It's always my pleasure to host other writers on my blog and when those writers just happen to be the nicest people on the planet...well, I'm thrilled. Such is the case with the talented, wonderful Barbara White Daille. Barbara is here talking about her new book,
THE RODEO MAN'S DAUGHTER . She's given us a sneak peak and a giveaway, so be sure to keep reading to the end!
Welcome, Barbara!
Erin, thanks again for the invitation to blog with you and to share my latest release with your readers! I'm thrilled to talk about
THE RODEO MAN'S DAUGHTER and to chat about heroes in general.
Readers, it's always a pleasure to visit Erin's blog. Just take a look at my surroundings right now, and you'll understand why. (smile) These gorgeous hunks on the covers make me think of all the men we love to read and write about.
If you're like me—and many other readers—when it comes to heroes, you like to know what makes them tick. To watch how they learn and change and grow. And to see them suffer a bit before they earn their happy endings!
A couple of my heroes live in the small town of Flagman's Folly, New Mexico. Both were born and raised there, both attended the same schools, but their shared experiences end right there.
Sam Robertson, from my previous book (A RANCHER'S PRIDE), comes from the wealthy family that originally built the town. At the start of this story, he "inherits" a four-year-old child he’s never met—and never even knew he’d fathered. That’s a tough enough situation for any man to encounter. But then...
Remember what I said about seeing our heroes suffer? Sam finds he can't communicate with his own child because she's deaf. The stakes are raised even higher when he discovers his daughter's aunt wants to take Becky away from him.
Let me tell you, Sam suffered, all right. And because I cared so much about all three of the characters, so did I!
Writing my current release, THE RODEO MAN'S DAUGHTER, turned out to be a heart-tugging experience for me, too. In this book, the hero's suffering comes from both the present and his long-ago past.
Here's a bit about him:
As a teen, Caleb Cantrell took off for the fame and fortune of the rodeo circuit, where he became a star. When he's tossed by a bull and almost loses his life, his rodeo dreams are destroyed. Now, he's certain he won't have a future until he shakes off his past.
Caleb grew up dirt-poor and looked down upon by folks in his hometown. That drives him back to Flagman's Folly, where he intends to settle scores with everyone who’d done him wrong—and then to leave them all behind and get on with the rest of his life.
The minute he returns, though, he's confronted by the stark reminders of his childhood. In this clip from the beginning of the book, he has just arrived in town.
A long memory made for bad company when a man had too much time on his hands. Especially when those hands held a sizable number of grudges.
Caleb Cantrell eased up on the gas pedal of the pickup truck he'd rented earlier that morning at the airport. He cut the engine and stepped down from the cab, his worn boots hitting the ground and raising a cloud of dust. First time in ten years he'd set foot in Flagman's Folly, New Mexico, and the layer of dirt that now marked him made it seem as if he'd never left.
Yet he'd come a hell of a long way since then.
Here on the outskirts of town, he stood and stared across the unpaved road at the place he'd once had to call home. After he'd left there, he'd slept in no-tell motels, lived out of tour buses and trucks and, eventually, spent time in luxury hotels. Didn't matter where you went, you could always tell the folks who took pride in ownership from the ones who didn't give a damn.
Even here, you could spot the evidence. Not a ritzy neighborhood, not a small community, just a collection of ramshackle houses and tarpaper shacks. A few had shiny windows and spindly flowers in terra-cotta pots. Some had no windowpanes at all. Here and there, he noted a metal-sided prefab home with too many coats of paint on it and weeds poking through the cinder blocks holding it up.
And somewhere, beyond all that, he knew he'd find a handful of sun-bleached trailers, their only decoration the cheap curtains hanging inside. The fabric blocked the view into the units through the rusty holes eaten into their sides.
Sometimes, the curtains blocked sights no kid should see, of mamas doing things no mama should do.
Swallowing hard, he retreated a pace, as if he'd felt the pull of one rust-corroded hulk in particular. It wouldn't still be there. It couldn't. But he had no intention of going over there to make sure.
Across the way, a gang of kids hung out near a sagging wire fence and a pile of cast-off truck tires. Still quiet, but soon their laughter and loud conversations would start, followed by the shouts from inside the houses. Some of the houses, anyway.
The rough edges of his ignition key bit into his palm.
In all the years he'd been gone from this town and with all the miles he'd logged, he should have shoved away everything that bothered him about this place.
He hadn't forgotten a single one of them.
It also creates one more conflict he has to deal with.
Your turn now! Tell me, what types of conflicts and issues do you like your heroes to face?
ABOUT BARBARA WHITE DAILLE
Originally from the East Coast, award-winning author Barbara White Daille now lives with her husband in the warm, sunny Southwest, where they love the lizards in the front yard but could do without the scorpions in the bathroom.
From the time she was a toddler, Barbara found herself fascinated by those things her mom called "books." Once she learned the words between the covers held the magic of storytelling, she wanted to see her words in print so she could weave that spell for others.
Barbara hopes you will enjoy reading her stories and will find your own storytelling magic in them!
THE RODEO MAN'S DAUGHTER can be found at:
Harlequin,
Amazon,
Barnes & Noble and at your favorite local and online bookstores.
Stop by to visit Barbara at her website:
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com/ and friend and follow her on Facebook and Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille and
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille
WIN!
For a chance to win an autographed copy of A RANCHER'S PRIDE, leave a response to Barbara's question or a comment or question for her.
