there are certain things that true romance readers want and while I have that, I toss in the family drama and also a cowboy fight and things that pull the romance back a bit and that seems to be a problem which is why I say maybe I truly write Family saga with romantic elements of which there is really no genre. Maybe I am just unique, but it seems to be working for now, though I am trying to spice up more romance in the current stories.
Do you do all your writing on the computer or longhand?
Mostly on my laptop directly. There are times I print out a chapter at a time to read out loud or to critique on paper with a red pen so I won't miss things. I have found it time consuming to write it on paper and then have to type it later. I have dragon but it seems to be more work for me to correct how it reads my voice, so I gave that one up. I think I am better, just me and my laptop and a big cup of hot tea or coffee.
Thanks, Kim...it's always fun to read about how other writers get the job done.
The Blurb from the back of the book:
As if he doesn't have enough to handle between running outlaws out of Cheyenne, keeping his brother's out of trouble and avenging his father's death, sheriff Sawyer McCade's meddling mother just dumped a mysterious mail-order-bride on his doorstep. One woman can be more trouble than a band of renegades and while this one has him all stirred up, he'd rather get to the bottom of the story she isn't telling. Rose Parker had it all. Until she discovers a web of danger and deceit that sends her running to Cheyenne, posing as a mail-order-bride. Escaping the evils of New York seems sensible until she meets the unsuspecting sheriff who didn't ask for her, has no intention of marrying her and won't rest until he uncovers her secret and sends her back home.
Excerpt from Sawyer's Rose:
“I’m a lawman, remember, and I read people very
well. I know when I’m only hearing part of a story.”
Her blue eyes narrowed, and that too-enticing flush
lit her cheeks to a bright pink. She darted past him to
look out across the ranch and then spoke. “I came here
looking for a new life. Accepting a husband is a means
to survival for any woman in the West. But getting here
and finding out you didn’t send for me—” She swung
around. “Well that’s certainly a relief. I thought I was
going to step off the train in Cheyenne, be whisked to
the judge and right into your bed. Frankly, that idea was
rather frightening.”
Was she trying to be funny? It wasn’t that the
thought hadn’t crossed his mind. Bedding her would be
more than interesting, but he didn’t need a wife. Not
right now. “Then why are you here?”
“I wanted to see the West and find adventure like I
told you. So why not start here? Did you read the
papers I sent?” She shook her head realizing he hadn’t.
“I suppose your mother got those.”
He supposed so, too.
“I filled in my application.” She took a deep breath,
“And I realized I had led an incredibly normal life. An
only child, raised by my father, schooled in the proper
etiquette, sent to university, and spoiled to the point I
hadn’t lived for myself. I am here to create a new life—
my life. If you do not wish to marry, I will find my own
way, which is probably best anyway.” She stared out
across the horizon, blinking back tears.
“You can’t stay here alone, not in Cheyenne. I’ll
get your fare paid and send you home.”
She snapped around and glared at him. “I will not
be returning home, regardless of a marriage. You have
no idea what I am capable of, and I think that makes me
somewhat of a—thorn in your side?”
Sawyer wasn’t sure which was more annoying, her
presence and will to stay or the thoughts she made him
think. She wasn’t a thorn, but damned if he’d be able to
sleep with her in the same house for any length of time.
When he only nodded, a knowing smile spread
across her face. “Good.”
As furious as he was, he couldn’t take his eyes off
the sway of her hips as she spun around and went
inside. She couldn’t possibly think she would be
staying in Cheyenne as an unescorted woman. Well, he
had no intention of marrying her either, and one way or
the other he’d see her on a train back to New York if it
was the last thing he did.
kimturnerwrites.com
"Sawyer's Rose"--The McCade's of Cheyenne-Book 1
Maggie Finalist 2014/Golden Heart® Finalist 2015
Romance Writers of America®
Georgia Romance Writers
"It's all about a cowboy and the woman he loves."
