Tag Archives: Michelle Beattie

Tule Author Q&A: Michelle Beattie reveals her development process!

Michelle Beattie stopped by the Tule blog to discuss the fifth book in her Tangled Up in Texas series, Cowboy Honor!

 

Where did you get the inspiration for Cowboy Honor?

I’m not much of a plotter so all I knew as I was writing the series was that Hudson was going to be a military man who wouldn’t be in the picture until the end of the fourth book and that his heroine was going to be the famed “mystery woman” the other Grangers had been wondering about since the beginning.  

It took some thought and really playing around with how and why she’d be with Joe Granger at the moment of his heart attack.  It needed to be a big enough thing for Joe to get worked up to the point of cardiac arrest.  It also couldn’t be something terrible on Avery’s part, because the reader has to like her and sympathize with her.  And what’s more sympathetic than a mother doing everything she can for her daughter’s health?

I knew from the get-go Hudson was going to be a man of honor, a take-charge sort of man.  A man used to meeting challenges head-on.  So what could be better than pairing him with a woman who also liked to hold the reins?  I typically write strong, independent woman and so it was a natural fit to make Avery fiercely independent, to the point of being too controlling.  I knew it would make great conflict between her and my “take charge and don’t ask questions” military hero that would hopefully keep the reader turning pages.

 

How do you relate to Avery, your heroine, and how do you hope readers will relate to her? How do you relate to Hudson?

My parents were also alcoholics, so I took my experience with that for Avery and her dad.  While my dad never lost his job or his home, he was rarely without a drink and I remember thinking how sometimes the booze seemed more important to him than anything.  I hope readers will relate to the fact that, like most of us, there are things in our childhood that hurt us and don’t just go away with time or an apology.  The scars are always going to be there and they shape us into who we are.

Hudson “lost” his family when he was a kid.  He made another family with his brothers in arms.  Having lost my parents, I also have found other people to fill the hole they left.  I think many readers will be able to relate to that.  When you lose something important, it’s natural to try to find it again.

 

Are your characters set before you begin writing or do you let them develop as you go? What did that development process look like for Cowboy Honor?

 

Oh, they develop as I go, for sure.  With Hudson, even though I knew he would step up to the plate right away where his daughter is concerned, it wasn’t until I started writing the book that I realized he would take charge of everything.  Which, was a nice bonus as it created opportunities for conflict with Avery who is used to running her own life, not having a man step in and take over, even if Hudson’s intentions were all good.

For Avery I had to soften her slowly.  She was so hurt and independent I had to uncover those layers of her personality a bit at a time.  It wasn’t until I was in the middle of the story that I realized why she was so much more hurt and bitter than her sister, who’d lived the same experience.  I love finding those little gems as I go along the process!

This is the fifth book in your Tangled Up in Texas series. Do you find it harder to write the first book in a series or the subsequent novels?

They’re both equally hard.  With Cowboy Up, the first book, I had to create the whole world and backstory and make sure I had the arc for the mystery laid out, which was a first for me as I’ve never written a mystery that encompasses a whole series before.  So it was hard to make sure I had enough details of each brother to get a sense of who they were, but not too much that I had no wiggle room left when it was time to reach each of their stories.

Then as each book came up, I had the challenge of making sure I stayed within the world and facts I’d already established while still giving the reader new information.  There were a few times I found myself locked into something I wished I could’ve changed but it was too late. 

 

What are you currently reading?

The Rancher Meets His Match by Kate Pearce.

 

About the Author

Award-winning author Michelle Beattie began writing in 1995, almost immediately after returning from her honeymoon.  It took 12 long years but she achieved her dream of seeing her name on the cover of a book when she sold her novel, What A Pirate Desires, in 2007.  Since then she’s written and published several more historical novels as well a contemporary.  Her pirate books have sold in several languages, been reviewed in Publisher’s Weekly and Romantic Times.  Two of her independent self-published works went on to win the Reader’s Choice Silken Sands Self-Published Star Contest.

When Michelle isn’t writing she enjoys playing golf, reading, walking her dog, travelling and sitting outside enjoying the peace of country life.  Michelle comes from a large family and treasures her brothers and sister as well as the dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins she’s proud to call family.  She lives outside a tiny town in east-central Alberta, Canada with her husband, two teenage daughters and their dog, Ty.

Tule Publishing June 2021 Releases

Read more about our new releases for June!

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the June releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.

 

 

The Wedding Planner Playbook by Shannon Stults (American Heart)

Release Date: June 1, 2021

May the best wedding planner win…

After spending years making a name for herself as one of Atlanta’s top wedding planners, Tori Schaefer moved to the small, coastal town of Bedland Shores, Georgia, to take over her mother’s wedding planning business. While attending a wedding to assess the local competition, Tori meets a charming, camera-wielding stranger with a smile that leaves her heart stuttering.

Wyatt Rhodes has always loved helping couples celebrate their special day and created Narrative Weddings to do just that. When he runs into a gorgeous woman at one of his weddings, he’s completely smitten until he learns she’s his competition for the most influential wedding the town has ever seen.

They have two weeks to find the perfect venue and pitch their ideas to the bride. Tori is willing to do whatever it takes to land the gig that’ll put her business on the map. Can she find the balance between attraction and rivalry, or will her determination to win lose her a chance at her own happy ever after?


Capturing the Texas Rancher’s Heart by Debra Holt (Texas Born)

Release Date: June 3, 2021

The Tremaynes of Texas, Book 1

She thought she’d protected her heart…

After a tumultuous childhood, nurse Jamie Westmoreland craves the comfort of predictability. She loves her quiet life in a small Texas ranching town and finally feels in control until a handsome rancher becomes her newest patient. He challenges her at every turn, but Jamie is too stubborn to admit she enjoys their sparring, and that he makes her heart race. But when his charming little cowboy son starts following her around, her long-neglected heart opens.

Thomas Tremayne, the eldest son of a well-respected local ranching family, is both mom and dad to his young son and has no plans to change. When a ranch injury requires an in-house expert, the nurse who called him out on his attitude is sent to help him heal. She’s even harder to resist on his ranch than she was at the hospital, but Thomas is determined to try—except he’s out-numbered. His son decided he wants a mom, and nurse Jamie is his choice.

Can two stubborn adults let down their guard long enough to let love in again?


An Acquired Taste by Kelly Cain (American Heart)

Release Date: June 8, 2021

The Everheart Brothers of Texas, Book 1

May the best chef win…

After four years at the country’s top culinary school and several years as head chef in her mother’s restaurant, Rowan Townsend has built a notable reputation. Her farm-to-table collard greens have long been bringing everyone to the yard, but limits on the restaurant’s size have led to long waits. Looking to expand the restaurant, she enters a televised chef competition. The problem? Her infuriatingly-talented nemesis from culinary school also enters.

To the culinary world, Knox Everheart is restaurant royalty. As much as Rowan wants to deny it, he’s a gifted chef. Rowan knows her arrogant arch-nemesis is confident he’ll win—he’s certainly given her a run for her money more times than she’d like to admit. But this time, she’s ready to show him who’s boss.

Their rivalry soon sparks fireworks in the kitchen and, as the competition heats up, so does Rowan’s attraction to Knox. And somewhere between pasta and gumbo, they both need to decide what’s worth fighting for.


Cowboy Honor by Michelle Beattie (Texas Born)

Release Date: June 10, 2021

Tangled Up in Texas, Book 5

This time he wants it all…

Hudson Granger’s family has been estranged since he was a boy. Sixteen years later, not much is different. Or so he thought. After an eighteen-month deployment, he arrives home to his family’s Texas ranch and is shocked by how much life has changed. His brothers are mending fences and have found love. Their father is slowly recovering from a massive heart attack. The kick to Hudson’s chest—learning he has an infant daughter.

Nurse Avery Collins never planned on telling Hudson their vacation fling had resulted in a child. He’d made it clear he wasn’t looking for anything serious, and after her dad ran out on her and her family, she didn’t want to rely on a man for anything. But when her daughter has a serious health scare, Avery’s hand is forced.

Despite their sizzling attraction, Avery is determined to keep Hudson at arm’s length, co-parenting only. But Hudson wants everything—a wife and a family. And he’s determined to get it.


A Case for the Cookie Baker by Candace Havens (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: June 15, 2021

Ainsley McGregor, Book 5

It’s all fun and games until the last cookie crumbles…

Ainsley McGregor and the entire town of Sweet River, Texas, are preparing for the annual summer celebration. And thanks to the extra tourist traffic, Ainsley’s shop, Bless Your Art, has never been busier. Good thing her new friend, Lizzie, has opened a bakery nearby and provides Ainsley and her staff with tasty treats and daily sugar rushes. It’s all cookies and fun, until someone ends up dead in the bakery and her new pal is the prime suspect.

Ainsley is convinced Lizzie is innocent. Unfortunately, her brother, the town sheriff, and her boyfriend, Jake, have some not-so-secret suspicions. With a town full of strangers who just might be suspects, Ainsley finds herself targeted by a killer. Even as her world crumbles faster than a cookie, she’s determined to prove her friend’s innocence—if she can stay alive long enough.


Price to Pay by M.A. Guglielmo (Muse)

Release Date: June 17, 2021

From Smokeless Fire, Book 3

She’s gone from party girl of the paranormal to the world’s best hope against a deadly fallen angel.

Zahara‘s tired of saving the world from imminent doom, and her enemy to almost-lover Harut’s “no hanky-panky before marriage” rule is driving her crazy. To take the fight to his evil brother Marut, Zahara returns to the land of the jinn to cobble together an alliance between the peoples of the Mountains of Qaf to defeat the fallen angel. Everything that can’t go wrong does anyway, and after dealing with a malfunctioning magic carpet and killer unicorns, Zahara has to steal back an enchanted feather from a feared necromancer and face down the father she’s never known.

As more of the jinn join Marut in his plan to destroy humanity, Zahara needs Harut’s help more than ever—to save the world and her heart. But when the final confrontation comes, defeating one brother may mean Zahara loses the other forever.


Nothing But Cowboy by Justine Davis (Texas Born)

Release Date: June 22, 2021

The Raffertys of Last Stand, Book 1

He thought he was content, until she walked in the door…

Keller Rafferty abandoned his dreams long ago to help his mom raise his brothers after his father’s death. Duty, family and deep roots still guide him as he runs his family’s Texas cattle ranch and cares for his new, grieving foster son. They’re just beginning to find a balance when a beautiful and determined woman arrives on the ranch.

Sydney Brock spent her entire globe-trotting life thinking she had no family except her ne’er do well, nomadic, irresponsible parents. When she discovers her parents lied and she has a newly-orphaned cousin, Sydney rushes halfway around the world to provide the teen with something she never had—a home. She’s shocked to be thwarted by a protective—and sexy—cowboy.

Sydney’s determined to form a relationship with her cousin, but Keller doesn’t trust that the worldly woman will stay in small town Texas. It’s up to Sydney to prove him wrong, and the longer she spends time with Keller, his family and her cousin, the more she vows to do just that.


History of Us by Stacey Agdern (American Heart)

Release Date: June 24, 2021

Friendships and Festivals, Book 2

Do they have a future together, or is their relationship ancient history?

Anna Cohen, perpetual assistant at the Manhattan Museum of Jewish History, lands a golden chance to curate her own exhibit when her boss sends her to Rockliffe Manor, New York. She’s to assist an influential Jewish family as they organize an exhibit of their own in time for the town’s Summer Days Festival. While she’s there, Anna just needs to convince them to part with some of their archival history for an upcoming exhibition—something they’ve always refused—and not get involved with her ex, the family’s heir. Again.

Jacob Horowitz-Margareten wants to help save the world. Despite having no time to spend organizing his family’s archives, he’s always had a soft spot for Anna. The chance to spend more time with her intrigues him, but he doesn’t trust her boss or the museum she works for with the tangible bits of his family’s rich history.

As they work together, Anna and Jacob need to decide what’s more important: their history or the story their hearts are telling them.


Say I Do by Joan Kilby (Montana Born)

Release Date: June 29, 2021

Sweetheart, Montana, Book 2

She’s been over him for years, until he returns home…

In her new role as tourism director, Brianna Renton intends to put Sweetheart, Montana, on the map with the first annual Cherry Blossom festival. She’s also supervising the build of a new community hall by her father’s log cabin construction company. But the project is stalled and an unexpected visit from a former employee could be the answer to Brianna’s prayers. Except he’s her ex.

Angus Adams never forgot Brianna. When they were together, he put her on a pedestal and was determined to win her hand by proving himself and working hard to eventually buy into a partnership with her father’s company. He accepted a scholarship at a prestigious university to get his architecture degree, planning to return for Brianna, but she broke up with him the week before he left with no explanation.

Saying yes to helping her during his vacation is easy. Trying to win her heart while protecting his own is much harder.

Tule Author Q&A: Michelle Beattie talks Last Stand, Texas and tropes!

Michelle Beattie dropped in to talk about the third book in her Tangled Up in Texas series, Cowboy Wild!

 

Orange Wooden House Surrounded With Green TreesWhat has been your favorite part about writing a story in Last Stand?

Texas!  I’d always dreamed of going to Texas and was lucky enough to visit San Antonio on a writing conference and get a small sense of the state.  I loved everything about it.  As for Last Stand itself, I like small towns.  I like the history of this one and the fact you can “see” it in the outside walls of the saloon.  That walking the streets you can feel the history.  Also, I’m from a small town. I’m very familiar with the feel of them, so Last Stand was a perfect fit.

 

How is Cam different from his brothers, Dallas and Gage? How is he the same?

Well, Cam is the wild child.  He’s the fun one.  He has a cocky swagger and a cheeky grin.  He’s definitely lighter than Dallas and Gage, at least on the surface.  His smiles come easier.  But where Dallas and Gage are more confident in who they are, Cam actually is less.  And has felt less, which is why he hides behind his smile.  He is similar to his brothers in that he has the  same work ethic as Gage and Dallas, and the loyalty.  Despite his wild ways, you can count on Cam, same as all other Granger men.

 

Photography of a Man Riding HorseCowboy Wild is fun opposites attract romance. What drew you to this trope? What’s your favorite trope to write?

I loved the idea of a cowboy and a city girl.  Of a man whose education is the land and the animals versus the college educated woman.  I thought it would make an interesting dynamic.  Especially when the city girl isn’t as city as she might appear.  Although her parents are, which puts a big strain on Cam and Kara’s relationship.

I’m not sure I have a favorite trope to write.  For me it’s all about the characters.  First I think of them and who they are and from there I decide on which trope suits them best.  So I don’t start with “I’m going to write a secret baby.”  I’ll start with “I have a man who’s solid and dependable.  Rock of the Earth.  What’s the best way to challenge him?” and go from there.

 

What is different about writing historical romances vs contemporary romances? Which one do you enjoy more?

Historicals are harder, for sure.  Research is harder because you can’t just call up a pirate or a sheriff from the 1800’s to ask questions.  And cell phones!  So many times I wished my historical characters had them!  LOL.  I enjoy both genres.  I really like the pluck it took to survive in the pirate days or on the western frontier.  I love the chivalry and how sometimes the female seemed more cherished than she is today.  But it’s definitely easier to write about current times and clothing and they can sure get from one place to another a lot faster!

 

Black Kindle Tablet On Grey Floral TextileWhat do you want readers to take away from this book?

I’m not necessarily after them taking away deep meaning.  What means more to me is did you like the characters?  Were you able to relate?  Are they characters that, by the time you’ve read the book or series, feel like family?  I always strive for that.  For a story you can get lost in and love so much you’ll want to keep it and reread it one day.  That’s the take away I want.  Have I done a good enough job that you’ll come back to it one day as though you’re visiting an old friend?

 

What are you currently reading?

So, continuing on with my last answer, I am currently rereading a Maisey Yates book, Part-Time Cowboy.  I love to reread books that I’ve enjoyed and I have 2 large bookshelves for just those books.  With Covid-19 I’m not going into bookstores, and as I do prefer a hard copy book, I’m going to reread her Copper Ridge series then likely go back to Nora Roberts.  I have shelves of her books.  I’ll likely read her Inn of Boonsboro trilogy.  I do love a man wearing a tool belt!

 

About the Author

Award-winning author Michelle Beattie began writing in 1995, almost immediately after returning from her honeymoon.  It took 12 long years but she achieved her dream of seeing her name on the cover of a book when she sold her novel, What A Pirate Desires, in 2007.  Since then she’s written and published several more historical novels as well a contemporary.  Her pirate books have sold in several languages, been reviewed in Publisher’s Weekly and Romantic Times.  Two of her independent self-published works went on to win the Reader’s Choice Silken Sands Self-Published Star Contest.

When Michelle isn’t writing she enjoys playing golf, reading, walking her dog, travelling and sitting outside enjoying the peace of country life.  Michelle comes from a large family and treasures her brothers and sister as well as the dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins she’s proud to call family.  She lives outside a tiny town in east-central Alberta, Canada with her husband, two teenage daughters and their dog, Ty.

Celebrate the Release of A Cowboy’s Temptation with Michelle Beattie!

“This really is a story of relationships and love, of discovering who you are and what you want.”

 

 

When I wrote A Rancher’s Surrender, I hadn’t planned on a series. It wasn’t until I was reading the scene to my critique group of when Scott comes running around the bunkhouse with his open shirt flapping that someone said, “OMG, you have to write Scott’s story!”

So, many (way too many) years later, A Cowboy’s Temptation was conceived. I always knew Jillian’s sister Katie would be Scott’s heroine. From inception, she was going to have flaming red hair that matched her personality: fiery, plucky. A little wild. Who better to knock the normally affable Scott off his feet?

Certainly in today’s day, giving in to desires doesn’t result in a hasty marriage, but in the 1880’s? I love that the marriage is Scott’s idea. That Katie, the woman who would stand to lose the most in those days, is the one to say no, that nobody need ever find out. I think that’s one of the reasons I love this time period. The men had honor; they stood for something. And for Scott who grew up with worse than nothing, to have that kind of integrity despite his past? How can you not fall for a hero like that?

This story is a little different for me. Nobody’s on the run, nobody’s shooting and nobody’s life is at stake. This really is a story of relationships and love, of discovering who you are and what you want.

Welcome back to Frontier Marietta, folks, where you never know how far love and passion will take you.


Award-winning author Michelle Beattie began writing in 1995, almost immediately after returning from her honeymoon.  It took 12 long years but she achieved her dream of seeing her name on the cover of a book when she sold her novel, What A Pirate Desires, in 2007.  Since then she’s written and published several more historical novels as well a contemporary. When Michelle isn’t writing she enjoys playing golf, reading, walking her dog, traveling and sitting outside enjoying the peace of country life.

The first Montana Born historical romance is here from Michelle Beattie!

michellebeattie_arancherssurrender_hrWhen I first started writing back in 1995 my heart was in historical westerns. It was all I read and some of the wonderful books that led me to try my hand at it included: Come Spring by Jill Marie Landis, Outlaw Hearts by Roseanne Bittner, Another Dawn and Hidden Fires by Sandra Brown and For the Roses by Julie Garwood. I know these are old now, but if you’ve never read them do yourself a favor and look them up. You won’t regret it.

Honestly, when I first considered the possibility of writing a book (yes, this is the first one I ever wrote, although it’s been re-written many times and is stronger for it) that first scene in the barn with the caesarian section came to me so clearly I knew I had to start it there.

Of course, that was fine and dandy until I started to do some research. Only after I started researching did I realize that not only weren’t women allowed in vet schools back then, but for even her father to be one, he’d have had to get his schooling over seas. Because I wanted her father to be trained as a veterinarian before he’d married and had a family and as Jillian would have been born in the early 1860’s, for her father to attend school prior to having a family, he’d have had to do so in Europe where vet schools were established much earlier (the first vet school opened in Mexico in 1853 and the first in North America–not counting Mexico–didn’t open until 1862 in Guelph, Ontario).

From there it was a matter of having Jillian learning her veterinary skills at the hands of her father and as I wanted the story to take place in Montana and not Philadelphia, I gave Jillian a domineering fiancé, a supportive father and a backbone of steel to get her there.

Once there, what better conflict than a man who isn’t ready for another strong, independent woman in his life?

Join me on Montana’s Frontier for A Rancher’s Surrender, a story of compromise and acceptance, of giving everything you have for what you want most.


Order your copy of A Rancher’s Surrender today!

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auth_MichelleBeattie

Award-winning author Michelle Beattie began writing in 1995, almost immediately after returning from her honeymoon.  It took 12 long years but she achieved her dream of seeing her name on the cover of a book when she sold her novel, What A Pirate Desires, in 2007.  Since then she’s written and published several more historical novels as well a contemporary.  Her pirate books have sold in several languages, been reviewed in Publisher’s Weekly and Romantic Times.  Two of her independent self-published works went on to win the Reader’s Choice Silken Sands Self-Published Star Contest.

When Michelle isn’t writing she enjoys playing golf, reading, walking her dog, travelling and sitting outside enjoying the peace of country life.  Michelle comes from a large family and treasures her brothers and sister as well as the dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins she’s proud to call family.  She lives outside a tiny town in east-central Alberta, Canada with her husband, two teenage daughters and their dog, Ty.