The Wylder West

Before we let you head off, just a couple more questions... Do you have any hobbies that you’d care to chat about? Skydiving? Baking? Traveling? Whatever interests you—we’d love to hear about it! I am pretty boring. I bake, I read, I garden, though that really amounts to little more than just putting out a snack bar for the local deer-- the more I plant, the more they munch.  And I like to clean and restore old dolls in my spare time.  What drew you to write for Wylder? 1.     They had me at small old western town! I was asked to write it the story to launch the Wylder series.  At the time they were thinking of something along the lines of the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  I wasn’t sure I could write a story set in a brothel, but the wheels started turning and I turned to favorite old movie, The Cheyenne Social Club—and that’s when the “fish out of water” ideas began to form.  The title of the story is a nod to the movie. ...

Nicole,   it's so great to have you on The Wylder West blog this week! Thank you for joining us!  We've heard a bit about Christmas in the Wylder County Jail   and I think it's fair to say you've got most of us completely intrigued! This one is definitely going on my must-read list. Do you have any other published work? Do you have any other published work?   I was first published in 2006 but life took me on some detours along the way and writing had to be put on the back burner for a while.   I do have a back list but probably the two “stories of my heart” would be Wild Texas Wind , my first historical western, and Northern Temptress , which is set during the battle of Gettysburg. They were both such great reads, Nicole. I enjoyed both of them!  Let's give readers a peek at some of your other stories, too.   Chocolate Chip Christmas Wishes releases in a few days but is available for pre-order now!  Jake Mistletoe is the North Pole's re...

  An excerpt from  Christmas in the Wylder County Jail : Russ glanced at the drink again. One small glass at a time or the whole bottle....it mattered little...Addie was right. He was no longer the man he even thought himself. Hell, he wasn't the same man as clear back to Sarah. And he'd loved her with all his heart, the same heart that broke when she'd chosen his brother Rick. He'd left Wylder out of necessity, letting his brother raise the son that belonged to him. But the shredding of his heart had come much later when he'd lost his wife and daughter to a fire while he'd been out hunting. He hadn't been drinking then, not even a little and look what had happened. He wrapped his fingers around the small glass. He'd buried his wife and later his brother, though nothing had come close to the pain of placing his small daughter in the ground. He pushed the glass aside once more, the bronze drink the only thing between him and the hurt that never ceased. Bu...

Nicole,  now that we've heard a little bit about  Christmas in the Wylder County Jail — which sounds amazing, by the way — do you mind filling us in on your early writing career? I'm wildly curious about it and I'm sure other readers are, too.  How did you get started writing? What was your journey to publication? I was pretty young.   My sister was writing short stories for school and getting a lot of praise and attention for it.   Anyone who has a sibling would not be surprised to hear that I decided I wanted to try it, too.   Once the writing bug took hold, I just kept doing it. I don’t think I’ve ever really stopped.

  Nicole, welcome to The Wylder West blog!  So glad to have you as this week's author spotlight. I'm sure readers are looking forward to getting to know you and hearing about your Wylder West story! Please tell us about your Wylder story—we love Wylder and want to hear all the lovely details! Adelaide Willowby is having a bad day. First the madam of the Wylder County Social club has kicked out the love of her life—for good this time. One of her best girls is getting married and her sister and daughter are barely speaking to her. Then her long-lost brother-in-law shows up, claiming ownership of her business. What else can go wrong? Russ Holt has relied on alcohol to quiet the ghosts from his past for far too long. When his latest bender causes him to let down both Addie and his son, he knows something has to change. When a stranger in town is found dead and Miss Adelaide is arrested for murder, Russ smells a rat. Can he come out of the bottle long enough to save Addie—and win b...

  Before we let you head off, just a couple more questions... Do you have any hobbies that you’d care to chat about? Skydiving? Baking? Traveling? Whatever interests you—we’d love to hear about it! Hobbies…I have to admit, I have a few! My interests are varied so they may seem slightly wacky when mentioned together but you asked, so I’m going to reveal. I love to travel. I can pack a suitcase faster than most people can peel an apple. Wandering through places I’ve never visited, meeting new people—I love it. Toss in some fantastic food and a language I speak and I’m in heaven. On the less mile-worthy side, I bake a mean cheesecake. Cookies, too. I like to make a mess in the kitchen so I spend a good chunk of time kneading dough by hand or mixing ingredients. Languages fascinate me. I speak a few and am always keen to pick up a new one. Reading. Who doesn’t love to fall into a good story? I especially love a swoon-worthy hero and smart heroine. Or a good mystery—they pu...

Sarita, it's so great to have you on The Wylder West blog this week! Thank you for joining us!  We've heard a bit about  Christmas in Wylder   and I think it's fair to say you've got most of us completely intrigued! This one is definitely going on my must-read list.  Do you have any other published work? I do have a backlist of published work. They span many genres including historical, contemporary, and even paranormal romance.  Most are published with The Wild Rose Press but I do have a holiday book, The Christmas Bargain , with another publisher.  Also, I have one independently published title, Regenerate . It is a seat-of-your-pants romantic thriller that includes secret agents, globe-trotting, and zombies. Yes, zombies!  The blurb from Regenerat e : The Octopus isn't an urban myth—and its agents are anything but ordinary. The intelligence bureau is so well-hidden most doubt its existence. A handful know its location. And fewer walk the halls in th...

It happened so fast Meg didn’t have time to scream. One minute she and Georgina chatted about books. The next, they flew through the car’s interior like dice tossed from an angry god’s hands.  No line between joy and terror. No warning that their lives were on the brink of being lost to an awful twist of fate. No time to make amends for their sins, past or present.  It flashed through her mind that she deserved to die this way, without time to atone for what she’d done. This punishment for defying the Reverend had come by her own hand. Stubborn refusal to do his bidding would end her life and if the sounds of terror surrounding her weren’t imagined, she managed to drag innocent victims along with her.  She must surely be destined to go to Hell as payment for this tragedy. Georgina sprawled on her back with her eyes closed.  Meg glanced above. Rows of seats hung over them.  The world had gone topsy turvy. Christmas in Wylder is available for pre-o...

Sarita, now that we've heard a little bit about Christmas in Wylder — which sounds amazing, by the way — do you mind filling us in on your early writing career? I'm wildly curious about it and I'm sure other readers are, too.  How did you get started writing? What was your journey to publication? I began writing as soon as I could hold a crayon. My first books were mostly wobbly drawings of purple kittens on adventures with big, smiling suns following them from page to page. When I progressed from crayons to actual words written in fat-leaded pencil, I was tickled. I thought I’d made it—a real, live writer, one who used words instead of illustrations to tell stories. Did it get any better than that? I was certain that it did not. We all know it does power up a bit when you move from three-letter words to more complex, multi-syllabled expressions. I have written just about every day of my life since those purple crayon days and my love affair with the written word is s...

Sarita, welcome to The Wylder West blog!  So glad to have you as this week's author spotlight. I'm sure readers are looking forward to getting to know you and hearing about your Wylder West story. Please tell us about your Wylder story—we love Wylder and want to hear all the lovely details! Thank you for having me here. Christmas in Wylder is part of a collaboration effort between four authors. Nicole McCaffrey, Laura Strickland, and Kim Turner all have stories in this mini-series within the Wylder West series releasing this holiday season. I love that I'm in such excellent and talented company on this wild west adventure!  The town of Wylder experiences a severe snowstorm that sends the Union Pacific train off its rails, resulting in a horrific crash that affects everyone. Lots of stranded passengers, unfortunate casualties...and some heartwarming stories set in the weeks leading up to Christmas.    Christmas in Wylder... Meg Channing is on the run from her home in...

Before we let you head off, a couple more questions... Do you have any hobbies that you'd care to chat about? Skydiving? Baking? Traveling? Whatever interests you — we'd love to hear about it!   I played drums all through school so I can play a lot of percussion instruments. I also played   girls softball all the years I was growing up and into college.  I spent five summers working on a whale watch boat out of Gloucester-I taught the crew CPR for passage and taught whale stuff too!  I rode motorcycles growing up. My Dad had two girls but we both rode.  And few people know this but I have seen the country group Alabama over 400 times in concert since age 16….it’s always been my favorite reason to travel, that and the ladies I traveled with. I’ve been to China for the adoption of my second daughter and that was a hard but fun trip!  I have also been a Registered Nurse since 1989! Right now I am the sepsis and stroke coordinator for a small hospital sout...

Kim, i t's so great to have you on The Wylder West blog this week! Thank you for joining us!  We've heard a bit about Christmas in the Wylder County Jail  and I think it's fair to say you've got most of us completely intrigued! This one is definitely going on my must-read list.  Do you have any other published work?  Deuces Wyld Dalton Payne has put the past behind him and returned home to Wylder. When a wash-woman accidentally dumps dirty water across his boots, he is intrigued by the amber-eyed beauty dressed in baggy clothing and a floppy hat. Before long, he can’t keep the loud mouthed tomboy out of his head. Falling for Leona is easy but teaching her to be a lady may be the biggest gamble of his life  Leona Fabray spends her days at the boiling pots in Wylder doing the town's wash. But when a famous gambler takes an interest in teaching her to act like a lady, she is sure she is being played a fool. That is until a single kiss by the handsome Dalton Payne s...

  An excerpt from Christmas in the Wylder County Jail : Russ glanced at the drink again. One small glass at a time or the whole bottle....it mattered little...Addie was right. He was no longer the man he even thought himself. Hell, he wasn't the same man as clear back to Sarah. And he'd loved her with all his heart, the same heart that broke when she'd chosen his brother Rick. He'd left Wylder out of necessity, letting his brother raise the son that belonged to him. But the shredding of his heart had come much later when he'd lost his wife and daughter to a fire while he'd been out hunting. He hadn't been drinking then, not even a little and look what had happened. He wrapped his fingers around the small glass. He'd buried his wife and later his brother, though nothing had come close to the pain of placing his small daughter in the ground. He pushed the glass aside once more, the bronze drink the only thing between him and the hurt that never ceased. But...

  Kim, now that we've heard a little bit about Christmas in the Wylder County Jail --which sounds amazing, by the way--do you mind filling us in on your early writing career? I'm wildly curious about it and I'm sure other readers are, too.  How did you get started writing? What was your journey to publication? I was probably about eight years old when I started writing  simple poetry and I always kept journals and wrote out ideas and thoughts. I still do some of that or at least I did until I started working on my novels. But I always had pen and paper in hand and I have always lived inside my head with stories. And I always had a book in my hand no matter where I went. As a child I would imagine more to a TV movie than happened and I would make up the rest of the story inside my head to make it more satisfying and so I didn’t have to tell the characters good-bye.  In 2001 I went to a writers conference with my childhood friend Sherrilyn (Kenyon) McQueen just to hang...

  Kim, welcome to The Wylder West blog!  So glad to have you as this week's author spotlight. I'm sure readers are looking forward to getting to know you and hearing about your latest Wylder West story! Please tell us about your Wylder story—we love Wylder and want to hear all the lovely details! Adelaide Willowby is having a bad day. First the madam of the Wylder County Social club has kicked out the love of her life—for good this time. One of her best girls is getting married and her sister and daughter are barely speaking to her. Then her long-lost brother-in-law shows up, claiming ownership of her business. What else can go wrong? Russ Holt has relied on alcohol to quiet the ghosts from his past for far too long. When his latest bender causes him to let down both Addie and his son, he knows something has to change. When a stranger in town is found dead and Miss Adelaide is arrested for murder, Russ smells a rat. Can he come out of the bottle long enough to save Addie—and w...

Before we let you head off, a couple more questions... Forever Wyld Do you have any hobbies that you’d care to chat about?  I love music, listening to and playing it. I play piano, and Celtic harp. I’m not sure that can be considered a  hobby, though. I enjoy baking, but not the cleaning up process. And I love animals. I’ve been blessed to  mother a number of very special rescues. Several have been seniors. The latest is special-needs. A Wylder Undertaking What drew you to write for Wylder?  It’s hard for me to resist a submission call—just like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Ideas come flooding into my mind. It was no different with Wylder West. As soon as I heard about the series, I could see a handsome gun-for-hire walking the streets. I love switching genres, and challenging myself as a writer. Writing Wylder has been such fun! A Walk on the Wylder Side Are you working on anything new? Do you have plans for a next story that you’d care to share?  ...