Hello readers. Hope you're
enjoying the great fall weather. I know I am.
Today I have a very special guest,
Andrea Downing.
Andrea Downing has spent most of her
life in the UK where she developed a penchant for tea-drinking, a tolerance for
rainy days, and a deep knowledge of the London Underground system (or
‘Tube’). In 2008 she returned to live in the city of her birth, NYC, but
frequently exchanges the canyons of city streets for the wide open spaces of
the West. Her love of horses, ranches, rodeo and just about anything else
western—especially cowboys (not one in particular, sadly, but still looking…)
is reflected in her writing. Loveland, a western historical
romance is now available at The Wild Rose Press in August. She is a
member of Romance Writers of America and Women Writing the West. Her WIP is
contemporary women’s fiction with a Texas Hill Country meets the New York
Hamptons setting.
Before we find out more about Loveland, let’s get the goods on Andrea.
So Andrea, tell us about your latest
or upcoming vacation.
I just got back from my
place in Jackson, Wyoming. It's supposed to be a vacation rental for
other people but I was in Loveland doing two book signings so decided to go on
up there. I do love it, being amidst the mountains and in such
fabulous surroundings. Unfortunately, they've been plagued by forest
fires and one morning I came out and the smoke was billowing down from Moran,
several miles away, and there were smuts on the wind. I suddenly
wondered if I should be packing up in case they were going to evacuate us, but
it cleared with the change in wind direction a bit later. When
I wrote Loveland, I learned about the prairie fires that
frequented the west and, of course, in those days they didn't have planes to
fly overhead and help with putting them out. Sometimes I think we're
lucky to have what we do today and other times I yearn for that simpler life!
Describe your perfect day.
My perfect day would be to
saddle up a horse and ride out for a breakfast cook-out. Then ride
some more—and keep riding 'til I'm sick and tired of it, which isn't
often. Then go to sleep at the end of a day after good company, good
wine, and a good meal—and sleep well in some cabin in the mountains. I
love the (usually) clean, cool fresh air and the smell of the stable yards when
you mosey on down to saddle up. And nothing beats cook-outs!
Your bucket list. What
have you done and what’s left to do?
I've been lucky enough to
travel fairly extensively. I lived in Europe, in Britain, and also
in Nigeria so have covered a bit of Africa and certainly most of Europe over
the years. I've clocked up about 30 states in the USA and several
countries throughout Latin America because my daughter is a big fan and now
works in Colombia. Soooo, my bucket list contains trips to
Australasia. I'd like to be able to do a ranch—excuse me, a
STATION—in Australia, visit friends I haven't seen in years in NZ (who actually
taught me to ride English and were on the British Olympics team) and also go to
China and a few other places in the Far East. But I doubt that will
happen now; it's just become too expensive and my free time means I tend to go
west where my heart is. But ya never know…
What was the hardest lesson you
learned as an author?
That I have to promote my
own book!!! Years ago I worked for Simon & Schuster and there
was a dept. of five guys who did publicity for the authors. They
reduced the dept. while I was there but now, this is the opposite. The
publisher doesn't do very much and the author is really pretty much responsible
for publicity. As a new author, it's very difficult to get readers
and I keep hearing that the best thing is just to keep writing more books, so
perhaps that's the answer. But I'm not a fast writer and I'm a
perfectionist so my writing tends to go through numerous revisions before I
send it off. Not a happy situation…
What are the contents of your purse?
Hahahha—LOL! OK,
here goes: my wallet with money, credit cards, medical
insurance card, Metro card etc.; a book (or my kindle) with which I absolutely
cannot leave the house; a mini-flashlight for reading menus in dark restaurants
or just getting out of my car in the dark of night; tissues!; pens—lots; breath
mints; a Moleskin diary; reading glasses (an absolute must but hopefully soon
to be discarded after new eye op); an assortment of business cards I haven't
thrown out or feel the need to carry about with me; keys; my own business cards
in a stupid case; sunglasses which are an absolute must as I wear them
virtually all the time except when it’s raining; a mini-umbrella for that rain;
a little zip-purse of emergency items like eye drops, aspirin, mini-perfume,
hand sanitizer, hand wipes, tooth 'picks' for want of a better description,
comb, and—finally—a miniature rubber suction thingie to be able to move my
contact lenses if they get stuck on my eye! Yes, it's true….sorry
but I'm being honest here!
My sincere thanks to you,
Brenna, for having me here today. I haven't said much about my book, Loveland,
but I hope readers will be interested in following me and seeing what else I
have to say! Thanks so much!
Loveland
Blurb
When
Lady Alexandra Calthorpe returns to the Loveland, Colorado, ranch owned by her
father, the Duke, she has little idea of how the experience will alter her
future. Headstrong and willful, Alex tries to overcome a disastrous marriage in
England and be free of the strictures of Victorian society --and become
independent of men. That is, until Jesse Makepeace saunters back into her
life...
Hot-tempered
and hot-blooded cowpuncher Jesse Makepeace can’t seem to accept that the child
he once knew is now the ravishing yet determined woman before him. Fighting
rustlers proves a whole lot easier than fighting Alex when he’s got to keep
more than his temper under control.
Arguments
abound as Alex pursues her career as an artist and Jesse faces the prejudice of
the English social order. The question is, will Loveland live up to its name?
Excerpt
He
watched as she sat on a stool and pulled first one boot, then the other off and
kicked them aside, then she stood and put her leg on the stool to roll down her
stockings one by one.
He
marveled at her wantonness, her lack of propriety. “Alex, stop,” he said,
laying his hand on hers. “Stop. You know…”
But
he was lost; she took his face in her hands and pulled him to her, kissing him
so any resistance he had had was now shattered. His heart was beating faster at
the sweetness of her mouth, the softness of her tongue, the lack of air as they
sought each other. His hands moved over her feeling the outline of her body,
knowing its curves, its gentleness, its yielding. “Are you sure?” he asked at
last.
“I
want you so much, Jesse, I want you so much, I’m not waiting three years. And
if…if anything happens, so what? We’ll get married, that’ll be it.”
“Yes,
but Alex, you can’t…I mean it’d be a shotgun wedding, it’s not how—”
“Shh.”
She put her finger to his mouth and then turned for him to unhook her gown. He
ran his hands gently down her exposed back, feeling each scar, then kissed her
neck.
“You
have nothing on under...”
“It’s
how the gown is made. Monsieur Worth builds the undergarments into the gown.”
Her voice was at barely a whisper, a tremor showing her nerves. She turned and
still held the gown up to her, then, looking at Jesse, let it drop to the
floor.
Click HERE to buy the book.
Click HERE for Andrea's Website.
Click HERE for Andrea's Blog
