CYNTHIA WOOLF VISITS!

Cynthia is awarding a gift card to one commenter!

Hi. My name is Cynthia Woolf and I write historical western romance. More specifically I write Mail-Order Bride romance. I kind of got into this by accident. The third western romance I wrote was called Tame A Wild Bride. It was about a mail-order bride in Creede, Colorado. It sold better than the other two books in the series put together.

So for my next series I wrote Matchmaker & Co. About a matchmaker in New York who matches women to men in Colorado. People loved it.

But I still didn’t take the hint and wrote Destiny in Deadwood next. It is the story of three brothers who move to Deadwood in 1876. They are being chased by a murderer and there is not a mail order bride in sight. Needless to say the sales weren’t all I hoped they would be.

My next series was Brides of San Francisco. The stories are set in San Francisco and my matchmaker from Matchmaker & Co is just starting out. I guess you could call it a prequel. This is one of my most popular series.

I seemed to have gotten the hint. My next series was Brides of Tombstone. This series starts with a mail order bride who changes her mind. What happens though when the groom doesn’t change his? There are a lot of surprises on the road to happiness.

The next series I did was Hope’s Crossing, about mail-order brides going to Montana. I should have called it Mail Order Brides of Montana. I think it would have sold more.

Taking that knowledge to heart I named my next series Brides of Central City. This series took me back to my Colorado roots and was a hit with readers. It tells the stories of brides from New York that are running from something, dangerous people, unwanted forced marriages, murderers. They run into the arms of their heroes who vow to protect them.

This was followed by my mail-order brides going to Seattle in Brides of Seattle. Yup, I’ve definitely got the bride thing down. Not only do my readers love them I love to write them.

Eliza: https://www.amazon.com/Eliza-Brides-Oregon-Trail-Book-ebook/dp/B07VKQ7KC9

My current series is Brides of the Oregon Trail. Can you imagine being part of a wagon train full of mail-order brides? Traveling 2000 miles most of it walking, barefoot because you didn’t want to ruin the only pair of shoes you owned. I couldn’t either so I researched the Oregon Trail. There are lots of books out there chronicling the trip. Fascinating stories written by women who were on the trip. There are books for children about what the trip would have entailed. It was a hard and difficult trip. I admit freely that I don’t put a lot of the hardship in my books. I’m writing a romance not a biography. I want my readers to enjoy the trip they are on.

My latest book is called Carter. It is part of the Bachelors & Babies series of books. Each of the books are written by a different author. And can you believe it my story is about a mail-order bride! J

Carter: https://www.amazon.com/Carter-Bachelors-Babies-Book-3-ebook/dp/B07S5CG1FG/

I don’t know yet what I’ll do for my next series. How would you all like to help me? Yes? Tell me in your comments where you think my mail-order brides should go. Here are your choices:

1.)  The Klondike gold rush in Alaska (Brides of the Klondike)

2.)  The California gold rush in Sacremento (Brides of Sacremento)

3.)  More Oregon Trail books (continue Brides of the Oregon Trail)

4.)  The Montana Gold rush in Virginia City/Bannack (Brides of Montana)
5.) 1870 to 1880 Mail-Order Brides

6.)  You pick. Where would you write about?

Thank you for having me today, Caroline. I hope to get a lot of response from your readers.

Oh, by the way. The winner that I pick within the winning location will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card, so leave your ideas in your comments.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cynthia Woolf, Author

Cynthia Woolf is the award winning and best-selling author of forty-one historical western romance books and two short stories with more books on the way.

Cynthia loves writing and reading romance. Her first western romance Tame A Wild Heart, was inspired by the story her mother told her of meeting Cynthia’s father on a ranch in Creede, Colorado. Although Tame A Wild Heart takes place in Creede that is the only similarity between the stories. Her father was a cowboy not a bounty hunter and her mother was a nursemaid (called a nanny now) not the ranch owner. The ranch they met on is still there as part of the open space in Mineral County in southwestern Colorado.

She also has six scifi, space opera romance titles. She calls them westerns in space.

Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and her great friends and critique partners for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.

WEBSITE – http://cynthiawoolf.com/

NEWSLETTER - https://www.subscribepage.com/k1p2m1

MK McCLINTOCK SHARES CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS AND STORIES

Christmas Traditions

By MK McClintock, Guest Author

"Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas." - Peg Bracken

I spent a lot of time reading through Christmas practices during the mid-late nineteenth-century. How did the soldiers and their families in the forts spend the holidays? What did miners and travelers eat while on the road or at a hotel on the open plains or a cabin in the mountains? When it came time to decorate the tree, did they use nuts, strings of popcorn or beads, oranges, lemons, and candies, or did they go for a grander ornamentation like the fancier trees seen in ladies’ magazines? Did they import their ornaments from Germany or decorate with home-made trinkets? The traditions and customs varied from home to home and region to region, but when it came down the traditions of my characters in the old west, I knew I wanted to keep the holiday simple and focused around family.

In Christmas Mountain, each year the mother made a small angel for her daughter to place on the tree. In Teton Christmas, the town had a tradition of decorating every building with festive garlands and ribbons, but they were open to including a new custom by holding a dance at the hotel. In Lily’s Christmas Wish, it’s the first season when a new family has a chance to create their own traditions.

My own family’s holiday traditions have changed over the years, but a few things remain the same. We decorate the house the weekend after Thanksgiving, and the tree remains up until the New Year. On Christmas morning, we always sit by the fire with hot chocolate and homemade cinnamon rolls. Since I’m not one who enjoys the commercialism of Christmas, there’s not a lot of focus these days on gifts, but rather on spending the day as a family. Most years I’m in the kitchen by five o’clock in the morning, baking, prepping, and cooking. I take a break for the cinnamon roll breakfast and then head back to the kitchen, taking time here and there for a board game or to watch part of a movie. Creating that extravagant evening meal is one of my own personal favorite traditions.

No matter your own traditions for this season, or whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or perhaps it’s just another day, I wish you all a beautiful season filled with hope.

"Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." - Oren Arnold

 Home for Christmas

Short Story Collection

By MK McClintock

A collection of three historical western short stories to inspire love and warm the heart.

Praise for A Home for Christmas
"The cold nips at your face and delicious Christmas cake leaves you wanting more."

- M. Ann Roher, Author of "Mattie"

“If you like the 1800's, like I do, you will love these stories!”

-Diane Holm, The Reader’s Cove, Amazon Vine Reviewer

“I really enjoyed these charming historical fictions CHRISTMAS MOUNTAIN, TETON CHRISTMAS and LILY'S CHRISTMAS WISH! . . . Ms. McClintock is a very descriptive writer, I could feel the surroundings!”

-Nicole Laverdure

CHRISTMAS MOUNTAIN
In search of family she barely knows and adventure she's always wanted, Katherine Donahue is saved from freezing on a winter night in the mountains of Montana by August Hollister. Neither of them expected that what one woman had in mind was a new beginning for them both.

TETON CHRISTMAS
Heartache and a thirst for adventure lead McKensie Stewart and her sister to Wyoming after the death of their parents. With the help of a widowed aunt and a charming horse breeder, McKensie discovers that hope is a cherished promise, and there is no greater gift than love.

LILY'S CHRISTMAS WISH
Lily Malone has never had a real family or a real Christmas. This holiday season, she might get both. From an orphanage in New York City to the rugged mountains of Colorado, Lily sends out only one wish. But when the time comes, can she give it up so someone else's wish can come true?

Settings: Montana, Colorado, Wyoming
Christmas Short Stories/Western

Book Links

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Autographed

Excerpts from A Home for Christmas

Copper Point, Montana Territory—December 1879

"Alone now, surrounded by a peace she rarely experienced, Katherine pet Crockett in front of the hearth. The fire flickered, causing the flames’ shadows to dance over the log walls. The scent of yeast drifted from the rising loaves of bread waiting on the kitchen counter. Quiet surrounded Katherine and Crockett as they enjoyed a few moments alone before the others woke."

-from CHRISTMAS MOUNTAIN

_____________________________________________

Wickliffe, Wyoming Territory—December 22, 1892

"The sun shone from the brilliant blue sky, kissing her skin and brightening the freckles scattered across her nose. McKensie Stewart closed her eyes, breathed in the frosty air, and spread her arms wide. She stood on the side of the snow-covered road where the stage coach had dropped them off and relished in the wonderment. They had finally arrived in Wyoming." 

-from TETON CHRISTMAS 

Look for the Wycliffe Hotel's Famous Coffee Cake recipe at the end of the book.

_______________________________________________

Cotter’s Gulch, Colorado—December 1868

Dear God. Please help me find a family. Love, Lily.
The forged wheels whirred and ground against the iron rails as the small window of the train car opened up to the vast landscape of the American West. Miss Abbott told her the same stories over and over again, promising that a new life waited. She wasn’t sorry to see the dingy city disappear four days ago, and she hoped to never see it again. Those memories she wanted to leave far behind."

-from LILY'S CHRISTMAS WISH 

MK McClintock, Author

MK McClintock spins tales of romance and adventure inspired by the heather-covered hills of Scotland and the majestic mountains of home. With her heart deeply rooted in the past and her mind always on adventure, she lives and writes in Montana.

-2014 RONE Award-Nominee for Alaina Claiborne

-Crowned Heart for Excellence from InD'Tale Magazine for Blackwood Crossing and The Montana Gallagher Collection

Learn more about MK by visiting her website at http://www.mkmcclintock.com or blog at http://www.booksandbenches.com.

Genres: historical romantic westerns, historical romantic mysteries, western short stories

Contact & Connect

www.mkmcclintock.com

www.booksandbenches.com (blog)

Facebook.com/mkmcclintockbooks

Twitter.com/mkmcclintock

Pinterest.com/mkmcclintock

            

Thanks for stopping by!