Kathy: What book do you recommend everyone should read? Do you have a comfort read?
Wow. Tall order for one book. In romance I think everyone should read The Prince Of Midnight. Laura Kinsale is my favorite write for a lot of different reasons, but the number one reason is she writes a legitimately flawed hero I would simply kill or die for. LOVE the Seigneur. Love, love. The hero has an interaction with a half-blind old horse that makes me sob to this day. It just doesn’t get better than Laura Kinsale.
For teen angst, The Metamorphosis by Kafka. I love The Charioteer by Mary Renault or the Brandstetter Series by Joseph Hansen. For awesome fiction. Run, River or anything by Joan Didion.
Kathy: What is your guilty pleasure?
I’d have to say my number one guilty pleasure is binge watching a whole season of a television show all at once. I don’t watch much commercial television and I have few shows that I tune in to when the television people think I should. But if I get stuck or stumped or drained while writing, I will watch an entire season of something like Breaking Bad or Endeavor or my latest obsession The Following, and I’ll let my mind be entertained for a while.
Kathy: Favorite meal?
I love the way my mother made macaroni and cheese. It’s super tasty, and frankly utterly horrible for humans, Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese, butter, pasta, S&P and evaporated milk, in all its junk food glory. I taught my son to make it and now he carries on the tradition. It’s probably my favorite emotionally, but for really excellent everyday eating, I prefer simple food, in season, grilled or roasted simply to bring out whatever its essence should taste like. Throw grilled fish, some shredded cabbage, and pico de gallo on a corn tortilla (like they do at Wahoo’s) and I’m in heaven.
Kathy: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
I think of myself as a mother first anyway, that’s a no brainer. I was a computer programmer, at one time, a hairdresser, a cashier, and I’ve slung hash at the Woolworth’s lunch counter. It’s all the same what I do on the outside, inside, I’m still just making up stories.
Kathy: If you could time travel, what time period would you visit?
Wow this is really hard, because I like now. I love how easy it is to connect with people. How entertaining life is at the push of a button. Right now, having said that, I noticed Google has opened up a research sidebar all about Laura Kinsale and Joan Didion, everything I could want to know is right there. I love the information age.
If I could though, I’d want to live in the jazz age, more specifically, I want to live in the Australian television series The Miss Fisher Mysteries Series simply for all those gorgeous clothes and that amazing lifestyle she has.
Kathy: Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?
I have a few things on the burner. I’ve got a mystery coming from Riptide later this year, and I’m working on another romantic comedy. Plus I’m writing more J-Bar Cowboy stories. I really enjoy small town settings, I like nature, and getting people to open up to one another. There are a lot of reasons for me to write these stories.
The latest is, of course My Heartache Cowboy, about Jimmy Rafferty and Eddie Molina, a couple of middle aged cowboys who have to redefine their friendship when Eddie reveals he’s gay.
Jimmy drinks too much, and things are changing at the J-Bar. They might not have jobs when the dust settles. Eddie takes it upon himself to straighten Jimmy out and get him sober, with some pretty interesting consequences.
Thank you for having me over today!
Kathy: Anytime! Congrats on the release and oh, my goodness, am I ever looking forward to more J-Bar novels!!
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By Z.A. Maxfield
Can love conquer all?
Jimmy Rafferty and Eddie Molina go way back at the J-Bar ranch. They’ve worked together, bunked together, camped out, and drank together. So how has Jimmy failed to notice that Eddie is gay? Eddie has not failed to notice that his friend has a serious drinking problem, and he’s determined to help Jimmy kick the booze cold turkey.
Taking him up to a snowbound cabin to detox, Eddie is confronted with Jimmy’s fierce denial. But the pains of withdrawal are nothing for Jimmy compared with the heartache of denying his true feelings and his deep longing…for the one man who cares for him more than anyone else on earth.
myself in a truck outside in the freezing cold? My pa and my older brother,
Jonas, used to do that. We’d be on the road, and when I fell asleep, they’d
leave me in the parking lot of some dive bar or motel—just leave me asleep
outside in the dark. I’d wake up with no clue where I was, no idea if they were
coming back or if I should go in and try to find them.
hadn’t forgotten what Eddie said. I hadn’t forgotten the plans him and boss
Malloy made for me behind my back. It would serve them right if I up and
hightailed it back to the J-Bar with Eddie’s truck and no Eddie.
Eddie get the idea I’d go quietly? I slid over and tore the wiring out from
under the dash. Found what I needed without hardly even looking.
should . . .
strands and tried again. I was frowning down at the mess of tangled wire when
someone tapped on the window behind me.
at what I’d done to his truck. Serves you right for leaving me
like that, you prick.
opened the door. “One that has a battery.”
you’re talking about. You were sound asleep and I thought maybe you needed it.”
like that.”
was trying to see through my skin. “I didn’t know.”
a fucking duffel bag. You can’t be bothered to even wake me up and take me in
out of the fucking snow.”
the fact. “I’m sorry, Jimmy. I didn’t think how you’d feel waking up alone like
that. I won’t do it again.”
you up here to walk back to civilization, wherever the hell that is. Would have
served you right if I’d died out here.”
me.”
welcoming front door. “I almost didn’t bother to disable the damn thing, but I
thought on the off chance you knew what you were doing and could—”
was a dog and I was supposed to just follow along and yip around at his heels.
tough buzzard. He wasn’t too much older than me, just forty-two compared to my
thirty-eight. But I was a lover, not a fighter, or at least that’s how I
thought of myself. Back there on the road, Eddie had proved he wasn’t above
using violence to get his way in this, so I went along.
nice for the middle of nowhere. There was a place for us to hang our hats just
inside the door, over a table with a passel of pictures on it. There were old
time black-and-whites of families and framed pictures of a good-looking man, a
pretty woman, and some kids. There were some of the kids alone, and holy cow, there were probably a dozen pictures of Ed. He
looked so young in a couple of them, they must have been from before we met.
about the difference in height, the casual way they leaned together, the way
they looked at each other, made me think this was Ed’s friend from the road,
Don. Even though they’d both aged some since it was taken, I was almost sure of
it.
looking, without a doubt. He was lanky and chiseled. He had an intelligent face
and a smile that drew the eye. He seemed sure of himself and charming. Whatever
I’d seen in the darkness outside the car had to be a trick of the light.
breath away. Brawny and tan, he wore a yoked Western shirt with the sleeves
rolled up past well-muscled forearms and he eyed Don like he would follow him anywhere.
Ed, as well.
If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four can find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up housework.”
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This book looks fantastic, the blurb definitely made me want to read it asap.
My Heartache Cowboy sounds really good. Looking forward to reading it. In answer to the question, yes, I have read Lost and Found and I really liked it . Thanks for the giveaway.
I have Lost and Found but have not read yet.
I actually haven’t had much mac & cheese, but I agree that homemade is the way to go (and yay for fish tacos)!
I haven’t read it but I definitely would.
Loved Lost and Found as I loved all the other books of yours that I have read.
I have not yet, and I may read it.
Never read anything by ZA Maxfield but this book sounds amazing.
I haven’t read this series yet but do plan to. Thank you for the interesting interview.
The mac & cheese does sound good. Hot and gooey, just like a comfort food should be.
I haven’t read Lost and Found, but I enjoy the other books that I’ve read by ZAM. So would be interested.
I may read it, but haven’t yet. Thanks for the giveaway!