Book Series Month continues with today's guest host, Amazon Best Selling author, Heather Gray. Welcome, Heather! Tell us about your Ladies of Larkspur series.
Ladies of Larkspur: The Birth Pains of a Series
Thank you Ariella for having me on your blog today! It's always a joy to be here, and to talk about my series – how could I refuse? J
The Ladies of Larkspur series came about sort of the way a
second pregnancy turns up in marriage.
You toy with the idea of having another child. You think about it. You waffle.
Are we really ready? It's so much work. Isn't our family's complete just the way it
is? But wouldn't it be fun to have
another…? Babies are so cute…
When I started the first book in the series, I didn't know
whether or not I was going to grow that book family. Mail
Order Man was my first book, and I had so very much still to learn. The thing was, I met this girl while writing
that first book. She had a teeny tiny
little scene, but I was captivated. Mail Order Man was ready to be
published. Editing was complete, and the
pain associated with it had begun to fade.
So I did what any gullible parent would do. I fooled myself into believing the experience
had been completely pain-free and decided I was ready to add another book-child
to the family.
Now here I sit some months later. Redemption
(#3) is due to come out soon, and I've learned a few things. Writing a series is hard. It's complicated, even a little messy. There's a whole lot of work that goes into it
– work for which your books will never thank you. You spend a lot of time second-guessing your
decisions and wondering if you've done what's best for your characters. You have to accept that life is hard and not
everybody gets a happy ending. As the
parent of book-children, it's a struggle to let them out into the world to fly
– or fall – on their own merit. And
yet…ah, the joy. The exquisite joy of
bringing another book-child into this world, the sense of satisfaction and
excitement…the anticipation with which you wait to see what it's going to look
like. There's simply no compare.
I've already forgotten the birthing pains of Redemption have
begun to think about how much fun it would be to have another child in the
family…
Mail Order Man (Ladies of Larkspur #1)
Back Cover Blurb:
Some people
get a mail order bride. She got a mail
order man.
A well-meaning friend places an ad to find a mail
order husband for Sarah, the proprietress of Larkspur’s stage and mail office. Sarah, who is generally quiet and reserved,
doesn’t know about the ad and has no idea what to do with all the people that
are showing up in her community. Before
long, the town is overrun with men and mail alike. Sarah is trying to avoid some men who have
accosted her on the street when she stumbles into Samuel. Through long days spent together at the stage
office, some very adventurous pots of coffee and a shared faith, the two become
friends. Sarah knows that Samuel is
hiding something from her, something important, but that doesn’t stop her heart
from leaping wildly into love. Lacking
the confidence to trust her heart, Sarah wars with herself over the feelings
she can no longer deny. When some of the
men who have come to town show their true intentions, a shootout follows. Sarah finally gets answers to many of the
questions circling through her mind. One
question remains, though. Where will her
mail order man go when the dust settles?
Buy Links:
Excerpt:
Right then Claudio and Cesar came
through the door. Both boys chimed a “Good morning!” in Sarah’s direction as
they headed straight for the coffee on the stove. Sarah saw their intent and
inwardly cringed. Not only was she not sure about how many scoops of grounds
she’d put in, but the coffee had been percolating much longer than normal
because she got distracted with the letters.
Samuel had his back to the stove and
did not see the boys as they each poured a cup of coffee. Sarah was about to
warn them as Claudio, the middle boy at age 16, took a big swig of the hot brew
while Cesar, the youngest, opted to blow on his first. Claudio’s eyes grew wide
as he swallowed. “Miss Sarah, I do believe that’s the best coffee you’ve ever
made. That’s the kind of coffee vaqueros
drink!”
Samuel visibly perked up at the mention
of coffee. Sarah was sure he couldn’t know a vaquero was a Mexican cowboy and that they drink their camp coffee
strong. If he understood what the boys were saying, he definitely wouldn’t be
in a hurry to get a cup of his own. Cesar finally took a drink of his coffee.
Sarah could see him trying not to make a face as he swallowed the brew. “Vaquero coffee for sure, Miss Sarah.
Papa would be proud.”
Sarah had barely started to warn, “Uh,
Samuel…” when he took a big gulp of the coffee Claudio had poured for him. She
watched the shock on his face as he first paled and then grew red. His eyes
flew wide as he tried desperately to swallow the coffee. He finally ran out the
front door and spit the coffee out over the edge of the stage platform.
The boys could not contain their
howling laughter as Samuel walked back into the stage office, wiping his mouth
with the back of his hand.
Just Desserts (Ladies of Larkspur #3)
Back Cover Blurb:
Dessert…the perfect
remedy when nothing in life seems to be going right.
What do you do when you are the sole protector of four
children, your brothers and sisters?
When each day is haunted by disappointment, disillusionment and
desperation? When you believe that
everyone who ever loved you, including God, has abandoned you?
You bake a pie, of course.
What do you do when you find a woman whose heart is consumed
by fear? Who does not know how to
trust? Who scoffs at your faith and
throws your kindness back in your face?
You eat a pie, of course.
Excerpt:
Seventeen year old Mary Fitzgerald
stepped up next to the deacon, a strawberry pie in her hands. Today was the day
she took lasting steps to protect her family. Pa was passed out at home, having
drunk so much there was no way he'd be waking up to come to the festivities.
She had been taking care of and
protecting her younger brothers and sisters as far back as she could remember,
but her pa was getting meaner and nastier with each passing year. Her brothers
were getting angrier, too. It was important to get them all out from under Pa's
thumb before her brothers were ruined for life.
Hoping to find a man willing to wed her
and take her brothers and sisters in, too, Mary had entered herself in the
dessert auction at a picnic hosted by the church. Only eligible men were allowed
to bid, and she hoped to find a husband. How old, ugly, or poor – Mary didn't
care as long as he didn't beat or terrorize them. That was her highest hope, to
find a man who did not cause her to cower, who did not break her bones, who
would not harm her brothers and sisters. Harboring no illusions about love,
Mary didn't even really care if the man was kind; she only needed him not to be
too terrible.
As the diminutive deacon was about to
begin the bidding, Mary glanced up. Fear grabbed hold of her heart and squeezed
so tight she thought she might faint right there. Neither the sea of curious
faces nor the beautiful blue sky drew her attention. Pa was coming, and he
looked madder'n a hot, hungry bull. Mary's breath came in short, shallow gasps
as she tried to stay conscious. She was terrified of this man. They had been so
certain Pa would stay passed out all day, that he wouldn't discover their plan.
The kids had all dressed in their finest clothes and promised to be on their best
behavior – no small feat for the boys – and now here came Pa, ruining their
chance.
The deacon had not seen Mr. Fitzgerald
yet and was preparing to start the bidding. His mouth was still open, sucking
in air, when the bellow came from the back of the crowd, "That's my young'un
and ain't nobody biddin' on her pie! I ain't raisin' no harlot to get paid for
her favors!"
Redemption (Ladies of Larkspur #3)
Back Cover Blurb:
Murder,
mayhem, marriage, and a horse named Mutiny…
Minnie's impulsiveness has been getting her into
trouble her whole life. She never
expected it to land her on a suspect list for murder, though. With nothing left but a few trunks of
possessions and her own defeat, Minnie leaves San Francisco behind and returns
home. In an effort to protect her family
and friends, she keeps them in the dark about the ongoing investigation and the
possibility that danger may have followed her to Larkspur. When events force her to trust someone with
her secrets, she turns to the sheriff and finds both a friend and an ally.
It may have been four years since he last saw
Minnie, but how could he ever forget her?
When Art finds her sneaking through a back alley in town, he knows
something's wrong. The once vivacious
Minnie is a mere shadow of her former self, all sparkle gone from her eyes. Art
knows that time spent with her will be dangerous to his heart, but he can't
turn Minnie away. Even if it means
protecting her from her own impetuous decisions, he vows to keep her safe.
In her attempt to take responsibility for her own
choices, Minnie shut out her friends, family, and God. An unsolved murder isn't all that's chasing
Minnie, though. Will she find her way
back to the heart of her faith before it's too late?
Excerpt:
August 1882
Minnie needed to get home quickly. It
was imperative. William would be displeased if she was away too long. He was
not kind when angry.
She rushed around the corner only to be
stopped by the familiar sight of police gathered outside the tenement building
where she and William rented a room. Given the area they lived in, seeing
police was a matter of course. The sheer number of officers present, though,
was anything but routine.
At the time she’d married him, Minnie
had expected to have a grand life with her husband. She was but the daughter of
a small-town mayor, but William, why he was a gifted and recognized journalist.
Her dreams of that happy life of travel, investigation, and collaboration had
evaporated within their first month of marriage. The wonderful man who had
courted her, caressed her with silver-tongued words, and danced into her heart
had disappeared.
He'd left in his place a man who was
bitter and angry because she, while the daughter of a politician, had no wealth
to her name, no grand dowry to finance the illicit habits he had kept from her
during their brief courtship. She'd had to adjust to a life far removed from
her dreams, a life where the only thing more common than police at their
building was the stench of squalor in the air.
Minnie hurried through the gathering of
policemen and rushed up the stairs, hoping that William would still be asleep
and wouldn't realize she'd been out. As she approached their room, she saw an
officer standing in the hallway by the already-open door to the small space she
shared with her husband. "Pardon me, ma'am," the officer said,
"are you Mrs. Drake?"
Nodding, she craned her neck to see
around the officer. He tried to block her view, but she caught a peek inside. A
strangled gasp escaped her lips. With strength out of place in her small frame,
she shoved past the policeman and dashed into their quarters. Her husband of not
quite three years, William Drake, lay in a pool of blood, almost
unrecognizable. His corpse lay there beaten – nay, bludgeoned – to death. His
lifeless eyes stared off into the distance. "W-what happened?" she
asked, her voice hoarse.
"Mrs. Drake." The man speaking
wore his somber expression as comfortably as he wore his suit – both were
threadbare from too much use. "I need to ask where you've been these past
two hours."
Trying desperately to pull her eyes
away from her husband's corpse, she fought to speak. "An errand." The
words felt as if they were being pulled from her throat. "I had an errand
to run."
"Where, Mrs. Drake?"
About a year into their marriage,
William had stopped pursuing his journalism career. He was always either deep
in his cups or giving up their every possession at the gaming tables. Going to
work had become necessary, but she wasn't sure how she felt about exposing that
part of her life to the man in the suit, a virtual stranger. It had been easy
enough to step into Will's shoes and take over his position at the newspaper. She
did her writing in secret, and everything was published under the name Will Drake, the byline her husband had
used.
Minnie didn't know how to explain her
job to these men without feeling the shame and embarrassment of having to admit
both facts – that her husband was a sluggard who'd forced his wife to support
him and that most of San Francisco believed her to be a man. Little
encouragement was to be found in the stern faces of the officers, and she began
to question whether either claim would be believable.
Looking into the eyes of the suited
man, she saw something dreadful. Minnie lifted her hand to her throat in
foreboding. "You suspect me, then, in my husband's death." It wasn't
a question. She could see the truth of it on the detective's face.
"Answer the question, Mrs. Drake. Where
have you been?"
"Everywhere but where I should
have been, it would seem," she said softly.
About Heather Gray
Heather
Gray is the author of the Ladies of Larkspur inspirational western romance
series, including Mail Order Man, Just Dessert, and Redemption. Other titles
include Ten Million Reasons, His Saving Grace, and Nowhere for Christmas – everything from
Regency England to modern-day America.
Aside from a long-standing love affair with coffee, Heather’s greatest
joys are her relationships with her Savior and family. She decided years ago that she'd rather laugh
than yell. This theme is prevalent in
her writing where, through the highs and lows of life, her characters find a
way to love God, embrace each day, and laugh out loud right along with her.
Where to Find Heather:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.