9/28/2017

On Cowboys, Mickey Mouse, and Ryan Gosling...

Hello! I’m thrilled to finally be part of the Get Lost In A Story blog. It took me a while to officially get started. When Angi invited me we were about two weeks away from our daughter’s wedding, and I was wrapping up a book. I asked Angi if I could come on board after things settled down.

I live in Orlando. Less than a week after I turned in the new manuscript, Hurricane Irma left us without power for eight days. I’m not complaining after watching what the people in the islands and Puerto Rico are suffering. My heart goes out to them. In comparison, my week of “camping out” was a minor inconvenience. Still, it was beginning to feel like I’d never get here. But here I am, just in time to introduce myself and tell you about my brand new release, THE COWBOY WHO GOT AWAY. It’s book twelve in my Celebration, TX series for Harlequin Special Edition.



Before I share the story blurb with you, I wanted to tell you a little bit about myself so we can get to know each other better.

I’ve lived in Florida most of my life. Before we settled here, we lived several different places in the midwest, the south and Europe because my father was in the Air Force. It was my mother’s dream to live in Florida. So, once my father left the Air Force, he made a point of making her dream come true. See, I’ve been surrounded by heroes my entire life.

I sold my first book in 2003. Since then, I’ve sold 39 books.  Before I started writing full-time, I worked as a newspaper reporter and in public relations. While I was in college, I had the opportunity to work on the set of a couple of movie productions, and I was a stand-in on the set of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club -- the show that spawned Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, and Keri Russell. They filmed the show at Disney MGM Studios (as it was called at the time). I started out there working as a temporary free-lance public relations rep for the show's production company during the grand opening of the Disney Studios (Okay, I'm dating myself here). I was the handler for two of the Mouseketeers and I escorted them to their media appointments. I had so much fun that I wasn’t ready to leave when the assignment was over. They asked me to stay on as a stand-in. So, while the Mouseketeers were in rehearsals and working with tutors to keep up with their school work, I would wear a Mouseketeer name tag and stand-in so the production crew could do the camera blocking. It was a blast, but I wouldn’t trade being a romance writer for all the Mouseketeers in the world – not even Ryan Gosling all grown up. Well…on second thought, let me get back to you on that one.

Just kidding! I’ve been happily married for nearly twenty-five years.  Anyway, before I get myself into trouble, here’s the blurb for THE COWBOY WHO GOT AWAY:

From homecoming crowns to wedding rings...

Hunky bull rider Jude Campbell seems to have the world by the proverbial horns. But when the world champion returns to Celebration for his high school reunion, he's confronted by the ghosts he'd worked so hard to forget. Not to mention the high school love who got away…

Bridezilla wrangler Juliette Lowell is as gorgeous and genuine as she was as Jude's homecoming queen. And the spark between them burns as bright as ever. But Jules still smarts from Jude's betrayal years before. And as successful as he seems, Jude's struggling with the prospect of hanging up his spurs. But with his queen, Juliette, by his side, maybe this homecoming will take once and for all… 

If you’d like to get a feel for the book through music, here's a link to the playlist for THE COWBOY WHO GOT AWAYhttp://bit.ly/2k1TITS  The right music always helps me set the tone for my stories.

Now, it’s your turn. Tell me about your favorite job (past or present) and I’ll give one person who comments a tote bag full of books.



29 comments:

  1. My first job was my favorite. I worked in a convent. I was very young and most definitely brought out the maternal side in the Sisters.

    The convent was attached to a hospital. The Nuns were, for the most part, nursing sisters.

    I was employed to help in the convent kitchen and to clean upstairs - bedrooms etc.

    My favorite part of the job was helping to arrange the flowers in the convent chapel.

    Just thinking back makes me smile.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  2. Cool job!

    I never really had a paid job I "loved." It was just a paycheck. Even the ones after college. Being a mom was unpaid, but it was the most rewarding thing I've done. I do enjoy writing.

    denise

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    1. I agree, Denise. Being a mom (and wife) was my absolute favorite job.

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  3. I'm living it right now. After being bullied out of my previous job after 10 years of service, I was fortunate to be hired at a small private University. I am the Administrative Assistant for our Wellness Center here on campus. I work with the school nurses and two counselors. I just love being around the students. I have never worked in an atmosphere where people appreciate what you do and treat you with consideration, compassion and respect.

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    1. Becky, I'm sorry you were bullied. That's terrible. But isn't it great that you were able to find such a great, nurturing place. It sounds ideal.

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  4. I have had two paying jobs I have loved. One was my first job at a savings and loan. It is where I met my hubby. Then I became a teacher. Retired after 34 years and now substitute. Best jobs ever wife, mom, and grandmother!

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    1. Mary, nothing beats a workplace romance! I agree, being a wife and mom is my very favorite job, too.

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  5. So happy to see you posting on GLIAS ! My fav job was a service advisor/cashier for an Oldsmobile dealer in SF (1975-1981) it was just so much fun seeing the old cars coming in and working with the old bats in the office. I just loved diagnosing their cars and then also tending the cashier window when it was slow on the driveway as see woman weren't supposed to be in the service end of the dealer at that time it was stictly a mans job and it was funny to see how after i got all the info and i would ask why they were bringing in their car they would say isn't one of the men coming over I said "Well if you perfer most went with me but the older men had to have a man advising them" . I also had a fun time even when I was at the window cashing them out and you would get a few who after i got everything the requirement was also get a lic # and so on and they would say "Well you don;t know who I am " I would say even if i knew you i still have to do the requirements and that is i need your lic# etc.. so it was a lot of fun I was in the car business for 30 years then went into insurance i managed customer service and loved that.I never went on the sales floor that didn;t interest me or never could i do high pressure selling as I couldn't believe the people that bought cars from salesman and not go straight to the general manager as you skip the commission and the car is cheaper. Then became disabled and hate it so I loved teaching,working at car dealerships in the service end and hate being disabled and not working.

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    1. When you work with the public you meet a lot of interesting characters, don't you? Thanks for the warm welcome to GLIAS!

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  6. I love the job I have now! I do day programming with adults who have developmental disabilities. Working with them for days... weeks... sometimes even months... and then that moment where they "get it" is beautiful. I, also, coach Special Olympics basketball. I've been told I'm quite amusing in my enthusiasm for my team when they're playing. :)

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    1. P.s. Glad you finally made it! LOL

      blameitonabook @ gmail dot com

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    2. Julie, you sound like such a compassionate soul.

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  7. The only job that I've had that I really enjoyed was as a part-time library assistant while I was in college. I enjoyed shelving the books and seeing the new ones that came into the library. I should have known then I needed to switch my major to library science. But I didn't and all of the rest of the jobs that I had were for a paycheck.

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    1. What could be better than being surrounded by books all day, Joan?

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  8. A fav job I have had... working for a lady that had show dogs... I was responsible for the kennel, helped with meds, cleaning, raising pups and even helped out at a few shows! I loved it! greenshamrock atcox dotnet :)

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  9. no fav

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

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  10. Welcome, officially, to the GLIAS crew, Nancy. So happy to see you here. What a positively cool job you had--what a great story. The best job I've had was working as an editor-in-chief for two agricultural magazine. I knew zippo about farming, but boy did I learn a lot. I also got to attend farm equipment trade shows and drive giant tractors before I wrote about them. Oddly it wasn't my FAVORITE job (that was being a mom and, now, being a romance writer) but it was the job that taught me the most about my skills and my craft!

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    1. Thanks so much, Liz! I'm so happy to be here. :) Your agricultural magazine sounds like fun. I feel ya about going in knowing nothing about farming. I covered the banking and finance beat for a business newspaper. I knew nothing about the industry, but I was a fast learner. :)

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  11. Hi Nancy!!!

    How fun to read about your Disney history .. that sounds like so much fun! :)

    My favorite job was when I was the Office Manager for a dozen years or so to a McDonald's Owner/Operator ... YUM!

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  12. I've been blessed in my jobs. The most impactful was working at a local city's Police Dept. But my 2nd job, at Kennedy Space Center as a member of the Space Shuttle support team was the longest and offered so many special memories. For instance the year my boss areanged for me to sit in the commander's seat in the Orbiter while I helped do the brakes testing in prep for launching.

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  13. As I look over the last 55 years of my life, every paid job had pluses and minuses. Can i pick a favorite? -- possibly my time in the accounting dept of an insurance company, or as church secretary.
    But being grandma & great-grandma--- the best.

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  14. Welcome Nancy, thanks for sharing your fun job at Disney MGM! My first ever official job was a part time gig at a fancy hotel. I worked as a banquet server for various events. While I loved working charity events, anniversary and birthday parties, my personal favorites were the weddings and the annual police academy graduation dinner!

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  15. One of My Favorite Jobs was when I worked at our local little newspaper plant we worked in the place where it was printed and put it together with all of the ads and bundled them up for delivery

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    1. Oh and My JOB now is My total Favorite I'm a Stay At Home Mom (But that's almost over also since My Hubby doesn't want any more babies :( I Do though )
      Shared this blog post on Twitter https://twitter.com/LindaMoffitt02/status/915714259430133760

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