Tag Archives: Montana

PROMISE ME PLEASE, COWBOY – Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author CJ Carmichael!

Ten years. That’s how long Tule Publishing has been in business. I feel fortunate to be one of the “founding” authors for this business. My involvement dates back to a phone call from Jane Porter when she asked if I would have any interest in writing a book for this new company she was thinking of starting. We agreed to meet at my cabin in Montana and brainstorm some ideas. The guest list grew to include Megan Crane and Lillian Darcy—two talented authors who I was soon going to get to know very well!

The four of us talked characters and stories; we cannon-balled off the dock into “refreshing” Flathead Lake, and then started drawing a map of our fictional town. Lillian christened our town “Marietta” and we baked luscious cherry crisp to celebrate. Once we had the concept for our 75th Copper Mountain Rodeo stories down, we hit the road, challenging the capacity of my medium-sized sedan’s trunk. 

We drove through Missoula, then Butte and Bozeman, until reaching Livingston, the approximate location we wanted for our fictional town. We took dozens of photographs of things that inspired us. Historic homes, traditional barns, beautiful horses and majestic mountains. As we cut through scenic Paradise Valley we mentally created ranches and legacies, family conflicts and tragedies, world-building for the stories to come.

This trip did more than cement friendships and create memories that I’ll cherish all my life. It also inspired books which became the foundation of a new publishing company.

With Tule Publishing I’ve had the creative freedom to write books on my own terms, the kind of books that I longed for as a reader. Over the past ten years I’ve written seven stories in my Carrigans of the Circle C series, two stories in the multi-author Love at the Chocolate Shop series, and four stories in the Bitter Root Mystery series. I’ve also re-published four titles that I previously published with Harlequin.

Now, with the publication of Promise Me Please, Cowboy, I want to thank Jane Porter for including me on this amazing journey of hers. Thanks for that phone call Jane! And here’s to the next ten years for Tule Publishing!

About the Author

CJ Carmichael headshot

USA Today Bestselling author C. J. Carmichael has written over 45 novels in her favorite genres of romance and mystery. She has been nominated twice for the Romance Writers of America RITA Award, as well as RT Bookclub’s Career Achievement in Romantic Suspense award, and the Bookseller’s Best honor.

She gave up the thrills of income tax forms and double entry book-keeping in 1998 when she sold her first book to Harlequin Super-romance. Since then she has published over 35 novels with Harlequin and is currently working on a series of western romances with Tule Publishing. In addition C. J. Carmichael has published several cozy mystery series as an Indie author.

When not writing C. J. enjoys family time with her grown daughters and her husband. Family dinners are great. Even better are the times they spend hiking in the Rocky Mountains around their home in Calgary, and relaxing at their cottage on Flathead Lake, Montana. Visit C.J.’s website at http://CJCarmichael.com

 

MARRY ME PLEASE, COWBOY – Release Day Blog Post by Author Sinclair Jayne! (Plus Giveaway!)

Happy September Tuligans!

Fall is my favorite season (pumpkin-spice!), but September is my favorite month because as a student and then a teacher I was heading back to school and now it’s my daughter’s birthday month. I’ve been crazy anticipating this September because it’s Tule Publishing’s 10th birthday. I know tin or aluminum is considered traditional to celebrate the 10-year-anniversary, and while that may not sound exciting or romantic, those materials are known to be resilient, and Tule Publishing has definitely been resilient this past productive decade. 

Tule Publishing is the brain-child of author and publisher Jane Porter and her author friends and fellow creative geniuses Megan Crane, CJ Carmichael and Lilian Darcy. The four of them roadtripped through Montana and inspired by their friendship, the gorgeous scenery, and desire to support other authors’ creative visions, they created the town of Marietta, Montana in Paradise Valley. Ten years later, Marietta is still going strong (and the Tule world has grown far outside Montana) as evidenced by how we decided to celebrate.

The first Marietta series included four romance novellas playing out during the (invented) 75th Copper Mountain Rodeo. Take Me Cowboy by Jane Porter, Tempt Me Cowboy by Megan Crane, Marry Me Cowboy by Lilian Darcy and Promise Me Cowboy by CJ Carmichael. To celebrate we decided to attend the 85th Copper Mountain rodeo, and lucky me, Jane Porter, Megan Crane and CJ Carmichael invited on their adventure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CJ hosted us in Canmore in Alberta, Canada (in January—brrrr)  where we laughed, walked, savored the scenery and occasionally plotted and created our cowboys. I’ve been an editor at Tule for about nine and a half years, and I have seen Marietta grow and thrive, and I’m thrilled to once again be a part of Marietta and the Copper Mountain Rodeo. 

Marry Me Please, Cowboy was such a fun book to write because…cowboy, barrel racing cowgirl, secret baby, jilted bride, former special forces soldier, and a “death bed” vow to a best friend. I loved being back in Marietta, and once again obsessing over bull and bronc riders on YouTube. While my book is part of Tule’s Ten Year Anniversary 85th Copper Mountain Rodeo, it’s also going to spin out from the birthday celebration in October to become book two in my Coyote Cowboys of Montana series—yes, also set in Marietta, of course.

For an autographed copy of book one in the Montana Coyote Cowboy’s seriesthe Cowboy’s Word and some Montana and cowboy reader swag, tell me where you would want to go on a retreat with a group of friends—what would you do there…maybe start your own town?

Marry Me Please, Cowboy releases September 19th, and I will be hanging out with Tuligans in the Tule Book Group at 4 pm (PST) on my release date.

Happy September and happier reading—Sinclair Jayne. 

 

About the Author.

Sinclair Sawhney is a former journalist and middle school teacher who holds a BA in Political Science and K-8 teaching certificate from the University of California, Irvine and a MS in Education with an emphasis in teaching writing from the University of Washington. She has worked as Senior Editor with Tule Publishing for over nine years. Writing as Sinclair Jayne she’s published fifteen short contemporary romances with Tule Publishing with another four books being released in 2021. Married for over twenty-four years, she has two children, and when she isn’t writing or editing, she and her husband, Deepak, are hosting wine tastings of their pinot noir and pinot noir rose at their vineyard Roshni, which is a Hindi word for light-filled, located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Shaandaar!

Check out our September 2023 Releases! (Plus Giveaway!)

September New Release graphic

Read more about our new releases for September!

September marks Tule Publishing’s 10 Year Anniversary and we’ve got some amazing releases to kick off our celebration!

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the September 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.

Take Me Please, Cowboy by Jane Porter (Montana Born)

Release Date: September 5, 2023

The 85th Copper Mountain Rodeo, Book 1
The Calhouns & Campbells of Cold Canyon Ranch, Book 1

Two worlds. One love. No compromise.

Professional rodeo cowboy Rye Calhoun has been the primary breadwinner for his family since he was seventeen. Now thirty, there’s still no time for romance, and there certainly isn’t room for beautiful Texan Ansley Campbell, an artist with big dreams…dreams that don’t align with his.

When Ansley Campbell’s ailing uncle needs someone to help him at Cold Canyon Ranch in Paradise Valley, Ansley volunteers, eager for some breathing space from her family of overbearing men.  But when her uncle Clyde has an accident the weekend of the Copper Mountain Rodeo, handsome cowboy Rye Calhoun is there to help.

From the moment Rye and Ansley meet, their chemistry sizzles, but their worlds are nothing alike and neither of them is in a position to compromise. Is love really enough, or are they asking to have their hearts broken?

Deadlier Than Fiction by Carol Light (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: September 7, 2023

Cluttered Crime Mysteries, Book 2

Can she get the right read on this situation before someone ruins the ending?

Professional organizer Crystal Ward is at a crossroads with her business, Organizing Chicago. Her husband, Rick, isn’t on board with online advertising, and their friends and family are running out of referrals. And now her client’s husband is outraged to learn that Crys donated novels he had promised to his brother. Crys’s only hope of salvaging the situation is to recover the titles.

But she shouldn’t have judged those books by their covers. The secret they contain is valuable, and she’s not the only one trying to find them. What’s more, she’s now hiding a secret of her own. She’d promised Rick, a former homicide detective, that she’d avoid sketchy situations that could land her in danger. Her best move? To team up with a retired detective, who suddenly has his own agenda.

With danger mounting, she must use all of her sleuthing skills to sort out friend from foe and fact from fiction before a killer can write her own final chapter.

 

Tempt Me Please, Cowboy by Megan Crane (Montana Born)

Release Date: September 12, 2023

The 85th Copper Mountain Rodeo, Book 2
The Flint Brothers Take Montana, Book 3

Five years ago, when Sydney Campbell came through Marietta on her way to the big Grey family Christmas, she ran into newcomer Jackson Flint in Grey’s Saloon. Directly into him.

In Montana to build some bridges with his older, billionaire half-brothers, Jackson didn’t plan to stay. Sydney was just visiting family from her high-stakes life in D.C. For one night they lit each other on fire, kissed goodbye, and never thought they’d see the other again.

But Jackson built more than bridges and put down roots. And just about every holiday, he’s watched Sydney turn up in town. The fire that always blazes between them gets hotter every visit, but this time is different. This fall, Sydney decides to stay a while. With the 85th Copper Mountain Rodeo taking Marietta by storm, Jackson knows this is the chance he’s been waiting for.

And he means to take it—if he can convince the only woman he’s ever wanted that there’s more freedom in loving him than letting go.

Four Silences Broken by H L Marsay (Holiday)

Release Date: September 13, 2023

The Secrets of Hartwell, Book 3

Welcome to Hartwell, a village full of cobbled streets, ancient curses and hidden secrets.

As the village prepares for Christmas, friends Lucy, Rachel, Meera, and Jo try to put the shocking events of the summer behind them. Though some secrets, it seems, refuse to remain silent.

Lady Lucy Hanley’s confidence has been boosted by making a success of her inherited estate and falling in love again, though ghosts from her past still threaten her. Rachel Foxton is finally happy and active in village life again, but is worried the person closest to her might destroy all her hard work and progress. Dr. Meera Kumar’s dream wedding is approaching, yet not everyone in her extended family is happy for her or wishing her well. And a trip to London and some unexpected news turns former detective Jo Ormond’s world upside down, forcing her to rethink her plans for the future.

As the year draws to a close, can the four women finally unravel the last of Hartwell’s secrets and move forward—together or apart?

Avery Daniels is Off Limits by Season Vining (American Heart)

Release Date: September 14, 2023

Romance in the City, Book 3

The heart wants what it wants…convenient or not.

Instead of winning a prestigious cooking competition, Sundia Sharma won infamy by breaking her tailbone on television. Thinking her culinary dreams are over, she prepares to head back to her corporate accounting job. That is, until a world-famous celebrity chef, impressed by her innovative recipes, offers her an internship at his new restaurant. It’s Sundia’s last shot to prove to herself—and her family—that she has what it takes. If only her crush wasn’t the chef’s personal assistant…and her new roommate.

With a love ‘em and leave ‘em reputation, Avery Daniels is practically famous—perhaps infamous—as far as West Coast lesbians go. As the right-hand woman to a celebrity chef, Avery barely has time to breathe, let alone do dinner or dates. She prides herself on staying cool in all situations, but something about Sundia gets under her skin—and in the stone-cold heart she denies having.

Sundia can’t afford any more mishaps—or temptations—and firmly friend zones Avery. But staying apart gets more challenging as both their walls slowly crumble in and out of the kitchen.

The Key to Forever by Kelly Cain (American Heart)

Release Date: September 18, 2023

Secret Ties, Book 3

She doesn’t need a man, but she does want a family.

Tori Matheny comes from a family of strong women who are all close and happily single. She plans to live the same way—an occasional fling, but never settling down. What’s the need? She is, however, curious about her birth family despite her adoptive mom and aunts strongly discouraging her search. Tori’s always known she was adopted and has never been able to shake her lifelong curiosity. When she runs into a childhood friend with plenty of time on his hands, he seems like the ideal candidate to help with her search.

After a nomadic lifestyle serving for years in the Veterinarians Without Borders program, Ethan Borden is permanently home and finally ready to settle down—buy a home, marry, and have children. He’s always had a crush on Tori, so when she asks him for help, he’s hopeful it’s the beginning of so much more.

Ethan is happy to help Tori find her birth family, but when Tori learns Ethan is hiding a deep family secret, can their budding relationship survive the generational betrayals?

Marry Me Please, Cowboy by Sinclair Jayne (Montana Born)

Release Date: September 19, 2023

The 85th Copper Mountain Rodeo, Book 3
The Coyote Cowboys of Montana, Book 2

She has her eye on the prize. He has his eyes on her.

Former soldier, now rodeo cowboy, Huck Jones doesn’t believe in love or marriage. Still, a promise is a promise, and he’s prepared to honor his fallen team leader’s wish to walk his sister down the aisle in Marietta, Montana. When the groom bolts moments before the ceremony, Huck offers himself as her alternative groom.

Barrel racer Willow McBride hates the cowboy code, and the soldier code is even more annoying. She’s pregnant, not helpless, so when her late brother’s sexy friend offers himself as a sacrificial husband, the answer is a resounding no. She wants love not duty. Plus, the 85th Copper Mountain Rodeo is looking to be her last as a competitor, and she intends to win.

Huck may no longer be a soldier, but he still believes no man—or woman—should be left behind. He’ll need to woo the beautiful, stubbornly independent cowgirl and change her mind. Failure is never an option.

Fate’s Final Season by Leigh Ann Edwards (Muse)

Release Date: September 20, 2023

Maidens of the Mystical Stones, Book 5

Will the fallout of this mystical year finally be their undoing?

During the final season of the magical pact, a disheartened Rhianwyn Mulryan arrives in Welshland as Princess Lilliana, poisoned, cursed, and desperately afraid that Broccan is lost to her forever. A mysterious sorceress may be her only hope of survival, but can she be trusted? As Rhianwyn faces Lilliana’s enigmatic husband, Prince Tyven, and his brothers––all rumored to be cursed with dragon blood—the arrival of her own estranged husband further jeopardizes their marriage…and their lives.

Sir Broccan Mulryan is determined that he and his wife will put their tumultuous past behind them, but before he’s fully forgiven her, he receives a baffling order to protect Princess Lilliana. Only Lilliana doesn’t quite seem herself…

Back in Wessex, a ruthless bishop throws the kingdom into upheaval, endangering the lives of Selena, Elspeth, and the true Lilliana. To end the despised pact and reclaim their lives, all four women must return to the sunstones, together. But will they live long enough? And if they do, will discovering the source of the pact save them or tear everything apart?

Return to Embthwaite Farm by Kate Hewitt (Holiday)

Release Date: September 25, 2023

The Mowbray Sisters, Book 1

Welcome to Embthwaite Farm, a charming English home in North Yorkshire, belonging to the fractured Mowbray family…

When Rachel Mowbray left behind her family farm in North Yorkshire at eighteen, she never planned on returning. But when her ex-childhood sweetheart calls and insists she return due to her father’s declining health, she travels north. Every moment home reminds Rachel why she left—her sister Harriet is both hostile and cold, her father barely communicates with anyone, and the house feels stuck in time. Plus, her old neighbour and ex, sheep farmer Ben Mackey, still has the power to make her pulse race…a decidedly unwelcome realization!

As a can-do businesswoman, Rachel wants to sweep in and fix everything, but it seems as if no one actually wants her help and nothing goes according to plan. Even more alarmingly, she must face the confounding memories of her own childhood—and she questions how many of them she can truly trust.

As Rachel navigates her father’s health crisis and confronts old hurts with her sister and community, she wonders if she can finally find her happily-ever-after in the most unexpected place of all—home. But will she—as well as Ben—have the courage to fight for their future together this time?

Promise Me Please, Cowboy by CJ Carmichael (Montana Born)

Release Date: September 26, 2023

The 85th Copper Mountain Rodeo, Book 4

Marietta has a way of bringing people together…

Cowboy Chet Hardwick is in Marietta, Montana, to compete in the 85th Copper Mountain Rodeo. Chet’s not there to make any waves, he needs to focus on the rodeo, avoid his deadbeat father, and return home. But when the beautiful owner at his bed-and-breakfast needs assistance, Chet can’t resist stepping in to help.

After a life-altering accident, Amy Arden left her Wall Street job and impulsively bought Bramble House B&B. While she learns the ropes, she’s also determined to uncover a secret from her late mother’s past—Amy’s birth father. The staff aren’t happy with Amy’s new ideas and quit, leaving Amy struggling to keep the fully booked inn operating. She finds an unexpected ally in one of her guests, a handsome, lone wolf cowboy, who is surprisingly easy to talk to. But just as their friendship heats up, ghosts from both their pasts arrive at Bramble House.

Amy knows Chet is the man she wants, but as Chet receives news that will take him far from Marietta, will he find his way back to her?

The Untold Story of Carol Bingley by Jane Hartley (Montana Born)

Release Date: September 27, 2023

The 85th Copper Mountain Rodeo, Book 5

Carol Bingley has a certain reputation in Marietta, Montana. She’s an infamous gossip and overly generous with her sharp opinions. But Carol’s been hiding a painful secret.

Forty years ago, sixteen-year-old high school student Carol Franklyn was madly in love with a bad boy cowboy with an irresistible smile, and sexy swagger. The day he asked her to meet him at the local hangout, the Main Street Diner, Carol thought all her dreams had come true. What she didn’t know was that she had become a pawn in a cruel and manipulative game that would spin her life painfully off course.

Now happily married to a man who loves her unconditionally, Carol finally is ready to share her painful past, but will she be believed? And can she be forgiven when she faces two of Marietta’s most powerful, tight-knit families?

Carol has lost so much. But this Christmas, she hopes she can find two puzzle pieces of her past, and sets out on a journey hoping she will finally be healed, not once again hurt.

An Autumn to Remember by Robyn Neeley (American Heart)

Release Date: September 7, 2023

Brooks Bend, Book 2

Sometimes the secret ingredient is right under your nose…

Executive Chef Sloan Leary just received the invitation of a lifetime to create signature holiday dishes for a premier meal delivery service. If she wins the contract, she can finally expand her restaurant to Paris, fulfilling a promise to her late grandmother. But first she’ll need to complete her annual two-week culinary exchange. Sloan is shocked when she’s sent to a small-town diner in Brooks Bend, Connecticut. If that weren’t enough, she learns her audition is to create dog food for pampered pooches—she’s never even had a pet.

Ex-military handyman Alex Edwards knows plenty about dogs—his beloved labradoodle is also his emotional support companion. So he’s happy to help newcomer Sloan create a Thanksgiving meal fit for canine cravings. When Sloan encourages him to go all in with his carpentry business, Alex pulls back. He stopped taking risks a long time ago and is happy with his slower life…right?

As they work to find the right seasonings, can Alex and Sloan rewrite the meal plans for their futures…with each other?

 

THE COWBOY’S LOST FAMILY – Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Roxanne Snopek!

Man and woman sitting in a field, embracing.

Hello Tuligans! Welcome to the launch of THE COWBOY’S LOST FAMILY

This is a book about secrets and lies, about family and friendship, about who we think we are…  who we really are… and who we could become.

In this dual timeline story, we have our hero Brade Oliver searching for his biological family in one timeline, and the events that brought him into existence in the other, earlier timeline. It’s a little wrenching, all in all, and the most ambitious project I’ve undertaken so far in my writing career. There are no cliff-hangers, per se, although the full mystery isn’t solved until the fourth and last book. You will hopefully smile at some parts and maybe tear up at others, but I guarantee a satisfying ending to each book. Also, watch for the dog… because it’s not a Roxanne Snopek book without a dog, right? 

This is, naturally, a love story. Our heroine Kendall McKinley is struggling under the weight of too much responsibility given to her too soon. She’s witnessed the shadow side of the whole love-marriage-babies thing with her mother and would far rather be a cool aunt than become a wife or mother herself. But she can’t help but be attracted to Brade’s honesty and willingness to be vulnerable—not to mention the hot, rich, cowboy-doctor part. 

Kendall envies Brade’s lack of family obligation; she knows it’s not that simple, but when she comes home after work to find supper unmade, laundry undone and light bulbs burned out, she can’t wait to launch her younger siblings into the world… if not outer space. Brade, however, envies the family bonds she has, no matter how dysfunctional and wonders why she can’t see how lucky she is.

Of course, Kendall takes care of her brother and sister anyway, no matter how they annoy her. She takes care of her friends, too, because that’s who she is. She’s used to handling everything herself, to putting on a good face and pretending everything’s fine. Even when it’s not. She’s not used to letting someone else care for her, so having a man listen to her… cook for her… and rub her feet… upends her worldview. Brade has no time for lies, no interest in anything but the truest of truths, but how can she trust him to love the real Kendall McKinley… when her own parents couldn’t?

As they get to know each other, their idea of identity is challenged. They are both more than what they see themselves as. And isn’t that the best part of letting people know and love us? Even though it’s not easy, we’re challenged to become our best selves. If we’re lucky.

Will Brade find the deadbeat father who abandoned his mother? Will Kendall make peace with her own mother? Is there another kind of family out there for both of them? I hope you enjoy following Brade and Kendall on their journey of discovery… and find love along with them.

About the Author.

Born under a Scorpio moon, raised in a little house on the prairie, USA Today Bestselling Author Roxanne Snopek said “as you wish” to her Alpha Farm Boy and followed him to the mountain air and ocean breezes of British Columbia. There, while healing creatures great and small and raising three warrior-princesses, they found their real-life happily-ever-after. After also establishing a successful freelance and non-fiction career, Roxanne began writing what she most loved to read: romance. Her small-town stories quickly became fan favorites.

THE COWBOY’S REDEMPTION – Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Paula Altenburg!

Cowboy holding rope over shoulder with field behind him. Text reads Paula Altenburg, USA Today Bestselling author, and the title of The Cowboy's Redemption.

I’ve been writing in Grand, Montana for five years now, and it’s begun to take on a life of its own. With the release of The Cowboy’s Redemption, my eighth book in Grand, I thought I’d give readers a chance to get to know the town itself a little better. 

“Grand hugged the banks of the Yellowstone River. The first McGregors to settle here had been Irish sutlers evicted from a British fort for selling whiskey to soldiers. The two enterprising brothers took the money they’d earned and invested it in cattle—although, according to family legend, they never quite managed to stay on the right side of the law. Whiskey barrels continued to overflow in the McGregor cellars well into the twentieth century. 

“The town got its name from the plans those two brothers had dreamed up for the town. Unfortunately, Grand got upstaged by nearby Billings and its grip on the new railroad. For his part, Jake was happy with the way history played out. Grand’s population topped out at six thousand—a nice, even number. ” ~ The Rancher Takes a Family

The boardwalk on the waterfront, which borders the Yellowstone River, is another favorite place for characters to hang out:

“Glittering lights trussed the underbelly of a black, star-speckled sky. They draped from every tree, shrub, and railing. Every storefront—every business—they all shouted, let the season begin. 

“He’d come downtown intent on buying the perfect gifts for his nephew and niece at the annual midnight craft fair. They’d shut down the waterfront from the town hall to the library. No cars allowed. People flowed freely down the main street, then up the river boardwalk, checking out handcrafted merchandise at the numerous vending stalls.” ~ The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby

Originally, Grand had two ranches—the Wagging Tongue, which belongs to the McGregor brothers and borders on the Tongue River, and the Running River Ranch, its next-door neighbor. Since then I’ve added the Endeavour Ranch, home to an indoor arena and a PRCA-sanctioned rodeo that takes place every February, a seasonal smoke jumping operation for the state of Montana, a free clinic, and a group home for troubled youth.

Grand now has a high school, a strip mall, a daycare, law firm, sheriff’s office… Hannah Brand, from Sweetheart Montana, set up her own brewery here, too. The Grand Master Brewery and Taproom first appears in The Montana Doctor and has become one of my favorite places. I’ve used it in several books now: 

“The Grand Master Brewery and Taproom occupied a weathered brick building that had once been an old dairy. The building itself dated from the mid-1800s when Grand was established. Inside, pub tables with chess boards carved into them butted the walls on opposite sides of the room. Regular tables that seated four people—more, if the people were friendly—hogged the real estate under the street-facing front window. Long shelves held an assortment of board games. A metalwork cowboy riding a bucking bronco hung from the ceiling. Hannah’s brother, an artist, had made it for her.

“The bar, complete with a brass footrail, squared off against the front window from the back of the room. Right next to the bar hovered a door that led into the brewery itself. Between that magic door and the brewery lurked another, more private, entrance to an apartment above.” ~ The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby

And Grand continues to grow. 

Another Tule author will be joining me very soon (and yes, I’m excited to welcome her! She brings her own unique voice and a brand-new, 4-book series). My question for readers becomes, how do you like stories written by different authors set in the same worlds? 

About the author

USA Today Paula Altenburg headshotBestselling Author Paula Altenburg lives in rural Nova Scotia, Canada with her husband and two sons. A former aviation and aerospace professional, Paula now writes contemporary romance and fantasy with romantic elements. You can connect with her at www.paulaaltenburg.com.

 

THE GREAT MONTANA COWBOY AUCTION – Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Anne McAllister!

Man and woman on cover in winter for The Great Montana Cowboy Auction.

Talking About Secondary Characters

Hi Everyone,

It’s so nice to be back on Tule’s blog to visit with you and to share a bit about The Great Montana Cowboy Auction, the latest in a series I’ve been writing about — you guessed it — cowboys!  

While it definitely features cowboys and is set in Elmer, Montana, this book has a broader scope than the earlier ones. Those focused on the relationship of a single couple.  But in The Great Montana Cowboy Auction, while there is still a ‘focus’ couple – it’s more of an ‘ensemble piece.’

The main reason I’ve written romance novels over the years is because I love to explore relationships – and the relationship between two people that deepens and eventually encourages them to fall in love and become a couple is, to me, always fascinating.  

 But couples don’t live in isolation.  They have family, friends, associates, neighbors.  In another of my great loves – family history research – these people are called FANs, an acronym that the astute, well-respected genealogist, Elizabeth Shown Mills, coined from the initial letters (or should it be FFANs?) to describe the people who are part of the context of the focus person’s life.  In novels we call them “secondary characters.”

Generally, no matter what book I’m writing, during the editing process I can almost always count on my editor (not just one editor, but all of my editors since the beginning of time!)  saying, “You might want to think about cutting back on the secondary characters.”

Er, well, yes. But it’s a rare life that has just two people in it. We all exist in relationships beyond the one we create with our significant other – and characters in books are no different.  And those FANs do their part in making the central characters who they are.

 So, I love secondary characters – in my family history research, of course, but even more in the books I write.  I learn about the people I’m researching in our family history by learning about the people who mattered to them, whose lives impacted theirs.  And I learn about my main characters exactly the same way. 

Polly McMaster, the main character of The Great Montana Cowboy Auction, jumped full-blown onto the page the minute I started the book.  That was a surprise for me because, usually,  my heroes are the ones threatening to take over on page one.  And while Sloan Gallagher, cowboy-turned-actor-turned-Hollywood-star, is definitely capable of doing that, he meets his match in Polly.  

Polly is the poster child for If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.  It isn’t that she wants so much busyness in her life; she certainly doesn’t go looking for it.  It’s just that so many things — and so many people – depend on her.  

She is the widowed mother of four kids, a woman who holds two jobs – postmistress and mayor of Elmer, Montana – who takes part-time online university classes, who is the mainstay of not just her kids’ lives, but of also her widowed mother’s and her unmarried sister’s.  So when local rancher Maddie Fletcher is in danger of losing her ranch to foreclosure and the community decides to have an auction to raise money to save it, guess who ends up in charge.

Of course, Polly can’t say no because it’s a Worthy Cause, and Polly believes in Worthy Causes.  She was one, after all, when her husband Lew died and the locals all gathered round to care for her and her kids.  Now  — once again – it’s Polly’s turn.  And in the course of getting the auction off the ground, Polly’s life – her past, her choices, her decisions — intersect with many others’.  Her FANs have an impact on her — and, of course, vice versa.  

One of those is Polly’s widowed mother, Joyce, who’s getting to grips with life on her own since the death of her rancher husband. She’s sold the ranch to the Nichols brothers, Mace and Shane (if you read A Cowboy’s Tears or The Cowboy Steals a Lady, you’ll have met them before they became “secondary characters”) and she’s moved to Elmer to live with Polly.  

Joyce helps give structure to the family life Polly is holding together. She’s learning macrame and economics and Spanish and has recently taken a job as a hospital receptionist in Livingston because, unlike Polly, Joyce needs to be busier, to find a new purpose in her life.  What she finds is nothing she expects.  I was as surprised as Joyce was.  Also, Joyce is the one who suggests an auction to raise money to help Maddie.  So, basically, everything that happens after that, Polly can blame on her mother.  

And then there’s Celie, Polly’s younger sister.  Two sisters less alike could hardly be imagined (unless you knew my mother and her sister, and, yes, they were perhaps a bit of inspiration — sometimes art does imitate life!)  

While Polly deals with reality here and now on a regular in-your-face basis, Celie takes her reality in bite-sized pieces. She has her reasons.  But she has a fantasy life that is a whole lot more interesting and, she would say, saner than her sister’s real one.

Until it’s not.  

When Celie’s fantasy collides with reality, she has some serious decisions to make. I thought Celie would be an interesting subplot – a foil for Polly, as it were. But Celie had no intention of being a subplot.  She was tired of playing second fiddle. She had a story to tell  – and by the time I got to 100,000 words I understood that all too well. I began to cut.  And cut.  Suffice it to say, Celie will have her own book coming out next spring.

And there’s Sara.  Polly’s oldest daughter, at nineteen, is as structured and by-the-book as her mother is not.  Sara was another surprise – to me and her mother both.  I thought I understood Sara quite well until I got inside her head. There I found that Sara has hidden depths that probably surprise even Sara herself.

As in real life, each of these women’s lives weaves in and out of the others’.  They are primary characters in their own stories, secondary in each other’s.  They create a community – and a context – in which The Great Montana Cowboy Auction takes place.  

If course, they are not the only ones who have an impact on each other’s lives.  Every one of the characters matters.  Some provide a reason for something to happen, some provide lenses through which to understand why someone behaves the way she does. 

Surprisingly, to me at least, it’s a lot like family history.  I’ve now spent nearly 40 years trying to understand the reasons my characters do what they do, what motivates them.  And it turns out that both ancestors and characters in books respond to the other people in their lives. Those people matter. They have their own stories when we have the space to tell them.

And not one of them is really ‘secondary.’  But there are word count limits, so editors are sometimes compelled to tell us that they are!

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.

A MATCH MADE IN MONTANA – Release Day Blog Post Featuring Elsa Winckler

Book cover of A Match Made in Montana by Elsa Winckler. Romantic couple smiling with Montana background.

If you’re a die hard romantic like me, you probably also love romantic comedies – whether it’s a book, a play or a movie. The laugh-out-loud ones but also the laugh-with-a-tear ones. I haven’t set out to write Annie’s and Craig’s story as a comedy, it just ended up that way. The basic plot for a romantic comedy, Google tells me is 1. Meet 2. Lose and 3. Get.

I love writing the meet-cute moment but because A Match Made in Montana is the second story in the Millers of Marietta series, Annie and Craig have already met so I had to find a way to have them “meet” in a cute way again – hence the first scene in the book where Annie is lying in a hammock and reading a very vivid description of a heroine’s bodily reaction to the hero in the story! 

Maybe it’s also because they have both been hurt before and are struggling to leave the past behind that I instinctively added more funny moments than what I usually do. The chances that they can have their happily ever after are slim, there are so many obstacles, but as we’ve come to realize by now, the magic of Marietta and Copper Mountain has a way of bringing lost souls together.

I’ve been writing romance since 2008 and I’ve discovered some characters are harder to forget than others. Annie Miller, the heroine in A Match Made in Montana is one of those characters that seems to be stuck in my mind. Maybe because she’s so different from most of the other feisty and more forceful heroines I’ve written. In contrast to most of her friends and her sister, Viv, Annie is a homebody. She’s a natural caretaker and nurturer. Nothing gives her more pleasure than to feed people and to see them enjoy the food she’s made – the reason why her fiancé dumped her weeks before their wedding. According to him, she’s not enough of a go-getter. 

The Irishman, as her brother Mitch calls Craig, has been in her mind since he’s hugged her goodbye during his first visit to Marietta. Now he’s back for his cousin Aiden’s and sister Vivian’s wedding and it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore the obvious spark between them. 

The more time she spends with the big red head, the more she likes him, but Annie is still bruised and unsure of herself. Why would a hot-shot marketing guru from Portland be interested in her?

Finding a happy-ever-after for Annie and Craig has been a challenge, there are so many obstacles in their way, but as we romance lovers know by now, never underestimate the magic of love. It will find a way.

To win an e-book copy of Book 1, My Montana Valentine, in the The Millers of Marietta series, tell us about your favorite Marietta couple! Or perhaps tell us what your favorite romantic comedy movie is?

I hope you enjoy Annie’s and Craig’s story! Thanks for stopping by.

About the author

Author Elsa Winckler headshotI have been reading love stories for as long as I can remember and when I ‘met’ the classic authors like Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James The Brontë sisters, etc. during my Honours studies, I was hooked for life. 

I married my college boyfriend and soul mate and after 43 years, 3 interesting and wonderful children and 3 beautiful grandchildren, he still makes me weak in the knees. We are fortunate to live in the picturesque little seaside village of Betty’s Bay, South Africa with the ocean a block away and a beautiful mountain right behind us. And although life so far has not always been an easy ride, it has always been an exciting and interesting one! 

I like the heroines in my stories to be beautiful, feisty, independent and headstrong.  And the heroes must be strong but possess a generous amount of sensitivity. They are of course, also gorgeous!  My stories typically incorporate the family background of the characters to better understand where they come from and who they are when we meet them in the story. 

 

A COWBOY’S PROMISE: Release Day Blog Post featuring Anne McAllister! (and Giveaway!)

Piecing Together Stories and Visions

Writers are often asked, “Where do you get your ideas?”  It’s a fair question because most people who have not struggled through writing a book beginning to end (never just once, but countless times) logically seem to expect that a book comes from a single particular idea, and then the next book comes from another one.

The truth, for me,  is that a book cobbles itself together from lots of ideas the same way dreams do. I snatch one bit from this location, another from that memory, a third from something my dad said, or my cousins told me, or from watching a film or sitting in a hospital waiting room.  And then there’s research – the bits I don’t know yet, but someone else does and has kindly written about or is willing to talk about, that will help me vicariously live in the fictional world that is gradually taking shape.  Finally, then, it coalesces (not without revisions!) into a book.  

That was certainly true of A Cowboy’s Promise.  

The hero, Charlie Seeks Elk, was born in an earlier book of mine called Gifts of the Spirit where he was a troubled teenager. I have known several of those.  Once upon a time when we were in grad school, my husband and I house-dog-and-teenager-sat for a semester. Plenty of things we experienced then were grist for the mill of Charlie’s teenage years. 

He needed a role model then, and the hero of that earlier book, Chase Whitelaw, reluctantly stepped up. Chase’s experience bridging life between his own urban Los Angeles and his father’s Navajo reservation owe more than a nod to my dad’s and his uncle’s experiences.  They gained opportunities. They lost connections.  They sought a future. They lost a past.

There were a lot of other ‘ideas’ that meshed when Charlie Seeks Elk came face-to-face with what eternity was all about after he was shot in a crossfire halfway round the world (I give thanks that I have no firsthand experience with that).  And when those things came together, I finally had a focus – what Charlie didn’t have was the one person he needed most – Cait.  And what Cait meant to Charlie was home.

She was the one who touched his heart, who made him whole.  She was the one who mattered — too much — more than he dared let her.  He knew how to be rootless.  He didn’t know how to connect.  It was safer not to. But facing eternity, Charlie had second thoughts.  

Cait Blasingame was the embodiment of home.  She might have seen lots of the world. She might have fallen in love with the wrong man.  But when she goes back to Montana after years abroad as a nurse, she knows who she is, what she values, where she belongs. She isn’t prepared for Charlie reappearing in her life.  

When my editor and I were looking for a series title for A Cowboy’s Promise and the other books that will follow it this year, home was a theme that underpinned all of them, so “Cowboy, Come Home” seemed a perfect choice. 

In a way, it turns the iconic American image of the cowboy riding off alone into the sunset on its head.  That cowboy doesn’t go home. He doesn’t have a home. Charlie wants nothing less.

The other two books coming later this year, The Great Montana Cowboy Auction and A Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle, also look at home, each in a different way.  If you would like to win a copy of one of my earlier Tule releases, please tell me what is most important to you when you think about “home.” One or two commenters will be chosen randomly by the Tule staff and will receive a copy of the book they choose.

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.