Look, sometimes, no matter how hard you try, sometimes you need a bit of luck.
- Bear Grylls
Everyone likes to think that success in life is about hard work, but everything in life has an element of luck to it.
Horses and Harleys is a story of two wounded souls who find hope and healing through their interaction with each other and through their mutual love of horses.
As part of my research for the story, I looked into how animals can be helpful in the healing process, whether this is physical or psychological.
Nature as Inspiration…
This isn’t a new subject. I believe people have been inspired by nature since humans came into existence. Maybe they weren’t writing odes to the sun or moon, or singing songs about the wind caressing their skin, or drawing pictures of mountains and streams and so on. However, I like to think that mankind has always been able to stop and appreciate a glorious sunset or a starlit night, among other beautiful offerings that abound in this world.
Joyce: Welcome to HEA, Bailey! Please tell us a bit about your new release, Sunshine Is Overrated, which arrives on Oct. 20.
Bailey: My latest release is Sunshine Is Overrated, the third book in The Vamp for Me series.
You have revisited and expanded your Southern Spirits series! Why did you want to return to this series in particular?
This series in particular has always meant a lot to me. It’s helped me through periods of grief, and also, I learned a lot about writing a series through it. I am very, very fond of Laine and Sev, too, which I’ve never made a secret of. They are my favorite couple.
Mmmm, Vampires! Vampires—they’ve come up in the world, from scary, soul-sucking demons out to murder innocents, to sexy, biting, mysterious and often somewhat tragic heroes.
Evenings are reserved for pounding away at the keyboard, as are early morning hours. Sleep? Doesn't happen much. Writing istoo much fun, and there are too many characters bouncing about, tapping on Bailey's brain demanding to be let out.
What inspired you to create the Coyote’s Call series?
It was a trip we took to Big Bend about two years ago. We hiked around and there was a loneliness to the area that started inspiring ideas. I’ve used the setting in other books, too.
What is it about cowboys?
Bailey: Everything! Lol, well it’s what we’re shown in movies, books, and magazines with cowboys being the heroes and good guys, the strong, silent, and badass sexy types.
Carol: I believe it’s more than what they wear, although, yum. For me, a peace seems to radiate from them. A confidence in themselves and the jobs they perform in a loving and caring way despite the weather. Okay, maybe it’s a combination of both. The spirit of a cowboy warms my heart, but it’s those well-fitted jeans, button-snap shirts and cowboy hats that fuel my fantasies.
Three of my favorite fellow romance authors:
Oh, this is tough because I have so many! Dozens.
How is this series different to your other shifter series?
First off, it’s set in the future—the post-apocalyptic future! The idea of writing in such a time scared me, which meant I was going to do it. I love a challenge. So it’s set in the future, and humanity has almost managed to wipe itself out. There’re no luxuries, no electricity or gas or medicine like there used to be. It’s been a harsh change for humans and they aren’t doing so well. Shifters, however, are flourishing. The two species don’t associate with each other. That starts to change with this book.
What's His Passion? is an imprint which delves into the passionate lives of compelling characters. How did you find writing about your characters' shared passions in this book?
I had a lot of fun exploring all three characters in this book. Their differences, fears, hopes-- all of those and more made each one of the guys unique. Writing a menage is always a challenge because of the potential for jealousy and misunderstandings, so clarifying what each man wanted, what he needed and expected, was very important here.
Today I’m blogging about people who inspire me, and that’s a Top-5 list! I do like lists, although not if they’re chores or bills. Those aren’t fun at all.
Anyway. Here we go!
Hi there, I’m Bailey Bradford and I’ve got a new series starting up. It’s titled Coyote’s Call and the first book is Off Course. To introduce y’all to it, I thought I’d do something I haven’t before, and interview the main characters, Miller Hudson and Gideon Wells. Then a better idea occurred to me—Miller and Gideon should interview each other! So today’s post is Gideon interviewing Miller. Wish us all luck!
Gideon Wells: Okay, I’m a little nervous here. Do I look okay?
Miller: Gid, no one can see you but me. Which, that’s a shame, let me tell you, because you look incredibly sexy in that prim button-up shirt and those slacks. No one would guess that just this morning—
You have written other shifter series in the past, what makes this one different?
This one deal with shifters as a whole facing trials and changes they can’t comprehend. Take Miller Hudson and the other coyote shifters. Are they really shifters since they can’t shift? That ability, along with the enhanced senses, vanished from their kind generations ago. Nothing is easy for them, and there’s a longing to shift and run, to hunt and live as the half of themselves that’s missing. It leaves the coyote’s feeling incomplete and yearning for something they may never have. That would be a hard way to live.
While writing under tight deadlines—which I prefer—I still manage to get distracted by The Shiny. It happens. A lot.
The Shiny can be anything from a thought I have, to someone coming in and chatting while I’m trying to work, to needing food because I’m ready to eat my laptop. I get distracted from the realities of day to day life by writing. I also have the attention span of a toddler hyped up on sugar at times, and therefore can’t listen to music as I write.
Home. It sounds like such a simple word, but what does home mean to you? Is it a place—a house, apartment, boathouse, or some other type of residence? Is a home something you purchase, or can you rent it?
Or is home something less easily defined? An intangible feeling and sense of belonging that you carry inside? For some people, home is a person who brings them comfort and with whom they feel secure with.
Three of my favorite celebrities:
I don't watch TV much at all, so I'm picking musicians.
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Westerns
Okay, my 5 fav westerns:
Unforgiven http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105695/
Clint is the king of westerns for me. This won’t be the only time he’s on the list. He’s so crochety and worn-looking, he just makes an awesome cowboy.
What was the inspiration for this latest novel?
Redemption. People can change. It might not happen very often, but it is possible. Duke was a bully when he was a kid. He turned that around and has been trying to make up for it for a long time. Forgiveness, self-growth. Frankie hurt Jody without an outward show of regret, really, and he had to deal with that and the repercussions from it.
Three of my favorite vacation destinations:
• I love being outdoors, unless the temperature hits the triple digits, then not so much. Hiking, which is Carter Hausemann's passion in Unexpected Places, is also one of mine. I try to get to New Mexico to hike a few times a year, usually in Gila somewhere. The Silver Creek trail there is gorgeous. The Cat Walk over in Glenwood was an amazing hike, too, but it's been destroyed in places due to mudslides.
Take a sneak peak at Unexpected Places in the latest issue of BTSe Magazine!
This is book eight in the Southern Spirits series so what can you tell us about the previous ones?
This is probably my favourite series that I've written. A Subtle Breeze, the first book in the series, was the third book I wrote back in 2009. I had so much fun with it, and then came When the Dead Speak. Laine and Sev stole my heart…
This is book nine in the Leopard Spot series, so what can you tell us about the other eight?
Each book is about a different shifter and his mate. It began with Grandma Marybeth's grandchildren, but has since branched out to cousins and now, with Nischal, long-lost family that were smuggled over from the Himalayas. There is adventure and laughter in every story, along with some fun, kinky sex, and love, lots of love…