Sizzling First Encounters with Mary Connealy

by | Jun 13, 2010 | Fiction Book Reviews, inspirational fiction, Writing Tips | 31 comments

Whether it’s a man-hating woman, an insecure china doll, an orphan-turned-school teacher, or a knife-slinging wildwoman, Mary Connealy knows how to write strong women.

Whether it’s a red-headed gentle-man, a rough and tumble man down on his luck, a big-hearted keeper of orphans, or a determined loner who knows how to dodge knives, Mary Connealy knows how to write strong men.

So – when  a strong woman meets a strong man emotional explosions are bound to occur…and Mary doesn’t disappoint. Her books are filled with adventure, danger, romantic conflict, and, of course, humor.

She’s also a writing-wildwoman herself. Already this year she had three new books in print and her fourth one is coming out NEXT MONTH. Wrangler in Petticoats comes next, followed by Sharpshooter in Petticoats. Those are a whole lot of petticoats 🙂

***But ONE lucky commenter today will win her new novel Doctors in Petticoats.

To learn more about Connealy Classics check out Mary’s website at www.maryconnealy.com

Now on to the questions and the ‘sneak peek’ into Doctors in Petticoats.

Mary, what do you think makes a great hero/heroine first encounter?

Pepper, What I like in a first meeting. One moment of attraction or connection or appreciation between them, even if it’s just a split second, then it alllllllllllll goes bad.
In this scene, thought I’ve sent it to you as the first meeting, they had one other ‘moment’ when Alex saved her life–but he did it to save his own life–or at least that’s the unflattering spin a very stressed out Beth puts on his help. He woke up, pulled a runaway stage to a stop when she didn’t have the strength to do it alone, then crawled off to be alone without saying a word.
.
Then she dived in to help the wounded.
 
She needs help. He’s not offering. That leads to this scene, their first real exchange.
 
Oh boy, let’s see what problems you’re going to cause with these ‘somewhat’ new characters! 🙂
 

Shuddering to think of the pain they’d soon cause the man, Beth was suddenly furious at the bum who sat there, not helping. True he’d come through and helped pull the stage to a stop. But that was to save his own pathetic, drunken life, wasn’t it? When it came to helping others, he was worthless.

She hadn’t actually seen him take a single drink on the whole trip. She suspected he’d drained his flask quite a while ago. In fact she’d never seen the flask, assuming he was sneaking nips on the sly at the beginning of the trip, then sleeping it off the rest of the way.

Beth surged to her feet. “We need help over here!”

The man didn’t even look up. He stared as if asleep with his eyes open.

Well, Beth wasn’t one to let a good temper tantrum go to waste and seriously, this afternoon had worn her out right to her last bit of restraint. . . and beyond.

Who better to punish?

Beth whirled and used the hundred foot downhill march to get her knees to stop shaking. Not because she was afraid of this man. She still had her gun butt, but because the afternoon had just been more than too much.

She stomped to the man’s side and, carefully considering her approach—or maybe not so carefully—she grabbed the man’s filthy flattened black Stetson off his head and swatted him with it.

“Hey!” He turned as if surprised to see her.

“I didn’t exactly sneak up on you, now did I?” She waled on him again.

He shielded his face. “Will you stop that?”

“Do I have your attention, you miserable worm?” Beth threw the hat at his head.

He held his arms over her face, the bedraggled white sleeves rolled up nearly to his elbows, and glared through his wrists at her. His eyes narrowed.

It occurred to Beth that the man might be dangerous. Well, she could be dangerous, too. If he was, she’d make him sorry he showed that side of himself.

Doing her very best to set his skin on fire with her eyes, she leaned down, hoping to find a balance where she could rage at him without Mrs. Armitage hearing her. The poor woman had been through enough.

You get up off the ground and help us, you worthless skunk.”

And wasn’t skunk just exactly the right word for the filthy pig?

“Get away from me.” The wormy, skunky pig’s eyes flashed like he had rabies.

Gritting her teeth so she could look fierce and still breathe through her mouth, she leaned closer. “You stand up right now.”

She hissed at him like a rattle snake, so she had a few animal attributes of her own. “I need help. I don’t care how hung over you are, how lazy you are or how stupid you are. Right now I need some muscle, and I know you’ve got it. Get on your feet and get over there and help us, or so help me I will rip your arm off and beat you to death with the bloody stump.”

The man’s eyes seemed to clear. Maybe she’d pierced the alcoholic fog. “I’m not drunk.”

Interesting that he hadn’t protested being called stupid or worthless or a skunk. . . what else had she called him? She’d lost track of her insults somewhere along the line.

“Oh, puhleeze, you expect me to believe you’re this worthless without the help of whiskey?”

LOL…there you have it. A first encounter with a bunch of fire. Love it, Mary and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of the first book in this new series. Yipee!!

Thanks so much for being a part of this blog series.

Inspirational First Encounter

Well, Jesus seemed to make quite a first impression wherever he went. From a great host of angels to Magi from afar, even in infancy he caused a stir. Did it change as he grew up? Nope. At twelve years old, after his parents thought they’d lost him, they found him in the temple astounding the priests with his wisdom. It took Mary and Joseph three days to find him and for three days he’d been teaching from the Holy Scriptures.

And these are only the first small meetings. As we continue to look at Jesus’ first encounters, we’ll see miracles follow wherever he goes – miracles on the outside, but most importantly on the inside.

You see, God has always been much more concerned about our hearts than anything else. Because our hearts are the driving force behind who we are and what we do. Recognizing that a miracle has already happened within us, just because of Jesus’ love, is the most amazing first encounter of our existence.

NEXT UP- Tuesday is an ‘off day’, but we’ll pick things up on Wednesday with debut author, Melanie Dickerson. Another sneak peek is coming your way, so stop back by.

31 Comments

  1. Sherrinda

    Oh yeaaahhhh! That is the kind of feisty encounters I absolutely LOVE! I love strong women and strong men thrown together and I love the sparks that fly! Mary sure does it well, don’t you think?

    Goodness gracious, 4 books in a 7 months???? How is that possible? God’s smilin’ down on Mary!

    Reply
  2. pepperbasham

    Ahhh Sherrinda, my early bird 🙂

    I’m pretty sure it’s 4 since January. Maybe it’s only three. Mary will straighten me out if I got it wrong, but I’ve been buying a whole lot of Connealy Classics lately 🙂

    Reply
  3. Melanie Dickerson

    Yeehah! Mary’s books are just the funnest! (Is it okay to make up words on your blog, Pepper?) Love Mary’s humor! Can’t wait to read this one too.

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      All G and PG rated new words are perfectly fine on this blog, Melanie. I love learning new and imagined words. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Christina

    I never get tired of reading this first encounter between Mary’s characters.

    Reply
  5. Julie Lessman

    Mary NEVER ceases to amaze me with her humor and wild predicaments! She is truly a master of unique plots, and as if that isn’t enough, she’s one of the nicest people I know too.

    Thanks for the sizzle this morning, Pep and Mary. I needed it. 🙂

    Hugs,
    Julie

    Reply
  6. Julia

    I haven’t read Mary yet, but I enjoy reading her blog entries and always find myself chuckling out loud. Would love to read this one.

    Wow, I’m impressed with Mary’s writing speed!

    julesreffner(at)gmail(dot)com

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Oh Julia,
      We’ve gotta get one of Mary’s books in your hands just for the experience!!

      Reply
  7. Edwina Cowgill

    How does she write so many books at one time? Maybe that should be Mary’s next book: “Juggling life and 4 books at a time!”

    Would love to read Doctors in Petticoats!1

    edwina[dot]cowgill[at]yahoo[dot]com

    Reply
  8. Katey

    All the covers are amazing. I am reading Petticoat Ranch right now and I love it!

    katey(dot)1m(at)hotmail(dot)com

    Reply
  9. Mary Connealy

    Good morning.
    I’ve had four books come out this year. Three that are NEW and one a collection of short sweet romances I wrote for Barbour Publishing.

    I’ve got two more coming, one another collection (which means I wrote it a while ago) called Lassoed in Texas and the second book in this Sophie’s Daughter’s series, Wrangler in Petticoats, coming in October.
    And honestly, it’s not that hard to do if you skip that whole ‘having a life’ thing.
    I pretty much just write all day every day.

    Reply
  10. audraharders

    Everything you write is a hoot! So, is this stuff second nature to you, Mary??

    I love all the covers for your books. They so capture the mood and draw folks in.

    AND, I love that you keep cranking ’em out!!! No way can anyone ever complain of Connealy withdrawal. That’s a very good thing!!

    Keep’em comin, toots : )

    Reply
  11. Kim

    That was such a great first meeting! I can totally see the whole scene playing out in my mind in full colour! 🙂

    I can’t wait to read this next series of yours, Mary!! 🙂
    God bless!
    Kim
    lonebanana(at)msn(dot)com

    Reply
  12. Casey

    Mary, you do like writing about slimy animals don’t you?? 🙂

    Loved the sneak peek, saw it on Seekerville too and thought it such fun! I would love to be entered!!

    caseymh18(at)gmail(dot)com

    Reply
  13. Mary Connealy

    What do you say, Pepper, does it count as ‘sizzling’ if she’s beating on him with his own hat?

    Not probably exactly what you mean by sizzling, but what the hey???

    Reply
  14. Pepper

    Mare
    Sizzlin’ means HOT.
    I’d say Beth is pretty hot/mad at the lowlife, so I think it counts 😉

    Did I get my numbers right on the books you’ve had published this year so far?

    Reply
  15. Quilt Lady

    I love Mary’s books, they are fabulous! She has her own little way of putting humor in them and you can’t help but laugh out loud! Please enter me!

    ghurt110 AT bellsouth DOT net

    Reply
  16. Merry

    Mary,
    Your characters just jump right off the page and into my heart. So fun, so feisty. I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens next with Beth, well with all the girls in this new series. ☺

    worthy2bpraised{at]gmail[dot]com

    Reply
  17. Judy H

    The first Mary Connealy book I read was Petticoat Ranch and I was immediately addicted. I fell in love with Sophie and her daughters and I am thrilled that she is continuing their stories.
    Mary has such a unique and original voice. She is one of a handful of authors whose books I could identify even without her name on the cover.
    Thank goodness she blogs too or I would suffer withdrawal!

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Totally understand, Judy.
      I’m addicted too – and what a great addiction 🙂 I’m sure Mary doesn’t mind

      Reply
  18. Mary Connealy

    Judy, that’s so nice of you to say.

    I’d like to point out that sure, today you say I have a ‘unique and original voice’

    But all those years I was struggling to get a book published they were saying, ‘Uh…we don’t publish stuff like that.’

    Reply
  19. abi

    These book sound awesome. Please include me in this book giveaway. Thanks

    Reply
  20. karenk

    i love the titles of this series of books…can’t wait to read them 🙂

    Reply
  21. Regina Merrick

    Mary is just awesome. That’s all. She has a way of making a heroine totally mean to the man in her life, and yet you understand WHY she’s mean to him and you sympathize with her! Genius.

    I’d LOVE a chance to win “Doctor in Petticoats!”

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Regina
      Dont’ you wish we could be so clever in real life 🙂

      Reply
  22. pepperbasham

    Just so everyone knows.
    The winners for Deeanne Gist’s book AND Mary Connealy’s book will be announced tomorrow on the blog. Good luck to everyone.

    Reply
  23. Renee C.

    Hahaha wow! Another fiesty heroine who I’m sure I will love! I’m wondering what kind of chaos will happen next? 😛

    XOXO~ Renee
    steelergirl83(at)gmail(dot)com

    Reply
  24. Jennifer

    Thanks for the sneak preview! I would love to read Mary’s latest, I can never get enough of her books!
    potosrose@gmail.com

    Reply
  25. Mary Connealy

    Good luck in the drawing everyone. I’m looking forward to Melanie Dickerson’s day!!!!

    Reply
  26. Emily

    I absolutely LOVE Mary Connealy’s books! There’s really not much else to say! One of the reasons that I love her books are because they’re clean. They’re clean of profanity, and any other Satan-loving thing. It’s so hard to find a book like that anymore!

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Emily,
      And they’re just fun, aren’t they?

      Reply

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