Author Spotlight - Excerpt from "Lone Star Joy"

Thanks so much for supporting Kathleen during her week in the spotlight. Leave a comment today, Saturday and Sunday and one lucky winner will be selected randomly to win an ebook copy of Kathleen's latest release, "Lone Star Joy." Enjoy the excerpt!

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Moderator Steph

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Stamos stood over his new housekeeper and frowned. She looked a bit young to him. Hell, if she could get Dillon to sleep every night it would be worth it. He touched her shoulder. The panic in her big hazel eyes surprised him. "It's just me," he assured her.

Joy blinked twice and looked around the room. "What?"

"You must have fallen asleep."

"Oh. Well I want you to know that I never fall asleep in the saddle."

"Honey, as long as you can keep us happy you won't have to worry about the saddle." He knew instantly that he must have said the wrong thing. Her pale face turned bright red.

"George never said. I don't do that. I..." She bit her bottom lip.

"Whoa. What's this about George?"

"He said you were on the up and up with your work release program. He never mentioned me making anyone happy."

"I think we're talking about two different things. Here give me Dillon." Stamos leaned down and took the sleeping baby from her. "Now let's start from the beginning. I'm Stamos Walker and you are?"

Her whole body tensed. "I'm Joy Courtland. I'm the horse wrangler. I'm on the prison work release program."

Stamos softly swore. "George sent you here? You're not the new housekeeper?"

Joy shook her head. "Is there a problem?"

"I don't hire women to work on my ranch. George knows it too."

"If you would just give me a chance." Her bright blue eyes were too big for her thin face. In fact, all of her looked down right thin, except for the glorious chestnut braid that hung down her back. It looked as thick as his wrist.

"Listen, can you hold Dillon while I make a phone call?"

Joy stretched out her arms and took the baby, cuddling him to her. Stamos gave her a curt nod and walked to the phone across the room.

"Well, Dillon, I guess it's back to the women's penitentiary." She looked down at Dillon and sighed. "You sure are a cute one, but I guess it makes no never mind to me." Her braid hung over her shoulder and Dillon grabbed it. "Ouch. You little dickens. Give me my hair back." Dillon held on tighter with both hands this time.

"Well if you don't beat all. You are a handful. Full of piss and vinegar I'd say. Cute as a doodle bug, but a handful." She smiled, as she tried to pry his hands from her hair.

Stamos watched, trying not to laugh. Dillon had pulled his hair a time or two and he knew how much it hurt. This little gal acted like it was all a game. She was good with his son.

He picked up a plastic horse that was Dillon's favorite and tried to entice him with it. "Dill, come on now, let go of the sweet lady's hair."

"Dillon," Joy cajoled, "come play horsey with your daddy." She stared at Stamos. “Maybe if you made horse sounds."

Stamos thought she was a bit daft, but he tried it. Dillon immediately let go of Joy's hair, which she put behind her, and reached for the horse. "I'll be damned. It worked," he said.

"I talked to George." He watched her face close and her body tense. "It doesn't make sense. I run a work release program for non-violent offenders, male non-violent offenders. You don't qualify for either. I don't know what to do with you. I feel bad, but you'll have to go back in the morning. Will I have to worry about you running off ?"

Buy links: Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Lasso-Springs-Book-Two-ebook/dp/B009EJ1ZQQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1348518703&sr=1-1&keywords=lone+Star+joy
My website: www.kathleenballromance.com

Author Spotlight - Kathleen Ball talks about suffering for her craft

When I wrote my first couple of novels, I had ever been near a horse. I bought many books about them. There certainly are many different breeds. Really, what did I know? I'd read tons of westerns but I never really appreciated the relationship between the characters and the horses.

Everyone knows that the horse is a cowboy's best friend, but until you actually have a horse study you with its big brown eyes that you get it. These magnificent creatures each have their own personality. At the stable, they have a pecking order. Some form relationships and follow each other around and there is that one mare that everyone hates to be around. Yes, they can be bossy.
My Daughter-in -law Brittany loves horses. She purchased a rescue horse named Dash. He's chestnut in color and very tall. He looks more like a thoroughbred but he's a quaterhorse. You would think that being the biggest horse, he'd be in the front of the pecking order. Dash didn't seem to know that he was the biggest. Eventually they took a liking to him and he now has many friends including a donkey and two goats.

I learned how to wash and brush Dash. He'd head butt me and put his head over my shoulder. It was time to learn to ride, not Dash though. Brittany rode Dash and I rode Pina Colada a much shorter white horse. I was fine with short.
We went trail riding. It took me a while to get Pina to go. I didn't want to hurt her but I guess I didn’t kick her sides hard enough. Finally, we were on our way. I was excited and nervous. We didn't get very far before Pina decided to stop and eat. The tall grass enticed her. Brittany yelled to pull her head up. I tried but again I didn't want to hurt her. She knew-- I know Pina knew I was a new rider. Eventually she was off following DashMy son Steven was riding behind me, and his horse decided it would be fun to keep biting Pina. Brittany kept telling me to let go of the saddle horn and just hold the reins. Well I could do both at once and there was no way I was going to let go. The woods and lake were beautiful.

I thoroughly enjoyed the outing. We headed back and I thought I'm going to do this next weekend. We got back to the horse trailer. To get on the horse there are steps. Getting down you're on your own. No hunky cowboy showed up to lift me down.

Brittany held the reins and explained what I was supposed to do. I swung my right leg around and I guess I was supposed to take the left foot out of the stirrup and gently and gracefully slide down. That didn't happen. I didn't take my left foot out of the stirrup and if it hadn't been for Brittany, I would have been flat on my back under Pina.
Dash, Brittany, Colt and Steven

I pulled my hip. Six weeks before it healed. The nice weather is starting here in Texas and I can't wait to go horseback riding.


Callie's Heart - April 2012
Texas Haven- July 2012
Ryelee's Cowboy -August 2012
http://www.kathleenballromance.com

Author Spotlight - Character interview with Joy & Callie

Welcome ladies I'm so glad you could be here.

Callie-- No problem I love spending time with Joy.
Joy-- I heard we'll be talking about men. You can count me in.

I have met both of your husbands and I must say I'm impressed.

Joy-- Tall, dark and handsome. That's my Stamos.
Callie-- Mine's a tall drink of water. Brown hair with blue eyes. If you want impressed you need to see him with his shirt off.
Joy-- Stamos has an awesome build too.


Callie how did you meet Garrett?

Callie-- I've known Garrett forever. He was always there for me growing up. We've had a few bumps in the road. We married to save my ranch. I thought it was a real marriage but Garrett thought he was just helping out. Took me a while but I lassoed that Cowboy.

Sounds romantic.

Callie-- not really, I'm the best roper in the county. He tore my heart out and stomped on it a few times. We're happy now.

That's good to hear. Joy how did you meet Stamos?

Joy-- I met him when I arrived at his ranch for the prison work release program. He thought I was the nanny and handed me his son, Dillon.

And it was love?

Joy--Oh heck no. He didn't trust me. I was convicted of stabbing my stepmother. The problem was his release program was for non--violent males. I didn't fit that description.

But then it turned to love?

Joy--Not at first there was a little busy body named Bailey who tried to come between us. Then Stamos married me so I wasn't thrown back into prison.

Callie-- speaking of Bailey-- she tried to steal my husband too. She knows better than to tangle with us.

I'm sure. How are Stamos and Garrett as fathers?

Callie-- I couldn't have asked for a better father for my twins.

Joy-- Does my heart good when I watch Stamos. He's a good Dad.
Callie-- Me, Joy and our new friend Storm leave the kids with the men and have a ladies night at least once a month. You'll meet Storm in February.

Where do you usually go for ladies night.

Joy-- Lasso Springs is a small town. We usually go to the whiskey barrel. The whole incident with Callie has been forgotten.

Incident?

Callie-- I was mad at Garrett so I went to the whiskey barrel and let men dance with me for shots. I was having a good time, but Garrett came, threw me over his shoulder and took me home.

Sounds like he's very macho

Joy-- laughs. They think they are, but we have them tamed.
Callie-- of course they don't realize it. We can usually get our own way.
Joy-- They are rugged cowboys, and they look intimidating on the outside but they are sweethearts inside.

Do you believe in a happy ending?

Callie-- I'm living mine
Joy-- Me too. When Stamos has his arms around me I know I'm home.

Thank you ladies. It was so nice to meet you.

*****

Callie's Heart - April 2012
Texas Haven- July 2012
Ryelee's Cowboy -August 2012
http://www.kathleenballromance.com

Author Spotlight - Kathleen Ball talks about her journey into writing

I've been writing a little over three years. I wrote my first book and immediately sent it off to all kinds of contests. I didn't know anything about writing, but I felt that my story was good. I was so sure that people would love my book.

Reality set in. I got my contest feedback. It was a RWA contest and their judges usually will tell you what is wrong with the first 20 pages-- or whatever the rules of the contest dictate. I was stunned. I placed third from the bottom and one of the judges suggested that writing wasn't for me.

It was very upsetting to say the least. I put it away and began my next book. I eventually grew curious to see what was so wrong with my novel. My main problem was point of view. I'd never heard of it. In fact, there are a lot of writing rules that I didn't know about. I wish I had known them. Each time I learned another important one I would reedit my books.

It wasn't until I wrote Callie's Heart that I even had a handle on most of the rules. Meanwhile I was trying to get an agent and couldn't understand why they weren't interested. My books were on Textnovel.com and they were all award winners. I still had a lot to learn.

Passive sentences were a big problem so I went in and rewrote them all. After that, I found out that dialogue tags were not being used anymore. I learned a lot from other authors that I had met on Facebook. Most of us were unpublished and I would watch. A lot of the time people would say that they had to take out  "as" or  "that". There were always tips to be found. Many bloggers post tips for writers.

Meanwhile I was submitting my manuscript. Desert Breeze Publishing wanted Callie's Heart and the other two in the series. Lone Star Joy and Stetson's Storm. I thank them, it's been such a positive experience.

Of course my novels have had to be edited. The best thing about the editors is that they don't just say change it, they explain why it is wrong and offer suggestions. I've heard of writers that fight with their editors. I haven't had that happen. I value their experience and advice. I've put the skills I learned from them, and use them in the novels that I'm writing.

I love that I am constantly learning. My nemesis is the comma. I tried to get a movement going to eliminate the comma. People really love their commas. I have studied the comma and feel that I have a better grasp of them.

My advice is to know the rules of your genre. Enter a few contests that provide feedback, and be willing to take advice.

Callie's Heart - April 2012
Texas Haven- July 2012
Ryelee's Cowboy -August 2012
http://www.kathleenballromance.com  

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Kathleen Ball

STEPH: I don't know much about "Lone Star Joy." What's it about?

KATHLEEN: Lone Star Joy is a Contemporary Western Romance. It's book two of the Lasso Springs Series. Callie's Heart is Book one.

Sexy, Cowboy, Stamos Walker has a choice, either marry Joy Courtland or send her back to jail. Joy is a convicted murderer but Stamos believes she is innocent in every way.

 
STEPH: How long did it take you to write?

KATHLEEN: It took me about three months to write.

STEPH: How much research did you have to do?

KATHLEEN: You can learn a lot by reading books and researching on the internet. I'd never been around horses so I learned how to ride a horse. It was fun.

STEPH: How does the cover reflect the story within?

KATHLEEN:

I love the cover. It's another piece of art by Gwen Phifer. It embodies Joy's need and desire to be free.

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

KATHLEEN: Joy's strengths are what she learned in prison, keep you back to the wall, your head down, be aware of your surroundings, and always be ready to fight for your life. Her weakness is that she believes that the only one you can count on is yourself.

STEPH: What does Stamos find appealing about her?

KATHLEEN: A former FBI agent, Stamos admires her resilience. He understands her tough exterior. I love when he continues to find the softness inside of her. The little things, singing to his baby, having animals flock to her.

STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

KATHLEEN: I always believe that love can conquer all. Of course, there are obstacles to overcome but in the end, the journey is well worth it.

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

KATHLEEN: I've always been a reader. I can remember my sister calling me a bookworm. I always had a book with me. I discovered the world of romance after I had my son. I was hooked. I'd read a book a day. I love all types of romance but the Cowboys won me over. I really don't know where the inspiration comes from. While writing one book-- the idea for another just forms.

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

KATHLEEN: I have a kindle fire-- I don't leave home without it. It's full of books. A lot from Desert Breeze Authors.

STEPH: Fun question: Do you have an autumn traditions you like to share?  Pie Baking? Hayrides? Bonfires? Yankee Candle scents

KATHLEEN: First is the pumpkin coffee at Starbucks. I make pumpkin bread and we have baked apples and cider. It's funny I sit here writing, and it's hot out. I live in Texas. I lived most of my life in New York and I miss the vivid array of colors of the changing leaves. I miss the crisp cool air. But I have to say, driving out of my subdivision and seeing cattle is amazing.

FIND KATHLEEN AT:

kathleenballromance.com

buy links--http://www.amazon.com/Lasso-Springs-Book-Two-ebook/dp/B009EJ1ZQQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348326349&sr=8-1&keywords=lone+star+joy

http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-346/Lasso-Springs-Book-Two-cln-/Detail.bok