Codi Gary's Guest Post - Rock Canyon!

Rock Canyon Book Tree

  

A few words from Codi...

    So, you’ve heard of family trees, right? Well, the thing I love about any series, is the way the books connect to each other. The way past and future characters pop up and give you a glimpse of what they have been up to or who they were before they found their happily ever after. It’s what makes series such a hit with readers.

    Which brings me to my Series Tree for my small town of Rock Canyon, Idaho. When I first wrote The Trouble with Sexy (Ryan and Gregg’s story), I knew I wanted to write Gemma and Gracie’s stories after, but it didn’t work out that way. Instead, Chase (who had also vied for Ryan’s affections and lost out to Gregg) and Katie, a briefly mentioned hairdresser in The Trouble with Sexy, came next and with it, a host of characters I could play like the puppet master I am. (Insert Sheldon Laugh) Muah-ha-ha.

    In the next book, Good Girls Don’t Date Rock Stars, I finally got to tell Gemma’s story. She is the single mother of a nine year old and best friends with Gracie, the coffee shop owner who gives Ryan the makeover in The Trouble with Sexy. She is reunited with her first love, Travis Bowers, and after a whole lot of drama, they get their second chance. Which leads us to book three, Bad Girls Don’t Marry Marines, whose hero is Justin Silverton, best friends with Jared Brown (the husband of Katie’s best friend Stephanie) and who was introduced to Chase in Things Good Girls Don’t Do. Justin pursues Valerie Willis, who has two sisters with the same perchance for trouble, Ellie and Caroline.

     Caroline was brought home at the end of Marines and her story, Return of the Bad Girl, picks up where Marines leaves off. It introduces one delicious bad boy, Gabe Moriarty (yes, I love Elementary), who is actually an old friend of Chase’s (from Things Good Girls Don’t Do.) Caroline becomes friends with Callie, the town dj, who was mentioned in Rock Stars and Marines. So, when Callie’s story picks up months after Caroline and Gabe’s story ends, we find her falling hard for Everett (Justin’s older brother who was introduced in Marines.) We don’t realize that as Callie and Everett are working through their issues, Mike Stevens is fighting his attraction to Zoe the veterinarian (introduced in Return of the Bad Girl) in Rock Canyon Number Six. Mike has been about since The Trouble with Sexy, and was totally in love with Gemma until he lost her in Rock Stars. After everything I put this guy through, I think he deserves a happy ending, don’t you?

     And last but not least (for now) Gracie McAllister and Eric Henderson, who have bickered and caused all kinds of speculation, will FINALLY get some air time in Rock Canyon Number Seven, but it’s not just the heroes and heroines that make Rock Canyon come alive. It’s Sam Weathers, the friendly, doesn’t know when to mind his business police officer. It’s bitchy Mrs. Andrews, who still hasn’t explained why she likes Gemma when she gives nothing but disdain to everyone else. And Miss Know It All, the town’s own Gossip Girl, who loves putting everyone’s secrets out there for the towns amusement. Many people have an idea of who she is, but we won’t know until she’s caught…maybe in book seven?

     So remember, as you read through this series, pay attention to the little things and every character…you never know when they will pop up again.

A bit more about Codi:

An obsessive bookworm, Codi Gary likes to write sexy small-town contemporary romances with humor, grand gestures, and blush-worthy moments. When she's not writing, she can be found reading her favorite authors, squealing over her must-watch shows, and playing with her children. She lives in Idaho with her family.

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A day with Eloisa James...

This past Monday, I was surprised when I received an e-mail blast announcing that Eloisa James was going to be in St. Louis!

I live smack dab in the middle of Missouri, a bit on the northern side really, so I am almost 3 hours from the STL. But there was no way I was going to let Eloisa visit Missouri and NOT meet her.

A fan of her from my very early romance reading years, I’ve loved everything she’s done. In case you had recently read Julia Quinn’s B&N column, she talks about authors you know just by the tone of their writing. Eloisa is one of those authors for me. Immediately upon picking her books up, I know that I’m going to be transported away from my Midwestern world into the wilds of England. I want to be transported and Eloisa James’ books are guaranteed to do it for me.

So since that exciting Monday, I had been plotting how to get to St. Louis in order to meet her. Calling the library was little help to be quite honest, they didn’t know anything about her. In the week before Eloisa’s visit, I called three different times just wanting a little more information about what was going to happen. Having three different people answer the phone, I got three different responses to her visit. I’m pretty resourceful, so after receiving unsatisfactory answers from the staff members, I went to the author herself!

My dachshund, Daisy Jane 

If you haven’t checked out Eloisa James’ website or her Facebook page, you are definitely missing out. Regularly posting funny tidbits about her travels, writing, and life, I may stalk her FB page a teensy bit. She has a pretty great sense of humor, but I live for her stories about Lucy, the family dachshund. (Since I have my own dachshund, Daisy Jane, I feel like we’re totally bonded)

Anyway, long story short I emailed Eloisa and she told me about her visit. Definitely deciding that I would have to make that long drive, I made sure I was off of work, filled my car with gas, and was ready to go.



Forgive the poor picture quality, I was trying to be a sneaky picture taker

Waking up to get to St. Louis by 9:30, when you know the drive is about 3 hours isn’t a fun experience. Eyes itchy, morning breath, and grumpy attitudes all were present but after a McMuffin from McDonald’s, I settled in for the trip. Easily finding the library when I entered the Lou, I heard laughter coming from downstairs. That was the exact moment I knew I had arrived.

Having never met Eloisa before, I had just experienced her really through social media sites and her pictures in the backs of her books. When I entered the room, a teensy bit late,  I was arrested by the soft spoken, smartly dressed woman at the front. You could easily tell that Eloisa is used to speaking to avid fans, she was completely at ease.

I’ve never been to an author experience like this one before. A group of fans sat in a close circle around Eloisa and anything was open season. No question was off limits and Eloisa was frank and honest with all of her answers.

Here are just a few of my favorite Eloisa tidbits…

• Her father is Robert Bly, an acclaimed poet, and her mother (Carol) was a short story author
• She still works as a professor and teaches courses on Shakespeare
• Eloisa writes with history as a backdrop in many of her stories. Not that this surprised me because I kind of realized it, but I didn’t realize it was true with ALL of her books. As she was talking about incorporating historical elements into her stories, she walked over and picked up four books a local bookseller had on his table. She then systematically went through and described the historical pieces she included and why it was important. My favorite Eloisa James book, When Beauty Tamed the Beast, has the scarlet fever epidemic as a focal point. Again, I might have realized this, but not to the extent that its true, so it was fascinating to hear her speak on it.
• Several times, people asked her how she manages her time. Her response, act like a man! Believe everything you do is fantastic and put forth your best effort. Also, remember not to spend wasteful time on the internet.

• 

  I'm so excited!!

  She enjoyed writing, but really, the main reason she began writing fiction was to pay off her student debt.
• She suggested reading Orange is the New Black (which I also really enjoyed!) if you like memoirs - she loved it.
• She lived briefly in St. Louis and taught at Washington University before her son turned two.
• We discussed our mutual love for Julie Garwood
• Eloisa’s family is planning on going to London to live for a year...and yes, they are taking Lucy!
• Eloisa writes roughly one book a year
• Vander’s story will be next up and she’s currently writing his story. (Double woot woot!)
  

There were a few tidbits that couldn’t leave the room, so I’ll leave those to your imagination. Rest assured though, Eloisa has some pretty amazing things up her sleeves.

After a pretty enlightening Question and Answer session, Eloisa was up for signing books and taking pictures. Now understand, I’m a total fangirl and was calm and collected until I actually got up to meet her. Then I turned into a fast talking uberfan I swore I wouldn’t be, but hey, it was with a New York Times bestselling author, so I think I’m a little justified. I even got a copy of my favorite book signed along with my ereader case.

Intelligent, kind, and incredibly sweet, meeting Eloisa James was everything I could have hoped for. I loved the one on one author experience and really enjoyed actually getting into the thought processes behind the romance. A day I won’t forget, if Eloisa comes to a city near you, I guarantee you, it’s worth the long hours in the car.

Check out my totally glowing reviews of Eloisa's past books -
Three Weeks with Lady X

The Lady Most Willing
The Ugly Duchess

The Duke is Mine

Winning the Wallflower

Storming the Castle

Paris in Love

When Beauty Tamed the Beast

 

Total fangirl at the moment - but I didn't even care!