A Guest Post by
Shannon Vannatter
Most of the time, I give my heroines a career I think would be fun. A florist, an apartment manager, advertising executive, a photographer, a horse-trainer if I wasn’t slightly afraid of horses, a publicist, a western clothing store owner, an interior decorator, a clothing designer, a veterinarian if I never had to put a pet to sleep.
Occasionally, my heroine ends up with a career that fits the story. A postmaster, a nurse. My latest heroine is a chef. But I hate cooking.
Landry’s best friend from college died several months ago and left her half of her grandparents’ dude ranch. The catch—her deceased friend’s brother owns the other half. And he’s pretty certain Landry is a scammer or gold-digger or both. I needed Landry to be an asset at the dude ranch, so I gave her the history of working there when she was in college and at a second dude ranch since then.
Sure she could clean rooms, book guests, and make beds. But she needed college level skills that would be useful at a dude ranch. So I came up with making her a chef. This way, she could be an asset in the ranch restaurant his parents’ own. But I kept her down to earth, not cordon bleu since it is a dude ranch and I’m not sure I could have pulled off a fancy meal preparation scene. The minor I gave Landry in marketing comes in handy when guests start canceling their reservations because a neighboring dude ranch cut their rates.
But that wasn’t enough to win over the cowboy. She needed to be completely unsqueamis
h and multi-talented in surprising ways. She likes to fish and since she’s a chef, she can clean her own catch. Since her grandparents own a ranch and thanks to her veterinarian cousin, she can help birth a farm animal. When Chase comes up short a lifeguard, he learns she’s certified. Every time Landry comes to his rescue, the chink in his armor grows bigger.
Landry is one of the most unlike-me heroines I’ve ever written. You couldn’t pay me enough to become a chef. The fanciest cooking I do is pan-seared talapia with stir fry vegetables. The only reason I cook is because I have a family and I get hungry, but I hate every minute of it. I’m afraid of fish hooks, worms are gross, and fish are slimy. So my talapia come from the frozen section in the grocery story. Even though I live in Arkansas, I try not to go anywhere near a farm animal, and when forced since my parents raise cattle, I never get on the same side of the fence with them.
The only characteristics Landry shares with me—I like to swim, I love bonfires, and I’m empathetic. Which made her a challenge, but it was also fun to create her many layers. And to watch Chase’s wall crumble a brick at a time as he developed a grudging respect for her.
What about you? What surprising talents do you have?
The Rancher Stakes His Claim
When she inherits half a dude ranch after losing her best friend, Landry Malone is determined to see Eden’s legacy flourish. That is if her friend’s broad-shouldered cowboy brother will give her the chance. Chase Donovan isn’t happy that his sister left their family business to an outsider—and he’s determined to test Landry’s mettle, hoping she’ll give up her claim. Soon Chase is impressed by Landry’s ability to rise to every challenge he puts in her way—and worried that his attraction to the perky spitfire seems to know no end. Finally working together to ensure the ranch’s future, will their business partnership be the foundation for something more?
Award winning, central Arkansas author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom/pastor’s wife. She once climbed a mountain wearing gold wedge-heeled sandals which became known as her hiking boots.
She has twelve published titles and is contracted for three more. Her books are available online. Learn more about Shannon and her books at http://shannonvannatter.com and check out her real life romance blog at http://shannonvannatter.com/blog/ with weekly book giveaways.
Connect with her: Shannon’s Facebook, Shannon’s Goodreads, Shannon’s Pinterest, Shannon’s Twitter, and Shannon’s Amazon Author Page.
Giveaway details: Comment to enter the drawing for a copy of Winning Over the Cowboy. Eleven copies will be split among names drawn during the blog tour from April 3 -20. One winner will receive a fishing themed memory board (pictured above) personally crafted by the author. This fabric is special because my son loves to fish as do the characters in the book. Great for displaying kids or grandkids or as a gift for the little fisherman in your life. Deadline April 27th. Winners will be revealed on the author’s blog on April 29th. Go to my website http://shannontaylorvannatter.com and sign up for my newsletter to enter more giveaways and get a free book download.
Elizabeth Maddrey is a semi-reformed computer geek and homeschooling mother of two who lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books. She loves to write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and receiving God’s grace on their way to their own romantic happily ever after.
Hi:) Your book sounds interesting. My husband is a great cook (I normally cook, but more the everyday meals) and enjoys making interesting dishes as a way of relaxing…no complaints from me!!
Enjoy your day:)
Thanks for introducing ups to Shannon, Elizabeth. I’m not much of a cook, but I’ve been told my many I should open up a cookie shop.
My husband is a disaster in the kitchen. He’s burned ramen noodles. :) So, I do all the cooking. We all prefer it that way. :)
Oooh…Your cookies must be amazing then! What’s your favorite kind to make?
That’s thanks for the introduction. My mom and Dad are great cooks so turns out all the kids must know how to cook. I didn’t like cooking but after I had my son, it’s easier to do. So every now and then I try to make something different.
I am really working to make sure my boys learn how to cook! My littler one is more interested, so he can actually do more than his older brother right now. But I don’t want either to leave the house without basic skills, even if they don’t like to do it! :)
It does get a little easier when you’ve got family relying on you to put food in front of them.
One of the things we tried to teach the boys in our family is to know how to cook & clean. We tell them to not expect it’s a woman’s job to do all those things for them.
Amen :) good job!
I was never really into cooking until I got married. My husband turned cooking into a family affair and challenged my creativity to come up with new recipes. It’s actually nice to cook together now.
The book sounds really interesting! Thanks for sharing about a new author.
Love the cover! Sounds like a great book. I enjoy cooking and baking.
Wemble, thankfully my husband is very easy to feed. He’s happy with hotdogs or sandwiches. I try to do better than that though. He and my son are strange about leftovers, so I cook mostly soups, stews, roasts, or chicken and dumplings. Somehow, with those, they don’t realized they’re eating left overs.
Hey Elizabeth, thanks for having me. My husband can cook hotdogs and cookies. But that’s about it. He’s great on the grill though. In the summer, he grills a lot – steak and fish mostly. The fish is for me. He thinks it defiles his grill, but he knows I like fish, so he’s willing.
I love cookies. My husband makes amazing chocolate oatmeal drop cookies. I’ve tried to make them and mine either turn out runny or hard. His are perfect every time.
And breakfast. My husband cooks a mean breakfast, especially gravy.
My mom hates to cook too, so I come by it honest. My son can warm up stuff in the microwave, so at least he won’t starve.
Hi Priscila, after our son was born, I became a stay at home mom. I thought I might like to enjoy cooking without a full time job and more time. I still don’t like it, but I don’t mind as much now.
Thanks Beth. I was really pleased with this cover. The heroine was a hoot to write. She’s so different than me. Besides cooking, she doesn’t mind getting dirty, gets way too close to farm animals for my comfort, baits her own hook, and cleans her own catch. Makes me shudder to think about.
I love to cook, but I want a man to grill. Like my daddy did. :-) If I ever am blessed with a husband, again, that’s one thing I’ll look for. A grill man. Lol.
Grill men are awesome, Sheila. My husband grills steaks so well, he’s almost ruined me on steakhouses.
Fun! I think I’d enjoy cooking with my hubby, I may have to see if I can drag him into it :)
It really is a great cover, isn’t it?
That is something my hubs can do — he’s a great griller.
Totally sympathize on the cooking! I can do it, but I’d rather do about anything else!
Fishing and animals are fine with me though. I have a lifetime hunting and fishing license. =)
I love to bake sweet stuff but like you, I don’t cook very much
I caught my first fish this summer when we took our son out to try it. He had a blast. I’m thinking it’s a good father/son activity :)
Oh I love to bake. And then eat what I baked :)
I don’t mind cooking if I can concentrate on it. My husband’s forte is pancakes :-) One time when I was teaching a summer English conversation class once a week in Hong Kong, I’d get home so late that he took over fixing supper that night. We had spaghetti every week, and every week he’d experiment with different spices in the sauce… :-)
On the fishing, when I was born, the doctor told my dad he couldn’t take me fishing. Well, my dad made up his mind that he could take a daughter fishing! I loved it until the fishing licenses got expensive and the fish harder to find.
Me too, Katy. Anything else. And I get mad. I always spill something or make a mess and it makes me mad because then I have to cook and clean up a mess. My son loves to fish and hunt. We have a freezer full of meat most of the time. He has 3 white tail deer and a wild boar on his wall that he’s killed. Plus a fish and 4 turkey tails. He’s fifteen and started hunting 5 years ago. I hate the hunting part and I wish the animals on his wall were still alive. But the meat tastes good.
I don’t even like to bake, Shelia. I’d just as soon stay out of the kitchen completely.
My husband makes awesome pancakes too. And I love pasta. I think I could handle spaghetti for a week with experiments. I don’t mind fishing if someone else baits my hook, someone else gets the fish off the hook, and I don’t have to watch the fish struggle to breath after they’re caught. But I always feel sorry for them. Even catch and release. It seems like they’d die or at least swim around with a sore mouth.
Elizabeth, my husband started wirh easy tasks like chopping and slicing but he didn’t try his hand at putting things together until a few years later. It was fun to have company anyway even if I’d do it faster.
My mom was a great cook and my mother-in-law still is! I get in a rut and make the same things over and over and then suddenly I’ll get a spurt of creativity and Pinterest recipes explode for a week or two, then I’m back to the same-old.
Hubby can cook enough not to starve, but he mostly stays out of the kitchen. We live on a farm, so there’s plenty of things he does that I’d rather not, so it works out fine for us. We also love to go camping a lot in the summer. I plan the menu and prep what I can at home, but he does probably 95% of the cooking when we’re camping. Don’t ask me to explain this, because I can’t. Something about the camp stove and grill calls to him…??? It does mean that camping is relaxing for me, as well, though, so that’s a definite plus!
I’m not a fan of catch-and-release, either. Hubby loves fishing and we both love to eat it. I’m fine with fishing for the dinner table, but “sport” fishing makes no sense to me. Why all the trauma for the fish? We call scaring an animal have to death fun?
Hi Shannon, after my son was born my his and atarted cooking alone quite often when he got time off, so I would have more time on my hands. Those prior five years cooking together paid off nicely.
Also, your website doesn’t seem to be working properly. The one you cite in the post won’t let me sign up for your newsletter, in which the last post is a warning you’re moving to a new website; the webpage of the new website is just not working.
My 9 year old can make some mean pancakes. I try to let him cook those whenever they’re on the menu.
It probably is the grill thing :) but hey, whatever works for you to have more relaxing is a good thing!
It seems like a lot of men enjoy cooking. And less women cook these days hmmm ?
I’m a terrible cook, but I can wrangle horses and cattle pretty well, thanks to growing up with both. I live on the same land as my parents, and my mom and I are currently running things since my dad has been sidelined with cancer and heart problems. I don’t mind feeding the horses and cattle (even though both get really excited and sometimes try to run you down) but I HATE having to go in the chicken coop. I am terrified of them! My mom usually handles things, but if she’s not available, I make my 11 year old daughter go gather eggs! LOL She actually has a pet chicken so she doesn’t mind.
My late husband could barely boil water. IF I were to consider remarrying, it would have to be to someone who enjoyed cooking!
Hmm indeed!
I’m glad you have someone to get the eggs :) I’m sorry to hear about your dad – it’s good you’ve got family around you for support.
:)
The book sounds great!
I really like to cook, I just don’t like to buy the food. Thankfully my husband also enjoys cooking and his help comes in handy sometimes.
Hey Valerie,
If it has a whole list of ingredients, I won’t make it. My favorite cookbook is The 4 Ingredient Recipe Book. You can make some pretty yummy stuff with 4 ingredients. And they’re simple.
Hey Jayne, we both like to eat out. If we could afford to eat out every meal, we would.
I can cook some pretty good grub, I just don’t like to do it. Wrangling anything? I’m out. My parents live across a hayfield from us. They have a horse, a donkey, and cows. I don’t like large animals excited about the feed bucket and do not get in the fence with them. Thankfully, my son loves all that stuff, so when my parents are traveling, he takes care of the critters. Chickens are the worst. I caught chickens for Tyson 3 times to raise money for basketball suits. And I didn’t even play ball. Long story, but It was THE most HORRIBLE experience of my life.
It would be awesome to have a man do all the cooking. Mine is really easy to please at least. I tell young girls at church to find a guy whose mom always worked. That way, they don’t expect a four course meal and a spotless house.
Thanks Laura. At times the writing didn’t come easy–I think because Landry is so different than me. But it’s a fun story. I hate handling raw meat. It’s so gross! I wash my hands half a dozen times when I’m cooking.
Praying for your dad’s full recovery, Kim.
It is a good father/son activity, Elizabeth. Sometimes, when I don’t have a pressing deadline, I’ll go with my son and take my laptop. He fishes while I write, it works out pretty well.
Shannon, I hate to cook meals, but I don’t mind baking.
Hey Priscilla, this is the correct website: http://shannontaylorvannatter.com/. I just signed up for my own newsletter to test it. It worked for me, so maybe try it again. Scroll down past all the pictures of me. On the right, it says Get Your Free Book. Once you type your name and e-mail, click the pink box that says Get Your Free Book. You’ll get an e-mail with a confirmation link. Click on that and it will take you to where you can choose the kind of download you’d like. Once you sign up, you’ll get my next newsletter – in late Oct. But you should have access to my newsletter archives. Let me check with my web designer on that. I’m not techy, but she is.
The only way I can see cooking being any fun is if somebody else does it :)
I don’t like anything to do with anything called a stove or oven. And people assume if you don’t like to cook it’s because you’re a bad cook. Not true. I can cook. Just don’t like it and I don’t mess with anything fancy or time consuming.
Sounds like Landry must have been a challenge to write. I always find it interesting to know how authors go about creating a character.
She was a challenge. When it came to the down and dirty scenes, I kind of used my mom for inspiration. She was born and raised on a farm. She doesn’t mind dirt or bugs and loves farm animals. She even names their cows.
Typically, chocolate chip, but I like to jazz them up with Heath Bar or Butter Finger chunks. :) Yes, so healthy.
You had me at Heath Bar, Jill. Yum. I love Macademia Nut too. My husband bakes the ready bake kind sometimes.
For some reason the page wasn’t even loading this morning. It worked just fine now. I’m looking forward to hearing more about your books. They sound really interesting and I’m starting with Rodeo Dust.
Glad it worked, Priscila. I love that book. Clay was the first cowboy I wrote and I couldn’t seem to stop. My web designer is going to fix it where my old newsletters are on the website, so the link should be up tonight if you want to check it out tomorrow.
I love to cook, bake more specifically! I love everything about cooking a good meal from prep to dinner table. I love baking because I can make sweet treats for my family. I’ve become the birthday cake maker…lol! Homemade is the best :-)
I also love fishing, although I’ve not been for many years. I grew up in Illinois and my dad taught me when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I love catfish or bullhead! I can bait my hook, pull the fish out, clean & cook it. But since I now live on the Oregon coast, I haven’t fished out here. Crabbing is popular and I love that almost as much :-)
I don’t know of any surprise talents I have, guess I’d have to think on it more. I just know once I put my mind to learning something new, I usually can!
I so wish I loved to cook, Trixi. People who love it, are the best cooks. I lived in Elgin, IL from the time I was 2 until I was 7. I don’t remember much except there was a lot of snow in the winter and when we were planning to move to GA from there, our neighbors said it would be hot. I said, “It’s hot here in the summer.” But I’m sure there is more humidity in the south and I hate humidity. Other than that, I love where I landed permanently in AR.
I’m impressed you can take every step of fishing on your own. You’re a tougher gal than me.
I never named my surprising talent. I guess that I’m crafty. I’ve been told I have a good eye for buying junk and then turning it to something cool.
My husband and I share the cooking duties, with him doing the most of it. Neither of us like it much but we like to eat! We tend to stick to a few tried-and-true dishes. I do like to make chocolate chip cookies and brownies but I make the box kind with added ingredients. And it’s still all about the eating!!! ;-)
Winning Over the Cowboy sounds like a good book that I’d enjoy. I’ve read several of Shannon’s other books but not this one.
Hi Sherri,
That’s us, we don’t like to cook, but we love to eat. My husband does the box brownies, but doesn’t add anything. Thanks for reading :)
Hey Priscila, my web designer put my newsletter archives toward the bottom of the website on the right. Also, she fixed it to where when you sign up for the newsletter, you can access the link to the current one. Since you’ve already signed up, if you’ll e-mail me at stvauthor at yahoo dot com, I’ll send you the link to this month’s newsletter.
I do enjoy garden fresh produce…. chop, cook, eat! :)
It sounds yummy, Susanne. But a pain. I like buying frozen stuff someone else has already chopped for me :)
Thank you. :)
I like to cook meals but I love to bake! I would rather bake cookies, cakes, breads or anything else instead of plan a meal and make all of it. Unfortunately though, if I want to eat, I have to do all of it. I don’t make anything fancy as far as meals go but I don’t go hungry. I’m looking forward to reading this book!! Landry sounds like she is willing to tackle just about anything. When we have a family get together at our house in the nice weather, I even do all of the grilling. I guess everything turns out good because I usually get compliments.
Hey Donna, part of the reason I don’t like cooking is because every member of my household has extreme different tastes. I love stir fry, grilled fish, shrimp, and pasta salad. My husband loves spaghetti, hamburgers, pot roast. My son loves grilled chicken. It’s so much easier to go to a restaurant and each get what we want.