Interview and giveaway: Joanne Kennedy and Cowboy Crazy

Today Joanne Kennedy is visiting my blog for an interview, and at the end of it there is a giveaway of her new book Cowboy Crazy. Open worldwide.

1. Tell me 3 fun things about yourself…

JK: Let’s see… (1) I have absolutely no sense of direction, to the point where I practically get lost in my own driveway. (2) Although I write about cowboys, I’m terrible at horseback riding. (3) I’ve never outgrown my childhood fear that there are monkeys in the closet.

2. Your new book is called Cowboy Crazy, could you tell me about it?

JK: My new heroine is Sarah Landon, a small-town girl who kicked the country dust off her boots and built herself a new life as a publicity manager for Carrigan Oil. The Carrigan family’s black sheep, rodeo cowboy Lane Carrigan, isn’t about to let her forget that she’s a cowgirl at heart, and when the two of them clash over the fate of Sarah’s old hometown of Two Shot, the secrets she’s tried to leave behind come back to haunt her. It’s up to Lane to help her return to her roots.

3. Why will readers fall helplessly in love with Lane Carrigan, your hero?  

JK: Lane is as wild as any rodeo cowboy could be, but behind carefree façade is a cowboy who genuinely does care—about his friends, about his community, and about Sarah. He was born to wealth, but he wants nothing more than to be a regular guy—a cowboy, a rancher, and a family man.

4. What made you write in this particular genre?

JK: It just came naturally. I started out writing a mystery, but every time I submitted to editors they told me it was “too romancey.” So I bowed to fate and my own mushy heart and turned it into a romance. I’ve never looked back! I really do believe in love and happy endings, because I’ve found my own :)

The whole cowboy thing came naturally, too. I’m originally from back East but I’ve always been fascinated by the West, and I when I moved West twenty years ago I knew I’d found my spiritual home as soon as I saw the big sky. I’m also a horse lover; I’m fascinated by the way cowboys form working partnerships with their horses through understanding and cooperation.

5.  Which character in this book was the most fun to write?

JK: I love Gloria, Sarah’s wild-child friend and roommate. She’s a coffee shop barista with trophy wife ambitions, and she never saw a party she couldn’t liven up with a little table dancing. She’s the kind of person who makes you tear your hair out in frustration even as she’s helping you find the joy in life.

6. Do you know a lot about oil or rodeo? Or do you do a lot of research? Like watching hot cowboys? ;)

JK: I don’t know a lot about oil, but I know the effects the boom-and-bust cycle has on Wyoming’s small towns. When the drilling starts, populations double. Massive trucks roll in and destroy the roads as new residents create a challenge for schools, housing, and law enforcement. Ranchers often don’t own the minerals beneath the soil, so companies that own those minerals can come in and leave their land unfit for grazing without giving them a dime. I support domestic energy production, but I think the companies that profit should work with communities to make sure the old Wyoming and the new can live in harmony.

Okay, I’m climbing off my soapbox so we can talk about the fun stuff. I love rodeo! There is nothing better than a summer day in the rodeo stands, watching your favorite cowboys show their skills. And I love doing research, because it gives me an excuse to hang out behind the chutes where the cowboys get ready to ride. This year, I’m hoping to spend some time with the barrel racers, since I’m working on a book about that side of rodeo.

And of course, I watch hot cowboys whenever I get the chance—and in Wyoming, that’s pretty often!

7. What’s coming next from you?

JK: I just finished Cowboy Tough, about a rodeo cowboy who’s forced to return home when his family turns their cattle operation into a dude ranch. Their first guests include a big-city artist who’s leading a group of painters into the back country to paint landscapes. She likes gallery openings and fine wines; he likes rodeos and shooting beer cans off fence posts. It’s definitely a clash of cultures!

Writing Cowboy Tough has been a real pleasure because Mack Boyd and Cat Crandall, the hero and heroine, have been with me for so long. They were the ones who put an end to my mystery career by being so danged ”romancey” all the time, and I’m happy they finally got their own story and found their happy ending.

Thanks!!

To purchase Cowboy Crazy by Joanne Kennedy, please visit ganxy.com/p/62834. 

GIVEAWAY

2 copies

1 international winner / 1 US or Canada winner

1. Open to all, all over the world

2. Ends June 20th

3. Just go ahead and enter.

If you want to then ask a question, or perhaps tell me if you have seen a real life sexy cowboy ;)

COWBOY CRAZY BY JOANNE KENNEDY – IN STORES JUNE 2012
Sparks fly when sexy cowboys collide with determined heroines in a West filled with quirky characters and sizzling romance. Acclaimed for delivering “a fresh take on the traditional contemporary Western“ Joanne Kennedy’s books might just be your next great discovery!

From stable to boardroom…

Sarah Landon’s Ivy League scholarship transforms her from a wide-eyed country girl into a poised professional. Until she’s assigned to do damage control with the boss’s rebellious brother Lane, who’s the burr in everybody’s saddle. He’s determined to save his community from oil drilling, and she’s not going back to the ranch she left forever. Spurs will shine in this saucy romp about ranchers and roots, redemption and second chances.

Click on the cover for a preview :D Lots of pages to read (still poor cover, it got this weird color when I put it here :(

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joanne Kennedy is the author of four contemporary Western romances for Sourcebooks: Cowboy Trouble One Fine Cowboy, Cowboy Fever, and Tall, Dark and Cowboy. She brings a wide variety of experience, ranging from chicken farming to horse training, to her sexy, spicy cowboy stories. She is a 2011 finalist in the prestigious Romance Writers of American RITA© Awards, for One Fine Cowboy. Joanne lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she is working on her next book, Cowboy Tough (Fall 2012). For more information, please visit http://joannekennedybooks.com/. To purchase Joanne’s latest release, Cowboy Crazy, please visit ganxy.com/p/62834.