Interview with Cathy McDavid

I’d like to welcome our guest today, Cathy McDavid. It’s a pleasure having you come visit us at Much Cheaper Than Therapy, where chocolate is plentiful and advice is free. So grab some chocolate and a lounge chair. Your therapy session has begun.

I understand you have a new release out called THE FAMILY PLAN. Can you tell us a little bit about your fabulous new book?

First, I want to thank Kim, Tina, and Carol for having me here. You have such a cute and clever blog (picture me green with envy – she who is pathetically lame when it comes to blogging). And I'm so excited about your news releases with Wild Rose Press. Much luck with your books.

Thanks Cathy. It's our pleasure.

Okay, back to the interview. THE FAMILY PLAN is the second in my Blue Ridge series from Harlequin American. Like the first book in the series, HIS ONLY WIFE, this book is also a reunion story, however the hero and heroine weren't previously involved other than as friends (the heroine wanted more but dang it all, you know how men can be). Jolyn has returned after an 8-year absence to launch her own construction company. In addition to struggling to succeed in what is typically considered a man's field, she's also recovering from a serious injury in which she nearly lost her leg.

Chase is a single father raising his daughter, Mandy, and the only veterinarian in a thirty mile radius. He's a pretty busy guy and figures the only way he can spend more time with Mandy is to expand his business and take on an assistant. Who better to build his new clinic than Jolyn, newly returned to town, newly licensed contractor, and newly shed of her previous Tomboy ways?

There's just one small – no, make that large – glitch to their budding romance. Jolyn's brother once had an affair with Chase's ex-wife. The question of Mandy's parentage has never been resolved, and Jolyn's mother, suffering from a potentially life-threatening illness, is determined to prove her son is Mandy's biological father.

THE FAMILY PLAN is a very interesting title. How did you arrive at that name?

I always chuckle when I think about how my editor picked the title. I originally called the book, A Family in Every Way. As usual, Harlequin asked me to submit a list of possible titles. I'm not entirely sure of the process but I think they take the titles to marketing and decide which one will work best. Well, my editor didn't want any of the first batch and asked for more. By now, I've had to come up with about two dozen titles so my brain was seriously taxed. I was literally looking around my office, spotted my T-Mobile phone bill on the desk and thought, "Wow, what about THE FAMILY PLAN." And that was the one Harlequin liked.

Did you have to do a lot of research for the book?

Fortunately, no, which is rare for me. I usually have to do some research. Since my day job is the co-owner of a construction company, and I've owned horses most of my life, I lucked out with this book. I did have to consult an equine vet book for one small part when the hero is treating the heroine's horse for an injury.

What character did you like writing about the most, and why?

Definitely the heroine and not just because she's a woman. I gave her a lot of challenges to face. Not only was she starting her own business in a field dominated by men but she nearly lost her leg the year before in a riding accident and walks with a limp. And her internal conflict is through the roof. Imagine having to chose between the man you've loved since you were a teen and your mother who is battling a serious illness. Argh!! I love it.

If your book was made into a movie, what actor would you like to fill your hero’s shoes?

I think I'd pick Jake Gyllenhall. He's a few years too young for the part but he's got the right kind of sexy sensitivity that my hero, Chase, has. Plus, he looks mighty fine in a cowboy hat.

Do you have any authors that inspired you?

There have been several authors who are personal friends of mine and have the kind of career with Harlequin I've always wanted. They are Roz Denny Fox and Vicki Lewis Thompson. Some day in the distant future, I would like to have a very successful single title career. Vicki has done that as well as Linda Lael Miller, another former series author I greatly admire and want to be like when I grow up.

What do we have to look forward next?

I have another Harlequin American coming out in August of 2008, COWBOY DAD. This is the first book in the Bear Creek Ranch series and is based on a fiction western guest resort in northern Arizona, the family that runs it and the employees who work there. Books II and II of the series will be out sometime in 2009. I don't have titles for those yet. I'll probably see what bills come in the mail that day and send those names to my editor (grin!)

Thanks, Cathy!

To celebrate her book release, Cathy McDavid is offering a free ebook of HIS ONLY WIFE to one lucky commenter on today's blog. She will be around part of the day and then she's off to sign her new book at The Chocolate Affair in Glendale, Arizona. I'm sure some of you have questions or comments for her, so please ask away...

Bio: By day (Monday through Friday, that is) Cathy McDavid is the mild-mannered owner of a commercial construction company that she manages with her gorgeous husband of nineteen years. But by night (and most weekends) she becomes... Romance Writer.
Faster than a riveting plotline. Stronger than a compelling conflict. Able to create sexy heroes and spunky heroines readers will fall in love with. Look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's...

All right, all right. So she's not an alien sent to Earth from another galaxy — despite what her seventeen-year-old twins would say — but if you ask her, this author of ten books would tell you that being a romance writer is pretty darn super.

Cathy's Smallville is actually Scottsdale, Arizona. She embraced the country life long before she met her husband, a modern-day mule skinner who drives a replica of a Wells Fargo stagecoach with a team of six mules. Cathy literally gets up with the chickens. She has a flock of over thirty-five laying hens and one duck who has her own private swimming pool. Two dogs and one elderly, crotchety boss cat round out the McDavid pets. Cathy loves contemporary ranch stories and often incorporates her own experiences into her stories.

When not writing, she and her family spend as much time as they can at their cabin in the small town of Young. Of course, she takes her laptop with her on the chance inspiration strikes.

Check out author’s website at http://www.cathymcdavid.com/

Buy: Through Harlequin, Amazon or where ever Harlequins are sold.