Author Carolyn Brown On Reading And Cowboys

Find a comfortable chair and reach for your favorite beverage of choice as you help me welcome award-winning author Carolyn Brown back to Thoughts in Progress today to talk about her latest release and new Spikes and Spurs Series.

Carolyn latest release is LOVE DRUNK COWBOY, the first in an exciting new cowboy series from the delightful author. Thanks to Carolyn and Danielle at Sourcebooks, I can offer 2 copies of LOVE DRUNK COWBOY as giveaways to visitors commenting on this post. The giveaway is open to residents of U.S. and Canada only between now and 8 p.m. (EST) on Monday, June 6. Be sure to include your e-mail address if it’s not included in your profile.

Here’s a brief blurb about LOVE DRUNK COWBOY: She’s a Self-Made City Girl… High-powered career woman Austin Lanier suddenly finds herself saddled with an inherited watermelon farm deep in the countryside. She’s determined to sell the farm, until her new, drop-dead sexy neighbor Rye O’Donnell shows up…

He’s as Intoxicating as Can Be…Rancher Rye O’Donnell thinks he’s going to get a good deal on his dream property—until he meets the fiery new owner. Rye is knocked sideways when he realizes that not only is Granny Lanier’s city-slicker granddaughter a savvy businesswoman, she’s also sexy as hell…

Suddenly Rye is a whole lost less interested in real estate and a whole lot more focused on getting Austin to set aside her stiletto heels…

Carolyn was kind enough to answer some questions for me.

Hello! I’m so tickled to be here today to wind down my month long blog tour to promote LOVE DRUNK COWBOY! Thank you for inviting me back again to Thoughts in Progress and thank you, Mason, for that AWESOME review! You really crawled out there on a shaky limb discussing a “love drunk” cowboy on your Sunday blog! Maybe you should have a Saturday night blog where you discuss my rowdy cowboys! You do know that cowboys sow their wild oats on Saturday night and then go to church on Sunday morning to pray for a crop failure.

Carolyn, no shaky limb there. ‘Love drunk’ cowboys are the best kind. They are caring, responsible and put family first; not to mention being sexy. But a Saturday night blog about cowboys does have possibilities.

Mason - As a writer, do you feel it's also important to find time to read?

Carolyn: Yes, ma’am, as much and as often as possible. I used to try to read a book a day but lately, it’s about a book a week, since Husband retired.

Mason - What are you currently reading or is in your TBR stack?

Carolyn: Just last night I finished Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews. Loved it! Of course I would, she’s a southern writer. My TBR stack? How much room do you have here on this blog? This could go on and on. I read on PW this morning that there’s a new J.A. Jance book coming right soon and then I haven’t gotten Grace Burrowes The Heir read and she’s about to come out with the next one which will go on my TBR read list and then there’s Sue Grafton’s newest hiding down there somewhere. If we had an explosion in this house it would look somewhat like a tornado hit the Library of Congress and I keep seeing more that I really, really want to add to it.

Mason - If you could only have 5 books, what would they be?

Carolyn: Oh, dear, darlin’, that is one tough question. To pick five only…is it because of space on the blog, space in my suitcase because I’m going to a remote island or I only get to stay wherever you are sending me for five days? We could extend the blog a wee bit and I’ll get a bigger suitcase or leave part of my clothing behind, and I could stay longer. No…won’t work? Got to pick five only! Okay then. Remember that I’m an eclectic reader! My Bible (got to have that), Gone With the Wind (I read it about every five years and Margaret is starting to feel neglected), LaVyrle Spencer’s Vows (touches all my emotions from laughter to tears), The Godfather, by Mario Puzo and Exodus by Leon Uris.

Mason - How is your new series different from your Honky Tonk series and how is it similar?

Carolyn: They are both about cowboys, of course. The Honky Tonks were set in the old bar down in Mingus, Texas and the new series isn’t confined to a building. It starts out in Terral, Oklahoma with LOVE DRUNK COWBOY and jumps the Red River over to Henrietta, Texas for RED'S HOT COWBOY (August) with a setting in a fifty year old motel. Then we hop back to Ringgold to the O’Donnell’s horse ranch for DARN GOOD COWBOY CHRISTMAS (October) and to Ace Riley’s ranch for ONE HOT COWBOY WEDDING (April 2012). After that we are going on a pro-rodeo trip, a reenactment of the cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail and out to the Palo Duro Canyon in west Texas. So this series isn’t confined to a building. All of them are similar in that they have a stubborn cowboy trying to tame a sassy woman who doesn’t want to give up her kick-ass independence.

Mason - What can readers look for next from you?

Carolyn: Ooops! I think I just answered that one in number 4. So think more cowboys! More heroines with a mind of their own and who aren’t afraid to tell it like it is. More quirky secondary characters. More humor.

Thank you so much for letting me prop up my feet here today. Talk to me folks! Tell me what you are reading these days and if you want to see more cowboys on the market. Now Mason pop open that bottle of watermelon wine that I brought and break the seal on that box of chocolates and we’ll talk about Rye and Austin while we wait on the folks to comment. Did you like that Charley Horse scene, the one where they were sexting when she was in a business meeting or all that steamy kissing in the rain?

Oh, Carolyn! It’s always so much fun having you stop by. I see we enjoy some of the same books and sorry about limiting you to select only 5. Thought it would be fun to try and narrow it down. Now as for Rye and Austin, I think one of my favorite scenes was the mechanical bull. LOL Can’t decide which taste better, the chocolates or the watermelon wine, oh my!

Before I get too distracted, let me tell you more about Carolyn. She is an award-winning author who has published 36 bestselling romances for the library market. She now writes bestselling single title cowboy and country music mass market romances. Born in Texas and raised in southern Oklahoma, Carolyn and her husband now make their home in the town of Davis, Oklahoma. Carolyn’s next book, RED’S HOT COWBOY will be in stores in August 2011, followed by DARN GOOD COWBOY CHRISTMAS in October 2011. For more about information on Carolyn and her writing, be sure to visit her website at www.carolynlbrown.com and www.sourcebookscasablanca.com where she blogs.

Now what your thoughts on Carolyn’s questions? What are you reading and should there be more cowboys on the market? Be sure to share your thoughts for a chance to win a copy of Carolyn’s latest release. Thanks y’all for stopping by, I really appreciate it. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Memorial Day too.