I love audio books and can't wait until September! In fact, this feels like a good excuse to bring out my fun interview with the Ridges, originally posted over at The Roses of Prose. Enjoy!
ALW: Hi readers! We’re super-excited to be conducting our first character interview from my most recent release,
Bet It On My Heart, here this week. Right, Keefe?
Keefe: *props booted feet on tabletop and crosses arms over chest, making himself cozy* You bet. It’s nice to sit down with pretty ladies after a hard day’s work on the ranch. *winks*
Calli: Ahem!
Keefe: *jerks, straightens* Hey, baby! When did you get here?
Calli: *sweeps his boots off the table* Just stopped by to remind you to behave yourself, cowpoke. *leans down to kiss him, fighting a smile* Sorry, I can’t stay, readers. I did bring reinforcements, though.
Casey: *cracks open a beer, sits next to Keefe* Hey, big brother!
Keefe: Ah, hell.
Stella: *smirks, takes off her Stetson* We so weren’t gonna miss this. It’s not everyday the playboy of Wayback gets a good grillin’
Keefe: *looks beseechingly to Calli* Where are you going? Can I come?
Calli: *laughs* I’ll be back later. If you’re good, I’ll give you a treat.
Casey: *cough, cough*
Stella: TMI!
Keefe: *grins* Carry on.
ALW: Alrighty then. Your story is the third in the Ridge family trilogy, which some found surprising, considering that you are the oldest of the bunch.
Stella: Mine and Judd’s story came first because we all know I’m the most mature.
Keefe & Casey: Yeah, right!
Casey: I would’ve settled down first if Josie hadn’t dug in her heels.
Josie: *from another room* I HEARD THAT!
Casey: YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU, BABY!
Keefe: *cough* Whipped! *cough, cough*
Stella: *intervenes as Casey makes a swipe for Keefe* Thank you for proving my point, boys.
ALW: Ahem. Anyway. In Stella and Casey’s stories, you made it clear, Keefe, that you weren’t the marrying kind of man. What changed?
Casey: A Yankee.
Keefe: *glares at his brother* Hey, I think her accent’s sexy as hell.
ALW: Stella, Calli is a longtime friend of yours. What do you think attracted Keefe to her?
Stella: I’d just like to say, for the record, I knew all along that these two were going to end up together.
Keefe & Casey: Yeah, right!
Stella: *rolls her eyes* It’s like two parrots. And I was the one who dared Calli to stay in Wayback for two weeks. She and Keefe hit it off right away.
Keefe: You said it: two weeks. It wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a temporary fling.
Calli: *from another room* Hey, cowpoke, I haven’t left yet!
Keefe: *cringes* I LOVE YOU!
Casey: *makes whipping motion* WHA-POW!
ALW: *raises her hands before Keefe and Casey have a chance to throw down* All right, already! I think we saw enough brawling in Stella’s story.
Casey: I had nothing to do with that.
Keefe: Because Judd and I are the only ones man enough to take a fist in the face.
Stella: If by man you mean caveman, then for once you’d be right.
ALW: Here’s a thought: how ‘bout I ask questions and you answer them like civilized adults.
Keefe, Casey, Stella: *look dubiously at one another* Nah.
ALW: *sighs* See what I have to deal with, readers? Stella, would it be too much for you to succinctly answer my previous question?
Stella: *flips long, blonde hair over her shoulder* Well, for starters, Calli’s a real ball-buster.
Keefe: *chokes on a swallow of beer*
Calli: *laughs uproariously from the other room* Thanks, Stell!
Keefe: *frowns* Seriously, when is she leaving?
Stella: Notice he doesn’t deny it.
Casey: *nods* Keefe was all about brainless bombshells before Calli knocked him on his ass. He’d never come across a woman of substance before.
Calli: Aw, Case! I could kiss you!
Casey: Anytime, honey.
Keefe: *glares* [CENSORED]
ALW: I apologize, ladies. I am now considering killing him off in an unforeseen sequel.
Keefe: *sets down his beer* Ah, come on, sweetheart. You know you love me.
ALW: No comment.
Casey: Hey, by the way, which one of us is your favorite?
Stella: *leans forward* It’s me, right? I was first.
Casey: Nah, it’s me. She told all those interviewers I was the charming one.
Keefe: *winks* And she told them I’m…what was it? “The quintessential cowboy?” And she loves her cowboys.
ALW: I will NOT answer that question.
Judd: *enters, grins at ALW* Hey. Sorry I’m late.
ALW: *blushes red, simpers* Glad you could join us!
Keefe & Casey: *faces falling* HIM?
Judd: *loops thumbs in belt loops, leans back against the wall, looks smug*
Casey: Don’t you love me anymore?
ALW: I love all of you!
Keefe: What’s so great about Judd?
ALW: *shrugs* Perhaps because he doesn’t talk back or interrupt. And everybody loves a silent cowboy. *flutters her lashes*
Keefe & Casey: *groan, mutter*
Stella: *meets Judd’s smoldering gaze, props her chin in hand and smiles* I’m the one who gets to take him home.
Casey: Er, ew.
Keefe: Now wait a minute. Judd may not know how to dish it out—
Judd: Hey, cowpoke. Eat me.
Stella: Oh, I love it when you talk dirty.
ALW: Yes. Please keep going.
Casey: This must be what an embolism feels like.
Keefe: Ahem. As I was saying, all the ladies might think Judd’s the cute, cuddly one—
Judd: 1st Place More Than Magic Novella.
Keefe: Best Book of the Week at LASR. Voted by the readers, my man.
ALW: Get to the point.
Keefe: Yeah, Judd, aren’t you supposed to be silent?
Casey: I don’t think he has a point.
Keefe: I’m getting to it. Judd may be loveable and Casey may be the charming do-gooder boy or whatever, but I’m the only hero who made the big, sweeping, romantic gesture. I got down on my knees and begged.
Stella: And you think that’s good for your image?
Keefe: It makes me more a hero than either of them.
Calli: He has a point!
ALW: Yes, surprisingly, he does.
Judd & Casey: Hey!
ALW: *gulps* I think we’ve taken up enough of the readers' time. Thanks again for having us. And so sorry about the expletives.
Keefe: *smirks* I’ll make sure Calli gives me a good whippin’.
Calli: *cackles* Yeah, you bet, readers!
Casey: Oh, for crying out loud!
ALW: *raises voice to cut them off* If you’d like to find out more about the Ridge family saga, visit them on the web! You can purchase all three novellas now at The Wild Rose Press:
Blackest Heart (Stella & Judd’s story) for $3.00;
Bluest Heart (Casey & Josie’s story) for $3.75; and
Bet It On My Heart (Keefe & Calli’s story) for $4.00! You can get the whole trilogy for just $10.75! And you can also now own
Blackest Heart in paperback in the Wayback anthology
The Way Back Home!