Margaret Brownley | Where Do Book Ideas Originate?
GIVEAWAY: Win a copy of LEFT AT THE ALTAR
November 16, 2016
The idea for LEFT AT THE
ALTAR came to me in a rather unexpected way. Several of our antique clocks
needed servicing and so we called a clock repairman to the house. The
horologist was a writer's dream. He was full of fascinating stories about clock
collectors. But the story that really made an impression was the one about a
client who owned so many clocks, the quarter-hour racket was deafening. The
horologist's job was to turn the clocks off before each holiday so that guests
didn't have to compete with the cacophony of bongs and chimes during dinner. The horologist went on to explain that prior to 1883, the town jeweler usually
determined the time. Trouble arose when a town had more than one jeweler and no
one could agree on the time. One town in Kansas reportedly had seven jewelers
and therefore seven time zones. Just think, a person traveling from the East
coast to the West would have contended with more than a hundred times zones.
That wasn't a problem when traveling by covered wagon, but it became a huge
problem when traveling by train. Ah, sweet inspiration. Before I knew it, the town of Two-Time, Texas was born
and the story of two feuding jewelers fell quickly into place. A marriage
between Meg Lockwood and Tommy Farrell was supposed to unite the families and
turn Two-Time into a one-time town, but of course nothing ever goes as planned
as this little excerpt shows. The grandfather clock in the corner groaned and the wall clocks sighed.
Seconds later the cacophony of alarms struck the hour of eight a.m. Only today,
it wasn't bongs, gongs, cuckoos and chimes that bombarded Meg’s ears. It was
mocking laughter. Jilted bride, jilted bride, jilted bride... 
Hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now it’s your
turn. If you could change one thing about time, what would it be? One reader will get a copy of LEFT AT THE ALTAR, so tell
Margaret below what you would change about time.
MARGARET BROWNLEY penned her first novel at age eleven and
has been writing ever since. She’s now a New York Times and CBA bestselling
author and has written thirty-five novels and one nonfiction book. Margaret and
her husband have three grown children and make their home in Southern
California.
A Match Made in
Texas
Welcome to Two-Time Texas: Where tempers burn hot
Love runs deep And a single marriage can unite a feuding town ...or tear
it apart for good
In the wild and untamed West, time is set by the local jeweler...but Two-Time
Texas has two: two feuding jewelers and two wildly conflicting time zones. Meg
Lockwood's marriage was supposed to unite the families and finally bring peace.
But when she's left at the altar by her no-good fiancé, Meg's dreams of dragging
her quarrelsome neighbors into a ceasefire are dashed.
No wedding bells? No one-time town.
Hired to defend the groom against a breach of promise lawsuit, Grant Garrison
quickly realizes that the only thing worse than small-town trouble is falling
for the jilted bride. But there's something about Meg's sweet smile and
determined grit that draws him in...even as the whole crazy town seems set on
keeping them apart.
Who knew being Left at the Altar could be such sweet, clean, madcap
fun?
Romance Western
[Sourcebooks Casablanca, On Sale: November 1, 2016,
Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781492608134 / eISBN: 9781492608141]
Comments
11 comments posted.
Re: Margaret Brownley | Where Do Book Ideas Originate?
If I could change one thing about time, I think I would want to slow down or suspend it at times. I would have liked to have had more time with my mom before she died... Suspending a moment in time with her would have been nice. (Jamie Stein 12:20pm November 16, 2016)
I wish time could go backwards once in a while. We all wish we could have a do over of certain events or spend time with someone one more time, have another kiss, another long talk, a laugh or hug. Time is so precious. We all want more and seem to never have enough. (Maryann Skaritka 1:41pm November 16, 2016)
I am so agreeing with Maryann! Thanks for the interview... (Kathleen Bylsma 2:13pm November 16, 2016)
Gosh, as in the March of Time. I HATE getting old. Beats the alternative, but one doesn't have to like it. The other part is good times fly and bad times drag. I wish we could flip that. (Marcia Berbeza 10:58am November 17, 2016)
I wish I could slow time down. The years go by so fast before you know it. People get older and there's just not enough hours in the day or enough time in life to do everything that you want to do. (Tanja Dancy 4:58pm November 17, 2016)
I'd love to be able to go back in time to correct mistakes. (Irene Menge 1:52pm November 18, 2016)
Each year seams to go faster and now with the time change twice a year with Daylight savings time thing. I imagine that causes some of the same confusion in this town. How would they keep everything straight. (Nancy Luebke 10:25pm November 18, 2016)
If I were able to go back in time to do things differently, I think I \would. But, I figure erasing one mistake would simply create some other mistake. (Annette Naish 1:38pm November 19, 2016)
Lately, time seems to be speeding past too rapidly. I'd like to slow it down a little. Goodness! Thanksgiving is this week with Christmas and the new year just around the corner. (Anna Speed 12:04pm November 20, 2016)
I would like to speed time up in bad times and make good times last longer. It would also be nice to go back in time once in a while. (Carol Woodruff 6:59pm November 20, 2016)
I would like to slow down time, so I could enjoy life at a more relaxing pace. (Bonnie H 9:36pm November 22, 2016)
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