Caroline Clemmons: Home Sweet Texas Home

Featured title: Home Sweet Texas Home
by Caroline Clemmons
Buy links: The Wild Rose Press * Amazon * B&N

Where you can find Caroline on the internet:
Website * Blog * Twitter

RTW: Thanks for joining us today, Caroline.  I love, love, love your books!  I just finished The Most Unsuitable Husband.  A keeper, for sure!  Speaking of love, readers love to get to know authors. Please tell us about growing up. Siblings? Locale? Were you the shy kid or the tomboy? Share anything that lets readers get to know the real you.

CC: When I was a baby, my parents moved from North Texas to California and didn’t return to Texas until I was almost eight. My half-siblings lived in California, and being near them was very nice. They were my mom’s age, and always seemed more like aunts and uncles than siblings. I was a tomboy, but also very shy and sickly. My dad thought I should learn to read and write and my numbers while I was still young. He taught me in the evenings. I joke that he taught me to read so he wouldn’t have to read the newspaper comics to me every evening. The truth is that he gave education a high priority.

When we moved back to Texas, we lived near Lubbock for three years while my dad managed a cotton gin, and then moved into the city where my dad was a cotton buyer. The year before we moved into Lubbock, my brother was born in LaMesa. Poor Dad essentially had three families. I lived in Lubbock until I moved to Dallas.

RTW: Who are your favorite authors and favorite genres?

CC: Initially, my favorite romance authors were Nora Roberts and Julie Garwood. As I met more authors through RWA, my list expanded to so many that I really can’t list them all here. Of course, one of my favorites is Jacquie Rogers for her fast-paced stories and humor. MUCH ADO ABOUT MARSHALS is one of my favorite books.

RTW: How many books do you read a month? What are you reading now?

CC: I’m a fast reader, which is not really a good thing. I read anywhere from 10 to 20 books a month. Right now, I’ve just started the new Rhys Bowen cozy in her Royal Spyness series, NAUGHTY IN NICE.

RTW: When you’re not writing, what’s your favorite way to relax and recharge?

Caroline Clemmons

CC: Reading. Seriously. I love spending time with my family, travel, genealogy, and browsing antique malls and estate sales. I have so much “stuff” that I have been shying away from antique malls, estate and garage sales except to pick up books.

RTW: Would you like to share any guilty pleasures that feed your muse?

CC: Chocolate and a Dr Pepper can’t be beaten. Not that they always feed my muse but, hey, it’s chocolate and Dr Pepper . . .

RTW: How long have you been writing?

CC: Forever it seems. I only started writing novels about 20 years ago. Goodness, has it been that long? Why aren’t I on the NYTimes bestseller list by now?

RTW: Where do you prefer to write? Do you need quiet, music, solitude? PC or laptop?

CC: I have a lovely office that was my youngest daughter’s bedroom. I prefer my PC at a nice workstation. The daughter whose room I appropriated decorated it for me with prints she knew I’d love. I feel so at home and comfortable in this room. I joke that it’s my pink cave because I love to hibernated there.

RTW: Are you a plotter or a panzer?

CC: Mostly a plotter. My friend Sandra Crowley is a wonder at helping me plot. Then Ashley Kath-Bilsky and Geri Foster keep my on tract critiquing my work. I’m blessed with such good friends!

RTW: Do you research before you begin a new project, or as you go along?

CC: I prefer to research prior to beginning a project, but sometimes points crop up that require additional knowledge.

RTW: Tell us about your writing schedule. Do you set goals? Do you write daily?

CC: I do write daily. I used to set as my goal five pages a day and often went way, way over. Lately, I’ve been a slug and haven’t been diligent. Too much time spent on promotion.

RTW: What do you hope your writing brings to readers?

CC: I hope readers sigh with pleasure when they finish my book and that they can’t wait to read the next one. I hope that while they’re reading, my book takes them away from any conflict or problem they face in their lives and lets them relax and enjoy.

RTW: What advice would you give to unpublished authors?

CC: As Winston Churchill said, “Never, never, never give up.” That’s not to say you shouldn’t keep trying to hone your craft and improve your writing.

RTW: Tell us about your latest release.

Two million dollars? What a fortune to inherit! Coutney Madison has battled poverty her entire twenty-five years but is determined to make a safe and happy home for her teenaged brother after the recent death of their mom. She thinks her inheritance in West Texas is the answer to her prayers--but Courtney's problems are definitely not over yet.

Derek Corrigan suspects the worst of his new neighbor and vows to fight his attraction for her. He knows what women do to him--they always leave and take chunks of his heart with them. He's been there, done that, had the vaccination and is cured. Isn't he?

Excerpt from Home Sweet Texas Home by Caroline Clemmons

Copyright © 2011 Caroline Clemmons 

When Jimmy saw his sister in bed, he rushed over. “Sis, what happened? What’s with the towel and the ice packs?” He frowned at Derek. “What’s going on?”

She opened her mouth to explain, but nothing came out.

Derek figured the bizarre situation defied description. He patted Jimmy on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, she’s okay now. We were at the cemetery putting flowers on Sam’s and Maggie’s graves and your sister got trapped in the bathroom.”

Jimmy shook his head. “I don’t understand. How could that hurt her?”

Courtney sighed. “The knob came off in my hand and I couldn’t open the door. So, I climbed out the window.”

Derek held out his hands to indicate the small rectangle. “A small, high window.”

Jimmy looked from his sister to Derek. “I still don’t understand what happened.”

Courtney snapped, “I got stuck, okay?”

Now that he knew her to be okay, the week’s tension suddenly snapped Derek and he lost his perspective on the whole situation. He grimaced at Jimmy. “She, um…” He coughed to keep a straight face. “When she tried to go out the window, she got stuck with her head and one arm sticking outside and the rest of her inside.” He stood like a bird with a broken wing to imitate Courtney’s position. A grin spread across his face in spite of all his efforts not to smile.

Jimmy gaped at his sister. “Courtney? But she’s always so sensible. She’s never does anything stupid.” He began to smile also.

Both males burst into laughter.

“Listen, if you two are so amused, go into the other room to discuss my apparently hilarious antics and leave me to suffer in peace.” In spite of her strained muscles and injuries, she threw a box of tissues in their direction. “Go on, get out of here. Now.”

Derek glanced over his shoulder before he left.

She’d stuffed a pillow over her ears, to block out their laughter.

###

Thank you, Caroline!

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