Lassoing the Words of Romance–Interview with Lynn Cahoon

Hello!  Today I welcome Lynn Cahoon…

Tell us a little about yourself.

I think the best way to describe myself is I’m a jack-of-all trades.  I love trying new things, and that includes, writing in new genres and exploring craft.  I find I’m happiest with themes that surround building a family, being part of community, and, of course, the happy-ever-after. I knit, but love to crochet more.  I can do counted cross stitch or stamped. I love to bake and sometimes, I try out new recipes for dinner that are almost gourmet level. I’m married, with one adult child, and I work full time.

 If you are a pantser, how do you handle when you write into a corner?

I ignore the word document.  Do not open, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Actually, I got about 20% done with BRM when I realized, I just didn’t care about the couple and their problem.  They were being too nice to each other, and there wasn’t a problem that either of them couldn’t walk away from.  So I played with the why one night before falling asleep and when I woke up, Barb and Hunter had a new hurdle.  Then the story flew.

Whatever became of your very first book?

It’s sitting under the television on a shelf in my office.  Not quite under the bed, but not on my desk or list to do for right now.  I’ve got a revise/resubmit letter I’d started working a few months ago and once things settle down, I’ll return to the process.  At the worse, it’s a good exercise, but I love the story and I’m not willing to give up on the book.  Not yet.

What advice would you give to new authors?

This one’s easy.  Keep writing.  In my chapter and when I talk to other writers, so many have one book that they’ve polished, contested, and polished again. (Contested – the act of sending your first three chapters to every contest in the world – revising and starting over again.) I believe in writing, revising/editing, then sending that puppy out into the world.  And, this is the most important part, writing something new.  Every book I write is better than the last one.

Do you have any other books? What do you have planned next?

Do I? Ha.

– The Bull Rider’s series is with Crimson.  (The Bull Rider’s Brother-June 2012; The Bull Rider’s Manager-November 2012) and at least one more book – The Bull Rider’s Last Ride– is planned.  I’d like to write at least two more stories out of the Shawnee Rodeo group.

—A Member of the Council is a paranormal novella with Lyrical.  The second book, Return of the Fae is scheduled for release, July 2013.  There will be at least another book in this series, but I feel like there’s more.

—Marriage Not Included, a contemporary romance, has been contracted with Soul Mate Publishing for release 2013.

—Temporary Roommates, a contemporary novella has been contracted with Passion in Print for release 2013.

–I’m shopping a new contemporary romance set in Northern Idaho called The Cats of Castleview.

–I’m shopping a cozy mystery, All That Glitters, and currently writing a new cozy with series potential.

 Once I finish this mystery, I’m returning to the world of Shawnee and giving Jesse (the bull rider) his HEA. 

What inspired you to write THE BULL RIDER’S MANAGER?

 After I sold The Bull Rider’s Brother, I started working on Barb’s story.  I love working with the Idaho based setting and taking a woman who thinks she has it all with her career and showing her the other side of life, home, family, and husband. Can a woman have it all? Or is that the true fairy tale?

 What can you tell us about THE BULL RIDER’S MANAGER that isn’t in the blurb or excerpt? 

Bella, the Pomeranian, is based on my own little puppy that I lost last year.  So she’ll always have a life with Hunter and Barb.

Is THE BULL RIDER’S MANAGER part of a series? If so, tell us about it.

Shawnee, Idaho is known for two things.  Amazing salmon fishing and the first local rodeo of the summer.  For four friends, growing up in Shawnee, meant one thing, making plans to get out.

The Bull Rider’s Manager is the second book in what I call the Shawnee Rodeo Series.  I’ve had people tell me they don’t read westerns but love my descriptions of small town America.  I don’t see the books as westerns, I see them as describing the world I grew up in, that small town where there are no secrets, even ones that should be kept.

How long did it take you to write?

Two months.  And that’s working full time.  Although I think I write better when I’m working because I have a schedule I have to follow. 

For Fun Questions:

What’s your favorite TV show or movie of all time?

Project Runway for TV and Sleepless in Seattle for the movie.  I LOVE that movie.

 If you could chose a period in history to be born in, what would it be and why?

 I think I’ll stay here.  I really like flush toilets and hot showers. Boring, I know.

What was the most embarrassing thing your husband ever did to you in public?

So many events flashed through my mind here… I’m trying to keep it pg rated – Okay, we were at a bar one night, wait, no, I can’t tell that one either.  Sorry. Next question.

What is the one place you have never visited but would love to?

 Europe.  Or Hawaii.  No, I think definitely Europe.

 If you were stranded on a desert island and could chose any famous person (living or dead), who would you chose to be stranded with you and why? 

Kid Rock.  Have you ever heard him sing country?  OMG.

Quick Quiz

1.  Cake or Chips – Good chips?  Chips. Don’t give me crap though.

2.  Steak or Veggie Burger – Steak.  But I’d rather have seafood.

3.  Chocolates or Roses – Roses from my husband. He doesn’t do it often so it means a lot.

4.  Boxers or Briefs or Nothing at all – Nada.

5.  Vampires or Cowboys – Easy peasy – Cowboys.  (Thank God you didn’t ask Warlocks or Cowboys, my heroes would have been mad at me for showing favorites.)

 

Barb Carico’s life is all about business.  Now that her best friend has tied the knot with her high school sweetheart and Barb’s new partner, she’s busier than ever. Managing Jesse Sullivan’s career and public persona can be a handful. Add in an aging mother who goes through home health nurses like candy, Barb’s hanging on the edge.

 

Her one salvation?  Hunter Martin, prodigal son of Martin Family Dairy and, hopefully, Jesse’s next sponsor. A promise his father had already made before Hunter took over the public relations department.  After his brother’s death, Hunter’s become an instant dad to his seven year old niece.  More responsibility. For Hunter, the rodeo weekend with Barb is the perfect excuse to relax.

 

When their dinner turns into drinks and then a quick trip to a Vegas wedding chapel, both Barb and Hunter agree their nuptials were a mistake.  A mistake they consummated the next evening.  As soon as they’re home, the marriage will be annulled. That’s what they both want.  Or at least what they tell themselves.

 

Upon their return, Hunter finds that distant relatives are suing him for custody of his niece.  The only way for him to keep custody is to design a life that matches the promise of a perfect family.  For that, he needs Barb to stay married to him.  Hunter would give her anything to go along with the charade.

 

Barb doesn’t know anything about being a wife or mother but she needs one favor.  A favor she’ll trade her lifestyle, independence, and even risk her heart to make come true.

EXCERPT:

If flying was hell, waiting to fly was purgatory. Their plane should have taken off an hour

ago. And even though they were on hold, Jesse Sullivan still hadn’t graced the airport with his presence. Barb dialed Jesse’s cell again and immediately got his answering message. “Damn, Jesse—where are you?”

 

“No luck?” Hunter Martin, prodigal son of Martin Dairy Empires—and potential sponsor for her perpetually late client—opened his blue eyes and looked at her.

Barb had thought the man had been asleep when she’d pulled out the cell one more time. She pasted on a smile she didn’t feel. “Just his voice mail. Maybe he’s stuck in traffic?”

 

Hunter raised his eyebrows. “In Boise?”

 

“It happens,” Barb shot back. “He’s been staying at his brother’s spread up near Lucky Peak so maybe a logging truck accident slowed him down.”

 

Hunter shook his head. “Really?”

 

“It could happen. Those trucks fly on those narrow roads.” Barb sighed. “You’re stuck with me for the flight. I don’t think Jesse will make it.”

 

“I’m not going to complain.” Hunter’s smile came slow and sexy. He closed his eyes again. “Shake me if they announce our flight. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

 

Barb smiled. I bet you didn’t. Hunter Martin was known in Boise social circles as a player. Or at least he had been. All Barb really knew about the thirty-two-year old bachelor was that he liked the Country Star bar—well known for its line dancing classes and generous beer prices—better than the upscale places downtown. She’d seen him at Country Star a few years ago and man, the boy could swing. In all her years around the rodeo, Barb had never been able to relax enough to let her partner lead her around the dance floor. But she felt the music, even if her dancing would put her on a reality show for the Worst Dancers in America.

 

Rumor had it that Mr. Martin must be involved because he’d been absent from his usual bar stool for months. Barb snuck a glance at his left hand. No ring yet. Although that didn’t mean anything. He still could be engaged.

 

Barb wished she’d just taken a direct flight to San Francisco. But since she’d had to come up to get another caretaker hired and settled with Mom, she’d jumped at the chance to host a potential new sponsor for the weekend. Martin Dairy had big promotion pockets. Or at least that’s what was rumored. And the company loved to sponsor bull riders. Jesse better not screw this up.

 

Going into partnership with James, Jesse’s brother, and becoming Jesse’s manager when James had wanted to get off the road to run Hudson’s Spa with Lizzie, his new wife, had seemed like a no brainer. James, Lizzie, and Jesse had been friends since high school in Shawnee. And Barb had managed cowboys for years. She’d taken newcomers from small town rodeos and gotten them into the finals in Las Vegas in no time. But Jesse already had a champion belt buckle. And acted like it. The man was infuriating, at best.

 

Hunter’s pocket started to vibrate and Barb jumped back, hoping the man hadn’t caught her staring.

 

Hunter pulled out his Blackberry. Bringing the phone in front of his face before opening his eyes, he squinted at the display. Frowning, he stood. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this.”

 

Barb watched the man walk away. Cowboy casual in Wranglers and a cotton button down shirt, Hunter could have been her wayward bull rider. His dark hair had just the right curl, making Barb’s finger’s itch to play with it. The man would give any of the rodeo guys a run for their money in the body department, even though Barb knew Hunter spent his days in a high rise in Boise, managing the large dairy operation. Martin Dairy didn’t just own one dairy farm in the valley. Rumor had it that old man Martin wanted to

wipe out the competition and be the only milk producer around. They’d bought out the cheese factory in the next town a few years ago, and now Martin Dairy brand cheese was on supermarket shelves nationwide.

 

Barb sighed. She could imagine the fun Hunter would be if he weren’t a potential sponsor. And if she weren’t Jesse’s manager. She’d just have to put the drool worthy man out of that part of her mind. Just for the weekend. She shook her head. She needed a life outside the rodeo. A man she could come home to and he’d massage her shoulders. Someone she could tell her dumb stories to who’d laugh and understand. Someone who didn’t mind that she traveled every weekend from late April to December.

Publisher Site: http://www.crimsonromance.com/new-release-romance-ebook/the-bull-riders-manager/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Bull-Riders-Manager-ebook/dp/B009VLZHVQ

BIO:

Lynn Cahoon is a contemporary romance author with a love of hot, sexy men, real and imagined. Her alpha heroes range from rogue witch hunters to modern cowboys. And her heroines all have one thing in common, their strong need for independence. Or at least that’s what they think they want.  She blogs at her website, A Fairy Tale Life.

Website: www.lynncahoon.wordpress.com

Blog: www.lynncahoon.wordpress.com/blog

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