Carolyn Brown Answers
Questions About Writing a Hundred Books
1. Tell us about the
first time you remember ever putting pen to paper. Was it a slow evolution to
becoming an author, or did you have an epiphany that this is what you were
supposed to be doing?
I really can’t remember when I didn’t write stories, but I got serious about writing a book when my third child was born. She had her days and nights turned around. Since I had to be up until the wee hours of the morning, I got out a notebook, sharpened some pencils and started my first novel. I was twenty-four that year. For the next twenty-five years I collected rejection slips. I do believe I have enough to wallpaper the White House. I don’t mean that little two holer down at the end of the path in Grammie’s back yard, but the one in Washington, D.C. When I was forty-nine, I got “the call”. That was twenty-two years and one hundred books ago, and I know in my heart and soul that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.
2. Is there anyone in your family that writes? Did you have a mentor that helped you push forward to become a full-time author?
My husband, Charles C. Brown, has written nine mysteries and is working on his tenth. He's been my biggest supporter through my whole career. He’s a retired high school English teacher and he does the first edit on my books. Commas are not my friend, but they are his buddies—thank goodness.
3. How have you evolved as an author? What are some things that have changed since when you started writing up until now?
In the physical part of the business, lots has changed. I wrote most of my very first book by hand. When Mr. B bought a used typewrite at a garage sale and brought it in to me, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. In those sent in proposals with SASE (that’s self-addressed stamped envelopes) and if the editor wanted to see more, we sent in the full manuscript by mail. Now everything is sent over cyberspace. I will be donating the typewriter Mr. B bought me to the Johnston County Chickasaw Bank Museum on November 16th. My display shares a room there with Te Ata, Gene Autry and Blake Shelton. I’m signing copies of The Family Journal there on that day from 2 to 4 p.m.
I really can’t remember when I didn’t write stories, but I got serious about writing a book when my third child was born. She had her days and nights turned around. Since I had to be up until the wee hours of the morning, I got out a notebook, sharpened some pencils and started my first novel. I was twenty-four that year. For the next twenty-five years I collected rejection slips. I do believe I have enough to wallpaper the White House. I don’t mean that little two holer down at the end of the path in Grammie’s back yard, but the one in Washington, D.C. When I was forty-nine, I got “the call”. That was twenty-two years and one hundred books ago, and I know in my heart and soul that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.
2. Is there anyone in your family that writes? Did you have a mentor that helped you push forward to become a full-time author?
My husband, Charles C. Brown, has written nine mysteries and is working on his tenth. He's been my biggest supporter through my whole career. He’s a retired high school English teacher and he does the first edit on my books. Commas are not my friend, but they are his buddies—thank goodness.
3. How have you evolved as an author? What are some things that have changed since when you started writing up until now?
In the physical part of the business, lots has changed. I wrote most of my very first book by hand. When Mr. B bought a used typewrite at a garage sale and brought it in to me, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. In those sent in proposals with SASE (that’s self-addressed stamped envelopes) and if the editor wanted to see more, we sent in the full manuscript by mail. Now everything is sent over cyberspace. I will be donating the typewriter Mr. B bought me to the Johnston County Chickasaw Bank Museum on November 16th. My display shares a room there with Te Ata, Gene Autry and Blake Shelton. I’m signing copies of The Family Journal there on that day from 2 to 4 p.m.
In the evolution as a
write, I hope that each book is better than the last and that all my books
resonate with readers, touch their emotions and make them anxious to get the
next one.
4. Do you have a set schedule for writing? Do you have any writing rituals or things that get you in the mood to write?
I’m very disciplined. I write somewhere between three and five thousand words a day. Sometimes it’s pure trash, but you can fix trash. You can’t fix nothing. From the time I start a book, my characters are in my head. They eat with me, sleep with me, talk to me…. shhhh…don’t tell anyone I hear voices!
5. Tell us about some turning points as a writer - some big things that happened that really changed your career.
One of the biggest things that changed my career was when Amazon bought the literary company, Avalon, and turned more than forty of my titles into paperbacks and digital. That made them financially available for more people, and my readership grew by leaps and bounds. Another was when I finally made the New York Times and the USA Today bestseller lists. But I have to say that hitting the number one spot on Amazon was a really the icing on the cupcake.
6. What does your writing future look like?
My future will simply be to keep on doing what I’m doing, and hope my readers continue to love my stories. There are five books on the docket for 2020, and four or five novellas. And we’ve already got a few scheduled for 2021.
7. What made you want your book, The Family Journal, your hundredth book? What makes this story and these characters special to you?
4. Do you have a set schedule for writing? Do you have any writing rituals or things that get you in the mood to write?
I’m very disciplined. I write somewhere between three and five thousand words a day. Sometimes it’s pure trash, but you can fix trash. You can’t fix nothing. From the time I start a book, my characters are in my head. They eat with me, sleep with me, talk to me…. shhhh…don’t tell anyone I hear voices!
5. Tell us about some turning points as a writer - some big things that happened that really changed your career.
One of the biggest things that changed my career was when Amazon bought the literary company, Avalon, and turned more than forty of my titles into paperbacks and digital. That made them financially available for more people, and my readership grew by leaps and bounds. Another was when I finally made the New York Times and the USA Today bestseller lists. But I have to say that hitting the number one spot on Amazon was a really the icing on the cupcake.
6. What does your writing future look like?
My future will simply be to keep on doing what I’m doing, and hope my readers continue to love my stories. There are five books on the docket for 2020, and four or five novellas. And we’ve already got a few scheduled for 2021.
7. What made you want your book, The Family Journal, your hundredth book? What makes this story and these characters special to you?
Family! Plain and simple. What better way to celebrate reaching one of my goals—to publish one hundred books—than to write about family? This story is about several generations of strong women in the past, a mother who’s at her wit’s end in the present, and a young daughter who represents the future. It’s family from the emotional first scene to the last.
***
Excerpt: The
Family Journal by Carolyn Brown
Lily reached for her
tea at the same time Mack was setting his glass back down. Their hands touched
again. Her breath caught in her chest, and her pulse jacked up several
notches.
“I’m going to ask you
a dumb question,” he drawled. “Do you feel chemistry between us?”
Her chest tightened.
Of course she felt something between them, but she damn sure didn’t want to
talk about it like they were discussing the price of goat feed. And yet . . .
they were adults, not hormonal teenagers who jumped into the fire with both
feet when they felt something for another person. How many times had she told
her clients in therapy sessions to talk things out?
“Why is that dumb?”
she asked.
“It kind of sounded
dumb in my head, and even more so when I said it,” he said.
“Yes, I do feel
something between us.” She nodded. “I’ve wondered if it’s because I haven’t
dated all that much. How about you?”
“No dates in three
years. Nothing serious since Natalie,” he admitted.
“Do you think it’s
because we hav-haven’t,” she stammered.
“No, I think there’s
definitely an attraction between us, and I’ll tell you right now, up front, you
deserve better than me,” he said.
Lily frowned so hard
that her eyes became mere slits. “Why would you say a stupid thing like
that?”
“I’m a high school
vo-ag teacher, and I’ll never be rich. Hell, I’m forty-one, and I don’t even
own a house. I’ve just got a pickup that’s paid for and a herd of goats,” he
said.
“Why, Mack Cooper, are
you thinkin’ marriage?” she joked. “You haven’t even kissed me yet.”
“I’m just thinking
that we shouldn’t start anything without being completely honest, and, honey, I
can remedy that kissing part anytime.” His green eyes twinkled.
Lily felt heat rising
to her cheeks when she thought of kissing him. How in the devil would it even
work if they did decide to go out, or got into a relationship beyond
friendship? They lived in the same house with Holly and Braden underfoot all
the time. “I’ve got two kids,” she blurted out.
“I’ve got forty
goats.” He grinned.
“Did you say it’s time
to go feed the goats?” Braden came across the room and leaned his arms on the
back of the sofa.
Point proven, she thought.
“Yep, it is,” Mack
answered. “I reckon we both need to get changed so we don’t ruin our good
clothes.”
“I’ll be down in five
minutes.” Braden ran up the stairs.
Mack crossed the room
and bent to brush a sweet kiss across her lips. The tenderness of his mouth
barely touching hers and his drawl combined to send a heat flash through her
whole body. If that brief contact created such an effect, a relationship might
burn down the house.
***
About the Book
Title: The
Family Journal
Author: Carolyn Brown
Release Date: November
12, 2019
Publisher: Montlake
Romance
Summary
At the end of her
rope, single mom Lily Anderson is determined to move her rebellious children in
the right direction. That means taking away their cell phones, tablets, and
computers—at least temporarily—and moving to the house where Lily grew up in
the rural town of Comfort, Texas. But Lily has a bigger challenge than two
sulking kids.
The house comes with Mack Cooper, high school teacher and handsome longtime renter. The arrangement: just housemates. But Mack’s devoted attention to the kids starts to warm Lily’s resistant heart. Then Lily finds an old leather-bound book in which five generations of her female ancestors shared their struggles and dreams. To Lily, it’s a bracing reminder about the importance of family . . . and love.
Now it’s time for Lily to add an adventurous new chapter to the cherished family journal—by embracing a fresh start and taking a chance on a man who could make her house a home.
My Thoughts
I have read many of Carolyn Brown’s books and
have loved them all. But The Family Journal
is my favorite so far. I loved
everything about this book. The mother,
Lily, is newly divorced with a ex who only wants to deal with the kids on his
terms. So, what does she do? She takes things in her own hands and pushed
the kids to fall in line. She makes
the biggest decision for them but then she lets them find their own way while
giving them the guidance they need to make their own decisions. She truly loves her kids entirely, but she doesn’t
always like them which is something most mothers feel at many times in their
lives.
Mack comes with the house that they move into
since it was rented to him by Lily. I
love the respect he shows both Lily and the children. I cannot imagine being a bachelor, living
alone, and then having a family move in with you and over take your life. Although he is a teacher and use to being
with children all day, he is use to coming home to his own peace and
quiet. I think Lily is good for Mack also. She lets him rediscover what it feels like
to open your heart and let someone or many someones in. Mack is good for the children. He opens them up to new experiences and
supports them in a way a mother is not always able to do.
The characters in this book just fit. They respect each other, they learn from
each other, and eventually they love each other. The farmhouse setting, the goats, the
wonderful small town, and everything else in the story are perfect. I will happily recommend this book over and
over again.
Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads
Purchase your own copy on Amazon
and Barnes
and Noble
Author Biography
Carolyn Brown is a
RITA finalist and the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers
Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of
one hundred books. Her genres include contemporary and historical romances,
cowboy and country music romances, and women’s fiction. She and her husband
live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma, where everyone knows everyone else,
knows what they are doing and when . . . and reads the local
newspaper every Wednesday to see who got caught. They have three grown children
and enough grandchildren to keep them young. Visit Carolyn at www.carolynbrownbooks.com.
Social Media Links
Website: https://www.carolynbrownbooks.com
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Small Town Rumors
ReplyDeleteMy fave Carolyn Brown title is Cowboy Strong.
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