AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT ON THE LOVELY CAROLYN BROWN ( SPECIAL eBook Giveaway!!! )

Today we have a very special lady on Book Obsessed Chicks Blog. I would like to welcome the gracious and talented, Carolyn Brown and also wish her a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I was very lucky to have met Miss Carolyn a few weeks ago in New Jersey, where she surprised authors, CH Admirand, Sara Humphreys, Judi Fennell and Stephanie Julian at their book event at the East Brunswick Barnes & Noble. I couldn't help myself going Fan Girl all over Miss Carolyn and I will never forget that meeting!

1.     Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
 Oh, my, I’d much rather talk about my kids or grandkids or even my friends. But since you asked, I’m a full time writer with an office in my house where I can be as messy or as neat as I want, and that can change by the day or by the hour. I do try to clean it all up and make it presentable at the end of each book. I’ve been a published author since 1997 and have sold 75 books since that first call when the whole town thought the fire sirens were going off down on Sixth Street. Yes, I can squeal that loud.

2.    When and how did you know you wanted to be a writer?
 Right after I figured out how to hold that fat pencil and make letters on the Big Chief Tablet. Stories have always been my escape but when my third child was born and would not sleep at night, I got serious about it. Trouble was I thought all I had to do was write one book, be rich and famous and walk on the red carpet on the night it came out in movie theaters. It does not work like that. The book was probably the worst written book in the world and nobody wanted it. So I put away all the writing and raised my three kids and wrote a humorous column for the newspaper each week. Then in 1997 when they were all gone from the nest, I gave it another shot, this time in romance and boom! Got the call from my first editor who said she wanted to buy not one but both of the books I’d sent to her.

3.    Tell us about your upcoming work?
 The next book on the docket is The Cowboy’s Mail Order Bride. It’s was so much fun to write because I’m a mail order bride and I could really relate to Emily, the heroine in the story. It comes out in Feb. 2014, which isn’t that far away! The rest of 2014 lines up like this: The Red Hot Chili Cook-Off (women’s fiction), April; How to Marry a Cowboy (the final book in the Cowboys & Brides series), May; Leather & Lace (A new cowboy series from Montlake Romance), August; Cowboy Boots for Christmas (The first in a brand new series set in the fictional town of Burnt Boot, Texas. Finn O’Donnell …from Cowboy Seeks Bride…is the hero.)

4.    Do you have any mentors? Heroes?
Heroes by the dozens. Some who lived in the past and some who are still alive today. Every author I’ve ever read has been a mentor because I learned something valuable by reading their works.

5.    Can you tell us your favorite character from your books so far and why?
 I love Agnes from The Cadillac Trilogy…women’s fiction books. But then I also love Trudy from The Ladies’ Room and Natalie is so sassy from the latest. It would be difficult to pick a favorite. Most of the time I like the character I’m writing about that day and today it’s Callie from Cowboy Boots for Christmas. She was a spotter in Afghanistan for sniper Finn O’Donnell and they’re figuring out that there’s something more than a wartime partnership between them.

6.    Was it difficult for you to get published?
 I have enough rejection slips to wall paper the White House and I’m sure enough talking about the one on Pennsylvania Avenue, not the little two-holer with a moon cut into the door at the end of the back yard. But once I figured out that romance was where my heart was, I was off and running.

7.    Who are your favorite authors/reads?
 I’m an eclectic reader. How much room do we have for this list? I like Carl Hiaason, Randy Wayne White, Sue Grafton, Nora-the queen-Roberts, Margaret Mead, Leon Uris, Mario Puzo, James Lee Burke, Joanne Kennedy (my fellow smut peddler) and that’s just the ones I can think of right now. Give me another five minutes and I could fill up a couple of pages.

8.    Hobbies?
 Cooking! I used to sew but when I got serious about writing the sewing machine started drawing dust. Now I’d much rather write as make prom dresses and three pieced men’s suits.

9.    What is your dream job?
 I’m fortunate enough to be able to do my dream job. I wanted to be a writer. Now my dream has come true.

10.  Do you have any favorite TV shows?
Love Justified! And then NCIS and The Voice (I’m a big, big country music fan).

11.  What’s next for you?
 Right now it’s finishing up the contracts. Five more to write by next summer and then I’ve got this idea for another women’s fiction book and another couple of cowboy series.

12.  Where can we find you?
 I have a website: www.carolynlbrown.com and my email address is ccbrown66@att.net (I love to hear from readers) and I’m on FB (send me a friend request or like my author’s page).

13.  What would you like readers to know about you?
 I appreciate my readers, love them and would give them all a hug if I could. Readers are what keep us, as writers, from topping the extinct species list and they are the wind beneath our wings. So every time you buy a book, share it, tell a friend about it or talk about it at your book club meetings, know that we love you all!

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