My First Ever Live Interview

I'm being interviewed tonight on Blogspot Radio by the lovely Layla Darnell. Come join us at 8 p.m Central time and bring your questions! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dreamersradio/2013/05/24/literary-symposium-tori-scott

Cowboys and Lawmen Blog Hop

Who doesn't love a cowboy? I certainly do. When I was 18, I fell in love with a country boy. My mother was mortified. She wanted me to find someone in my own (middle) "class," but love doesn't see class. It sees only the heart.

I never understood her bias, especially since she married a west Texas farm boy herself. But my dad was an engineering student at Texas Tech, bound for bigger and better things. From the time I was six, we lived in big cities like NYC, San Diego, and a Dallas suburb. But I'd grown up with those city boys and I wasn't impressed. When I met my future husband, I was hooked from the first moment by his sincere eyes and his sweet unassuming smile. He had manners, something city boys had abandoned long ago. He had morals, which most of the boys I knew either never had much of or didn't worry much about.

Some of my books are about big-city guys, but they're more down-home types, guys with tough exteriors and soft hearts. But it wasn't until I wrote my first contemporary western romance that I felt like I'd found my place. I drew on memories of my cousins who grew up in west Texas, within minutes of my grandparents' place. The sense of family and community they all shared, which my busy city family never had. I drew on yearnings I didn't even realize I had, to return to the simple life in the country.

My husband and I tried the city life for the first 23 years of our marriage. He hated it, and I wasn't loving it. So in 1996 he moved the family to the country, not far from where his parents and his brothers lived. We raised the two youngest there, along with a slew of animals. We built our house with our own two (four?) hands. And now that the kids are gone, and quiet and peace has settled upon us, I'm reminded how much I love it here. Traffic is when the train comes through town and cars back up 6 or 7 deep at the crossing. The nearest Walmart is 25 minutes away, the nearest hospital 30 minutes away. I don't hear many sirens or cars honking or neighbors yelling. If I do, there's something major happening.

What I do hear is birds singing, cows mooing, the occasional braying donkey or barking dog. And the sound of a relaxed and happy spouse who knows he's where he's supposed to be and who he is supposed to be. When I walk out my door, I see trees and squirrels and cute little rabbits. I see roadrunners and cardinals and hummingbirds. I see the occasional snake. Mostly, I see peace.

Maybe that's why we love cowboys? The sense of peace they carry with them, never in a hurry, always willing to stop and chew the fat for a bit, always with a story to tell. We love the "yes, ma'am" and "no ma'am" and the touch of humility. The clear, direct gazes that have nothing to hide. The muscles that come from hard work and not from the gym.

If you put two pictures, side by side--one of a cowboy in Wranglers and a real cowboy hat (not one of those cheap imitations), the other of a clean-cut guy in a suit--I'm going to go for the cowboy every single time.

What about you? What is it you love about Cowboys?

Lone Star Cowboys series 

 Texas Cowboys and the city girls who learn to love them

Blame it on Texas is Book One of the Lone Star Cowboys series and right now, through May 3rd, it's on sale for just 99 cents. Check it out and see if the men of Morris Springs, Texas, tickle your fancy.

A home-grown killer blows a small town's secrets wide open...

I also have Lone Star Justice on sale for 99 cents for the same dates. Set in East Texas, Sheriff Rand McCade is pure western heart and soul.

Come check out the Book Lovers Buffet Bouquet of Books sale for more western and mystery romances on sale! 

Leave a comment on the blog for a chance to win a copy of your choice of either Blame it on Texas or Lone Star Justice plus a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card. Don't forget to leave your email address, too, so I can contact you if you win.

Introducing the Book Lovers’ Buffet. Load up, you won’t gain a pound!
 
The Buffet’s “Bouquet of Books” sale will be open May 1-3. More than 175 ebooks, all reduced in price to just 99 cents. Save in categories such as Young Adult, Contemporary, Paranormal, Suspense, Erotic Romance, and more!
 
PLUS, visit the website to win gift cards to your choice of online retailers. $400 in gift cards up for grabs!
 
Titles from popular authors such as:
 
·         Gemma Halliday
·         Angie Fox
·         Jenna Bennett
·         Amanda Brice
·         Jennette Marie Powell
·         Clover Autrey
·         Carly Carson
·         E. Ayers
·         Genevieve Jourdin
·         CJ Lyons
·         Renee Pace
·         Sophia Knightley
·         Tori Scott
·         Meredith Bond
·         Emily Ryan-Davis
·         Anthea Lawson
·         Diana Layne
·         Lindsey Brookes
·         Gina Robinson
·         McKenna Chase
 
And many, many more!
 
 
Hosted by Indie Romance Ink.

Look Where Lone Star Justice is!

 #180 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

• #1 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Westerns
• #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Westerns
• #9 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Mystery & Suspense > Suspense

Thanks to Pixel of Ink, Layla Darnell, and all who shared the link today!!

Wonderful Reads: Superstition-Tori Scott

Wonderful Reads: Superstition-Tori Scott: Book Description When Caitlyn Deveraux's brother Gage is killed in Iraq, she receives a necklace as part of his personal effec...

Go read Layla's review! It's great!

With Love to Boston

The events of April 15, 2013, shook our country once again. Shook, but didn't break, it. In the face of unspeakable tragedy, heroes arose as they always do in this country. While the coward who perpetrated the bombings might think himself some kind of hero, he/they is/are the worst kind of coward. Anyone who targets innocents is a coward.

The victims were children, women, and men who were there to watch friends and family members complete one of the hardest athletic competitions there is. They were there to cheer, to celebrate, to be a part of something wonderful. Now many are maimed for life, and three, including an eight year old boy, are dead. And to what end? 

To make us fear? We all have fears, but one thing cowards don't understand is that for most Americans, something like this only makes us stronger, more determined to live our lives in spite of fear. It brings us together and makes us put aside our differences to work together to make sure it doesn't happen again. It brings out the hero in the most ordinary person. Like the people who ran into the face of danger to help those who were hurt. They didn't know if another bomb would go off in their midst. Most likely they didn't even think about it. They just knew they had to help.

There were the runners who had just run 26.2 miles (I can't even begin to imagine that) who went on to give blood, to help however they could. The strangers who handed over their precious cell phones so others could call home. The people who gave the coats off their backs so others could be warm. Those who opened their homes to people they'd never met so they would have a place to sleep. 

There were our first responders, those brave men and women who put their lives at risk day after day to put a barrier between us and those who want to hurt us. They have families of their own, yet they risk their lives for ours. Police, fire fighters, EMS, doctors, nurses, volunteers or paid, they waded in and did what had to be done. The images will be forever fixed in their minds, images so horrible they couldn't be shown on television, yet they have to live with them. And they'll be there again, if they're ever needed.

This attack felt personal to me because I have a child who lives in Boston. And she's a runner. She wasn't at the marathon, thank God, but I didn't know that at first. Thankfully I was able to get through to her by text right away, before the phones went down, to find out she was safe. But this happened less than a mile from her school, a mile and a half from her home. It has to affect her in some way. And I hate that. I hate that some faceless coward has the ability to make my child look at strangers with suspicion, to make her weigh the risks when she wants to do something.

But like America, she's strong and she's a survivor. She'll make it, and most likely she'll help someone else to make it, too. That's what Americans do.

kboards: "Blame it on Texas," by Tori Scott

kboards: "Blame it on Texas," by Tori Scott: There's nothing like a well-written western romance, and we have a good one today from Tori Scott. City slicker Megan has dreams of a sp...

Oh, How Life Can Change

Today would have been my father-in-law's 90th birthday. When he passed away in 2005, I thought my world had ended. My husband had worked with his dad in their concrete business for 35 years, and he was excellent at his job, but his father was the salesman. He was the one with contacts, lifelong friendships with patio company guys and contractors, and the ability to talk to anyone. Hubby, not so much. I was looking at a bleak future.

I ended up taking over my father-in-law's role, though not anywhere near as successfully as he would have done it. We lasted two years before the economy tanked and building ground to a halt. There's no worse feeling than closing down a business someone else had managed to keep going for 40 years. You feel like a failure, a traitor, so many emotions I can't even explain. But there wasn't much we could do about it. We had bills to pay and there were no jobs.

Hubby was an amateur photographer, just as a hobby, but I went in search of photography jobs that would allow us to work together as a team. We'd discovered in that two years of concrete work that we worked well as a team. Lifetouch gave us that opportunity. While there was much to dislike about the job over the 4 1/2 years we worked there, it carried us through and gave us opportunities to travel that we wouldn't have otherwise had. But by the end of the 4th year, we didn't think we could face many more months of the abuse we took from the customers. Things were looking bleak again. Then one of my Wet Noodle Posse (GH 2003 finalists and winners group) friends posted about their self-publishing journey.

The Wet Noodle Posse

I'd read a little about Amazon's self-publishing venture, but didn't know where to start until Delle Jacobs gave us some pointers. I had one book out with Red Sage that made me about $10 every 6 months, so I didn't really have high hopes for making much money, but Delle was making in the thousands per month so I figured I had nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain. At that point I had two complete manuscripts in addition to the one Red Sage owned and wouldn't release the rights to. I polished those two up, had my husband make me some very basic covers, and learned formatting. Up they went on Smashwords and Amazon.

Delle Jacobs

We were still working for Lifetouch at this point, traveling pretty much full-time, but after I got those two books up, I picked up my unfinished manuscripts and got to work. I put three more novels and two novellas up in the next six months, and my income shot up to a level that shocked me. I was able to pay off our sizable debts, and hubby and I both retired from the grueling life on the road. During the next six months, our income leveled off, but it was still enough to keep the bills paid and food on the table, though a couple of months were questionable. But I put out 6 more novels and novellas, including two very popular series, and that helped get us back up to a livable income.

On the road for Lifetouch

It's been twenty-one months since I put up that first book, and we're still making it. We aren't millionaires or even anywhere close to it like some of my friends are. I haven't been invited to join any of the popular clicks of authors, or added to any prestigious groups, but in my isolated little world I have fans I love and I'm surviving. And I'm still writing, something I'd nearly given up on before I embarked on this phase of my life. I've had some huge successes, and some small failures. I've made new friends, and rediscovered some old ones.

The moral is, not matter how bad things may look, how hopeless they may seem, trust in God and He will show you a new path. It might look scary and uncertain, but once you take the leap of faith to take the first step, He will help you take each additional step. And the future will look bright once again.

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to bring about a transformation. At least it did for me.