End of the Trail by Vickie McDonough Ends July 10th

Vickie McDonough is an award-winning author of 25 books and novellas. Her novel, Long Trail Home, is a finalist in the 2012 Booksellers’ Best Awards, and her books have won the Inspirational Reader's Choice Contest, Texas Gold, the ACFW Noble Theme contest, and she has been a multi-year finalist in ACFW’s BOTY/Carol Awards. She is the author of the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series from Barbour Publishing and author of Long Trail Home and End of the Trail, books 3 & 6 in the Texas Trails series by Moody Publishers, in which she partners with Susan Page Davis and Darlene Franklin to write the series which spans 50 years of the Morgan family. Vickie is currently serving her third year as the ACFW treasurer. Vickie and her husband live in Oklahoma. She has been married for thirty-six years and is the mother of four grown sons and grandma to a precocious six-year-old girl.

 Thanks for joining me this week, Vickie. I always love having you on my blog! Vickie is giving away a copy of her book. To be entered answer the questions, Do you have something very old and precious to you? Or leave a comment. As always, don't forget to leave your email addy so I can contact you  if you win, and tell me if you are a follower so you can get that second entry. Good Luck and enjoy the interview.

 

As always, Where are you right now (LVR, DR, Bathroom) and what are you wearing? You have to tell the truth. Sitting in my recliner in my living room, working on my laptop. I’m wearing a green t-shirt, jeans, and house shoes.

Your series is a little different in that you are working with 2 other writers. Can you tell us a little about some of the challenges? The biggest challenges came when we were plotting out the series and trying to decide on the direction we wanted to go with it. We knew we wanted a Texas series that included actual events in Texas history, so we each researched Texas historical events and found the one that most intrigued us and set our stories around those. Plotting the books the hardest part—unless you count holding your breath until you hear that the series has sold. It takes a lot of give and take to collaborate with other authors, and yes, we had some disagreements, but not too many. Each of us had to give at some point, and in the end, I feel the series turned out great! So far, two of the books, Long Trail Home and Captive Trail are up for awards.

Do you think that writing the series with other authors might have changed the direction of your hero or heroine or perhaps the whole story from what it might have been should you alone wrote the series? Yes, definitely. No three authors think alike, and our styles are different. It would be impossible for me to plot or write a story exactly like the ones Susan and Darlene wrote—and that’s a good thing or all books would be similar.

Do your characters ever give you surprises when you are writing? Can you give us an example if they do and if they don’t, do you know why? My characters always surprise me in some way. Each one has his or her own unique personality. Each reacts to situations differently. Nothing specific stands right now that a character did, but in Long Trail Home, I added a new character—Josh, a three-year-old orphan. When I first plotted the book, he was not part of the plan, but he became a key element.

Do you have a favorite scene in this book and what would it be? I love many of the interactive scenes between Brooks and Keri. But I think one of my favorite ones is when Brooks saves Keri from a wild critter. You’ll have to read the book if you want to know what kind of critter. Oh, and then there’s the scene where she rescues him…

How did this series idea come up? BTW I LOVE the Morgan horses!

My agent, Chip MacGregor, is also Susan’s and Darlene’s agent. The initial idea of having several of his authors do a series together was Chip’s. He pointed us in the Texas historical direction, but that’s where the we authors took off and ran with our own ideas.

And lastly, the other question I always ask:

What is your favorite material item that you own (examples: ipod, Gone with the Wind book, grandmother’s rocking chair) You know, being the fiction writer that I am, I sometimes wonder what I would grab first if we had a fire. I think of the pictures of my four sons and know that those that are not digital are irreplaceable. Then there’s my laptop and also a counted cross stitch picture that took me nearly a year to make. As far as old things, I have a couple of quilts my grandma and great-grandma made that I’m especially partial to.

 He won a ranch in a card game. She claims the ranch is her inheritance. He's not leaving--and neither is she. (I LOVE this teaser!)

Brooks Morgan is quick on the draw, but his weapon of choice is his smile. He’s smart and witty and has charmed his way through much of life, but now that he’s growing older—and a bit wiser. He wants to stop drifting and settle down. He sees his chance when he wins Raven Creek Ranch in a poker game, but when he goes to claim his prize, a pretty woman with a shotgun says the ranch belongs to her. Brooks isn’t leaving his one and only chance to make something of his life—but neither is she. Can they reach an agreement? Or will a greedy neighbor force a showdown, causing them both to lose they want most in life?         

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Be sure to leave your email address. Please check your junk mail on and the day after the drawing. I've had to redraw because of no responses. Subject box will have: winner of (book title). I'll email the winner and they'll have seven days to respond. If I don't hear back I'll draw another name. USA shipping only. Thanks so much and please stop back again! Drawing will be held Monday,  July 10th . Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.