Author Elle Marlow

  Hurray for Josey's Mountain.  Top ten finisher for Best Romance.  That is some GREAT Friday news.  Also, here is an awesome interview of my first year by the lovely ladies of For the Love of Books and Alcohol.  So fun. http://fortheloveofbooksandalcohol.com/interview-elle-marlow/

For me, going to the rodeo is a bit like going to the all you can eat buffet.  I mean the event is just dripping with inspiration for a hot western romance.  If you've never been to a real rodeo, I suggest you go.  Not just because of all the man candy or the pretty horses, but for the experience of a slice of Americana that seems to be getting smaller and smaller.  There's something truly unique and beautiful about the western lifestyle and the people in it.   Simple, hardcore, and so unrelenting American, that you just can't help but be proud and a little in awe.     I don't know who this fellow or his amazing horse is, but all by himself he chased down the bulls after the riders fell,  he roped and dragged animals bigger than him and his horse combined and put them back into the chutes. He didn't worry about the what ifs, the fact that his work seemed impossible to the observer, he just did his job and did ...

Now that made my day.  Fan?  Well, actually, it's my smarty pants son being his goofy-self.  I hope he didn't get to the hot pages.  Yikes!

   Happy New Year!    I just completed two thousand words on my newest project and someone asked me where I start with my books.  I didn't think I had a set formula, but after some thought, I guess I do.  I have no idea how other authors begin the long journey of crafting new story.  What a monumental task!  For me, I begin with an idea for a good conflict.  After all, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, so I try and think of something for our romantic couple to overcome.  I need a good external conflict and personal/emotional ones too.  This can be challenging because I'm pretty sure every angle had been covered already so I have to figure out how to make it my own.  (This is where sarcastic humor comes into play You have to go with your strengths, and let's face it.  I'm a smart ass.)   Next, I try and discover the personality traits for our hero and heroine and how will those traits compliment...

Today sometimes feels like the hangover of a big year-long party.  There's a mess to clean up while we think about the next big event-New Years.  The older we get, more and more we're stunned at how fast time flies by and usually, we lament on the changes that have occurred over the last twelve months.   Be easy on yourselves. Life is a rough sport.  If you didn't do anything you set out to do the last year, well here comes a whole new opportunity to give those goals another shot.    I will be sitting down to finish book two of Children of the Horse.  It will focus on the village and cover some of the love story of Raven Eye and Bird Song while we watch the love of Snow Fire and Bear Talker continue to grow.   Hopefully, we will see the publishing of Seducing his Senator, a fast and very hot western contemporary.  By the end of the year I should also be starting on pages of some sort of sequel to Josey's Mountain.    Th...

My seven year-old daughter is a fussy eater.  Really, a cute little pain in the butt when it comes to her food.  Not interested in the big ham and egg feast I made this morning she pouted in the kitchen until she saw the box of cereal meant for the marshmallow treats.  I pour her a small bowl because I didn't expect she'd eat it being such a picky person.    I give her the bowl...she brings it back to me staring at it with this perplexed look on her face.  I sigh. "What's wrong now?" "Mommy, it's making a fizzing noise, and jumping around in my bowl.  What's wrong with it?" It didn't register in my mind at first but when it did, I howled with laughter.  "That's what that cereal does...snap crackle and pop."   I am crying because I forgotten that at her age how could she know this? She gives me this look like...WOW!!!!   Ate the whole damn bowl.  Don't forget that life is all about the simple joys, the small ...

Writers are typically insane.  This time of the year just brings it out in spades.  I have a costly gift for my son that I hid so well that now I can't find it.  I've torn up everything, the closet, under the bed, behind the dresser.   I've been known to do this with money too.  I think in my last life I must have lived in a castle because I seem to hide my treasures behind art work, inside books etc etc.... But where the hell did I put this gift?  Is this a mom thing, a me thing or a creative mind out of control thing?  Meanwhile, Children of the Horse is going to be avail in print in a few days. I'm glad my work is all on Amazon, because then I can't lose it.   I hope I find that gift before Christmas.  Ah, maybe by next Christmas?