05 July 2009

Guest Author: Beth Williamson

This week we're welcoming Kensington Brava author Beth Williamson as she celebrates her latest western romance, THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH. You can read the blurb and an excerpt here.

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Welcome Beth! We're glad you were able to stop by Unusual Historicals. You write historical westerns, ones with heat, sexy men, plenty of emotion and grit. What would you say makes your westerns different than other authors?

Oh, my sense of humor maybe. Or wait, no it's my amazing prose. Perhaps my hero's ability to do what I tell him to. Or maybe all of those things. LOL. I think that my books are different than other western historicals for more than one reason. The most prominent would have to be the characters. I don't have cookie cutter men with a swagger and a gun, lean-hipped and tight-lipped. My heroes and heroines have real-life problems like depression, alcoholism, emotional baggage, or even physical disabilities.

What does that kind of uniqueness give to your readers?

I think giving my heroes and heroines real life problems makes them much more real to the reader. Personally when I read an historical with the perfect blonde, blue-eyed beautiful girl, I am much less engaged than if the heroine wears glasses, has big hips and is clumsy. I want the reader to be a part of the story, not an outsider looking in.

What would you say is your most unusual heroine and hero?

Hm, good question. My most unusual heroine has to be Rosalyn Benedict from THE LEGACY. She's homeless, lived on the streets since she was a girl. She's not only dirty and distrustful, she refuses help from the gallant hero, Noah. I loved writing Rosalyn's story. As for unusual hero, I'd say it's Jack Malloy from THE PRIZE. He's a man who's suffered in his childhood and it's brought him nothing but pain as an adult. He's also a virgin hero. Oh yeah, I went there. Jack is the kind of hero you just want to hug and comfort.

So your new release, THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH--tell us what makes it different? I mean, amnesia's been done before hasn't it?

Yes, it definitely has. Honestly there isn't a story out there that hasn't been told. THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH is different because the heroine awakens from a three year coma to discover she doesn't remember who she is and she has apparently given birth to a child while in that coma. Eppie is a mulatto who fell in love with a white southern man, a forbidden love that was meant to be. Micah, meanwhile, has struggled with alcoholism and his own person demons. Together they have to find the love they used to share.

Any little bits of trivia you want to share about yourself?

THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH is my 12th full-length historical western! The sexy dozen rather than the dirty dozen. LOL. Really though, although I absolutely adore horses, I have trouble riding them because I have a birth defect in my knees. How's that for unusual?

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This makes two weeks in a row of delicious western romances! If you'd like a shot at winning a copy of THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH, leave a comment or question for Beth. I'll draw a random winner in one week. Good luck!