AUTHOR INTERVIEW: CHARLENE WHITMAN, AUTHOR OF WYOMING TRYST #historical #western #romance

The author of "heart-thumping" Western romance, Charlene Whitman spent many years living on Colorado's Front Range. She grew up riding and raising horses, and loves to read, write, and hike the mountains. She attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins as an English major. She has two daughters and is married to George "Dix" Whitman, her love of thirty years. 

The Front Range series of sweet historical Western romance novels (set in the 1870s) includes Wild Horses, Wild Hearts, set in Laporte and Greeley. Colorado Promise, set in Greeley, Colorado; Colorado Hope, set in Fort Collins; Wild Secret, Wild Longing, which takes readers up into the Rockies, Colorado Dream (Greeley), and Wyoming Tryst, set in Laramie, WY.

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Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life!  Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process.  Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning?  When did you come up with the idea to write your book?

Wyoming Tryst is a very close adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, set in Laramie in 1878. That should tell all! I thought it would be exciting to parallel the Bard’s story as closely as possible, but, no, my novel has a happy ending and the lovers do not die!

Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on that would make the journey easier for other writers?

Writing a novel is always challenging, especially historicals, which require a lot of research for accuracy. The best advice I can give is to spend years working hard to learn the craft of writing and novel structure.

Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I self-publish my novels.

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

Not really. I knew it would take work to market and promote, but it was a nice surprise to see Colorado Promise jump to the tops of best-seller lists.

Q: What other books are you working on and when will they be published?

Nothing at the moment. I work full-time as a writing coach and copyeditor, so I set aside a few months a year to write a novel.

Q: What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?

That women, in Laramie in 1870s, were allowed to vote and served on juries. I bring out a lot on this topic about women’s lib in Wyoming back then. It’s a fascinating issue in history.

Q: Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?

I don’t have one specific message. But the book deals with loyalty, hope, and trust.

  

Q: Thank you again for this interview!  Do you have any final words?

I hope you’ll dive into the Front Range series and go on my characters’ journeys with them. I believe you’ll be thrilled and moved by the heart-thumping romance! And if you join my mailing list with THIS LINK, you’ll get the first book, Wild Horses, Wild Hearts, for free!

 About the Book:

Title: WYOMING TRYST
Author: Charlene Whitman
Publisher: Ubiquitous Press
Pages: 360
Genre: Sweet Historical Western Romance

BOOK BLURB:

Two ranching tycoons. A decades-old feud. A sheriff bent on ridding the town of lawlessness . . .

In the midst of the trouble brewing in Laramie City in 1878, Julia Carson yearns to be free of her parents’ smothering and wonders whether she’ll ever find a man worthy to love in such a violent town rife with outlaws.

But when Robert Morrison sneaks onto her ranch the night of her sixteenth birthday party, Cupid shoots his arrows straight and true. Aware that their courtship would be anathema to their fathers, who are sworn enemies, Robert and Julia arrange a tryst.

Yet, their clandestine dalliance does not go unnoticed, and forces seek to destroy what little hope their romance has to bloom. The star-crossed lovers face heartache and danger as violence erupts. When all hope is lost, Joseph Tuttle, the new doctor at the penitentiary, is given a letter and a glass vial from Cheyenne medicine woman Sarah Banks.

The way of escape poses deadly dangers, but it is the only way for Robert and Julia to be together. It will take the greatest measure of faith and courage to come through unscathed, but love always conquers fear.

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