Hello fellow readers lets hear a big welcome for Carolyn Brown. She has graciously answered some questions we here at Coffeetime Romance & More have asked her. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing her and reading her latest release Hell, Yeah the second book in the Honky Tonk Series. So grab a cup of something good and a comfy chair and read what she has said.
Thank you so much for inviting me to stop by your site today and talk about Hell, Yeah, the second book in the Honky Tonk Series. The first book, I Love This Bar, came out in June. Third, My Give A Damn’s Busted, will be out in October and the final one, Honky Tonk Christmas will be on the shelves the first of November. So let me hear a big hell, yeah from all you western/cowboy fans! One more hell, yeah if you like Travis on the cover! And one more if you’d like to read the book! That’s great. I think we’re all wound up like a sugared up seven year old after a trip to Grandma’s house and ready to answer questions.
Your new release is Hell, Yeah, the second book in the Honky Tonk series Can you tell us where your idea for this book and the others in this series came from?
It actually came from an old bar over in Ratliff City, Oklahoma called Ma Honey’s. I was never in the honky tonk but my husband’s best friend, Charlie Driggers, lived with us back in Husband’s college days. He used to go home on weekends and visit Ma Honey’s and bring back amazing tales of the place. I always thought I’d love to write about an old honky tonk that had a spicy owner who didn’t take crap off no one. Deb Werksman, my editor at Sourcebooks, gave me the opportunity and I had so much fun with it.
I love characters that are real, ones that you could see yourself stepping into that role. Both Cathy and Travis are those type of characters, is it hard to make well rounded characters with everyday flaws or is it an exciting challenge?
Like the frayed old adage, it takes all kinds to make up a world. Everyone brings a suitcase called the past into a relationship whether it’s big as a steamer trunk or a little old tote bag barely big enough for a bikini and a beach towel. It’s truly an exciting challenge to open up the baggage and discover what makes the characters who they are and then deal with the obstacles that life throw in their pathway. Cathy had an abusive boyfriend and barely any family left. She wanted roots. Travis had a big family and wanted to keep his wings to fly. They couldn’t have both. It was fun to watch them learn to trust and be willing to compromise. And dear hearts, that was not easy with their personalities.
Would you recommend reading the books in order they are released or can they be read as a stand alone?
They are stand alone books but I’d think it would be more fun to read them in order to get the history of the place.
The Covers for Hell, Yeah and the others in the Honky Tonk series are totally yummy and sexy. Do you like them; are they what you imagined on the covers?
Oh, honey, I love, love, love my covers. They go above and beyond what I could imagine and I’ve got a very vivid imagination. The noise you heard coming from southern Oklahoma wasn’t a super tripped-out fire siren: that was me squealing when Deb sent me the covers for review.
What is your “baby”—your absolute favorite book you have written?
Now that’s a tough question. I’ve sold 55 books to date and to pick one out of that would be tough. I think my “baby” is whatever book I’m working on at the time. It requires most of my attention like a baby. It keeps me up at night thinking about where the next scene is taking me, like a baby. I’ll have to admit I did have a special love for the Honky Tonk quadruplets, though. Since I’d had the idea so long before I finally got to write them, it was fun to watch the series develop.
Who or what inspired you to become a writer?
My overactive imagination wouldn’t be satisfied until I picked up a pencil and put all those wild notions on paper. I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid. Back then my little sister read them and told me how wonderful they were and she encouraged me as an adult to get serious about writing.
What is a typical writing day for you?
I usually write between four and five thousand words a day and then go outside and have a Diet Coke, listen to the birds sing, pet my cats, Kitty Wells Dolly Fiona and Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw (that’s only two cats but they each have four names), and think about what I’ll write the next day. I can get a lot of thinking done with the cats sprawled out on the patio table and a Diet Coke!
What are some of your hobbies and interests when you are not writing?
I love to cook for the whole family. We used to have a family gathering once a month and celebrate everyone’s birthdays but life has gotten in the way and now it’s mainly Thanksgiving and Easter at my house. We still have an Easter egg hunt in the back yard and everyone brings their baskets that Husband made for them when they were little kids and hunts eggs. That includes everyone from my twenty two year old granddaughter all the way down to two year old baby Hope. There are thirteen others in between those two so it’s a big Easter egg hung. I also love my flower garden and absolutely love to read.
What genres and authors would we find you reading when taking a break from your own writing?
I’m a very eclectic reader. I read mystery, romance, women’s fiction: J.A. Jance, Sue Grafton, Leon Uris, Nora (of course) Roberts, LaVyrle Spencer, Joanne Kennedy (my newest favorite), Randy Wayne White, Carl Hiaason, James Lee Burke … how much room do we have for this question.?
What do you hope readers take with them, after reading one of your stories?
What do you hope they feel, or learn? I want them to feel, not just read. I want them to laugh until their sides ache; shed a tear or two; sigh when the book ends, read the My Give A Damn’s Busted excerpt at the end of Hell, Yeah, and wish they had the whole book right that moment. If they were stranded on a desert island with only three things I’d want them to take one of my books to read while they waited for the rescue ship.
What is on the agenda for the rest of this year? Anything exciting you would like us to know?
My Give A Damn’s Busted will be out in October, followed by Honky Tonk Christmas in November. I’m working on another series for Sourcebooks called Spikes and Spurs and the first book in that series is supposed to debut in May. It’s another cowboy/western series with good lookin’ cowboys and feisty heroines who keep them on their toes.
Do you have a newsletter, a chat-loop or other place readers can find you?
I have a website and my email address. I love to hear from readers and try to answer all my mail personally so let me hear what you think when you read Hell, Yeah. Anyone out there got anymore questions? I’ll be around on the blog all day so ask away.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and answering our questions. I wish you luck and success in future works and I know I speak for many readers when I say I am looking forward to a huge number of them.
HELL, YEAH BY CAROLYN BROWN – IN STORES AUGUST 2010
She’s finally found a place that feels like home…
When Cathy O’Dell buys the Honky Tonk, the nights of cowboys and country tunes come together to create the home she’s always wanted. Then in walks a ruggedly handsome oil man who tempts her to trade in the happiness she’s found at the Honky Tonk for a life on the road with him…He lives the good life…
Gorgeous and rich, Travis Henry travels the country unearthing oil wells and then moving on. Then the beautiful blue-eyed new owner of the Honky Tonk beer joint becomes his best friend and so much more. When his job is done in Texas, how is he ever going to hit the road without her?ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carolyn Brown, an award-winning author who has published 36 romance novels for the library market, credits her eclectic family for her humor and writing ideas. She was born in Texas but grew up in southern Oklahoma where she and her husband, Charles, a retired English teacher, now make their home in the town of Davis, Oklahoma. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young.
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