Donna
Schlachter writes historical suspense under her own name and contemporary
suspense under her Leeann Betts alter ego. Donna also teaches writing classes
and courses and is a ghostwriter and editor of both fiction and nonfiction.
Learn more about her and her books at her website where you can receive a free
book by signing up for her newsletter. Today her heroine, “Cactus” Lil Duncan,
from A Prickly Affair, one
of the seven stories in the A Bouquet of Brides Collection, joins us for a bit of insight into her
life.
At the time my story begins, I would say my biggest
frustration was the fact that I was penning love stories but had never been in
love. Not even once. Not a kiss behind the schoolhouse. Not a pitter-patter of
my heart when dancing at the local barn dance, not even a dreamy thought in my
head about a handsome cowboy glimpsed on a shopping trip to town.
Which might surprise you, but wasn’t really so strange at
the time.
Love was a scarce commodity in a land as harsh as Arizona
Territory of the time. Hot days, desiccating winds, piercing sand storms,
droughts as deep and black as the devil’s heart—at least, if I believed what my
mother said—none of this encouraged tears of joy or gasps of delight.
So with none in my real life, I set about to create a world
I could escape into. And I didn’t need a fancy dress, or a parasol, or
button-up boots. All I needed was a pen, paper, and a few minutes in the
evening between eating dinner and collapsing into my bed. Alone.
But looking back on the entire situation now, I can see the
hand of God in all of this. If my head was filled with useless notions of how
love should be, I might have missed the real thing when it came along.
Just another example of how He had it all under control the
whole time.
A Bouquet
of Brides Collection
A Collection of Seven Novellas by Seven Different Authors
Meet seven
American women who were named for various flowers but struggle to bloom where
God planted them. Can love help them grow to their full potential?
A Prickly
Affair
A rough-and-tumble cowgirl, “Cactus” Lil Duncan longs for
true love, but is afraid to let down her prickly exterior when a city slicker
from New York City, with less-than-honorable intentions, tries to win her heart
and her hand.
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3 comments:
Both Lily and I are thrilled to be here today!
What a charming book cover!
Thanks, Angela. The folks at Barbour Publishing know their stuff and are a joy to work with. All credit goes to them for this marvelous cover.
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