Hard Men of the Rockies - Five Authors
Welcome to the garden everyone. We're continuing our series about authors writing a series. It's getting cold so we'll be in Rose House. Grab a plate and fill up with goodies and be sure to pour your favorite beverage.
This week I am highlighting a book series, and it’s not what you think. The authors of Chick Swagger have gotten together to create The Hard Men of the Rockies 5-book series, and it went live September 13th. I had an opportunity to chat (albeit electronically) with the Chicks about their new series.
Question: Who decided on the theme of the series? How was it decided?
Answer:
KYM: We wanted something to reflect on the reader conference we were planning to attend in Colorado, and since I have an obsession with a certain Rock, I was all in for The Hard Men of the Rockies. ;)
MISTY: Exactly! Plus we thought a family-theme built around gramma sounded like a hoot.
TRACY: The theme was set, and the rest of us just fell in line :-).
Question: What was the most fun in working with 4 other authors on this series?
Answer:
KYM: Our texts. OMG, they were hilarious and X-rated. Definitely not something we could allow our kids to read to us while we drove. ;)
MIA: Definitely!
BRYNLEY: It was also fun seeing my characters in the other books. Knox, the hero in Leather and Lace, is the little brother of Ty, the hero in Red Lace. I remember being amazed at how well Kym nailed Knox when she sent me an excerpt from Red Lace that included him.
TRACY: The constant support from my fellow authors was also an added bonus. I just recently went through a cross-country move after living in Dallas for 20 years (and in the same neighborhood for 16). I knew collaborating on this project would be a major incentive to stay focused on my writing. The Chick Swagger girls were exactly the kick in the pants I needed!
Question: What’s it like writing in the same world with 4 other authors?
Answer:
BRYNLEY: Chaotic, but totally fun. I'm used to making unilateral decisions for my books and characters, but in the Hard Men of the Rockies series, all of the books take place in the same house and with the same grandma, so we had to make sure we communicated and got our facts straight across all of the books. If one author had Grandma Rosie driving a red Jeep, we all had to make sure we did the same. And when I gave Rosie a cat, I had to make sure none of the other cousins were allergic to cats.
MIA: I was the last author to join the group, and initially I was overwhelmed with the facts to keep track of—the who, what, where, when, and with whom? The first thing I did was construct a spreadsheet with some facts we could all refer to. I think it helped, especially when we had overlap of characters in each other’s books.
Question: What fun/interesting research did you do for your book?
Answer:
KYM: I based my Ty, on the strengths of the alphas I met while working a task force with the Secret Service.
MISTY: I enjoyed learning more about Tango dancing - I danced a little bit of it when I was a Zumba instructor. But most of what I used in the book came from watching a lot of YouTube videos on technique as well as the heart and soul of what Tango is.
BRYNLEY: Knox in Leather & Lace is an NFL player, so I to look at lots of hot football players in tight pants in the course of my football research...But I did it for my readers! I'm selfless like that. I also had to make sure I deleted my search history, which included topics such as "how much is a sex tape worth" and "extortion 101."
TRACY: Because Grayson, the female protag in Blackmail & Lace, is on a mission to fulfill a deathbed promise and complete the bucket list she inherited from her dead sister, I had to tap into my adventurous side. Tomorrow is guaranteed to none. I had to think about some of the things I wanted to do/accomplish before I die. Researching the Inca Trail and diving the dangerous underwater caves of Jacob's Well were just a couple of the adventures I skimmed the surface of. It really made me wish this was a full length book, rather than novella!
MIA: For me, I’ve been to Colorado only once. I needed to brush up on the topography, climate, the university, all that. CSU fans will see truth in Beyond Lace. Also, I learned about rock-climbing as that is Blake’s favorite pastime (maybe second favorite).
Question: What was the biggest challenge in collaborating with 4 other authors?
Answer:
MISTY: Making sure the details of the house were consistent as well as the timing in the Christmas epilogue scene.
BRYNLEY: Trying to get everyone's approval and input on everything when we all had our own deadlines, schedules, life, etc. I'm pretty sure I was the slacker. I owe everyone drinks.
TRACY: Time! Everyone works at a different pace and I was always the one lagging behind. :-)
Question: Do you see doing more series like this in the future? Why or why not?
Answer:
MIA: Definitely. I love the collaboration and idea-sharing. Plus I think the readers will love to see the characters they “know” weave in and out of each other’s books.
KYM: That was our goal when we started last year. This is the second series by Chick Swagger. We hope to make it an annual event, and who knows we may expand our releases to coincide with different reader conferences throughout the country!
MISTY: Making a series collide with a reader event is a lot of fun and generates a lot of synergy at the event’s book signing. Would definitely do it again.
TRACY: I would love to. Maybe next time we'll rent a cabin somewhere and meet for a week to knock out our first drafts. That would be so much fun!
More about this series and the authors—Brynley Bush, Kym Roberts, Mia London, Misty Dietz, Tracy Ward—can be found on www.ChickSwagger.com.
The five authors in the series, Hard Men of the Rockies:
Kym Roberts: Kym finds passion, mystery, and suspense in everything she does—Catch the Wave and join the fun!
· www.Kymroberts.com
· https://www.facebook.com/KymRoberts911Author
· @KymRoberts911
Misty Dietz: Misty writes contemporary, suspense, and paranormal romance with curl-your-toes sex,
thrilling tension, and snickering pockets of sunshine.
* www.MistyDietz.com
* https://www.facebook.com/MistyDietzWriter
* @MistyDietzWriter
Brynley Bush: Brynley writes the kind of books she likes to read: steamy contemporary romances featuring smart, sassy heroines and strong, dominant alpha males who love their women a little feisty.
· www.BrynleyBush.com
· https://www.facebook.com/brynley.bush
· @BrynleyBush
Mia London: Mia writes steamy romance with an HEA. Her goal is to create a fantasy you will
enjoy with characters you could love.
· www.MiaLondon.com
· www.facebook.com/MiaLondonAuthor
· @MiaLondonAuthor
Tracy A. Ward: Tracy is a writer of sexy women's fiction, with every-day women, following their dreams, searching for that elusive happily ever after. She’s mad for hot men & cold margaritas.
· www.TracyAWard.com
· https://www.facebook.com/tracyaward
· @TracyAWard
The series was launched Sept 13th. For a limited time--November and December only—we are offering the complete series plus bonus material for 99¢ (titled Mistletoe & Lace). After that Mistletoe and Lace is gone forever.
Buy links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo
Question: Who decided on the theme of the series? How was it decided?
Answer:
KYM: We wanted something to reflect on the reader conference we were planning to attend in Colorado, and since I have an obsession with a certain Rock, I was all in for The Hard Men of the Rockies. ;)
MISTY: Exactly! Plus we thought a family-theme built around gramma sounded like a hoot.
TRACY: The theme was set, and the rest of us just fell in line :-).
Question: What was the most fun in working with 4 other authors on this series?
Answer:
KYM: Our texts. OMG, they were hilarious and X-rated. Definitely not something we could allow our kids to read to us while we drove. ;)
MIA: Definitely!
BRYNLEY: It was also fun seeing my characters in the other books. Knox, the hero in Leather and Lace, is the little brother of Ty, the hero in Red Lace. I remember being amazed at how well Kym nailed Knox when she sent me an excerpt from Red Lace that included him.
TRACY: The constant support from my fellow authors was also an added bonus. I just recently went through a cross-country move after living in Dallas for 20 years (and in the same neighborhood for 16). I knew collaborating on this project would be a major incentive to stay focused on my writing. The Chick Swagger girls were exactly the kick in the pants I needed!
Question: What’s it like writing in the same world with 4 other authors?
Answer:
BRYNLEY: Chaotic, but totally fun. I'm used to making unilateral decisions for my books and characters, but in the Hard Men of the Rockies series, all of the books take place in the same house and with the same grandma, so we had to make sure we communicated and got our facts straight across all of the books. If one author had Grandma Rosie driving a red Jeep, we all had to make sure we did the same. And when I gave Rosie a cat, I had to make sure none of the other cousins were allergic to cats.
MIA: I was the last author to join the group, and initially I was overwhelmed with the facts to keep track of—the who, what, where, when, and with whom? The first thing I did was construct a spreadsheet with some facts we could all refer to. I think it helped, especially when we had overlap of characters in each other’s books.
Question: What fun/interesting research did you do for your book?
Answer:
KYM: I based my Ty, on the strengths of the alphas I met while working a task force with the Secret Service.
MISTY: I enjoyed learning more about Tango dancing - I danced a little bit of it when I was a Zumba instructor. But most of what I used in the book came from watching a lot of YouTube videos on technique as well as the heart and soul of what Tango is.
BRYNLEY: Knox in Leather & Lace is an NFL player, so I to look at lots of hot football players in tight pants in the course of my football research...But I did it for my readers! I'm selfless like that. I also had to make sure I deleted my search history, which included topics such as "how much is a sex tape worth" and "extortion 101."
TRACY: Because Grayson, the female protag in Blackmail & Lace, is on a mission to fulfill a deathbed promise and complete the bucket list she inherited from her dead sister, I had to tap into my adventurous side. Tomorrow is guaranteed to none. I had to think about some of the things I wanted to do/accomplish before I die. Researching the Inca Trail and diving the dangerous underwater caves of Jacob's Well were just a couple of the adventures I skimmed the surface of. It really made me wish this was a full length book, rather than novella!
MIA: For me, I’ve been to Colorado only once. I needed to brush up on the topography, climate, the university, all that. CSU fans will see truth in Beyond Lace. Also, I learned about rock-climbing as that is Blake’s favorite pastime (maybe second favorite).
Question: What was the biggest challenge in collaborating with 4 other authors?
Answer:
MISTY: Making sure the details of the house were consistent as well as the timing in the Christmas epilogue scene.
BRYNLEY: Trying to get everyone's approval and input on everything when we all had our own deadlines, schedules, life, etc. I'm pretty sure I was the slacker. I owe everyone drinks.
TRACY: Time! Everyone works at a different pace and I was always the one lagging behind. :-)
Question: Do you see doing more series like this in the future? Why or why not?
Answer:
MIA: Definitely. I love the collaboration and idea-sharing. Plus I think the readers will love to see the characters they “know” weave in and out of each other’s books.
KYM: That was our goal when we started last year. This is the second series by Chick Swagger. We hope to make it an annual event, and who knows we may expand our releases to coincide with different reader conferences throughout the country!
MISTY: Making a series collide with a reader event is a lot of fun and generates a lot of synergy at the event’s book signing. Would definitely do it again.
TRACY: I would love to. Maybe next time we'll rent a cabin somewhere and meet for a week to knock out our first drafts. That would be so much fun!
***
More about this series and the authors—Brynley Bush, Kym Roberts, Mia London, Misty Dietz, Tracy Ward—can be found on www.ChickSwagger.com.
The five authors in the series, Hard Men of the Rockies:
· www.Kymroberts.com
· https://www.facebook.com/KymRoberts911Author
· @KymRoberts911
Misty Dietz: Misty writes contemporary, suspense, and paranormal romance with curl-your-toes sex,
thrilling tension, and snickering pockets of sunshine.
* www.MistyDietz.com
* https://www.facebook.com/MistyDietzWriter
* @MistyDietzWriter
· www.BrynleyBush.com
· https://www.facebook.com/brynley.bush
· @BrynleyBush
Mia London: Mia writes steamy romance with an HEA. Her goal is to create a fantasy you will
enjoy with characters you could love.
· www.MiaLondon.com
· www.facebook.com/MiaLondonAuthor
· @MiaLondonAuthor
· www.TracyAWard.com
· https://www.facebook.com/tracyaward
· @TracyAWard
The series was launched Sept 13th. For a limited time--November and December only—we are offering the complete series plus bonus material for 99¢ (titled Mistletoe & Lace). After that Mistletoe and Lace is gone forever.
Buy links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo
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