Monday, July 29, 2013

Vicki McDonough ~ Whispers On The Prairie


This week at Ink Dots, I'm welcoming back author Vickie McDonough. Vicki's the award-winning author of 27 books and novellas. Her novel, End of the Trail, recently won the Best Published Fiction Novel of the 2013 OWFI Contest. Her books include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, and Whispers on the Prairie, Book 1 in a new series set at a stage stop in 1870s Kansas, releases July 1st. 

Vickie is a wife of thirty-seven years, mother of four grown sons, one daughter-in-law, and grandma to a feisty seven-year-old girl. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, antiquing, watching movies, and traveling. To learn more about Vickie’s books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com

Whispers On The Prairie ~  Sarah Marshall’s wagon breaks down near a stage stop at the mouth of the Santa Fe Trail, marriage proposals fly in faster than the incessant wind, but only one man interests her—and he’s not proposing.

Ethan Harper’s well-ordered life is thrown into turmoil when an uppity city gal is stranded at his family’s stage stop. Now his two brothers and every unmarried male in the country are wooing Miss Priss. When one brother proposes, Ethan struggles. Is it because Sarah is the wrong woman for his brother—or the right one for Ethan?

Vicki Says ~ If I could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, it would be... Ireland and Scotland. I have ancestors from both countries, and I've wanted to visit there for as long as I can remember. I still hope to go one day.
One thing I enjoyed today is... my air conditioner. My husband and I worked out in the yard earlier this afternoon, and it was 95 degrees today. Whew! I was so glad to finish and come back inside my cool house. I fell asleep in my recliner instead of writing.

A secret pleasure of mine is... traveling. When we were raising our four boys, we went 14 years without getting even a short vacation. I love to travel and visit places I haven't been, but we haven't been able to afford to travel much. Since I started writing, I've gotten to travel a bit more ~ to writers' conferences and places for research, and that's been fun. I would love to pack up the car and take a month-long trip across the western United States. 

When I was a child I wanted to... grow up and marry a rancher. I've always had a love for horses, so I suppose I figured if I married a rancher, I could have all the horses I wanted. That didn't happen. Instead, I married a sweet computer geek who's scared of horses. But now I get to live my dream by writing about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others who live in the fiction worlds of my books. Vicki, this made me laugh. I'm sure the computer geek's your perfect match. 

I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but... I always wear socks, except in the shower. I always have worn socks and don't like going barefoot. I've never worn sandals, but I can't really tell you why. Maybe it's because I have fair skin and my feet would get sunburned if I wore flip-flops or sandals. I know it's a weird quirk, but hey, writers aren't exactly normal people ~ we hear voices in our heads. OK, I'll give weird on this one. No wriggling your toes in the sand at the beach? 

*****

Vickie's 'visited' Downunder in spirit before. And once again, she's offering a giveaway copy to one lucky Ink Dots friend. If you'd like a chance to win, enter in the comment thread below. Tell us the occupation of the perfect match you thought you'd marry when you were child.

I thought marrying a farmer might have been cool, but I'm more than happy with my aerospace Beloved. How about you? 

I'll announce the winner on Friday. 
Good luck and happy reading,