A few days ago, Marry Me for Real, Cowboy hit the virtual bookshelves, kicking off my seventh Christian contemporary romance series… and my second western romance series. It occurred to me a while back that I had never done a sibling series. Oh, most of my series have had siblings in them, but never before […]
What Is It About Cowboys?
Cowboy romances wax and wane in popularity, but they never go out of style completely. I got thinking about that the other day. Why are cowboy romances so popular? I mean, I know I like reading them and writing them, but clearly there are many women (and some men!) who find western romances compelling. From […]
Riding off into the Sunset
“Parting is such sweet sorrow,” they say. “All good things must come to an end.” Are they right? Well, yes, but what kind of parting are we talking about here? When I envisioned the Saddle Springs Romance series two years ago, I knew the series would be complete in six books. I worked hard to […]
Characters We Love to Hate… and #Giveaway
That guy. The one who’s been doing his own thing for the first five books in the series. Not exactly exemplary behavior, you know? He’s the brother of two previous heroes, but he’s not precisely hero material himself. That guy. What would it take to redeem him? To turn him into a character readers will […]
Tea and Chat with Nancy Morrison
Valerie: Hi, Nancy! Welcome to Inspy Romance! Say hello to all our readers, many of whom have been waiting for your son Garret to fall in love. Nancy (smiles and waves): You’ve been waiting? Think how his mama must feel! That boy is thirty, and it’s been years since he’s last been in a relationship. […]
Where in the World is Saddle Springs, Montana?
Inventing geography is a ton of fun! Right up there with finding character inspiration photos and house floor plans and music that matches the mood or theme of the story. My characters need places to hang out, which means they need a town with a few amenities even if they live out on a ranch […]
Happy Book Birthday!
Today’s the day! If you pre-ordered The Cowboy’s Convenient Marriage, it should have downloaded to your Kindle this morning. Have you started reading it yet? This is the thirtieth CCR (Christian contemporary romance) released under my name since July, 2014. Five years! And thirty books! What kind of crazy number is that?!? That’s not counting […]
Convenient… or Not So Much?
You know what’s a tricky trope to write? Marriage of convenience in a contemporary setting! I mean, what makes two otherwise rational and engaging characters decide to get married in this day and age without love? Historical settings are rife with good reasons to do this. Women needed protection back then, whether from rogue men […]
Interview with a (fictional) Romance Editor
Denae Archibald bounces in her seat, eyes shining. “This is going to be so fun!” she says. “Romance is my favorite thing ever.” “You’re considered somewhat of an expert,” I say. “Could you tell our readers why?” “Hi, everyone!” Denae waves at all the fans of Inspy Romance. She’s still bouncing. “Well, there’s expert and […]
Confused Yet? …plus #Giveaway
Confused yet? Because, if not, I can remedy the situation! Once upon a time, I wrote a series I called the Farm Fresh Romance series. It contains six novels, all set on one farm in northern Idaho. There were a couple of sets of siblings in the mix, but the focus was on friendships on […]