Friday, February 25, 2011

Cold Call Friday with Mary Connealy!

Welcome Mary, to your “Cold Call” interview!!  For those of you who don’t know what the “Cold Call” feature is, at the beginning of the month I have a poll, the winning author you then get to interview!! Mary Connealy won this month’s vote and I am thrilled to present her here with YOUR questions. Without any further ado, heeeerrrre’s Mary!
                What is your favorite funny movie?
                While You Were Sleeping. Best Romantic comedy movie EVER—just possible best MOVIE ever. If you haven't watched it you MUST DO SO. Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, every scene, every word is absolutely charming.
                What’s your favorite book you’ve written and why?
                 I think writing Sharpshooter in Petticoats was the most fun I ever had. I just loved pulling all those characters together out of my other books and have them all come together at the end.
                How many hours a day do you spend writing?
                Two, three, four, five. I write a thousand words a day, seven days a week. I don't pay that much attention to time.
                If you could jump into a fictional romance with one of your book’s heroes, which hero would it be?
                You know, Casey, this seems kinda WRONG. Like I'm cheating on my husband. What's worse, YOU TOLD ME TO. Shame on you. I've got to say Red Dawson. He is the perfect man. All other men should change to be exactly like him immediately. A character in a book needs conflict, they need spiritual growth, they need quirks and flaws.
                (a-hem, Mary that wasn’t ME asking that. Blame SHERRINDA! )
                Red doesn't have too many of these. But Cassie was just so vulnerable in that book I felt like she HAD to have Red's rock steady strength in order for her to grow into the woman God meant her to be. He had red hair and he could lose his temper, but even that he had pretty well under control. Ah, Red. Such a sweetie.
                What is the funniest, strangest or coolest interview question you’ve ever been asked?
                This is really hard. Which one of your readers suggested this question? Whoever it is, needs a time out, right now.
                (Casey again: RENEE! (steelergirl))
                 I'm having a mental breakdown trying to think of something. I think Lena Nelson Dooley asks questions like: If you were an animal, what animal would it be. (ans. Deer looking into the headlights of an oncoming semi) Or maybe: If you were a tree would you rather be chopped up or fed through a buzz saw. You know, kinda strange yet intriguing….I might've made that last question up.
                What made you fall in love with and want to write about cowboys?
                When I got my first book published I had twenty finished books on my computer. In those twenty books was almost everything. Mostly all romance, but within those parameters, suspense, sweet, western, gothic. There came a point in my writing life where I just started thinking: "Look, no one is going to publish this stuff, I may as well entertain myself." So I wrote whatever appealed to me and the historical westerns hit. Then Barbour Publishing bought one and it sold well and they asked for another one and said, "What else have you got like this?"
                I've sold ten of those twenty books now. Mostly all romantic comedy with cowboys. But the thread that runs consistently through all the work, even the suspense, is comedy. I think of myself as a writer of romantic comedy more than westerns. But maybe the westerns hit because I really loved doing them. I just love slapping a Stetson on a man's head and giving him a drawl. I love thinking of how strong women needed to be to survive in the frontier west. So maybe the fun of that comes through in a special way. Add to that, my husband is a rancher and I'm a lifelong country girl myself. I can bring a lot of authenticity to the books.
                Places to connect online with you?

** Friday's note: The winner of Love Turns the Tide by Gail Pallota is...Debbie!**

30 comments:

  1. So fun to "see" Mary here! I agree about While You Were Sleeping. It's one of the most charming romance movies ever. And there is something special about cowboys. When I see that the hero of a story is a cowboy, I expect certain things from him--courage, steadfastness, the "I'll protect you, little lady" gene--and it's great when he delivers like in one of Mary's books! Happy weekend, Casey and Mary!

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  2. I'm just discovering Mary's books and they're terrific. Lots of action, lots of romance! And of course I laugh out loud at parts!

    What more could you want??

    Cheers,
    Sue

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  3. I LOVE Mary's books! And While You Were Sleeping is one of my family's favorite movies. Everytime my mom makes mashed potatoes, she'll say, "These potatoes are so creamy." (You'll get that if you've seen the movie.)

    Good interview:)

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  4. I'm cracking up with the thought that you actually cold called her. That is just hilarious. Great interview. Keep up the great work!!

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  5. There is NO MOMENT in While you Were Sleeping that isn't soooo perfect.

    My favorite is when Sandra Bullock's boss says to her, "You might as well just SHOOT Grandma."

    that guy had a tiny part and yet it was priceless. Her apartment super's son wants to try on her shoes. Bill Pullman's father in gets shushed when he's talking in church and he says to the shush-er, "Who died and made you Pope?"

    Bill Pullman's brother's married girlfriend named Ashley Bartlett Bacon.
    Bill Pullman's father says, "She's pretty high and might for someone named after breakfast meat."

    Just so funny, every moment.

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  6. Such a fun interview! Gotta love Mary. ;)

    I love While You Were Sleeping! Such a sweet/fun movie! :D

    And Mary, I love your last response, finally writing to entertain yourself and then getting published after that! Way to go! :)

    Thanks for sharing this with us, Casey!

    ~Amber

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  7. I'm adding to the While You Were Sleeping chat . . . I loved the whole discussion by the movie characters about types of hugs from men and the significance of leaning.

    And for a super poignant moment, when the lonely Sandra Bullock character soaks in the scene as the family opens their Christmas gifts to each other. The look in her eyes says it all . . . And Bill Pullman makes a great self-effacing, High Noon type cowboy . . .

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  8. Seems While You Were Sleeping is a movie I need to see, it seems to be popular. :)

    Tina, LOL, yeah it was fun, I prefaced the email with the warning that this was not a "cold cock" interview. :)

    Mary, thanks for stopping by!

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  9. I tell ya, Casey, I just love these Cold Calls! It was so much fun learning more about Mary and her work, especially since I just started reading her stuff and any extra info I can get on her and her books the better! Goodness, my wish list has a lot of Connealy on it :D I’m happy to know that Sharpshooter was very dear to her as I’m VERY excited to get to that one! I loved Mandy from her first scene in Doctor in Petticoats and I fell hard for Tom from his first scene, too! Then again, everyone in that book grabbed my heart in one way or another :)

    And I have her to thank for sending me the book, too! Last Fourth of July she had a giveaway over at Seekerville for Doctor and she took pity on my story of surviving my uncle's terrible firework setting-off skills and sent an extra copy out to me! Who knew almost getting maimed by a firework would get me a free book one day and introduce me to a wonderful author?? Guess it was worth it, LOL!

    Oh, and I just LOVE her sense of humor! I lost count of how many times I had to stop reading and just laugh :D Even her “Deer looking into the headlights of an oncoming semi” made me stop and just laugh! She has quite a gift and I’m so happy she writes what she does and that I FINALLY found her!! Thanks for using my question, Casey :) I love that she loves slapping a Stetson on a man’s head and giving him a drawl, too! Hmmm… Cowboys or Highlanders, I can’t decide which I like better... ;)

    Thanks again, Casey, and looking forward to your next Cold Call! Crossing my fingers for Ruth! ;)

    Blessings,
    Amanda

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  10. LOVE this interview.
    Love Casey and Mary.
    And I really love to laugh.

    Thanks for all four!

    Mary, I'm with you on Red being the best hero (though, I'm kind of crushing on Tom too :-) I love a guy who has steely patience.

    Case, thanks for a glimpse into the mind of hte Cowboy Queen herself.
    Ooo, I might not be able to sleep for weeks now?!? :-)

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  11. Great interview questions! I loved reading your responses, Mary! I have several of your books on my shelf (6 to be exact!!), and I need to get busy reading them . . . ASAP!

    I saw While You Were Sleeping years ago. Long enough ago that I don't really remember it, so it'll be like watching it for the first time. Heading to Netflix right now to add it to the top of my queue. :D

    Have a blessed day, ladies!
    ~Michelle

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  12. Oh I love While You Were Sleeping! One of my favorite lines is at the wedding...
    Preacher: Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...
    Lucy: I object!
    LOLOL...funny.

    Oh...how about this? When Jack asks Lucy, "Tell me about your dad."
    Lucy replies, "He was alot like me, brown hair, flat chest."

    Sigh...I need to watch that again.

    And Mary, I liked your answer to my question. WHICH, was a great question, by the way! Red is the ultimate in husband material. A great hero. :)

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  13. Oh, Mare
    I own the movie While You Were Sleeping.
    Priceless comedy between Bullock and Pullman.
    And his family! Hilarious
    Love it!

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  14. Amanda I LOVE Highlanders.

    Wildmen.

    And I loved Tom Linscott...for Mandy McClellen. But he's cranky. I think you'd need to be tough to hold your own with him, and Mandy is, but there's a scene in Sharpshooter when Tom looks at sweet, overly submissive Cassie Dawson and thinks, "I'd have crushed her spirit before we'd been married a weeki."

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  15. Oh my stars, this is a hoot.

    Do I get a prize for being a virgin visitor, Casey???? Shame on me for not getting over here before and...

    I VOTED FOR MYSELF.

    Hey, if the President can do it, so can the Ruth-meister.

    Fave Mary hero... A tie. Red and Silas.

    Love 'em both. And I'll probably love Tom too, because I CAN HANDLE a grumpy tough guy, Connealy. We Yankees are made of sturdy stuff. Remember the line from John Adams in 1776, when Abby asked him about Martha Jefferson?

    "Pale, puny thing, nothing like our New England girls. Suitable for a man like Jefferson, I suppose."

    :)

    We Yankee girls are tough kahunas.

    But I did love Red's gentleness, and I got to read that book years ago, long before Barbour got hold of it and I LOVED IT. I knew, holding that manuscript, that Mary had a winner. We just needed the right time, the right place, the right editor.

    And a few frappuccinos. ;)

    Love this blog, Casey-girl. Awesome.

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  16. Well, I remember Ruthy's critique of Montana Rose.

    I believe your exact words were, "You've got to snap your heroine aka 'Sybil' out of her split personalities.

    As always...I obeyed Ruthy.

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  17. Oh, I'm gonna have to second Ruth on that one, we Yankee girls are tough kahunas! New England really isn't known for passive, timid people after all, LOL! We know how to cowboy-up, too ;) Besides, even though I'm no sharpshooter, the glimpse I got of Tom in Doctor in Petticoats lets me know he'd be worth dealing with "grumpy and cranky" as long as he's attached to it!

    This year I also had the pleasure of being introduced to Ruth's work and I must say you ladies are the funniest authors I know and I throughly enjoyed every second of your books!!

    Blessings,
    Amanda

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  18. I have to LOL sitting reading all these comments coming through my inbox and I have no idea where to jump in! Just the best way it is!! :)

    Amanda, ME TOO! I am SO THRILLED the last two times have gone off so flawlessly and besides Laura and Mary are wonderful partners. :)

    Pep!! Thought you might like this one. :)

    Ruthy!! Squeeeee did I get another Seeker to visit??? There just might be a prize in store somewhere. ;) And good for you for voting for yourself! You've got a good lead. :)

    So fun, glad to see such excitement, absolutely makes my day!! :D

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  19. I just recently descovered "Doctor in Petticoats" thanks to my mom. And I just have to say I love it <3 I'm not usually one to read anything that doesn't have either a vampire, witch, werewolf or ghoul in it, but for once I've put those books away and can't put down Mary's book (and it doesn't have any pictures!) I love her sense of humor its sick and twisted and just plain out perfect. Mary could beat Stephenie Meyers any day. I can't wait to read more of her books! ~Stevie J. age 20 (yes, I am a girl!)

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  20. Mary is one of the finest writers I have ever read. Every chapter ends leaving you begging for more, a talent so rare in today's literature. I never thought I would be a fan of westerns...but she has some wonderfully strong ladies with minds of their won running these shows! I am hooked! And as you can read in the last post...so is my daughter! I am so happy to be free of the supernatural and especially the Cullen family! LOL! (For those of you that live in a cave, they are the stars of Twilight, a series about vampires!) Mary's charm and sense of humor draws us in like flies to a Venus fly trap, and we a only to happy to stay in the wild west! I only hope she can keep writing as fast as we can read...because once we have read all she has out now we are going to have to have more! Thanks for a great interview and letting us see the real lady behind the words.

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  21. CASE AND MARE ... LOVE the cold call!!! Such great questions and SO fun ... ooo, ooo ... when do I get mine???

    Mary, Keith was flipping through the channels a few nights ago while I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth when I hear While You Were Sleeping dialogue come on and I darted into the room, toothbrush in hand and foam in my mouth, mumbling "Don't touch that remote ..." We only watched half of it though because he lured me away with NCIS, which is our new JAG, but what a GREAT movie!! :)

    Hugs,
    Julie

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  22. Stevie? I'm sick and twisted? You can find that in my books?

    FINALLY SOMEONE GETS ME!!!!!!!!!!

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  23. Cheri? A mother daughter comment collection?

    That's so great. Now get the men in your life to read them. Tricky, but it CAN BE DONE. Start them off with The Husband Tree. Men seem to love seeing that wild woman Belle Tanner tamed.

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  24. HEY JULES. Nice to see you over here. :)
    I'm sure Casey would let your name on a list. You're the persuasive type. :)

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  25. Cherie and Stevie thanks so much for stopping by!! It is such fun to meet fans of our favorite author's books! :)

    Julie, LOL I'll put you on the next list okay? I haven't for fear it will be too time consuming for you right now. Though people might start thinking there is a Seeker conspericy going on. :P

    FUN, FUN, FUN, comments all the way around and now I really need to go see that movie. :)

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  26. RATS! Casey, there IS a Seeker conspiracy. CLEARLY we are not subtle enough, because you are ON TO US!!!!

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  27. Sorry I'm late to the party I was away since Friday but I come back and what do I find??? I'm in timeout!!!! Come on now, I'm a good girl who has never been on the timeout chair EVER...until now at 25 years old. Sheesh!


    Anywho Mary you are always a blast with your fun stories and sense of humor. BTW I love While You Were Sleeping too! Sandra Bullock is great in every movie though including Miss Congeniality!

    XOXO~ Renee

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  28. LOL Renee, only Mary could get away with such a thing. :)

    And Mary, I KNEW IT!! There is just something about your group... ;)

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  29. Yikes! I'm even later than Renee! Sorry I missed this the first time around. I put a star on it in my google reader and forgot to come back to it.

    I love this feature. Great fun. And I loved the movie While You Were Sleeping.

    But Mary, this line was my favorite: "Look, no one is going to publish this stuff, I may as well entertain myself."

    LOL. You are entertaining lots of people now. I'd love to read the Gothic novel sitting on your computer. :)

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  30. Being cold called was a lot of fun.

    Oh, Renee....you can go now.

    My gothic novel is fantastic. Close to the most fun I've ever had writing a book.

    I mean she HAD to go up in the attic right? And we KNEW there was a murderer in the house RIGHT?
    But I could bear to have her be an IDIOT.

    Very tricky, but I got her up there, but I laughed out loud in demented glee doing it.

    And no...that one's never seen a book shelf neither.

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Thank you so much for stopping by, I love to hear from those who traffic my blog! Have a wonderful day. :)