Paty Jager joins us today at The
Write Way Café, sharing how her new series was born from the success of an earlier series.
Tell
us a little about your Letters of Fate series.
My Letters of Fate series came about from seeing so many people
say they enjoyed Mail Order Bride books. However, I wanted to do a twist but
couldn’t figure out a Mail Order Groom premise, but I came up with the idea of
a letter changing a man’s life and in the course of following that he finds a
feisty woman who captures his heart. After writing a series that dealt with a
family, I liked the idea of the only thing tying this series together is that
each man/hero receives a letter and that’s how I, with the help of my niece,
came up with the series title Letters of Fate. Not having anything connecting
the books other than the letters, they can be read in any order another bonus
for readers. No matter which book they pick up they won’t be in the middle of
anything other than that story.
The first book I wrote for the series is Davis. It is set in the area
where I live. I use a real person from history in the area as the catalyst that
causes the external conflict in the story. Peter French ran a large cattle
dynasty in southeastern Oregon for a California doctor. He fenced land that was
between parcels they owned and kept homesteaders out. He was not a popular man
as he worked hard at acquiring as much of Harney Valley and the Steens that he
could. I set the story up that he was trying to take a widow’s ranch. The hero
has lost his family and feels the eyes of his community on him. His sister
sends him a letter suggesting he come marry her friend (the widow) in a
marriage of convenience to help her save the ranch for her children. He accepts
and while they get off to a rocky start since he’s a city slicker and the
heroine has been freighter’s daughter and a rancher, the sparks of animosity
turn to sparks of interest.
Isaac is the
second book I wrote for the Letters of Fate series. This book was written to be
in the Kindle World, Montana Sky Series by Debra Holland. When I received the
information about her world, I made my hero a mine guard. He friends an older
miner who becomes sick and dies. After sending the man’s pay to his family,
Isaac feels he’s done all he can. Then he receives a letter from the man’s
oldest child. The woman makes an accusation her father would still be alive had
Isaac given him better medical help, and she is coming to collect his things.
He decides to meet her at the town with the railroad and hand her the one
set of dirty clothes from her father before placing her back on the train. She
has other thoughts. She’s come to collect her father’s things for a reason and
that reason isn’t in his dirty clothes.
If Davis: Letters of Fate was made into a movie, who would play
your main characters, and why?
I’m not good at this. I don’t watch that many new movies. I would
say Brook Shields for Mariella, the heroine. Because Brooke is six foot and a
strong build. She’s played roles that showed vulnerability and strength. And
can jest and have fun. Davis, he’s harder. Perhaps Ryan Reynolds.
Because he has strength of character but can be gentle. At least he portrays
that well in the movies I’ve seen him in.
What
or who has been instrumental in or to your writing journey?
As I think about this there are three people who were instrumental
in my writing journey. The first was my mom. She told me I could do anything I
put my mind to. That’s the mantra I’ve had as I’ve been on this writing
journey. I just wish she was around to share my journey with her.
The second was my high school English teacher. She gave us
an assignment to research a historical figure and write a paper from their
point of view. I wrote Joan of Arc’s burning at the stake. Come to think of it,
that was my first heavily researched historical writing project. The teacher
picked my story to read out loud to the class. There wasn’t a sound in the room
when she finished. Even the class clown was sitting still. That was when I
learned the power words can have.
The third person is one of my critique partners. When we first met
she was a judge in a contest I entered. She was the first contest judge to tell
me what I was doing wrong rather than rearranging my sentences and not saying
why they did it. I contacted her and discovered we both wrote historical
western romance. I had knowledge of horses, ranches, and the west and she had
the writing knowledge. We became critique partners and friends. She encouraged
me to send one of the books she’d critiqued to a small press and I became a
published author. I owe her my writing career.
What’s
the best writing advice you’ve been given? What’s your best writing
advice for others?
The best advice I’ve been given is write what you know and you
don’t always have to agree with a critique but if more than one person makes a
comment on the same thing, dig deeper and find out why.
My advice to other writers is learn your craft and know your
genre. You can be a good storyteller but if you don’t make that story
shine with good grammar and word choices it won’t get you the agent, editor, or
good sales. And know your genre. There are many writers who write in a genre
they know nothing about. I’m not saying you have to be a demon to write demon
stories but know something about those types of worlds, same goes with
westerns. I’ve read several where the author had no clue about horses or
cattle. That pulls me out of the story and makes me not read another of their
books.
What
“keepers” are in your home library?
Agatha Christie collection, Nora Roberts, The MacGregor Brides and her trilogy Born in Fire, Born in Ice, Born in Shame, LaVyrle
Spencer’s Hummingbird- It’s the book that started me writing
historical western romance. L.V. McWhorter’s Yellow Wolf: His Own
Story. A Little Bit of Wisdom: Conversations of a Nez Perce Elder by Horace Axtell and Margo Aragon.
Characters
often find themselves in situations they aren't sure they can get themselves
out of. When was the last time you found yourself in a situation that was hard
to get out of and what did you do?
Tough question. I guess it would have to be at the Left
Coast Crime conference in Phoenix this past February. I was a moderator
for a prestigious panel on Sunday morning. I did my homework and had insightful
questions to ask. I came down with the flu Friday after arriving in Phoenix.
I wore blisters on my feet walking around looking for a pharmacy. Yes, I
won’t hire a taxi for short distances, only for transportation to the airport.
Saturday I nursed the flu and my blisters and only attended the dinner, leaving
before the awards ceremony. I woke feeling better on Sunday but I had
hardly any voice. I arrived early to the panel and let the authors know I
could barely talk. I would introduce them and direct my main questions to them
and would one of them repeat questions from the audience, please. I managed
to pull it off. The authors said I had thoughtful questions and the audience
said it was one of the best panels. So while I felt like a failure, it seems
the panel went well.
We’re
adding books to our Café menu. Would your book be a drink, an appetizer,
an entrée or a dessert? What would you call it?
An entrée. It is a full and filling story with loss, redemption,
family, and love. Redemption Roast.
What
is your favorite social media? Why?
I’m not a fan of any of the social media because I have a hard
time keeping up with them. But I would have to say I like Facebook the best
because I’ve been able to keep up-to-date with family and close friends since
we moved to SE Oregon.
Do
you have any compulsions you must do for no particular reason?
You could probably say my need to have a cup of hot chocolate in
the morning, like most people have coffee, a compulsion. I even take
packets of hot chocolate with me on trips in case the hotel I stay at doesn’t
have a complimentary breakfast or hot chocolate. I have to have my cup of
hot chocolate or my day doesn’t go right.
Tell us about the book in your closet.
I have a couple of books in the closet. The oldest two are murder
mysteries. That was my first love to read and write, but I ended up in Romance
Writers of America and wrote romance until 2014 when I went back to writing
mystery. The first two mysteries actually were written to kill a person
who in real life was on my not-a-favorite-person list. She’d cheated on her
husband, and when he confronted her, she named my husband. But my husband had
witnessed her and the real person fooling around in a car. I think she was
hoping to discredit his account of what he saw. Anyway, it blew things up
between my husband and his friend and our kids who were friends. To take out my
anger on this person, who I’d thought of as a friend, I murdered her in two
books. ;) I still like the main character in the books, but they were before
I’d had workshops on craft and realized I had a lot to learn to be a writer and
a published author.
And
now for the fun stuff!
If
you aren’t a full-time writer, what is your day job?
I help my husband take care of our 280 acres and half an
irrigation pivot that produces alfalfa hay. I also help him with his job of
managing three irrigation pivots of alfalfa hay for a dairy.
What
is your biggest shopping downfall?
I love cowboy boots. I have five pair. One for work, one for going
to town, and three for events.
Are
you a glass half empty or glass half full personality?
I’m a glass half full. Life is a wonderful thing and with a
positive attitude you can accomplish anything you set your mind to do.
Are
you a dog/cat/other person?
I’m a dog person. I like having a big dog for outside and a lap
dog for inside.
If
you had to write with a pen instead of a computer, what type of pen would be
your preference?
I love the gel pens and prefer the color purple. Gel pens write
smooth and the color purple makes me happy.
Davis: Letters of Fate
Historical
western filled with steamy romance and the rawness of a growing country.
Widowed
with two small children and a ranch to run, Mariella Swanson knows she needs
help, but isn’t sure her heart, or neighbors, will accept her marrying a
stranger. When the greenhorn shows up, smoking a pipe and wearing a derby hat,
she can’t help but wonder if agreeing to this marriage may prove to be her
biggest mistake.
When Davis Weston receives a letter from his sister asking him to marry a
friend, he scoffs at the idea. However, losing his wife and son has left him a
lonely man, and the whispers from others that he didn’t do enough to save his
family has gone on long enough. His arrival in Oregon may be worse—these
neighbors are doing more than whispering. Guns and horses aren’t his forte.
He’s willing to learn, but is he willing to love again?
Award-winning
author Paty Jager and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon.
She not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. All Paty’s work has
Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and
engaging characters. Her penchant for research takes her on side trips that
eventually turn into yet another story.
You
can learn more about Paty at:
For those days when there isn’t time to visit a park, we hang out on the back patio. Shaded by big trees and landscaped with assorted flowers and bushes, several bird feeders and two birdbaths, we’ve designed our backyard to be an inviting place for a variety of birds, bunnies, squirrels, and ground squirrels. If we sit quietly, it doesn’t take long for them to go about their business. I can spend hours watching them all. Except when the hawk visits – then all the critters are scarce.
