Friday's Guest - Barbara White Daille talking about Writing #MFRWauthor

Janet – thanks so much for inviting me to drop by your blog again!

1.  What's your genre or do you write in more than one?

Right now, I’m writing short contemporary romance for two different publishers, and while there are some differences in the books, they’re all home and family stories with a little bit of humor and quirky characters.

My ongoing Hitching Post Hotel series with Harlequin Western Romance features lots of cowboys and a matchmaking grandpa who owns a New Mexico wedding destination hotel.  A new series, Snowflake Valley, debuts in November from Entangled Bliss and is set during the winter holidays.  Each book focuses on one of three sisters whose troubled past relationships have made them nickname themselves the “bad-luck Barnetts.”

2. Did you choose your genre or did it choose you?

I would say it was a mutual decision.  I started out by writing juvenile mysteries, because I was still in grade school, and those were my favorite books!  I then moved on to writing and selling short fiction, both romance and mystery.  After I moved up to novel-length projects, I began with mysteries, romance, and romantic suspense.  Short contemporary romance led to my first novel sale—and makes me feel like I’ve come home.

3.  Is there any genre you'd like to try?  Or is there one you wouldn't?

Right now, I’m happy with what I’m doing and thrilled that I’ve branched out to a second publisher to write the types of books I love.  Still, I’ll always be a writer, and I’ll always want to grow and challenge myself.  At the top of the list of genres I’d like to try someday are my old faves, mystery and romantic suspense, and my new love, women’s fiction. 

4.  What fiction do you read for pleasure?

Contemporary romance.  Adult mystery and romantic suspense.  Women’s fiction.  And sometimes re-reads of favorite juvenile mysteries or young adult romances to remember why I fell in love with books and became a writer.

5.  Tell me a bit about yourself and how long you've been writing.

I’ve been a reader all my life, and one of my biggest thrills when I was kid was learning to print my own name, which was a requirement for getting my own library card.  I’ve been “writing” stories since I was five years old and scribbled the drafts in crayon, using words I didn’t yet know how to spell.  I wrote my first full-length, typed novel when I was in the eighth grade, and it included both a romance and a mystery.

Writing and reading are my top two favorite things to do.  I’m very lucky to be able to write full-time, as I have so many characters inside my head who want their stories told!  And my hope is always that those stories will bring as much pleasure to my readers as other authors’ books give to me.

6.  Which of your characters is your favorite?

This is one of the most difficult questions ever.  I love all my characters, because each is special in his or her own way.  But I will admit that Sam Robertson, the hero from one of my Flagman’s Folly books, A Rancher’s Pride, has always held a very special place in my heart.  He comes home one day to find he’s been given custody of a four-year-old daughter he never knew he had, a daughter he has no way to communicate with because she’s deaf.  It was a heart-wrenching—and heart-warming—story to tell, and I only hope I did Sam and little Becky justice.

7.  Are there villains in your books and how were they created?

There are “villains” in my books, but not the traditional type.  Mine are caring and full of good intentions—and always very certain they know what’s best for my heroes and heroines.

In other words, my villains are the the family members and friends who conspire to help each couple reach a happy-ever-after ending.

8.  What are you working on now?

A couple of projects.  First, another standalone book in the Hitching Post Hotel series for Harlequin which will debut next March. It tells the story of a woman who doesn’t want to fall in love with a cowboy and a cowboy who refuses to fall in love at all.  But when a one-night stand leads to an accidental pregnancy—and three babies—the hero and heroine desperately need to work through their conflicts to do what’s best for their kids.  It’s proving to be one of my most emotional stories so far.

I’m also wrapping up the final edits of the first Snowflake Valley book from Entangled, which features one of the bad-luck Barnett sisters.  At a children’s Christmas party, the heroine reprises her role of Miss Elf and is tricked into working side-by-side with her ex-boyfriend, currently known as Santa.  They wind up snowbound in a secluded lodge with a trio of kids, and I have to admit this has been an absolute hoot of a story to write!

9.  What's your latest release and how did the idea arrive?

My latest release is Cowboy in Charge.  It’s also a standalone book in the Hitching Post Hotel series, and it came about because the heroine, who appeared in the first book, wanted her story told.  She’s divorced not once but twice, and her first ex returns to Cowboy Creek intending to claim the son he has never before laid eyes on.  He’s seeking redemption, wanting to make up for his wrongs, yet he has no plans to take on the role of daddy.  But when he arrives at the heroine’s apartment, she’s suffering from the flu and faints into his arms, and…well…from that point on, things get much more complicated for everyone in the story.