It seems I’ve surprised a lot of
readers in making a switch from 18th century rakes to 21st
century cowboys. To be honest, I’ve surprised myself, as it was never anything
I planned or even desired to do, but SLOW HAND marks the start of a whole new
writing journey for me.
The story behind the story is that
my good friend and beta reader nagged me for almost two years to write a
contemporary story but I felt no deep driving interest in it. The biggest
reason I balked was my addiction to research. I love history. I read history
for fun and I am a compulsive researcher.
This is also where I get my story ideas from. Trivial tidbits discovered
by chance always seem to ignite my creative brain.
Until about eighteen months ago, I
was writing under the false assumption that I live in the contemporary world,
ergo I don’t need to research it. I can’t believe how wrong I was! Once I
decided to write a contemporary Western series, I realized how little I
actually knew about my subject!
Having owned, trained, and shown
them in my life, I know a quite a bit about horses, and have even been around a
few cowboys, but I knew nothing at all about Montana or cattle ranching. My solution
to this was to go about writing in the only way I knew how—by following exactly
the same process I would use if I were writing a historical. Ironically, this has
opened a whole new world to me.
My first story takes place in
southwest Montana. Since I had never been there, I started digging. I studied
maps, googled places for my settings, and then went about learning all I could
about cattle ranching and cowboys. I quickly discovered that my best possible
source was– ranchers and cowboys!
Thus began an incredible journey,
literally and figuratively. Last year I spend almost three weeks in a guest
cabin at a private ranch in Three Fork Montana. I made a similar trip to
Wyoming last May for the same purpose. Over the past eighteen months, I have
gotten to know ranchers, rodeo cowboys, stock contractors, and wild horse
trainers. I’ve learned about raising and breeding cattle, wolf conservation,
and wild horse gathering and training (all of which is part of this series). This
has been one of the best experiences ever because I got to know and love the
people who actually live the life I am writing about. In getting to know the
people and their real life struggles I found my inspiration for the stories and
for my characters.
Although this new endeavor marks a
distinct departure from my historical romances, my readers will find that my
trademarks still remain—well-researched, scorching hot, emotionally compelling,
character-driven stories.
ABOUT VICTORIA VANE
Victoria Vane is an
award-winning author of smart and sexy romance. Her works range from historical
to contemporary settings and include everything from wild comedic romps to
emotionally compelling erotic romance. Her books have received more than twenty
reviewer awards and nominations to include the 2014 RONE Award for Treacherous
Temptations and Library Journal Best E-Book romance of 2012 for The Devil
DeVere series. She lives the beautiful upstate of South Carolina with her
husband, two sons, a little black dog, and an Arabian horse.
Contact Victoria:
Email: victoria.vane@hotmail.com
Website: www.victoriavane.com
Blog: www.embracingromance.com
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/YVeXrf
Twitter:
@authorvictoriav
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/1vONQZh
Amazon: http://amzn.to/10QMKT5
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1sccsM4
YouTube : http://bit.ly/1yNtEMP
For more photos of Victoria's research for Slow Hand check out her Facebook album and Pinterest page.
Praise for SLOW HAND:
"Historical romance author Vane takes a detour into contemporary settings with this red-hot cowboy tale… Well-paced, scorching scenes and witty banter…" - Publishers Weekly
"SLOW HAND by Victoria Vane is
delightful, funny, page turning steamy sexy, and the romance between Wade and
Nikki make you wish you could pull Victoria's characters straight off the page
and into real life…" - Unwrapping
Romance
“For erotic passion and one-liners, the first book in Vane’s new series will satisfy... Vane’s latest gets a big yee-haw.” - RT Book Reviews
"With flirty dialogue,
humorous moments, vivid imagery and sexy scenes, SLOW HAND goes into my
favorites folder." - Guilty
Indulgence
"This is a really sweet story
that'll renew your believe in fate, soul mates and true love." -Fictional Men's Page for Book Ho's
Nice way to do research! I remember chatting with you about your experiences in Montana, and I've been anticipating the book!
ReplyDeleteHis Shana! This series really opened up a whole new world to me and now I am trying to bring it as vividly as I can to the readers! :-)
DeleteInteresting post, Victoria. When I read Slow Hand, I figured you had done your research well. And no doubt, you have a genuine love of horses. I can't wait to read Rough Rider! LOL
ReplyDeleteHi Vikki! Rough Rider might be my favorite story. Every bit of it felt so real to me. It's the first and only book that ever made me cry as I was writing it!
DeleteCongratulations on the new release, the new experiences and all the fun that boot scootin' cowboys bring into your life!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It has been a great ride, Carolyn!
Delete