I’m thrilled to welcome loop-mate and Harlequin American Romance author Barbara White Daille to my blog today.

Bio:
Originally from the East Coast, award-winning author Barbara White Daille now lives with her husband in the warm, sunny Southwest, where they love the lizards in the front yard but could do without the scorpions in the bathroom.

From the time she was a toddler, Barbara found herself fascinated by those things her mom called “books.” Once she learned the words between the covers held the magic of storytelling, she wanted to see her words in print so she could weave that spell for others.

Barbara hopes you will enjoy reading her stories and will find your own storytelling magic in them!

Her latest release is HONORABLE RANCHER from Harlequin American Romance.

Thanks for visiting me today, Barbara. I’m pretty sure one scorpion in my bathroom and I’d be calling a mover lol. When you aren’t writing, what do you do to relax?
When I’m not writing, my favorite entertainment is curling up on the couch with a book. No matter what I’m doing, there’s usually some chocolate nearby.

A good book and chocolate – a perfect combination. When you’re writing, what genre do you write?
My published novels are short contemporary, category romances from Harlequin American Romance. They’re home and family stories and often include quirky townsfolk or a bunch of kids. Or both. These secondary characters make tons of trouble for the hero and heroine—and lots of fun for me.

Tell us about your latest release.
HONORABLE RANCHER is set in Flagman’s Folly, New Mexico, a small town where some folks think they know best about everyone else’s business, especially when it comes to their love lives. This was one tough book for me to write because the conflict between the hero and heroine affects so many people in town.

The hero, Ben Sawyer, long ago lost the girl he loved to his own best friend, who has recently died a military hero. Now, Ben has to keep the promise he’s made to watch over the man’s family and must fight to keep his hands off his best friend’s widow—who happens to be the woman he’s loved since kindergarten.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer!

When did you start writing? What inspired you?
Seeing my mom with a book in her hands. Books fascinated me, and I wanted to know what they were all about. No matter how far back I go, I can’t remember a time I didn’t write. My first “stories” were written in crayon, although I have to admit they had no words since I was too young for school and didn’t know the alphabet.

“Officially,” I say I became a writer at the age of nine, when I wrote my first short story. I didn’t write my first novel until many years later…in eighth grade.

A late bloomer, lol. Where do your best ideas come from?
Someone asked me this recently, and when I stopped to think about it, the answer surprised me. I found the ideas and stories I love best—which include all my published books—have come to me as flashes that introduce a character or show an action. Unfortunately, that’s about all I get, and the rest is up to me. 🙂

In the first Flagman’s Folly story, A RANCHER’S PRIDE, Sam Robertson comes home to discover he’s a daddy. He doesn’t believe the little four-year-old girl is his. But when he meets her for the first time, he’s confronted with evidence he can’t deny. She is his flesh and blood. She’s also deaf, and he has no way of communicating with her. This was a heart-wrenching story to write, and the entire book started with one peek into Sam’s living room where a little girl sat on his couch.

I don’t always get a visual, though. With COURT ME, COWBOY, I had nothing but a sentence to start me off:

One day soon, he’d get rid of this wedding ring.

That’s it. Nothing about the character—except that he was male. No setting. No clue who the ring belonged to or what this was all about. I’m happy to say my readers start the book just where I did, with that very sentence. Immediately, we learn the man is Gabe Miller, and the wedding ring is his own.

In my current novel, HONORABLE RANCHER, I had much less than a sentence to kick-start my imagination. All I had was the memory of how I felt about my first crush. This turned into the story of a man suffering—and I do mean suffering!—the same feelings.

What are you working on now?
Thanks for asking. I’m currently working on another story set in Flagman’s Folly. When the hero’s wife and small son were killed, unanswered questions made him lose control of his life. Now, both his livelihood and his reputation are at risk, unless he can prove himself by successfully overseeing the setup of a kid’s camp on his boss’s ranch. The hero soon discovers the project manager he’s assigned to supervise holds his fate in her hands. And to his dismay, he can’t stop thinking about holding her.

The heroine has played a minor role in the previous Flagman’s Folly books. In this story, she’s trying to balance living in both the Deaf and hearing worlds—and she doesn’t appreciate the hero treating her as if she can’t handle herself in either one.

This sounds like another emotional and heartwarming story. I’m sure it’ll be a hit.

Thanks so much for joining me today, Barbara. I’m looking forward to reading your next release.

To learn more about Barbara and her books, You can find her at her website, and on Facebook and Twitter.