Lexi: Please welcome contemporary cowboy romance Author, Stephanie Berget. Her book Radio Rose is on sale for only 99¢!
Which authors inspire(d) you?
Stephanie:
Before
I started writing, I was a voracious reader. My favorite authors were Susan
Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Crusie. They both bring humor and wonderful
quirky characters to their stories, and I try to do the same thing for my
readers.
Lexi:
What
was the strangest thing that inspired a story for you?
Stephanie:
Before
I’d started Radio Rose, I knew the heroine worked at an all-night radio station
as the DJ for a show about space aliens. I was trying to decide on a location
and Roswell, NM seemed too clichéd. Just across the Colorado border was a town
called Trinidad. When I Googled it, I found out Trinidad was the Sex Change
Capital of the World. From that point on, quirky characters introduced
themselves and demanded I put them in the book. I had such fun with these guys.
Lexi:
What are your favorite traits of the two main characters?
Stephanie:
For
Rose’s Adam Cameron it’s his kindness and empathy for others even though he
wasn’t raised with much of either, and for Rose Wajnowski it’s her
determination. She over comes all odds. Life has dealt them both a ton of crap,
and yet they are people I’d love to meet.
Lexi: What
are you working on now?
Stephanie:
I’m
doing edits on the first of my Barrel Horse Love series. They are contemporary
western romance with a twist. Each book will feature a real life barrel horse
as a secondary character. Kali Jo Parker’s gray mare, Tuneful, is the star of
Changing A Cowboy’s Tune. Kali Jo and Tuneful are on their way to the National
Finals. This book will be released June 1st as part of the
anthology, Cowboy Six Pack.
Lexi:
Of all the books you’ve written, which is your favorite character?
Stephanie:
Oh,
there are several. Sean O’Connell in Sugarwater Ranch and Byron Garrett in
Cowboy’s Sweetheart. Both are hot, angry cowboys who become good guys in the
end, but my all-time favorite is Irwin, Rose’s best friend in Radio Rose. He’s
a bit of a mystery man, appearing tall and masculine on the air, but he’s short
and quirky in real life. On the job, his alter ego, Randall Cunningham III,
makes the listeners of Advice For The Lovelorn swoon. I still haven’t decided
if he’s an alien and neither have any of the characters in the book.
Lexi:
Thank you Stephanie for stopping by today.
Stephanie has a question for you. Adam Cameron
competes in the Bareback Riding at rodeos when he’s not saving towns and
falling in love. Have you ever been to a rodeo? What is your favorite event?
Excerpt from Radio Rose.
Rose was
still in shock and shook her head. What a mistake! Glass shards of pain sliced
into her brain. She slammed her eyes shut and sucked in a breath.
The alien-repellant
helmet slipped to the side, and he gently lifted it off her head. Pressing it
into her hands, he waited for her to open her eyes.
She peeked at her helmet and saw half the lights had burned out. “Damn,
piece of shit helmet. This piece of crap is guaranteed for ten years. How am I
going to make good on the guarantee if I’m abducted? Answer me that.”
“Are you dizzy?” he asked. “Can you walk?”
As she lifted her gaze to his eyes, firefly sparkles flashed
across her vision. She’d forgotten he was there.
I must be out of my mind. Abducted by aliens, and I’m worrying
about this piece of junk.
As she tried
to answer, the words froze into little clumps of ice and melted back down her
throat.
“How many fingers do you see?” he asked,
holding up one hand.
“Hold them still so I can count.”
“How many?” he asked again, impatience riding
on each word.
It seemed a stupid question for an alien to
ask, but now was not the time to question these guys on their mathematical
skills. Focusing her eyes, she counted the fingers slowly, twice then told the
truth. “Seven.”
“You need to
sit down while I try to get you out of here.” He carried her to a vehicle,
opened the door and placed her on the seat.
“Don't take me with you. Please, I'm not a
normal human. I wouldn't make a good specimen,” Rose pleaded as she stuffed her
trembling hands between her knees to hide the shaking. “Really, I'll skew your
results.” She focused her vision and concentrated on his features. Nothing was
making sense. He looked like a human, a darn nice one, but her callers had told
her aliens could change form at will.
He placed her
helmet in her lap. Only a light, here and there, was blinking now. Forty-nine
dollars and ninety-nine cents down the drain when she didn’t have money to
spare. If she disappeared into outer space to be experimented on money would be
the least of her worries.
She didn't have the energy to fight him when
he lifted her legs, put them in the spaceship and dug around until he found the
straps to tie her down. He reached across her, belted her in and shut the door.
Now she was trapped. Running her fingers over the door, she tried to find the
handle. Before she could make her move, she felt the spaceship lifting off.
Buylink:
AmazonAbout Stephanie:
Finding romance beneath a rodeo moon. That’s what Stephanie Berget had in mind when she began writing, to add a realistic view of rodeo and ranching to her Western Romance.
She was born loving horses, developing a lifelong love
of rodeo when she married her Bronc Rider. They traveled to rodeos throughout
the Northwest while she ran barrels and her cowboy rode bucking horses.
Stephanie and her husband have three adult children
and several grandchildren. They live on a farm located along the Oregon/Idaho
border, where they raise hay, horses and cattle, with the help of Cisco, the
wonder horse, Dizzy Dottie, the Border Collie, and two Munchkin cats, Magic and
Martin.
Thanks, Lexi, for having me on your blog. Good Sunday morning everybody.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Stephanie :-)
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