The Art Appraiser and the Lawman—a sequel to When the Ocotillo Bloom

When I wrote When the Ocotillo Bloom, I fell in love with Lynn's daughter, Abby, and the Texas highway patrolman, Roark Espinoza, and knew they had to have their own story. But, I didn't know they'd end up together. So here it is—The Art Appraiser and the Lawman.

When Abby Devry, a Fort Worth art and antiques appraiser, meets a handsome Texas State Trooper, there is no way to ignore the instant attraction.  Roark Espinoza has had his eye on Abby, and after one dance together, he knows she’s the one for him. But Abby hasn’t had much experience with men, and she’s worried about the dangers of Roark’s job. A lawman at heart, he plans to become a Texas Ranger as soon as he is able. Though Roark believes Abby is the woman for him, he’s haunted by wounds from a past relationship.

When Abby’s job assignment sends her to inventory and appraise items in a beautiful historical home in downtown Fort Worth, Fate throws Abby and Roark together once more.  The owner of the home happens to be none other than Roark’s grandmother, and he shows up to help with the project. As Abby and Roark work together, their relationship blooms, but it isn't until they travel to the Espinoza family ranch that Abby learns to believe her heart.

When a murder takes place at the ranch, Abby’s faith and trust in Roark is tested. Is love in the cards for THE ART APPRAISER AND THE LAWMAN?

Excerpt:

Abby Devry hugged the wall like a freshman at a high school dance. Oh well, this evening wasn't about her. It was to celebrate her mother's marriage. She leaned against the open barn door and watched as her mother, Lynn Devry, and her groom, Seth Williams, snuck out through one of the side doors. A grin tickled her lips, and she released a laugh at the happiness emanating from the couple. Both divorced, they'd waited a long time to find someone to complete their lives. Now, Abby not only had a stepfather, but three stepbrothers as well, one who was her current boyfriend.

The dance floor, or she should say the barn floor, was filled with couples dancing, including her date, Brandon Williams. He'd danced the last two numbers with Riley Espinoza, his sweetheart from when they were teens. This one was a slow number, and from the clench they had on each other, the romance wasn't over. Abby turned and headed toward the corral. 

"Abby, wait up."

She stopped and turned at the deep baritone voice. With the light to his back she didn't at first recognize Roark Espinoza, Riley's brother. As he neared, the tall and handsome man with dark hair and skin, a reflection from his Mexican heritage, his deep blue eyes shone like diamonds in the waning light. And when he smiled showing off those beautiful white teeth, her stomach flipped.

"Come back in and dance with me." He extended his hand.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll pick up a copy of The Art Appraiser and the Lawman. And if you haven't read When the Ocotillo Bloom, grab a copy of it also.

Happy reading and writing!

Linda

www.lindalaroque.com

Weekend at a Dude Ranch

A writing retreat is always fun, but  hold it on a dude ranch and you'll have a blast.

The weekend of April 29th through May 2nd some of The Wild Rose Press authors and family members met at the Silver Spur Ranch in Bandera, Texas. Five of our local Heart of Texas chapter of RWA members, including myself, attended. We had our own cabin. Five women with one bathroom but we managed. Below is Belinda Bass and Debra Hanes in front of the Sundance Kid cabin.

Here's our cabin from the back. The wildflowers were beautiful.

Our meetings and meals were held in the lodge.

A relaxed schedule allowed for horseback riding, swimming, private writing time, workshops, or just time to visit or nap. Saturday morning those not riding participated in a hay ride to a cowboy breakfast. We stopped to feed the longhorns on the way. I'm the rider on the back far side with the big straw hat.

After breakfast, Kevin Fitzpatrick, champion roper, entertained us with roping tricks and his bullwhip.

I wish I had pictures of us riding horses but it took all my concentration to stay on the horse. Though I'm a Texas girl, I'm not a horse woman. Riding was great fun. It took about thirty minutes for me to be able to walk on steady legs and several days to work the soreness out.

We had the chance to visit with the cowboys and ask a variety of questions about ranching and horses. Many of the participants attended a local rodeo in Bandera on Friday night and others visited the local gun club to test a variety of weapons.

The weekend was a great experience. Now to get busy writing.

My novel When the Ocotillo Bloom is set on a dude ranch, for problem children and teens, in the Big Bend country of Texas. You can read chapter one on my website. Click on the chapter reads page and enjoy!

Have you ever visited a dude ranch? Of so, tell me where and how you liked it.  Your comment will add your name to my monthly ebook drawing.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

A Little Ole' West Texas Romance and the Vanishing Art of Biscuit Making

This is the title of the program at the Gourmet Gallery in Waco on February 16, 2010 showcasing my novel When the Ocotillo Bloom. In this story the heroine becomes the bread cook for a summer camp in the Big Bend Country of Texas and turns out a large number of biscuits each day.

I talked about my book and the audience asked questions about the story, writing, and publishing in general. There were approximately 17 participants and a copy of my book was included in their registration fee.

Rebecca shared details about the history of biscuits.

I demonstrated the art of making basic Southern biscuits. Here I'm forming the dought before cutting them out to place on a cutting sheet. One tip, do not twist the cutter as it will make your biscuits lopsided. As I'm working, Jo Ann is sharing more baking tips.

Our audience participated with loads of questions and comments. They enjoyed the three types of biscuits demonstrated. Of course, tasting was the best part. We had basic bisuits, biscuits made with heavy cream as the fat, and Cheddar, Chive, and Bacon biscuits. Next week I'll post recipes for all three.

Jo Ann, one of Gourmet Gallery's staff prepares Cheddar, Chive, and Bacon biscuits. They were a big hit.

Rachel, another Gourmet Gallery staff member prepares her biscuits using heavy cream to replace the shortening. Delicious! The cream makes a smoother, less crumbly biscuit.

Signing books. They are available through Champagne Books, The Wild Rose Press, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.

My good friends Jo Ann and RaLois. We all worked at Brownwood High School together in the 1980s. Jo Ann left teaching Home Economics to become a counselor. RaLois and I both taught Home Economics, now called Family Consumer Sciences.

Thank you Gourmet Gallery of Waco for allowing me to participate in your Cook The Books program.

Readers - what is your favorite kind of biscuits. Leave a comment to be entered in my monthly ebook drawing. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Bremond Library Fund Raiser

The Bremond Public Library Fund Raiser was a great success. The theme was The Orphan Train as the train stopped in Bremond and several members of the community are direct descendants of those who found a home in the small town. Before the play, we enjoyed a delicious mean of cowboy stew, cornbread, and dessert.

School Students performed in a silent play depicting what it was like for children as they traveled from city to city until they were chosen by a family. Many were selected for their ability to work on the farm and were little more than servants. Others were treated as well-loved children. Regardless, their fate was, in most cases, was better than starving on the streets of New York or living out their lives in an over-crowded orphanage.

Ciara Gold, in period dress on the right, narrated the play. Her book, Once Jilted, is one in a series of books about the orphan train available from Champagne Books. With Ciara are several library patrons and members of Bremond's community.

Here are pictures of the cowboy cooks demonstrating their skills. They prepared peach cobbler, cherry cobbler and biscuits baked in Dutch ovens over an open fire. Ciara sampled the peach and I tasted the cherry and a biscuit. They were delicious!

In my book When the Ocotillo Bloom, Lynn Devry learns to cook outside over an open flame when she accompanies the children on a trail drive.

Here is a picture of me and Ciara with big smiles. I sold 12 books and I think Ciara sold more than I did. The most rewarding aspect of the library event was meeting many wonderful people and enjoying their small town enthusiasm.

Thank you for stopping by. If you have any orphan train experiences or have enjoyed a meal cooked out on an open fire (other than hamburgers or hotdogs), please share with us. Or leave a comment on whatever comes into your mind about the post. All comments will be entered into my monthly ebook drawing.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Description – Moving the Story or Boring Our Reader?

As a writer, one of my greatest strengths, or so I’ve been told, is description. I do love for the reader to see the countryside as I see it. And to write an engaging account, the author needs to intimately know the landscape. If you’re writing about an area where you’ve lived and love, it’s easy. Otherwise, unless you visit the area or do a great deal of research, it may sound stilted or flat.

But how much description should you include in your story and when does it become too much? Good question and one I’ve faced many times. Because I love it, I write it and then have to reduce it by 3/4ths.

My first novel had pages of beautiful descriptive passages of west Texas, the flora and fauna, the mesas, the land ruined by oil derricks, and the offensive smell of gas. My sister had never been to the area and loved it. An editor said it read like a travelogue. Oh, it was painful to cut out that beautiful description from my manuscript, but when it was finished, I had a much better story.

Description should enhance the characters and have a direct affect on the plot of your story. In my first novel, When the Ocotillo Bloom(reissued by Champagne Books July 2009), the hero compares the heroine to the ocotillo plant. It is bare and ugly in the winter, but when it rains in the spring, tiny green leaves adorn the stems and cover its thorns. At the top of each long spike blooms a beautiful reddish-gold flower. The heroine is prickly with an attitude, but as the layers of her discontent peel away, her beauty is exposed.

Our readers need to know what our character’s environments are like, but they don’t need a detailed description of the floor plan or furniture. It’s nice if they know the style of the house because in many ways it reflects the hero/heroine’s personality and lifestyle. The u-shaped hacienda blended with the raw landscape of distant mesas and purple sunsets. The cactus that grew beside the front walk merged with the adobe giving the impression it was an extension of the house itself.

If we describe the house inside, we want the description to be part of the action. She plopped down on the horrid orange sofa she’d bought at a salvage house. It clashed nicely with the stuffed red chair she’d found by the dumpster outside her apartment. Yep, her place added a new dimension to shabby chic.

How do you handle description in your stories? Is writing it a pleasure or a pain?

Leave a comment to be entered in September's E-book drawing.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

http://www.lindalaroque.com/

July Winners!

The When the Ocotillo Bloom winner of the sterling silver prickly pear cactus charm is Krista A. Braaten. Congratulations, Krista. Email your snail mail address to this address linda@lindalaroque.com
and I'll get your charm in the mail.

Winner of the drawing for an ebook of their choice is Ella Blackhart. Congratulations, Ella. Check out my books and short stories on my website at http://www.lindalaroque.com/ and email your choice to me at linda@lindalaroque.com/

Thanks to all who entered the When the Ocotillo Bloom Contest and those who left a comment for my ebook drawing. Stay tuned as I'll have a contest for amber earrings in October to celebrate book two of The Turquoise Legacy, Flames on The Sky.

I'm lining up more guest bloggers so stay tuned and leave comments for next month's ebook drawing.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/
http://lindalaroqueauthor.blogspot.com/

Check out my new cover for When the Ocotillo Bloom

When the Ocotillo Bloom, a contemporary western romance, set at a camp for problem children on a ranch in the Big Bend Country is being reissued by Champagne Books. It's due out July 1, 2009. I just got my new cover. Isn't it beautiful. Thank you artist, Trisha FitzGerald!

Let me know what you think.

Linda

Linda LaRoque ~ Western Romance with a Twist in Time.
Forever Faithful, Investment of the Heart 5-09, When the Ocotillo Bloom, 7-09, Champagne Books; A Law of Her Own, Desires of the Heart, My Heart Will Find Yours 5-09, Flames on the Sky 10-23-09 from TWRP.
http://www.lindalaroque.com/
http://lindalaroqueauthor.blogspot.com/