Hildie McQueen
I’m Catholic. Yes, I have to start out every interview talking about me ‘cause let’s face it, I’m just so interesting. So, me being Catholic, I felt guilty when I stole Hildie McQueen’s clickable green Sharpie. Yeah, Sharpie’s have clickable pens. It’s pretty much awesome. I met Hildie at RT, Romantic Times Book Lover’s Convention, last year. We were Crescent Moon Press writers, and bad, bad to the bone. We caused trouble. I stole her pen. Then I felt guilty.I finally had to come clean, Hildie forgave me, and agreed to do an interview. And I recorded our conversation.Click here for the MP3! Hilda McQueen Interview By Aaron Ritchey Final Polish.MP3 (Right click and left click on SAVE TARGET AS).
So not only do you have the wonder that is the written interview, we also have the recorded version of our conversation which is COMPLETELY different than the written interview.
But first, before you click on the link to hear us talking and giggling—well, she talked, I giggled—here is a little bio about Hlidie.
Hildie loves the strange and unusual, pair that with humor and you’ve got an idea of what her writing is like. She makes sure action, intrigue, and sizzling romance add up to an escape that her readers won’t soon forget. Hildie is a member of Georgia Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. She resides in a beautiful small town in Georgia with her super-hero husband Kurt.
And her book, a western romance, called Where the Four Winds Collide, sounds fabulous!
Adeline Buckley escapes her abusive father only to find herself in a brothel, on a stagecoach to the untamed West and married to a stranger, all in that order. Plotting another escape becomes harder, the more she gets to know her new husband.
Jackson Pruitt didn’t expect a secretive mail order bride to show up the same week cattle rustlers absconded with a large part of his herd. The bigger surprise was the loveliness of the woman. Why would a beauty like her need to travel so far to marry?
Jackson and Adeline learn that secrets and marriage do not go hand-in-hand when both of their pasts comes knocking and both have to come to grips with the reality that sometimes trust comes only after you lose it all.
If Paranormal Romance is more your thing, here’s The Protector Series, published by Crescent Moon Press.
Now, on to the interview, pardners. I’m writing a sci-fi western. Hildie wrote a western romance. And we’re gonna get Texas before it’s all done. Not sure what that means but hey, don’t mess with Texas.
AARON: The expression yippee ki-yay is supposedly a cowboy expression for great happiness. Name the top three yippee ki-yay moments you’ve had in your writing life. I know, great question, but hey, that’s why we’re here.
Hildie: First of all Sheriff Aaron, I’m obliged to be here visiting with ya today. Howdy pardner and yipee ki-yay back at ya!
What an awesome question *snickering* Well let me see the first YKY moment was on the first day I walked into a romance writer’s meeting and realized, wow these people are really nice. So yes Dorothy, on the other side of the rainbow dreams do come true. Writers are amazing selfless people who will do much to help other writers. The second YKY was realizing that we don’t do it [write] for fame, money or movie rights (yes those are great things), but we write because we have to, it’s our passion and our duty to ourselves.
AARON: I’m jealous that you’ve never read Lonesome Dove, a Jodie Thomas novel, or a Dusty Richards novel. You have some great times ahead of you. Were you nervous about writing a western novel since you didn’t grow up watching Clint Eastwood, or chewing Redman tobacco? How did you overcome the fear?
Hildie: Super nervous, are you kidding me? I’ve never even been near a cow for goodness sakes! So when that little lady, Adeline, showed up (in my head) and told me this amazing story, I was convinced that although it was a great story I was not qualified to write it. I overcame it because she would not shut up and I was more fearful of going crazy than of the hours of research. I can’t wait to read Lonesome Dove, I promise to get back at you and tell you what I think. I may even chew some tabaccah.
AARON: Any cigar smoking in your novel? What about gunfights? Do people eat beans in Where the Four Winds Collide? What about stagecoach roadkill? Any hangings?
Hildie: Everyone has a gun, well the men do anyway, but come to think of it no one gets shot. I’ll have to put a gunfight into the next one. Oooh, but a poor critter does die, the scene is sad, but a stagecoach doesn’t kill it, a cow does. Cows are murderers in my book.
AARON: Now, when we talked, you said something about being in Atlanta, stopped at a stoplight, and a woman got into your car and told you her story. Is that right? Did I miss something? Were you car-jacked?
Hildie: Yes! I was carjacked by a crazy fictional character that would not shut up. Brothel…blah blah, stagecoach, blah, blah, married to a stranger, blah, blah. I ended up driving for six hours cause the story got good! It was like a book on audio in my head. Wow this sounds weird, hmpf.
AARON: This is the first time you’ve ever been a full-time writer? What’s it like? Is it true for full-time writers that unicorns visit you during the day?
Hildie: I wake to the maid bringing me freshly squeeze orange juice, followed by my personal trainer showing up in only tight shorts and glistening muscles for an hour of Pilates. After that, I sit on the veranda and look over at the ocean while I wait for inspiration to strike. If I must be honest, I stagger to the kitchen in my pajamas, put tea and cold water into the microwave (after removing a cup from the day before I forgot about). I sit down and float between Facebook and Twitter for an hour, realize my tea is cold and hit the minute button again. Then I stare at my to-do list and attempt to do the to do’s. I write on my current work in progress until I begin to get tired, and then get up, hit the minute button on the microwave again… then I repeat the entire process. I keep my unicorn in the back yard.
AARON: I said we were going talk Texas. Ever been to Texas? Your thoughts and impressions? I liked it, but then, I like country music, BBQ, and assault rifles.
Hildie: I lived in Texas for over three years while in the Army. Texas has a special place in my heart since both of my daughters were born there. It’s all about big there. Big hats, big trucks, big boots…Sigh, but enough about cowboys! I loved the food, the warmth of the people and the margaritas. Boy they sure know how to make a mean margarita!
AARON: Your heroine winds up marrying a stranger. Yeah, we know the drawbacks, but what would be the benefits of marrying someone you didn’t know?
Hildie: No preconceived notions about the other person! Hey what if you wake up to a beautiful creature that you can’t wait to get to know better? In Four Winds, It helps that both are instantly attracted to each other. Of course in Adeline’s case, she’s not who Jackson, the hero, thinks she is, which sucks for them.
AARON: So far, Where the Four Winds Collide is doing well. You said you just knew that this novel was special. Talk about that experience.
Hildie: This was the easiest book to write, I almost felt like I cheated. The entire story was in my head and I told it to my friends several times before I actually wrote it. I knew that this book would be a hit, not because I wrote it, but because the story feels so real to me. It’s a book that touches me every time I think about it, so I know it must touch others. It’s awesome that so far readers agree with me.
AARON: Any book predictions for me and my career? Fingers-crossed, I’m hoping for a multi-book contract from huge publishers wanting to pour marketing dollars down my throat. Any chance of that happening?
Hildie: YES! From what you told me about the Scyfy Western, it’s going to be a total hit! Oh and when you are offered a movie deal, I’d like to be your casting assistant. I can spot a hunk a mile away!
Aaron: Here is where you spread your links like beefsteaks on the cattle drive to Kansas.
Hildie: Yes! *Pumping Fist* I love being stalked!
My Website/Blog: www.hildiemcqueen.com
My Crazy Daily Life on FaceBook: www.facebook.com/HildieMcQueen
My infamous Twitter self (follow me!): https://twitter.com/HildieMcQueen
Aaron: Now, you all have homework, including you Hildie! You have to do the following: Watch The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Read Lonesome Dove. Read a Jodie Thomas novel. Read a Dusty Richards novel. And report back to me.
And don’t forget! The recorded interview is available! Hilda McQueen Interview By Aaron Ritchey Final Polish.MP3. Do the right click thing and save it locally so you can listen to it over and over! Send it to your friends. Well, maybe not. It’s about 25 Mb. That’d be one beefy email. Tell your friends about it and have them come and check out Hildie and me. They’ll thank you for it.
I have a day job. Yes, friends, but someday, I won’t have a day job and I’ll slave fourteen hours a day for my grumpy editor and their slashing red pens and publish a book a day until I die. And make a fortune. Maybe fame. Maybe.
The Key to the Cursed series is about three sisters, Lilly, Kit and Kendra Carrigan. They grew up with sand in their shoes, playing among the Egyptian pyramids and tombs on their father’s archeological digs. With no mother to raise them and their father preoccupied with ancient artifacts, Lilly naturally fell into the motherly role, always looking out for her sisters. Kendra, the youngest, followed in her father’s footsteps and became an Egyptologist. Kit, well let’s just say she’s the black sheep of the family. She hates her mother, has serious issues with her father and has no love for mummified remains. Although an unconventional family, the sisters are loyal to the death.
6 and then 10-15-20. I always said I would get out when the fun was over, but honestly, it never did get old. Even as I accepted my flag for retirement, I wasn’t ready to let it go, (cried through the whole ceremony) but it was now time to have fun with my family. I did get to see the world – Spain, Italy, Germany, Republic of Georgia, Czech Republic, Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Bahrain and lived in VA, MD, CA. Not bad for a girl who grew up in a small town in Western PA.
Writing from the seat of my pants has its challenges. One, I never really know how the story will turn out until it’s finished. Yes, I have a general idea where I want to lead characters and plot, but sometimes that takes a turn midway. For example, Bomani’s fall at the end of Soul Awakened was not planned in the beginning, but when I started writing it just happened. Bomani’s story thread added that perfect punch to the plot. Also, I do so much layering after the initial draft that chapter by chapter critiquing falls short. My husband even refuses to read my books until they’re complete.
You know the wicked cool title of the interview? Well, it came directly from Shawna’s wicked cool website. 
Shawna grew up in and around farms in the heart of Missouri but went to the University of Kansas, was raised in the US but now lives on the ocean in Nova Scotia with her husband, two sons, two rescue dogs and one overgrown puppy from hell. She’s a non-conformist who follows her heart.
What happens when falling in love and falling from grace collide?
SHAWNA: I started out writing novels, but then in university took some playwriting and theater classes to get a theater minor. It changed how I wrote because novels are more introspective and you can write for pages about how something looks or feels. Plays shifted me to writing more dialogue and action. For a while I couldn’t get back to the descriptive type writing. I think to be a good writer you need to have that balance though.
AARON: Thanks so much for agreeing to talk with me, Shawna! Here is where you spread your links like angel feathers.
And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: