Literary Nymphs Interview
Title:
The Cowgirl Ropes a Billionaire
Author: Cora Seton
Publisher:
One Acre Press
Genre:
Western Romance
Release
Date: November 5, 2013
Do you write in more than
one genre?
I
currently write western romance – a series of novels set in the fictional town
of Chance Creek, Montana—but I may branch out into
contemporary romance and romantic suspense in the future.
What if any, is the hardest
part of writing for you?
I
tend to write my first drafts quickly—in two or three weeks. The hardest part
comes about two-thirds of the way through my first draft when I realize how
much of the beginning of the story I’m going to have to change to match the end
of the story.
What inspired the story?
The
real inspiration for this story is that one time I went for a walk with my
husband and daughter and two abandoned kittens followed us home. They were
starving so we took them in, but we knew we could only keep one of them. We
ended up turning one in to the local shelter, but when we checked back a few
days later, the cat hadn’t been adopted yet. I couldn’t sleep that night—I
couldn’t stand the thought that the kitten might be put down, so I told my
husband we had to get her back. We did (and paid $90 for the privilege!!!) and
were able to find her a good home with the teller at our local bank. My husband
and other family members still tease me about my tender heart.
The
Cowgirl Ropes a Billionaire is about Bella Chatham, who runs the Chance Creek pet clinic and
shelter. Like me, she can’t bear to put down unwanted animals, so she’s being
overrun by stray animals, and doesn’t have the money to house and feed them
all. She had a very small part in a previous novel in the series and one of the
other characters in that story commented that she’d need a million dollars to
save all the stray animals in Chance Creek. I began to think about how someone
like Bella could get a million dollars.
Previously
I’d had an idea for a romance novel set on a reality television series, so the
two ideas came together. Bella’s long-suffering receptionist, Hannah, signs her
up for the television show, Can You Beat a Billionaire? the hope is that Bella will win enough money to
save the clinic and shelter and Hannah’s job. Bella’s opponent is billionaire
Evan Mortimer, who needs a temporary wife to secure his inheritance.
It
was a very fun novel to write because both main characters are so set on
winning and each has their own quirks that get in the way. I liked them both
equally, so I could get behind each of them and their desire to win the
contest. Switching back and forth to write each side of the story kept the
process very interesting.
EXCERPT:
“We’re set,” he called out and she frowned when she
remembered that the remaining cameraman was supposed to install a small, remote
camera inside the tent. She stifled a curse as the tent flap unzipped again and
a man’s hand reached in and hooked something to a fabric loop in the ceiling.
That must be the camera. She glared at it for a moment before pulling the sleeping
bag high around her shoulders despite the heat.
The heat that was increasing moment by moment with
Evan’s bulk pressed against her.
“Do you have to be so close to me?” she snapped
when she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Where am I supposed to go?” he asked a hint of
humor— strained humor—in his voice.
“Just—don’t touch me.”
He laughed and moved half an inch away from her.
“How’s that?”
“Not good enough.” She moved this time, and almost
immediately came up against the fabric of the side of the tent. She wriggled
back and encountered Evan again. “For God’s sake, isn’t there more room on your
side?”
“Not really.” This time he sounded chagrined.
“Guess we’ll just have to deal with close quarters.”
She sighed heavily but lay still and closed her
eyes again. It didn’t help that the sun was barely down. Evan turned, which
pressed him even closer to her. She was aware of every single place their
bodies touched, even if they were modestly dressed, as Jake put it. Evan was
muscle all over. For a billionaire, he was actually pretty hot. She wondered if
women threw themselves at him all the time and nodded to herself; of course
they did. Handsome and filthy rich? What a combination.
Did he ever wonder about people’s motives? How did
he protect himself from everyone who wanted to use him for their own gain? He
came across as very self-contained, and she wondered if that was merely a
defense mechanism he had to use to survive.
Had he always been a billionaire? Yes—Hannah showed
her an article about him that said Mortimer Innovations had been in his family
for generations now, so he must have grown up knowing that he could always have
exactly what he wanted.
What did he want?
The question brought a rush of heat to her body
that she tried unsuccessfully to squash. More than once today she’d been
convinced that he wanted her. Ridiculous. He must be surrounded by beautiful
women all the time. She wasn’t anything special. Cute. That’s the word people
used to sum her up.
She’d always been cute, from when she was a child
trying to keep up with her older brother to when she’d spent her high school
years competing with girls like Lacey Taylor, who wrapped all the cowboys from
the nearby ranches around her little finger.
Cute and broke.
The thought depressed her and she turned to her
back. Now her shoulder was pressed against Evan’s.
“I thought you’d be asleep by now,” he said, his
deep voice rumbling through her and setting her senses alight.
“I thought you’d be asleep. What’s keeping you up?”
There was a long pause and just when she thought he
wasn’t going to answer at all, she felt his arm move and his fingers touched
hers, under the covers. They slid between her own and he squeezed her hand.
Her breath caught in her throat and she didn’t
move. His thumb traced across her palm softly once, twice—a caress so small,
yet so intimate it made her tingle all over. He squeezed her hand again, then
let go, and she felt the loss. His admission—for that’s what it had to
be—unnerved her and set her on fire all at the same time.
AUTHOR BIO:
Cora Seton loves cowboys,
country life, gardening, bike-riding, and lazing around
with a good book. Mother of
four, wife to a computer programmer/eco-farmer, she ditched her
California lifestyle eight years ago and moved to a remote
logging town in northwestern British
Columbia.
Like the characters in her
novels, Cora enjoys old-fashioned pursuits and modern
technology, spending mornings
transforming a neglected one-acre lot into a paradise of orchards,
berry bushes and market
gardens, and afternoons writing the latest Chance Creek romance
contests and other cool events!
Buy links:
Amazon (ebook) http://www.amazon.com/Cowgirl-Ropes-Billionaire-Cowboys-Chance-ebook/dp/B00GFZRFKM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1383678590&sr=1-1&keywords=the+cowgirl+ropes+a+billionaire
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The Cowgirl Ropes a Billionaire is Book 4 in The Cowboys of Chance
Creek series, but it is a complete stand-alone novel in its own right. Other
novels in the series are:
The Cowboy’s E-Mail Order Bride (available now)
The Cowboy Wins a Bride (available now)
The Cowboy Imports a Bride (available now)
The Sheriff Catches a Bride (available January 2014)
Find Cora on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CoraSeton
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