Charlene Sands

Charlene Sands is a USA Today Bestselling Author of 35 novels, writing both western and contemporary romance. She's a lover of all things romantic, especially her bold, rugged, heartstopping "real good men" heroes! She's the recepient of the National Readers' Choice Award, the Bookseller's Best Award and the Cataromance Reviwer's Choice Award. When not writing, she spends time with her "hero" husband, enjoying Pacific Beaches and drinking iced mocha cappucinos!



Charlene loves to hear from her readers.

Drop her a line at www.charlenesands.com or write her at PO. Box 4883, West Hills, CA 91308

"LIKE" her at www.Facebook.com/CharleneSandsbooks

10 Things You May Not Know About Me…Charlene Sands

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Charlene-with-Books1.  I officially met my Now and Forever husband when I was sixteen.  He was the cliché high school sweetheart and the boy that lived around the corner. In fact, his number address was the same as ours.  But I really knew of him much earlier on as he and his brothers would often steal into our backyard to retrieve baseballs that went over the fence into our yard.  My dad caught him red-handed one day, “taking” an orange from our tree, age 10.

Charlene and Don
Charlene and Don

2.    Cats and kittens have always been a part of my life.  As a young girl, before it was politically correct to spay and neuter, two of our cats gave birth at the same time.  I was in kitten heaven having nine little fur balls to love!  And we were lucky enough to give all of them good homes.

Skittles 2
Skittles was my computer mascot.

 

3.    To me “math” is a four letter word.  Ugh, I’ll be eternally grateful to my sister Carol for getting me through torturous Algebra and Geometry…  Lucky for me history and English have more letters!

4.    I have read every book LaVyrle Spencer and Susan Elizabeth Phillips have written.  (I’m sure I’m not alone on this).

Susan Elizabeth Phillips

5.     My favorite motto:  Carpe Diem.   Seize the day, the moment, the opportunity and you’ll never look back with regret.

6.    I am addicted, I mean ADDICTED to Dancing With The Stars.  The show makes me absolutely happy.

DWTS Champion

7.     There is nothing I enjoy more than the value of a comfortable pair of shoes!  I am not a shopper and my feet don’t always cooperate in most shoes, so it’s like winning the lottery when I find a pair of shoes that are stylish AND comfortable!  I’m on the lookout now, as I’ll be attending the Romance Writers Convention soon and need comfy shoes for work and play!

8.    I’m a: The Glass is Half Full kind of girl.

9.   I own a Disney Musical Globe collection and wish they’d make more quality globes like they had in the past.  My favorite is Cinderella.

They dance, there's music and a clock that strikes 12 midnight!
They dance, there’s music and a clock that strikes 12 midnight!
Disney globes
Some of the collection:   Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan and Beauty and the Beast

10.  I take after my father in that I love surprising people, giving goodies away and holding contests!    Post a comment here and I’ll be giving away 2 ebook copies to 2 bloggers today of Bachelor For Hire for your Kindle or Nook!   Simply share with me if we have any of the above in common?

 

Sands-Bachelor-300dpi       AMAZON

Ex-Army sergeant and security expert, Cody Matthews recently walked away from his company to work The Lucky B Ranch just outside of Marietta, Montana. The ranch is his refuge, but his hiding out is short-lived when he’s recruited into the Marietta Bachelor Auction and his high school ex-crush bids a small fortune to spend one weekend with him.

Hollywood starlet, Hayley Dawn O’Malley has had decent, honest, sexy Code Matthews on the brain ever since she left Marietta after high school to pursue her dreams. But now she’s back in town and someone is threatening her. Cody, a natural-born protector, is the only man she trusts to keep her safe.

Spending their weekend date in a remote cabin, Cody plays the role of reluctant bodyguard, yet Hayley isn’t going to let the tormented man deny his feelings for her, no matter the threat to her body or her heart.

The Bachelor Auction Returns
Book 1: Bachelor for Hire by Charlene Sands

 

 

The Language of a Cowboy and a Giveaway by Charlene Sands

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Charlene-with-Books 

 Writers tend to write with their own separate and unique voice which simply means that a strong writer’s voice can’t be mistaken for someone else.  The more powerful the “voice” of the author, the more unique and identifiable they are to their readers.   It’s more about style than anything else and the author’s natural way of telling a story.  But when you write in a certain time period, you also need to know the language of the day.

When writing westerns, I think I absorbed a great deal from watching television westerns as a young girl.  You know them all, Bonanza, Rifleman, Maverick, Gunsmoke, and the like.  It also didn’t hurt that my in-laws were Texans, and if one spends any amount of time in Texas, it’s impossible not to pick up on the nuances of the speech, the twang, the cadence of the way Texans speak.  

But I needed more help than that when writing my westerns because over the years some of those beautiful words and expressions faded into history.  I found this book, The Cowboy Dictionary subtitled, The Chin Jaw Words and Whing-Ding ways of the American West.  Author, Ramon F. Adams.  I don’t think I’ve ever written a western without digging into this book.  Here’s a few terms, words and expressions from the old WEST:

Cowboy language

 

Boston dollar- cowboy’s name for a penny

Buck out in smoke – to die in a gun battle

Cattle Kate – Any woman involved in cattle rustling. The original Cattle Kate Maxwell, real name Ella Watson was hanged with her lover for cattle stealing in Wyoming during the Rustler’s War.

Didn’t keep his twine on his tree – Said of a rustler who did not keep rope on the saddle horn where it belonged.

Fleabag- cowboy’s name for his bedroll

Giggle talk- what a cowboy calls foolish speech

Hang up his rope- Cowboy expression meaning to quit a job or quit their calling. Also said if one is too old to work with cattle any longer

High-line rider- what a cowboy called an outlaw. He usually rode the high country to keep a lookout for sheriffs and posses.

Lead poisoned- a cowboy’s term for being shot

Lone ranger- a cowboy’s term for an unmarried man

Mouthy – a cowboy word for someone inclined to talk a great deal.  Cowboys’ motto, “The bigger the mouth the better it looks shut.”

Padding out his belly – someone inclined to eat at every opportunity

Pecos Bill- a cowboy name for a liar, from the mythical character of the West

Peddler of loads – teller of tall tales and “Campaign against the truth” and “could color up a story redder than a Navajo blanket.”

Prayer book- cowboy’s word for his cigarette papers

Powders—cowboy’s term for orders from the boss

Ride herd on a woman – cowboy’s term for courting a woman

Soft grub- a cowboy’s term for hotel food or fancy victuals

Washing out the canyon- cowboy’s expression for taking a bath

Yack- a cowboy’s name for a stupid person

 

Do you have a favorite word, slang or expression?  If we were to write a book of terms and expressions today, what would we put in that book?  Of the above terms, which one surprises you the most or makes you laugh?   Post a comment and be entered to win a 2 in 1 Desire, Secret Heir of Sunset Ranch/Expecting a Bolton Baby (or another of my backlist books)  And don’t forget to pick up a copy of Twins for the Texan!!  

 

Twins for the Texan_Sand

                                                                                                                     AMAZON

Twins…and another baby on the way for this cowboy from USA TODAY bestselling author Charlene Sands! 

After Wyatt Brandt rescues Brooke McKay en route to a Texas wedding, they spend one hot night together before going their separate ways. Now Brooke’s back with news she isn’t sure the wealthy rancher is ready to hear—especially when she discovers he’s already a father…of twins!

Being a single dad is a full-time job Wyatt can’t do alone. He doesn’t expect the ideal nanny to be the beauty who briefly shared his bed. But he accepts her help gladly—not knowing her little secret will change his family forever…

 

 

 

 

 

Double the Trouble or Twice as Nice? by Charlene Sands

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Charlene-with-BooksI married a twin of the fraternal variety and we were married nearly right out of high school, so it baffles me why it’s taken me this long to write a twins story!  For me, loving a twin has been twice as nice, and not double the trouble.  But that isn’t always the case. And so, I penned a story about a hunky father of twins, who meets up with trouble in the form of a spirited woman whose car has broken down along the side of the road.  Texas Style.  

In doing my research I found out some amazing trivia about twins:

The word twin is probably derived from an ancient German word twine, which means ‘two together.

1 in every 32 children born is a twin (1 in 65 pregnancies results in a twin birth). Twins account for 1.5% of all pregnancies or 3% of the population.The twinning rate has risen 50% in the last 20 years. This is attributed to an increase in maternal age, wider use of IVF and assisted conception and advancement of medical technology.

 Fraternal twins do run in the family but only on the maternal line. If a mother herself is a fraternal twin, the chance of conceiving twins increases four-fold.
 The rate for identical twins, or monozygotic, multiples is random and universal (no influencing factors) and occurs 1 in every 285 births. They are the same sex, have the same blood types, hair and eye color, hand and footprints and chromosomes, yet have different teeth marks and fingerprints.
 Mirror image twins account for about 25% of identical twins. Their hair falls in opposite directions, they have mirror image fingerprints and if one is right handed, the other is left handed.
 Twins and multiples have been known to develop their own ‘language’ that only they understand. This ‘twin talk’ is known as cryptophasia or idioglossia.
 The world’s oldest twins were born on Feb 14 1803 in Virginia and died at the ages of 108 and 113 respectively. The chances of identical twins surpassing the age of 100 is 1 in 700 million.
 The Yoruba tribe of Nigeria have the highest twinning rate in the entire world (3 sets of twins in every 19 births). The Nigerian people attribute it to their population’s consumption of a specific type of yam. China has the lowest twinning rate with only 1 in 300 pregnancies resulting in a twin birth.
 Up to 22 percent of twins are left-handed. In the non-twin population the number is just under 10 percent.
Twin types and genders are oddly symmetrical. 1/3rd of all twins are identical, 1/3rd are the same sex fraternal and 1/3rd are male/female fraternal. Of the identical twins, half are male/male, and half are female/female. Of the same sex fraternal, half are male/male, and half are female/female.
 Australia produced the world”s first test-tube twins in June 1981.

Twins for the Texan_Sand

AMAZON    BarnesandNoble  HARLEQUIN   ITUNES  KOBO   GOOGLE PLAY

Here’s what they are saying about Twins for the Texan! 

Their explosive attraction is just the beginning of an unexpected journey full of love, parenthood and second chances.  Expressive characters bring authenticity to the emotional and sometimes chaotic aspects of falling love while raising small children. This Billionaires and Babies romance is sizzling!…Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine 

Wyatt is an amazing hero, a wonderful father and an incredible lover. Brooke cannot help but fall in love but she is not sure Wyatt is ready for more. The path to true love is never easy and this one has more than a few rocks to navigate. The story unfolds magnificently as Brooke helps Wyatt by serving as the nanny for his children. He accepts her help and hopes for some more time in other areas as well. It was also nice to visit with Brooke’s brother and her best friend. Charlene Sands knows how to capture us and keep us reading until the last word.  Debby Guyette, formerly of Cataromance 

Do twins run in your family, like they do in mine?  How would you feel about raising twins?  Any fun twin stories? I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours?  Post a comment and be entered in a drawing for my new western ebook release Bachelor For Hire or one of my print backlist books…

Sands-Bachelor-MEDIUM

 

 

The Changing Face of Ranchers and Cowboys and a Giveaway!

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Charlene-with-Books

 

I’m a city girl who has always loved stories about the west.  Most of what I learned about ranching and cowboys came from research books like these.  They taught me what everyday life was like to a rancher in olden times.  I came to rely on these books for insight and they proved invaluable to me as I slowly morphed from writing western historical heroes to more modern day heroes of the west.

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s-l1600

Surely the truth about ranching and cowboys is far less glamorous than is portrayed.  The work was hard, the days grueling and long.  Mexican vaqueros were well versed in ranching and taught their counterparts about horses, grazing, feed, cutting and cattle drives. They were the first true ranchers and cowboys of the American West.

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Soon western film and TV stars became household names and introduced to society a whole different image of the rancher and cowboy.   Roy Rogers was my personal favorite. I had a fan girl crush on him back in the day while watching reruns!

Roy Rogers

Bump it up a few years and our image of ranchers/cowboys became much more romantic and women fell in love with the likes of Rowdy Yates aka Clint Eastwood.

Clint Easwood

And then of course, John Wayne came on the scene too and brought with him grit and power and a sense of national pride.  There’s something all American about a rancher working the land. john-wayne-movie-poster-1971-1020222804

 

A generation passes and by now our image of ranchers and cowboys has altered once again to a well educated, smart about the environment, savvy businessman or businesswoman. That’s Scott Eastwood, btw, son of Clint.   The recent success of Pioneer Women too, shows a real interest not only about great country food, but about cowboys and ranch living and women!

scott-eastwood

WU_PioneerWoman_EP104_0053.4289911

 

 

One thing is for certain the appeal of ranchers and cowboys remains constant in the hearts and minds of most people and the romanticism lives on.  I bet you wouldn’t guess by the cover that my newest release is all about a small town rancher! (Yes, that’s my cowboy hunk, Code Matthews)   The Bachelor Auction he gets finagled into brings him up close and personal with his ex-crush and one-time best friend.  Not good, but oh, did I mention this rancher gets his Happily Ever After!

Post a comment here about what fascinates you most about cowboys and/or ranchers and one blogger today will win a book of your choice from my available list!

 

Bachelor Auction release
AMAZON   KOBO  SMASHWORDS   ITUNES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner of Charlene’s Random Draw

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Charlene-with-Books

Congrats to SUSAN P

You’ve one a copy of one of my available print backlist books!   Please check out the Books Page on my site at www.charlenesands.com

You can contact me through the website or at charlenesands@hotmail.com

Thanks to all for blogging with me!

Charlene

 

Lights, Camera….Motion! by Charlene Sands

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When we speakCharlene-with-Books about Hollywood, everyone immediately thinks about the film industry.  The big sign in white lettering on the mountaintop looks down upon the area that is affectionately known as Tinsel Town that is synonymous with the film industry.  It’s so close to home to me, that nearly one in every ten people I know work in moviemaking in one way or another.  Film editors, grips, casting, cameramen, screenwriters, actors, digital experts, etc.  So, it wasn’t a coincedence that I wrote a Moonlight Beach bachelor who was a celebrated movie star, think Ryan Gosling or Chris Hemsworth or Brad Pitt.  Yes, it was deliberate because, let’s face it, these celebrities lead amazing, interesting lives.  Dylan McKay is all that and more.  But his story is not your usual suspect.  But we do have suspects, a bit of mystery, amnesia and lots of plot twists.

So how did we get to this point?220px-Muybridge-2

Well, my research took me back to one very ingenious Englishman named Eadweard Muybridge, born in 1830 who was a bookseller first, before becoming a pioneer in photographic studies in motion and early projection.  Leading a mondane life was not in the cards for Eadweard, though.

Although he first arrived in New York city, he soon traveled to San Francisco during the Gold Rush period.  At that time there were 40 bookstores and 60 hotels and many photograhpy studios in the area and he spent his youth working as a bookseller.  But his love of photography and motion took him back to England for a time and then back to America.

In 1860, while traveling to St Louis he was involved in a horrendous stagecoach accident.  Edweard was thrown ten feet in the air and hit his head on a rock.  He suffered great head injuries and some say, it was the cause of often bizarre and highly innovative behavior.

Then in 1874, he shot and killed his wife’s lover.  He originally pleaded insanity due to the head injury,  but had shown brilliance to the jury, seeming to undo the insanity case.  He was acquitted of all charges on the grounds of justifiable homicide.

In 1887 and 1868 his photographs of the Yosemite Valley made him world renowned.

170px-Eadweard_Muybridge_-_Pi-Wi-Ack_(Shower_of_Stars),_Vernal_Fall,_400_Feet,_Valley_of_Yosemite_-_Google_Art_Project - Copy

But his work with motion is what fascinated me the most.  Take a look at how he studied and put together these amazing early photos in stop-motion.   It is said he had produced over 100,000 images of animals and humans in motion.   His invention, zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures predated the perforated film strip later used in cinematography.

 

 

 

The_Horse_in_Motion

Eadweard Muybridge spent many years perfecting the technique ( commissioned by the former Governor of California, Leland Stanford- a race horse owner) to determine the much debated topic of whether when a horse gallops, all four feet leave the ground at once, thus flying through the air.  I find it fascinating that the movie making world we have all come to know, dated as far back as the 1800’s.  Take a peek HERE to see how these twelve images become stop motion.

 

Every time I see the beginnings of what we now take for granted, I’m floored by the inventive spirit of our ancestors.  I happen to love the entire movie going experience. It’s one of my favorite things to do.  I wonder if Edweard would have ever imagined how this medium has taken flight!

While the romance is prevalent in my new release, One Secret Night, One Secret Baby, there’s a behind the scenes look at Hollywood, celebrity and film making and I have to thank my son-in-law for his help and expertise in keeping me honest and authentic with my story!  What about you? Does this fascinate you?  Are you a movie goer?  I’ll be giving away a copy of a backlist book to one lucky blogger today!!

 AMAZON

OneSecretNightOneSecretBaby_Sands