Something New

Welcome once again to the new/old Intrigue authors' blog!  As we kick off our new(ish) blog and six new Intrigues are being released, this seems like a fitting time to talk about new things.  Not to mention, when I signed up to blog on this date, I had a topic in mind...which I now can't remember.  So I needed to come up with...you guessed it, something new.

My latest Intrigue, HER COWBOY DEFENDER, happens to be one of those new February releases.  It's also something new for me in several ways.  It's my third "Thriller" for the line, but also the first book where I specifically set out to write a "Thriller."  You see, when I wrote my first Intrigue, STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT, I didn't know Intrigue was going to be publishing some really fast-paced, action-packed books that would be specially designated as "Thriller"s.  I was just writing the story I wanted to tell, and the promotion was only just being planned when I sold the book.  Luckily, I was fortunate enough to have the editors think STRANGERS was perfect for the promotion. So what was originally intended to be a set of three books became four and STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT was included in that first batch of "Thriller"s.  Likewise, my last Intrigue, CIRCUMSTANTIAL MARRIAGE, was just a story I'd wanted to tell for a long time and had been waiting to write.  Sure, I knew it was a political thriller and wanted to give it a bigger, more mainstream feel, but was it exciting enough to be dubbed an Intrigue "Thriller"? As it turned out, it was.

With this book though, I really wanted to slam on the accelerator and write a story that simply moved a lot faster than any I'd written before.  I looked at it like an action movie, one that starts off with a bang, takes off and really keeps moving.  Most of my stories are mystery-driven, and while this one does have some things the characters need to figure out, it's more about dire situations and the obstacles they have to overcome.  Most of this story also takes place over the shortest timespan of any of my books so far--less than forty-eight hours--which made telling a romance particularly challenging.  It was a lot of fun to try, and in the end, it's a story I really hope will keep readers turning the pages to see how it will all turn out.

It's also my first book with a Western setting and a cowboy hero, two other elements that are new for me.  I've driven across the country a few times, and I love the feeling of the open road and the epic grandeur of those Western landscapes that are simply amazing to behold and be surrounded by.  I also love road romances, and always wanted to tell a story set among the long, lonely roads out West.  So I began HER COWBOY DEFENDER by stranding the heroine on one of those desert roads, with a broken-down car and thirty minutes to get to a designated rendezvous point or someone she cares about will be killed.  Just when she least expects it and needs it most, someone comes along.  Naturally it's a cowboy, or more important for her purposes, a cowboy with a functioning truck.  So she pulls a gun and promptly hijacks him.  And that's just the first five pages.

Want to know what happens next?  The book is out now!  (And I guess I'd be remiss not to mention that the print edition happens to be 40% off as part of eHarlequin's Cowboys on a Budget sale, which is new too!)

Whew!  So that's what's new with me.  What about you?  The year is still new; how's 2012 treating you?  Anything new and exciting?  Tried anything new lately you're happy about?  Feel free to share, or say anything at all, and one commenter will win a copy of my previous Thriller, CIRCUMSTANTIAL MARRIAGE, to be drawn tomorrow (2/3/12). (And to read more about CIRCUMSTANTIAL MARRIAGE and HER COWBOY DEFENDER, check out my blog post from last year "Playing the Name Game".)

Happy reading!

Kerry Connor
www.kerryconnor.com
A HARD MAN TO FORGET - ebook exclusive - January 2012
HER COWBOY DEFENDER - February 2012
HER COWBOY AVENGER - August 2012