A ROSEAHOLIC BY MARGARET TANNER

MY FAVOURITE FLOWER IS THE ROSE - Margaret Tanner

My rose garden is close to my heart, and I tend it with loving care, because roses truly deserve special treatment. No chore to tidy up here. I banish any weed the moment it rears its ugly head near my “lovelies.”

Roses are my favourite flower. My husband thinks I am obsessed with them.  I always wear rose perfume, Bush Rose, Musk Rose. The Yardley (English company) Rose has a lovely perfume, as sweet and fragrant as its namesake. How many wonderful people have you met who are called Rose, Rosy, Rosemarie, Rosemary?

I have to confess that my garden is full of roses. Hubby hates them with a passion because he thinks they deliberately jump out and stick their prickles into him.

I love the old fashioned roses the best. They may not be quite as colourful as the modern day varieties, but they always have a gorgeous perfume.  Just Joey, a beautiful large bloomed orange rose with a delightful perfume is one of my favourites.  Another favourite is a blood red rose named Oklahoma, the perfume is as heady as wine. My garden has recently acquired a rose called. The Chocolate Rose. I have to say that although the bloom is pretty, it isn’t stunning, but it certainly has a chocolate perfume, and you can take that observation from a chocoholic. If there is one thing I know, it is the smell of chocolate.

It amazes me how often I seem to give the characters in my novels a floral name. It must have been an instinctive thing because I don’t recall actively trying to do this.

In Haunted Hearts, the heroine’s daughter is called Rosie. In A Mortal Sin, the heroine is named Daphne. Iris is the wicked mother-in-law in Make Love Not War

I have also written a novel with the title of A Rose In No-Man’s Land, recently re-released by Amazon Encore, and on Pre-Order now. Can you see a pattern here?

                       

So, there you have it. I wonder if there is such a thing as a roseaholic?

I was invited to contribute a Western novella for a Christmas Anthology. There are ten award winning or Amazon best-selling authors taking part. Yes, I was able to fit in a flower. The heroine is called Holly.

SILVER BELLES AND STETSONS

It is on Pre-Release at Amazon for only 99 cents.

My contribution is Cowboy Christmas.

BLURB: Zac Goodman is a gunslinger who is haunted by an injustice from his past. He finds heavily pregnant Holly O’Leary in an abandoned wagon, her cheating husband lying dead a few yards away.

Reluctantly he takes her to his cabin to give birth.

Will this miracle Christmas baby unite two tortured souls? Or will it forever keep them apart.

WIX PAGE FOR ANTHOLOGY

http://shorsnell1955.wix.com/silverbellestetsons

 

AUSTRALIAN WESTERNS - IS THERE SUCH A THING?

MARGARET TANNER’S TAKE ON SHORT STORIES

I don’t normally write short stories, but when I was invited to participate in a Western romance anthology, Rawhide ‘N Roses, I jumped at the chance. There are 14 other authors in this anthology. And I think the blurb we decided on sums it up.

“Saddle up your horses and head out to the heart of the Wild West in this collection of short love stories by authors of Western Romance from all over the country and around the world. Whether your passion is historical or contemporary, there's something inside for everyone.”

Why would an Australian author, who has never written Westerns, be involved you might ask?  What would she know about it? I thought my only qualification was that I used to love reading Zane Grey stories and Michael Landon, from Little House On The Prairie and Bonanza, was my one true love in those days.  Of course, there was Rawhide, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Maverick etc. I devoured all these programs; still watch them if and when they ever come on the TV. The Saturday matinee at the local picture threatre (or as we kids called it, the flea-house), nearly always showed western movies.

Then I got to thinking. My historical romances set in Frontier Australia, are actually not unlike romances set in the American West. Maybe I should categorize my stories as Australian Westerns? Both our countries share a similar history, a savage, untamed land, isolated communities of settlers, and a large single male population with very few young women. With a background like this, what a Pandora ’s Box of ideas and situations writers can play out to the happily ever after conclusion.

The Gunslinger’s Angel, is my contribution to the Rawhide ‘N Roses anthology.

Blurb:

Caleb Devereaux is saved by an angel, but is she of the heavenly variety or a real flesh and blood woman?

Excerpt:

Hot searing pain speared through Cal’s chest with every breath he took. He felt as if a red hot poker gouged his flesh, slowly twisting and turning to increase his torment. Sweat pouring into his eyes blurred his vision. His whole body burned with such intensity he wondered why he didn’t burst into flames.
“This is your first taste of hell, Caleb Devereaux,” he muttered. “Get used to it.” At least he had sent the Tolson brothers on ahead to meet Satan. The fires of hell were probably already burning those vicious hombres to a crisp.
A warm breath fanned his face, followed by the fleeting touch of soft hands stroking his forehead. His eyes creaked open and an angel’s face hovered above him. She had milky white skin, huge pale blue eyes and golden hair. A whiff of lavender infused his nostrils. Did angels smell of lavender?
He couldn’t see her wings, and she wore blue rather than white. There had to be a mistake. Why had he gone to heaven instead of hell? His life was not without blemish. He had killed a dozen or more men, but never shot a man in the back, didn’t need to when he was lightning fast on the draw. As a boy, he had stolen food after escaping the clutches of his drunken parents. Maybe he wasn’t evil enough for hell, but he was hardly suitable for heaven.
“Here, drink this.” The angel’s voice caressed him.
Water trickling down his throat washed away the dusty dryness.

“Australian Westerns” I have written.

Savage Possession

A sweeping tale of love's triumph over tragedy and treachery in frontier Australia.

A mistaken identity opens the door for Martin Mulvaney to take his revenge on the granddaughter of his mortal enemy.

Fiery Possession

American Wild West versus Australian frontier.

Explosive results and tragedy follow Jo Saunders and Luke Campton when they cross the fine line dividing love and hate.

Frontier Belle

Her feats of daring intrigued him, but her beauty scared the hell out of him.

Only in the new world can a highborn young Englishwoman and a tough frontier man, ignite the passion that will fulfil their hopes and dreams.

Check out these and other books on my website

REVOLUTION - MARGARET TANNER

REVOLUTION – WELL NOT REALLY - MARGARET TANNER

I wouldn’t call this a revolution in the literal sense, but it was a revolution for me, well maybe a light bulb moment. I have actually written a Western Romance. Admittedly it is only a short story, but I was tremendously excited when I was invited to contribute to this Western Anthology – Rawhide ‘n Roses, which is due out in early March 2014. There are fifteen top Western Romance authors and lil-ol-me. 

As many of you would know, I write Australian historical romance, but there are many similarities between the American West and Frontier Australia. Stories abound of brave men and women fighting a hostile environment, and overcoming tremendous odds in their endeavours to settle the far corners of our countries.

Of course, I have always liked reading western novels, Zane Grey was my favourite. I was enthralled by all the western shows on TV.  Little House On The Prairie, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Bonanza and Rifleman, just to name a few, so when I think about it, I wonder why I didn’t try to write a western much earlier.

RAWHIDE ‘N ROSES – A Western Romance Anthology.

An extract from my contribution – The Gunslinger’s Angel.

Hot searing pain speared through Cal’s chest with every breath he took. He felt as if a red hot poker gouged his flesh, slowly twisting and turning to increase his torment. Sweat pouring into his eyes blurred his vision. His whole body burned with such intensity he wondered why he didn’t burst into flames.

“This is your first taste of hell, Caleb Devereaux,” he muttered. “Get used to it.” At least he had sent the Tolson brothers on ahead to meet Satan. The fires of hell were probably already burning those vicious hombres to a crisp.

A warm breath fanned his face, followed by the fleeting touch of soft hands stroking his forehead. His eyes creaked open and an angel’s face hovered above him. She had milky white skin, huge pale blue eyes and golden hair. A whiff of lavender infused his nostrils. Did angels smell of lavender?

He couldn’t see her wings, and she wore blue rather than white. There had to be a mistake. Why had he gone to heaven instead of hell? His life was not without blemish. He had killed a dozen or more men, but never shot a man in the back, didn’t need to when he was lightning fast on the draw. As a boy, he had stolen food after escaping the clutches of his drunken parents. Maybe he wasn’t evil enough for hell, but he was hardly suitable for heaven.

“Here, drink this.” The angel’s voice caressed him.

Water trickling down his throat washed away the dusty dryness.

“I have to stop the bleeding and get you home,” she murmured.

Laura glanced into the man’s ashen face, another couple of inches to the left and the bullet would have killed him. His horse grazed nearby, obviously well trained as he had deposited his master near this clump of trees and saved him from the searing heat that had baked the road.

The man wore his guns slung low over his hips. A gunfighter perhaps? She eased both guns out of the holsters and dashed over to her buckboard. She threw them under the seat before lowering the tailboard.

A black Stetson lay on the ground beside him, dusty and sweat stained like his clothes.  She didn’t have the strength to get him up on the front seat, but with her help he might be able to drag himself into the back.

She caught the trailing reins of his foam-flecked horse and secured it to the buckboard. That was the easy part, now she had to somehow move the man.

Her legs trembled as her anxiety escalated. What if he was an outlaw, a killer on the run? Dare she risk taking him to her ranch where she lived alone?

By the time she rode for help and returned he would be dead. She had removed his guns, his rifle was on his horse, and he was too weak to attack her, loss of blood and dehydration had seen to that.

“Stop dithering,” she muttered, “you can’t leave him here to die.”

She leaned over him and brushed a damp, tendril from his forehead. His breathing was harsh and labored his ashen face shiny with sweat.

“You have to stand up.” She tapped his cheek. He didn’t move, so she slapped him. “Wake up.”

He groaned, but his eyes remained closed. She hated doing it, but she grabbed him by the shoulder. He cussed with pain but his eyes opened.

“You must get up so I can take you home.”

“Home?” his voice was husky but not uncouth. “I’m not going anywhere, angel, I’m staying here in heaven with you.”

The man was obviously delirious. “I’m Laura.”

“Laura the angel?”

 

Margaret Tanner’s website: http://www.margarettanner.com/