Contest & Interview with Contemporary Romance Author of The Secret Life of a Cowboy Trilogy, C.H. Admirand

Title: DYLAN

Series: 2nd in The Secret Life of A Cowboy Trilogy

By C.H. Admirand

Genre: contemporary, Fiction,Romance, Adult

Publisher: Sourcebook 

Imprint: Incorporated

Format: eBook & Print

On Shelves:  January 1, 2012

Pages: 384

Read an Excerpt

Order: Amazon and B&N 

There was nothing he couldn’t tame…

Dylan Garahan might be an old hand at lassoing fillies, but one night at the Lucky Star club, and he ends up wrapping his rope around someone that even his formidable strength can't tame. She's wily and beautiful... and she's his new boss. Dylan's had his heart broken before, but even an honest cowpoke has to wrestle with temptation...

Until he got his lasso around her…

Ronnie DelVecchio might be fresh off the bus from New Jersey, but she's a hard-edged businesswoman and has had her fill of men she can't trust—although she might consider getting off her high horse for that big, handsome rancher with a Texas drawl.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C.H. Admirand was born in Aiken, South Carolina. She has published 9 bestselling novels for the library market. Her Secret Life of Cowboy series, published by Sourcebooks Casablanca includes Tyler (available now), Dylan (in stores January 2012) and Jesse (in stores July 2012). She lives with her husband, who is the inspiration for all of her heroes’ very best traits, in northern New Jersey. For more information, please visit http://www.chadmirand.com/ or follow her on twitter, @chadmirand.

C.H. Admirand Interview, Author of Dylan

Romantic Crush Junkies Reviews; January 6, 2011

What is the best part of being a writer?  What is the worst?
CA: Writing and being able to tell a story is a gift. I’m still amazed that when I sit down to write, it’s just there. There is no other explanation except that I truly believe each of us has a special gift that we are supposed to share with others. I’ve had characters arguing in my head for years—some of the stories I still haven’t had time to tell, but I hope to get around to it this year—my first year as a full time writer. I love the process: having characters pop into my head, creating the plot, and sometimes righting a wrong by giving someone who deserved a happily ever after in real life one in fiction.

Hmmm…the worst? It is a solitary occupation, so when I have to go be a social butterfly when I’d rather have my nose buried in a book or be chained to my laptop writing, it’s hard to remember this is all part of being an author. It definitely doesn’t come naturally to me.

Why do you write?
CA: I have to—voices of characters that I haven’t written yet wake me up in the middle of the night, while characters in current works-in-progress argue in my head. I tried not writing once and it didn’t work.

Name one eye-opening thing you learned from your book research.
CA: When doing research for JESSE, the 3rd book in The Secret Life of Cowboys trilogy, I discovered that Prussic Acid – found in certain Sorghum and Sudan grasses is toxic and can kill in a matter of fifteen or twenty minutes. The plant cells contain a type of cyanogenic compound and once they break the Prussic Acid forms. This can happen due to freezing, cutting, drought, trampling, chewing, etc. There are a number of plants that contain these compounds. Cattle and sheep are most at risk because they graze. To avoid this deadly problem, some ranchers plant their own grain, but all are very diligent about the areas their herd grazes in.

Do you have a favorite motto?
CA: Absolutely…it’s my Purcell ancestors’ motto: Aut Vincam, Aut Periam: translation: I will either conquer or perish. I have used it in my Medieval trilogy.
 
Do you have a favorite fictional hero?  Favorite fictional heroine?
CA: That’s a tough call because so many heroes and heroines have touched my heart over the years. I guess it’s a tie between Iain Maitland and Lady Judith from Julie Garwood’s THE SECRET, or Brodick Buchanan and Lady Gillian from Julie Garwood’s RANSOM.
Which fictional character would you hang out with?
CA: Either one, it would be amazing to hang out in Medieval Scotland. J
  
What is one of your favorite book covers, your own or someone else’s?
CA: It’s hard to decide between Amanda Quick’s MISTRESS (it reminds me of Cinderella’s coach) and Patricia Rice’s re-release of MERELY MAGIC (it reminds me of a Midsummer Night’s Dream.)
 

What would readers be surprised to learn about you?
CA: I don’t really like to talk about myself—but ask me about my kids or my new gorgeous grandbaby Jack. J

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever learned by Googling your name?
CA: I had no idea that TYLER was available for iTunes…pretty cool. J
  

If you could go backward or forward in time which would you chose?  Why?
CA: I’d go backward. Every time I hear bagpipes I have this image in my head of standing alone atop a hill on a misty morning with the wail of the pipes surrounding me. The first time I attended the Hunter Mountain Celtic Festival and watched the massed march of pipe and drum bands it was foggy. You could hear the wail of the pipes, but couldn’t see them. When that first piper stepped out of the fog, I got chills…there was a brief pause before the others joined him. I remember seeing a redheaded piper standing in the middle of one of the first bands, he wore a bright red coat and it was as if Jaime from Diana Gabaldon’s OUTLANDER stepped out of her book and onto the mountain. For a moment I couldn’t speak…I could only stare.

C.H., please tell us about your latest Sourcebooks release, Dylan: The Secret Life of Cowboys.
CA: Dylan is the quiet, middle brother. He isn’t big on words, unless the situation warrants it. He doesn’t want to fill in for Tyler at the Lucky Star, but once a Garahan gives his word, he keeps it, so he has no choice. On his third and last day working at the club, a blonde, brunette, and a redhead walk into the bar…but there’s just something different about the brunette…maybe it’s the blindfold. When they whip the blindfold off the pretty brunette, Dylan tosses his lasso around her and starts to reel her in. Ronnie DelVecchio fights him every step of the way, but once he gets her in his arms and looks down into her siren-green eyes, he’s a goner, the fact that she’s spitting like a mad cat just adds to the attraction for him. Ronnie’s leaving NJ and her ex behind, when she gets to Pleasure, Texas, she realizes she’s driven far enough and wants to stay. Sparks and tempers fly whenever the two are in the same room. Ronnie’s shop is destroyed and she needs a carpenter to put it back together…destiny steps in when Tyler’s fiancée, Emily, tells Ronnie she knows someone. Just her luck it’s Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome from the club…good thing he left his lasso home.

Which do you find is most important to you as a writer, voice or story? Why?
CA: It’s funny, but I don’t really think about either one when I’m writing. It depends on the story, but I’ve created stories around characters that pop into my head and then other times, I’ve had an idea morph into a plot and then the characters decide to start talking to me.

C.H., please tell us where we can find you out in cyber world.  For desperate readers like me, we just have to know…J
CA: That’s easy, you can find me on my website: www.chadmirand.com or facebook: www.facebook.com/CHAdmirand or twitter: www.twitter.com/CHAdmirand .

I know this is a difficult question with there being so many amazing authors out there to choose from but who are some of the GOT-TO-HAVE authors in your TBR pile?
CA: Nora Roberts, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Julie Garwood, Christina Skye.

What’s next in the works for you?  When can readers expect to see it out on shelves in their local bookstores?
CA: JESSE, book 3 in The Secret Life of Cowboys releases July 2, 2012 and in November, A WEDDING IN PURITY, the first book in my new Small Town USA series that takes place in Purity, Ohio.

Thank you C.H. for stopping by Romantic Crush Junkies Reviews today and sharing more about you’re the Secret Life of a Cowboy series. It has been a blast getting to know more about you and your work.

~CONTEST~

To celebrate the release of C.H. Admirand's latest in her The Secret Life of a Cowboy trilogy, DYLAN; RCJR will be giving two lucky winners their very own copy.  Please leave a comment for Ms. Admirand including your email.  Sorry, no email...no entry.

*Connect with RCJR eZine at:

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Contest is open to ALL readers.

Contest runs until January 31, 2011.

I will contact winners directly on February 1, 2011.