Good morning everyone. Today Coffee Time Romance has the pleasure of speaking to Kelly Wallace. Welcome Kelly, why not take a seat in our cozy recliner, enjoy some fresh baked brownies and cookies, and allow us the opportunity to learn more about Kelly.
It’s wonderful being here today! I’ll take two of the chocolate chip cookies and you can just load my purse up with those brownies. 😉
Kelly, welcome to Coffee Time Romance. I am so glad to be able to interview you. I hear you reside in Tucson. I have been out there a few times and love the area. To be honest, I never grow tired of visiting Arizona.
Although Tucson has its charm, the summers are a killer. There’s a running joke with the locals that Tucson is the land of two suns! I swear, we need our own sunblock factory. Can you believe they have tanning booths out here? Seriously, just stand outside for 15 minutes and you’ll look like Flavor Flav! Since I grew up in the Valley of Southern California and then spent 8 years on the lush-in-summer East coast, the desert is something else. What I love about it though are the sunsets, nothing can beat these beauties. And if you want an unobstructed view of the Milky Way, stop by one summer night. It looks like glitter spilled across a length of navy blue velvet.
Kelly, if a reporter wanted to walk through your shoes for a day, what would they see?
If a reported walked in my shoes for a day she/he’d probably find that being an author isn’t as glamorous as most people think. My butt is stapled in a chair for most of the day (with short bathroom breaks as necessary.) I often eat at my desk too.
If a reporter walked through my head for a day, now they’d really see something! Fiction writers have the most incredible imaginations. In fact, I always say how much I live inside my head. Yeah, it’s pretty great in there! I can really entertain myself.
Why not tell the readers something about Lovin’ the Cowboy Way? I believe the character, Sarah, has her second chance at finding love, sounds very romantic, especially when she finds that certain someone who is just finding his first chance at love. I think it is absolutely charming. I love family stories.
The two favorite books of mine have been Lovin’ the Cowboy Way and A Bitter Pill–both are with Liquid Silver Books. There’s a lot of verbal sparring and romantic/sexual tension and awakenings which I simply love to write about. If you love hot cowboys and two people who make sparks fly–in and out of bed–you’ll really enjoy Lovin’ the Cowboy Way!
Sassy and spoiled Sarah Collins loses her only sister and finds herself sharing guardianship of her two nephews and infant niece with the kids’ uncle, Raif Manning. She has no desire to be a parent any time soon and drives out to Kansas to see how the kids are doing, intending to sign over complete guardianship to Raif–if he can prove he’s suitable for the job. She knows all about Raif’s playboy lifestyle and career as a photographer, and seriously doubts he could have changed so suddenly. When she arrives, the house is in shambles, the kids are running around like wild Indians, and Raif Manning turns out to be the sexiest and most desirable man she’d ever had the pleasure of meeting. Too bad she’s engaged to be married!
Raif Manning put his illustrious photography career on hold; ready, willing, and eager to put behind his wild lifestyle. He purchased an old, rundown farm, intending to get it up and running again, and start a new life with his instant family. All he had to do was get through prissy Sarah Collins’ visit, get her to sign the papers, then she could get back to her fancy condo and lush life. When he gets and eyeful of the curvy woman with the sharp tongue and completely transparent suit of armor, he vows to get her into his bed…never realizing that by doing so she’d soon find her way into his heart. Soon, all Raif can think about is making Sarah his and creating the family of his dreams.
You can read the entire first chapter here
Where did you get the idea to compose this story?
Back in the 80’s there was a movie starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. Kurt played a single dad who needed a wife and Goldie was a rich snob who fell overboard into the ocean during a party on a yacht. She got amnesia and Kurt “found” her then convinced her that she was his wife and the mother of his kids. The movie was hilarious because she had no idea how to take care of kids, cook, or clean due to her pampered upbringing. I’ve always had a love for cowboys and simply created my own version of “what would happen if…?”
What is it about writing that draws your attention?
I’ve been writing ever since I could hold a crayon. Getting lost in my imagination and putting it down on paper (and nowadays the computer) is incredibly fulfilling. I enjoy seeing the characters and scenarios I create come to life. The fact that other people enjoy my work as well is very rewarding. Writers write because they MUST write, but when others actually read it and like it? Wow!
When is your best time of day to compose?
Right when I wake up in the morning. My mind is still hovering in the dream zone a bit so it makes writing fiction much easier. I also do freelance writing for several blogs and companies, though the articles are all nonfiction, so I do these in the afternoon. By early evening my brain is fried to a crisp!
Do you prefer to start with an outline when you write or just go with the flow?
When I first started writing I always used an outline, but now I just go with the flow. My two favorite books, On Writing by Stephen King and Zen In The Art Of Writing by Ray Bradbury, recommend this. These two incredible authors have always written by the seat of their pants. You figure, if the story can keep the writer interested and guessing what will happen next, then it will most likely have the same effect on the reader. Besides, any author can probably vouch for the fact that most of our characters take on a life of their own and seldom follow the plans we had for them. You suddenly find a character doing something you never planned or saying something that surprises or shocks you. That’s when you know you’ve got something good.
What does your work station look like?
It’s pretty barren. I have an old desk I got at an auction for $5. It’s about 50+ years old. On it is my pencil holder, a photo of my 5 daughters, the phone charger and the cable box. I have a small netbook that I take everywhere with me, just about, but it usually has a home on my desk as well. There are no papers on my desk since I rarely use it anymore unless I want to jot an idea down. Even then, I usually rush to the computer, open my “notes” folder and type it in there. I can type much faster than I can write. In fact, I usually type faster than I can think!
Do any of your characters ever wake you during the night demanding your attention?
Sometimes I have dreams about certain characters, and not all of them are PG rated. 😉 Usually a character or scene will tug at the corners of my mind hoping I’ll pay attention. If not, it will hold me hostage until I get their information written down. When I’m in a deep writing zone I often walk around like a zombie. My body is doing chores and whatnot, but my mind is whirling with the next scene I’m going to write. I can’t count how many times I’ve burned dinner as I stopped what I was doing to writing something down.
Is it hard for you to let a story go?
I’m sure every author feels that his/her characters live on forever in their minds, but I do miss tinkering with various stories. It’s a lot like empty nest syndrome. You create these characters and their lives and it somehow becomes part of you. Then the story is finished and the characters go off into the world, much like our kids grow up and move out.
What does the future hold for Kelly, with any upcoming releases that you would like to share?
Right now I’m doing some final edits for my novel Intergalactic Affair. It will be coming out through Liquid Silver Books shortly. After a car accident that killed her cheating fiancé and left her physically and emotionally scarred, Krista Roberts puts her modeling career on hold hoping to find elusive peace by living a rustic life in the Arkansas Ozarks.
Her vow of avoiding men quickly changes when JT, a sexy spaceman from another planet who is merely a human computer collecting data for his people, crash lands to earth and into her life. Together they discover love and feelings that are alien to them both, all the while trying to keep JT from being captured by government agents.
Kelly, I don’t know if you are into much cooking but let’s have a little fun. Bobby Flay comes to your house and invites you to a throwdown. What dish would you challenge with him?
Oh, this is easy; it would be my famous potato salad. Everyone loves it and asks me to bring it along to potlucks and to serve at every holiday. You see, Bobby has been a chef for so long that he’s forgotten about simplicity when it comes to cooking. He’d make some crazy concoction using 27 different spices and fret over it. Me…I use a few ingredients, add a generous amount of TLC, and it wins people over all the time. It’s comfort food to the tenth power. 🙂
If you were to win a trip to explore with some of the crew from the Animal Planet, and go on some hunts for alligators or crocodiles, or other fascinating creatures, would you accept or decline?
Heck, if I got the opportunity to travel, I’d take it! I’m not so sure I’d wrestle around with crocs, but I’d still have fun. I think I’d prefer going on a hunt for a nice pina colada in the hammocks of Hawaii. Ha-ha!
Is there a certain outfit, or a favorite pair of shoes, in your closet, that you cannot do without?
You bet! My trademark shoes are black Converse All-stars. I never go anywhere without them. My favorite outfits are snug jeans and flowing Bohemian blouses. I always say I’m a skater/hippie/librarian. Ha-ha!
You wake up one morning to learn you are a farmer and have to plant. What crop would you begin planting on your farm?
This depends on whether this crop is for sale to the general public or a farm just for me and my family. If it’s a crop for sale I’d probably grow feed corn. The reason why is because it’s one of the biggest money-making crops (besides marijuana!) and it’s pretty easy to grow. Much easier than wheat, I would suspect. Truthfully, I have a black thumb. I kill cactus. My family would live in utter poverty. 🙁
If a genie gave you three wise wishes, what would you wish for?
I suppose I’d only have one wish and that would be that all of my books were hugely successful New York Times best sellers. That way I’d have enough money to buy and do whatever I’d like. I already have lots of love in my life. I wouldn’t have to work my butt off to pay the bills and would have a lot more time to write. That’s something I truly crave. I’d then hold a raffle and give my other wishes to two other people.
Kelly, I cannot thank you enough for being our guest today. You, indeed, are a great storyteller. I look forward to your next sensational story.
Thank you so much for having me here today. It was a lot of fun and I hope to be back soon!
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