An editor dared me to write just one small-town, western-set romance novel.
How it started….
How it’s going….
I wrote 21 of them.
The Littlest Cowboy, a baby-on-the-doorstep story, was the book that answered my editor’s dare. I had decided to read the novels of Louis L’Amour to psyche myself into the cowboy mindset. And I loved them! Most of all, I loved his Sackett family with its running theme of family ties. When one Sackett had trouble, dozens more would show up to help.
I decided that my cowboy stories would also have that powerful element of family. Obviously the stories are very different—his were historical and my first series was set in the 1990s. But that L’Amour-inspired family bond is what makes the Brand family so special to its readers. And it’s also why the series expanded from The Texas Brand to the Oklahoma Brands to the in-laws, The McIntyre Men.
The other special thing about the Brand family is that, when things are at their worst, love is what pulls them through. And it’s a love that frequently produces outcomes that can seem like miracles. One of my favorite series taglines is “A miracle in every story.” They’re not paranormal, mind you. (If you know my other work, I can see where you might jump to that conclusion.) They’re everyday miracles, but miracles all the same.
The combination of love, family, and miracles lends itself best to holiday stories, which are some of my favorites to write, and the Brand family is full of them! Fully half of the Oklahoma Brands and McIntyre Men series are Christmas stories. Even the suspenseful Lone Cowboy of the Texas Brand series is set at Christmastime.
These series are my most beloved. For years, most of the books have only been available in ebook format, and readers have been pleading with me to get them back into print.
Now, thanks to Oliver Heber Books, every single story is in the process of being available in paperback once again wherever books are sold, including Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million!
Even more exciting, the ebook versions are going to Kindle Unlimited this month, where you can read every single story for FREE! All 21 of them.
Reading order: The Texas Brand (9 books)
The Oklahoma Brands (6 books) The McIntyre Men (6 books)
For more information visit:
I’m Maggie Shayne.
I was born a storyteller, and I will cross to the other side a storyteller, and when I get there, I’ll haunt some young writer who’s still on earth by whispering my stories into her ears, because I’ll still be a storyteller. I think that’s what our muses are. Storytellers gone by. I am so incredibly blessed, because I got a really good one. I love her.
My stories are Paranormal Romances like my groundbreaking Wings in the Night vampire romance series, (the original “Twilight” vampire novels) and my wildly popular Fatal Series, (rom-com ghost mysteries with a Scooby gang you’ll want to join.) I’ve also penned two epic witch series, The Immortals and The Portal trilogy, along with fantasy romance quartet By Magic
My stories are also small town contemporary romances all about family, loyalty and love, like The Texas Brand Series, The Oklahoma Brands, and The McIntyre Men.
I have spun Romantic Thrillers like my career-best Brown & de Luca series, The Mordecai Young Series, The Secrets of Shadow Falls, Shattered Sisters.
All info about my books and my CoffeeHouse blog are at MaggieShayne.com
I also write spiritual self-help books. I blog and teach about natural magic, the law of attraction. I offer personal readings, and I have a little magic shop. You can find all of that at BlissBlog.org
I love who I am, what I do, and everything about my life. I especially love my readers, because, let’s face it, storytelling would be pretty pointless without them. You. I love knowing you as much as possible, via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, my newsletter and my blogs. You can also follow me on BookBub.
So pick a story, any story, and then curl up in a comfy chair, and wrap your softest blanket around your shoulders. Fill your favorite mug with your favorite warm beverage and fall into my worlds for a little while. I think you’re gonna like it here.
Blissfully,
Maggie Shayne,
Storyteller
0 Comments