This week I am chatting with the effervescent Carly Bloom. She began her writing career as a family humor columnist and blogger, a pursuit she abandoned when her children grew old enough to die from embarrassment. To save their delicate lives, Carly turned to penning steamy cowboy rom-coms. The kind with bare chests on the covers. (Must be that button shortage in Big Verde.) Carly and her husband raise their mortified brood of offspring on a cattle ranch in south Texas.
SS: I have to confess, Carly, that I get a kick out of every one of your novels. They are sassy and amusing. Writing is undoubtedly a lonely occupation. John Green (The Fault in Our Stars) says writing is a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don’t want to make eye contact while doing it. P. D. James (Cover Her Face) says it’s essential for writers to enjoy their own company. Do you see yourself along those lines? Are you a natural loner?
CB: Most of the writers I know are somewhat introverted, but I’m an extrovert through and through. Writing is terribly lonely for me, and doing it during a pandemic has been especially hard. Nevertheless, I did manage to release a book during the godawful Year of Our Lord 2020 (Cowboy Come Home), and I had one come out during the slightly-less-awful Year of Our Lord 2021 (Must Love Cowboys).
SS: Could you say something about your relationship to your fictional characters? How autobiographical do you think your fiction is?
CB: I never think my fictional work is autobiographical in any way. But the people who know me ask how I can possibly say that with a straight face. So, I guess a little of me seeps into my fake people. I’m sure it’s only the charming and adorable parts though.
SS: Why do you think people are so curious about a writer’s life? About how a writer’s work reflection of their lives? Is it a preference for gossip over literature?
CB: I think people are curious about our lives because they get to see inside our heads, and our heads are … weird. Most people like to keep their fantasies hidden, and authors are like LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MINE IN GREAT DETAIL. So, readers want to know if our real lives reflect any of what they might read in our books. And of course, for most of us, it’s yes to the boring parts (my latest series features cowboy heroes, and I happen to live on a cattle ranch) and no to the exciting parts (unlike the models on my covers, my husband and the other men here all wear shirts).
SS: What is your most recent book? In twenty-five words or less, tell me why your book should be a reader should start your book next.
CB: My most recent book is the third (and final) book in my Once Upon a Time in Texas series, which consists of cowboy trysts with fairytale twists. It’s called Must Love Cowboys (sounds bossy, but you don’t actually have to love cowboys to read it). As to why a reader should pick it up, well, it’s a fake relationship between a librarian and a cowboy who struggles with dyslexia. He falls in love with the librarian and books for the first time ever.
Honestly, which is the better romance here?
SS: At what point did you come up with the title? Did your publisher change it?
CB: I always start with a working title, and my publisher always changes it. The Once Upon a Time in Texas series consists of fairytale themed stories, and Must Love Cowboys would have been Beauty and the Boots if I’d had my way. I bet you can guess which fairytale it’s inspired by!
SS: Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) says that he feels he is discovering a story rather than creating it. Are you a plotter? Or do let the novel develop organically?
CB: I would give anything to be a plotter, but I’m just not wired that way. I watch in awe as other authors take story elements and use them to build a novel piece by piece. Meanwhile, I’m over here waist deep in quicksand trying to uncover a plot.
SS: I’m like you, Carly, a pantser through and through. How did you make the decision regarding point(s) of view?
CB: When writing romance, I’ll go for dual points of view every time. It allows me to share secrets with the reader that I’m keeping from the other character. It’s a great tool for creating believable conflict, especially when two characters see one event through different lenses. It also allows me to show my characters’ values, which I find really important when dealing with a prickly hero. Through the heroine’s point of view, we might only hear what the hero says. But from the hero’s point of view, we know how he feels. That makes all the difference in writing sympathetic characters who might have problematic behavior.
SS: Are there any books on writing you find particularly useful and would recommend?
CB: Gwen Hayes has a book called Romancing the Beat. It’s helpful in establishing pacing and shows when certain “beats” should be met. And the Emotional Wound Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is great for defining what drives characters to do the things they do.
SS: What role does consent and the #MeToo movement play in your writing?
CB: It has always been important to me to show my characters asking for (and receiving!) explicit consent. It can be sexy. It can be flirty. It can be awkward. But it needs to be there. We are past the days of speaking in “code” in regard to sexual consent. There is zero shame associated with wanting (or not wanting) sex.
SS: Do you think political statements belong in romance? Would you write a novel that was a political tract?
CB: While I’m not interested in writing a novel where politics play a pivotal role, it seems that everything is political now, doesn’t it? My books will always show that love is love and that kindness and equality matter. In some circles, those are political statements.
SS: What more do you think can be done to encourage diversity in romance?
CB: Publish more books written by diverse voices and market them to all romance readers.
SS: Cindy Gallop says that hardcore pornography has distorted the way a generation of young men think about sex. On the other hand, romances have given women hopes of finding men who enjoy performing cunnilingus and always allow the woman to orgasm first. Do you see any point in the future where these two ways of looking at the sexual experience will ever meet?
CB: I don’t think the often violent and exploitative portrayals of heterosexual sex in pornography can be conflated with the sex scenes in romance novels where both partners end up sexually satisfied. And I doubt very few people actually base their expectations of healthy sexual relationships on either of these anyway. Women are smart. We know that orgasms can be elusive things and that they’re dependent upon many factors. And we know the definition of the word fiction. However, we absolutely should expect that our sexual partners will care about our pleasure.
Describe your books in 3 words: Funny, smart, and sexy.
Favorite thing about your genre? A guaranteed happy ending.
A genre that you would love to write: Cozy mysteries, but I’d tell you who did it on the first page because I’m super impatient.
When writing, are you a night owl or morning person? Morning for sure! And that’s a problem, because I’m not really a morning person when the alarm goes off.
Pantser or Plotter? Frantic Pantser
Book you’re currently reading: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
Your favorite guilty pleasure: Binge-watching TV
Number one book boyfriend or girlfriend is: Jamie Fraser Forever! (He’s mine, too! Although Tarzan is probably my first and truest love, dating from childhood)
Your favorite genre of romance: Contemporary/romcom
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Must Love Cowboys and the rest of the Once Upon a Time in Texas series is available through:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Forever Yours
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An excerpt from Must Love Cowboys:
Oh, dear God. She’d been so focused on avoiding Brittany’s uncle—and on seeing Brittany’s face when she showed up with Beau in tow—that she hadn’t even considered what literally everyone else would think. She suddenly had a sinking feeling. “Are you friends with Brittany?”
“Not really,” Beau said with his ridiculous blue eyes twinkling. “But I guess you could say we’ve met.”
“Oh. My. God.”
“What?”
“Have you gone out with Brittany? Because I swear to God, Beau. I am not showing up to the wedding on your arm if you’ve gone out with the bride.”
“Settle down.”
“Don’t ever tell a woman to settle down.”
Beau opened his mouth. Shut it. Opened it again. “Can I tell a woman to calm down?”
“That’s even worse.”
“But women are often prone to hy—”
“Don’t say it.”
“—steria”
Alice clenched her jaw. “Did you know that hysterectomies were the cure at one time for so-called hysteria? Women were punished for showing emotion by having their uteruses removed.”
“We went to a dark place pretty quickly there, Allie Cat. I was just kidding.”
“Did you date Brittany?”
“Nope. Just her cousin.”
Alice sighed in relief.
“And her aunt. But not the aunt who is the mother of the cousin. That would be weird.”
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. What had she been thinking? She’d asked the town’s biggest playboy cowboy, possibly a gigolo in chaps, to be her plus-one!
They should definitely hash out some details. The wedding was out of town. Surely, Beau wouldn’t expect them to share a hotel room. But what, exactly, did he consider the obligations of a plus-one to entail?
“Before we get started,” she said. “We need to establish some ground rules for our deal.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Alice went to her desk in the corner. “Let’s type up a contract.”
Beau laughed. “I don’t think we need anything that formal. But listen, Allie. I’m just going to come out with it. This date for the wedding? That’s all it is. I’m not looking for a girlfriend. I have no interest in relationships. You need an escort to an event. And I need some tutoring. That’s all this is.”
How dare he beat her to the I don’t do relationships line?
“Everybody knows you don’t do relationships. That’s why I asked you. Because guess what? Neither do I. Believe it or not, I have no desire for a boyfriend. Not now, and not ever. I’m happily self-partnered.”
Beau cocked an eyebrow. “Self-partnered?”
“Yep. Me and Emma Watson.”
“You’re dating someone named Emma? Why don’t you just take her to the wedding?”
“You’re exasperating.”
“Not even trying.”
“Emma Watson coined the term self-partnered. It means you’re happy being single. That you’re a whole and complete human without a partner. I’m even in a women’s group. We meet in Austin, and we talk about how to be good partners to ourselves.”
“My mom is in a women’s group. They exchange recipes and knit slippers for the residents at the old folks’ home. It’s local, and I’m sure they’d be happy to have you. It would save you a drive.”
Alice narrowed her eyes and glared at Beau, but then she saw it. The twinkle. Right there in the eyes. And the little dimple next to his mouth on the right side. “You’re teasing me.”
“You’re too easy, Allie Cat.”
“I’ve noticed, over the years, that I’m not exceptionally skilled at picking up on humor. I’m quite a literal person. So, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tease me.”
Beau seemed surprised. After a few seconds of silence, which Alice desperately wanted to fill, he said, “Nonnie says teasing is my love language, but I’ll try to rein it in.”
“Thank you.”
“And Allie, I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable. I didn’t realize it was happening. So maybe I have a few blind spots, too.”
As far as Alice could tell, he was being one hundred percent sincere. Or heck, maybe he was teasing. She couldn’t tell. And that was the problem.
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