I’m very pleased to have romance writer Jan Scarbrough visiting the blog today. Jan is a multi-published, critically acclaimed author who writes primarily contemporary romance but also medieval romance as Darby York. Let’s find out what Jan is up to!
Jan, you have a very interesting biography. You obviously love horses and animals and are very involved in certain charities. What can you tell us about them?
Vanessa, thanks for having me. Yes, I do love horses and animals. My parents couldn’t buy me a horse, but they gave me riding lessons when I was a child and brought me to Kentucky to see Churchill Downs and the Bluegrass area around Lexington. I remember bringing home my first cat from the barn, much to my mother’s horror. When I had children, I allowed them to have cats and dogs. We even had hamsters. When my daughter was nine, she wanted to take riding lessons. I decided after six months of watching her have fun that I wanted to take lessons too. I’ve been taking a lesson once a week for over twenty years. My daughter grew up to be a veterinarian, so I suppose I influenced her love of animals in some way.
Today I have two cats and three dogs. My husband is very understanding about the dogs, but not so much about the cats.
I volunteer at The Luci Center, a non-profit 501c3 organization located in Shelbyville Kentucky providing therapeutic riding and hippotherapy. With my background as a horse lover, you can see why I like volunteering at a therapeutic riding facility. I can help kids and be around horses at the same time.
What can you tell us about your Bluegrass Reunion series?
I have seven books in the series so far with another one scheduled for 2014. Although each romance stands alone, the books have a few things in common. Set in Kentucky, they are reunion stories. The heroine is usually a single mom; and in keeping with the Bluegrass theme, I usually put horses in the plot for good measure.
The books were written in this order, but don’t have to be read in any order.
· Kentucky Cowboy—Bull rider/veterinarian—She dumped him in high school, because he was a risk-taker.
· Kentucky Woman—Banker/exercise rider—She loved him when she was a teenager, but they never connected.
· Kentucky Flame—American Saddlebred Horse trainers—She had his baby, but he left not knowing the truth.
· Kentucky Groom—Teacher/software designer and Saddlebred groom—She can’t afford to fall in love with a lowly groom.
· Kentucky Bride—American Saddlebred Horse trainer/CEO—She rejected him once, but he’s willing to try again.
· Kentucky Heat—Country music singer/artist—She doesn’t need to take on another project, but he won’t take no for an answer. (Sequel to Kentucky Bride.)
· Kentucky Rain—Divorced single mom/security consultant—She has responsibilities to her daughter and to herself, not to the handsome guy next door. (Mentions characters from Kentucky Cowboy.)
Kentucky Rain is your latest book. What’s it about?
I’d written six books before I realized that none of my single moms were divorced. Since I’ve been there, done that, it has taken me a while before I was comfortable about divorce.
My heroine Kate Lawrence is a single mom who is recently divorced and ill-prepared to make it on her own. She had no college degree and has never worked outside the home. Still grieving the loss of her marriage, she moves to her small Kentucky hometown to make a new life for her daughter and herself. And guess what? Her neighbor turns out to be her high school sweetheart. A confirmed bachelor, Scott Gray thinks he’s gotten over Kate, but when she moves in next door, he’s surprised by the depth of his reaction.
What’s up next in Jan’s writing world?
I am working on a first-person, Gothic paranormal ghost story for Turquoise Morning Press called Timeless. It is for their Splintered category series. I received the first round of edits today from my editor. The book should be released September 15.
Sounds great, Jan. Thanks for being with us today! Readers, Jan is giving away a digital copy of her latest book, Kentucky Rain. Just tell whether you’re a horse, cat, or dog person, or all three. One person who comments will win a copy of the book!