Readers questions with Mary Connealy and Australian Giveaway

Please welcome back Mary Connealy to my blog today. Today Mary is answering some reader questions. Due to winning a copy of Out of Control and also purchasing a copy there will also be a giveaway at the end of the post. Thanks Mary for coming back to my blog today.

Penny from Canada would like to know if you would like to live in the settings you write about?

 I’ve set my books in some beautiful places and I wouldn’t mind living there, but if you’re talking about HISTORICAL times, then no way. I’m a huge wimp. I want air conditioning and running water. I come from hardy pioneer stock but I myself, would probably have falling into the first creek our wagon train forded and drowned. I just seem like the type.

 Also from Penny, she is always curious if Christian authors view their work as more than an occupation, if they see writing as an outreach as well and take that into account when writing? 

I don’t really think of writing as something I do. I think of being a writer as something I AM! Does that make sense? I can’t seem to stop. I love making stories up. I think if I’d never gotten published, or if the contracts ever dry up, I’ll just keep on writing until I die. So is that an outreach? Or is it just obsessive compulsive disorder?

Paula’s question and comment (and Janet agreed about loving cowboys to read and write about).  

What is your fascination with Cowboys? Mine would be that they are lean and mean handsome guys who take your breath away.... 

I think cowboys are great to write because they don’t talk. Strange twist to put on it, but my husband (who is a cowboy) used to say, “Men think things through and women talk things through.” (which is a lot of talking for my cowboy!) And I think there’s some truth to that, although there are chatty men and quiet women, still as a sort of…generalization, I think that’s true. And no where is it more true than with a cowboy. So I can have all this stuff going on in his head while a woman is just talking away as she talks through her problems or worries or joys. Then the man sort of makes a pronouncement of what he’s decided. There is a huge possibility in there for comedy and misunderstanding. Which makes for a great book.

Janet asks what the first romance she can remember reading was? 

I didn’t read a lot of romance when I was young. I was an avid reader but not romance so much. Then when I grew up I started having babies and there was about a decade there when I never read anything. But when my baby was starting to be a little older I started reading, and then writing. I can’t think of a specific book that started it off, but I always loved romantic comedy and action. If they’re falling in love and sassing each other while they’re running for their lives, then I’m happy. A favorite author for years was Julie Garwood when she was writing her Scottish Lairds and English Lasses. Saving Grace was one of my favorites. And they were fairly clean. There was graphic sex, but it was at least between married couples. I appreciated that.

Jennifer’s Question and comment is who influences your writing style? I am always curious to know these things about authors. 

Julie Garwood was a big influence. Some of my other influences are kinda weird and you might not see it, but I loved the work of Mary Higgins Clark and Clive Cussler. I loved the way they could make a book into a roller coaster ride.

Jenny here with a couple of questions. I read in the front of Out of Control how a vacation sparked what became the story. Are there places you would like to set a story so you could vacation in the area to research the story? 

That is such a great idea, Jenny. I do hear about things like tourist cattle drives and dude ranches and I had a friend go on a wagon train re-enactment for a few days. I’d love to try that out sometime. I bet I’d get tired of it fast and want my comfortable hotel room back, huh? (Jenny Here, I would be so cool do be on a re-enactment for a few days but like you I think I would be looking for a hotel room)

When you wrote Deep Trouble which I really loved, had you visited The Grand Canyon? 

I visited the Grand Canyon once, years ago. In researching that book I found so many cool things. By the time I was done researching I wanted to go bad, go to the bottom of it. I know I can’t hike down, I’m too old!!! Well, too out of shape, people my age probably do it all the time. (Jenny again, I wanted to see the view they saw of the canyon while reading the story)

I know a question authors hate is which is their favourite book so I am not going to ask but am wondering I know you have written historical, contemporary and also cozy mysteries and have a suspense book out under a pseudonym. Do you find it hard to change from the different styles of writing? 

I really love changing writing styles. It energizes me to go back and forth, wakes up different creative lines of thinking.

Can you tell us a little about your latest books.

Out of Control

Julia Gilliland has always been interested in the natural world around her. She particularly enjoys her outings to the cavern near her father's homestead, where she explores for fossils and formations, and plans to write a book about her discoveries. The cave seems plenty safe--until the day a mysterious intruder steals the rope she uses to find her way out.
Rafe Kincaid has spent years keeping his family's cattle ranch going, all without help from his two younger brothers, who fled the ranch--and Rafe's controlling ways--as soon as they were able. He's haunted by one terrible day at the cave on a far-flung corner of the Kincaid property, a day that changed his life forever. Ready to put the past behind him, he plans to visit the cave one final time. He sure doesn't expect to find a young woman trapped in one of the tunnels--or to be forced to kiss her!
Rafe is more intrigued by Julia than any woman he's ever known, but how can he overlook her fascination with the cave he despises? And when his developing relationship with Julia threatens his chance at reconciliation with his brothers, will he be forced to choose between the family bonds that could restore his trust and the love that could heal his heart?

Australian Giveaway.