My Texas Heritage & A Texas-themed Giveaway

Keli Gwyn here to talk about my ties to Texas.

Wow! Can you believe all the great posts published and prizes given away on the blog so far? What fun! Don’t miss my giveaway, which you’ll find at the bottom of the post.

I was honored when Erica asked if I’d like to write a story for the Seven Brides for Seven Texans Romance Collection. You might think I accepted right away, but I didn’t.

Although I loved the setup for the stories, with GW Hart’s edict—marry or you’ll lose your inheritance—it was the setting itself that stopped me. All my stories before this one had taken place here in California’s Gold Country, where I live.

Erica overcame my hesitation when she suggested creating a Hart brother hero who had spent time in California. When I heard that, ideas began dancing in my head, and I said yes.

Another reason I warmed to the idea of writing a Texas-set story is that I have ties to Texas. My mother grew up in a small town in West Texas. When my husband and I were dating, one of the surprising discoveries we made was that his father grew up in that very same town! We have ancestors buried in the same cemetery.

Writing “A Love Returned,” the story of the middle Hart brother, Houston, gave me the opportunity to stretch myself as a writer. Despite my Texas heritage, my personal experience is limited, having only visited the Lone Star State three times.

One of those trips took place when I was five, so that doesn’t really count. Another trip was for a writer’s conference where I never left the hotel complex at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. The third trip was short. We only visited the town where our parents had lived. Clearly, I need to know more about the area around our fictional Hartville before I could write the story.

I’m grateful for Google. I was able to learn a lot using their search feature, but I wanted to talk with people who’d lived in the area where the Hart family ranch is situated. Thankfully, I have a fellow author friend who spent several years there. Plus, one of my husband’s cousin grew up nearby. They were able to give me a well-rounded picture, complete with the sights, sounds and smells.

Writing a story set in Texas gave me a way to honor my Texas heritage. I also got to talk about things that would never show up in my California-set stories, such as armadillos, which was fun. I’m thankful for being one of the authors in the collection with the privilege of bringing one of the Hart brothers and his sweetheart to life.

Questions for You

Do you live in Texas or have any ties to the Lone Star State?

If you’ve visited Texas, what sights were you able to see?

If you haven’t been to Texas, what sights would you most like to see?

The E-x-p-a-n-d-i-n-g Giveaway

If you like the giveaways, you’re going to be excited about those I have planned this week. It starts with a fun prize package today that includes three items. Each day’s prize package gets BIGGER and better, ending with SEVEN items on Friday. You won’t want to miss a single post this week—or your chance to win.

 Today’s prize is three tasty Texas treats. The winner will receive a Texas Millionaire, a Texas Longhorn and a pecan praline. Talk about a tasty trio. Yum!

To enter the giveaway each day, all you have to do is leave a comment with the answer to one of the questions above by midnight EST. I’ll choose the winner using random.org and will announce the winner’s name in the following day’s post, so be sure to check back to find out who won. (I’ll ask Erica to include Friday’s winner in her Saturday post.)

We’re saving our biggest and best prize for the final post in three weeks, when Erica will announce the winner of our Kindle Fire giveaway. One lucky winner will receive a Kindle Fire loaded with other books written by the authors of the Seven Brides for Seven Texans Romance Collection. You can enter the giveaway below, if you haven’t already done so.

a Rafflecopter giveaway