Interview with Contemporary Romance Author Makenna Lee #interview #blogtour

Makenna Lee is an award-winning romance author living in the Texas Hill Country with her real-life hero and their two children. Her oldest son has Down syndrome and taught her to appreciate the little things, and he inspired one of her novels. As a child, she played in the woods, looked for fairies under toadstools, and daydreamed. Her writing journey began when she mentioned all her story ideas, and her husband asked why she wasn’t writing them down. The next day she bought a laptop, started her first book, and knew she’d found her passion. Makenna is often drinking coffee while writing, reading, or plotting a new story. Her wish is to write books that touch your heart, making you feel, think, and dream. She enjoys renaissance festivals, nature photography, studying herbal medicine, and usually listens to Celtic music while writing. She writes for Entangled Publishing and Harlequin and believes everyone deserves a happy ending.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: www.makennalee.com
Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakennaLeeBooks
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakennaLeeAuthor
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makennaleewriter/
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65227832-makenna-lee

About the Book

Wealthy cowboy, James MacLachlan, is content running his massive family ranch and starting an equine therapy program for special needs children. After his mother died in childbirth, and witnessing his father’s destruction at the loss of true love, James sticks to casual affairs. Marriage and children are risks he won’t take.

Reese Turner visits Cypress Creek, Texas, to complete a photo assignment for National Geographic and buy back her grandparents’ cottage. After disastrous romances, she’s sworn off men to focus on her career. Marriage and the babies she longs for can wait. When she runs into an old flame, she decides she can live out a fantasy, then leave town to pursue her dreams. But love doesn’t play by the rules…

ORDER YOUR COPY

Amazon → https://amzn.to/3ewdGh7

Entangled Pub → https://bit.ly/3dCDZRT

Can you tell us what your new book is about? 

Her Second Chance Cowboy is the story of a couple who played together as children and fell in love as teens, but she left with a broken heart. She returns to Cypress Creek eleven years later. The attraction has not faded, but their career goals are at odds. Her dreams of a world-traveling career don’t mesh with a tied-to- the-land rancher.

Wealthy cowboy, James MacLachlan, is content running his massive family ranch and starting an equine therapy program for special needs children. After his mother died in childbirth, and witnessing his father’s destruction at the loss of true love, James sticks to casual affairs. Marriage and children are risks he won’t take.

Reese Turner visits Cypress Creek, Texas, to complete a photo assignment for National Geographic and buy back her grandparents’ cottage. After disastrous romances, she’s sworn off men to focus on her career. Marriage and the babies she longs for can wait. When she runs into an old flame, she decides she can live out a fantasy, then leave town to pursue her dreams.

But love doesn’t play by the rules...

Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

Reese is a freelance photographer traveling around the United States in a VW van named Petunia. Her goal is to expand her travels across the globe, and she is working on an assignment that will hopefully land her dream job. James was her first love and shared her first kiss, but he’s a danger to her heart that she shouldn’t risk. It’s a surprised to discover James owns her grandparents’ cottage.

James is a hard-working cowboy who raises a special breed of cattle, trains horses, and plays Dungeons & Dragons. He’s dedicated to his community and family. He never forgot Reese and kicks himself for destroying their relationship. James has learned to guard his heart and believes they can hang out for the summer and that will satisfy his desire to spend time with her.

James’s grandparents are my favorite supporting characters. They are inspired by a combination of all the grandparents that played such a big part in my life. Gregor and Ellen MacLachlan are supportive, and they know when to step in and when to back away and let their grandson make his own decisions and mistakes. They have a wonderful marriage that James believes can’t be matched.

Your book is set in the Texas Hill Country.  Can you tell us why you chose this location in particular?

I live on the edge of the Texas Hill Country, and there are many quaint little towns spread across the area. I combined the best parts of many of them and created a setting I would love to live in. I wanted a location where my hero could have a huge ranch near a small town filled with history and a fabulous town square.

How long did it take you to write your book?

Her Second Chance Cowboy took several years to write. There are a few reasons for this. It’s my first book, and I was learning the craft of writing while working on it. I was also unpublished and had no deadlines to meet. The books I’ve written since then haven’t taken as long and thankfully didn’t require countless drafts and rounds of editing. There is always something new to learn, and I continue to read and listen in the hopes that each book will be a little easier to write.

What has been the most pivotal point of your writing life?

That’s an easy one. My career suddenly started to move when I became a finalist in the 2019 Golden Heart. This writing contest made an editor at Entangled Publishing take a closer look at my manuscript, and I got the call every traditionally published author waits for. Two days later, I signed with the agent at the top of my wish list. She submitted my second manuscript to several publishers, and it got two offers. I ended up signing a three-book deal with Harlequin Special Edition because it has been a dream of mine to write for them.

                                          

What kind of advice would you give other contemporary romance authors?

My advice to new writers is to learn to take critiques of your work. Sometimes it’s painful to hear what others have to say about the words you put your heart and soul into. It’s okay to take a moment to be upset and even shed a few tears, but then go back and look at the critiques with a fresh eye and see what makes sense, especially if multiple people are saying the same things. Another suggestion is to choose characters that will help build and add to the conflict. Whether it’s their jobs, lifestyles, or anything that makes you wonder how these two people can overcome whatever obstacle it is to find their happily ever after. Keep writing, and do not give up!