Calisa Rhose – Horse Lover, Author Advocate, Author and Editor

I would like to welcome Calisa Rhose to Hipwaders vs Heels…Not only is Calisa a horse lover, an editor and a huge advocate in posting book covers and book trailers for authors on her blog, but she is an author with a new March 4, 2013 release, ‘Risk Factors‘ with Lyrical Press.  I must warn you…once you start reading this book…make sure you have time to finish it in one read… 

Congratulations, Calisa, on your release of ‘Risk Factors’, a contemporary romance! 

Thank you, Kay! I’m very excited about this story. It’s been through the publishing mill before my dear editor read it and loved it.

Vivian Dane, a veterinarian, and Connor McKay, a medi-flight emt, meet right away in a life threatening situation.  What drew your muse to place Vivian and Connor in their career paths? 

 Well, it was supposed to be a medical (for Mills & Boon) so at least one, but preferably both, characters needed a profession in medicine- a path I personally know nothing about. I do, however, know a little something about veterinary medicine. Growing up my sister and I pretty much taught ourselves as much as we could about animal medicine and asked our vets what we didn’t know of the basics. At sixteen I cured my first dog of parvovirus and prior to that we both had treated minor ailments of many animals over the years since we were kids. It seemed natural to let Viv take that role on in RF. I had help from vet friends too. As far as Connor goes- he chose his career and left me to struggle to figure out what it was he did and how. I found a wonderful contact who was more than willing to help me with the technical stuff, having been a medflight nurse for twenty years. She asked me not to give her any credit but she was a source I value for the success in writing this book.

There is a particular scene where Vivian’s hand is placed over a wound and her reaction to human blood makes getting through this a challenge for her.  As writers, we tend to place a little bit of ourselves into our heroes and heroines.  In this particular scene, is this something you can relate to? 

 Not really. I mean, I wanted to be a nurse growing up, but as for her situation- absolutely no connection. I needed her to be in a tough spot to show Connor her vulnerability and I thought it would be fun since she’s a veterinarian if she was squeamish around human blood. Add depth, a puzzle piece to her persona. Hopefully it worked.

What are Vivian’s and Connor’s greatest challenges of their hearts? 

Boy- you ask the tough ones. I’ll do my best to answer without spoilers. LOL

Viv has always been under her daddy’s thumb, but sort of ignored by her parents. It’s her greatest desire to have a family and not worry about what her parents think of her. That’s hard for her, but when she meets Connor hard doesn’t matter.

Connor has been abandoned by almost every woman he’s ever loved so trust is not something he’s able to do, no matter how much he finds himself drawn to Viv. He fights it every step of the way, too.

What does it take to win Vivian and Connor’s heart, to get through the black moments, the barriers of their hearts?

 Well, as with any couple, they have to learn to lean on one another in the hard times and to give part of themselves they normally wouldn’t. It’s the journey that makes them stronger and able to realize they can make it if they stick together.

Did Vivian and Connor fight your muse when she began taking her spin on their creation?

 Not at all. She sat back and let them take the reins, so to speak. They told their story the way they wanted it to be told.

How do you get your creative juices flowing when ‘writer’s block’, as some call it, pop up?  Do you and Sonny Delight, your Quarter Horse, take off for awhile and run with the deer or take an off-beaten trail to let your mind and spirit flow? 

 I wish! I live on three acres, wooded, so not much riding room. But we will be going out to other places this summer. I do like to pamper him while I think though. Brushing a horse is wonderful therapy.

I’d like to stray for a moment for those of us who are horse lovers, how many hands is Sonny Delight? 

 My Sonny Boy is a little over 15 hands, and for those not horse-knowledgeable, that’s pretty tall. One hand is approximately 4½” inches so @67.5 inches at his shoulders, or between 5½ and 6 feet. I’m 5’ so just getting on him is a days’ exercise! LOL

Is Sonny Delight ridden for pleasure only or does he barrel race?  We would love to hear more!

My daughter bought Sonny for me when I first moved back to Oklahoma in 2007. I taught my eight-year-old granddaughter to ride on him when she was only two. If you ask her today, she’ll tell you Sonny is her horse- but she lets me ride him. LOL My niece used him to teach young girls to ride and they took him to the big horse show, NOESHA, where he placed all over (depending on the rider’s ability) from second to fifth place in various categories. In his younger days, before I got him, he took quite a few first place ribbons at western pleasure, English and other categories at the same big show. He’s been used for ranching I was told, English riding and western pleasure.

He’s almost 21 years old now and we only ride for pleasure these days, but we’ve had our fun riding barrels and play days. We’ve taken a decent time on ‘poles’, ‘flags’ and other ‘horsey’ games as well. 

As you can probably tell, I could go on all day about my sweet boy. LOL

I am drooling over these pictures, Calisa!  Thank you for sharing them…I read you write vintage historical and contemporary.  What is the difference, for those unsure of genres and sub-genres, between historical and vintage historical? 

 I don’t actually write vintage, though that’s what Home, my first book, a novella and part of a series called Tales of the Scrimshaw Doll published by The Wild Rose Press (you can find all of these books by various Oklahoma authors here: http://talesofthescrimshawdoll.wordpress.com), is. That was unplanned, but I’m a character-driven writer so when they said they lived in 1967 Vietnam era- who was I to argue? I’ve always been intrigued by that time anyway, so was more than happy to write in the time. So that is my one and only vintage book. I didn’t know the difference between vintage and historical until I wrote Home. I learned historical is any time before 1900(?)and vintage is between then and the not-so-present present, about 1999 or so, I think. I think of vintage as a modern historical.

What is your favorite genre to write? 

My favorite is definitely contemporary, cowboys, first responders, firemen…but I also dabble in paranormal and that’s a lot of fun. 

I was very interested to read you are branching out to include your Cherokee heritage in a wolf shifter series based on legends.  Having found out my maternal side of the family has Cherokee in our bloodlines, I love reading about legends in general.  How did you come up with the series and how much research did you find yourself immersed within the Cherokee legends?  

Hoo boy- Lots! I was sitting around one night and this green-eyed man began talking to me and told me his name was Logan Gray, as in gray wolf. It went from there and was coming together as one book about a band of Cherokee Indians who were cursed long ago. I began looking up curses first, then talked to my brother and he gave me some other legends to explore about flying creatures who steal hearts of the sick and dying without being visible to any but the medicine man. That was the only being they feared in their sigili form because if he saw them they would die. If anyone else recognized them for what they truly were while in their human form they would die within seven days.

To top it off, while I was researching these beings of Cherokee lore PC Cast came out with her vampire YA series House of Night in which she incorporates a totally different version of sigilis. I was floored we both came up with these things around the same time–though she published first. Not that my series is anything like hers, but it was interesting. And her series is fantastic! I’ve almost read them all finally.

The research became overwhelming at times. I discovered early on that I wouldn’t be able to use everything I read! LOL

But it was one book and then a critique partner suggested I make it a series when one of the secondary characters continued trying to take over. I gave in and gave Logan’s younger brother Jon his own story. There are three brothers and a few bandmates who want their stories told now, and I’m still trying to figure out how to split one book into many. See, originally my single heroine had various gifts that must now be shared with several heroines to make the series work. It’s a challenge.

If it’s ok, I’ll share the blurb for ‘Risk Factors’.

Most definitely, Calisa!

Tagline: Love, like life, is not without risk.

Blurb:

Veterinarian Vivian Dane has purchased her uncle’s practice in the tiny town of Wales, Missouri, where most residents still doubt her ability to treat their pets. But Viv is used to being considered less-worthy than her predecessors. After all, her parents are world-renowned wildlife vets, and most everyone is unimpressed she’s chosen to not follow directly in their footsteps.

Now Connor, a patient’s owner, is hot for Viv, but clearly doesn’t think she’s dating material because he has a daughter…who he believes no woman is good enough for. Being a perfect dad is EMT paramedic Connor’s life focus. He can’t seem to stay away from sexy Doctor Viv, but attraction is as far as he’ll ever let it go. His mother abandoned him, leaving him to be raised in the foster system, and then his wife abandoned both him and their daughter. He absolutely will not risk bringing another woman into his little girl’s life and having her feel the hurt of being left…again. Forfeiting is easier than attempting and failing. So why does Viv feel compelled to prove she’s a sure bet for Connor and his daughter? Can Connor trust Viv–and himself–enough to play the possibilities?

Amazon- http://is.gd/OOGR4t  

B&N- http://is.gd/PfGvg9

iTunes- http://is.gd/J2aelz

Also, Risk Factors is on Authorgraph! Get your copy signed. http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/CalisaRhose

Author Bio:

Calisa Rhose is an Okie, born and bred, through and through, and proud of it. While growing up, when she wasn’t on the back of a horse, she could be found with pen and paper in hand. Her writing career began with poetry in her younger days. Then she discovered Rock-n-Roll and cute musicians. Poetry turned into stories of romance and dreams. These days she lives with the same man who convinced her to take a romantic journey with him almost 30 years ago. After raising three strong daughters she spends her days loving their granddaughters, hoping for a boy someday, and writing. When she’s not writing, you can find Calisa putting on her editor hat and working to help other published and aspiring writers.

She is working on more projects with her favored contemporary cowboys, first responders  and firemen, as well as, the occasional ‘other’ heroes- and their sexy female counterparts, those sassy, stubborn heroines.

Find Calisa at her website/blog http://calisarhose.com

Twitter@CalisaRhose, Facebook/Calisa Rhose, Goodreads, Pinterest and Amazon

Thank you so much for having me over today, Kay! It’s been fun and I look forward to chatting with your guests. I’d like to ask readers what is your favorite genre to read? Why?

It has been a delight to spend time with you, Calisa.  Thank you for being such an advocate for authors in posting book covers and book trailers.  It is very appreciated!  I look forward to our next interview 🙂

 Kay