Today, I have author Elsa Winckler in the interview chair. We’re discussing her latest release, Reckless With the Cowboy, book two in The Westons of Montana, a small-town, contemporary romance. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.
“Becket Weston meets his match when he tries his bad boy skills on the wrong woman.”
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1. Pen or typewriter or computer?
Elsa: I plan my stories with a pencil but once I start writing, it’s on my computer.
2. What made you want to become an author, and do you feel it was the right decision?
Elsa: I’ve always love writing essays while at school but I grew up in a small town where people like authors were from another planet! If it hadn’t been for a competition in a magazine looking for romance stories I don’t think I ever would’ve had the guts to try and send anything to a publisher. Now, of course, I can’t imagine any way of life.
3. Share what a day in the life of an author is like.
Elsa: I get up around seven in the morning, do all the usual chores and try to get in front of my computer by nine except for those days I do online Pilates classes when I only start at ten. I work until lunch time, make sure hubby has something to eat and then I write until about four when it’s time to think about dinner. I try not to write on weekends, but when deadlines are looming, I’ll write on Saturdays. I have also found I need about four weeks a year away from the computer to recharge.
4. Do you have any advice to give to new authors?
Elsa: Reading books on how to write or attending workshops about writing is all well and good but if you want to be writer, you have to sit down and write. Write your story, not anyone else’s.
5. What are you currently reading?
Elsa: I have just finished reading Midnight at the Blackbird Café and loved it. A beautiful story about family, loss, grief, regrets, forgiveness and second chances.
I have a stack of TNR and next is Still life by Louise Penny – a murder mystery.
6. What is your writing process? For instance, do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first?
Elsa: I find inspiration in different kind of things. Sometimes an article I’ve read, something I’ve heard or something that has happened to me. Creating the characters is usually the first step for me. What do they look like? (I have a Pinterest board for inspiration) and then comes the interesting part – who are they, where do they come from, what are their quirks and flaws and what do they want, why can’t they get it?
I usually send the publisher a proposal outlining the story and that is what I use. I don’t plan chapters, though. I have find as I write, I get to know the characters better and they usually tell me what they want to do next.
7. What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Elsa: Don’t try and mimic someone else’s writing. Write your own story. You’re going to be someone’s favorite author!
8. Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
Elsa: Readers of romance novels have very definite expectations of any romance the pick up (as a study by Janice Radway has shown) and you as a writer has to deliver what they are looking for – a handsome hero, gorgeous heroine and a happy ending but it is also the duty of the author to find different and exciting ways to do that – for me, this is the fun part.
9. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Elsa: Writing, like most things in life, is a process. It takes as long as it takes. Some stories bleed from your fingers on to the page, others is like giving birth – a long, and painful process. It doesn’t help to try and force it, though, you’ll only frustrate yourself. Trust the process, is one of my favorite mantras.
10. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of the opposite sex?
Elsa: The way men and women think, is different so writing from a man’s perspective can be challenging but I learn a lot from my husband, two sons and three grandsons! Men don’t think so much about the things that keep us women awake at night J
11. How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?
Elsa: It depends on the story. I try to write two thousand words a day and I love those weeks I have nothing else going on and can just write. I have written a story in three weeks, but it usually takes me anything from four to six weeks.
12. Do you believe in writer’s block?
Elsa: It hasn’t happened to me, yet. I do sometimes get stuck, but that is usually when something is wrong – there isn’t enough conflict or reason for a conflict, or I sometimes I need to change a name!
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Title: Reckless With the Cowboy
Series: The Westons of Montana, Book 2
Author: Elsa Winckler
Genre: Contemporary Small-Town Romance
Blurb: Cowboy Becket Weston likes women, plural, and has a reputation for breaking hearts. His bad-boy behavior masks a deeper need to atone for past mistakes. His side-hustle—using a pseudonym and posting comic drawings of ranch life on social media—lets him explore life, love, and grief without being exposed. He even has a following! But no amount of introspection can explain his fascination with Eleanor Campbell—Main Street, Marietta’s newest shopkeeper. She’s definitely not his type, so why does she keep turning up in his drawings?
Ellie Campbell isn’t one for staying long in any one place, but when she inherits money from her grandmother and decides to open a yarn store in small-town Marietta, it feels like she’s putting down roots. She’s not looking for a relationship after one too many hard knocks, literally, but Becket Weston gets under her skin like no other, igniting passion that’s impossible to ignore.
He’s a bad boy playboy and everyone knows it, but there’s something about him that just doesn’t add up. Does Ellie have the courage to stick around and find a way into his heart?
Available at:
Amazon | Apple | B&N | Google | Kobo
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Title: A Family With the Cowboy
Series: The Westons of Montana, Book 1
Author: Elsa Winckler
Genre: Contemporary Small-Town Romance
Blurb: Widowed rancher Hayden Weston knows what it means to be responsible for his siblings, his eight-year-old son, and the running of the huge family cattle ranch. Some even call him a stern and grumpy taskmaster and they’re not exactly wrong. So when Hayden discovers his son reading a storybook instead of doing chores, he calls on Luke’s teacher to talk about priorities.
School teacher Laura Anderson is new to Marietta, Montana, and has never—until now—been reprimanded for encouraging a child to read. It doesn’t help that sweet Luke’s father is the handsome cowboy with the amber eyes that she met in Grey’s Saloon, or that she’s wildly attracted to him.
Sparks keep flying as their paths keep crossing, but Hayden is determined not to give in to his incomprehensible need to have, hold, and protect Laura from any type of harm. He’s the one who’ll hurt her if he lets her stray too close. He’s not ready to admit his feelings or commit to sharing his life with her.
Even if love comes tumbling in.
Available at:
Amazon | B&N | Apple | Google | Kobo
Grabbing her coat again, she rushed to the door, and while looking down at the buttons of her coat, she flung it open, already moving toward her car. But instead of moving forward, she was abruptly stopped by an unmoving object. She reached out to steady herself and her hands landed on a warm body. Familiar earthy tones of man and musk penetrated her befuddled brain.
Before she could figure out what had happened, big hands closed around her upper arms.
“What the hell?” the same voice rumbled.
Still stunned, she looked up, and up, not wanting to see what she already knew she would see. It was the cowboy from the previous Friday night.
A frown appeared between his eyes as recognition slowly dawned on him.
Eventually, she registered her hands were still spread out over his muscled upper body. Quickly dropping them, she stepped back. “May I help you?” she asked, trying not to look as flustered as she was feeling.
Still frowning, he looked up at the number above the door. “You…you were in Grey’s Saloon last Friday night?”
Nodding briefly, she lifted her chin. “May I help you?”
she asked again.
“Isn’t this Mrs. Denton’s classroom?”
“Mrs. Denton retired at the end of January. I’m the new second-grade teacher.”
His mouth opened and closed a few times. “Why the hell didn’t I know that?”
“Is there a reason you should know?”
“Hell, yes!” he said through clenched teeth. “My son is in this class.”
“Your son?”
“Luke. Luke Weston.”
Ah. Finally, many things made sense. “Well, Mr. Weston, if you or your wife had taken the time to read the letters I sent you last week, you would know that, one”—she ticked on her fingers—“your son has a new teacher, and, two, I would like to make an appointment to see both of you to talk about Luke.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“I would prefer it if your wife…”
“My wife, Miss Whoever-you-are, is dead. If you want to talk about Luke, you talk to me.”
It was her turn to open and close her mouth a few times. Inhaling deeply, she put out a hand. “I’m sorry, Mr. Weston. I’m Laura Anderson and I’m your son’s new teacher. Do you have a few minutes?”
He ignored her hand. “No, I don’t have a few minutes. I have a ranch to run. I’m here to tell you not to give Luke more books to read. He’s neglected his chores, something he’s never done before. I caught him in the barn yesterday afternoon, reading a damn book!”
The way the big man was carrying on, you’d think his son was committing a federal crime. No wonder poor Luke looked so unhappy.
“You should be pleased about that, not mad.”
“I’m not…” he bellowed before he caught himself. Rubbing his face, he turned on his heel. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Mr. Weston,” she called out. “We really should talk.”
He stopped and glared at her over his shoulder. “You wanna talk to me? You come and see me.” And off he stomped.
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I have been reading love stories for as long as I can remember and when I ‘met’ the classic authors like Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James The Brontë sisters, etc. during my Honours studies, I was hooked for life.
I married my college boyfriend and soul mate and after 47 years, 3 interesting and wonderful children and 4 beautiful grandchildren, he still makes me weak in the knees. We are fortunate to live in the picturesque little seaside village of Betty’s Bay, South Africa with the ocean a block away and a beautiful mountain right behind us. And although life so far has not always been an easy ride, it has always been an exciting and interesting one!
I like the heroines in my stories to be beautiful, feisty, independent and headstrong. And the heroes must be strong but possess a generous amount of sensitivity. They are of course, also gorgeous! My stories typically incorporate the family background of the characters to better understand where they come from and who they are when we meet them in the story.
Follow Elsa: Website | Facebook | X | Instagram | Bluesky | Bookbub | Amazon | Goodreads
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Maggie Blackbird 