Mary Connealy – Real Life & Fictional Romantic Interview – Part 1 of 1

Shannon here: Romantic Comedy with Cowboys author, Mary Connealy shares insight into her real life and fictional romances. Comment on any post date May 16 – 20 for a chance to win a copy of Deep Trouble. Deadline: May 21, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Mary:
      
     1.   What simple gesture does your spouse do that melts you every time?
He tells me he’s proud of me for my writing success. So strange how much that pleases me. A close second, he reads my books and loves them. Or maybe that’s part of the same one thing.
     2.    How soon after meeting your spouse did you know he/she was the one?
We dated a long time before I was sure. And we met even longer before we dated. I knew he was a good man and I cared very much for him, but I didn’t have the assurance in my heart that he was the one God had for me. I prayed so hard for that.
     3.    How soon after meeting you did your spouse know you were the one?
We met in eighth grade. We started dating the end of our junior year in high school. I’d say, knowing my husband, he was sure within a month or two. Then we dated for four more years until I finished college.
     4.     Who said, “I love you” first, you or your spouse?
My husband definitely. But I don’t really think that’s bad on my part because the words meant a lot to me. To me they were a commitment. He’s the only man I’ve ever said them to, and I had no interest in saying them frivolously. So while he might’ve said them really fast, I think, when I finally said, “I love you,” I meant it more deeply than he did, at least at first.
     5.     Where did you and your spouse go for your honeymoon?
We got married in January of one of the nastiest, most bitterly cold winters known to man-kind. I haven’t seen the actually documented proof of that but still, I’m sure. Our plan was to go south until we got warm. Not a FANCY plan but it was all we wanted, was just to take off our heavy winter coats for a few seconds. We got as far south as Galveston, Texas, still mighty brisk, and gave up and came home.
      6.    What’s the most romantic thing your hero ever did for your heroine?
He talks her into jumping off a cliff. It makes a lot of sense…eventually.
      7.     What’s the most romantic thing your heroine ever did for your hero?
She gives up a golden necklace and grabs for his hand instead of the treasure. When she does this she chooses life and love and a future, instead of pride and fame and wealth.
      8.     Where is the most romantic place your hero and heroine have ever been?
Oh, no contest. The bottom of the Grand Canyon. It’s their wedding site. Their honeymoon site and where they finally get to spend the night in each others arms.
      9.     Do your hero and heroine have as favorite romantic restaurant?
Campfire, they make very good use of the campfire when it comes to romantic meals and interludes.
   10.    How soon after meeting your spouse did you know he/she was the one?
Gabe is ready to marry Shannon when they’ve known each other about twenty-four hours. And it’s a good thing because compromising circumstances look to be making a wedding unavoidable. Until he finds out she’s got an almost-fiancé already. That delays the ceremony for quite a while. Which was okay because for a while Gabe was afraid she might be loco. He didn’t realize that in the first twenty-four hours. It turned out she wasn’t all the way crazy, but it was best to have that cleared up before they said ‘I do’.
About Mary: Mary Connealy writes fun and lively “romantic comedy with cowboys” for the inspirational market. She is the author of the successful Lassoed in Texas, Montana Marriages, and Sophie’s Daughters series, and her novel Calico Canyon was nominated for a Christy Award. She lives on a ranch in eastern Nebraska with her husband, Ivan, and has four grown daughters. Learn more at http://www.maryconnealy.com/, http://mconnealy.blogspot.com/, http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com/, and  http://petticoatsandpistols.com/.
About the book: Shannon Dysart is searching for a city of gold, the lost city of Quivera, which she believes is in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Gabe Lasley is trying to keep her alive until she comes to her senses. The only way he can figure to prove to her there’s no city of gold down there is to show her. And he needs to keep her alive until she admits she’s a lunatic. At which point she’ll come to her senses (he hopes) and then he plans on marrying her.
This is a plan that has Gabe a little nervous, what with him planning to marry a crazy woman, but there aren’t that many women around and he’s lonely.
Gabe has left his ranch in Wyoming because of his strong feelings for a married woman. He finds Shannon stranded in a mountaintop cave and saves her. She is on a quest to prove her father’s research isn’t the work of a madman, that he really did find a treasure in the wild west.
With trouble on their back trail from the villains who still want Shannon’s map, the dream of gold coloring every decision Shannon makes, and Gabe’s surprising need to protect her, they sets out to find a city of gold.
Along the way they find that true treasure is rooted in love. And that was within their reach all along.
Come Back May 23rd for Inspirational Fiction with a slice of romance author, Eddie Snipes.