The Codys: The First Family of Rodeo—Social Media Blitz Contest Today!

Dear Readers,

June kicks off the debut of Harlequin American Romance's first-ever six-book continuity series—The Codys: The First Family of Rodeo. In honor of this exciting occasion we're running a ONE DAY ONLY Social Media Blitz Contest here on the Harlequin American Romance Authors' blog.

Contest Scoop

Check out today's blog--Rebecca Winters discusses the first book in the Codys:First Family of Rodeo, WALKER: THE RODEO LEGEND. After reading her blog, post the following info:

www.harauthors.blogspot.com, Rebecca Winters and
WALKER: THE RODEO LEGEND

to your Facebook, MySpace and/or Twitter pages as well as your favorite blogs. The more places you link her post, the more chances you have to win! You can earn additional chances to win if you refer a friend and they in turn post a link to their favorite social media websites and blogs. Be sure to return to www.harauthors.blogspot.com and tell us where you're spreading the word so we can keep a tally of your activity.

Remember, the CONTEST IS TODAY ONLY—June 6, 2010!

Rebecca is giving away autographed books—both Harlequin Romance and American Romance. Plus, the grand prize winner will receive Rocky Mountain Chocolate! Remember, for each social media site you link to this blog and for each friend you contact who in turn spreads the word through their favorite networks, your name will be entered into a drawing. You have twenty-four hours to link us and win! Rebecca will post the winners in the comment section of her blog tomorrow. Be sure to return to see if you're one of the lucky winners.

And now here's Rebecca Winters' blog. Please keep reading!

~~~

Howdy Pardner from the Cody Stampede!

The cute little cowgirl you see in the middle with the tan cowboy hat is my darlin’ granddaughter Reese Burton. She’s here at the Denver Stock show with friends. Doesn’t she look great there watching the stockmen spray off those steers?

When her daddy sent me these pictures, I told him I was going to use this one to celebrate the launch book for Harlequin American Romance’s first-ever six-book continuity series.

The Codys: First Family of Rodeo

Everyone who loves rodeo enjoys milling around the grounds, checking out the bulls and horses. Some of the older gals enjoy checking out the Steer Wrestlers and bull riders, too!

Here’s Walker Cody, practicing for his event. Walker's the bulldogger in the first book of the series: WALKER: THE RODEO LEGEND. This guy’s a heartbreaker and a world champion bulldogger. He’s also a Marine who came back from war a wounded hero.

Come on and join me while I show you around. You’ve got to admit this is the prettiest country God ever created. When I saw this meadow, I knew it was the place where Walker yearned to come home to after the war.

A vision came to me of a mountain cabin built on John Walker Cody land years earlier at 10,000 feet. That’s where eight-year-old Walker and his siblings knew happiness sleeping in the loft while their grandmother cooked them trout they caught for breakfast. His fond memories include riding horses up there with his best friend and later on riding around double with a girlfriend. Now at 28, it’s his shelter away from everyone, his cave, his retreat, his fortress, his eyrie where he can try to heal his scarred heart and body before facing the world again.

Ya want to stay a spell and enjoy a week of rodeo? Cody’s the place!

Of course it won’t look all peaceful and quiet like this come rodeo season. A few miles away there’s another little fictitious town called Markton. From there you’ll come to the Cottonwood Ranch. There’s so much land, I envisioned a 600,000 acre spread in my mind as far as the eye could see and going right up the mountain. The rest came easy. A main ranch house here, bunk houses there, corrals, bullpens, you name it and the other gals writing for the series just kept addin and addin things like a fancy barn, a landing strip for their plane, a mechanical bull. It just grew and grew until…well…you’ll have to read all six books to capture the full flavor of a true rodeo family layout.

Walker needs help with his PTSD and decides to take up bulldogging again to fight it. But can he bring down a bull fast enough after being away six years?

One vet I know still suffers from it after many years, but with the help of a good psychiatrist and art therapy, he’s doing much better. Being around him gave me insights into Walker’s suffering. Here’s a sample of what he puts down on paper to get out his fear and emotions.

The picture of this dog walk-a-thon fit right into my story. I needed a setting where Walker and Paula, a grieving war widow with a two-year-old son Clay, will meet. What happens here throws three people together and lives are changed forever.

One of walker’s big challenges is getting back with his family again.

I come from a family of six children, and I’m second to the oldest. So is Walker. Being from a large family I was able to come up with some dynamics for the Walker family that defined my own. I had four sisters. My brother was the baby. Walker has three brothers, Jessie, Dex and Dusty, and his sister Elly who’s the baby. There were similarities I could incorporate. The rest came from the other authors as they developed their stories.

I had the luxury of doing the first draft of everything. That’s nice in one way because there’s nothing pre-conceived. You’re working from scratch. But as the other layers are added, you have to rework some parts until everyone’s satisfied.

Walker’s is a story of redemption through rodeo where wounds heal and happiness eventually triumphs.

Don’t forget to return next month for our second One Day Media Blitz Contest on July 16th when Marin Thomas blogs about book two in The Codys:First Family of Rodeo, DEXTER: HONORABLE COWBOY.

Write to me at http://www.cleanromances.com/ and share any thought or feelings. I’m signing off for now.

Yours till the Stampede is over!

Becky

Breaking News

A MOTHER’S WEDDING DAY

An April 2010 Mother’s Day Release from Harlequin American

4 STAR RATING FROM ROMANTIC TIMES

Two novellas in one book featuring authors Rebecca Winters and Dominique Burton who are the first Mother and Daughter in real-life to write for Harlequin American.

I’m proud to announce that Dominique Burton is my talented daughter!

This is her first published novel. At the moment she is under contract to Harlequin American for two more novels that are linked to A DAUGHTER’S DISCOVERY (from A MOTHER’S WEDDING DAY).

Watch for her next stories out in 2011.

As a young girl with a writer for a mom and three brothers, I lived in the imaginary world of books and movies like Anne of Greene Gables and Indiana Jones. Most of the time I was writing and acting out my own stories with Harrison Ford as my hero. Not too shabby for a seven year old!

I’m a lover of Europe who at twenty got the wild notion to buy an around-the-world plane ticket. For six months I circled the globe on my own, traveling to Singapore, Australia, living and studying in Italy, learning about ancient cultures in Egypt, floating down the Nile, watching animals on safari in Kenya, scuba diving in Tahiti and having a blast. I graduated with honors from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in History.

I now live in South Jordan, Utah, with my two amazing children. If I’m not writing romances or young adult stories, I’m reading or out running. A few years ago I had the privilege of running the Boston Marathon.

Please write to me at info@dominiqueburton.com or visit my website at http://www.dominiqueburton.com/.

This is a picture of me, Rebecca (Burton) Winters, when Dominique was only two years old. The love for writing has to be in the genes. When she came quietly into the dining room in the morning with her blanket and bottle to peek on her mommy who was typing a manuscript, this is what she saw.

Just call me the proud mom.

Rebecca Winters

Author Interview--Rebecca Winters

Please welcome long-time Harlequin Author, Rebecca Winters. We're thrilled that Rebecca has recently joined the American Romance line!

How long have you been published?
With Harlequin, 20 years.

What advice for new writers?
For new Harlequin writers, read the line you love until it gets deep in your psyche.

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?
Strong emotion, flesh and blood characterization, excellent story telling.

What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten?
Raw eel in a bar in Barcelona, Spain

What comes first: the plot or the characters?
That all depends. Stories have come to me both ways.

When you looked in the mirror this morning, what was the first thing you thought?
Time indeed marches on.

Describe your writing space.
The end of my bedroom. From my desk I look out a front and a side window. Both give me a glorious view of the brilliant blue sky and the Oquirrh Mountains. Directly in front of my front window is a beautiful park surrounded on all sides by adorable new houses that look like they belong in Whoville. Above my desk is a large, gorgeous framed tapestry my mother made in fine needlepoint of Romeo and Juliet done in deep blues and reds. I can’t work in clutter. My desk has the equipment, a phone book and lotion. You’ll usually see my favorite Coke Zero Cherry drink, my cell phone, a little lamp and a beautiful vase with no flowers in it (alas).

Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?
We all suffer from it. I often call my dear friend Bonnie K. Winn, a renown romance writer, and we go through the ‘what ifs.’ That usually unlocks my brain enough to move on.

What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
Anything by Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Taylor Caldwell, Anja Seton, James Michner, James Hilton. As for Harlequin writers, three stand out, but don’t forget I started reading Harlequins in the 70’s. Violet Winspear, Anne Mather and Margaret Way.

What are you reading now?
The last novel in the Twilight Series.

Do you re-read your books once they're in print?
Sure. Once in a while I get in a mood and think, hey-- I’ll read one of mine! Some of my favorites I read every year.

What is your work schedule like when you are writing?
I’m up at five a.m. and write all day (with breaks in between to tend grandchildren, shop, chat with family and friends on the phone, go on trips.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
This year at the Harlequin party during the RWA Conference in Washington D.C., I’m receiving an award for having written 100 books. It makes me croak just thinking about it. In the Harlequin Romance series I guess I have to say BRIDE OF MY HEART or CLAIMING HIS BABY. In the Harlequin Superromance series it would be STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET. In the Harlequin American series, I would have to say THE CHIEF RANGER.

Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say?
I get a few e-mails every week. They mostly tell me they like my romances because they are emotional and uplifting.

Tell us about your family and where you live.
I have four children and five grandchildren. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah, the land of mountains, blue skies and the greatest snow on earth.

Are you working on anything at the present you'd like to share?
A rodeo story for American. I’m now addicted to watching bullriding!

Did you ever eat paste or Elmer's glue when you were a kid?
Who didn’t eat both?

What did you do career-wise before becoming an author?
I taught French in secondary school.

How has the American Romance line changed since you first began writing for it?
I can’t tell you that yet. I’m only working on my third book for the line now.

What helps inspire you when you write? Do you have any ‘rituals’ (like music, candles, a favorite scent) that helps you find your writing zone?
I often burn my lilac scented candle. I use music a lot. Mostly classical piano concertos of Grief, Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Tchaikowsky, Beethoven, Schumann. I also love flamenco, Gypsy Kings, Luis Miguel, Andre Rocelli. I love opera; Carmen, Aida, Tosca, Madame Butterfly. Any music that pierces or squeezes your heart.

What do you want to know about the future?
I don’t. I can only handle my day to day life. I’d probably have a heart attack to know more.

Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke? If so, which do you prefer?
Absolutely. I prefer Coke. Pepsi taste like medicine.

Have you ever made a crank phone call?
When I was in grade school my older sister used to make me do crank calls and say, “Hey, have you got any pop in the bottle? If you do, let him out!”

Who's you're personal hero--past or present?
If we’re talking romantic, it’s Errol Flynn hands down on the movie screen. The scene with Marion in Robinhood, when he climbs on her balcony window and accuses her of loving him-- Then he professes his love for her, and there’s something about the way he says it and the way he looks at her that thrilled me as a child, as a teenager and as a grown woman. It gets to me every single time. It’s that emotion I try to put in my writing.

What is your dream car?
The Porsche 911.

If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?
South of France.

If you were locked in a closet for one hour who would you want in there with you?
Errol Flynn as he looked in Robinhood, the Sea Hawk or Captain Blood.

If you were stranded on a deserted Island what kind of hero would you want with you--A Cowboy, a Viking Warrior, a CEO, a Forensics investigator, a Chef or an Accountant…and why?
A cowboy. He’s eternal. A man of the earth who knows how to live and survive in any century. My next Harlequin Romance is going to be a cowboy story.

Rebecca
http://www.cleanromances.com/