Author Spotlight week -Excerpt from Saving Pale Moon

When Jessie stepped into the old-fashioned kitchen a half hour later, only Abby sat at the table. A half-eaten slice of pie in front of her.

"I didn't mean to be in the shower for so long."

"Don't worry about it." Abby rose and walked to the stove. "I hope you like your chili hot."

"The hotter the better," she said truthfully. "I love spicy food. It used to drive my sisters crazy."

Abby grinned. "I guess I have something in common with your sisters then."

"You don't like it that way?"

"No." Her grinned widened. "But my husband and sons love it."

"Even Blake?"

Abby looked over her shoulder. "Don't let him bother you, Jessie. Blake's never been the trustful type. It comes from thinking he's like his--"

"She doesn't need to know my history."

"Speak of the devil," Jessie mumbled.

"What do you want?" Abby set a bowl of chili onto the table in front of Jessie, dragging a cooled down plate of cornbread near her seat. "I thought you went back to work in the office."

"I did," he said while sinking down in the chair opposite her. The same chair he'd been sitting in at breakfast. It seemed all families had their assigned seats. Where would she fit in here?

"Then why are you back now?" Abby settled into her seat and lifted her coffee cup. "I've never known you to leave that office until everyone was asleep."
He glanced briefly at Jessie before twisting to stare at his mother. "I just wanted to let you know I changed the appointment for tomorrow."
"This late at night?" Jessie asked. "I would think the lab was closed at this time."

"Kelly works there," he said, still not meeting her eye. "I called Kelly and asked her to change it for Thursday. The lab is rarely busy."

"Oh, you go out with her once, and you think she owes you a favor." Jessie groaned as the hard words filtered through the air, and she sighed in regret. She looked toward Abby and watched as her lips formed into a loose smile. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that."

"Don't worry about it."

Jessie would swear she heard a hint of laughter riding in those words. But when she glanced at Abby, the woman's face showed no expression at all.

"I've never heard anyone say anything like that about Blake, though. Now, Nick, that's an entirely different story. The ladies seem to like my eldest son. They'd do anything for him. But Blake is different. Other than Eve's obvious interest in him, that is." Abby glanced at the man. "Blake's not as outgoing as Nick. He's pickier when it comes to women."

"I doubt Jessica wants to hear about that," he said, tightness deepening his gruff voice. Jessie liked his voice. "And, just because I'm picky about who I date, doesn't mean anything. This ranch and the horses keep me way too busy."

"Nick dates," Abby said easily.

Blake seemed angered by her statement. "I just came to let you both know I changed the appointment."

Author Spotlight Week -Theresa Stillwagon shares her passion for writing contemporary romance

I think I like writing contemporary romance because it's… contemporary. I live in the now, so it's easier for me to write about it. I like history but I don't think I could write in that time period. I don't really like to do research, and historical need to be researched. Research is relatively easy in contemporary. Once I have an ideal of the heroine and hero and know the conflict between them, I can start writing. When I run into the need to research something, I put a comment in the manuscript or I just do the research right then. It stops the flow of my writing and gives me a little break. I don't usually have to do a lot of research stops while writing. It's mostly at the beginning with description and information about one of the character's careers.

I also like to write contemporary because I can use my own experiences and feelings to enhance the story. I know if I'm laughing or crying; the reader will be too. So using my own experiences makes this easier for me. Yes, I know you can do this with all types of romances but to me it's just easier in a contemporary. I can relate to the characters better.

And there's no need to study history or world build. I really like that. I'm basically a lazy writer.

That being said, I'd love to try my hand at an historical romance one day.

Author Spotlight week - Q&A with Theresa Stillwagon

STEPH: I don't know much about Saving Pale Moon. What's it about?

THERESA: Saving Pale Moon is the first story in The Sisters Callaway series. Jessie was adopted by the Callaways as a child. She's been happy until recently. Lately, because of medical and personal problems, she's decided to meet her birth mother. She goes to Texas to find answers; she never expected to find love.

STEPH: Where did you get the inspiration for the story?

THERESA: I've been living with the Callaways for two decades, off and on. I first thought them up in the late 1980s, but I didn't do any thing beyond writing the first book. (I never sold it.) Jessie's story came together in 2006. I wrote it while living in Georgia. It was originally set in that state. When my husband and I spend the winter in Texas, I changed the setting and added the horse. Pale Moon just arrived one day and the story came together.

STEPH: How long did it take you to write?


THERESA: The first draft took about four months. I've been working on it since 2006. The last rewrite happened while doing my edits. I've never had such intense edits before. It is a much better book.

STEPH: What did you think when you saw the cover?

THERESA: I thought, "Wow, its perfect." I was hoping to have a horse on the cover, but the dawn time is also important. Jessie is starting a new life.

I love it.

STEPH: Cast the movie. Who are the leads?

THERESA: I really don't have any ideal who I would cast.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader?

THERESA: No, but hope springs eternal. My birthday is next month, and my husband knows I want an ebook reader.

STEPH: Tell us about the place you live?

THERESA: Savannah, Georgia. I love the history surrounding the place. Right now, I'm living in a RV, in a campground, with my husband, Mike, and two cats, Fred and Barney.

STEPH: How did you come up with the title?

THERESA: I'm not really sure. This was the fourth or fifth one, and it just stuck. I didn't like it at first, but it grows on you. Pale Moon is important to the story, so I had to put him in the title.

STEPH: Tell us about your writing space.

THERESA: Space? What space? I live in a 31' RV. LOL I use the table.

STEPH: What country would you like to visit that you haven't been to yet?

THERESA: I've never been to any country. I'd like to visit Ireland or Scotland. I love the history and culture of those countries.

Featured March Release - Search for Paradise by Barri Bryan

THE BLURB:


When a divorce from her husband of twenty-five years leaves Kate McClure financially destitute and alienated from her two adult children, she and her aging mother Belle return to Paradise Ranch, the homestead they left when Kate was a child. In this quiet spot she can begin to put her shattered life back together, or so she thinks.

She has scarcely set foot in the dilapidated old ranch house when her next-door neighbor, handsome bachelor Hank Sinclair, arrives to announce that he has a prior claim on Paradise.

Against her better judgment Kate enters into a business deal with Hank and finds she is falling in love with him despite his frank admission that he wants no lasting relationship.

***
EXCERPT:

So this is Paradise." Kate McClure shaded her eyes as she gazed across the rolling, sparsely wooded countryside. "Who named this place?"

Belle Sullivan smiled, the dimples in her cheeks deepening. "Your Daddy did. He had just come home from Vietnam. It looked like paradise to him."

"What did you think about this place, Mamma, the first time you saw it?"

A pained expression crossed Belle's face. "It looked more like that other place to me. But Daddy loved it here, and I loved Daddy. Then Daddy left me, and I couldn't run a ranch by myself, so I took you, and moved to town."

Kate sat on the grassy slope. "Daddy didn't leave you, he died. There's a difference."

****
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Barri Bryan is the pen name for Billie Houston. I acquired a pseudonym at the behest of my adult children when they discovered a steamy excerpt from one of my romances at the web site of a publisher.



I am a former teacher and educator. I like poetry, George Strait's music, old movies and Earl Grey tea. My hobbies are reading, quilting, sewing, knitting, crocheting, taking long walks, and growing house plants and herbs.



I'm four-time EPPIE winner and a published author with over twenty novels, four books of poetry, numerous essays, several short stories, and one non-fiction how-to-write-book to my credit. I have been writing since 1990. My first romance was published in 1998. I write the kind of books I enjoy reading --- romantic tales about relationships; stories that explore feelings and probe emotions. The plots revolve around ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances and faced with difficult decisions.

********

BOOK TRAILER LINK: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-67/Search-for-Paradise/Detail.bok