Caroline Fyffe is in the Garden

Welcome, Caroline Fyffe photographer and author, to my home. Everyone grab a beverage of your choice and settle in. Caroline is a long distance member of the RWA chapter I belong to, Utah RWA. She’s doing a blog tour to promote her new book coming out. If you’d like to read about her and her writing success there will be an interview on Mysteries and Margarita’s blog August 5th.

Mary: Caroline, usually the interview topics here at Mary’s Garden covers things, like wine, wineries, restaurants, and travel and anything else casual. To keep in theme I’m going to ask you a couple of questions about that to begin. I know you lived in Lodi, California. (I know you moved, but can’t remember where too. So if you moved to Lodi, I’ll change it to ‘live’. And of course remove this LOL) where  some great Zinfandels are located. (check out the link to Lodi I added) Do you enjoy a good glass of wine, if so what do you like? What do you recommend?

Caroline: Hi Mary, I’m so happy to be here today.  Thank you for having me.  And to answer your question, of course!  I typically have a nice glass of chardonnay in my hand when it’s dinner time and I’m through for the day.  I have several favorites—Woodbridge and Van Ruiten Family Winery, both local to the Lodi area, and Kendall Jackson.

Mary: Do you have any fun wine or winery trip stories you can share with us?

Caroline: A couple of years ago my girlfriend and I agreed to meet for lunch in the historic gold-mining town of Sutter Creek, in the foothills of California.  After lunch, and just for fun, we ventured over to a little place on Main Street called Sutter Creek Wine Tasting.  Being the only ones there, we took our time and sipped our way through the whites and then started with the reds, finishing with the dessert selections.  Needless to say, we were having a very good time.  I tasted my first Viognier there, and liked it well enough to bring a bottle home. (I still love a good Viognier, but they’re hard to find in restaurants.) Now, after all this tasting, we visited a boutique a few doors down, where I needed little encouragement to purchase an expensive jacket for Christmas--a piece of clothing I’d never have picked out normally, a little item that resembled something the Jack of Hearts might wear. (I’m sure you can picture this! Ha! Outrageous!)

Mary: Thanks for indulging me. Oh yes, I've had my share of purchase during a delicious wine haze. Would you tell us a bit about your life? What the motivating force was that drove you to photography. Why horses? Do you take pictures of other things also? Take pictures, it sounds so mundane because your work is truly art.

Caroline: I fell into photography---really.  I’m a horse lover born and raised.  I was working in advertising at a magazine, California Horse Review, when a display advertisement was contracted for a local seminar on equine photography.  I went, and the die was cast.  After that, I started looking around and found a well-known equine photographer in Texas who offered a week long course once a year, for just six students.  That was about 20 years ago.  Since then I’ve photographed horse shows in many states, and worked for national magazines.  The job also entails going to farms and taking advertising photographs of stallions standing at stud and sometimes foals for sale. Last year, weary of travel and the hard work (did I mention it’s really hard work?  If I didn’t I should have!) I gave up shooting horse shows to have more time for writing.  Now I mostly freelance for publications like Horse & Rider magazine.  I can say I’ve enjoyed more early sunrises (the best shots come in that early light so I get to my farms early).  It’s been wonderful.

Mary: When you travel for enjoyment, where do you visit?

Caroline: I love Europe.  We've been to Italy and France and England.  But, I also love traveling in the United States too.  My husband and I have a Honda Goldwing touring bike and have gone on several three to seven day trips.  It's amazing fun to be whizzing down the road. I like to take video and then make movies.  We've gone from Lodi to Portland over to Hermiston the up to Leavenworth, Washington,  a little German town that's totally too cute.  We went and saw Sound of Music at the open theater there.  Then we shot  over to Astoria and back into California. One thing about riding a motorcycle it makes going out to dinner and that nice glass of wine so much better!  LOLO

Mary: Oh I love Astoria, one of my favorites, and it is so beautiful. Where is the one place you would visit if you could?

Caroline: Austria.  Salzburg and Innsbruck.  They're both on the top of my bucket list.

Mary: I understand you have a new book out in August, which is the reason for your blog tour. As I advised in the beginning, everyone can check the Mysteries and Margaritas on August 5th for more detail about your writing life. However, please tell us a bit about your book Montana Dawn.

Caroline: MONTANA DAWN, which was a Golden Heart Finalist in 2007, takes place in the little town of Y Knot, Montana in the late 1800s.  The McCutcheons, a cattle ranching family, have carved a dynasty from the wilderness by the sweat of their brow and honorable values.  Luke McCutcheon, the third brother and the hero of this story, is the only one who was sired by an American Indian, when his mother was taken captive.  He’s the trail boss for the once-a-year cattle drive the McCutcheons make.  When he comes upon Faith Brown giving birth in her wagon, he’s shocked to learn her little son is Faith’s only help.  He agrees to stay and deliver her child.  That’s when all the fun begins….

I love stories about big families.  I wanted to give Luke as much unconditional love as he needed to battle his own ghosts about his heritage.  John McCutcheon, the youngest brother, is introduced in MONTANA DAWN, but you don’t actually meet him until my next book, ONCE UPON A TEXAS TWILIGHT, planned for next year.

Today, in celebration of the release of MONTANA DAWN I’m offering a copy to a commenter.  Also, if you go to my website and sign up for my News Letter  www.carolinefyffe.com you’ll be entered for a basket filled with candies, chocolates, muffin mix,  a handsome coffee mug (filled with more chocolate!) and a jar of scrumptious jam, all made from the Big Sky State’s coveted Huckleberry.  Also included is an autographed copy of both MONTANA DAWN and WHERE THE WIND BLOWS.  It’s as easy as pie.   Winner will be drawn just in time for Christmas on December 10th, 2010.

Thank you for joining me today in the garden, Caroline. I have learned a lot. I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did.

I’ve had a marvelous time!  Thank you so much.  I look forward to spending time with you in Orlando at the RWA National Convention at Disney World.  It’s coming up quick.
A quick question to your followers;  If you were stranded on an island and could only have three things…What wine would you want to have along?  What snack would keep you fed?  And, what book couldn’t you live without?

Cheers!