Meet author and busy mother, Krista Ames

Hi, Krista. Welcome to Meet the Author Monday. I’m happy to have you join me. Let’s jump right in, shall we?  

I’m all set and ready, Becca. 

Great, can you define yourself fore readers in five words or less?

(hmmm…)  Dedicated mom, wife and author!

Wow, exactly five. LOL. Okay, a little tougher one. Where would your perfect vacation home be located?   

Well I could think and think on that but really I haven’t been to a bunch of places that I would love to live for a while.  One that my hubby and I return to every year, just to get away by ourselves is Mackinac Island and we’ve talked a few times on what it’d be like to have a home there.

Mackinac Island sounds gorgeous, Krista. It is on my list to go sometime soon.  You define yourself as a wife and mother and your favorite place is based on an area you go to with your darling hubby. So you have to tell us about this man. What makes him the best? 

The best part about my man is his constant support & love because I tell ya he puts up with a lot!  This is my second marriage after a really rocky hard first one.  We met and fell in love over the internet of all places.  He has 1 daughter and I have 3 kids and for sure, it’s not easy going from being a single dad with a 4 year old to being married with 4 kids.  He’s been an absolute trooper AND he lets me be a stay at home mom, which also helps my writing career.

Nice. You are a lucky woman. What make writing important to you?

Writing is important to me because it just give me my ‘me’ time to do what I love to do.  It gives me an outlet for all those stories running around in my head.  I may never be rich at it but it’s what I love to do.

What's the best thing a reader/reviewer has ever said about you or your work?

In a review written for my latest release from "Not Now…Mommy’s Reading" and goes like this…  "I have a confession, I read 'Take Me Home Cowboy' about a month ago. You see, I've had the opportunity to work with Krista Ames on different projects over the last several months, she's a hard working mommy just like us, Blu and I really like and respect her. So, as you can imagine I wanted to do a review of her work justice. Sounds like I didn't like it, right? Well, let me tell you I loved Take Me Home Cowboy!”  read the entire review here… 

How sweet. Gotta love it when readers have such a positive reaction to your work. However, you're sounding a little too perfect. Tell me something odd about you so I don't feel inadequate. 

One of the oddest things about me is that I like to square dance ;)

Ha ha, okay that's unusual in today's world. I can picture you in the swirling skirt - sounds like a blast. An odd thing about me is that I crave old-school foods like pork and kraut and other mundane things over really decadent dishes, but I do love Better Than Sex Cake although I am not sure I agree with that label. Is there anything you would put that label on?

I have heard of Better Than Sex Cake, but if I put that label on something, it would have to be the spicy crawfish cream sauce my hubby makes from scratch and puts on baked fish.

Oh, that sounds yummy. My son would love it. You should sweet talk the recipe out of him for me sometime. But first, brace yourself for a quick fire—a fast way to get to know you. Complete the following sentences:

The person I admire most is my mother. 

If I had my druthers, I’d druther have a warm climate to live in than the cold one I currently reside in. 

If I could change one thing about myself, I would be more patient with my kids.

The happiest moments in my life were the days each of my children was born.

Nine out of ten times, I don’t go back to bed in the morning after my kids leave.

Life is too short to settle for second best.

Thanks for stopping in, Krista. It was fun to get to know a bit about you. Readers you can connect with Krista at any of the following places.

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Weekend Writers

  

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Blurb:

Ally Kincaid returns to Freewill, Wyoming, to see her father after a two year absence. Anticipating a quiet family reunion, she finds herself butting heads with her father’s foreman instead. The man’s arrogance and sexy drawl push all her buttons, making her wonder what he’s hiding beneath his cowboy swagger.

Matt Gentry walked away from the past and shies from the future. No ties means no one gets hurt…until the boss’s daughter, a hot, green-eyed blonde, tempts him to break his own rules.

When tragedy strikes, will building tension and pride destroy their growing attraction or show them the way home?

Excerpt:

Ally’s attention immediately flew to the newcomer in the room. How could she not? He was gorgeous. Not that she actually wanted to notice.  Ha! Who was she kidding? His hair was still damp where it curled slightly at the neckline of his T-shirt. The short sleeve tee was snug fitting and showed off his pectorals and tanned arm muscles. He grabbed his plate, made his way around the table, and leaned in close. Oh, his scent hit her—clean soap and pure male. Good God.

 "Like what you see, princess?" he murmured.

Startled out of her trance, she stumbled for a quick, snide comment. "You wish, cowboy," she whispered back, and then turned back to her daddy, who was already halfway finished with his meal.

She was not about to let anyone see how rattled the foreman’s presence actually made her. She only hoped she hadn’t already given her odd interest in him away. Ignore him and he won't be any the wiser.  She would be sure to make this trip a short one, or she would be in trouble.

Jesse cleaned his plate and abruptly stood, placed his dishes in the sink, and made to leave the room.

"Looks like you kids get to do the dishes. I’m off to my study." Her dad kissed the top of her head and slapped his foreman on the back, then chuckled as he disappeared through the door.

"That rat!" she said. "He shoveled through his dinner on purpose."

"No worries, princess. I do the dishes every night anyway. You can go do whatever it is you do before bed. I’ll take care of the clean up before I head out to check the horses."

"Oh no you don’t. I won’t let you go running to Daddy tomorrow whining because I didn’t do my share, so I’ll wash. And why are you calling me ‘princess’?"

"It seemed fitting. Would you rather me go back to ma'am?"

"No, I would rather you use my name, thank you."

He only shrugged.  He pushed his place setting aside, rose, and reached for the dessert and plates on the counter.  "Since we'll be working together, how about some dessert before we get busy?"

Buy links:

Decadent:  http://www.decadentpublishing.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=take+me+home%2C+cowboy&osCsid=n740fb440ir41l10k8i7fis1d5&button=search

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Take-Cowboy-Western-Escape-ebook/dp/B00AA3PA52/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1353466393&sr=8-7&keywords=Krista+Ames

B&N:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/take-me-home-cowboy-krista-ames/1113823704?ean=2940015728804

ARe:  http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html

BookStrand:  http://www.bookstrand.com/take-me-home-cowboy

Smashwords:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/257040

Meet Andrea Downing

Andrea Downing

Hi Andrea, welcome. 

Hi Becca, thanks so much for having me here today.  

If I could write with an English accent that's what you'd be hearing.  Although I was born here in NYC, I moved to the UK and have spent most of my life on the other side of 'The Pond.'  They did their best over there to hammer out the Yank in me, teaching me to eat sausage sandwiches with Branston pickle, drink Earl Grey tea and gargle with TCP (a liquid antiseptic) when I have a cold.  I spent years bringing up my baby and writing, editing a poetry magazine and teaching.  Then, horror of horrors, the baby grew into a lovely young lady with ideas of her own, one of which was to come to the USA for university.  She was hooked.  She decided to stay on after college, and I was forced to follow.  Yep, they dragged me back to the good ol' USA and are now trying to iron out the kinks, getting me to say 'parking lot' instead of 'carpark,' spell words like 'realiZed' with the Z instead of an S and eat—OMG—hot dogs.

So how did this transplanted English Rose come to write a western historical novel?  That, as they say, is a turn-up for the books!  Well, all that time we were living in Britain we had long holidays—vacations to you Yanks—with thanks to the English school system which gives the children a month at Christmas and Easter and two months in the summer.  Avoiding the unpredictable English weather, we chose to holiday out west on ranches where the weather was equally unpredictable but somewhat warmer in the summer—with the bonus that the riding was good.  Did I say "good?"  No, it was great.  To date, the baby and I have been to some seventeen ranches throughout the western states, always searching for some new scenery and some new experience.  I don't know how many miles we've clocked up on our road trips but we've certainly covered a good few.  Soooo, all that western experience had to lead to something.  What better than to write a book that encompasses both the West that I love and the English Rose?

When I learned that British aristocrats owned most of the large cattle companies in the late 1800s, the stage was set for LOVELAND.   The Americans at the time, you see, could not borrow money so readily as the British in order to start these companies. The English and the Scots, therefore, moved in, foreseeing the fortunes that could be made.  Smart bunch!  Only thing they didn't count on was—that unpredictable weather I just mentioned. 

Well, if I continue, the Loveland story will be spoiled and I'd obviously prefer it if you went out and read the book.  So let me end here with my sincere thanks once again, Becca, for having me here today.   As we say out west, "Much appreciated!"

I am very pleased to have you here, Andrea. I'm a country girl to the core so Loveland sounds great. 

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BLURB:

When Lady Alexandra Calthorpe returns to the Loveland, Colorado, ranch owned by her father, the Duke, she has little idea of how the experience will alter her future. Headstrong and willful, Alex tries to overcome a disastrous marriage in England and be free of the strictures of Victorian society --and become independent of men. That is, until Jesse Makepeace saunters back into her life...

Hot-tempered and hot-blooded cowpuncher Jesse Makepeace can’t seem to accept that the child he once knew is now the ravishing yet determined woman before him. Fighting rustlers proves a whole lot easier than fighting Alex when he’s got to keep more than his temper under control.

Arguments abound as Alex pursues her career as an artist and Jesse faces the prejudice of the English social order. The question is, will Loveland live up to its name?

EXCERPT:

She sat on a stool and pulled off first one boot, then the other and kicked them aside, then she stood and put her leg on the stool to roll down her stockings one by one.

He marveled at her wantonness, her lack of propriety. “Alex, stop,” he said, laying his hand on hers. “Stop. You know...”

But he was lost; she took his face in her hands and pulled him to her, kissing him so any resistance he had had was now shattered. His heart beat faster at the sweetness of her mouth, the softness of her tongue, the lack of air as they sought each other. His hands moved over her feeling the outline of her body, knowing its curves, its gentleness, its yielding. “Are you sure?” he asked at last.

“I want you so much, Jesse, I want you so much, I’m not waiting three years. And if...if anything happens, so what? We’ll get married, that’ll be it.”

“Yes, but Alex, you can’t... I mean, it’d be a shotgun wedding, it’s not how—”

“Shh.” She put her finger to his mouth and then turned for him to unhook her gown. He ran his hands gently down her exposed back, feeling each scar, then kissed her neck.

“You have nothing on under...”

“It’s how the gown is made. Monsieur Worth builds the undergarments into the gown.” Her voice was at barely a whisper, a tremor showing her nerves. She turned and still held the gown up to her, then, looking at Jesse, let it drop to the floor.

Find and connect with Andrea Downing
Website and blog

Twitter:  @andidowning 

Facebook: 

Buy Links: 
The Wild Rose Press 

Amazon

Barnes and Noble 

Welcome,

I'm glad you're here and hope you take a moment to look around. Decadent Publishing's Give a Reader a Reader is a special kind of giveaway - a present with a bonus. I love it when there is something a little extra and in this case is it is far from little. When a bonus pops up within my writing that is a special treat as well. 

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A Story Within a Story

As the holidays approach and the world gets a little crazy, I am thinking about all the things that make me smile. Mostly family comes to mind, the fun, the annoying, and even the slightly off kilter relatives that always seem to pop out of the woodwork for the big holidays. I’ll always remember the first time my quiet and conservative husband met my family. All he could say was, “They’re so loud.”

What else should I have expected from a man whose relatives speak to the person directly across the table or on either side. No shouting across the room. No spontaneous games of pillow football. And heaven forbid, no unplanned wrestling matches. The unexpected that pops up whenever my relatives gather always seemed like a bonus to me. With the hub’s family, we know what to expect: quiet chatter, good food, a gentle catching up—which is nice, don’t get me wrong. But with mine, a feeling of expectation hovers, that Christmas morning edge no matter the time of year. Will Cousin Kelli finally bring a guy younger than her father to the party? Will Uncle Blake and Uncle Cain slip a bit too much brandy in the eggnog and get Grandma tipsy? Such gatherings are never dull. We have much the same things as at my husband’s gatherings, tons of good food, laughter, a time to catch up, but the sense of what will happen next can’t be ignored. And that is a special thing to me. After more than a quarter century of married life, my quiet, gentle man is now usually smack dab in the middle of whatever chaos occurs, a giant grin on his sexy face as he shouts across the room and encourages complete abandon and unmitigated joy. Have to a man who can be the well-mannered engineer in one setting and the favorite crazy uncle in the next. Who could ask for a better bonus than that?

Perhaps that is part of the reason I adore a bonus. It’s like opening a gift and finding not only what you had hoped for but a little something unexpected and sweet that the giver has slipped in just because he knows you’ll love it. That’s the way I feel when a story emerges within a story. The Millionaire and the Girl Next Door demanded that the hero solve an old mystery surrounding his new home. The locals all claim that an axe-wielding ghost haunts his property, but he doesn’t believe until she comes to him in his dreams. Jake struggles to find a way to help her find peace without losing himself to her pain.

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The Millionaire and the Girl Next Door Blurb

Tired of chasing his family’s need for money and power, millionaire Jake Wescott heads to Freewill, Wyoming and the beautiful piece of heaven that calls to him.

The girl next door, Christa Dunham puts family first, and she’s determined to protect them from the city boy before he ruins their hunting grounds or steals her heart and then walks away when the lonely nights get too long.

Neither of them expects the attraction that pulls them together nor the lost spirit who wants to drive them apart. Confronting the past leaves them both anxious to find a love beyond a lifetime.

Exclusive Excerpt:

“Forget it, Wescott. It was a dream.” He spoke aloud, hoping he would believe it, but when sleep returned, so did the nightmare.

He stood in the corner of a small, dimly lit cellar. The rock walls crumbled in places, and the air felt damp. He shivered when a rat scurried past. The door opened, and a dark haired man entered dressed in Puritan clothing. The stranger carried an old-fashioned lantern in his hand. The additional light revealed a fragile looking woman huddled on a thin pallet against the opposite wall. Her clothes bore the signs of repeated struggles, and bruises marred her fair skin and emphasized her large gray eyes. Jake could not understand the man’s mumbled words, but he could clearly hear the girl and feel her stress as if it were his own.

“Please, let me go. I promise no one will ever know. Please!”

Her words became sobs, her body a trembling mass. He wanted to comfort her, to protect her, but he could not move, his boots frozen in place. When the other man crossed the room and jerked the woman to her feet, fear escalated to hysteria. She fought hard, screaming and clawing at her attacker until he slapped her. The blow slammed the girl’s head into the stone wall.

Appalled, Jake could only stare helplessly. The beating continued until the assailant shoved the woman on the pallet and fell over her, struggling to hold her down while he fumbled with his trousers. Sickened, Jake forced the dream away, unwilling to witness what came next.

He awoke calling the woman’s name, but when he tried to repeat it, it hovered unclear on the edge of his mind. Adrenaline filled his system, making his hand tremble. He drove his fingers through his still damp hair, seeking to calm the anger and frustration circling in his head and gut. Although the clock said it was barely dawn, a faint light filtered through the windows. There was no chance in hell he could go back to sleep. Jerking on a pair of running shorts and a clean T-shirt, he woke Bud and headed out the door. With luck, a run would blow away the feeling of disgust the dream had left behind.

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