Author Jennie Jones took some time to discuss her new release Lone Star Protector (the second book in her Calamity Valley series).
Is there a real place that inspired Calamity Valley?
The valley was all imagination, but I needed it to be well and truly off the beaten track so where to find a setting? I was so inspired by the Palo Duro Canyon that I set my fictional three towns right next to it and filtered its unique and alluring ambiance into the story, which was perfect for the overall feel of Calamity Valley and the people who live there.
Your heroine Lauren is returning home – what did you imagine her biggest obstacles would be?
Coping with her all-knowing pushy grandmother, getting over her embarrassment at having lost her designer clothing business to underhand sharks, and making sure everyone knew she was pretty much over men!
Who is more stubborn: Mark or Lauren?
Lauren 😉
What kind of research did you do for this Calamity Valley installment?
I loved all my research! Mysterious, old and wonderful Texas houses, plus well-being havens and designer clothing (and shoes!) for Lauren. Saloons for Mark because he’s just been forced into buying one, plus blackmail and how to extract himself from it because that’s what he’s heading into.
And destiny, chance and providence for all the characters in the story – but particularly for Lauren and Mark.
What are you currently reading?
I’m about to start Falling Hard by Kate Hewitt. I love her writing and somehow I’ve missed this one. And I’ve got a lot of catching up to do on the Outback Brides series, plus I’m looking forward to heading into Kadie Scott’s Saving the Sheriff.
Jennie Jones loved everything romantic from an early age and still does. Give her a country manor with a debonair earl, a dusty outback station with a surly homestead boss, or a sprawling cattle ranch with a lonesome cowboy and she’s in her element.
Born in a country town in Wales, all these romantic leanings in her youth led Jennie to the theatre where she worked as a professional actor for many years. It was a natural turning point when Jennie began writing fiction. She says writing keeps her artistic nature dancing and her imagination bubbling and she can’t envisage a day when writing will ever get boring.
Jennie now lives in a country town in Australia, getting most of her kicks from books about earls, cowboys and all kinds of passionate book-boyfriend heroes. When she’s not writing or reading she hangs out with Jonesey the boy cat, Zena the girl cat and Churchill the 50 kilo rescue dog. Plus the occasional sighting of her daughter.
sounds wonderful