What was the first Western historical novel you remember reading?

I suppose the Little House on the Prairie books. We did a LOT of reading in my family so from a really young age I read widely.

What attracted you to western historical romances and how does the taming of the American West dovetail with themes of inspirational writing?

I’d been writing for a long time before I got published and had a lot of finished books on my computer in many different genres when Petticoat Ranch, the first book in this Lassoed in Texas series, found a home.

This series, including Petticoat Ranch, Calico Canyon and Gingham Mountain are all suspenseful, historical western romantic comedies…which is a very specific genre. I have so much fun writing like this. There’s just something about a cowboy, fighting the elements, quick with a fist and slow with words. And a cowgirl, tough in her own right, not all that willing to back down. I enjoy writing romantic comedy westerns a lot.

What part of the writing process do you enjoy most when you write—the research? creating the characters? developing the plot? providing the historical context?

I love writing. I don’t even like to break it down into pieces because I love story, possibly most of all. A story in my head I want to tell. But finding the right characters is such a fundamental part of that story that I’m not sure you can separate the two. And historical research…well, I say I hate it…but I hate it because it sucks me in. I’ll find out an hour has gone by while I try to figure out if there was a train coming into El Paso in 1883…and I got off on some sidetrack and am now reading about The Younger Brothers or if a puma, mountain lion and wildcat are all the same animal. Or did laudanum come in a bottle sold widely or did you have to be a doctor. Or were there colleges who would admit women and what paperwork did you need to be a pastor, legally able to perform a wedding.

So, I love research but I know it’s a time sink.

I love revisions. I always feel like the book gets soooooo much better during revisions. I just love every part of writing.

You’ve written a series of books that include Petticoat Ranch, Calico Canyon and, now, Gingham Mountain.  They all explore the issues that arise when two people misunderstand each other’s character and, of course, one of them always has a houseful of spirited children to complicate matters.  Can you expand a little bit on the themes of these three books?

I wasn’t that aware of it when I first wrote Petticoat Ranch but, after it was done, I realized I got a lot of it from my husband. He’s from a family of seven sons and now we have four daughters. And having grown up without women…except for his mom of course…he has strange reactions to the girls. So then Calico Canyon became my husband’s story when he was a boy. All those out-of-control boys…my mother-in-law, who is one of my favorite people on the planet…can tell little boy stories all day long. So, to be fair, I have my own family in mind for Gingham Mountain. Not real details, but all those kids in that tiny house…that was my family growing up. And the love, the knowledge we always had from my parents, that even though there were EIGHT of us, we were all loved and welcomed … and that is what’s most fundamental to a child. Not all the material possessions we think we must have now.

You capture the “he’s from Mars, she’s from Venus,” male versus female conflict in a very humorous way in your stories. What do you see as the differences between the male view of the world versus the female viewpoint?

My husband likes to say, “Woman talk things through and men think things true.” Of course all ‘tru-isms’ have limits. There are chatty men and quiet woman, but as a rule of thumb, when I’ve got an idea rattling around in my head, I like saying it out loud. It helps me marshal my thoughts. And my husband is more one to just out of nowhere say, “Here’s what the problem is and here’s the solution.”

So, I try and capture that in my characters, talk-y women, quiet men, of course I’ve taken it to extremes in the books for the comic value.

In your stories, the children play a central part in the plot and often get into the kind of trouble that will be very familiar to any mother.  With four daughters, do you have any personal experiences either as a mother or a child that you’d like to share that helped inspire some of these scenes?

Do you know any little boys with big and little sisters? If you watch them in action, you’ll soon see that the boys thrive on tormenting their sisters. “Yay! I made her scream! Yay! I made her cry! Yay! I embarrassed her to death in front of her friends!”

My husband never learned that. Instead, when the girls cry, he can’t stand it. He’ll do almost anything to get them to stop. Bribery, yelling, sometimes he’ll run. We’re pretty used to it and there’s a lot of comedy in watching him react to the girls.

The next book I’ve written after Gingham Mountain has no children in it and I’ve had trouble with that. Children bring a kind of chaos to a scene that I enjoy working with. But I wanted to tell this story, and I think it ended up being very good. But it doesn’t have those mouthy children to liven things up so I had to find other ways.

If you were to choose two actors to play Grant Cooper and Hannah Cartwright, who would they be and why?

Well, Grant’s a mess, ragged clothes, long hair. Every penny he has he spends on the children or squirrels away for a rainy day. He ended up being my favorite hero ever because he was the coolest around woman……..except only girls, the girls he adopted. He’s very used to them and calm with their tears. In the earlier books in this series the men have no idea what to do with the women they find themselves stuck with. And the women aren’t much better…and in fact, Hannah isn’t much better in Gingham Mountain. But Grant isn’t afraid of a few tears. He’s a very kind hearted, understanding man…until he meets Hannah and runs for his life.

I’ve actually got this perfect image of Grant in my head but I can’t stick a movie star’s name on him. Plus I’m old. My ideal heroes are about thirty years too old. :)

Can you tell us a little about your next book and series?

I’ve got a new series starting in July with Montana Rose. I love this book, very funny and sweet. This is the hero with the true heart of gold. Most people who read it make a real fuss over him. Cassie is pregnant and widowed in the unforgiving west. Red Dawson dug her husband’s grave and knows Cassie will never make it on her own. But Cassie is spoiled and her husband died trying to give her luxuries. Red knows he can’t keep her happy. Except Cassie didn’t asked to be spoiled, her foolish, extravagant husband showered her with things to show off. Cassie is so used to taking orders she can only wait for Red to tell her what to do. When he doesn’t give orders she tries to guess how to please him and almost destroys his ranch before she’s done.

And finally, what are some of your favorite western romances by other authors?

I’m part of Petticoats and Pistols. And by the way we are HUGE Loves Western Romance fans over there, http://petticoatsandpistols.com/ , and I love those ladies’ work. Kate Bridges, Linda Broday, Pam Crooks, Karen Kay, Stacey Kayne, Elizabeth Lane, Patricia Potter, Cheryl St. John, Charlene Sands.

I love Linda Lael Miller’s McKettricks and Janette Oke’s sweet prairie western romances. DeeAnn Gist’s sassy romances, Cathy Marie Hakes romantic comedies and Tracie Peterson’s sweeping western sagas. I shouldn’t have started, there are too many.