What is the first western historical novel you remember reading?

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Thomas C. Hinkle, but he wrote several books about dogs and horses of the old West. I read everything by him I could find when I was in elementary school. In general, however, I never read many westerns until I discovered Louis L’Amour after I’d started writing my own westerns. I suppose my love of the West goes back to watching Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Zorro, the Cisco Kid, and lots of other TV shows when I was growing up. The good guys sang and the bad guys wore black hats.

When did you know you were hooked on Western historical novels?

Actually, I’m not. I like reading and writing in several periods as well as genres. It was a simple matter of my westerns selling better than my non-westerns. I minored in history in college with a concentration on England. It wasn’t until I wrote ROSE, my tenth book, that it became clear my readers liked my westerns best. I think that’s because ROSE was the first of a series. Despite the headaches they give publishers and booksellers, readers loves series.

What do you like about western romances versus other genres?

I like the time period, the setting, and that the people who settled the West gambled their lives for a chance to build a new future for their families. The history of the West is brutal and unromantic. Life was such a struggle – some people were so greedy and ruthless they ignored the law and common decency to get/take what they wanted – few people could afford the luxury of an emotional relationship. Life was too fragile, danger too prevalent, death too commonplace. That being said, it makes the romance more memorable when two people are willing to risk even greater danger for true happiness.

Are there any issues with being a male author in a genre where female author’s predominate?

I’m sure there have been times when a proposal was turned down because, being a man, I can’t see the modern world as a woman sees it, but that would be the same with a woman trying to write male action/adventure stories. On a personal basis, I’ve always felt completely accepted by the members of RWA, as well as the publishers. I’ve written for Dorchester, Harlequin, Silhouette, and Kensington, historicals and contemporaries. You can’t get much more acceptance than that.

What part of the writing process do you enjoy most when you write – the research, creating the characters, developing the plot, providing the historical context – and why?

Probably creating the characters. Doing the research and developing the plot are more like work. It’s writing the story that’s exciting. Turning a two page outline into a 100,000 word book leaves a lot to be created as I write the book. I begin with two protagonists who are virtual strangers to me, but who I know inside and out before the book is done. I also love creating secondary characters. I don’t try to develop them in the outline. I leave that for the main characters. I create the secondary characters and I go. Since they can be anything I want, I have great fun with them.

Where do you get your story ideas?

I don’t know. They’re just sort of there. That doesn’t mean the idea is any good. In a series, however, I have to come up with a plot that works for a character I created several books ago and may have used in more than one book. By that time the reader knows the character as well as I do so I have to come up with a story that will fit the character I’ve created. At times that has been a problem. I remember wondering that I was going to do with Jeff from the Seven Brides series. I knew I wanted to pair him with a Yankee, but I also knew he wouldn’t stay around a Yankee long enough to learn her name. Once I thought of quarantining him in the girl’s school, everything else fell into place. But I don’t know where that idea came from. It was just there one day.

I agonized over Will’s story for years. I thought of and rejected at least a dozen ideas. Finally I decided to send him off to buy a bull for Jake. I had no idea where he was going or what he would do when he got there. Will was so handsome and charming, people fell over themselves to do things for him. Once Idalou asked him to help her find her bull and he refused, I knew I was on the right track. I invented everybody and everything else as I went along.

That may sound like a terrible way to go about writing a book, but one of the greatest pleasures in writing is seeing the story unfold, having characters do the unexpected, having an idea suddenly appear that makes you grin with anticipation. I can’t imagine knowing everything about my story before I started writing. Where would be the fun in that?

Tell us about your new book, TEXAS TENDER, published by Leisure Books, Dorchester Publishing?

Will was a complicated character. He was spoiled, and he took advantage of that, but he was also totally dedicated to his brother and his adopted family. His family was part of the problem. He was the youngest, absolutely gorgeous, and totally charming. They couldn’t do enough for him. They constantly watched over him to make sure nothing happened, then turned around and teased him for being lazy. He’d never had to prove himself and lacked self-confidence. When he finally decided to break away and start his own ranch, he knew it would be hard on Jake and Isabelle because he was the baby of the adopted family.

If you were to choose two actors to play Will and Idalou, who would they be and why?

I can’t do this one because I rarely go to movies so I don’t know actors. Will was devastatingly handsome, utterly charming, yet masculine enough to be a man’s man. The only actor I can think of who might fit all those requirements is Hugh Jackman. I have no idea who would play Idalou. She was a strong-willed woman willing to fight against the limitations placed on women. Fifty years ago, I’d have paired Susan Hayward with Rock Hudson. 

What is your next story about and when can we expect it?

My next book is about Eden, Jake and Isabelle’s only natural child. It’s scheduled for publication in April of next year.

Any other comments about Western Romances?

Just that I wish more readers enjoyed westerns. Some of our finest writers of western romance have been forced, by editors or economic necessity, to switch to more popular time periods.