CTR: Welcome to Lauri Brown, our next author. First, please give us a bit of information about the book or books you’re sharing today. At least ISBN, Publisher and buy link please! Also the genre and heat level if applicable.

LB: I have two releases to celebrate right now: Guardian Bride, the Quinter Brides Book 4 from the Wild Rose Press, http://www.thewildrosepress.com/guardian-bride-p-4286.html on October 29th, and Her Midnight Cowboy, an UNDONE by Harlequin, Mills and Boon http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/7BD22CE8-C195-4C00-BD4D-C28A5E47B5AD/10/141/en/ContentDetails.htm?ID=9A831820-D4DE-4187-802A-7A2B8A6DFBD8 on November 1st.

Guardian Bride is a sweet romance and the fourth story in a series about five brothers set in Western Kansas in the 1880’s.

Blurb: Snake Quinter (aka Scott Andrew Quinter) believes he dodged a bullet when he refused to wed the girl Ma was set on hitching him to. Then he wakes up. Not only had he been shot””twice, he and Summer Austin are definitely married.
For over ten years Summer Austin had known her life was tied to the Quinter family””her guardian angel said so. She was willing to do whatever it took to keep her siblings safe, but what would Snake and his family do when they discovered she, a half-breed, was responsible for their father’s death?

Previous Quinter Bride books include, Shotgun Bride, Badland Bride, and Boot Hill Bride. The final book in the series, Wild Cat Bride, will be released in April 2011. Writing each book in this series was like attending a family reunion.

Her Midnight Cowboy is a short, hot book, set in Eastern Wyoming in 1884.

Blurb: In Angel Clayton’s opinion, men don’t get any finer than hired hand Rowdy McGuire. The very thought of him makes her ache with need””and the sight of his golden, glistening skin only makes it worse. She knows he feels their bodies’ magical, intense pull towards one another, even if the honorable cowboy refuses to admit that a drifter and a ranch owner’s daughter could ever be together. But Angel is determined to get what she wants””and she wants Rowdy!

Her Midnight Cowboy is the second western for Harlequin, Mills and Boon’s UNDONE line. Wedding Night with the Ranger was the first western for that line, also written by me, and released in February 2010.

CTR: . What is your favorite historical period or region and why?

LR: Western, i.e. west of the Mississippi 1860-1890’s will always be my favorite. As a young girl I dreamed of growing up and marrying Little Joe Cartwright. Me and about 1 million other girls! There’s something about Little Joe that just makes a girl’s heart somersault across her chest. Perhaps it’s his graceful and casual swagger or flashy, cocky smile, I don’t really know, but he portrayed an image that sticks with me to this day. Western historical romances deliver that kind of hero. They’re always somewhat worldly, yet down home good””full of fiery pioneer spirit, yet hold the class of a refined, passionate gentleman.

CTR: Did you enjoy history while you were in school or was it frankly boring?

LR: I’ve always enjoyed learning about history, and still do, but it’s the American west that holds my attention, so I must admit I found other aspects of history classes more than a little boring.

CTR: How would you suggest we teach history to kids now””(i.e.) can fiction maybe be a tool here?

LR: As with any topic, providing a connection for the learner is critical. I believe fiction stories can be a very useful tool in teaching history, especially if the kids can tie an interest they have with the lesson. I recently volunteered at the historical society’s “kids’ day. I provided them large local pictures from days gone by and we compared the old hotel to today’s hotels, etc. It was a lot of fun and the kids were very perceptive on picking up little similarities that I hadn’t even thought of.

CTR: Do you think we can and should learn from the past or is it now irrelevant to modern times and issues?

LR: Of course we can learn from the past, and it’s very relevant. Everything is cyclical; it comes around again and again. The wonderful thing about romance stories is that love, no matter what time period, is what keeps the world turning.

CTR: Do you think historical accuracy is important in fiction?

LR: Yes, especially in the little day to day things. For example, zippers weren’t invented until 1913 and was patented as a “Hookless Fastener’. After improvements it became a “Separable Fastener’ in 1917, and was incorporated on clothes for the soldiers in World War 1, but it wasn’t until the B.F. Goodrich Company created galoshes with front fasteners, and an executive tried the boots on and exclaimed, “Zip-er-up” that the word zipper was born.

CTR: How about the use of modern speech and politically correct ideas instead of those that faithfully portray the period? Do you find this good, bad, a necessary evil or something you shun?

LR: I find portraying politically correct thoughts and rules of the time period is a built in conflict for the story. Think of woman’s rights, and how long women fought for the right to vote. These rules and standards affected women everywhere. They not only battle for rights politically, they fought for justice on the home front, too. No matter how wonderful a historical hero is, he had an instilled belief of “the woman’s place’. Her ability to convince him differently can provide some interesting clashes, and opportunities to “make up’, thus contributing to some great time “on page’ together in romance novels.

CTR: Can you share a favorite author and title that perhaps inspired you to write in the historical genre?

LR: My list is very, very long. Like so many others, Kathleen Woodiwiss, The Flame and the Flower, was the first historical romance book I read. Currently, I devour Linda Lael Millers’ works as soon as they hit the market.

CTR: 4. Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving family tradition or story to share? Does the old “Over the river and through the woods to grandma’s” verse resonate with you in terms of childhood memories or stories you heard or was your family pattern quite different? How about a recipe that you associate with this harvest and thankfulness time of year? What is your favorite dish of your family or circle’s traditional feast?

LR: Being the mother of three sons, football is a Thanksgiving tradition. We love eating, watching the afternoon NFL game, and then eating again. Yep, “over the river””¦.resonates, especially now that I’m the grandma’and it’s my house everyone is traveling to. A very simple fruit salad recipe of mine is: Mix one can drained fruit cocktail, two bananas sliced thin, half a dozen strawberries, sliced thin, and one tub of cool whip. Cool and serve. My father always loved this fruit salad, and now that he’s gone, I make it in his honor.

CTR: If there was such a thing as a time machine where would be the first place you would go once you had a ticket to ride?

LR: Dodge City, Kansas in 1870’s during the height of the cattle drive days.

CTR: Do you think you’d want to stay or just look around and then come right back to today?

LR: I’d want to stay for a while and fully experience it, but eventually would have to return. I need my internet, cell phone, and indoor plumbing!

CTR: Where can our readers find out more about you and your writing? Please share your web site, social network pages, blogs or any other contact areas you maintain

LR: www.laurirobinson.blogspot.com is my blog and it has links to my facebook page, twitter, my space, etc. as well as reviews on all of my novels, short stories, and anthologies.

CTR: Thanks for being part of our November event and please come back whenever you have a book to share that fits the theme or just to visit with us!!