with Tammy Barley

Welcome to Reflections, Tammy!
Tell us about your epiphany moment when you decided you were going to seriously pursue writing and eventually publication.
Epiphany—what an apt description for what happened. I was praying one night shortly after I graduated high school. I asked God, “What am I supposed to do with my life?” Then I heard His voice in the dark beside me, “You’re supposed to be a writer.”

Which of your books (published or upcoming) has been the most fun for you to write and which character is your favorite?
In truth, I’ve loved each one of them. They’re passionate, suspenseful, and adventurous. I love the writing style that I’ve worked so hard to deliver—My novels carry you back in time to the far reaches of the American West, place you into the saddle of a running horse, and slip you into the cool water of a purling river on a sweltering summer night. I write that you may experience it all firsthand, the stories unfolding around you, woven throughout with bold, unforgettable men and plenty of romance.

My favorite character—Taggart. Definitely. He’s a burly Irish ranch hand with a great sense of humor. I’d originally intended him to be a minor character, but he had other intentions.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?
I danced down Hollywood Boulevard with a mime who was wearing a tux. Quirky to me; the norm in Hollywood. =)

Are there certain foods or snacks that keep the words flowing for you?
Coffee. Coffee is my Eureka, my very own Eldorado. Add a little to a hot cocoa, or add a little cocoa to it. Coffee is proof God loves us.

When is your next book due out and can you tell us about it?
Due date unknown as of today. Recently, I returned from an unforgettable trip out West, where I dove into research for my next trilogy, set in the gorgeous Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. I actually stayed at a bunkhouse on a llama ranch that had the world’s cutest baby llama (the ranch will appear in the next trilogy, but not the llamas), and I stood beside several of the most stunning waterfalls I’ve ever seen, which are also part of the setting. I’m so excited to see how the new series is unfolding.

Here’s an excerpt of Faith’s Reward:

Honey Lake Valley, northern California
January 1865

“Jake?”

Jessica Bennett jolted upright in bed, her hand trembling as it searched the cold sheets in the darkness beside her. Her fingers brushed Jake’s equally cold pillow, then the soft fur of the cat that huddled on it, the only trace of warmth in the place where her husband had gone to sleep beside her. “Jake?”

Wind rattled the windowpane with nearly enough force to crack it. The terrible cold seeped through the glass and turned the bedroom to ice. Jess hugged her flannel nightgown firmly to her and sat still and alert, straining to hear over the storm for any indication of movement in the house, either upstairs or downstairs. She heard no thud of boot heels on the plank floor, no jingle of spurs to suggest any presence inside the house but hers.

Judging by the thick darkness, dawn was still hours away. Though she and Jake had worked until they were exhausted—sometime after midnight—he must have rested in bed until she fell asleep, but no longer than that. Once he was certain she and the baby within her were at rest, he’d gone back to work and joined the next shift of cattlemen who fought to keep their horses and cattle alive, digging them out of the snow and providing hay to stimulate their bodies’ heat.

The misty darkness abruptly grew darker, closing in around her.

Then, blackness.

An image flashed through her mind—She stood in boot-deep snow under a gray sky, a Henry rifle gripped in her hands. At her sides stood two of the cattlemen. More than a dozen Paiute Indian men stepped forward to stand alongside them. She recognized one Paiute who worked at the ranch. The others were strangers. Their faces revealed fear, and resolve. In front of her, perhaps five paces away, stood thirty or more renegade white men who, as one, reached their hands to their holsters, drew their guns, then took aim at Jess and the Indians. Jess cocked the Henry rifle, pressed the butt to her shoulder, and sighted down the barrel at the cold, glittering blue eyes of the man who aimed the bore of his revolver at her. Though fear burned like liquid fire beneath her skin, she firmed her grip, shifted her index finger from the rifle’s trigger guard to the curve of the metal trigger. And pulled….

You can purchase Faith’s Reward from CBD and Amazon.

Tammy is giving away a copy of Faith’s Reward. To be entered in the book giveaway, leave a comment by Monday, December 20th and check back on Tuesday, December 21st to see if you’ve won. You can enter twice–once on this post and once on yesterday’s spotlight with Tammy. If you want to guarantee that you’re notified if you win, then leave your email address in the comment, otherwise, you can just check back and email me through the button in my sidebar.
**Annoying little disclaimer: This giveaway is open only to U.S. addresses.