SNEAK PEEK AT DANIEL McCLINTOCK

So many people have asked when Daniel McClintock’s book will be released. I’m happy to say that DANIEL McCLINTOCK will be published in just a few weeks. This is book four in the McClintock series. The first one, THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE, is perma-free at http://a.co/3dW9R36.  In the meantime, here’s a bit about Daniel.

Daniel is the youngest son of Kathryn and Austin McClintock. In the story, two years ago (in book three, McCLINTOCK’S RELUCTANT BRIDE, http://a.co.6UWbRbX) he was riding when Bob Tyson shot his horse, Scout. When they fell, Daniel was pinned under Scout with his back on a sharp rock. He was left paralyzed from the waist down. Brother Josh’s valiant efforts to get him home prevented more damage. 

Daniel’s mother is an herbal healer and midwife. In addition to using herbs, she has massaged his legs daily to keep the limbs from deteriorating. No one has been able to keep Daniel hopeful. Understandably, his personality has changed from shy and sweet to grumpy and depressed.

Through the efforts of the family doctor, John Sullivan, a new treatment method has been discovered. Through his efforts, a practitioner of that method has arrived in McClintock Falls, Texas to help Daniel. Her name is Clara Van Hoosan and she is from Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Clara has trained and worked as a heilgymnast and mechanotherapist, which is what physical therapists were called in the 1880s. Clara has had success treating paralysis patients. She’ll be living with Daniel's family until he’s walking or has progressed as far as she can help him.

Daniel does not want a woman working with him. Unfortunately, he can do very little about the subject. He is, after all, a captive of his body. And, Clara has a contract guaranteeing her a room, meals, and a small salary. 

Here’s an excerpt of their first meeting. Clara has already asked the other members of the household not to intercede between her and Daniel:

Clara followed Kathryn to the room next door. When she entered, she stopped and stared. Daniel wasn’t a boy as she imagined—he was a man her age or older, And, as handsome as any man she’d ever seen--if he would but smile.

Kathryn introduced them to one another.

Daniel’s glare chilled Clara as he assessed her head to toe and back up. “You’re not serious! You said a man was arriving. You think I’m going to work with this… woman?” He dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “Forget it and get her out of here.”

Kathryn offered Clara a helpless expression then left the room.

Clara stepped forward, forcing herself to assume her professional demeanor. She had faced this reaction before, but this was so much more important. While she wanted to help anyone she could, this man also represented her chance to establish herself in America.

“Daniel, I am here to help you learn to walk again. I have a contract and have moved into the room next door, so you might as well get used to having me here.”

His blue eyes were glacial. “I. Said. Get. Out.”

As if he hadn’t spoken, she continued, “I have completed courses in mechanotherapy and have helped dozens of people like you recover the use of their limbs. One of your workers has gone to the rail depot to claim my trunks. Inside two of them I have equipment which I will assemble here in your room.”

He threw a book at her but it landed at her feet. “I am not letting you near me.”

She picked up the book, glanced at the title. “Hmm, I have wanted to read this. Thank you.” She laid it on the washstand.

“Give me my damned book.”

She smiled but didn’t return the tome. “But, you gave it to me.”

“You know very well I didn’t.” Using his arms and hands, he pushed up higher on his pillows. “You deliberately mislead us by using your initial instead of your first name.”

She widened her eyes and blinked at him. “Oh? I believe it is customary to use initials in business correspondence.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t give me that innocent expression. You knew we thought you were a man, as you intended. I’m not having a woman working on me.”

Clara tapped a finger against her cheek. “I was under the impression your mother has been working with you to insure your leg muscles did not deteriorate. You were not adverse to her, yet she is a woman.”

He crossed muscular arms over his wide chest. “That’s different.”

“She faces prejudice because she is a healer so I would think you, as her son who is aware of this, would be more tolerant of other women.”

“What she does is entirely different than what you supposedly do.”

“Not so. Each of us does our best to help people. In spite of your low opinion of me, I am going to be helping you for some time. I will be in early tomorrow to help you get ready for the day. After breakfast, I will begin assembling my equipment. You will find it fascinating. For now, good evening.” She reclaimed the book and carried it with her.

He yelled after her, “Bring me back my damned book.”

She smiled to herself as she walked to her room. She thought she had come out best in that round. Tomorrow would begin round two.

Don't you love the cover? I do! Skhye Moncrief created the design.

By the way, book two of the series is FINN'S TEXAS BRIDE http://a.co/gQJJkat

If you have not already done so, I hope you’ll join my newsletter subscribers to be alerted when new releases like this one, contests, and special events occur. You’ll also receive a FREE novella, HAPPY IS THE BRIDE, for signing. The link to subscribe is http://carolineclemmons.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0a24664c906875718d975ad7b&id=7c2e488a51 

Don’t worry, I only send newsletters when I have news. No salesman will call. ☺

HERO AND HEROINE CHARACTER STUDIES

My recent release, McCLINTOCK’S RELUCTANT BRIDE, McClintock book three, has met with enthusiastic sales. This is what every author hopes for. We write—usually in solitary confinement—while hoping our efforts will produce a book that readers love. Thank you to those of you who’ve bought my book! A double thank you to those of you who’ve left a review!

Today I wanted to reward readers by giving the backstory for Nettie Clayton and Josh McClintock. Ladies first.

Nettie Sue Clayton

Nettie Sue Clayton was born in Newcastle, England to Grace and Council Clayton. Her older sister, Stella Grace Clayton, became Nettie’s best friend. The two were usually together and loved school and music. While in England, the Clayton family owned a piano that had belonged to Grace’s parents. The opportunity to move to the U.S.A. meant they had to sell much of their belongings, including the piano.

Like the other members of her family, Nettie is musically inclined and has a beautiful singing voice which blends perfectly with that of her sister and brother. While they lived in England, Nettie’s younger brother, Colin, died of diphtheria. This resulted in a gap of four years between Nettie and Lance.

In the U.S., the Clayton family came to Lignite, Texas where Council worked as a coal miner and crew chief. Although the family members were disappointed in the town, Council viewed his time in Lignite and Farland Coal Mine as a stepping stone. He and Grace kept that to themselves rather than build false hope in their children.

Nettie Wants her father out of the mine

Nettie and Stella convinced tight-fisted Mr. Farland to let them use a building for a school. He agreed, but the sisters didn’t get a salary. Nettie taught children up to eight, concentrating on teaching them English due to the fact immigrants from numerous countries worked at the mine. Stella taught students from ages nine until they left school. They hoped one day to teach in a paying position. In addition, both wanted their father to leave mining and work in a safer and healthier job. He’d already developed a miner’s cough.

When Stella married Finn O’Neill (O’NEILL’S TEXAS BRIDE), Finn arranged for the Clayton family to move to McClintock Falls, Texas. Nettie had a huge crush on Josh, even though Finn warned her Josh was not marriage material. She knew she had no chance with Josh, but that didn’t prevent her from dreaming about him.

Josh McClintock

Joshua “Josh” Victor McClintock was born the eldest child of Kathryn and Austin McClintock. His younger brother, Daniel, and younger sister, Rebecca, completed the family. Kathryn had a stillborn son between Daniel and Rebecca. When Josh was nine, his cousin Dallas McClintock came to live with Kathryn and Austin and became like a big brother to Josh and Daniel.

Josh and his brother (including Dallas) worked on the ranch and received a portion of the profits. Dallas used his earnings to purchase his own ranch. Rather than doing ranch work, Rebecca assisted her mother with her midwifery and herbal healing practice.

Josh works hard on the ranch

Josh’s grandfather, Victor, and great grandfather had settled McClintock Falls. The family was wealthy and well-respected in the community—even Dallas was respected for his skill with horses although people sunned him because he was half Cherokee (THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE now FREE). By the 1880s, the McClintock families were quite well to do for the time.

Josh is soft-hearted hidden behind a charming, rogue-like demeanor. He arranged a place to live for the Claytons that was within easy walking distance to town. In addition, he encouraged his grandfather to find a job for Council. Grandpa McClintock arranged for Council to take over the local barbershop, which provided a safe occupation indoors and without the physical demands of mining.

How the McClintock ranch might have appeared.

Knowing one day half of McClintock ranch would be his, Josh worked hard to not only preserve the land, but improve the ranch. He thought Nettie sweet and beautiful, but he knew she was the marrying kind and he had no plans to marry for six more years. When his best friends began to wed, however, Josh felt he no longer fit in their lives and found the companionship of bad influences. That’s where readers find him when the book opens.

There you have the lowdown on Nettie Clayton and Josh McClintock from McCLINTOCK’S RELUCTANT BRIDE. In the event you haven’t read the book yet, I hope you will soon! Here are the buy links:

Amazon http://amzn.com/B011LGDP8U

Amazon Canada http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B011LGDP8U

Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B011LGDP8U

Amazon in Deutschland  http://www.amazon.de/dp/B011LGDP8U

Amazon Australia http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B011LGDP8U

Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mcclintocks-reluctant-bride-caroline-clemmons/1122296093;jsessionid=55F2EC55DF788F41BD04EB496DE920AD.prodny_store03-5?ean=2940152252132

Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/mcclintock-s-reluctant-bride

Google Play Books https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Caroline_Clemmons_McClintock_s_Reluctant_Bride?id=fNsoCgAAQBAJ&hl=en

Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1019315302

THANK YOU AND GET READY FOR THE NEXT PARTY WITH THE COWBOY HEROES OF THE WEST!

Thanks to those of you who attended my Facebook Launch Party on Thursday evening for McCLINTOCK’S RELUCTANT BRIDE. We had a lovely party.

Special thanks to Cynthia Woolf, Jacquie Rogers, Callie Hutton, Debra Holland, and Hildie McQueen for helping host the party. Thanks to Sara Benedict of Your Elemental Solutions for setting up the party and helping things go smoothly.

Each of us gave away her own prizes and I lost track of who won what from whom except for those I awarded. Congratulations to my winners:

The overall Grand Prize of a $25. Amazon gift card went to Shirl Deems. 

Morse Dawn, Debbie Chinault Underwood, and Katherine Boyer won an e-copy of McCLINTOCK’S RELUCTANT BRIDE.

Aleen Davis and Tina Hairston won an e-copy of MAIL-ORDER TANGLE.

Thanks again to everyone involved!

I can’t fail to mention the big party on July 25^th https://www.facebook.com/events/421024208081678/ to celebrate NATIONAL COWBOY DAY, Celebrating the Heroes of the West. Join over 30 authors who’ll be giving away prizes all day. You won’t want to miss this! 

YOU'RE INVITED TO MY PARTY!

Yay! Thursday’s a big, big, big day for me. My latest release, McCLINTOCK’S RELUCTANT BRIDE, book three of the McClintock series, went live yesterday. The Facebook Launch Party is Thursday, July 16th,  from 7:00 until 10:00 pm EST. This is a big party with super great guests and prizes all evening.

Here's the schedule in EST:

7:00 – 7:05 I’ll welcome everyone.

7:05 – 7:30 Cynthia Woolf, author of recently released MAIL ORDER BARON in her Brides of Tombstone Series, will kick off the evening.

7:30 – 8:00 Jacquie Rogers, author of another of her Owyhee Series, MUCH ADO ABOUT MUSTANGS, will jump in.

8:00 – 8:30 Callie Hutton on Tuesday launched THE HIGHLANDER’S CHOICE in her Marriage Mart Mayhem Series and will stop by.

8:30 – 9:00 Debra Holland, whose next Mail Order Brides of the West Series, PRUDENCE, will be released August 18 (and is available for preorder), will join us.

9:00 – 9:30 Hildie McQueen, author of BEAUTY AND THE HIGHLANDER, Moriag Series Book One, will help celebrate.

9:30 – 10:00 Caroline Clemmons -- I’ll wind up the evening and announce the Grand Prize winner of a $25 gift card. 

Sara Benedict of Your Elemental Solutions will be hosting and helping out with the pesky behind the scenes stuff.

Here’s the link: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1026510107373989/  

I hope you’ll attend! WooHoo, what a line-up!

After I revealed my cover, I had an attack of nerves and had a second cover designed by Skhye Moncrief. Here’s the new cover:

I love the new cover. What do you think?

If you’re as eager to read the book as I was to write about Nettie and Josh, here are the links to purchase McCLINTOCK’S RELUCTANT BRIDE.

Amazon US     AmazonUK    Amazon Canada   Amazon Germany  Amazon Australia

Kobo and, if not already, soon will be available at Nook, Google Play, and Apple  

McCLINTOCK'S RELUCTANT BRIDE is also available in print from Amazon and Create Space and will soon be available from Barnes and Noble.

I’m excited and can’t wait to see who shows up to receive prizes and participate in the event. 

Hope to see you there!

REVIEWS, ANYONE?

I’m excited today because I’m going over the proof—what is sometimes referred to as galleys—of McCLINTOCK'S RELUCTANT BRIDE as a last check of the text before releasing a book. Errors in a book annoy me as a reader.  As an author, errors in MY books upset me more than I can say. However, all the people who critique, beta read, and edit for me are humans. ☺

Regrettably, an occasional error is overlooked. Believe me, it is not for lack of scrutiny. Since I wrote the book, I know what I wanted to say. When I worked for a newspaper, we were not allowed to edit our own articles for this very reason. We need fresh eyes who don’t know what we intended to be certain what we say is clear and what we meant to relate.

A lot of criticism has been leveled at self-published authors. Trust me, I’ve been with one of the big traditional NY publishers, with a lovely small press, and now am self-published. Being self-published is NOT the problem. The problem as I see it is that in their eagerness to get a book online, some authors skip the editing process. Others are novices and don't yet know the craft well enough to publish their work.

Of course all authors love our books, they’re our babies and we are proud of them. Having criticism is like someone telling you your child looks like a monkey or a pig. Words spoken or written in a review can hurt.

Better is what one is taught in writing an editorial. For every negative, offer a positive. No matter how much you dislike a book you are reviewing, there have to be several things you liked.

I confess that if I dislike a book, I don’t leave a review (Except once when a book was infuriating). I’m ashamed to admit that even when I love a book, I seldom leave a review. I’m trying to break this lazy habit and leave a review for each book I read—and I read a lot of books.

Why bother? Many places for an author to promote require a certain number of 4 and 5 star reviews. Numerous readers scan the reviews before purchasing a book. Good reviews help an author immeasurably. Bad reviews do not. As I said before, bad reviews are heartbreaking for an author; good reviews are balm for our soul.

Lately, there is a tendency of some people who’ve downloaded a book for free to bash the book. Many times, the review makes clear that the person didn’t read the book. Who would do such a mean thing?

I won’t belabor the point, but please leave a review for every book you read, especially if you enjoyed the book. 

In the meantime, happy reading!

   

COVER REVEAL FOR McCLINTOCK'S RELUCTANT BRIDE

I’m pleased to be able to share the cover of my next book with you today. McCLINTOCK’S RELUCTANT BRIDE is finally complete. Well, I say that but it still has to make the rounds of my critique partners, beta readers, editor, formatter, and be uploaded to the various sites.

The official Facebook Launch Party will be Thursday, July 16 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm EST. In the meantime, here’s the cover.

The girl on the cover represents Nettie Sue Clayton. She is a shy, sweet teacher with a beautiful singing voice. She’s the younger sister of Stella Clayton from O’NEILL’S TEXAS BRIDE.  Nettie and her family have just moved to McClintock Falls in the Texas Hill Country to be near Stella and her new husband Finn O’Neill.

Nettie’s father has taken over the barbershop in McClintock Falls and the family is elated he has a safe indoor job which doesn’t tax his lungs. After thirty years as a coal miner, the man deserves a break. Nettie loves their new home, the nicest in which the family has ever lived. In addition, she is all set to take over as teacher in the local school. She believes her life is almost perfect.

Josh McClintock is a charming rogue. By day he works hard on his family’s ranch. By weekend, he plays hard with his drinking buddies and carouses with the women who flock around him. His father, Austin McClintock, has just purchased the ranch adjoining theirs at a foreclosure and Josh reckons that place that soon will belong to him. He figures his life is about perfect.

Yes, friends, I turn these characters' lives upside down. Bwahahaha. 

I hope you'll join me on July 16th from 7:00 pm until 10:00 pm EST for the Facebook Launch Party.