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2008 EPPIE winner,
Paty Jager
first began
making up stories when she was roaming the Wallowa Mountains in
Northeast Oregon on her horse Junebug. Now, after raising four kids,
she's writing those stories down as she caters to three dogs, two
horses and fifty mother cows!
Visit Paty online at www.patyjager.com
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What got you hooked on western romances?
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LaVyrle Spencer's Hummingbird.
The characters were so rich and the way she portrayed the setting- I
was hooked! I read all her historicals and then branched out to Jude
Devereaux, Linda Lael Miller, and any western romance I could get my
hands on. |
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Does
the fact you live out west inform your western romances and, if so,
how?
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Yes,
living in the west does/has shaped my western romances. I grew up in
a small isolated area. The people there were and are as independent
and resourceful as in the 1800's. I grew up with an outhouse in my
back yard. I rode horses every day, helping to train them. We cooked
on a wood stove during my toddler years and used wood stoves for
heat until I was in high school. We had many power outages, up the
canyon where I lived, and used oil lamps. When the river rose and
washed out the road, my dad loaded us in the four-wheel-drive jeep,
and we went cross country over an arm of a mountain to get to
school. I learned to improvise just like the early settlers and
ranchers. And I think this gives me insight into characters and
helps to make the stories come alive. |
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What part of the writing process do you
enjoy most-the research? creating the characters? developing the
plot? providing the historical context?
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My favorite part of writing is
the research, learning new things about how people lived and
creating the characters, who, in my mind, lived back then. I like
the trivial things about history and try to incorporate that into my
books. |
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Tell us about
your latest release, Outlaw in Petticoats. |
Outlaw
in Petticoats is the second book in the Halsey brother
series. When I initially wrote the first book, I planned to write a
book for each of the brothers. Then it didn't sell and I dropped the
idea, but Zeke- the hero in the second book was my favorite brother
in the first book. So I knew the second book had to be his, that and
in the first book I had already brought up he was smitten with the
school teacher, so of course she had to be the heroine. Then I had
to wrap up a loose end I left in the first book.
And that's how the
discovery of a tintype in book one is connected to Maeve the heroine
in book two. She and Zeke set out to find her father, the owner of
the tintype, to prove they aren't blood relations.
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We
think it would be hard for a reader not to fall in love with Zeke.
While he's strong and commanding, his patience and confidence as he
waits for Maeve to love him gives him an appealing vulnerability. Tell
us a little about the inspiration for Zeke. |
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Wow! The inspiration for Zeke-
With Maeve having such a chip on her shoulder it had to be a man
with patience to woo her. He also had to be a man who was confident
in his own identity because she is so insecure. Putting those
together and the fact my husband has been super patient with me over
the years over some issues I've had- I think I made a bigger than
life man that every woman would want adoring them.. |
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If
you were to choose two actors to play Zeke and Maeve, who would they
be and why?
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am so bad at this! I don't watch enough movies to have a good handle
on this. But I'd say Sandra Bullock for Maeve and a young Tom
Selleck for Zeke.
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You
also write contemporary romances, having won the 2008 Eppie Award
for Best Contemporary Romance for A Perfectly Good Nannie.
What are some of the differences between writing contemporary novels
and western historical romances? |
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The differences I've found
between the historical and contemporary westerns are the
dialogue/voice, research, and the fear. LOL The dialogue is different
between the two. You can use a looser dialogue, dropping gs and word
usage in the historical stories. Research for the historical requires
more time in that you have to make sure not only historical facts are
accurate but the way they lived- clothing, food, furniture. I worry
more about my contemporary stories ringing true than the historical.
You have fewer people who lived the time you write about in
historicals. You can suspend the belief this or that happened if you
don't know for sure by writing it well. However, in a contemporary, it
is now, what people are living so it is harder to suspend their belief
that this or that could or did happen. |
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Tell
us a little about your next book. |
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My next book coming out with The
Wild Rose Press is the third Halsey brother book. In it you
will come to know Ethan, the oldest brother, better and the Scots
widow with two children who captures his heart. |
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Can
you comment on the state of western romance? Can we readers expect
more or less of our favorite genre?. |
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At the Romance Writers
Conference in July, agents were looking for western writers to submit.
To me that means an upswing in western romance. So keep a look out for
more westerns on the book store shelves. |
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And
finally, what are some of your favorite western romances by other
authors? |
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As
I said before, LaVyrle Spencer's Hummingbird
Patricia
Rice - Paper Tiger
Karyna
DaRosa - Dry Moon
Devon
Matthews - Angel in the Rain
Lauri
Robinson - Shotgun Bride
Kathy
Otten - Between the Lines |
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Thank
you, Paty, for being in our spotlight this month!
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