Casey will be awarding a bottle of Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot Noir (a wine served in California Homecoming)(US ONLY) OR a $25 Amazon gift certificate (winner's choice) to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour and her Virtual Reviews Tour, as well as donating $20.00 to Fisher House (http://www.fisherhouse.org/donate/) in honor or memory of a serviceperson of the winner's choice. For each tour stop $5 will be donated to Fisher House (http://www.fisherhouse.org/donate/) in honor or memory of a serviceperson of the host’s choice.
Please leave a comment for a chance to win and follow Casey's tour.
California Homecoming
by Casey Dawes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.How did you come up with ideas for
your books?
There
are a variety of ways I come up with ideas for the books, but I draw a lot from
my own life. Sometimes I start with a plot idea, but most of the time the story
comes from the characters. I have worked over ten years as a life and business
coach and I’ve seen how people’s beliefs really govern their lives. I try to
saddle my characters with a belief that isn’t working for them and develop the
story that allows them to change that belief so they can find happiness and
love. I try to root my characters in real people with real problems so they can
have a chance at real love.
2.What components are necessary for
the genre of this novel?
A
romance novel, by definition, has to have a happily-ever-after (HEA) or
happily-ever-now (HEN) ending. A good story, no matter what the genre has to
have main characters that change and grow as they solve the problems. I like the structure of the Hero’s Journey
and also Michael Hauge’s Six Stage Plot Structure. I keep an outline of that
structure next to my desk as I write.
3.As far as your writing goes, what
are your future plans?
I’ve
finished up a short Christmas romance set in a New York small town, tentatively
titled The Christmas Shepherd. I’ve also got an idea for a new series set in
Montana. This book is going to be more complex than anything I’ve written so
far, so it’s a challenge.
4.If you could be one of the
characters from any of your books, who would it be and why?
Definitely
Elizabeth from California Wine. She’s
beautiful, a good businesswoman, great cook (she even makes ravioli!), and she
winds up traveling the globe with Marcos.
5.Do you belong to a critique group?
If so how does this help or hinder your writing?
I
belong to a marvelous critique group of four other writers. We’re more than
critique partners, we’re friends. They also live in my head when I write. If I
dare to use the word “it,” Pam’s voice chides me that it’s a meaningless word.
Danica makes sure my heroes live up to the name. Rionna questions motivations.
Clare inspires me to add rich detail to my descriptions. My critique group
makes me better as a writer and person. They also were the ones who pushed me
to submit a contest-winning manuscript to Crimson Romance.
6.When did you first decide to submit
your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?
My
life was falling apart in 1998 for many reasons. I gave myself a birthday gift
of a writing class at the University of Santa Cruz extension. There I met the
core of what became my critique group for the next several years. They
encouraged me to begin writing fiction again. From that point on I submitted to
magazines and some publishing houses, but the rejections were frequent and
rapid. Finally, one of my current critique partners suggested I submit to
Crimson Romance. (Actually, it was more of a kick in the you-know-where.)
Crimson accepted California Sunset
and I’ve been writing ever since. (No, I haven’t given up my day job, yet.)
7.Do you outline your books or just
start writing?
As
I mentioned earlier, I have Michael Hauge’s Six Stage Plot Structure by my desk
as I write, but I usually start defining the characters, their physical
appearance, and their psychological make-up before I begin to plot. Then I do a
high-level outline before writing a first draft as fast as I can. Things may
change during that draft and I’ll use that knowledge during the edit phases.
8.Do you have any hobbies and does
the knowledge you've gained from these carry over into your characters or the
plot of your books?
When
my husband and I were dating, we lived near the Santa Cruz Mountains in
California. Most people don’t know this, but the area has a long wine-making
history, as old as Napa. We discovered we both liked wine and began exploring
the area to write a book on it. We had some amazing experiences and learned a
lot about wine. This knowledge came in particularly handy when writing California Wine, the previous book in
the California Romance Series. As I wrote some of the scenes, I visualized the
wineries we had visited and the winemaking characters we had gotten to know!
Somewhere, in all of my books, I reference wine and usually a specific
varietal. In fact, during this blog
tour, I’ll be awarding a bottle of Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot Noir (a wine served
in California Homecoming) to one of
the commenters on the tour (States that allow shipping in US only).
My
dad’s family came from Czechoslovakia (when there was such a place) and we had
an Easter tradition that came from that area--an egg-cracking contest. At
Easter dinner we’d ready our hard-boiled eggs, one would take aim at the other
and the egg that “survived” was the winner.
My kids would roll their eyes whenever I brought out this tradition.
When I worked at UPS, I met a woman from Georgia (the country) and she said
she’d had the same tradition as a child. She was the only one I ever met who
knew what I was talking about!
10.
What
is your favorite reality show?
Dancing
with the Stars. It’s actually the only reality show my husband and I watch. My
collective children find it very amusing.
11.
Anything
else you might want to add?
I’m
blessed. I have a wonderful writing space overlooking the Clark Fork River with
deer, ducks, geese, herons, kingfishers, a fox and more for entertainment. My
husband loves me and I have my health. It doesn’t get much better than this.
When Sarah
Ladina purchased an old Victorian in Costanoa with plans to turn it into a
high-end destination inn, she had no idea life could get so complicated. Well,
maybe she did. As an unwed pregnant woman who couldn’t cook, she had her work
cut out for her. A good-looking disabled veteran, a doctor who orders modified
bed rest, and an ex who’s trying to get back into her life make her wonder if
she’ll ever be able to stand on her own and open the inn in time for her
mother’s best friend’s wedding.
After returning
from duty in the Middle East wounded in both body and spirit, Hunter Evans is
in search of employment and a home, but finding a job has been tough and
housing doesn’t come cheap in Costanoa, the town that he loves the most on the
California Coast. Can he strike a deal with the pretty innkeeper to trade a
room for handy work?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday
morning Hunter pressed a shirt and put it on, along with his best khakis. He
thought about picking up a bunch of flowers on the way, but laughed at
himself. He was trying to find a room,
not a relationship.
“Oh,
it’s you again,” Sarah said when she opened the door, the dog standing next to
her. She was frowning.
Against
all reason, something about her made him want to scoop her up in his arms and
hug her. Because her t-shirt and jeans were dripping with dust, cobwebs, and
streaks of soap, it was probably a bad idea, but her short height and big brown
eyes gave her an appealing elfin look. He’d always been a sucker for Eowyn in
Lord of the Rings.
“I
still don’t have any rooms,” Sarah continued and began to shut the door.
“Wait,”
he said.
She
stopped. “Why should I?”
He
smiled. Considering their size difference, she really had no choice. But he bet
she’d fight him with every ounce of her strength.
She’d
probably fight like a girl -- nasty.
“This
is an inn, isn’t it?” he asked.
She
smirked at him. “It’s an unopened inn. No room. Get the picture?” She started to
inch the door closed.
This
time he shoved his foot in the gap. The swinging door clanked on his
prosthetic.
Sarah
gasped. “I’m so sorry!”
He
grinned. “I’m not. It would have hurt a lot more on the other leg.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author Casey Dawes lives and
writes on the bank of the Clark Fork River in Montana with the love of her life
and two cats who think they own the joint. To learn more about Casey, visit her
website: www.stories-about-love.com.
Website: www.stories-about-love.com
Twitter: @CaseyDawesAutho
LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/wisewomanshining
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Casey-Dawes/177311175677765
Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/caseydawes/
GoodReads:
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5313263-casey-dawes
BUY LINKS COMING SOON
