Jennie Marsland

Welcome Western Romance author Paty Jager

Hi Paty, I'm so pleased to have you with us today! I've enjoyed spending a day on your blog as well, and I'm very glad to return the hospitality. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

While driving tractor, raking, baling, or harrowing I tend to conjure up scenes for my WIP or a new story idea. My husband and I farm 160 acres and have 35 head of cattle, plus he works for a local fertilizer plant so this time of year he puts in long hours. I try to write every day for at least three hours. My goal is to write two to three books a year. Not because I have that many contracts, but because I have that many ideas that want to get out and push me to finish a project so I can write the next one. I've been a member of RWA for eleven years and actively seeking a career in writing for twelve. I was lucky to get in on the ground floor of a new publisher The Wild Rose Press three years ago and now have four historical western romance books and one contemporary romance published with them. The contemporary won an EPPIE award for Best Contemporary in 2008. I have four books currently out with editors and agents looking for homes.

What attracts you to Western romance?

I love western romance because of the character of the people who live a western lifestyle. They have fortitude, self-reliance, conviction, and a manner about them that is laid back but you know if something needs taken care of it will happen. I happen to live in the west, grew up in a rural area, and even now I live a primitive life when I change water on our property east of here. It gives me a good base for the historical stories.

I know you do a lot of research. Tell us about a couple of your favorite historical tidbits.

Hmmm... Only two? I do love my research. I find the best information comes from talking to people who run the historical museums. One fact I learned while researching for my first published book Marshal in Petticoats had to do with the post office in a mining town. My heroine is accident prone and I was looking for a town for her to be made a marshal. (She dresses like a young man) Anyway, I discovered a town that had its post office stolen, building and all, during the night by miners tired of trekking down the mountain to get their mail. They stole the building and hauled it up the canyon. I figured if a town could have their post office stolen, they would hire a young man for a marshal.

The other piece is a premise I found while reading about Outlaws in Oregon. It seems a young man around fifteen fell in with the wrong crowd and robbed the local bank on a lark. Only he was caught and sent to prison. He came back when his time was up and thirty years later became the president of the same bank. I'm using that premise, young man robbing a bank and returning to his home town as a redemption story for a Christmas novella.

Tell us about your new release.

My current release is Miner in Petticoats. It is the third book of a historical western five book series about the Halsey brothers. Ethan, Hank, Clay, Zeke, and Gil grew up in the mining country of NE Oregon. After the murder of their parents and youngest brother, Ethan took over the parental duties of the other four. Having finished raising his brothers and working to build their mine into something that will sustain all their families, Ethan isn't looking for marriage or a family of his own. To fulfill his commitment to enhance the Halsey family future, he plans to build a stamp mill,and he needs property the widow Miller refuses to part with.

Aileen Miller is twice widowed and has a twelve-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter. Her first marriage was for love. When her husband was killed she had to flee Ireland and found herself married to an abusive alcoholic. When that husband came up dead she vowed to never let another man into their lives.

This story is about learning to bend and compromise and realize fate can sometimes throw you a curve. It is also about overcoming fears and learning to trust again.

What's the next project in line for you?

I just finished the fourth Halsey brother book, Doctor in Petticoats. I have a book I'm co-writing with another Wild Rose Press author that I need to finish and the above Christmas novella I talked about. Then I'm trying my hand at writing a contemporary western mystery.

Jennie, Thanks for having me here today!

To buy Miner in Petticoats, click this link:

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/miner-in-petticoats-p-1271.html

To learn more about Paty, see her website:

http://www.patyjager.com

Paty Jager

Western Romance Author

Best Contemporary Romance

2008 EPPIE Winner