I am so excited about having one of my favorite authors here today, welcome Anna Jeffrey.

Anna how did you get started writing?

I don’t remember at what age I started reading books, but I was pretty young. I used to read novels and think, “I can do this.” Later, my one an only ambition from my teenage years was to be a reporter. Thus, I was a co-editor on the high school newspaper staff. I’ve always had a penchant for writing. And stories have always swirled around in my head.

About 15 years ago, it dawned on me I was running out of time, so I started a story. I went to a writers’ group meeting one day and the guest speaker was a Harlequin author. She spoke about hooks Harlequin liked, which were cowboys or secret babies or lost love regained and a few others. I drove home from that meeting thinking, “I can do that.” So I wrote “The Love of a Cowboy,” which had all of those elements. It turned into a family saga about 650 manuscript pages long. (Did I mention, I could be Leo Tolstoy?)

That book won first place in the Romance category at the Southwest Writers Conference and one of the editors who judged it made an offer to buy it. She wanted to pluck the romance out of it between Luke and Dahlia. I didn’t say no, but I had no idea how to cut a 650-page manuscript down to a 400-page one. She told me she would send me an editorial letter as soon as she returned to New York. And she did. It was about 18 single-spaced pages long. But I persevered, cut out around 50,000 words and ended up with the book that went to print.

Your books remind me of one of my favorite authors LaVyrle Spencer. What authors have inspired you? I’m so flattered that you would compare my writing to LaVyrle Spencer’s. She used to be one of my fave’s. I haven’t read all of her books, but I’ve read quite a few. I’ve never thought of myself in the same universe as her. I’ve been inspired by quite a few authors. Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather, Tami Hoag, Deborah Smith, Lisa Kleypas, Michael Connelly to name a few, There are others, for sure.

I am currently reading your new book The Tycoon, could you tell us more about it? It is a series isn’t it? The new “Sons of Texas” trilogy is a family saga with 3 brothers as the protagonists. Each book is about a different brother’s life and romance, but the overarching story is of a dysfunctional Texas family that’s wealthy in land, cattle and oil, but poor in its ability to maintain successful relationships. The tumultuous relationship between the parents has influenced all of them and is a thread that flows through each book until they finally resolve their problems in Book #3. Think “Dallas.”

Since I write cougar stories I always ask my female guests the same question. If you could go on a date with a younger man who would it be? My books aren’t cougar stories, but my heroes and heroines are mostly thirty or over. I think people have to have lived a while and earned a few nicks and scars to be interesting.

As for romance with a younger guy, what woman of a certain age hasn’t thought about that? But I don’t think of age as much as I think of the appeal of the guy, regardless of his age. Hugh Jackman, for instance. He’s no kid, but he’s younger than I am. Besides being attractive to look at, he comes across as being a nice guy. I like Russell Crowe, too, but he strikes me as being moody and hard to get along with. Of course, that might be a false presumption on my part. Still, he’s a charismatic dude. I like Daniel Craig, too. And there are probably a dozen others. Believe it or not, I like Tom Cruise, though I’m not quite sure what kind of person he is in real life. But guys under thirty don’t excite me. They’re *too* young.

As I’m writing this, I’m trying to think of a guy who isn’t a celebrity and who’s younger than I am that I find attractive, and I can’t think of a single one. What does that say about my life?

I think it says that you are happy right where you are and I am a big Daniel Craig fan myself. Thanks again for answering my questions and I am so enjoying reading The Tycoon.

Please check out Anna Jeffrey’s website, blog, and books. You won’t be disappointed.

Personal Web Page: http://www.annajeffrey.com
Blog – Anna Jeffrey, I’m Just Saying…: http://annajeffreyauthor.wordpress.com
Yahoo Groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnnaJeffrey/
Facebook – Anna Jeffrey Books: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anna-Jeffrey-Books/109708069097964?ref=ts&fref=ts
Facebook Personal Page: https://www.facebook.com/anna.jeffrey.3
Facebook – Dixie Cash: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dixie-Cash/342620327656?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annajeffrey

Anna’s books:
THE LOVE OF A COWBOY (w/a Anna Jeffrey) Amazon Kindle, 03/2012
THE LOVE OF A STRANGER (w/a Anna Jeffrey) Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, 10/2011
I CAN’T MAKE YOU LOVE ME, BUT I CAN MAKE YOU LEAVE (w/a Dixie Cash) Avon Trade, 4/5/2011
SALVATION, TEXAS (w/a Anna Jeffrey) Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook Smashwords, 12/2010
SWEET WATER (w/a Anna Jeffrey) Amazon Kindle,B&N Nook, Smashwords 04/2010