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Pam
Crooks
is the author of over nine western historical novels and a
contributor to two western-themed anthologies. A native of Nebraska,
she’s the mother of four grown daughters and now a very young
grandmother. Her newest release, Kidnapped by the Cowboy,
continues to follow the Lockett family and the cowboys of the C Bar
C ranch.
Visit Pam online at
www.pamcrooks.com |
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What was the first Western historical novel
you remember reading?
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The first one that I can recall
was "Shane," written by Jack Schaefer. I was drawn to Shane as a
character. He was so mysterious. Sad, even. Yet he inspired fear and
respect from everyone who saw him. I kept thinking (even at my young
age) he needed a little lovin' in his life to make him happy. Guess
that was a precursor to my love for western romances, eh? |
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What drew you
to writing about the Old West?
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I lived in western Nebraska,
and it's ranch country out there. Cowboys and farmers were common
place, and everyone looked forward to a big, annual 10-day
celebration called NEBRASKAland Days where the community kept the
Old West alive with lots of relish and fun. Many of my friends lived
on ranches, too.
Also, during that time, my
father traveled through remote stretches of Nebraska when he worked
for (then) Northwestern Bell Telephone. He'd often take us for
Sunday afternoon rides just to see some of the outlying ranches, so
the West became a part of my life in these subtle ways
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What part of the writing process do you
enjoy most-the research? creating the characters? developing the
plot? providing the historical context?
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It would have to be the research. It's all so fascinating and
distracting--one fact leads to a thirst to know more about another.
And oh, Amazon is a wellspring of opportunity to buy books to
satisfy that research addiction! |
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Tell us about
your latest release, Kidnapped by the Cowboy. |
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Kidnapped by the Cowboy is the sequel to my July, 2007,
release--Untamed Cowboy. Kidnapped takes
place ten years later when a lanky wrangler and a spirited young
daughter of a cattle queen are all grown up.
TJ Grier and Callie Mae
Lockett are about as different as a man and woman can be, but
they're bound together by the love they share for Callie Mae's
sprawling ranch, the C Bar C. Secrets, greed and murder threaten her
legacy, and TJ must kidnap Callie Mae to help him save the only home
he's ever known. Callie Mae is determined never to marry a cowboy,
and of course, TJ is pure cowboy. He's turned to racing horses to
redeem himself, and she abhors the sport for the pain it has caused
her.
Sounds like these two could
never be meant for each other, eh? Oh, but trust me. They are! |
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If you
were to choose two actors to play TJ Grier and Callie Mae Lockett,
who would they be and why? |
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Christian Bale would make a
great TJ, I think, just because his coloring and build is similar to
the TJ I have in my head, and I loved him in 3:10 to Yuma. And I
have always thought Selma Hayek was breathtakingly beautiful, so I’d
love for her to portray Callie Mae. |
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You’ve already
signed a new multi-book deal with Harlequin. Can you tell us a
little about your next book??
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Where Kidnapped by the Cowboy and Untamed Cowboy
centered over a powerful cattle ranch, my current work has gone in a
completely different direction. Sheep! The heroine is Basque, and
her people have always herded the woolly creatures. The hero is a
powerful cattleman who can't abide them. But he must enter into her
world to save his own. It's been fun playing with a different layer
of the Old West!
The next book will be a
Christmas anthology with Elizabeth Lane and Carol Finch, slated for
October, 2009. Then the final book of my contract will very likely
be the sequel to the one I'm writing now.
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Besides your
career as an author, you also have a day job. Since you started your
writing career when your children were toddlers, do you have any
time-management tips to share? |
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I'm a firm believer that
everyone has time for what they want to have time for. When my
daughters were little, I desperately wanted to be published, and
every spare minute went to writing the four full-length novels I had
before I finally sold.
In order to write that
many, I missed my share of softball games and family outings so that
I could write in a quiet house. I have vivid memories of my littlest
one playing Tinker-toys at my feet while I was on the computer. My
writing day was all part of theirs, too. |
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Some people
say the western historical romance is coming back. (Of course, we at
Love Western Romances would say it never went away). What is your
take on the state of western romance and why? Will readers be able
to find more or less of the genre they love? |
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I write for Harlequin, and
westerns have always been a priority for them. Westerns continue to
be strong across numerous lines, and they are released in both
historical and contemporary, shorter and longer page lengths.
Since Petticoats and
Pistols (www.petticoatsandpistols.com)
has launched, my sister Fillies and I have been amazed at the number
of western-loving readers out there. Since we have guest western
authors blog for us regularly, we've met many who write for smaller
presses as well as electronic publishers. These e-books fill the
needs for a different audience that was never there a decade ago.
While attending the Romance
Writers of America conference in San Francisco recently, we learned
of the renewed and quite pronounced interest in historicals by the
publishers. The pendulum is swinging back, and westerns are bound to
be part of that return. Yee-haw! |
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Thank
you, Pam, for being in our Spotlight this month!
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