When 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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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.
sounds amazing!#girlpower