 | Carol Stokes on the left and Carmen Crowley on the right loved writing stories together |
1. Tell us about your sister and you.
My sister who is no longer living and I were lucky to grow up in Fort Collins, Colorado. I now live in Monument, Colorado with an incredible view of Pike's Peak out my window. For several years my sister and I went our separate way but always stayed in touch. After attending Colorado State University where I met my husband Bill, I taught Home Economics and English in middle school in Denver until I joined my husband in operating a greenhouse business for thirty years in Littleton, Colorado. We grew carnations and later potted plants and bedding plants. Today, we manage rental properties located in Colorado Springs and live near our son, his wife, and three grandchildren. Fortunately, our daughter lives in Castle Rock with her husband and four children.
In 2012, my sister and I attended a national RWA conference with the idea of writing a book together as a team. Did we ever learn a lot and I mean a lot about writing sweet contemporary romance. We continued to attend conferences for the next five years. At the same time, we began writing our first book. It took us five years to complete but we did it. Carol wrote constantly. She'd start writing and write for hours. I'd follow, adding to her plot about twin sisters. We decided to write a series we would self-published, but wanted to complete the next two books in the series before delving into the business of self-publishing. Sadly, Carol passed away in 2016 from pancreatic cancer before the books were published. I promised her I would publish them and I did. Book One in the series came out in 2016 not long after her death. The first two books are about twin sisters who search for lasting relationships. The third book redeems a negative character in the first book. The fourth book's main character has retired from playing NFL football and is trying to decide what to do with his life.
2. Do you have a writing schedule, a special place set aside for writing, your techniques for planning the book?
I write better in the evenings. Carol made a general outline of the books she had in mind and I'm using the outlines and her notes to continue our books. We used our life experiences in all the books we wrote together and the books I'm doing now. We hoped and I still do, the books will make readers smile and laugh.
3. What are your favorite activities when not writing?
Spending time with my grandchildren is high on my list. Of course, since I'm a writer I love to read romance novels. I crochet hats in all sizes and take them to craft fairs. My husband and I love to travel.
Blurb - AN UNEXPECTED AFFAIR - Book Four of the Affairs of the Heart Series
While doing geological field work in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Hannah Connors, a beautiful geology professor, sees Cameron Dalton fall down the side of a mountain and rescues him---saving his life!
Cameron, a former pro football player and entrepreneur, has recently given responsibilities of managing his company, Dalton Sports, to his younger brother, Warren, and is living in a luxurious, secluded cabin in western Colorado.
The ex-football star needs someone to take care of him while he is recuperating from a broken arm and a concussion. Hannah steps in to help---not realizing major complications will result including posing as his fake fiancée!
Despite all this, will Cameron and Hannah fall in love? Will Hannah win his heart or will Cameron's ex-fiancée and famous actress, Kate Woodward, win him back?
While doing geological field work in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Hannah Connors, a beautiful geology professor, sees Cameron Dalton fall down the side of a mountain and rescues him---saving his life!
Cameron, a former pro football player and entrepreneur, has recently given responsibilities of managing his company, Dalton Sports, to his younger brother, Warren, and is living in a luxurious, secluded cabin in western Colorado.
The ex-football star needs someone to take care of him while he is recuperating from a broken arm and a concussion. Hannah steps in to help---not realizing major complications will result including posing as his fake fiancée!
Despite all this, will Cameron and Hannah fall in love? Will Hannah win his heart or will Cameron's ex-fiancée and famous actress, Kate Woodward, win him back?
Someone screamed! Hannah Connors jerked her head up from her laptop and couldn't believe her eyes. A man tumbled down the side of the mountain into a ravine. Earlier, while she sat on a bolder studying the rocks around her, she had watched him climbing with his dog on a steep outcropping of rocks. And now this.
Terrified that the man could be badly injured, she quickly closed her laptop, zipped open her daypack, took out her yellow, light weight jacket, and shoved in her laptop. As she closed her daypack, wind-driven raindrops started to splattered onto the top of her blond head. She spun around, frantically searching the area of rocks, and found a space under a crevice covered by a boulder to protect her daypack from the rain.
"Great. Just great. My daypack will probably end up soaked and muddy," she complained aloud to herself. She looked up at the menacing, dark-gray sky as if it could hear her displeasure and pulled out her jacket. The warm, summer temperature must have dropped twenty degrees with the incoming rain. She shivered in her jacket, her red-and-blue plaid, long-sleeved shirt, red tank top, and khaki shorts not enough to keep her warm.
Hannah raced to the spot where she thought she had seen the man fall. His dog whined and pawed his feet in the dirt, nervous about his master. Looking down at the black, short-haired dog, she asked, "Where is your master?" The dog's brown eyes looked at her in anguish. "Don't worry, I'll find him," she said, to comfort the dog and assure herself.
At last, she sighted him lying on the ground at the bottom of the ravine about fifty years from them. She scrambled down the hillside as fast as she could manage without tumbling herself. His dog ran down the hill close to her.
When she finally reached the man, she did not think he was too badly hurt. He had managed to push himself up off the ground and was walking toward her---well, stumbling was more like it. She could see he was young but looked somewhat older than she---probably late twenties. He was athletically built with broad shoulders and a tall stance---taller than her five foot nine inches. His reddish-brown hair had streaks of light-blond, undoubtedly bleached from being out in the sun.
She yelled, "Are you okay?"
Oh! No! She could see rivulets of blood starting to cover what looked to be a handsome face. As he came closer to her, her body shivered not only from the cold wet weather but also from something radiating from him---an irresistible attraction. What an amazing reaction to seeing his face for the first time and he being injured! She shook her head, trying to rid her mind of these feelings. Men were her friends---her colleagues---and she kept them all at a safe distant. Her heart had been broken several times and was still mending.
"I think I broke my arm!" he bellowed as he collapsed onto his back, wincing and holding his right arm that she could now see was at an odd angle. He was hurt more than she had assumed---especially when she saw the amount of blood on his tan-colored polo shirt and the gash on his bloodied forehead. Hopefully, his jeans prevented cuts on his legs, but he probably had substantial bruising from the fall. His black dog wandered around him whining.
As she approached him, the dog sat back on his hind legs an wagged his tail. Relief flooded over her as the dog looked anything but vicious. "Okay, dog. I'm friend. I'm here to help your master---he's hurt," Hannah said louder than normal, hoping the dog wouldn't lash out at her. The dog whimpered and stood as a sentinel over him
The man's dark-brown eyes, filled with pain, flickered open. "Jack, Jack---this lady is going to help us. Be nice . . ." He was barely able to get the words out before his eyelids closed and his head fell back.
Please, no! He appeared to be unconscious. She bent down close to his head. "Hello? Can you hear me?"
Terrified that the man could be badly injured, she quickly closed her laptop, zipped open her daypack, took out her yellow, light weight jacket, and shoved in her laptop. As she closed her daypack, wind-driven raindrops started to splattered onto the top of her blond head. She spun around, frantically searching the area of rocks, and found a space under a crevice covered by a boulder to protect her daypack from the rain.
"Great. Just great. My daypack will probably end up soaked and muddy," she complained aloud to herself. She looked up at the menacing, dark-gray sky as if it could hear her displeasure and pulled out her jacket. The warm, summer temperature must have dropped twenty degrees with the incoming rain. She shivered in her jacket, her red-and-blue plaid, long-sleeved shirt, red tank top, and khaki shorts not enough to keep her warm.
Hannah raced to the spot where she thought she had seen the man fall. His dog whined and pawed his feet in the dirt, nervous about his master. Looking down at the black, short-haired dog, she asked, "Where is your master?" The dog's brown eyes looked at her in anguish. "Don't worry, I'll find him," she said, to comfort the dog and assure herself.
At last, she sighted him lying on the ground at the bottom of the ravine about fifty years from them. She scrambled down the hillside as fast as she could manage without tumbling herself. His dog ran down the hill close to her.
When she finally reached the man, she did not think he was too badly hurt. He had managed to push himself up off the ground and was walking toward her---well, stumbling was more like it. She could see he was young but looked somewhat older than she---probably late twenties. He was athletically built with broad shoulders and a tall stance---taller than her five foot nine inches. His reddish-brown hair had streaks of light-blond, undoubtedly bleached from being out in the sun.
She yelled, "Are you okay?"
Oh! No! She could see rivulets of blood starting to cover what looked to be a handsome face. As he came closer to her, her body shivered not only from the cold wet weather but also from something radiating from him---an irresistible attraction. What an amazing reaction to seeing his face for the first time and he being injured! She shook her head, trying to rid her mind of these feelings. Men were her friends---her colleagues---and she kept them all at a safe distant. Her heart had been broken several times and was still mending.
"I think I broke my arm!" he bellowed as he collapsed onto his back, wincing and holding his right arm that she could now see was at an odd angle. He was hurt more than she had assumed---especially when she saw the amount of blood on his tan-colored polo shirt and the gash on his bloodied forehead. Hopefully, his jeans prevented cuts on his legs, but he probably had substantial bruising from the fall. His black dog wandered around him whining.
As she approached him, the dog sat back on his hind legs an wagged his tail. Relief flooded over her as the dog looked anything but vicious. "Okay, dog. I'm friend. I'm here to help your master---he's hurt," Hannah said louder than normal, hoping the dog wouldn't lash out at her. The dog whimpered and stood as a sentinel over him
The man's dark-brown eyes, filled with pain, flickered open. "Jack, Jack---this lady is going to help us. Be nice . . ." He was barely able to get the words out before his eyelids closed and his head fell back.
Please, no! He appeared to be unconscious. She bent down close to his head. "Hello? Can you hear me?"
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