Earlier this month, I celebrated the release of my latest Harlequin Heartwarming book, HER SURPRISE COWBOY GROOM. To help promote the book, I answered a few questions about myself in some get to know you posts I thought might be fun to share here as well.
To enter the giveaway (a free print copy of HER COWBOY SWEETHEART, Starbucks card and cowboy coffee mug), all you have to do is post a comment below, telling a short fun fact about yourself ?
What is something interesting readers would enjoy learning about you?
I really have lived the cowboy lifestyle for most of my life, getting my first horse when I was a youngster and having them up until a few years ago. Nothing like walking out your back door to the barn and petting a velvety nose. Or some feathers and wiry hair. While my kids were growing up, we had not just horses and the usual cats and dogs, I also kept a flock of around twenty-five hens (including one resident rooster), adopted a couple of rescue goats and had a pet potbellied pig named Queenie. She lived on the back porch in her own house, built by my stepdad, and had her personal wading pool. Queenie was very smart and knew a half-dozen tricks. She enjoyed going on walks with me around the neighborhood with would follow along like a dog. And also like a dog, she loved belly rubs, flopping over onto her back and begging for them. Every night after dinner, she waited outside the kitchen door for leftover, which I delivered. Her only bad habit was knocking over the barrels of horse grain or chicken feed and gorging herself.
Can you tell us about your latest novel?
Her Surprise Cowboy Groom is book four and the last installment in my Wishing Well Springs series.
An instant family…Could change her plans!
Ambitious wedding dress designer Laurel Montgomery can’t afford to be distracted…especially not by easygoing cowboy Max Maxwell. Wrangling his three-year-old twin daughters, a rambunctious puppy and a fledgling business, Max has his hands full, too. But he also knows the value of going for ice cream and fishing with his girls. Can he show Laurel there are more important things than making it big—like love and family?
Purchase HER SURPRISE COWBOY GOOM
Why did you choose to write a story set on a ranch?
Cowboy and ranch stories are my favorites to write, mostly because I lived the life and think cowboy heroes are the best. And since I lived on a small ranch for over twenty years, it’s a story setting I’m very familiar with and love. There’s something very appealing about the great outdoors. It can be adventurous and exciting and charming, too.
What kind of ranching is done in your story?
Wishing Well Springs was once a thriving horse ranch, the largest in the state. When the heroine’s grandparents went into dept and lost the business fifteen years ago, the ranch was sold off acre by acre. It was the heroine’s idea to turn the remaining house, barn, and few acres into a wedding venue. She and her business partner brother keep the cowboy and ranching spirit alive by giving carriage rides to excited brides the happy couples.
Have you been to a rodeo? What are they like and how did you incorporate it into your story?
I’ve been to plenty of rodeos, from the time I was just a kid, and love them. My characters are often rodeo competitors, current or retired. Like so many live sporting events, they are fast-paced and exciting with the crowds going wild. The dangerous events, like bull and bronc riding, are thrilling. The skill events, roping especially, amaze me. I love that women are no longer restricted to just barrel racing and are competing in breakaway roping and team roping. Go girl power. I find writing rodeo scenes, when my characters are competing, to be incredibly challenging. While I’ve tried barrel racing and roping, I’ve never ridden a bull or wrestled a calf, so I’ve relied on interviewing rodeo competitors for my research.
Your story is about a wedding barn. Can you tell us more about them and how the characters created one?
I was inspired to set my series in a wedding barn ranch after attending a friend’s nuptials at a charming wedding barn and western town. While watching the couple exchange vows, I was mentally creating stories. Since I knew I wanted two to four books in the series, I had to come up with a reason for my characters to turn the family ranch into a rustic wedding venue. Desperation seemed like a good motive, so I gave them financial hardships. But why a wedding barn? That part was easy. I made the heroine of my book a wedding fashion designer and her brother an architect. Together, they formed the perfect team.
Well, that’s probably more than you want to know about me 🙂 Don’t forget to enter the giveaway by posting a comment. Prize will be sent via regular mail service, US only (sorry).
Cathy McDavid has been penning Westerns for Harlequin since 2005. With over 55 titles in print and 1.6 million-plus books sold, Cathy is also a member of the prestigious Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll. This “almost” Arizona native and mother of grown twins is married to her own real-life sweetheart. After leaving the corporate world seven years ago, she now spends her days penning stories about good looking cowboys riding the range, busting broncs, and sweeping gals off their feet — oops, no. Make that winning the hearts of feisty, independent women who give the cowboys a run for their money. It a tough job, but she’s willing to make the sacrifice.
I love to read!! When I was young, I would hide in my bed with a flashlight to read late into the night.
Me, too. And my mom would catch me at it and get so mad 🙂
When my grades would drop, my folks would limit my library reading. That’s when I found anthologies and things like trilogies bound in a single volume.
Huh. That’s interesting, Kate 🙂
When I was younger, I helped break and train mustangs.
I’d love to hear more about that, Rhonda. What a cool experience!
When I was a teenager I learned to water ski. Graduated from two skies to one(slalom). Then tried barefoot skiing. I went about 50 yards. After coming up, my eyelashes felt like they were in my eyes! Yep! Never again, but I did barefoot! LOL
I’m impressed. I mean, really impressed 🙂
I love to read and make my own cards. Mom started making her own cards over 27 years ago, and I would help. I continued to help in different ways over the years. Then, after I’d been home as her full-time caregiver for a year, I became a licensed insurance agent. I started making my own cards for my clients, and continue to do so. I inherited all of Mom’s supplies after her passing.
How lovely. I’ve received home-made cards, and they are so pretty.
I make lap quilts for grandchildren and great grands. I started about 11-12 years ago. I also made one for my mother and a cousin when she married. I have 5 to go for grandchildren and one to replace for a great grand as it was left behind in a move.
What a thoughtful gift and special keepsake.
I’m honest to a fault.
That isn’t a bad quality to have 🙂
I love to read and do things with my grandkids.
Two great things! Enjoy 🙂
this is a fun post. thanks for sharing. I grew up on a ranch in the Mojave Desert until I was in my second year of high school. I was in 4-H. one of my things was horses. I had a palomino named Goldie. together we would travel the desert to get to our 4-H meetings and to friends homes. every year there was a fair near by with a rodeo. Goldie and I always participated in barrel racing. I loved it so much. feeling the poser between my legs and the wind in my face. when I fell off Goldie would stop and come back to me. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
That’s a great story, Lori. Thanks for sharing 🙂
It sounds like an exciting book which I look forward to reading. I recently saw a tv program on Hallmark where they had a wedding barn and it was also beautiful. There is a lot of reality in stories. We used to have a few horses on our farm in Iowa and my dad was a avid rider since he grew up on a farm with horses used for work. I do not know if he ever had time for just riding horses. Back in his day, since he was born in 1919, a farm was mostly work, work, work with not much time for play. His dad passed when he was 15, so as the oldest boy, he was forced to become the man of the house. He was always a very hard worker and took great care of Mom and all 6 of us kids.
Your dad sounds like an amazing man. You were blessed.
When I was a mother I enjoyed my boys, but being a grandmother was extraordinary and wonderful. What an experience.
That is indeed wonderful, Anne. Motherhood in all its forms is indeed an experience.
I enjoyed reading your post. My parents emigrated to the U.S. years ago, my mom from Spain and my dad from Germany. They met in California where I was later born and raised. So besides English, of course, I speak Spanish and German.
Tri-lingual. That’s a great talent to have. Love that your parents shared so much of their cultures with you.
I enjoyed learning more about you.
I’ve been in two national commercials as myself. I earned my SAG card on one.
That’s really neat. What a great experience!
I am an identical twin and we both love to read.
How cool is that? I have twins, but they’re not identical 🙂
When I was younger I went on a European trip sponsored by my college and because I knew an important fact about a museum painting that a tour guide asked us in Amsterdam I was known as the artist of our group. So in a small Italian town cafe they had a guest book where people would draw scenes then autograph them. So being from Arizona I drew a Navajo girl tending her sheep in the Painted Desert and all our group signed the book. So the interesting thing about me is that some of my artwork is out there for the world to see.
That’s an awesome story. And I love the idea of a guest book where people draw scenes 🙂
Thanks for sharing about yourself.
I was the volunteer Youth Group Advisor at our church for fourteen years. We had some great experiences with retreats at mountain cabins, especially our Christmas Tree Retreats. We would bring home trees for the church and many of the families of the kids who participated. Some years the National Forest lands would have deep snow and we didn’t go far from the cabin. Other years there was very little snow and we could search farther for the perfect tree. There was always time for Bible study and lots of singing…fun times.
A Christmas Tree Retreat. What a fantastic idea and a great experience.
Enjoyed the Q&A!
A fun fact about me… hated reading as a kid… book reports took the enjoyment out of it… so I did not like reading till I was out of school… then I read a Historical Romance and was hooked. Hard to find me without a book now!
Historical romances were an early favorite of mine, too
I love coffee so my current job (working at a roastery) is perfect for me. Thanks for the chance to win such a nice prize.
I love coffee, too, Vickie!
I love to read & to garden. I don’t enjoy writing, though!
I wish I had more time to garden. I enjoy what little I do.
Hi, I volunteered children from grades 1st to 4th grade Catechism for over 25 yrs, I have been been teaching my 2 grandchildren catechism for almost 10yrs here at my home they are the only ones I teach now, both my grandchildren prefer for me to teach them. (our granddaughter will be a Senior in HS this year and our grandson will be a Sophomore in HS this year and I will be their catechist again) When I was growing up, my mom and dad would go pick up a gentleman and a lady and they would give us our catechism classes at our house, at the time we did not have a church in our little town, there weren’t too many people living there , actually our house was maybe the second house built there. So my dad and my mom would go and pick up the catechists to come give us our class. Once our little town started growing my parents would go pick up a Priest from the near by town and he would go give Mass which we would have on our carport. When my 2 children were growing up and my daughter was in 1st grade was when I started volunteering being a catechist. When my children were grown and in college I volunteered being a reading mentor for 2nd and 3rd graders at our elementary schools, I was a reading mentor for 5 yrs. Volunteering as a catechist and a reading mentor is so very rewarding. Thank you for the chance.
Yes, Alicia, what truly rewarding work. I so admire you 🙂
I like raising flowers and vegetables from seed. I love watching the process and seeing the first wonderful results.
That’s awesome. I love that, too, and wish I had more time.
Creating practical and helpful gift boxes for many others who are suffering from illness, grief and problems. For years this has helped me stay positive.
Oh, my. How kind of you <3
I love the idea of a wedding barn. I love all animals. We have three indoor cats. We feed the stray cats in our neighborhood. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
I have two cats, Debbie. And we have a neighborhood stray who comes around a couple times a week for food. Several of us feed her 🙂
I began riding at age 4 and spent most summers reading in the pasture under the shade tree next to my horse!
That sounds absolutely wonderful!
I was a Peace Corps volunteer and am now a Red Cross Disaster and Service To The Armed Forces volunteer. While in my youth, I climbed two active volcanoes. Melted the rubber soles of my sneakers while climbing the first and dodged Hot rocks and ash erupting from the second. I wouldn’t try either one today. Not necessarily because I’m any smarter, just slower.
What an incredible adventurous life you’ve have. And thank you for your service.
like to cook
And I bet you’re good at it!
I am an identical twin and my twin sister is my best friend. We were born one minute apart and share the same likes and dislikes for the most part.
That’s great. Sisters and friends <3
I use to piece quilts and my sister would quilt them on her quilting machine but arthritis got the best of me and my sister passed away so I have stopped making my quilts.
What a wonderful hobby to be able to share with your sister for so long 🙂
I am an avid reader of many different genres. I enjoy discovering new authors and series and I always posts reviews on Goodreads!