Once again I have weaseled an advance copy of an upcoming book: Laura Drewry's Charming Jo, a charming, tender romance between a tough cookie and one mad, bad, and delicious-to-know cowboy. Although I have never actually met Laura in person, I have to tell you she is a great friend, although inexplicably, she is also a Yankee fan. Why? Whywhywhywhy, Laura? And you're such a nice girl… But back to the hot cowboys. Charming Jo will be in stores this month, for the rest of you lucky readers to enjoy. I had to tie her up to get this interview, but Laura graciously shared her deepest secrets, from her lack of control over her characters to her blase attitude towards indoor plumbing.
Caroline: You've got one of my favorite themes going in Charming Jo, a man falling for a woman in charge of him. It's tough to do that without making it seem like he wants to take her place, or that she's actually not as strong and capable as portrayed but really just wants a man to take care of her. Levi is just 100% sweet, though; how did you manage to keep him so nice and beta?
Laura: I'd love to take credit for that, but the truth is, Levi morphed into something I had little control over. When I first began thinking about this story, his character came to me as much harsher man; a bit of a jerk, actually. But when I sat down to write, he just didn't come out that way. He came out as this likeable beta character who wanted so much to be loved, but was too terrified to even hope for such a thing. It was a little unnerving to me because I'm a HUGE fan of the alpha-hero. I love 'em big and brash and thumping their chests—
Caroline: Like King Kong, or Derek Jeter?
Laura: LOL. When Levi wasn't taking the road I wanted him to, or expected him to, believe you me, I did everything I could to convince him to walk the alpha road. But as you know, fictional characters are freakishly a lot like children. If they don't want to do something, they just ain't gonna do it. And that was Levi Travers. He knew right from the first page who he was and nothing I could do or say was going to change him. Sure would have been nice if he'd have clued me in before I started writing.
Caroline: (thinking) You do know he's fictional, right, Laura? Never mind! So, he needs a girl to appreciate him. Jo is a tough cookie who doesn't seem to realize she has some insecurities until almost the end. I love it when characters realize things about themselves as they are falling in love with someone else. How did you think her up? How did you choose her character traits?
Laura: Jo is one of those characters who came almost fully formed in my mind. To me, she's a modern woman living before modern times. She's smart, strong, and fully capable of looking after herself, and in a time when women are supposed to keep their thoughts and ideas to themselves, Jo speaks her mind at will. Like 21st century women, she doesn't want to be looked after by anyone—least of all a man who will try to take over the ranch she's worked so hard to build. She doesn't want a man to swoop in and 'rescue' her, or try to solve her problems for her. All she wants is for him to be there for her; to listen, to understand, and to support her when the rest of the world is dead-set against her. She wants to be loved for who she is—regardless of how unlovable she might feel sometimes.
Caroline: It was easy to see why she fell for Levi; he charmed me along with Jo. His sense of humor is just fabulous. People never really seem to be in love until they laugh together, and Levi was always ready with a funny comment just when he needed one. How do you write a funny character?
Laura: Well, once I gave in and let Levi be who he needed to be, it all became clearer. I'm from a family of smart-asses (can I say that here? LOL)…
Caroline: Note to readers: It's true! It's true!
Laura: I'm married to the biggest smart-ass in the world, so one-liners and sarcasm are a way of life for me. And when I opened my eyes and realized Levi wanted to be a little like that, I was all over it like a fat kid on fudge. (very big grin)
Caroline: I've gotta ask this, because I grew up in cowboy country and often find myself immune to cowboy heroes: what is the allure of cowboys? In your first book you had your heroine running away from Boston in search of the cowboy life, which—aside from the fact that I LIVE in Boston and LOVE it—well, what woman would trade city plumbing for a ranch's outhouse?
Laura: Are you kidding me?
Caroline: No, actually not. I've seen outhouses. They stink (literally and figuratively). Explain.
Laura: Hello!! Cowboys are real men! They (and by 'they', I mean the heroes in our books, not the black-toothed bad guys you see in movies) live by a code of honesty and integrity. They're stubborn as hell and they don't want anyone—especially some silly little woman—waltzing into their lives and muckin' things up.
Caroline: Did you just call yourself a silly little woman? I am sending this to your husband right now!
Laura: These cowboys think they're so tough—and they usually are—except when it comes to their woman. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, right? And THAT'S the allure of a cowboy. As for the whole plumbing thing—well, let's face it—in fiction, we don't normally discuss the outhouse habits of our characters (big ick factor there).
Caroline: Exactly my point…
Laura: And the fact that they don't have running water in their houses works well for the stories, because then they have to haul those big tubs into the house to have a bath and there's no denying the tension that arises from scenes like that. Even when the hero restrains himself from going inside and jumping into the tub with the bathing heroine, you know he's outside just twitchin' to get in there. Torture—that's what it is. And we love it.
Caroline: OK, so who's your model cowboy? And yes, we require photos for in-depth study.
Laura: What a question! There's so many to choose from—and for so many different reasons. :) Without a doubt, George Strait is one of my all-time favourite models. Besides looking damn good in a pair of Wranglers, his songs are unbelievable, he doesn't come off as conceited or impressed with himself, and he's been married to the same woman for over 30 years. What's not to love about that?
Of course, then there's Matthew McConaughey's Stetson ad, which does for cowboys what Gretzky did for hockey. He's positively yummy.
But I also keep pictures of the traditional cowboys - John Wayne, Roy Rogers, etc, and various pictures I've come across of actual working cowboys. There's something about them that you just can't resist. Well, at least I can't.
Caroline: Gotta admit, you have something there, with that Matthew McConaughey photo. So, what are you working on next?
Laura: Right now I'm working on a historical/paranormal trilogy that involves 3 of Satan's children and their struggles with humans and other beings. It's great because the characters can be so nasty and yet so much fun at the same time. Never having written paranormal before, it's a whole new challenge to me—it's opened a whole new world to me (literally and figuratively!).
I also have a few other ideas for westerns perking in the back of my brain, but I'm not coordinated enough to work on more than one thing at a time, and I'm terrified of jinxing myself if I start jotting notes on anything else while I'm working on a WIP, so I just let it sit there, bubbling and percolating while I finish what I'm doing. Hopefully by that time, the old gray matter will have found the direction the other ideas are supposed to take. Hopefully. :)
Thank you, Laura, for visiting! Charming Jo goes on sale in September, and you can get Laura's previous book, Here Comes the Bride, right now.
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