Join author Cindy McDonald at Westwood Thoroughbred Farm as we talk about her unbridled series. Welcome Cindy!
Tell us a little
about yourself.
For
twenty-six years my life whirled around a song and a dance: I was a
professional dancer/choreographer for most of my adult life and never gave much
thought to a writing career until 2005. Don’t ask me what happened, but
suddenly I felt drawn to my computer to write about things I have experienced
(greatly exaggerated upon of course) with my husband’s Thoroughbreds and
happenings at the racetrack.
Surprised?
Why didn’t I write about my experiences with dance? Eh, believe it or not life
at the racetrack is much more…racy. The drama is outrageous--not that dancers
don’t know how to create drama, believe me, they do, but race trackers just
seem to get more down and dirty with it which makes great story telling—great
fiction.
I
didn’t start out writing books, The Unbridled Series started out as a TV drama,
and the Hollywood readers loved the show. The problem was we just couldn’t sell
it. So one of the readers said to me, “Cindy, don’t be stupid, turn your
scripts into a book series.” and so I did!
In
May of 2011 I took the big leap and exchanged my dancin’ shoes for a lap top—I
retired from dance. It was a scary proposition, I was terrified, but I had the
full support of my husband, Saint Bill. This past year has been a huge change
for me. I went from dancing hard five hours a night to sitting in front of a
computer. I still work-out and I take my dog, Harvey, for a daily run. I have
to or I’d be as big as a house. Do I miss dance? Sometimes I do. I miss my
students. I miss choreographing musicals, but I love my books, and I love sharing them with you.
What is your favorite non-writing pastime?
I like to spend as
much time as possible with my girlfriends. I love to go to lunch, laugh a lot,
and catch up. I love to travel—one of my favorite trips is the one I take with
seven of my friends to New York City every year. We have a blast on Broadway,
at cool restaurants, and of course the subway.
If
you had to sum it up HOT COCO in 30 or less words, what would you say?
A
gorgeous blonde klutz wreaks havoc on Mike West after his attraction for her
sticks him with a mischievous horse that mimics its owner’s ability to screw
things up.
Tell us about your
favorite character in this book!
Honestly,
I love all my characters. Each one holds a special place in my heart, but if I
had to pick one to write about today,
it would be Lugowski—Lieutenant Carl Lugowski that is. He is a homicide
detective at the Rosemount Police Department, and he dates Mike West’s ex-wife,
Ava. Now here’s the kicker—he’s in love with Mike’s younger sister, Kate. Ouch!
He wrestles and wrangles with his feelings for Kate because he has always been
in love with Ava. And now Ava is exactly where he always wanted her to be—in
his life and in his bed.
Lugowski
also has a nicotine addiction. Boy oh boy do I have a blast writing in his
struggle to give up those cigarettes, and all the little quirks that he has
with the cancer sticks. Eric West once said to him (in the first book, Deadly.Com) “I thought you quit
smoking.” Lugowski answer was—“It’s on my bucket list.”
Will
Lugowski ever be able to kick the habit? Mmmm, not on my watch—he’s just too
much fun to torment.
What message do you hope readers take away from the
book?
We are all capable
of change—no matter how young, old, klutzy, attractive, or unattractive. It is
within our reach to grow—but one must desire that growth in order for it to
begin.
Is
anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?
The
Unbridled stories are fiction. That said there are pieces of my life
experiences weaved into the storylines, small reminders of what was going on at
the time of writing the book. Many of the Thoroughbreds mentioned in Hot Coco
are horses that have actually raced for our stable, Salty Silver Sally, Call Me
CJ, and the mischievous Charlatan. Of course included within the anecdotes are
situations (exaggerated upon of course) that have actually happened. Example:
the burning down of Coco’s kitchen-almost
a true story-enough said. ;}
What kind of research was involved for the series? Did
you find it became easier with each book?
Unbeknownst to
myself, I’ve been researching the Unbridled books for years. I’ve watched the
characters on the backside of racetracks, I’ve made mental notes of situations
that my husband and his colleagues have found themselves in—whether it has been
with a horse or with another trainer etc. When I sat down to write the series
(TV or books) I was amazed at the wealth of information that I had stored in my
brain and how the stories (exaggerated upon of course) unfolded at the tips of
my fingers to the computer’s screen
Did you
have a part in the design of all the covers in the series?
Createspace
designed the cover for DEADLY.COM but
Todd Aune was the designer for HOT COCO.
He is wonderful to work with. This wasn’t the first cover for HOT COCO, oh no,
we adjusted the design four times before we decided upon this one.
The
first one had the same two characters on the front, only she was clutching his
gathered shirt in her hands, exposing his chiseled abs, whispering in his ear,
as he gazed upon her longingly, clinging to every sultry word. Okay, at least
that’s the way I interpreted the pose. It was hot! I was enamored! My
publishing manager, Lauren Carr—God bless her—let me enjoy a full day of
dancing around my living room in love with the really hot cover for HOT COCO, until she decided it was time to
reason with me. “If that’s the cover you
want, that’s fine,” Lauren carefully began, “but I think it projects the wrong image
for your book.” She took a deep breath, “This cover will insinuate that there
is sex in the story. You don’t do sex scenes, Cindy your scenes are suggestive but not sexual. Therefore,
some readers that are looking for erotica will be disappointed, and those
readers that are not, won’t read the book because the cover gives them the
wrong idea. You will have upset two groups of people that will never buy your
books again.” Drats! She was one hundred percent correct. The fact of the matter is you must choose your cover very
carefully. You want to tell a story with your cover, but you don’t want to tell
too much, and you certainly don’t want to tell the wrong one. Todd and I are
working on the cover for my November release, DANGEROUS DECEPTION as we speak.
As
a multi-genre author, how do you juggle going back and forth between the
different genres? Do you have a preferred genre? I
know this question was directed toward the multi-genre authors; however, the
Unbridled Series actually is a multi-genre series. What do I mean by that?
Well, when I began writing the Unbridled Series I wanted each book to be an
individual—the series does not follow a formula. Case-in-point: My
first book of The Unbridled Series, DEADLY.COM, is a murder/suspense. My
antagonist, George Smuts, is creepy beyond belief; he is mentally deranged. He
makes my reader’s skin crawl—they’ve told me so via emails, reviews on Amazon,
and blog sites. I love George and I love the freaked-out reaction that he
extracts from people. So am I obligated to provide the same/similar scenario in
book two?
I
released my second book from the series, HOT
COCO, in June and this is more of a romantic comedy, if you will. Yes, we
are dealing with the same group of characters in the same location, except for Coco—she
is not a regular character of the series. HOT
COCO will make you laugh, make you think, and bring you to some surprising
conclusions. So far HOT COCO has
received very positive reviews, but will people be confused as to what to
expect from this author in book number three?
That
is yet to be seen, as the third book will release in November, DANGEROUS DECEPTION, and I am back to
making the reader wince, bite their lip in anticipation, and hope that the
characters are able to pull through. However, I believe that I am doing a good
job at blending the storylines—at least, I’m hoping so.
Do
you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?
The next book in the Unbridled Series is set to
release in November. It is called DANGEROUS DECEPTION. It is about an aged
jockey, Vic Deveaux, whose glory days have ended, but he refuses to accept that
pile of horse hockey!
When
the West family asks Vic to take an easier position at their Thoroughbred farm,
Westwood, he becomes enraged and teams up with two greedy stable hands in a
scheme to kidnap the youngest son, Shane.
When
Vic discovers that his new-found friends have murder on their minds, things
turn ugly. Suddenly Vic finds himself between the rock and the hard place. He
has betrayed his good friend, Eric West, but will he participate in his son’s
murder as well?
Not
content to sit at home and wait for the her men to bring her brother home, Kate
West convinces homicide detective, Carl Lugowski, to check out a hunch at an
old abandoned mansion. Soon they’re trapped in a hornet’s nest of a notorious
biker gang. Vic’s deception has placed the West family in more danger than they
know what to do with!
What is your favorite scene in HOT COCO?
Chapter 5 in
general. I had a blast writing this entire debacle. Poor Mike West, he just
doesn’t know what to do with this woman—she is gorgeous, but she is such a
train wreck. I have provided an excerpt from chapter 5, and I think you’ll
enjoy the short read and understand exactly why I enjoyed it so, and what Mike
West is dealing with.
Why did you choose to be an Indie writer and would you
choose to self-publish again?
I didn’t want the
hassle of trying to find an agent or a publishing house. I published DEADLY.COM through Createspace, but HOT COCO and DANGEROUS DECEPTION are through Acorn Book Services—I’m very happy
with the work they do, the editing process, the layout, and their cover
designer are terrific—I’m most happy as an indie and plan to remain as such.
How long did it take to get this book from idea to
being published? What was the most grueling process?
It takes me
approximately ten months to write one of my books, and then I close the file
and let it “marinate” for up to six weeks before I begin tweaking and editing,
and there lies the most grueling part of being a writer—editing. I do the best
that I can, but I leave the guts of the chore to Acorn, because the fact is we
simply don’t see our own mistakes—the book always reads as we think it should.
As indies we need to make sure that we get our books to a professional editor
or those embarrassing mistakes will
raise their ugly heads and slap you in the face after publishing.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with your
reader’s today?
HOT COCO isn’t
just a story about a dumb/klutzy/big-boobed blonde. Please know that everyone
is touched and changed in this story—read between the lines, watch the subtext,
it is there for you—if you pay attention.
I
also left behind bread crumbs of my former life as a dancer/choreographer in
this book—you will see them—I couldn’t resist! I would like to mention one more
thing: there are no hot sex scenes in
this book—my writing can be very
suggestive, but not sexual.
Is your
book in Print, eBook or both?
All the Unbridled books are available in print and
as an ebook.
The Book
HOT: Coco Beardmore
NOT: Coco’s calamities
HOT: Mike West’s fantasies
NOT: Mike’s reality
That’s right, Coco Beardmore
is sizzling hot and she’s landed in Mike West’s Lap. The problem is Coco’s
middle name is chaos! Her driving skills are a real bang--into Mike’s horse
trailer, and her sultry seduction will set the room on fire--the kitchen that
is.
What’s worse is her
Thoroughbreds ability to mimic their owner’s habit of screwing things up. It’s
enough to drive a normally calm and collected Mike West to the very edge.
But Mike’s not the only one
having problems with women. His father Eric has taken on more than he can chew,
and he’s about to get spit out by two women: one that he’s in love with and one
that thinks he’s in love with her.
Oh yeah, things are hot
around Westwood Thoroughbred Farm… and someone’s about to get burned!
To find out more about
future books of the Unbridled Series,
please visit Cindy’s website at: www.cindymcwriter.com
I’m a goodreads author: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5264796.Cindy_McDonald
Yep, I’m on twitter. Here’s
my handle: @cindymcdonald7
My books, DEADLY.COM and HOT
COCO are available on amazon:
and DEADLY.COM: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Deadly.com
It's great having you with us here today Cindy! I love horses and so it was fun to hear about your work on the Thoroughbred farm.
ReplyDeletewow it is really interesting post. glad to came across your blog. keep sharing,
ReplyDeleteThanks MK, I'm so very happy to be here today. And thank you Hussain. My Thoroughbred farm is known as Fly By Night Stables and we are located near Pittsburgh, PA. Huge Steeler fans. At this time we are racing 3 horses at Mountaineer Racetrack in Newell, WV which is approx 16 miles from my farm. My daughter and I also show Quarter Horses.
ReplyDeleteHey, I'd like to thank MK for letting me visit on her blog today! Have a great week everyone!
ReplyDelete