Meet the Authors Chain Interview

I have been chosen to participate in a chain interview by Jessica Jayne, author of In Flames.

Thanks, Jess. 

Here goes:

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on the sequel to Sugarwater Ranch. The working title is A Heart Like Mine, and it’s Sissy’s story. She’s a pistol with a well hidden heart of gold.
How does it differ from other works in its genre?

Sissy hasn’t been a nice character in the two preceding books, and she’s not sure she needs to be redeemed.
What experiences have influenced you?

I was born and raised in the city but always wanted to have a horse. After constant begging for fifteen years, my parents finally gave in and bought me a buckskin gelding. I spend a few months trying without much success to teach him to jump. When Igave in and did what we both wanted to do, barrel race and pole bend, we were both happier. I’ve been hooked on rodeo and ranching ever since.

Why do you write what you do?

I grew up with My Friend Flicka, Black Beauty and Gunsmoke. Even as a kid I wanted to be a cowboy. I love rodeo and barrel racing, and I wanted to write romance that accurately depicts ranching and rodeo. I also like a bit of humor and a touch of magic.
How does your writing process work?

I sit at my laptop and write. I’ve tried to learn to plot and plan, but my best writing happens when the characters take over the story.
What is the hardest part about writing?

Sitting down and writing. Having confidence in my ability and characters.

What would you like to try as a writer that you haven't yet?

A time travel. I love the ones that are done well. Maybe something set during the war of 1812.
Who are the authors you most admire?

Jennifer Crusie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson and Sarah Addison Allen.
Who are new authors to watch out for?

Jane Issacs, Sophie Moss, Sandy Owens and, of course, Jessica Jayne.
What scares you?

Just the thought of standing in front of a crowd, giving a speech has me sweating bullets. 

And now I'm going to introduce you to the next link in this Author's Chain. Meet my friend, Marsha R. West. Her book, Vermont Escape is due to be published soon. I can't wait.

Everyday Heros

    

   

 There was a lively debate raging in the United States over whether we had any business getting involved in a foreign was when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The events that happened on November 7th, 1941 changed everything.

There were still people who felt we shouldn't engage in a war so soon after World War 1, but the majority of the country were outraged that another country would attack us without provocation.

Young men from all over the United States rushed to recruiting offices to sign up to fight. My father wanted to be one of those, but his mother informed him he was to finish high school before he went anywhere.

For anyone who knew my grandmother knows it would take a force much more powerful that a mere war to change her mind.
Dad waited six long months and the day he graduated from Boise High, he signed up for the Navy.

He was assigned to the USS Hancock, the Fighting
Hannah as she was called by those who served on her.
For a small town boy, this was the big time. He spent
most of his time aboard the Hancock in the Pacific,
raiding Japanese occupied bases in the Philippines and
Okinawa. He saw more action than anyone would have
liked including a direct hit to the Hancock by a Japanese suicide bomber.

In one of the worst incidents to happen on the Hancock, one of the newer pilots came back to the ship with damaged landing gear. He was in a panic, and all though the officers tried to calm him, he refused to listen. they advised him to bail out and ditch the plane in the sea. Instead, the pilot tried to land on the Hancock, crashing into other planes on deck. Fuel tanks exploded injuring many men and damaging the ship.

Raised in Pennsylvania, during the depression with twelve brothers and sisters, my father-in-law, John Bochenek, had two choices in life. He could become a coal miner like his father or join the military. He chose the latter and became a bombadeer during the Second World War. He flew many missions over what was called the Burma Hump. The hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himilayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort and the units of the US Armed Forces based in China.

 The airlift began in April 1942, after the Japanese blocked the Burma Road and continued on a daily basis from May 1942 to August 1945.

He brought back many pictures and stories of his time spent there. John stayed in the military until he retired as a Master Sargent.

Thank you, Dad and John, and all the others who sacrificed to save out country. Thanks to all the men and women who still today give up so much so we can remain free.

Pets--beyond the range of cats and dogs

I firmly believe kids should have pets. Our kids had all the normal pets, plus a few non-normal (abnormal?) ones. They had dogs and cats, lambs, calves, pigs and the odd goat or two. By the time they were four, they each had their own horse.

Our daughter ran barrels and poles on the sweetest mare named Ammer. They were a great team. Our oldest son had two goofy horses, Bugsy when he was younger, and Ruff Luck Lynx, aka, Lucky. Somehow he managed to coax success from both of them. Our youngest son was fortunate enough to have a huge, gentle, talented horse we called Rimrock. When we first got him, Joe was five years old. He’d sit on Rimrock in a pen with no bridle or saddle while I saddled the other horses. It was the safest place for him to be as some of the horses I rode were colts and not too predictable. Rimrock was one of the best babysitters we ever found.

 Besides all the regular pets they had, they picked up a few odd ones along the way. My daughter brought a hermit crab home from a trip to the coast, and it lived for years. We’d find a bigger shell every once in a while, and it would move to better quarters.

Every Easter weekend for years, there was a large barrel racing and team roping in the small town of Murphy, Idaho. While the adults roped and ran barrels, the kids had fun catching Horned Toads. They grew in abundance in the desert area surrounding the Murphy rodeo grounds. Smokey brought several home over the years, and they were fun pets. He’d catch ants and feed the toads.

My youngest son’s weird pet was a snake. I know that sounds fairly ordinary, lots of kids have snakes, but I didn’t know he'd caught it and was keeping it in his room. I was cleaning one day and lifted a stack of fabric. Underneath was a dried snake skin. His secret pet snake was on the loose and had shed its skin. We never found the snake, and I was jumpy for quite a while.

The most unusual pet the kids ever had was a spider. It made a web behind the curtain rod, and being the fastidious house cleaner that I am I didn’t discover it for several months. (No comments on my housekeeping skills here. I’ve heard them all from my mother.) Smokey discovered that if he got a tiny piece of hamburger and tossed it into the web, the spider would run out, snag it and scurry back to the center of his web. He’d wrap it all up into a ball and eat on it for several days until all the moisture was gone.

One of the kid’s favorite sports was to take a piece of popcorn and toss it into the web. The little spider would race out, grab the popcorn and spin it into a ball. Then it would taste it, realize there wasn’t any moisture, or maybe it just didn’t like popcorn, and would cut it loose and drop in onto the carpet.

The spider lived behind the curtain all one winter. As the weather warmed up the next spring, one day, it was gone.

What are some of the stranger pets you’ve had during your lifetime? Bet you can’t beat a spider.

Five Star Review for Sugarwater Ranch

Only a few more days to find great books at great prices and help support Breast Cancer Awareness.

Sugarwater Ranch received a Five Star Review on Goodreads.

Here is an excerpt:

Ms. Berget captures well the trials, attitudes and disappointments too many face. Her characters are simply priceless--flawed, spirited and self-preserving, but utterly real. And the romance is unique, refreshing. The hero is not your typical, easy to sell hero and the heroine is not your typical too perfect to be believed miss. They're both troubled, with more baggage than one would want in a relationship. But yet, through their many rough and stumbled-over meetings, a sweet and caring relationship emerges--one easy to root for and enjoyable to follow.

Link to the complete review.  http://buff.ly/13trWOT
Thanks, Amity

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Four Heart Review for Sugarwater Ranch

The Book Chick gave Sugarwater Ranch a 4 Heart Review on her blog.

Here is an excerpt:

Sugarwater Ranch was an amazingly sweet story about a man spiraling out of control and the woman who brought him from the brink. Together they find themselves and a soul-deep love.

Sean O’Connell was a mans-man. A rough and tumble cowboy who had a core of sweet sensitivity. Life had dealt Sean some serious blows and he responded by turning to alcohol…a lot…which caused his life to sink lower and lower. After the death of his father, Sean lost any relationship with his remaining family — his mother and younger sister. When his mother died, leaving him a settlement of money, he lost the trickle of relationship that existed between he and his sister when she refused to give him his money. His sister, Frannie, gave Sean a clear directive on how he could get the money due to him — STOP DRINKING. What did Sean do in response? Drink more! The relationship was sad because Sean was a virtual pariah to his family. Frannie’s husband didn’t want him around his wife or their little baby girl, Rose. On a bender, Sean decided to go to Frannie’s house and confront her. Well, the little “confrontation” didn’t really happen because Frannie’s husband busted Sean down and beat his hide. Licking his wounds, Sean went searching for comfort in a bottle which lands him at Sugarwater Bar, bringing him into Catherine’s life.

Catherine has her own hangups in life. The daughter of an abusive drunk, Catherine abhors alcoholics and is irritated at the sight of Sean passed out drunk in front her bar. After being unresponsive to her at first, she discovers that he’s alive and not dead. She manages to cajole him out of his truck and into hers. She gets him to her house and cares for him by dumping him into her bed and sleeping on the sofa. The next morning sheds light on the situation. Catherine recognizes Sean as the boy who saved her from a group of bullies when she was younger but she also recognizes him as the drunk that he is. She is isn’t interested! …… At first. But Sean slowly works his way into her life and her heart.

Sugarwater Ranch was a wonderful and heartwarming story of unanticipated love bringing two broken souls together, making them whole in each other.

Evernight Publ.  http://buff.ly/121c970

Amazon    http://buff.ly/10OFaYn   

Bookstrand   http://buff.ly/15zeDQo 

All Romance E-Books   http://buff.ly/15zf2m1

Sugarwater Ranch trailer.

Help Fight Breast Cancer

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 Did you know:
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 3. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women.

Did you also know:
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Sourck: National Breast Cancer Foundation

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Enjoy great reading all the while supporting an important cause.

Sugarwater Ranch by Stephanie Berget Sean O’Connell’s life is perfect, or it was until his partying lifestyle affected his bull riding. Now he’s ended the season too broke to leave the Northwest for the warm southern rodeos.  When a wild night with his buddies gets out of hand, he wakes up naked, staring into the angry eyes of a strange woman. His infallible O’Connell charm gets him nowhere with the dark-haired beauty. It’s obvious she’s not his usual good-time girl, so why can’t he forget her? Bar-manager Catherine Silvera finds a waterlogged, unconscious cowboy freezing to death in front of the Sugarwater Bar. She saves his life--then runs faster than a jackrabbit with a coyote on its tail.   Any man who makes his living rodeoing is bad news, especially if he thinks partying is part of the competition. He’s everything she doesn’t want in a man, so why can’t she shake her attraction to the rugged cowboy? In Flames by Jessica Jayne Gracelyn Riley married a firefighter. She knew that came with risks. But she never imagined herself widowed in her early thirties with two children to care for on her own. As a fireman, Matt Riley was at the scene when his brother, Chad, was killed. He suffered greatly from survivor’s guilt and depression after the accident. The last year has been difficult for both Gracelyn and Matt. They’ve relied on each other to get through the tough times. With the anniversary of Chad’s death upon them, Gracelyn and Matt once again turn to each other for comfort and support. They find it in each other’s arms—and bed. Will their desire for each other consume them? Can they overcome the guilt and scrutiny to find love again…together? Randall's Romance by Lee Brazil (in collaboration with Raven McAllen) When Randall Gretton's father leaves his family behind to seek out his lost love, Randall finds an unexpected sympathy in his father's actions. The dashing soldier takes completely to heart his father's advice to his children, "If you are fortunate enough to find love, then seize it." Is a chance encounter at a masquerade Randall's chance at lifetime love?  follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook Copyright © 2013 Evernight Publishing All rights reserved.