Monday, September 26, 2011

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!

Win a Free Book!
All you have to do to enter to win a free copy of Home Sweet Texas Home, is leave a comment on one of Caroline's posts this week.  One lucky winner gets it all!  Be sure to leave your email address or we'll have to draw another winner.

10 comments:

  1. Jacquie, thanks so much for having me at your gorgeous western blog. I love the site!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love Home Sweet Home, Caroline. You are by far one of my favorite writers. And like Jacquie, I love, love, love The Most Unsuitable Husband.

    Love ya, sweetie!
    Geri Foster

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello, Caroline...and Jacquie--I love seeing two of my friends in the same place. We share the love of the West, which I believe really helps form strong relationships.
    I thought Home Sweet Texas Home was a wonderful love story. I cheered for Derek and Courtney all the way through. I hope the winner of the book loves it, too.
    Dr.Pepper? I haven't had one is years and years, decades, really. That was my favorite soft drink--we weren't allowed to drink them at home unless we were sick. Then we got a Coke. So it always seemed like medicine to me. But Dr.Pepper--I'd get one somewhere!
    Celia

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Jacquie! I love your site!!

    Caroline,

    I enjoyed the post and learning more about you. Chocolate feeds my muse, too. But she likes lattes over Dr. Pepper. lol

    I'll have to add your book to my growing list of books to read. Sounds like you have a winner by the compliments you've received.

    I wish you the very best.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is a gorgeous site! I so enjoyed the interview with Carolyn. The excerpt was great and I really like this cover.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Caroline, your books are awesome! I haven't read one that didn't fully satisfy.

    Best of luck with your newest release!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Caroline and Jacquie,

    As always, a WONDERFUL interview. I love learning more about my friends with these interviews. That cover is gorgeous, too. Is there anything better on a cover than a hunk holding or playing with a kid? That just warms my heart...I am a Dr Pepper freak too. And I hate it when you go to a restaurant in certain regions of the USA and ask for a DP and they always come back with that, "Is Mr. Pibb okay?" Uh...NO. In a word, NO.LOL Great interview, great excerpt, great cover!
    Hugs,
    Cheryl

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oops, Caroline, I think you have my contact info but here it is again...fabkat_edit@yahoo.com
    Cheryl

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for commenting, ladies. I agree with Cheryl that Mr Pibb is NOT as good as a Dr Pepper! When I was 8, someone told my mom that if she would give me castor oil ever two hours for four times, that would cure my asthma. My mom would try anything reputed--however slightly--to cure asthma. To make the castor oil more palatable, she came up with the idea of putting it in my favorite soft drink, Dr Pepper. Gag! It was years before I started drinking them again.
    LOL They used to be more a Southwestern drink, but now they are pretty much worldwide, I think. We saw them in London.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm with Karen--can't do without my lattes. :) Thanks for the compliments on my site. Yes, I did work hard on it, but hey, even the most gorgeous house is not a home unless it's filled with friends, love, and good times. And hey, we do have a bunch of great friends here, don't we. :) I hope all our combined efforts will help raise awareness for traditional westerns as well as western historical romance. Wow, there are such fabulous books available to read, but we can't read them if we don't know about them!

    ReplyDelete

Romancing The West welcomes you to show your appreciation of our guest blogger by leaving a comment. If there's a contest, don't forget to leave your contact information. Thanks!