Staci Stallings, the author of this article, is a #1 Best Selling Contemporary Christian Romance author and the founder of Grace & Faith Author Connection. Staci has a special surprise for you today and tomorrow only...
FREE ON KINDLE TWO DAYS ONLY!
Cowboy
"One of the most gripping contemporary romances I've read in the past three years."
--Michelle Sutton, Amazon Top 1,000 Reviewer
Timothy Ashton Raines is at the top of his game and the end of his rope until one night, he walks away from everything...
Available today as a free download from Amazon!
http://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-The-Harmony-Series-ebook/dp/B0049B2E82/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t
Now for our spotlight interview of Staci about her book.
Spotlight on Cowboy
by: Best Selling Christian Romance Author, Staci Stallings
Title: Cowboy
Author: Staci Stallings
ISBN: ASIN: B0049B2E82
Page count: 324
Genre: Christian Romance
Please, tell us about your book:
"Cowboy is a grace-filled story about the power of giving everything to God and how a simple act of compassion can change lives forever." Life has done its best to knock Beth McCasland to the ground, and the truth is: it’s done a pretty good job of keeping her there. Stuck in a minimum-wage job with a young daughter counting on her, Beth does her best to stay standing under the weight of it all because she knows God is on her side. Then one night she gets the chance to be an angel to another of life’s weary travelers. For once hope has never looked so real.
How long did it take to write the book?
I wrote "Cowboy" in 1998 in about five months.
What inspired you to write the book?
I had a dream one night, which is where I get many of my ideas. In the dream, I was in the company of a famous country music star, but it wasn't like I was in awe of him. Instead, there was this great sadness that permeated everything about him. When I tried to ask what was wrong, he was very reluctant to tell me as everyone else just wanted him to "go on with life." However, the sadness and depression felt so heavy around him that I knew he was in serious trouble emotionally, so I persisted. That's when the story of "Cowboy" began to be written.
Talk about the writing process. Did you have a writing routine? Did you do any research, and if so, what did that involve?
The thing I researched the most was venues for Asthon to sing in different cities. I'm not much of a traveler, nor have I been to many concerts. So the details on that aspect were difficult. Also, he travels so much in this book. I basically had to plan a country music tour--venues, time schedules, etc. so that it made sense as the reader traveled with him. Also, obviously, I couldn't use songs that had already been written, so I had to write all of the songs featured in this book--which ended up being about seven. That was a challenge, but a fun one!
So you are a songwriter too! What do you hope your readers come away with after reading your book?
In our world today, hope is an increasingly rare commodity. So many people are hanging on by such a small thread--and that's even many whom we all see as "successful." In one scene Ashton says, "It's amazing how much the top looks like the bottom when you have no one to share it with." I think that's what I want readers to see. #1 that they are not alone if they feel lonely and as if hope is for everyone else but has passed them by. And #2, that the greatest thing we can give someone else is the gift of hope and love.
Where can we go to buy your book?
Cowboy is FREE on Kindle Dec. 4 & 5
http://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-The-Harmony-Series-ebook/dp/B0049B2E82/ref=la_B005IDM6IS_1_6_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353605476&sr=1-6
Excerpt from book:
The burden of fatigue and heartbreak he’d been carrying for months pulled Ashton's gaze to the table just as the bells at the door jingled. Although he never looked up, he heard the waitress slide from the booth.
“Finish your breakfast.” She pointed to his plate. “If you need someone to listen, all you have to do is ask.”
And with that she left his booth to go help the other customers.
Let others help, he thought sarcastically. Yeah, right.
He couldn’t trust anyone with this pain. He couldn’t let them in. Besides, they didn’t want to listen—not really. They wanted him to say everything was fine and keep going as though nothing in the world had happened. They wanted him to be Ashton Raines, superstar, and as far as what happened to the real Ashton Raines, they couldn’t care less.
Loneliness descended on him again, and his whole body slumped toward the table with the weight of it. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep himself upright. All he wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep forever.
If he could just think of one friend. One real person he could call, one real person he could talk to.
“If you need someone to listen, I’m here,” he heard her words again in the depths of his soul, and he looked up to see if she was actually standing there. But she was across the restaurant helping someone else.
“I can’t tell her.” He shook his head and clutched the top of his cap, rolling it down around his face at the absurdity of the very thought. “I don’t even know her.”
Then his gaze lit on the all-but empty plate in front of him. She had given him a meal and asked for nothing in return. She had shared a piece of her heart with him and expected nothing. It was by far the greatest act of kindness he’d experienced in a long time. He looked down at the empty coffee cup, closed his eyes, and raised it off the table. “Miss, could I get a refill?”
A stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That’s what keeps Staci writing and you reading.
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