My friend, the wonderful historical author, Ann Lethbridge, http://regencyramble.blogspot.ca, invited me to be part of this chain blog called THE NEXT BIG THING–a series of questions and answers about what’s happening next in my writing life.
What is the title of your latest book?
That would be my February, 2013, release IN FROM THE COLD about city girl Callista MacKintosh who comes to the fictional town of Accord, Colorado to persuade the owner of a gorgeous piece of land to sell to make way for a ski resort. Gabe Jordan has no intention of selling the land he adores and on which he runs his dogsledding business.
Will your book be self-published or traditional?
IN FROM THE COLD is a Harlequin Superromance and should be on bookstore shelves by February 13th, just in time for Valentine’s Day. For the ebook, look for it on February 1st at: ebooks.harlequin.com.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’m not a fast writer, and Superromances are now 80-85,000 words long, so four to five months with constant editing along the way, so it doesn’t really look like a first draft by the time I complete it.
What is the one-line synopsis for your book?
How about some of the back cover copy instead? ‘A city girl to her core, Callie doesn’t do rugged. She does do her job, though. Gabe is her boss’s estranged brother. And Gabe is the most fascinating man she’s ever met. Her focus is severely compromised by his strong, sexy ways. More than that, having spent time on this land, she’s no longer convinced a ski resort belongs here. But she thinks she might. Because for the first time, with Gabe, she feels as though she’s come home.’
How did you come by the idea?
I had always wanted to take an Outward Bound course, so when my life changed drastically a few years ago, I knew it was time. I decided to try dogsledding in Algonquin Park–and it blew my mind. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done! Whooshing silently over snow in an amazing setting and the exercise involved were wonderful, but the best part was the dogs. They had heart, endurance and flat-out unlimited love to share with the participants. Our guides treated them like gold and the participants showered them with affection. I remember thinking at the time that one of my future heroes would have to do this. This year, I was finally ready to write this book. Gabe loves his land, but he loves his dogs even more.
What else about the book might pique your reader’s interest?
I go into detail about how he takes care of his dogs–all of the things I found fascinating when I went dogsledding.
Did you know that sled dogs live outdoors all of the time? They never come inside. The dozen or so of us participating in the four-day course slept in a large prospector’s tent. One of our guides brought a dog inside one evening to teach us about sled dogs, but the poor thing was so uncomfortable indoors that the guide cut the lesson short and took her back to her mates.
In the middle of the night, the dogs would suddenly start to bark, perhaps disturbed by a nocturnal creature out and about nearby, and would all start to howl. It was eerie and breathtakingly beautiful and would last for a good five minutes, absolutely wonderful to hear in the still of the night. The best and most baffling part is that they would all stop howling at the same moment, as though there were a conductor in front of them bringing them to an abrupt halt with his baton. One time, one dog went on a touch too long and his howl was followed by a small yip, almost an, “Oops, sorry, I missed the stop signal.”
If you can’t already tell, I loved the dogs 😉
http://www.torontolightfest.com/
Mary Sullivan, Author 