Dear Readers,
"I would have liked to have seen Montana." -- Who said that and in which film? (hint: the actor is from Down Under)
And that leads me nicely into today's guest interview. American author Jaydyn Chelcee writes the Montana Men series, a brilliant blend of romance, spectacular landscapes and pulse-quickening danger! The first two in the series were In the Arms of Danger and No Holds Barred, both bestsellers at Eternal Press. Book Three, Too Close to the Fire, is set for release on December 7th. Stay tuned for a contest below, where you can win an ebook copy before anyone else. But first, here's the blurb:
Feel the heat—taste the passion—expect to get burned when you’re too close to the fire….
Out of luck—When Dianna’s plane crashes in the Australian rainforest, her life is in the hands of her passenger, Taylor Spencer, a bitter, venom-filled man who so far has only made her life miserable.
Out of hope—The last person Taylor Spencer wants to be stranded with is the spoiled sweetheart of the wealthy Remington family of Rimrock, Montana. Hell, he didn’t even want to be in the plane with her in the first place.
Out of time—Dianna and Taylor, two people at odds, with nothing in common, except a strong will to survive and a desire for each other that neither is willing to acknowledge.
Sound fun? You betcha!! Jaydyn's legion of loyal fans will tell you she NEVER disappoints. As well as westerns, she writes a paranormal romance series, the Winslow Witches of Salem, under her pen name, Tabitha Shay.
It's with great pleasure that I welcome Ms. Chelcee for this exclusive interview. Let's see how close to that fire we can get...
Nice of you to visit, Jaydyn.
Jaydyn--Hi Rob. Thanks for having me here today and I'm looking forward to what I know will be some fun questions...
1. I love the set-up of TCTTF--a bitter man and a spoiled woman crash-landing together in an Australian rainforest. Is it a scenario you've had in mind for a while?
Jaydyn--Actually it is. I wrote all five books to the Montana Men series years ago and tossed them on my closet shelf. Once I was published, I dragged them down, blew off the dust and done some rewriting, but I always saw Dianna and Taylor in a plane crash in Australia, just not a rainforest. That was new. (Laughs)
1. I love the set-up of TCTTF--a bitter man and a spoiled woman crash-landing together in an Australian rainforest. Is it a scenario you've had in mind for a while?
Jaydyn--Actually it is. I wrote all five books to the Montana Men series years ago and tossed them on my closet shelf. Once I was published, I dragged them down, blew off the dust and done some rewriting, but I always saw Dianna and Taylor in a plane crash in Australia, just not a rainforest. That was new. (Laughs)
Rob--Wow, you just dusted off FIVE books! You're my new hero. Makes me wonder what *else* is waiting on that closet shelf!
2. As a couple, who would you liken Dianna and Taylor to?
Jaydyn--Oh goddness, I have no clue...How about Rock Hudson and Doris Day. (Giggles) Dianna and Taylor definitely have their fights and the same personality types.
3. What kind of dangers do they have to contend with?
Jaydyn--Well, I tried to keep it as real as possible, but the possibilities were endless, from starvation, to lack of water, to snake bites, broken bones, severe injuries, you name it. And some of these things do happen, but I also wanted the reader to get the feel of the vastness of the country, of how difficult locating them would be. A friend of mine who now lives in Oz once said to me that everything in Australia is bigger and louder. I worked those words into one of my scenes to create the feeling of just how overwhelming it would be for someone who was unfamiliar with the noises of the birds and animals around them. I hope I managed to get that across. And to answer your question a little better, they do battle with a couple of nasty critters among other dangers.
2. As a couple, who would you liken Dianna and Taylor to?
Jaydyn--Oh goddness, I have no clue...How about Rock Hudson and Doris Day. (Giggles) Dianna and Taylor definitely have their fights and the same personality types.
3. What kind of dangers do they have to contend with?
Jaydyn--Well, I tried to keep it as real as possible, but the possibilities were endless, from starvation, to lack of water, to snake bites, broken bones, severe injuries, you name it. And some of these things do happen, but I also wanted the reader to get the feel of the vastness of the country, of how difficult locating them would be. A friend of mine who now lives in Oz once said to me that everything in Australia is bigger and louder. I worked those words into one of my scenes to create the feeling of just how overwhelming it would be for someone who was unfamiliar with the noises of the birds and animals around them. I hope I managed to get that across. And to answer your question a little better, they do battle with a couple of nasty critters among other dangers.
Rob--Sounds great. And I'd pay good money to see Doris Day and Rock Hudson go through all that. ::evil laugh::
4. Your characters are always a lot of fun to read. How big a part does humour play in TCTTF?
Jaydyn--I try to balance the dark with the light so the reader isn't bogged down with just gray scenes. TCTTF is really two stories in one. On one hand, you have Dianna and Taylor, they're in trouble, but the things they get into, do and say are funny. On the other hand, you still have Lacey and Danger's story moving along beside Dianna and Taylor's and believe me, there's nothing funny going on in that part of the book. It's all deadly serious and the characters from that part of the book are tottering on the edge of disaster.
5. Who are your biggest influences in the western romance genre?
Jaydyn--Oh wow, I'd have to go all the way back to my days as a Harlequin reader and pick Janet Daily and Margaret Way. Margaret Way almost always wrote romances set in Australia with a western flavor, loved her books. Janet Daily set a lot of books in the western states and I followed her to each one....(Laughs)
6. Your books are consistently among the biggest-selling at Eternal Press. What's your secret?
Jaydyn--Loyal fans...I'm very lucky to have the wonderful following I do, and I talk to them every chance I get. I hold a lot of contests and probably give more books away than I earn pay, but I don't care. Every time a fan emails me and tells me how much they love my books, I feel very humbled and honored.
Rob--Absolutely. And everybody wins.
7. What have you got planned for the next installments in the Montana Men series?
Jaydyn--Playing For Keeps, book four will be out sometime in 2010, I hope at least by late spring. It's Duel Remington's story and it's quite a tale. Nothing like the other books. The readers won't see much of the serial killer in this book, but look out in book five, The Wilder Side, because Smitt Davis returns with a vengeance. I also have plans for a spin-off series which will be set in Australia and tell the stories of the Remington cousins from that side of the world.
Rob--Well I think several of your fans just booked the first plane out to Oz after hearing that. Or it might be because I told them summer has already begun there. TCTTF, just as things are literally hotting up.
A huge thank you to Jaydyn for stopping by. Her new book can be bought here (electronic format) on December 7th: http://www.eternalpress.ca/tooclosetothefire.html
And a couple of weeks later, it will be available in paperback from Amazon.
EBOOK CONTEST:
If you'd like to win an ebook copy of Too Close to the Fire, simply comment on this blog and Jaydyn will enter your name into her prize draw. I'll announce the winner here on December 8th. Easy!
In the meantime, you should definitely visit Jaydyn's website: http://www.tabithashay.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tabithashay
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tabithashay
And her publisher, Eternal Press: http://www.eternalpress.ca/
Until next time...
Happy reading!
