Writing About The West With Feeling

I remember when I wrote my first "cowboy" book. Immediately I became intrgued by the type of man who would own or work on a ranch--an independent, free-thinking man of integrity who valued the land and animals and his care of both. I've never lived on a ranch but I had memories to draw from.  All through my childhood, I had access to a relative's farm. My cousin and I would play on and around the hay bales, hold and chase newborn kittens, and stand in awe watching the horses run in the pasture. I recall a foal named Muley and a white bull with a ring in his nose. Watching a calf come into this world was exciting, scary, and memorable.

The west has always called to me. When I wrote that first ranch book, I also wrote to guest ranches in Montana and Wyoming, hoping to find a genuine source for research. One ranch owner corresponded with me and we had many phone conversationa about running cattle and the requirements for keeping a ranch operating smoothly. She invited me for a visit and a few years later Wyoming and Montana became my reserach destinations. I wll never forget my visit to that ranch. We road in her pick-up truck, driving through  pastures and over gullies, glimpsing antelope and jackrabbits, finding Teepee rings from so long ago. This was a family ranch and we learned the part everyone in the family played in making their life there a success. On that same trip, my husband and I drove through Wyoming and spent several days watching and photographing the wild horses in The Big Horns. Research took on an entirely new meaning as we caught the scent of sage, trekked through brush and spotted wild horses standing on a peak staring down at us. No words could describe it.

For me, ALWAYS HER COWBOY as well as CASSIDY'S COWBOY--both set in Wyoming--are the epitome of ranch books. I put everything I feel about the pioneer spirit of living in the West in both books, as well as everything I feel about the meaning of family. I hope that shines through to my readers. The West can be a universe of its own. A ranch can be a world of its own, a world where love can find a true home.

Buy ALWAYS HER COWBOY, Amazon

Buy CASSIDY'S COWBOY, Amazon

Applesauce Bread Recipe

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Applesauce Bread

3 cups flour
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups applesauce
1 cup golden raisins
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream

Grease and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans or three 8  x 4inch loaf pans. (I used the 8 x 4)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat together eggs, sugar and oil.  Pour in applesauce and mix and then sour cream (recipe says you can also use buttermilk.  I used sour cream.)  Mix in flour, baking powder, soda and cinnamon.  Stir in raisins. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake 9 x 5 pans for 80 minutes.  I baked 8 x 4 pans for 75 minutes.  Test with toothpick.  Should come out clean.  Cool on rack for ten minutes then remove from pans for rest of cooling. 

ENJOY!!!!

This is a thank you blog to all my readers who have made my jumping into ebooks a terrific experience. Where would authors be without readers?  I've been in traditional publishing for 20 years. I still have the mailing list that I began in 1992 when my first book was released. Once a year I still update these readers with news and what's happening in my publishing life. Many of my readers aren't online and I receive snail mail from them. I love to receive those letters as well as email letters.
Over the past few years I've seen the changes in publishing. Years ago one of my titles Just The Husband She Chose was chosen for a trial program into ebook form. I was excited then but nothing much happened. E-readers were still out of the average person's range. Now however that has all changed. Last winter I decided to publish my back titles in ebook form. It took a while for readers to find me but now they are and I love this new format as well as print publishing. I believe there is still a place for both in this new publishing world. I like the ease and speed of downloading a book onto my kindle. But I also still like to hold that print book in my hand, to study that glossy cover, to turn down the corners on the pages. Old fashioned? Maybe. But I've been around long enough to realize not everything in life is black and white and we have choices. We don't have to choose one over the other because we can have both. At least for now.
So I'm pleased to say I've epubbed the first books I wrote and I've epubbed original new work, too. My epub series Search For Love is a combination of both. I hope my print readers and ebook readers will continue to look for my titles because I find myself speeding up instead of slowing down. And possibly in the future you will see novels from me that are other than romance! Right now my very first Special Edition is #13 on the Amazon Contemporary Romance Bestseller list and I want to thank my readers for that honor, too.


I just found this link for Kindle lovers. Go here to see some fabulous titles. 

KINDLE 3

Apple Dessert

A Facebook friend asked me for the recipe for this terrific apple dessert. Enjoy!

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups peeled, finely chopped or sliced apples

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla extract. Blend in dry ingredients. Stir is nuts and apples by hand. Transfer mixture to a prepared 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until apples are softened. Cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.

Salmon with brown sugar and lemon

It seems I've been blogging everywhere but here! I hope to post a new blog later this week. For now, a Twitter friend asked for this salmon recipe. I like "easy" and this certainly is. We have a new trend in our house. Instead of going out to eat, we use about half of that amount to eat in and splurge on the ingredients. I serve this salmon dish with steamed asparagus and red-skinned potatoes. Healthy, easy and good!  Enjoy.

Salmon with lemon

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup packed brown sugar, plus 8 teaspoons

1 lb. salmon (original recipe says 4 salmon fillets. I keep it        in one piece.)

1 tablespoon butter, melted

4 thin slices lemon

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Pour lemon juice into ungreased rectangular baking dish, 11" x 7 1/2" x 2"; sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar. Place salmon in dish and drizzle butter over salmon. Bake uncovered 15 minutes. Turn. Place sliced lemon on salmon. Sprinkle with 8 teaspoons brown sugar. (If using individual filets, put one slice of lemon on each and sprinkle each with 2 teaspoons.) Bake until fish flakes easily with fork, 15-20 minutes longer. Serve with juices from dish.

IS CINDERELLA STILL RELEVANT?

IS CINDERELLA STILL RELEVANT? 

Remember the furor over the royal wedding?  Kate became a princess and William became Prince Charming.  We watched the vows with tears in our eyes and couldn't wait for that first kiss.  Cinderella might be an ages-old fairytale but the storyline encourages dreams from the little girls who watch Disney-princess movies to the women who faithfully follow the Bachelor and the Bachelorette.  Subliminally, our curiosity in relationships and interest in public romances is all about the happily-ever-after storyline.  Can two people fall in love and commit to each other for a lifetime?

My husband and I recently celebrated our fortieth wedding anniversary.  I wouldn't be able to write romances from my heart unless I believed in them.  When I was a little girl, I remember pretending a lace curtain was a bridal veil.  My girlfriends and I reenacted the marriage ceremony.  Recently by BFF's daughter asked if she could play dress-up with her mom's wedding gown.  Are the dreams of little girls now any different than ten or twenty or forty years ago?  Loving and being loved drive our collective consciousness.  Have you ever been in the midst of a crowd at a wedding and watched everyone grow misty-eyed?  The emotion that takes over—other than the love we have for the couple saying the vows—is hope.  The Cinderella fairytale can give a woman hope that she can find love, look beautiful in a bridal gown and believe in the vows she recites on her wedding day.

Little girls aspire to be princesses. Many women long to believe they will find their one true love who is kind, gentle, charming and the man they can spend the rest of their lives with. Prince Charming doesn't have to be a "prince" on a white steed. He just has to convince the woman he loves that she's his Cinderella.  Are fairy-tale endings possible?  I believe women long to believe they are.  That's why the romance genre lives on and why our hearts melt when a couple says, "I do."

Karen Rose Smith is the best-selling, award-winning author of 75 published romances.  Readers can follow her on Twitter @ karenrosesmith and on Facebook (Karen Rose Smith author), visit at her website Karen's website for new releases. For contests and more detailed info and contests, they can follow her e-zine IN TOUCH with Karen Rose Smith.

   

Blog Tour!

~September Blog Tour for
ONCE UPON A GROOM, Harlequin Special Edition~

• Monday September 19 Guest Blogging at Mama Knows Books.

• Tuesday September 20 Guest Blogging at A Book Blogger's Diary.

• Tuesday September 20 Interview A Cozy Reader's Corner Reviews.

• Tuesday September 20 Guest Blogging at Thought in Progress.

• Tuesday September 20 Guest Blogging at Get Lost In A Story.

• Thursday September 22 Guest Blogging at Romance Around The Corner.

• Thursday September 22 Guest Blogging at Fresh Fiction.

• Monday September 26 Guest Blogging at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.