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Thursday, November 10, 2016

SEVEN FACTS ABOUT THE WINGS OF THE WEST SERIES




By Kristy McCaffrey

I’m so pleased to be a guest today at Sweethearts of the West. A big thank you to Celia Yeary for allowing me to settle in beside the campfire and join you all. I recently released the 5th book in my Wings of the West series—THE BLUEBIRD—and thought I’d share a few behind-the-scenes facts about each of the books in the collection.


~*~The character of Molly Hart from THE WREN (Book 1) was named after my paternal great-grandmother—Mary Agnes “Molly” O’Rourke Kearney, who emigrated from Ireland. ‘Hart’ is a family name on my mother’s side.

~*~Every time I worked on the scene in THE DOVE (Book 2) where Claire says goodbye to her mother, I cried.

~*~When I wrote an early draft of THE SPARROW (Book 3), which takes place in the Grand Canyon, I included notations that indicated which rapid the characters were at on the Colorado River for my own reference. Unfortunately, some of these rapid tags were never deleted and made it into the final book. (When I re-released a new edition, I finally got them all.)

~*~My inspiration for Tess’s storytelling abilities in THE BLACKBIRD (Book 4) was the amazing book Women Who Run With The Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, a Jungian psychologist.

~*~While writing THE BLUEBIRD (Book 5), I lost the file twice. The first time, the manuscript was two-thirds complete and I had no backup. It took a week before I could face the computer again and start the long process of rewriting the book. Luckily the second time I lost the file, I did have a backup. Needless to say, my file storage protocol has been completely changed.

~*~It has taken me 13 years to write this series, which includes 5 novels and 1 short novella.

~*~While each story stands alone with a love story and a happily-ever-after, there’s an overarching psychological theme that mirrors the development of the feminine psyche. THE WREN deals with finding one’s ‘home’ or place in the world. THE DOVE follows the healing of the body, while THE SPARROW is the inward journey into the wounds of the soul. THE BLACKBIRD examines the nurturing and self-love required on a daily basis to keep one’s self healthy, and THE BLUEBIRD is the celebration of life, the ability to embrace one’s destiny with confidence and go happily into the world to make your mark.


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Molly Rose Simms departs the Arizona Territory, eager for adventure, and travels to Colorado to visit her brother. Robert left two years ago to make his fortune in the booming silver town of Creede, and now Molly Rose hopes to convince him to accompany her to San Francisco, New York City, or even Europe. But Robert is nowhere to be found. All Molly Rose finds is his partner, a mysterious man known as The Jackal.

Jake McKenna has traveled the bustling streets of Istanbul, exotic ports in China, and the deserts of Morocco. His restless desire to explore has been the only constant in his life. When his search for the elusive and mythical Bluebird mining claim lands him a new partner, he must decide how far he’ll go to protect the stunning young woman who’s clearly in over her head. A home and hearth has never been on The Jackal’s agenda, but Molly Rose Simms is about to change his world in every conceivable way.

A sensuous historical western romance set in 1892 Colorado.

Excerpt
McKenna’s jet-black hair curled along the collar of his shirt, and a coal-colored stubble had sprouted on his strong jawline. When he shifted his gaze to her, his eyes put her in mind of molasses. Molly chewed on her lower lip and glanced away, lest McKenna catch her staring.

Shaking off her fascination, she asked, “How did you meet Robert?”

“In a poker game.”

Molly gasped. “Robert gambles?”

McKenna chuckled. “You’ve already been to a whorehouse. If you wanted to remain innocent, you shouldn’t have come to Creede.”

Her backside stiffened. “I’m not naïve to the ways of the world.”

Another grin lit his face. Her breath caught and her heart pounded more intensely. She honestly couldn’t look away. She’d read about people who possessed a charm that swayed the masses and opened doors with merely a glance, but she’d never met such a person.

What was the word she’d come across? Charisma, that was it. In this moment, the meaning became crystal clear.

“Whatever you say, Miss Simms. Why did you come to Creede?”

“To visit my brother, of course.”

“You came by yourself all the way from Tucson?”

“My folks believed that Robert would be here to meet me.”

He nodded, his amiable demeanor slipping a bit. She took a steadying breath to quiet the knot in her stomach that never quite receded. Please be all right, Robert.

“My folks thought that Robert would look after me,” she added, her voice muffled as rain continued to pound on the roof of the cabin. “But I assure you that I can look after myself.”

“I don’t doubt that. I’m at your service, nevertheless.”

“For what?”

“Protection.”

He held her gaze, and a frisson of awareness shot through her. She shifted her eyes to the stove. She hadn’t traveled all this way to fall for the first rugged buckaroo who crossed her path, charisma or not. She had more important things to do with her life first.

Copyright © 2016 K. McCaffrey LLC

Kristy is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card and a digital copy of THE BLUEBIRD to one lucky commenter. Be sure to leave an email address.

Bio
Kristy McCaffrey has been writing since she was very young, but it wasn’t until she was a stay-at-home mom that she considered becoming published. She’s the author of several historical western romances, all set in the American southwest. She lives in the Arizona desert with her husband, two chocolate labs, and whichever of their four teenage children happen to be in residence. She loves to travel and frequently blogs about her adventures.

Connect with Kristy

23 comments:

  1. Oh dear, what's happened to her brother? I hope he's just off on a lark. Love the premise of this story. Folks love mining town stories. Best of luck!
    Linda LaRoque

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    1. Hi Linda,
      I definitely had fun writing this one. The history of Creede is short but intense. I placed my story dead-center at the peak of mining in the area. Thanks so much for the well wishes!
      Cheers,
      Kristy

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  2. Oh I do like the sounds of this one. I so enjoyed the others and look forward to this one. I got goosies when she met his gaze and her heart pounded. Yum!Wishing you much success with this and all future ones. Love the cover too. I'll be putting this on my Kindle shortly so please don't count me in the giveaway.

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  3. I've lost a WIP half way through, so I know how daunting it can be to have to start all over again. After that, I took my oldest nephew's advice to back up my work every time I work on it on a thumb drive. He also helped me dig into the hard drive and find the first draft which made me grateful for his computer expertise. Whew!
    I have the first three books in your wings series. Loved them. I need to catch up with the last two.
    Your excerpt made me really want to know all about McKenna. He is the Jackal--right?. I'm wondering if Molly and McKenna are going to have to rescue Robert from wherever he might be.
    I know The Bluebird is going to be a big sale. All the very best to you, Kristy.

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    1. Sarah,
      Technology is such a wonder and a pain at times. I'd gotten a bit lazy about my computer habits and it finally caught up to me. My IT-savvy son gave me a kind but firm lecture about my habits, which have completely changed since then. I was just so stunned when I lost that first version of THE BLUEBIRD. We did try to retrieve but it was for naught. Still gives me the willies when I think about it LOL. Thanks so much for your kind words about my series. High praise coming from a talented writer such as yourself. Hugs!

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  4. Kristy! I cannot believe you did not have backups! That had to be so hard. I sometimes cry during a scene when I read. I cannot imagine how emotional it gets when you are practically living the story while you are writing it. I'm loving the book so far!

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    1. Hi Marianne,
      You and me both on the backups haha. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story!! Thanks for stopping by.

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  5. Kristy--Your series is great--very clever and emotional. Thanks for being our guest.

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    1. Celia,
      Thanks so much for having me! Always great to drop by. :-)

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  6. how neat to see some insights into your writings! My hubby is a computer geek and he tells me I should know better when I lose something and I forgot to have a good backup of it. :)

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    1. Susan,
      He is, of course, correct. But still, things happen that are beyond our control. I won't tell you about the book file I saved in 3 different places and I lost ALL 3. (Luckily I could fall back on the previous version I had saved.) Writing is stressful LOL. Thanks for stopping by, Susan. :-)

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  7. I definitely want to read The Bluebird. Love your tales.

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    1. Alisa,
      Thanks so much!! I so appreciate your support.

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  8. Hi Kristy! Welcome to Sweethearts of the West! The Bluebird looks like a great read. Can't wait to read it.

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    1. Kirsten,
      You've come out of your writing cave. I'm honored LOL. You ladies have a great parlor here. I love to kick back and enjoy the company. :-)

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  9. Thank goodness you rewrote it and now have a great back-up system. I have a ton of drafts for my pilot script I am writing. I also email my latest version to two other devices. I pray that will protect my material. I cannot imagine how awful that was for you. This book sounds great. I am looking forward to reading it.

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    1. Connie,
      Thanks so much! Emailing files is a great idea. I have to admit I don't do that, but I do use 2 cloud systems and two other levels of backup. I'm not getting caught with my britches down again haha.

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  10. Thanks so much to everyone for stopping by today!! I've picked a winner for the giveaway -- Alisa Boisclair. Congrats!! I'll be in touch to send your prize. Have a great evening all.

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  11. I have only read a few western historical romances, but these sound very intriguing. Thank you for the chance to win!

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