Interview with Jodi Thomas Lone Heart Pass

I'm so honored to be bringing to you today my interview with NYT bestselling author Jodi Thomas. She's here to chat about her newest Ransom Canyon novel Lone Heart Pass but I think along the way you'll also learn a few very interesting things about the fabulous author as well.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 9780373789214
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: 04/26/2016
Length: 352pp
Buy It: B&N/Amazon/Kobo/IndieBound

Overview

Where family bonds are made and broken, and where young love sparks as old flames grow dim, Ransom Canyon is ready to welcome—and shelter—those who need it

With a career and a relationship in ruins, Jubilee Hamilton is left reeling from a fast fall to the bottom. The run-down Texas farm she's inherited is a far cry from the second chance she hoped for, but it and the abrasive foreman she's forced to hire are all she's got.

Every time Charley Collins has let a woman get close, he's been burned. So Lone Heart ranch and the contrary woman who owns it are merely a means to an end, until Jubilee tempts him to take another risk—to stop resisting the attraction drawing them together despite all his hard-learned logic.

Desperation is all young Thatcher Jones knows. And when he finds himself mixed up in a murder investigation, his only protection is the shelter of a man and woman who—just like him—need someone to trust.

Jodi Hi! Welcome to The Reading Frenzy.
Tell my readers a bit about your new novel Lone Heart Pass.

Hello everyone.  

I had a great time writing Lone Heart Pass.  There were so many places where I stopped to laugh at my characters.

The book is about a woman, Jubilee, whose career and relationship both crash and all she wants to do is go back to the one place where she was happy as a child, her grandfather’s farm.  She’s lost and alone on a farm that has been neglected after her grandfather died leaving her the place.

I picked Charley for my hero.  His good looks have gotten him in trouble since high school and all he wants to do now is avoid women and raise Lillie, who is five.  When he hires on at the Lone Heart, he’s trying to scrape enough money together for a chance at his dreams.

They soon learn they have to work together to have a chance of surviving.

This is part of your Ransom Canyon series. 

Yes.  It’s the third book.

How are the books related? 

Each story is based on a ranch that runs along the canyon.  Though characters from different books play parts in each novel, each book has its own set of main characters.  I’m hoping, by the time the readers finish the series, they’ll feel like they know the small town of Crossroads with ranches and farms surrounding it.

Jodi, you pen many novels in your home state of Texas.
Is it because of the familiarity of the locales or your being a loyal Texan?

I’m fifth generation Texas.  I come from a small town.  I even have a slight limp from a fall I took off a horse.  You can’t get much more Texan than that.

But it’s not the state or the even the land that I love that keeps me writing about Texas locations.  It’s the people.  Here we’re only a few generations from the people who settled this wild country.

There is an independence here.  I saw a sign the other day that said, “Real Women shoot their own rattle snakes.”  And another that said, ‘If you’re trespassing, you should know, we don’t bother to call 911.’

There’s also a loving here, of family, of country and of freedom.  Sometimes I swear I’m living in a country song.

You are the Writer in Residence at West Texas A&M University.
What exactly does that mean?

Fourteen years ago, the president of the university asked me if I’d be Writer in Residence after I spoke at a new library.  I gave away my books to all who’d donated that night and he was the last in line.  When he asked to speak to me I thought he wanted to write a book.

I asked what would be my duties and he said, “You’ll figure it out.”

I’ve got a great office big enough to hold my staff (two part-time people). I keep office hours four mornings a week and students on campus as well as writers in the community just seem to find me. We talk writing.  I host critique in small groups when I’m not traveling to speak.

In the past two weeks I’ve given talks at two colleges, one grade school, a red hat group and a B&N.  I love to help people on their journey to become writers because like most writers, I’m a reader too.

Jodi, in your bio you mention how important it is to let your students know that writing can be a viable career.
Did you have someone who encouraged you to write?

My husband never hesitated in his belief that I could write.  He worried about the hours of sleep I missed, but he never doubted me.

Once when I was starting out I was frustrated about never having time to write between teaching, raising two boys and doing all the other things people do.  My husband asked how much time I needed and I said, “If I just had one more hour.”

He smiled.  “I’ll do the dishes.  I’ll put the boys to bed and take care of the boomerang hour.  You go write.”

I truly believe that extra hour was what made my career possible.  Thirty years later I still climb the stairs after dinner and write.  Sometimes an hour.  Sometimes late into the night.

By the way, my husband still does the dishes.  My sons are grown, but they do the dishes at their homes.   After all, it’s a man’s job.

What is the last book you recommended to a friend?

 Linda Broday’s Twice a Texas Bride

Jod,i your bio says that you and your husband bought a historic home in Amarillo.

I looked for three years for the perfect house.  I wanted a place that breathed.   My husband’s first comment when we walked in the door was “Hope it doesn’t snore.”

What’s the best thing about owning a historic home?

 I love the detail and the touches that people have added over the years.  I love that every window has a beautiful view of trees (something rare around here).  I even love the way the floors creek.

What’s the worst thing?

 My plumber and carpenter are almost part of the family.  The “to do” list never ends.  Know anyone who can fix a chimney?

You write both contemporary and historical novels.
Do you prefer one over the other?  I enjoy writing them both.

I can step into history so easily and so deep that when the phone rings a freeze for a moment trying to figure out what it is.

But, in contemporary, I love to tell stories of a town where people’s lives intertwine.

Jodi, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions.
Will you be attending any author/signing events in the near future and are they listed on your website?

Yes, I will be signing at Barnes and Noble in Lubbock, Texas, on April 30; Book Expo America in Chicago in May, and at RWA in San Diego in July. Visit my website at www.jodithomas.com.

The Ransom Canyon series

Connect with Jodi - Website - Facebook - Twitter 

Meet Jodi:New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas is a fifth-generation Texan who sets many of her stories in her home state, where her grandmother was born in a covered wagon. She is a certified marriage and family counselor, a Texas Tech graduate and writer-in-residence at West Texas A&M University. She lives with her husband in Amarillo, Texas.

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