CFBA Blog Tour - Mary Connealy and Gingham Mountain

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Gingham Mountain
Barbour Publishing - January 1, 2009)
by Mary Connealy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MARY CONNEALY's writing journey is similar to a lot of others. Boil it down to persistence, oh, go ahead and call it stubbornness. She just kept typing away. She think the reason she did it was because she was more or less a dunce around people—prone to sit silently when she really ought to speak up (or far worse, speak up when she ought to sit silently).

So, Mary had all these things, she want to say, in her head; the perfect zinger to the rude cashier, which you think of an hour after you've left the store, the perfect bit of wisdom when someone needs help, which doesn't occur to you until they solve their problems themselves, the perfect guilt trip for the kids, which you don’t say because you're not an idiot. She keep all this wit to herself, much to the relief of all who know her, and then wrote all her great ideas into books. It's therapeutic if nothing else, and more affordable than a psychiatrist.

So then a very nice, oh so nice publishing company like Barbour Heartsong comes along and says, "Hey, we'll pay you money for this 45,000 word therapy session." That’s as sweet as it gets.

Mary's journey to publication is the same as everyone's except for a few geniuses out there who make it hard for all of us. And even they probably have an Ode to Roast Beef or two in their past.

There are two other books in this Lassoed In Texas Series: Petticoat Ranch and Calico Canyon.

ABOUT THE BOOK

GINGHAM MOUNTAIN
by Mary Connealy
Published by Barbour Publishing

All aboard for a delightful, suspense-filled romance, where a Texan is torn between his attraction to a meddlesome schoolmarm and the charms of a designing dressmaker. When Hannah Cartwright meets Grant, she's determined to keep him from committing her orphans to hard labor on his ranch. How far will she go to ensure their welfare?

Grant Cooper is determined to provide a home for the two kids brought in by the orphan train as runs head-on into the new school marm, who believes he's made slave labor out of eight orphaned children. He crowds too many orphans into his rickety house, just like Hannah Cartwright's cruel father. Grant's family of orphans have been mistreated too many times by judgmental school teachers. Now the new schoolmarm is the same except she's so pretty and she isn't really bad to his children, it's Grant she can't stand.

But he is inexplicably drawn to Hannah. Can he keep his ragtag family together while steering clear of love and marriage? Will he win her love or be caught in the clutches of a scheming seamstress?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Gingham Mountain, go HERE.

Buy Your Copy of Gingham Mountain today!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. What gave you the inspiration for this story?

This book is Hannah's story. I got Hannah in a lot of trouble as a secondary character in Calico Canyon. Now I've got to get her out of it. The fundamental story is inspired, just generally, by my own family. I was the third of eight kids. We grew up in a tiny old farmhouse, three bedrooms-well, eventually four when my brother moved into this wreck of an attic room. We didn't have material things but we had lots of love and plenty of fun. That's how I KNOW Grant could have shoe-horned all those kids into that little house, because we did it.

2. How much of your own experiences influenced your characters? What aspects became traits that are theirs and theirs alone?

I draw from my own experiences but I'm not controlled by them. If I have a personal situation that I think would work in a book, I use it. But then I just go any direction I want with that. And I'd say I'm influenced by movies and books and television just as much as my own life, getting character development ideas from everything I'm exposed to.

3. If one of your characters were an ice cream flavor, what would he/she be and why?

I think Hannah would be mint. But not GREEN mint. No, she'd look like plain vanilla because she seems normal but she's a surprise, there’s so much going on under the surface with Hannah. Grant? Let's make him something crunchy. Rocky Road maybe. Grant has a chip on his shoulder. A knee jerk reaction against ANYONE who he even suspects might be hurtful to his children. That makes him fun and interesting to write but maybe a little rocky to be around for the other characters.

4. Are there any themes in Gingham Mountain that you hope the reader sees? Are there any themes that weren't overt but developed as the stories progressed?

I would like to make the point that THINGS aren't important, love is. I also really love the concept of people fighting for the protection of children and putting others ahead of themselves. That type of sacrifice is at the base of a well-lived life and we've gotten so far away from it these days, we all are so materialistic…me included.

5. What were your most difficult parts to write? Your favorite?

For me, the most difficult parts to write are also my favorites. I like chaos in a scene. I like movement and comedy, dialogue and confusion. I love the scene where the townspeople come into school and demand Grant remove his children because they're a bad influence on the rest of the students. Hannah's defending her own teaching skills. Grant wants to take his children and leave. Some of the parents are on Grant’s side, most are against him. It's a big blow up of a scene. Then Grant and Hannah have a big fight, mainly because they're so stirred up, which turns into a kiss that just makes everything worse. That was lots of fun to write and I changed it around a lot, tweaking, mixing in dialogue and tags and movement.

There's also a scene with Grant and Charlie that is, I hope, well done. Charlie wants to run away. He's so used to life being a disappointment that he just can't believe this new home won't somehow be taken from him and he's determined to leave before he's thrown out. I try to tackle some really tough questions about suffering and where God is in that.

6. When is your next book coming out and what is the story?

I have a book called Nosy in Nebraska, a contemporary cozy mystery, releasing in June. Then in July a new historical western series begins with Montana Rose. It's more of the romantic comedy that I love to write and I think people are going to enjoy the Montana Marriages series.

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Thank you, Mary, for being in the spotlight with us.

Readers, leave a comment for your chance to win a FREE autographed copy of Gingham Mountain.

If you wish to comment but don't want to be entered, say so when you post. Make sure you also leave your email address (name at domainname dot.com/net). Wouldn't want you to miss out on winning a book. :)

And if you want to make certain you don't miss anything, check the box that says 'email follow-up comments to:' when you leave a comment and they'll be sent to the email address associated with your blogging account. That way you'll be notified of any comments and will know when I announce the winner.

This week, the contest is open to US/Canada residents only.

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Spotlight on Mary Connealy and her Nosy in Nebraska series

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MARY CONNEALY is the author of Petticoat Ranch, Calico Canyon and the soon-to-be-released Gingham Mountain. She has recently signed an exclusive contract to write for Barbour Publishing for the next three years.

She is also the author of four books for Heartsong Presents, a line of short, sweet romances from Barbour Publishing; Golden Days, Buffalo Gal, Clueless Cowboy and Bossy Bridegroom. And three books for Heartsong Presents Mysteries, a line of cozy mysteries from Barbour Publsihing; Of Mice…and Murder, Pride and Pestilence and The Miceman Cometh.

Mary's dream is to tell love stories that make people laugh. She lives on a farm in Nebraska with her husband, Ivan. She is the mother of four beautiful daughters Josie, married to Matt, Wendy, Shelly, married to Aaron, and Katy. She's got one granddaughter on the way. And later, if it turns out the doctor was wrong about Josie's baby being a girl, we will look at this bio and laugh.

Visit Mary's blog: http://mconnealy.blogspot.com/ or you can find out more and hang around with me and some writer friends here: http://seekerville.blogspot.com/ and http://www.petticoatsandpistols.com/.

NOSY IN NEBRASKA
by Mary Connealy
Published by Heartsong Presents Mysteries/Barbour Publishing

ABOUT THE BOOKS

OF MICE...AND MURDER
November 2008

Join the club here: www.heartsongmysteries.com

Being named in Great-grandma's will was like hitting bankrupt on Wheel of Fortune. The whole family held their breath while the wheel ticked around and around, or rather while the lawyer opened the envelope. Then they all heaved a sigh of relief when the wheel stopped on Carrie's name. Carrie the heiress. Great. Clean up the house. Clean up the yard. Clean up Great-grandma's rap sheet. Carrie hates mice and loves the big city. So why is she living in a huge mouse infested house in her dinky hometown? The dead guy in her pantry closet is the most interesting thing that's happened since she came home. Of course the carpenter who's helping her trap her mice and solve the crime is pretty interesting, too.

PRIDE AND PESTILENCE
Coming 2009

Joe Manning comes to town to finally meet his dead beat dad, only to find his father has been murdered. Bonnie is attacked while she's at work in the Melnik Historical Society Museum, proud home of Maxie the World's Largest Field Mouse. Only her attacker now claims it was an accident, and he claims he's never seen the guy before who's dead in Bonnie's store room. Bonnie wants to be suspicious but once he stopped attacking her he turns out to be pretty sweet. And lots of people had a motive to kill Sven Gunderson - including Bonnie herself. Gunderson, the true owner of Maxie, wanted his mouse back.
In Melnik, that means war!

THE MICEMAN COMETH
Coming 2009

Tyler Simpson is opening a new law office and he's home to stay. The very British Dr. Madeline Stuart is writing an anthropology doctoral thesis about a small town that worships an oversized rodent. Success with her project should lead to her dream job, a full professorship at Oxford... even better, a guest shot on Oprah. When a body falls out of a cupboard in Tyler's law office, clutching Maddy's necklace in his cold, dead fingers, Maddy gets arrested and Tyler is appointed her attorney. But once Tyler finds out Maddy's here to betray his beloved Melnik, he isn't giving her his best effort. And someone out there thinks blaming the murder on Maddy would be a perfect solution to his own problems. And Maddy's more likely to cooperate with being framed - if she's dead. Maxie the World's Largest Field Mouse must come through one more time to thwart the criminal in his peaceful, if someone mouse-obsessed, hometown.

Buy Your Copies of the books in the Nosy in Nebraska series by contacting Mary at her web site or pre-order the 3-book collection at Amazon.com today!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. What gave you the inspiration for these stories?

The cozy mystery series should be called My Three Glitches.
I'm scared of mice like Carrie in Of Mice. . .and Murder.
I'm an insomniac like Bonnie in Pride and Pestilence.
I'm clumsy and tend to live inside my head too much like Maddy in The Miceman Cometh.

2. How much of your own experiences influenced your characters? What aspects became traits that are theirs and theirs alone?

You know, those traits I mentioned before are just jumping off points. I go in any direction the story takes me and although my own experiences influence my characters, I'm not bound by them.

3. If one of your characters were an ice cream flavor, what he/she be and why?

Carrie's Peppermint. Bonnie's vanilla. Maddy is mainly the ice cream that drips off your cone onto your shirt. So chocolate I guess because it stains. ON Maddy, every thing is a mess.

4. Are there any themes in the Nosy in Nebraska books that you hope the reader sees? Are there any themes that weren't overt but developed as the stories progressed?

What I really wanted to do was show how wonderful small town life is, while making gentle fun of the quirks of any (and probably every) small town. I think we’ve gotten so separated from each other these days. I see suburban neighborhoods in bigger cities filled with houses so big they qualify as mini-mansions...and they're all empty. All those expensive homes and the whole population empties out every day all day. Kids in school and/or day care. Mom and dad at work. Neighbors don't know each other, how can they with so little time.

A small town is just so different.

The best thing and the worst thing about a small town is the same thing. Everybody know your business. So if you have trouble, an illness, death, car trouble, anything, there are people lining up to help you out. And...If you do something stupid, get a ticket, flunk a test, have a fender bender, have a too-loud fight with your husband, everybody knows.

5. What were your most difficult parts to write? Your favorite?

Action scenes and comedy scenes are hard work. They take a lot of tweaking to get them to move just right, flow just right. They're also my favorite, but I can feel myself dreading them when I'm coming up to one, And if it's a comedic action scene, well, it's pretty intimidating. But I love it when I get it right.

6. When is your next book coming out and what is the story?

The cozy mysteries are in the Heartsong Presents Mysteries book club. That's the only place they're available for a while. The three books in this series will release as a collection in June called Nosy in Nebraska. That's listed on Amazon now-so you can buy it, but you'll be waitng a while for delivery. It will be in bookstores in June.

My next release into book stores will be Gingham Mountain. You can buy it on Amazon now, for later delivery and you can also find a pathway to it through my blog and my website.

Thanks for having me on, Amber.

* * * * *

Thank you, Mary, for being in the spotlight with us.

Readers, leave a comment for your chance to win a FREE autographed copy of your choice of one of Mary's books.

If you wish to comment but don't want to be entered, say so when you post. Make sure you also leave your email address (name at domainname dot.com/net). Wouldn't want you to miss out on winning a book. :)

And if you want to make certain you don't miss anything, check the box that says 'email follow-up comments to:' when you leave a comment and they'll be sent to the email address associated with your blogging account. That way you'll be notified of any comments and will know when I announce the winner.

This week, the contest is open to anyone worldwide.

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