The hero in your book AN UNEXPECTED COWBOY is, no surprise, a cowboy. What do you enjoy about a cowboy hero?
As a young reader, I transitioned from Louis L’Amour’s westerns to western romances, so I’ve always loved a cowboy hero. (The romanticized version, of course.) My husband and I enjoy western movies and shows (Yellowstone!), but most of my books are set in New England and cowboys are hard to come by here. There’s something about a man who works hard, plays hard, though, and the hats and boots don’t hurt. (And neither do the snug, faded jeans.) I think many of us have internalized cowboys as a blend of the wild west but with a strong sense of right and wrong, along with old-fashioned chivalry toward women. When I was making notes for the first book in the series and the hero went to the University of Montana, I realized I had the perfect opportunity to bring a cowboy to New England. The fish-out-of-water element was so much fun to play with.
Mallory, the heroine in your story, is a single mother. Can it be challenging writing child characters?
It’s very challenging! Making them authentic characters (rather than just “plot moppets”) and keeping up with their aging through a series can be difficult. Unlike most of the adults in a book, the ages of children are often given specifically, so that has to be tracked. And my kids are twenty-six and twenty-one. I raised two kids, but I still spend a lot of time googling the stages of pregnancy or the average age of losing a first tooth. And technology has changed, so a sixth grader now is having a very different experience than my kids did in middle school. When all else fails, though, they can be playing with Legos. Legos are forever!
What would you say the main obstacle stopping Mallory and Irish from being together? His hesitancy? Or some outside factor?
Irish is literally passing through. He’s between jobs and having never seen the ocean, he’s hauling his camper to the coast of Maine, and stops in town to visit his old friend Lane, and to check out Lane’s new brewery. Even though he’s attracted to Mallory, he had a tough childhood and doesn’t believe he’s the kind of man who’d make a good husband to her or father to her children. As a busy single mother with deep roots in her hometown, Mallory treasures stability, and she knows falling for a man who’s just passing through is a mistake. They both think they can have a little fun, but the longer he stays, the harder they fall.
In your book HER HOMETOWN MAN, the hero is the heroine’s longtime crush. I love that kind of story. I also like it when the hero and heroine have a history together. Is it easier writing a story when the main characters have a past, rather than a story in which the characters first meet?
When the characters know each other before the story starts, especially if they have a long history, it can be a lot easier when working with a shorter timeline. It’s easier to believe two people have found true love in a short time if they’ve known each other a long time. One of the challenges, however, is relating that history to the reader without dumping a lot of backstory chunks into the book and bogging the story down. Watching the characters get to know each other can be one of the fun parts of two strangers meeting and falling in love.
I know you write some romantic suspense novels. Is the process that different for writing a romance heavy with suspense and action versus a regular contemporary romance?
I’ve been told by readers that one of the things they love about my small town contemporary romances is how real the characters feel, as though they could actually run into them at a gas station. My Devlin Group series, however, is more larger-than-life. On the romantic suspense scale, they’re more Mission Impossible than gritty serial killer, and they’re so fun to write. They’re over the top, with life-or-death stakes, but they still have strong relationships, a sense of found family and—of course—humor. They require a little more research than my contemporary romance, but I do less planning. I’ll just write them into a corner where they’d certainly die, and then I walk around muttering to myself for days until I figure out how to save them.
In your opinion, what makes a good romance hero?
I judge romance heroes the way I judge most people: how they treat their close family and friend, and how they treat people doing a service for them. Folks who don’t treat waitstaff with respect don’t get invited out again in my world. When I’m writing small town romance, my heroes respect their families and community, they show love and emotion (though they struggle when it comes to the heroines, of course), they work hard and they always try to do the right thing.
Even if the author has built a darker world with morally-questionable heroes (mafia/monster/etc), I look for the same benchmarks: loyalty to family (including found family), the ability to love, and the belief he’s doing the right thing for the people he cares about in the world he lives in.
What are some of your favorite romance tropes? One of my favorites is fake romance that turns real.
I love fake dating! I’ve written several of them (most notably YOURS TO KEEP, a reader favorite) and, as a reader, it’s the first trope I look for when I’m in the mood for a fun read. If I’m in the mood for a little more angst, I’m a sucker for a reunion or marriage in jeopardy read. Past hurts and old conflicts can add so many layers to a story and I love a story about two people who loved each other once falling in love all over again. The third book in the Sutton’s Place series, EXPECTING HER EX’S BABY (July 26) is a reunion romance and you can tell by the title that it gets messy!
In previous interviews, some authors have told me that the type of books they like to read are not the same type of books they enjoy writing. What do you like to read? Favorite books? Favorite authors?
For the last several years, I’ve been reading rom-coms and thrillers (mostly of the domestic suspense variety). Either make me laugh or kill somebody, I guess. I think THE GOVERNESS GAME by Tessa Dare is going to hold the top spot for a very long time, but some other recent favorite reads would be ALL THE FEELS by Olivia Dade, NEON GODS by Katee Robert, and The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis. (I’ve never been disappointed by a Jill Shalvis book, so if I had a list of favorite authors that didn’t change with my moods, she’d be at the top.)
What are you currently working on?
I’m finally writing the fifth Devlin Group book (which doesn’t have a title yet). And then I’ll be writing three more Sutton’s Place novels for Harlequin Special Edition. The fourth book in the series is a fake dating romance (Molly’s book!) and the fifth will be a happily ever after for an “older woman”. When I realized the mother of one of my characters was two years younger than I am, I decided she needs a hot fling and a happily ever after of her own!
Sutton's Place #2
Lone-wolf cowboy Irish is no stranger to long, lonely nights. Some might say he even prefers it that way. But somehow Mallory Sutton tugs on his heartstrings. The feisty single mom is struggling to balance it all—and challenging Irish’s perception of what he has to offer. She shows the guarded cowboy everything a family—and real love—can be. But will their unexpected connection keep Irish in town…or end in heartbreak for Mallory and her kids?
Romance Western | Romance Holiday | Small Town [Harlequin Special Edition, On Sale: March 29, 2022, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781335408501 / eISBN: 9780369710789]
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily ever after and riding her four-wheeler. From May to November, the Stacey family spends their weekends on their ATVs, making loads of muddy laundry to keep Shannon busy when she’s not at her computer. She prefers writing to laundry, however, and considers herself lucky she got to be an author when she grew up.
No comments posted.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy