Blurb:
Ten years after the death of her husband and young son, Marie Trousdale decides to move from Los Angeles, California to a small rural Oregon town and hires Wil Townsend, a local contractor, to build her dream home on property she inherited from her deceased husband.
Although they couldn’t be more different in every way possible the two fall in love. Things get complicated when Marie changes occupations. When she is put in danger, Wil must decide if his love is stronger than the differences that separate him from Marie.
Excerpt:
From the description she was given by the hotel desk clerk, she figured she wouldn’t have much trouble finding the guy—grungy black cowboy hat, well-worn cowboy boots, scruffy beard, jean jacket, and Levi’s, sitting at the corner table. She was right. He wasn’t hard to spot. It was Monday night, and there were only a handful of people in the place. There he was, sitting at his regular corner table, with his back to the wall, his chair up on two legs, and his feet propped up and crossed on the chair next to him. There was a glass of beer and a half-empty pitcher in front of him. She wondered how many pitchers he had drained before this one. The desk clerk said he had a lot of funny habits. The clerk said the guy always sat with his back to the wall, so no one could get the jump on him. He probably watched too many John Wayne movies.
E.M., thanks so much for stopping by. So, how did you get started writing?
I don’t know if there was an actual start point. I always found writing assignments in school to be a breeze. I’ve always been a veracious reader. Then again when I was younger there was no such thing as social media. Families shared one phone line. Reading was more of an escape. Then I began to create my own escapes. I started with poems and short stories. Most of the time, if you wrote, you put it in a box and stuck in your drawer and forgot about it. That’s what I did. But writing a book at some point in my life went on my list in my 20’s. I just didn’t get the opportunity to actually write it until later.
What was the inspiration for your book?
I was inspired by many things. I was grieving for a sister I had lost to Breast Cancer and in somewhat of a depression. I, like my leading lady, was a project manager flying around the country. The idea came to me in a dream and the storyline flashed in my head in less time than it takes to land a jet at the Detroit airport. It became a form of therapy to keep my mind occupied and focused on something positive. I involved one of my other sisters, Annette, to help. After I would write a chapter I would email it to her and let her critique it. We were both mourning our sisters passing so it helped us both. I dedicated my book to my sister, Annette, who really is like Madelyn in Totally Devoted and I love her dearly.
When we first married, my husband and I lived in Wilderville, Oregon. We were young and madly in love. We rode horses in the mountains and lived on our passion with reckless abandon. Then our son was born. But I still love and cherish the memory of Oregon’s beauty. I hope my readers are able visualize its beauty as they read my book.
What’s a genre you haven’t written in yet that you’d like to?
That would have to be old time Western Romance. Totally Devoted takes place in the west and Wil Townsend has a western drawl and manner but it’s modern western. He may be old fashioned in some of his views but he’s a realist, intelligent, willing to listen and change. He views Marie as an equal. Men in the old west didn’t.
I’ve always enjoyed reading westerns. I love Zane Grey. I think Riders of the Purple Sage and its sequel The Desert Crucible, the real sequel to Riders, are my favorite westerns. I’ve read almost everything Lois L ‘Amour has written. Surprisingly, my favorite book by L ‘Amour is The Haunted Mesa, not an old time western at all.
I live in Wyoming and western history is all around me. I ride horses and have been known to wear cowboy boots. They had romance and adventure back then, too. What an interesting concept.
Are there any genres you won’t read or write in? Why?
I’m very open-minded and I’ll read any genre once. My least favorite would be books about war and violence. So, probably no detective stories from me. I throw myself into whatever I’m reading or writing and the despair and pain of war is more than I can bear. I read books to escape and find a happy place. I wrote Totally Devoted to provide that happy place for my readers.
What are you up to now? Do you have any releases planned, or are you still writing?
I’m still celebrating the release of Totally Devoted. I’m hoping to develop my reader base and share this and many more stories with them. I’m writing my next two books, although I’m really concentrating on one, Zoey’s Place. It’s about a woman who opens a spa/brothel for rich women.
Alright, now for some random, fun questions. Favorite color?
Purple and the colors that make it.
Favorite movie?
Actually not a movie but a series. Outlander.
Book that inspired you to become an author?
The Adventurer’s by Harold Robbins
You have one superpower. What is it?
The power to heal.
You can have dinner with any 3 people, dead, alive, fictitious, etc. Who are they?
Paramahansa Yogananda, Jesus Christ, and NicolaTesla
Last question: Which of your characters are you most like and how/why?
Most of the characters in Totally Devoted are loosely based on family and friends. It’s no secret that I’ve modeled Marie Trousdale after myself. We both have the same body type; brown hair, brown eyes. We share the same healthy eating habits. We exercise. Her attitudes and values are like mine as well. She likes to be boss and doesn’t accept no for an answer. I’ve been called bossy my whole life. My husband says it’s to compensate for my small stature. That may be true. If they can’t see you, you have to be the loudest in the room.
That’s all from me, thanks for taking the time to stop by!
You’re very welcome and thank you for letting me introduce myself and my book to your readers.
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Author Bio and Links:
E.M. Bannock was born in 1950 and grew up in the Detroit suburbs. Her love for writing began during high school where she excelled in writing short stories and poetry. Born with the wanderlust, she found herself in Los Angeles, an exciting place to be in the early 70’s, and E.M. experienced all that it had to offer. It was here she met her husband. She has lived in California, Oregon, Alaska, Florida, and Wyoming, where she now lives with her husband, son, daughter-in-law, grandson and a menagerie of cats, dogs, chickens, and horses.
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I don’t play ball.’
