Featured on Blog

 Recently, I was featured on a friend and past president of Women Writing the West’s blog. Check it out and follow Carmen on social media.

https://carmenpeone.com/girls-country-heart/

Here’s a screenshot of her blog post.

"Power up Women" Podcast

Hey, it's been awhile. 

My duties with Women Writing the West https://www.womenwritingthewest.org has kept me out of trouble and off the mean streets. Retirement is glorious. If you're still working toward retirement, let me encourage you. It's worth it. Hang in there.

Recently, I was a guest of author Anne Doyle on her "Power Up Women!" podcast. Give it a listen here https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-wz2py-116d2cf and follow Anne on social media. 

Anne Doyle

Author, POWERING UP! How America’s Women Achievers Become Leaders 

Global Speaker, Journalist, Board Member 

Podcast: POWER UP WOMEN http://bit.ly/2XA688V

Podcast:  IWF GAME CHANGERS http://bit.ly/39VPKCR

https://www.annedoyleleadership.com/***

Andrea Downing - Author Interview

Andrea Downing is a New Yorker and fellow member of Women Writing the West, she’s a finalist, twice, in the RONE Awards for Best American Historical Romance. She placed in the International Digital Awards twice and won ‘Favorite Hero’ along with Honorable Mentions for: Favorite Heroin, Short Story, and Novel in the Maple Leaf Awards. And her book, Dearest Darling, won The Golden Quill Award for Best Novella. 

Today I’m interviewing multi-award-winning author, Andrea Downing, about her new book Shot Through the Heart due to be released later this month. 

Welcome, Author Andrea Downing…

“Thank you, Betsy. It's good to be here.” 

(I'm not sure why I was surprised by her decidedly English accent. But I love it!)

Andrea, according to your website, it says you spent most of your life in the United Kingdom where you, “Developed a penchant for tea drinking, a tolerance for rainy days, and a deep knowledge of the London Underground system.” That just cracked me up. I knew I wanted to interview you after I read that. 

“I'm glad it had that effect, Betsy. Yeah, it's all true. It does rain quite a bit in London and England. And I never really considered myself a tea drinker. I don’t know what I was drinking when I went. But now, I drink tea pretty constantly through the day.”

Q: So what's your favorite tea?

A: “It used to be Earl grey. I've now moved on to green tea. I drink herbal in the evening because it's caffeine free.”

Q: What originally took you to England? Work? School?

A: “It was confusion (laughing). I graduated from a college at a very young age. I was literally 20, very undirected. I didn't know what I wanted to do and at the same time England was very much in the news. It was, you know, the swinging 60s—the end of the swinging 60’s. There were the Beatles, and I was a great Beatles fan and so on. So I decided that the best thing was to continue my education and do a master’s degree. I applied to several universities in the UK. Oxford wanted me to do a BA again to get a second second undergraduate degree. They didn't recognize US undergraduate degrees at that time. I don't know what would happen if you came from Harvard or someplace but they certainly didn't recognize my undergraduate degree. So I ended up at Keele. There was a professor there who had published one of my professors, who was a poet. So that was an attraction. I studied and got a master’s degree in English. It was actually American studies…but I tell people I took a wrong turn. I really should have gone west.”

Q: Did you have any family in the UK at the time?

A: “No. I didn’t have family there. I grew up with an English aunt who lived a block away from us. I just had a fascination with England.”

Q: What did you like most and what did you like least about living in England?

A: “That’s very difficult to answer. England changed radically in the 40 years I was there, as you can imagine. When I first went over, in late ’68, believe it or not, they were still coming out of the war. It was only 20 years since World War II. And they had been on rations and everything right into the 50s, so the most exotic vegetable that you could get in an English market was probably a zucchini called a “courgette.” Or an eggplant, which they (the British) call, “Aubergine.” It was very basic living. People still had out houses in certain areas of the country. Very basic. I remember asking to use somebody's telephone and they didn't have one. In 1968, my family had two (telephone) lines. So it wasn't that I didn't like things, it’s just that everything was very very different. As time went on, I moved a great deal within the UK, and during this time, the world got smaller and television got bigger—so to speak. It was a totally different world. You might as well have been in New York for all that.

My favorite thing was learning about different cultures and different people. That, and the close proximity to Europe. The ability to be in Paris, for instance, in two hours. Just the ability to travelaround Europe so easily. I like the people. It was just a much more laid-back way of life than being in New York. Also, I was involved with a lot of writers. I was editing a poetry magazine for a while so that was an attraction.”

Q: You mentioned you're a native New Yorker. One who writes western romance. Tell us how you discovered the genre?

A: (More laughing), "I don’t think I discovered the genre, the genre discovered me. (Still laughing.) Consider that I lived in the states to the age of 20 and I was brought up on a diet of westerns on television. I always loved the west. While we were living in the UK, we started having all our Holidays here in the west. In the summer, we used to go to ranches in Wyoming, Montana…you know, the northwest. Then we would go at Easter to ranches in Arizona. The whole thing about the west revitalized me. My daughter and I are both riders, anyway. She grew up with ponies. So the whole western thing was very much embedded in me.

When I got back, I never really set off to write romance. I never woke up one morning and said, “Gee, I think I’m going to be a romance writer.” That never happened. In fact, I read very little western romance. I read literary fiction much more than I read romance. Which is not putting it down, it's just what you want to read at the moment. Anyway, when I moved back to the US, I happened to be reading a biography of the Jerome sisters. Jenny Jerome was Winston Churchill's mother, which was why I was reading it. It was just a matter of interest about these people. But she had a sister, Clara, who married a man by the name of Morton Frewen, who ran one of those very large British cattle companies in Wyoming. That put an idea in my head about a British girl being transplanted into old west Wyoming and so I wrote this book. I never thought of it as a romance but that is what it sold as. Then the subsequent stories that I thought up just turned out to be romances…so that was it. That’s why I say the genre discovered me. I didn't really discover the (western romance) genre.”

Q: Have you always written or did you write from a young age? Obviously, you pursued it in school. And is there something that compels you to write?

A:  "I think if you’re a writer, you’re compelled to write. I've been writing since I was very young. I had one of those little black notebooks and wrote little stories in that and then took every creative writing class, even in high school and college, everything I could do to learn the craft. Then I ended up teaching English language and creative writing. So you know, that whole idea of being involved with words, certainly that’s in me. But I do think if you're writing you're just totally compelled to write. Every time I get fed up with the whole promotion thing: Facebook, Instagram, and God knows what else, and want to stop (writing), you know I can't stop. Then another story just comes to me. Like Shot Through the Heart basically came from someone's name on the calendar."

Q: A yearly calendar? 

A: "A cowboy, western themed calendar, where every month had a different cowboy. One is roping, one is branding, (laughing)…anyway, I got to this page and there’s this guy’s name, Shiloh Coltrane, and I thought, what a fantastic name! He has to have a story really. He had to be a hero! The same thing happened in another book of mine. We were staying in a ranch in Nevada, my daughter and I. It was a working cattle ranch, there was a young cowboy there we were talking with and he said, “Can you make me a hero in one of your books,” and I said, “Okay.” Lawless Love came out of that. His name was Dylan Kane, I didn't really think that was a very good cowboy name myself. But he became a marshal and was in the book."

Q: When you ride a horse, do you ride English or western style?

A: "Both! In England, obviously, we rode English. But like I said, we rode western on all our holidays in the west. These were a combination of dude ranches, some were working cattle ranches, some were ranch resorts. So yeah, they (the ranches) are all different but obviously, they're all in the west so I was riding western. I prefer riding western, although I prefer the shorter leg with an English saddle.”

Q: Have you ever set any of your books in a location where you visited?

A: "I try to visit the locations, if I haven't already been there. For instance, Dances of the Heart is set partially in New York but mostly in Texas Hill Country. I hadn’t been so I went down there, which made a very nice vacation in the Fredericksburg, Texas, area. When I was writing Loveland, my daughter and I went out to Loveland and we went out to the Prairie National Grasslands  just to see what the area would look like at the time when the book was set. We also went up to Cheyenne, Wyoming, because part of the book discusses the cattlemen's club, The Cheyenne Club. Then Ibought this place outside of Jackson—I have a home outsideof Jackson, Wyoming—Wilson. That is my great love, that area is, really. The area in the Tetons. So I now set a lot of stories there. Shot Through the Heart is set there. It doesn’t mention the Tetons, but it implies that it's up there. Part of the book is in Philadelphia. The heroine goes back to Philadelphia for a bit and Shiloh Coltrane goes on the search for the killers through Estes Park—whereI’ve been several times and into Brown’s Park. Well, I've only skirted Brown’s Park, I have to admit. Most of the research for that was on-line. Brown’s Park is really quite difficult terrain. They tell you to make sure you have plenty of water; you won't have a cell phone. But that’s an area the outlaws really did hide out in." 

Q: I know that you love all things western, as do I, but what do you think makes someone a cowgirl and would you, Andrea Downing, consider yourself one?

A: “Absolutely not (laughing). I have no pretentions to be, either."  

Q: But it sounds like you do a lot of horseback riding, though?

A: “Yes, I do. I've actually even roped stationary dummies.”

Q: Really? Wow! So if you aren’t a cowgirl, what makes a cowgirl?

A: "I think working women on ranches do not consider themselves cowgirls anymore. They call themselves cowboys. They do the same amount of work that a man does. So that’s one thing. I think cowgirl now has a slightly…I don't know, it’s a feminine, let's say, “showy thing.” But if you’re working on a ranch, “cowboy” is what you’re called. I mean, I don't consider myself a westerner. I have no pretensions of being so. I would like to be one but I'm not one. And you know, having a home in Wyoming and wearing a cowboy hat doesn't make me a westerner.”

Q: When you wrote your book Shot Through the Heart were you thinking about a theme? Do themes pop into your head along with the titles? Or do they just kind of come to you as you start writing?

A: “The story pretty much comes to me before I start writing. But I am a pantser. You know, someone who writes by the seat of their pants. You're either a plotter or a pantser. I generally know the ending but if you're writing romance, it's gonna be a happily-ever-after so that's not too difficult. I also know the actual last scene before I start writing. It's a matter of getting from A to B. 

Shot Through the Heart was fairly easy to write. My books are definitely character driven and there’s always opposing characters. For instance, in Shot Through the Heart he’s a hired gun, trying to hang up his guns but he comes home to the family ranch only to discover that his sister has been murdered. So he's got to go after the killers. Whereas the heroine is a doctor. So she's used to healing people and he's used to killing people. I like that interplay between the opposites. Same thing as in Lawless Love. He is a marshal and she's an outlaw. But the characters develop the scene.I like to think.”

Q: Shot Through the Heart comes out when?

A:  "August 31^st, it will be available at all good bookstores. Of course, as an eBook and paperback. You can order it through libraries and through your bookstore. I hope people enjoy it. We need those escapes at the moment."

Q:  Last question. You (or someone) categorizes your writing as historical and contemporary western romance. But do you see yourself writing any other genres? Memoir? Nonfiction?

A: "Well, memoir—no. Nonfiction—possibly. Because when you do research for a book, I always get sidetracked. I also write posts for a group called “Cowboy Kisses.” We write about historical western items. I've written a number of short biographies there and other things that have led me to think, you know, she's very interesting or he's very interesting. Maybe I could do a book about that. I do have ideas for books that are more literary or women’s fiction or whatever. So as I said, I never set out to be a romance writer. I mean, it's only the stories that seem to come crawling in the night. So yes, I can see myself writing other genres.”

Andrea Downing, thank you so much for visiting with us today. We're excited about your new book Shot Through the Heart. We congratulate you on its release August 31^st. 

“Thank you, for having me, Betsy. It's been lovely.”—Andrea Downing. 

You can find Andrea’s books at your favorite bookstores, on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BookBub, to name a few. Read more about author Andrea Downing and read excerpts of her books at www.andreadowning.com

Connect with and follow her on social media: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerAndreaDowning/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndiDowning
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andidowning/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6446229.Andrea_Downing

Author Interview

Interview with Carmen Peone

We’re talking today to award-winning author Carmen Peone, past President of Women Writing the West about her newly released book: Lillian’s Legacy – the third book in the Gardner Sibling Trilogy. 

Welcome, Carmen! Thanks for visiting today. Let’s start off with an easy question. I understand you and your husband, Joe, have four adult sons and nine grandchildren, is that correct?

A: “We actually have another grandchild on the way. Number ten will be here in December. We have four girls right now and five boys, but number ten is a boy so the boys will outnumber the girls. They all live close. Some on the reservation and the others on the Washington coast.”

Your web site says you have a degree in “Abnormal Psychology.” Is that a real thing?

A: “Yes, that’s real. I always joke. I say I have a BS in Abnormal Psychology, I put that out there whenever I do a workshop or presentation and just pause. People either get it or don’t—you know? That degree actually allowed me to work within the school system. I got an emergency substitute teaching certificate. I’ve taught every grade and every subject on the reservation, as a sub. Including: Special Ed and Head Start. Then I coordinated the after-school program for several years.”

Indian Reservation? Are you talking about Colville Indian Reservation? Was it a culture shock when you moved there?

A: “It definitely was a culture shock. The reservation is located in northeast Washington. It’s the Colville Confederated Tribes of Indians. My grandmother lived up the river from the reservation, in Kettle Falls. I spent a lot of summers with her while growing up. I would hear about the Indians down on the reservation but we never went there. Then I met my husband in college and after I graduated, we moved to the reservation. And now, I’m living where my grandmother, who was a nurse and worked for the doctor who delivered many babies here, as did my (nurse) mother. So it’s like this complete circle—I’m living on the reservation.”

You said you fell in love with the reservation, the people, their heritage, and their culture. You wanted to write about it. Was there a specific thing that influenced you most?

A: “Just working with tribal elder Marguerite Ensminger and learning the Arrow Lakes (or Sinyekst, Sinixt is the contemporary spelling) language. I worked with her for three years.”

Your web site said you teach archery. How did you get started?

A: “It started with our after-school program. We got a lot of federal money for our small reservation school. We were able to build a climbing wall and start National Archery in the School Program-NASP. I got certified to teach archery the same time as the PE teacher, who is the head coach of the program. I usually take the kids to nationals but this year I got really sick and had to resign. As I wrote my resignation letters, tears were flowing. Unfortunately, I just pick up everything at the school and get really sick a lot. I knew if I continued to teach then I couldn’t write more books and it would also hurt my time with my grandkids. And they are my life!”

What are your writing goals? Is there another genre you have considered writing? Sci-fi, memoir, or romance?

A: “Funny you should ask. During my Women Writing the West presidency, we had hard issues come up. I thought the time would fly by but after the 2018 conference, our accountant announced she was going to retire…I spent most of my time dealing with the transition of finding a new accountant. But that winter, Jerry Jenkins offered this on-line novel writing workshop and I took it because I wanted to make the switch from young adult to Christian romantic suspense. That book will also be set on the reservation, it’s actually out right now with a publisher for consideration.”

Will you tell us a little bit about Lillian’s Legacy without giving too much away?

A: “Sure. I’ve had amazing reception about this book. I knew I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want my next book to be about girls and horses—like in my other books. However, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do or what I wanted the book to be about. Then at a ladies Bible study at my house, after mentioning that, someone suggested the book should include medicine and we all looked at Dr. Maria Trevino, another lady there. So Dr. Trevino agreed to assist me. I did research about women in medicine and Dr. Trevino read the manuscript when it was completed and gave me feedback.

Lillian’s Legacy is about a young teen, Lillian Gardner, who in 1875 feels displaced by her family, and like a shadow under her famous horse-riding older sister, Hannah. Things get worse when Hannah insists her wedding be held on Lillian’s 16^th birthday and Lillian feels like she’s just another shadow. Not even important. So that day, an older Welsh healer happens to be traveling north and stops by the ranch for a drink and rest. While there, the healer discovers Lillian’s interest in healing which came from her mother, Elizabeth, who was very knowledgeable of local plants and herbs. The Welsh healer, Dr. Maddox, askes Lillian to tag along on her journey. Throughout the journey, Lillian proves her value and discovers her legacy. 

A lot of my books have the names of my children and grandchildren. For Lillian’s Legacy I wanted to use my family name: Maddox. Lillian discovers she likes medicine and she decides what her true legacy will be. There is a lot of information in the book about plants and herbs and their benefits and healing properties. I had fibromyalgia and it got really bad in my late 20’s. I went through the whole medical thing before finding what actually healed me. I have no trace of fibromyalgia now after working with a naturopathic doctor. So that’s my interest in it. A long time ago my grandmother who lived up at Kettle Falls gave me a book that’s no longer in print, written by a local a Native Americans on the reservation. That sparked my interest.”

What do you hope people will come away with after reading Lillian’s Legacy?

A: “Just that there’s hope. For all my books the theme is hope. I started a Cowgirls for Hope retreat with my friend. I’ve written a song you can find on YouTube, “Legacy Worth Living,” and I wrote that song on the piano and then my best friend who’s a singer/songwriter transferred it to guitar. She performed it for my book launch. There is hope in the world. Especially during the pandemic, where fears are running rampant, there is hope in God and His love for us. In every single one of my books, it’s just the same. There is hope. Your dreams can come true. If you work hard and trust God, it will happen.”

Thank you for visiting, Carmen. Congratulations on your new book Lillian’s Legacy.

For more information about Carmen and her other books: Girl Warrior, True to Heart Trilogy, and her Curriculum—Young Adult Workbook Series, check out her web site at https://carmenpeone.com/about/ Catch up with her on social media at:

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CarmenEPeone/ 

Twitter at https://twitter.com/carmenpeone 

Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jcpeone/ 

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Carmen-Peone/

Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/carmen-peone

More

Much has happened since I blogged last. Suffice to say, I'm not the same person. The death of a loved one has a way of silencing the loudest among us.

The woman who birthed me was extraordinary. Joyce Elizabeth Long-Byrd was my mother. A lady. The truest Christian I have ever known. She gave and gave and gave until there was nothing left of her. 

The 48 years she influenced my life, shaped who and what I am. She loved out loud. Her love, a verb. She was more than the cancer which stole her. More than the titles she wore. More than the secrets she held. She was more.

More faithful, more real. 

You may have lost someone. If so, maybe you share my ache. 

Like me, you'd likely say...your loss...is more. 

A Little Digging

When there's a break in the winter weather, it's all I can do to rein-in the gardener in me. Compelled by some unseen force, I scratch around in the seed drawer arranging and rearranging packets I'll rip open in spring--throwing fistfuls of hope in every direction. 

'Jane' Magnolia

Would a trip to the greenhouse tied me over? No, not really. 

I'd rather break out the shovel and do a little digging? Digging for what, you may ask.

Sanity, peace, meaning.

They're in there somewhere.
They can't be found in the news or on social media. Trust me, I looked.

Texas Star Hibiscus

Grape Hyacinth

First, scrape away the layers of lunacy. Then chip away at the crust of past hurts before sinking your shovel deep in the soil of tranquility. 

Down down down the sharpened steel sinks until it hits the bedrock of repose. There, that's deep enough. 

Ah! Just as I suspected. Between the ruby hyssop, fuzzy-headed liatris, and a tree peony (the scent of lemons), there's room for a new plant. You choose what it'll be. 

The only thing required...a little digging.

Been a few days...

Wow! What a horrible blogger I am. I can't believe it's been so long. Do forgive. In my defense, I've been busy.
#excuses #stackingrocks #plantingflowers #buildingakiva #socialmediaouttheears #twonewgrandbabies #newbookpublished #life. Now then, you're all caught up.

 As Jack Black aka Nacho Libre would say, "Let's get down to the nitty gritty." 

Jacob boy

Sam E. at the Western Heritage Museum OKC '18

Granny and Jacob

 Why am I blogging now? Why should you care, if ever you did?

Bronson, Kiara, and Jacob Randolph

#1 Granddaughter, Miss Meadow Sanders

Simple, we crave connections. Okay, maybe just I do. I want badly to stay connected to my past, while still making new friends.

 

Granny and Jacob

Maybe it's my poor health, advanced age, my desperate desire to know where I came from, and where I'm going. Whatever the reason, I'm writing and writing is good. It's therapy.

#1 Grandson, Cannon Sanders

Bronson and Jacob Randolph

Thomas and Martha "Mattie" Horrell

I'm currently writing about Thomas L. Horrell from Lampasas, Texas and Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory. Horrell, my third great grandfather, one of my recently discovered outlaw relatives. Thank you, Edmond Leon Long, my maternal uncle, who dug up this family secret/jewel. The story is so incredible, I can't believe no one's made a movie of it yet. They will...when my story gets published...and it will!

Wait and see...

Until then, wherever you are, whatever you're doing...keep those connections alive. Discover where you came from, where you're going. None of us are getting out of this deal alive, let's face it. I'm headed up. How about you? Romans 10:9-10

Betsy