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Starting from June 1, 2015, I will daily feature authors attending the three conventions I will join, Euro Pride in Munich (July), UK Meet in Bristol (September) and GRL in San Diego (October).
For the GRL in San Diego, October 15-18, 2015, today author is Z.A. Maxfield. Moreover I'm also hosting the Blog Tour for My Cowboy Promises: "I think the most enjoyable thing about being a writer is the subtle surprises you find along the way. I’m not one of those writers who will tell you their character does something surprising, because ultimately, I really believe that my characters should do what I tell them to do. I’m talking about the ways in which a writer might surprise herself.
I surprise myself all the time. Maybe I’ll begin with the idea for a character, and then I’ll start thinking about them in new ways. I start putting together their backstory, and sometimes, the way I react to that character can surprise me.
When I started writing My Cowboy Promises, I really wanted to get into my own headspace about what it means to be around twenty years old. I mean. It’s been a few…um…years, but I can remember exactly what I was thinking. What I was talking about, how much I drank, and how much I resented waiting for my skills and maturity to catch up with my dreams.
I guess it’s only natural that I drew the character Andi, Ryder Dent’s best friend/wife/biggest ally—a talented singer with Nashville dreams—rather vividly.
This comes directly from my past, I guess. I was as dumb, as feckless, and as determined, as she is. I was spoiled. I was self-centered. I sailed full-steam into what I wanted, and I didn’t hear the word “no.”
So Andi is light years ahead of a nice guy like her husband/best friend/biggest ally Ryder, who main goal seems to be to make everyone he loves happy. And that’s why Andi turned out to be the driver in this book, inadvertently, because Ryder can’t drive himself yet.
He’s a good boy, but he’s locked himself in the closet. He’s a virgin who marries Andi out of real, selfless love and loyalty. He truly believes that love and the child they’re raising together will be enough to sustain him because he has no idea what he’s missing out on. He can’t ask for what he needs because he doesn’t know what it is. So when he meets a guy who really, really flips his switch, it’s Andy who has to give him permission to go for it.
Aaaaaannd that is what made this book really hard to write. I kept wanting to put Ryder into the driver’s seat, but Ryder… Poor Ryder. He just can’t take the wheel. Not ever. Not even when he says, “I’m not a man who lets other people solve their problems,” because Andi is right there, busy little bee that she is, solving his problems before he realizes he has them.
It’s an odd dynamic, and one that wasn’t easy to write. But it felt authentic. Didn’t you ever just want to poke someone and say, “Grow UP?”
Maybe that’s just me.
Ryder’s rock solid. He’s loyal. He believes in keeping his word. But he’s still just a very young country boy. He says yes, ma’am and no, ma’am. He thinks before he speaks and he deliberates fully before he acts. He gets scared going forward so he sometimes takes a step back.
With that setup, a sweet almost-5-year-old named Jonas to take care of, and a lot of luck, Andi, Ryder, and Declan might just create a new kind of family. But there’s a lot that could get in their way: disapproving parents, Andi’s Nashville dreams, and Dr. Winters’s need to keep his personal life separate from his practice to name just a few. Who knows what will happen if people find out about them in a town as small as Bitterroot!
The one thing we know about being young and naïve is… it doesn’t last forever."
“My Cowboy Promises (The Cowboy Series, Bk #4)” By Z.A. Maxfield
Publisher: InterMix (June 16, 2015)
Publication Date: June 16, 2015
Amazon Kindle: My Cowboy Promises (The Cowboy Series, Bk #4)
A real man needs a real love…
To become the man he’s meant to be, one cowboy will have to be the man he never wanted anyone to know he was…
Ryder Dent is a true-blue cowboy. A devoted son, husband and father, but one who is living a costly lie. When they were both young, Ryder and his closest female friend Andy thought they’d found the perfect solution to both their problems—she was single and pregnant, and he was secretly gay—so they got married and raised Jonas together.
When Ryder gets hurt at a party, his son’s new pediatrician comes to the rescue. The connection between Ryder and Dr. Declan Winters is sudden, powerful, and undeniable. Ryder loves Andy and the family they’ve created together—but they both need more. Can they pursue their hearts’ desire without destroying the life they’ve built and losing the son they love?
Author’s Bio: Z. A. Maxfield started writing in 2007 on a dare from her children and never looked back. Pathologically disorganized, and perennially optimistic, she writes as much as she can, reads as much as she dares, and enjoys her time with family and friends. If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four manages to find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up housework.”
Her published books include Crossing Borders, Drawn Together, and the St. Nacho’s and Brothers Grime series from Loose Id, ePistols at Dawn and The Pharaoh’s Concubine from Samhain Publishing, and Notturno, Vigil, Stirring Up Trouble, and All Stirred Up from MLR Press.
Author Links:
Website/Blog: http://zamaxfield.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZAMaxfield
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorZ.A.Maxfield
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2738500.Z_A_Maxfield
Giveaway:
$25 Gift Card
Rafflecopter Widget:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
LINK: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b4c0001d147/?
&
For the GRL in San Diego, October 15-18, 2015, today author is Z.A. Maxfield. Moreover I'm also hosting the Blog Tour for My Cowboy Promises: "I think the most enjoyable thing about being a writer is the subtle surprises you find along the way. I’m not one of those writers who will tell you their character does something surprising, because ultimately, I really believe that my characters should do what I tell them to do. I’m talking about the ways in which a writer might surprise herself. I surprise myself all the time. Maybe I’ll begin with the idea for a character, and then I’ll start thinking about them in new ways. I start putting together their backstory, and sometimes, the way I react to that character can surprise me.
When I started writing My Cowboy Promises, I really wanted to get into my own headspace about what it means to be around twenty years old. I mean. It’s been a few…um…years, but I can remember exactly what I was thinking. What I was talking about, how much I drank, and how much I resented waiting for my skills and maturity to catch up with my dreams.
I guess it’s only natural that I drew the character Andi, Ryder Dent’s best friend/wife/biggest ally—a talented singer with Nashville dreams—rather vividly.
This comes directly from my past, I guess. I was as dumb, as feckless, and as determined, as she is. I was spoiled. I was self-centered. I sailed full-steam into what I wanted, and I didn’t hear the word “no.”
So Andi is light years ahead of a nice guy like her husband/best friend/biggest ally Ryder, who main goal seems to be to make everyone he loves happy. And that’s why Andi turned out to be the driver in this book, inadvertently, because Ryder can’t drive himself yet.
He’s a good boy, but he’s locked himself in the closet. He’s a virgin who marries Andi out of real, selfless love and loyalty. He truly believes that love and the child they’re raising together will be enough to sustain him because he has no idea what he’s missing out on. He can’t ask for what he needs because he doesn’t know what it is. So when he meets a guy who really, really flips his switch, it’s Andy who has to give him permission to go for it.
Aaaaaannd that is what made this book really hard to write. I kept wanting to put Ryder into the driver’s seat, but Ryder… Poor Ryder. He just can’t take the wheel. Not ever. Not even when he says, “I’m not a man who lets other people solve their problems,” because Andi is right there, busy little bee that she is, solving his problems before he realizes he has them.
It’s an odd dynamic, and one that wasn’t easy to write. But it felt authentic. Didn’t you ever just want to poke someone and say, “Grow UP?”
Maybe that’s just me.
Ryder’s rock solid. He’s loyal. He believes in keeping his word. But he’s still just a very young country boy. He says yes, ma’am and no, ma’am. He thinks before he speaks and he deliberates fully before he acts. He gets scared going forward so he sometimes takes a step back.
With that setup, a sweet almost-5-year-old named Jonas to take care of, and a lot of luck, Andi, Ryder, and Declan might just create a new kind of family. But there’s a lot that could get in their way: disapproving parents, Andi’s Nashville dreams, and Dr. Winters’s need to keep his personal life separate from his practice to name just a few. Who knows what will happen if people find out about them in a town as small as Bitterroot!
The one thing we know about being young and naïve is… it doesn’t last forever."
“My Cowboy Promises (The Cowboy Series, Bk #4)” By Z.A. Maxfield
Publisher: InterMix (June 16, 2015)
Publication Date: June 16, 2015
Amazon Kindle: My Cowboy Promises (The Cowboy Series, Bk #4)
A real man needs a real love…
To become the man he’s meant to be, one cowboy will have to be the man he never wanted anyone to know he was…
Ryder Dent is a true-blue cowboy. A devoted son, husband and father, but one who is living a costly lie. When they were both young, Ryder and his closest female friend Andy thought they’d found the perfect solution to both their problems—she was single and pregnant, and he was secretly gay—so they got married and raised Jonas together.
When Ryder gets hurt at a party, his son’s new pediatrician comes to the rescue. The connection between Ryder and Dr. Declan Winters is sudden, powerful, and undeniable. Ryder loves Andy and the family they’ve created together—but they both need more. Can they pursue their hearts’ desire without destroying the life they’ve built and losing the son they love?
( Excerpt )
Author’s Bio: Z. A. Maxfield started writing in 2007 on a dare from her children and never looked back. Pathologically disorganized, and perennially optimistic, she writes as much as she can, reads as much as she dares, and enjoys her time with family and friends. If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four manages to find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up housework.” Her published books include Crossing Borders, Drawn Together, and the St. Nacho’s and Brothers Grime series from Loose Id, ePistols at Dawn and The Pharaoh’s Concubine from Samhain Publishing, and Notturno, Vigil, Stirring Up Trouble, and All Stirred Up from MLR Press.
Author Links:
Website/Blog: http://zamaxfield.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZAMaxfield
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorZ.A.Maxfield
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2738500.Z_A_Maxfield
Giveaway:
$25 Gift Card
Rafflecopter Widget:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
LINK: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b4c0001d147/?
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