Giveaway Alert!
Candace Carrabus and Zoe Dawson—two of the authors included in the Must Love Pets: A Romance Box Set —are here to talk about the inspiration for our work.
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Zoe and Candace are back to talk about what inspires them
to write their stories. Zoe, you start! Your story in the Must Love Pets collection is Groomed
for Murder. It’s the second book in your Going to the Dogs series, right?
Zoe Dawson:
Yes! My inspiration for writing Going to the Dogs is
Yes! My inspiration for writing Going to the Dogs is
Sex in the
City. I loved the relationship between the women. Loved it! I wanted to be those women. But, I wanted something
more in the stories, so I added furry friends, too. Then I thought I would make
each book a light mystery surrounding the dogs. I knew they were going to be
romantic comedies. And, guess what? I had never written comedy…ever, but I
jumped in with both feet. Now I
have 7 books done. It's crazy.
LOVE IT.
Groomed for Murder is the second book in the Going to
the Dogs series. A bad poodle cut leads the owner to give Brooke Palmer an
ultimatum. Fire the employee responsible or get sued. When Brooke refuses, Drew
Hudson is assigned the case that will get him into that sweet corner office
with partner added to his name. All he has to do is get her to settle out of
court. Piece of cake, he thinks, until he gets a load of her and finds himself
falling for her and her very cute bulldog.
Here is an
except when Drew meets Brooke for the very first time when she leaves her door
ajar to go next door and Drew shows up…
“Who are you?”
The
soft voice belonged to a woman who stood in the hallway leading to the kitchen.
For a moment Drew couldn’t speak. There was a no-nonsense look in her eyes of
luminous brown—eyes that hit him like a punch in the gut. The simple white
blouse with a striped blue blazer and a pair of jeans that hugged her curvy
hips and tapered down to…whoa, hot, high-heeled boots. Everything went with
that no-nonsense look, except those boots. They weren’t no nonsense at all. She
had that whole librarian/dominatrix thing going until he took in the pixie
face, the glasses with the black, studious frames. She wore her dark hair
parted in the middle and the silky mass flowed over her shoulders and down her
back.
Her
eyes darted to the dog behind him, who was barking menacingly. He glanced over
his shoulder to discover a squat, powerful-looking bulldog. The dog lunged and
Drew couldn’t move away in time. The pressure at the front of his thighs and
the pull at his waist told him the dog had a hold of his pants. He tried to
dislodge the beast, but it only growled more ferociously. Drew heard ripping,
then the next thing he knew he fell forward as his pants gave way. He careened
into the woman, and she half caught him as her back slammed against the wall,
the air whooshing out of her.
Cool
air wafted against his buttocks. He turned to find the bulldog still growling
with the remnants of the pants in its mouth.
The
pixie’s eyes narrowed as she pushed him off her. As fierce as Joan of Arc, she
grabbed up an umbrella and brandished it like a sword. “You better answer me,
mister, or I’ll sic my dog on you, and this time he’ll be after something more
important than the seat of your pants.”
Candace Carrabus:
A VERY cute
bulldog, btw. Love his name. Roscoe. Suits him perfectly.
For The Man, The Dog, His Owner & Her Lover,
I had a moment with one of my dogs. Our black Lab, Carlo. One of those moments
when I looked into his eyes and he was looking back so intently, I started to
wonder, what if... and the story just followed. Kind of like a puppy follows
you around! This is a picture of Carlo.
The Man, The Dog, His Owner & Her Lover tells the
story of Stephanie
O’Hanlon, a 40-something workaholic, for whom a blank to-do list is
crazy-making. When she gets laid off and rescues a huge, smiling dog from a
shelter—a dog her friend insists is inhabited by Steph’s lover from a former
life—she discovers the true meaning of crazy.
Gabe
Fagen, handyman and
crazy-in-love with Stephanie since they were teenagers, sees Steph losing her
job as the chance he’s been waiting for. But will she notice he’s alive with a
mysterious giant dog acting as her guardian angel?
Here’s an excerpt from right after Stephanie adopts William:
He licked my bleeding shin and looked at me with
what could only be joy, his entire body wagging while his long tail knocked
candy bars off the shelf behind him. Something lurched in my chest for the second
time in less than an hour. Tears pricked my eyelids for the umpteenth time that
day.
I know I’m cut off from my emotions and have no idea
what love is supposed to feel like, but I’m pretty sure that’s when I fell.
Zoe Dawson:
That sounds like a great story! It has been so much fun writing
these stories with the animals included. I’m very proud of my body of work
there. The Sex and the City inspiration of the friendships really worked well
in the stories. Even the guys who got involved with my dog park babes ended up
being friends. Even best friends. I feel like I know all these people. I have
one novella left, Captured. It’s a companion novella to Collared. I’m going to
be very sad when I finish it.
Candace
Carrabus:
On to bigger and better stories! The Man, The Dog, His Owner & Her Lover is the first novella in
The Witting Woman series about women coming to believe in themselves. The next
one is The Good Horse, The Bad Man &
The Ugly Woman. All are stories about women of a certain age <ahem>
coming up against something so foreign to their existence, something that
throws them for such a loop, that they are forever changed. Each story includes
an animal and a light romance.
These stories are inspired by my belief that anyone can change
anytime, and that animals are often the bridge between us and our deeper
selves. They straddle the veil.
Zoe Dawson:
What you just said is so inspiring! I like to think that our
stories are behind that veil and we go there when we’re writing and pull from
it like a beautiful, deep well. It’s amazing how authors all have the same kind
of experience when they write. It’s almost as if we’re all connected to that
great big spring! Inspiration can come from anywhere. I had the title A Perfect
Mess. Saw it somewhere and wrote it down. Had it sitting on my computer for
months, then I decided to work a whole series around it. Created three hot
bayou boys and the perfect girls who wanted them. Viola. A Perfect Secret Series was born.
Candace Carrabus:
Hey, Viola is the name of the
main character in my Dreamhorse Mystery series! But that’s another
story...hehehe. A Perfect Secret looks like another great collection of books.
You’re on fire!
Well, I’m feeling inspired to
grab a cup of coffee and get some writing done. How about you?
Zoe Dawson:
So inspired! I’m currently working on A Perfect Dilemma which
will be out in August. I’m on chapter four and loving it so far. The characters
in these books are so fun. Fresh, coming of age young’uns just beginning their
lives and trying to figure everything out. Loving it. What are you currently
working on?
Candace
Carrabus:
I'm working on Dreamhorse Mystery #2--a
continuation of the adventure started in On the Buckle. It's called Wrong Lead.
If you're a horse person, you already know those terms, and if not, you'll
figure it out soon enough! Being a horse person is NOT required to enjoy these
books. The Dreamhorse Mysteries were partly inspired by my own experiences
moving from the city to the country, the crazy mistakes I've made, and the
funny characters I've met along the way.
We could talk on and on, and really
enjoyed this conversation about inspiration. Let’s hear from you! What inspires
you?
Leave a comment to be entered to win your
choice of a free ebook from Candace and Zoe and check out Must Love Pets: A
Romance Box Set, available for download everywhere for only 99 cents.
About
Candace and Zoe:
Candace
Carrabus: I've been writing stories and riding horses-frequently
simultaneously-for as long as I can remember. I grew up on Long Island and spent
my formative years in the saddle-just imagining. After high school, I traveled
to Ness, England and studied at a British Horse Society training school. This
was an all-around amazing experience. When I left, I clutched a certification
to teach riding in my hot little hand, and I enjoyed instructing riders for
many years. Who am I kidding? We know it is the horses who do the teaching. All
we can do is try to remain open to what they have to say.Not surprisingly, my fiction and non-fiction are both frequently infused with the mystery and spirituality horses have brought to my life. My philosophy, in brief: (No, not in briefs, but that's a nice image, thank you very much.)
We are all immigrants in spirit, with our minds, hearts, and souls being the final frontier. You can find me at the following links:
Under the pen name, Karen Anders, she's currently writing sexy NCIS agents, tough JAG lawyers, rogue Navy SEALs, courageous Marines--a mix of Navy and civilians investigating murder, espionage, and crime across a global landscape. These are the characters that populate her To Protect and Serve Series for Romantic Suspense!
When she's not busy with writing or her full-time job, she's painting or killing virtual mmorpg monsters, where getting armor for her characters is better than jewelry. She lives in North Carolina with her two grown children and one small, furry grey cat.
You
can find her at the following links:
Many people inspire me -- those who are doing something for others, for instance.
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