Where Romance and Suspense Collide

Tag: Rocky Mountains

Fun with Research for Next Release

IMG_1099Saddle up for some Fun with Research on my Next Release!

If you’ve heard me talk about research in the past, you know I consider it a necessary evil for writing.

The problem started in high school. Yeah, I know, you don’t want to go there. Neither do I, but that’s where it started. Remember those dreaded research/term papers? You had to make outlines, notecards, quote
s, bibliographies, works cited pages and the list goes on. The two worst parts for me were the outlines (I still get nauseous thinking about outlining) and research for the notecards. I honestly didn’t mind reading the books for information, but having to make note cards to PROVE that I did was really annoying. It wasn’t so much I had to prove I did the research as the fact that I wasn’t going to use those cards to write the paper. Once I handed them in for the ‘pre-work’ grade, I doubt I looked at them again.

HOWEVER, over the past few years I’ve come to realize I can have fun with research. Hallelujah!

Nowadays my research is much more hands on. I wrote another post about this subject almost two years ago as a guest on Jessica Aspen’s Blog. I wanted to give you an update on my latest research experience – Guest Ranches.

My current WIP (work in progress) will be the first of the new Masters Men series, Master Security. It features Chance Dugan who was introduced in Her Master Match, and Marley Jasper, owner of the Jasper Ranch. (If you need to brush up on the Masters Men, feel free to click here for information on the first Masters Men Series.) I figured if I was going to feature a guest ranch in my book, I should probably know what running one entailed. Cue research.

Okay, so I had to do a little, very little, searching on Google to get started. It didn’t take many keystrokes to find a place to contact. I sent an email to the General Manager of C Lazy U Ranch. It wasn’t long before he responded and we arranged for a call. I sent him some questions ahead of time. His answers weMain Lodge at C Lazy U Ranchre very helpful, but he suggested I really needed to see things for myself and invited me to visit. My niece went with me so when I ran out of questions or forgot to take pictures she could pick up the slack.

So, we went to the ranch and it was amazing. The C Lazy U is a premier guest ranch in the U.S. located in Granby, Colorado. Our cabin was unbelievably comfortable and had fireplaces in both rooms. We went ho
rseback riding and snowshoeing. We joined others in the community area of the main building for lunch, dinner, and breakfast. All the meals were good, but the dinner was definitely outstanding. All of the employees were friendly and welcoming. There must be a requirement that the cowboys are good looking, because they would all look great on a book cover. Also, the female wrangler (that’s her in the picture at the top of the post) who led our trail ride grew up on a dairy farm. If you remember ChancRiding at the C Lazy U Ranche from his cameo appearance in Her Master Match, he grew up on a dairy farm, too. So, now I have a contact to find out more about how a small dairy farm works. Bonus!

The only issue was the C Lazy U is so much more than my heroine could handle as a family guest ranch. It turned out, that wasn’t a problem either, because David Craig, C Lazy U’s General Manager, also arranged for us to visit a nearby family-owned and run guest ranch, the Drowsy Water Ranch. C Lazy U is huge and open year round while Drowsy Water is open from June through mid-September. That is much more likely what my heroine would be able to deal with as a family-owned guest ranch. Even though Drowsy Water wasn’t open right now, Justin Fosha, one of the owners gave us a tour through the knee high snow as well as giving us a better feel of what a family-owned and run guest ranch would entail.

So, if you want to see what all this FUN RESEARCH results in late this spring, you’ll keep an eye out for the first installment of the Master Security series. While I don’t have a final title yet, the working title is WRANGLING DUGAN. If you’d like a little teaser, keep reading. If you like that title, or have a suggestion for a different one, leave a comment.

Chance waited in silence for Marley to continue.

“Early this morning someone broke into the main house.”

The pencil he’d been tapping snapped in two. He stared at her. “The main house as in the one you and your parents live in?”

She shrugged. “It’s just me. My parents moved to Arizona when dad sold the ranch to me. I guess Colorado wasn’t dry enough for them.”

Chance ignored her attempt to break the sudden tension. “They actually got inside? Your security system didn’t go off?”

“Oh, it went off. As soon as they stepped one foot in the kitchen, I pulled the trigger on my father’s old shotgun.”

“You shot them?” He knew his eyes were wide as saucers, but he hadn’t expected that.

“Maybe, I’m not sure if any of the buckshot hit him or not. I aimed at the door’s frame. It’s a ranch. Shotguns are the security system.”

He rubbed his temple again while he tried to come to terms with the image of her facing off with a would-be attacker in her kitchen with a shotgun.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Don’t forget to check out Sandra’s most recent release, A Chance Event – A Chain of Love novella.

Sandra S. Kerns’ Blog – New Release!

Well, it’s finally here – RELEASE DAY!!!! Yay! Yippee!! Woohoo!!!

CallaghansConundrum-200x300

I know, you think I’m totally insane, but you have no idea how long I’ve waited for Sam and Rina to be available. But, Sam Callaghan slipped into town last night and is now available at your favorite online retailers. He will soon  be available in Paperback as well. There is a little teaser about this book – Callaghan’s Conundrum below.

First I want to let you know I may not be posting much this week as I am getting ready to go to the Crested Butte Writer’s Conference. My critique partner, Annette Elton and I are speaking at the conference, too. My mind is a bit full between tweaking the presentation and getting Callaghan out. Oh, I promise to post and let you know how Rehabilitating the Lion does in the Sandy contest at the conference. Cross your fingers for me. Theo is one hero I can’t wait to get out to you, but I will to make sure his story is as good as it can be for my favorite readers!

Here’s the promised teaser for Callaghan’s Conundrum. If you want to read more the purchase links are below, too.

3rd Installment in the Colorado Skies Series –Available Now!

The third book in the Colorado Dreams series, Romance and Suspense truly do collide when another Pinecrest, Colorado detective comes face to face with his past. Connor from Dream Stalker lends a hand with some research and moral support. Still, it’s a bumpy ride through Pinecrest and the foothills as Sam tries to make peace with the pain our heroine caused him.

~~~~~

Pinecrest, Colorado Detective Sam Callaghandoesn’t know it, but he’s walking into the weekend from hell. The sniper he stops while running an errand turns out to be the upside of the long Memorial weekend he faces. His past and present collide in a gut-wrenching crash when the only person injured by the sniper, turns out to be the last person he ever expected to see again. Even worse is the battle raging inside him; having despised her for so long, how can he still want her?

Nine years after Pinecrest’s princess on the hill, Katrina Stokes left without a trace; she’s back. Unable to deny a request from her estranged mother, she takes a chance to meet with her and explain why she disappeared. But the reunion is not to be. Instead, a sniper’s bullet finds Rina as she dives to rescue a child. Seeing Sam take out the sniper, Rina knows she has to disappear again before he or anyone else recognizes her. His life and that of their son depend on it.

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