Author Spotlight - Excerpt from "Baer Necessities"

Thank you so much for supporting Linda during her week in the spotlight. Leave a comment today, Saturday, and Sunday along with your email addy (so we can contact you if you win!) and we'll pick one lucky winner on Monday to receive a copy of Linda's latest book, "Baer Necessities." Enjoy the excerpt!

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Moderator Steph

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Blurb:
Baer Necessities - Book Two of The Three Baers

One of them will be just right.

Connor Baer left the ranch to see the world.

Jessie McIvey wasn't far behind.

He wanted no part of small town life, and she didn't want a cowboy in her future.

But sometimes the thing your heart wants the most, you've had all along. Two people left one small town to find what their hearts were searching for only to find everything they'd ever wanted right in their own backyard.

Excerpt:
As he drove toward the wide spot in the road known as Sentinel, Wyoming, he found his Jeep pulling into McIvey's Café parking lot.

Strange, he wasn't really hungry.

A little, lime-green, hybrid zipped into the spot next to him. The license plate said Colorado. A dozen strands of beads and a peace sign hung around the rearview mirror. Greenpeace and Eat Vegetarian stickers plastered on the rear window.

The man inside the hybrid gave Connor a nod as he got out of the car and followed him inside the café.

George McIvey smiled.

"Hi Connor, what can I get you?" He walked to the counter. George never changed. He still had the same military buzz cut, although it had gotten grayer. He still wore the same white apron, same flannel shirt underneath, and his eyes couldn't hide his happy soul.

"Coffee." Connor sat on a stool at the counter, watching the stranger who plopped down a few stools over. Curly dark blond hair fell to about mid-shoulder; he had a beard and moustache, square sunglasses, and sandals. Sandals? Well, at least the man didn’t wear socks with them.

George slid a fresh cup of coffee in front of him, and waited on the stranger.
"Coffee for you, sir?"

"No thanks, I'd like water, and do you have a vegetarian menu?"

George laughed, "You're in luck, our last cook was a vegetarian, and she made some mighty good meals." He handed the man a small paper menu. "It's short, but it's good. I'll get your water."

"Get that mangy mutt out of my restaurant." Margaret yelled from the kitchen as the swinging doors that separated the dining area from the kitchen slammed open. A muddy, foul smelling dog burst out of the opening in the counter, followed by a very cute woman on its heels.

Connor smiled as the dog wedged himself under the table in a booth, peering out at the sexy woman who tried to coax him out.

"You, come out of there. Come on boy." She bent over, talking softly to the dog, and the jeans pulled tight across the cutest little butt he'd seen in a long time. Her bare feet only added to her hotness.

"Jessie, is that you?" Sandal man walked toward her.

She stood and turned around.

Connor took in a deep breath. Damp, brown, curly hair matted around her face. Her eyes were chocolate brown, her lashes long, her hips tiny, and her breasts large. This girl was like a walking, talking Barbie doll. Connor swallowed hard, using the paper napkin George had supplied with his coffee to wipe his brow. It seemed rather hot in the café.

"Oak?" A smile lit up her face. "You came." She squealed and ran across the room to the man, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Connor," George leaned on his elbows across the counter, toward him, "did she just call him Oak?"

"I believe so."

Margaret stomped across the room, ignoring their reunion. "Dog. Out," she ordered, but the dog didn't move. "George." Her head turned toward him, her eyes shooting daggers.

He nodded and ran from behind the counter. "Come on." He got on his knees, calling to the dog.

"Dad, let me try." Jessie pulled away from Oak, dropped to her knees and nearly crawled under the table with the mutt.

Connor envied the dog.

Oak walked past George, tapped Jessie on the shoulder, and held his hand up. "Let me."

Margaret gave Connor an eye roll, crossed her arms over her chest, and tapped an aggravated foot.

"Come boy. Come out." Oak looked to Jessie. "What's his name?"

"Toby." George mused.

"Hank." Jessie chimed in.

"Dead dog," Margaret said, "if you don't get him out of my restaurant."


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Booktrailers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BuDECZsZrg - Baer Necessities
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaA8p65oOeo - Baer Truth


Linda McMaken
www.linda-mcmaken.com
www.makenwords.blogspot.com

BAER TRUTH - Book One of the Three Baer's Trilogy
-One of them will be just right for you!
From Desert Breeze Publishing

THE GRANITE ROSE
Ancient Rome, epic battles, endangered hearts
From Desert Breeze Publishing

Author Spotlight - Linda McMaken & Mud :)

There is a place that has legendary mud. I mean mud on steroids. This mud sticks to you like a lobbyist sticks to a politician. I've only found this mud in one place, Wyoming. Any readers from this amazing state will back me up here.

We headed out on a day trip up in the Big Horn Mountains. The road was hard packed dirt on the drive up the mountain. But coming back down we discovered it had rained, and now the road had to turned to not just mud, but sludge.

We safely made it down and the next morning as we reminisced about our mountain adventure, we noticed a strange substance clinging to the fender wells of the truck. Hubby kicked at it - it wouldn't budge. On further inspection we discovered it was mud from the aforesaid mountain road. He took a shovel to it, only a few small chips of the stuff dropped to the ground. We loaded up and headed into town, to find a car wash.

With a spray of high intensity water, a pick-ax and a military shovel we dug at the goo that had lodged under the truck. It was stuffed into that little divot inside the bumper, under fender wells, wrapped around the tie-rods, was even plugging the bottom part of the radiator.

We've off-roaded before and a swish of power washer always cleaned off the mud - not this mud. It took 2-hours, about 20-dollars, and a pick-ax and there was still mud on that truck. In fact, I broke my little Army shovel on this darn mud!

We continued our vacation, another 1500 miles, came home and there was still mud on the truck. We power-washed it, we scraped it, we finally took it to a big semi-truck wash that had industrial washing equipment - this is where a huge boulder of the stuff fell off. The guy at the truck wash went to scoop it up with a shovel and nearly snapped his back trying to lift it. (No, wonder our fuel mileage dropped on the way home.)

He remarked, "What is that stuff?" As he tried to shovel it outside.

I smiled, "Wyoming mud, legendary mud."

My darling husband snarled commenting about nuclear waste.

The car wash guy grunted, arms straining to take the lump outside. "Remind me never to go there. This stuff is nasty."

Booktrailers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BuDECZsZrg - Baer Necessities
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaA8p65oOeo - Baer Truth


Linda McMaken
www.linda-mcmaken.com
www.makenwords.blogspot.com

BAER TRUTH - Book One of the Three Baer's Trilogy
-One of them will be just right for you!
From Desert Breeze Publishing

THE GRANITE ROSE
Ancient Rome, epic battles, endangered hearts
From Desert Breeze Publishing

Author Spotlight - Linda McMaken talks about the inspiration behind "The 3 Baers Trilogy"

Even though I'm a Midwest girl by birth, my heart is in the West. My mom used to read me Zane Grey, Louis L'amour, and Max Brand books. She took me to every John Wayne movie that was made and she'd talk about mountain men and cowboys and their free spirits. Cowboys are tough, hardworking, quiet and unassuming, and I think that is what attracts many people to read and attracted me to write about them.

I'd have to say my inspiration for writing westerns, would be my mom. Although she never got to visit the West, it lived in her in so many ways. She would tough, dependable, hardworking, faithful, everything that history seems to have embodied in cowboys.

Since, I know about farming, but very little about ranching, I figured me being on a ranch would be pretty funny to those cowboys. So, there is a bit of me in some of those funny scenes.

Baer Truth, the first book in the Three Baers Trilogy began during a family vacation in Wyoming. We passed a cattle ranch where hundreds of head were grazing. I wondered about that ranch family, how long had they lived there? How big was the ranch? Then my snarky muse (who I call comedian Robin Williams evil twin) takes over and says "what if a cowboy on that beef ranch fell for a girl who happened to be a vegetarian?" Baer Truth was born, and other cowboys soon followed!

Booktrailers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BuDECZsZrg - Baer Necessities
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaA8p65oOeo - Baer Truth


Linda McMaken
www.linda-mcmaken.com
www.makenwords.blogspot.com

BAER TRUTH - Book One of the Three Baer's Trilogy
-One of them will be just right for you!
From Desert Breeze Publishing

THE GRANITE ROSE
Ancient Rome, epic battles, endangered hearts
From Desert Breeze Publishing

Author Spotlight - Linda McMaken shares the cast of "Baer Necessities"

Meet the cast of Baer Necessities:

The Three Baers - Joe, Connor and Matt Baer. They live on the Hidden Rock Ranch, well, not all of them. Joe loves the ranch and lives there, Matt is sort of finding his way around the Baers, and Connor, he left the ranch to find greener pastures elsewhere.

Baer Necessities is Connor's story. Called back home when Joe is critically injured in a bull riding event, he hangs around to help out. When things are back to normal, he longs to head back to Seattle and a job as a geologist that takes him around the world, far from the ranch fences. Although, after he runs into a former high school friend, Jessie McIvey, he isn't so sure anymore.

Jessie McIvey left home right after graduation, headed to college, earned a degree in archeology and she too has traveled the world. Growing up with cowboys left her longing for a different kind of man, a refined, well-read man -- no cowboys for this girl.

As a nasty neighbor rancher with a vendetta against the Baers starts making trouble of the legal kind, they stay to help. Although they are at bitter odds over how to help. The stealing of a satellite, (they just borrowed it), water rights, and legendary Wyoming mud are all standing in their way.

---Sometimes the things we yearn for the most, have been right in our back yard all along. --

Booktrailers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BuDECZsZrg - Baer Necessities
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaA8p65oOeo - Baer Truth


Linda McMaken
www.linda-mcmaken.com
www.makenwords.blogspot.com

BAER TRUTH - Book One of the Three Baer's Trilogy
-One of them will be just right for you!
From Desert Breeze Publishing

THE GRANITE ROSE
Ancient Rome, epic battles, endangered hearts
From Desert Breeze Publishing

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Linda McMaken

STEPH: I don't know much about "Baer Necessities." What's it about?

LINDA: Baer Necessities is Book Two of the Three Baers Trilogy. Set in Wyoming, the first book was brother Joe Baer's story, and being cowboys and brothers, well the other two wanted their story told. Baer Necessities is Connor's story. Connor is the brother that left the ranch to see what lay over those miles of fences. He became a geologist, and when younger brother Joe, got into a little trouble, he came back to the ranch to help.

In the meantime, Jessie McIvey, his nemisis in high school has come home for a visit with her current boyfriend. After leaving Sentinel, Wyoming, she vowed she'd never have anything to do with another cowboy. She set out to find her hearts desire in far away places. As an archeologist, she has also been called to do some investigating of artifacts on the local Indian reservation.

When the two meet again, well, let's just say it wasn't exactly a match made in heaven. There is legendary Wyoming mud to deal with, a ruthless rancher who wants revenge on the Baers and lots of humorous obstacles in the way of these two getting together.

STEPH: How long did it take you to write?

LINDA: Well, Connor hollered so loudly after the first book was published, that it didn't take as long as the first one. Since many of the characters were already in place. It took around six months.

STEPH: How much research did you have to do?

LINDA: Surprisingly, I did quite a bit. There is a satellite in the book and I needed to learn about those, of course, I had to learn a bit more about ranching, buffaloes, drilling for water, and zoning information in territorial Wyoming. I really NEED to go back to Wyoming for book three! LOL

STEPH: How does the cover reflect the story within?

LINDA: In spite of the fact that both of them left Wyoming at their first chance, both are "cowboy/cowgirl" deep inside. The minute they return to Sentinel, their boots and hats come out. Not just any boots, worn, comfy, working boots.

STEPH: Jessie is the heroine. What are her strengths? Weakness?

LINDA: She can take care of herself quite well. She's been around the world, to places most of us only see in National Geographic. She's tough, opioniated and stubborn -- these are also her weaknesses, well that and Connor. She's been searching for everything she never wanted, and all along everything she did want is right at home.

STEPH: What does Conner find appealing about her?

LINDA: He likes that she's a firebrand, tough, take no crap kind of girl. She can ride, rope, and ranch with the boys, yet she's still charming, warm and feminine.

STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

LINDA: Sometimes the things we want the most are right in front of us and we are too blind to see them.

STEPH: As a writer, where do you draw inspiration from?

LINDA: It would be easier to say where don't I? LOL Pretty much anything that captures my attention can become a book, so be afraid! You have been warned.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

LINDA: Yes, I have a Kindle.

STEPH: Fun question: Do you dress up for Halloween? What were you last year?

LINDA: I haven't dressed up for a few years, as there have been some significant medical issues in my family. This year however, I think I might just be a cowgirl!

Here's the link to both booktrailers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BuDECZsZrg -

Baer Necessities
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaA8p65oOeo - Baer Truth

Linda McMaken
www.linda-mcmaken.com
www.makenwords.blogspot.com

BAER TRUTH - Book One of the Three Baer's Trilogy
-One of them will be just right for you!
From Desert Breeze Publishing

THE GRANITE ROSE
Ancient Rome, epic battles, endangered hearts
From Desert Breeze Publishing