Welcome back to the Campfire Colleen L Donnelly

Happy Saturday! Just a dab of housekeeping this morning. Many of you know that Rock House Grill is celebrating a 1 year book birthday. The .99 sale is on until April 16th and here’s a universal link to all the online booksellers books2read.com/u/49No0k .
Also there are several rafflecopters going on.
www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ac49ce0b16/  from my  https://booksonthemic.com/ podcast
www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/rock-house-grill-a99 ran a book spotlight and here’s the rafflecopter for that www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db7750105
Okay, enough about me. You know that making new friends is exciting, but visiting with old friends is satisfying. Today’s guest has been at the campfire before but we love Colleen and are thrilled to have her return. So let’s light the fire and pour some drinks. Sit back and enjoy our conversations. And as always we’d love for you to engage. Drop a comment or ask a question.

Welcome to the campfire, Colleen. What are you hankering for today? The camp fridge is like Hermione Grangers bag. I reach in and pull out whatever I need. 
Thick, black coffee, nothing added to it!

Ha, I’m pulling out the briki, and you’re going to get Greek coffee. It’s a strong brew, served with foam on the top and the grounds at the bottom of the cup. How’s that for hot and thick? Tell us, have you ever camped, or as I call what I do, Glamp. Tell us about your camping trip and While it’s cooking tell us about your adventures. What made it special to you?
A smiling turtle burned my first camping memory into my mind forever. Being around 4 years old, I poked through weeds while others fished until I came upon a turtle the circumference of a Frisbee hiding under a bush with a huge smile on his face. I reported him to my parents who assured me turtles didn’t smile. I returned to the bush, peered under it, and there he was, grinning up at me. To prove to me that turtles in general weren’t happy, my parents laid their fishing poles aside and followed me to the bush where the turtle sat, grinning up at them. The turtle turned out to be a snapper, which meant I was led off a safe distance while my dad investigated and discovered a fishing hook lodged sideways in in the turtle’s mouth stretching it into a grin. It only made him look happy, which snappers never are, especially this one.

Poor guy. But I’m glad you were safe. Snappers and put a hurting on you. But they are so cool with their prehistoric appearance. Tell us about your projects. I know you usually have a lot going on.
My last book was, “Letters and Lies” the humorous jaunt of an Old West spinster who after being jilted decides to head west and go after her man anyway.

Do you have a tagline?
Why wait for a new door when you can wedge the one that just closed open again?

What kind of timelines do you have for working on a project?
It generally takes me a year to write and polish a book, then around nine months for the final publication to be released. I had to do a serious rewrite on the beginning of this book (beginnings and endings are crucial to a good story), so it slowed my normal timeline.

It’s time for a weekly shout-out too. Who inspired or helped you get where you are today?
As to classics, I love “The Monk” by Matthew Lewis. His book is considered the first Gothic Horror, a harrowing depiction of good vs evil within a person. My favorite living authors are Louise Penny (mystery) and Laura Strickland (a variety of genres, and does them all well).

What does literary success look like to you?
At first, being published by a traditional publisher meant success. When one of my books was picked up by one, success changed to being traditionally published twice. After that, I dared to dream I’d be traditionally published three times. I think I have six traditionally published books now, so I guess I’ve achieved some measure of success.

Life Hacks for Authors.  Do you have any tips, tricks, or anything you specialize in that you would share with others. I’m also interested in how you have been managing your life and writing with COVID-19.
I don’t know if this qualifies as a life hack, but I’ve worked hard to be a good listener. While someone is speaking I don’t ponder what I will say next. When they finish I refrain from sharing a similar experience that shifts the conversation to about me. I either ask questions or make comments that move the subject forward. I focus, don’t interrupt, and only add a scenario about myself only if it adds to what they’ve said. Good listening is a gift that tells someone they are important.         
As for COVID, since I’m far from a social butterfly, my activities – writing, outdoors activities, helping on the family farm – changed or suffered little. A more interesting story would be one of my very social friends who thought the world was coming to an end.

True listening is a gift and a talent. Focusing on what other’s are saying take practice and will. Thank you for sharing that. I think if we all abided to that, our world would be a much better place.

Now the fun questions If they made a movie about your life, what would the title be and who would play you?
She Meant Well” Oh, wait, no, that’s what I want on my tombstone. 

What’s your favorite fairy tale?
The Emperor’s New Clothes. Is that a fairy tale?

Favorite childhood book?
Little Hippo

What weird talent do you have?
I’m a crack-shot with a rifle

What’s your go-to coffee order?
Espresso

If you could eat anything in the world right now, what would it be?
​Since I can’t have wheat or sugar, I’d choose a cinnamon roll. I miss those!

No wheat or sugar! And here I was going to ask my husband Pete to make us some of his amazing homemade cinnamon buns. Oh, well how about some veggies? 

“Letters and Lies”
by Colleen L. Donnelly

Louise Archer boards a westbound train in St. Louis to find the Kansas homesteader who wooed and proposed to her by correspondence, then jilted her by telegram – Don’t come, I can’t marry you. Giving a false name to hide her humiliation, her lie backfires when a marshal interferes and offers her his seat.

Marshal Everett McCloud intends to verify the woman coming to marry his homesteading friend is suitable. At the St. Louis train station, his plan detours when he offers his seat to a captivating woman whose name thankfully isn’t Louise Archer.

Everett’s plans thwart hers, until he begins to resemble the man she came west to find, and she the woman meant to marry his friend.

Read further from Letters and Lies
“He wrote and changed your plans? Why didn’t you tell me? You know I love hearing his letters.”
Everyone loved hearing his letters. Or at least they’d pretended to. I glanced at my friends, especially the one who’d first suggested I correspond with her husband’s homesteading friend in Kansas who was ready to look for a wife. She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief while she flicked the fingers of her other hand in a weak wave. I dredged my soul in search of a smile. The man she’d introduced me to truly had penned everything I’d ever wanted in a husband, months of letters which convinced Mama Jim was my open door. Letters I’d foolishly carted from family to friend to blather every word like a desperate spinster. Drat.
“He didn’t send his change of plans in a letter, Mama. He sent them in a telegram.” Don’t come, I can’t marry you. The only words I never shared.
“Well I imagine your Jim has a surprise for you and didn’t have time to send a letter before you left for Crooked Creek. How thoughtful to wire you instead.”
Thoughtful…I felt poisoned and Mama would too if she ever found out Jim had shut my open door. Which she wouldn’t, since as soon as I got out there and found him, I’d wedge it back open again.

Where to get your copy of “Letters and Lies”
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2yNFGNv
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3aXuMCl
iTunes: https://apple.co/2YinxBY
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3bmGatt
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/3pBNDtZ

To find out more about Colleen
http://www.colleenldonnelly.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ColleenLDonnelly
http://www.Goodreads.com/colleenldonnelly
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/colleen-l-donnelly
http://amzn.to/37vcnO4