Tag Archives: Cowboy Come Home

Anne McAllister shares that her latest release wasn’t originally intended to be its own book! (Plus, a giveaway!)

October 22, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for joining me here today on the Tule blog. It’s always a treat to connect with readers because when I’m writing I’m usually not connecting with anyone but a couple of difficult hard-nosed people (can you say ‘hero’ and ‘heroine?’) and my dog. The dog is, literally, a golden retriever, and as far as golden retriever heroes go, he’s the best. Somedays he’s the one who keeps me sane!

He had a job doing that while I was writing A Cowboy’s Pursuit because – confession time – it was not supposed to be a book at all!  

It was supposed to be a sub-plot when I was writing The Great Montana Cowboy Auction. But when the Auction book got to be 96,000 words and Jace and Celie were nowhere near ready to get their act together and provide a nice counterpoint to Sloan and Polly, the actual hero and heroine of that book, I had two choices: I could write their enemies-to-well… enemies romance out of the book and they could go on being each other’s worst nightmare for life, or I could give them a book of their own.  

Foolishly, I decided they could have their own book.  I thought they’d be grateful. I thought ex-rodeo cowboy Jace would be happy to get a chance to woo the girl he’d had an eye on for a decade and convince her that he wasn’t the role model when her ex-fiancé strayed.  And I thought Celie, who’d dreamed of settling down, having a husband and family, would be delighted to discover that the boy she’d had a crush on back in her schooldays wasn’t the unrepentant bad guy after all.

But, no. That wasn’t how they rolled.  

I gave them their book, and the first thing Celie did was pack up and leave town! Elmer, Montana wasn’t big enough for both of them, she said.  Hard to get people together if they’re thousands of miles away from each other, I told her. As if she wanted to get together with Jace Tucker, Celie retorted. As if!

And Jace wasn’t any better. He thought she’d come to her senses.  He figured he could wait her out.  Ice ages have come and gone in less time than Celie O’Meara would take to melt in front of his eyes.  

It took them months to realize that someone had to do something.  Someone had to take a risk if we were going to have a book.  Honestly, I felt as if Tule and my editor and I were the ones taking the risk on these two stubborn people.  The only person who seemed to believe in them was ninety-year-old Artie Gilliam, who owned the town hardware store and meddled in their lives because, as he told me – and them — “Somebody’s got to.”

Well, thank heavens for Artie. 

At last Jace did something. He pursued her. Hence, the title of the book.  But, of course, it wasn’t as simple as that.  

There were those years and years of mistrust that still stood between them.  There was – on both their parts – the fear of being vulnerable, of letting someone in.  It’s a scary process, even if you ride broncs for a living.  Maybe especially if you ride broncs for a living, because that’s pitting your physical prowess and grit and muscle memory against a horse that wants nothing more than to shake you off his back in the next eight seconds. Battling a bronc and succeeding is do-able. Not every time, but often enough. 

But putting your heart on the line, not for eight seconds, but for forever – well, that’s something else.

Being vulnerable takes a kind of  courage Jace has never had to summon before.  It takes an honesty way harder than sticking to a bronc.  

Meeting that vulnerability with her own isn’t a piece of  cake for Celie, either. She had grown up believing in true love and happily-ever-after — until ten years ago when the morning of her wedding arrived – and her groom didn’t. Since then, not so much.  Not at all, actually.  

Being vulnerable to Jace was the hardest thing she’d ever do. She always expected the worst from him.  So did I, at that point.  He wasn’t giving either of us much of a reason to trust him. Even Artie was beginning to despair.

But after pursuing her, Jace did something unexpected. He said something that surprised Celie.  Shocked me. Only my editor seemed to take it in stride.  “See?” she said, ever the optimist. “I knew he could do it.” 

But then the question was, would Celie hold up her end?  Would she take a risk as well?  

Amazingly, she did. No, not amazingly. Of course she did, I realized, because with Celie and Jace it instantly became a matter of ‘anything you can do, I can do better.’  Even when it came to being vulnerable.

Not what I expected, but at least we had a story. 

It wasn’t always clear sailing. With these two it never was. But they got their act together at last.  They dared to shed their armor, to speak their minds (with a bit of backsliding because, Jace and Celie). 

And finally, because they took some risks, learned some lessons, dared to trust, they’re getting their happy ending – unless they’ve rewritten the end when I wasn’t looking.

I hope you’ll join them in their story.  I hope you’ll be as happy – almost – as they are at the end.  

And me?  I’m going to go walk the dog, then take a nap.

As I’m a great admirer of people who do difficult things like Jace and Celie did, leave a comment telling me what one of the toughest things you’ve ever done is. Or tell me the title of one of the best books you’ve read recently and why (because I can’t get enough of good books). Three days from now, one commenter, chosen at random, will win an e-book copy of The Great Montana Cowboy Auction or if you’re the winner and have already got a copy, you can pick an alternate title from my Tule backlist.  Happy reading!

About the Author.

Author headshot of Anne McAllisterYears ago someone told Anne McAllister that the recipe for happiness was a good man, a big old house, a bunch of kids and dogs, and a job you loved that allows you to read.  And write.  She totally agrees.

Now, one good man, one big old house (since traded for a slightly smaller house. Look, no attic!) a bunch of kids (and even more grandkids) and dogs (and one bionic cat) and seventy books, she’s still reading.  And writing.  And happier than ever.

Over thirty plus years Anne has written long and short contemporary romances, single titles and series, novellas and a time-travel for Harlequin Mills & Boon and for Tule Publishing. She’s had two RITA winning books and nine more RITA finalists as well as awards from Romantic Times and Midwest Fiction Writers. One of the joys of writing is that sometimes, when she can’t go back in person, she can go back in her mind and her heart and her books.

Chasing Bull Riders became essential for Anne McAllister’s THE EIGHT SECOND WEDDING

May 2, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Hi Everyone,

I’m just delighted to be here on Tule’s blog today to tell you a bit about my latest release, The Eight Second Wedding.  I loved writing this book because of the characters, Chan Richardson and Madeleine Decker, who made showing up at the keyboard every morning pretty enjoyable most days, and also because doing research for the book was so much fun.

It was one of those “opposites attract” stories which allowed me to use a fair share of my husband’s academic years to provide Madeleine, a New York City based PhD candidate, with her world of higher education on the one hand, and made me find a bull rider who was happy to share his rough-and-tumble peripatetic life with Chan. 

It also gave me a chance to do a riff on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice providing the  reason that Chan and Madeleine’s lives crossed in the first place: 

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that, when it comes to their children’s happiness, mothers know best. And when the mothers come equipped with a PhD in genetics in one case, and a PhD and years of experience in anthropological fieldwork in the other, the truth has considerable clout.”

Madeleine’s mother Antonia, the anthropologist, and her best friend, Julia, the geneticist who married a Wyoming rancher, had determined back in graduate school that one of Madeleine’s children should marry one of Julia’s.  Thus – in their estimation at least – they would have perfect grandchildren. 

The trouble was Antonia had only one child, Madeleine,  while Julia had four boys: Channing, Gardner, Mark and Trevor.  It wasn’t a problem, Julia said. It just meant Madeleine could have her pick.

By the time Madeleine was old enough to pick, though, there was only one Richardson left unmarried: the oldest and least suitable, rodeo bull rider, Chan. 

So, I had my character and I had my set-up and I had my years of living in academia, courtesy of Professor McAllister.  I just needed a bull rider.  

So I found one.  It wasn’t difficult. I called him up. He answered the phone.  Sure, he said. He’d be glad to help.  We talked a bit in general, and I promised to have a series of questions ready the next time we talked.  We couldn’t do it then because he was on his way to a doctor’s appointment. 

No matter, I thought. I’ll get the questions ready and get to work on the part of the book that wasn’t specifically full of bull riding detail.  A couple of weeks later, I called back. Went to voice mail which was full. I tried the land line. He was in Texas, his wife said, working on a movie.  Right, I said. I’ll call back.

A few days later, I did. Voice mail again.  Still full.  I called the landline.  Grandpa answered the phone.  My bull rider consultant was somewhere in the Midwest teaching a bull riding school.  Thanks, I said, and went back to writing the book.

A week after that there were fewer things that I could write without knowing what I was doing.  I called again, talked to Grandma.  Would you believe he was in Argentina?  Time was getting short.  He would be home on Tuesday, Grandma said.

I called back on Wednesday. Let the man get his bags unpacked, I thought.  But he wasn’t there on Wednesday. He was in Hollywood, a younger man told me. “Can I help you?” he said.

And I said, “Do you ride bulls?”

Well, it turned out he did.  And he wasn’t in Argentina or Texas or Hollywood or anywhere else.  So that afternoon he and I and my list of questions spent a lot of time together. Chan and I breathed a sigh of relief.  My new best friend was a great source of information and inspiration.  He not only answered questions, he provided suggestions and details I hadn’t even known I needed.  

Best of all, when we finished, he said, “Call me if you need anything else.”  So a few days later, I did.  One of the things I needed was a schedule. Chan and Madeleine decided the only thing their mothers understood was data.  If they spent time together, went down the road from rodeo to rodeo together and, two months later, were still as incompatible as they were sure that they were, their mothers would have to stop interfering in their lives.

But, which rodeos? Where? When? Why those rodeos?  

“I’ll make you a list,” he said.   

So he did. And one night at midnight the phone rang.  He was stranded in an airport due to fog, but he’d figured out the schedule, so he’d give it to me then.  And yes, he could have — if I’d answered the phone.  Even so, it was an entertaining voice mail to listen to in the morning.

Later that day when fog had permitted him to get home, he not only gave me Chan and Madeleine’s schedule for the summer, he provided the idea for Antonia and Julia’s middle- of-the-night-for-one-or-the-other of them international calls as they tried to keep up with Chan and Madeleine.

Meeting people who do far different things than I do has always been one of the great joys of writing books.  I love visiting their worlds vicariously or in person.  This time was no different.  My bull rider resource for The Eight Second Wedding still makes me smile.  Best of all, he made Chan Richardson’s world real. 

I think he had a good time being an “expert resource,” too.  He was eager to do it again, and even invited me to bull riding school!     

I hope you’ll look out for The Eight Second Wedding and will join Chan and Madeleine going down the road!

About the Author.

Years ago someone told Anne McAllister that the recipe for happiness was a good man, a big old house, a bunch of kids and dogs, and a job you loved that allows you to read.  And write.  She totally agrees.

Now, one good man, one big old house (since traded for a slightly smaller house. Look, no attic!) a bunch of kids (and even more grandkids) and dogs (and one bionic cat) and seventy books, she’s still reading.  And writing.  And happier than ever.

Over thirty plus years Anne has written long and short contemporary romances, single titles and series, novellas and a time-travel for Harlequin Mills & Boon and for Tule Publishing. She’s had two RITA winning books and nine more RITA finalists as well as awards from Romantic Times and Midwest Fiction Writers. One of the joys of writing is that sometimes, when she can’t go back in person, she can go back in her mind and her heart and her books.