Here’s the story
Posted by Alison Kent in Alison Kent, tags: Alison Kent, Brenda Chin, Harlequin Temptation, Jennifer Crusie
Once upon a time I read a book published by Harlequin Temptation. That book was called Getting Rid of Bradley by some author who went on to do the coolest of things. I loved that book. I’d been reading a lot of Silhouette Intimate Moments and Silhouette Special Editions, and hadn’t read a Harlequin Temptation for awhile. I’m so glad I did. My first book had seen very limited publication a couple of years before, and since that line had closed (my book was the next to the last), I was basically starting over. Not fun.
Getting Rid of Bradley, however, *was* fun, and I thought, “A-ha! That’s what I want to write! A fun Harlequin Temptation!” So I did. I had a folder of magazine articles and news snippets
I’d saved, all story fodder, and I pulled out a piece I’d torn out of (I’m pretty sure) a copy of Glamour. It was about a man and woman who’d made serious eye contact during a long flight, and when disembarking, the man handed the woman his business card with the words, “Call me,” scrawled on the back.
I submitted Call Me to Laura Shin at Harlequin in early 1995, and she moved from Temptation to Superromance while the manuscript was still in house. When I got the very cool call (complete with video) with the offer to buy, it came from Birgit Davis-Todd. Though she initially bought me, she then handed me off to Brenda Chin for revisions. Following revisions, I was unloaded onto Susan Sheppard who was my editor at Temptation and for my first two books for Blaze. (For those of you who are curious about how authors get shifted between editors, I was given to Susan Pezzack (now Swinwood) for my next two Blazes, and when she went to Mira, was given to Jennifer Greene for the three that followed. I went back to Birgit for the next few, then moved to Brenda again with Tex Appeal.) But back to the story of Call Me and Brenda’s revisions.
Oh, did I mention this story is about her? 
Part of Call Me is set on a Central Texas ranch. When Brenda called to go over the manuscript, she said she would really like to see more of the place. There were a couple of scenes in the house there (with Gardner’s brother who got his own book) and 
several set in Harley’s antique shop with her assistant, but a lot of the scenes were the book’s signature phone calls between Harley and Gardner, i.e., plenty of dialogue but not much description to show off Gardner’s home. Thing is, *ranch* isn’t what I heard.
I heard that she would like to see more *raunch.*
I’m thinking that was the TRUE beginning of Blaze.
I was also thinking that it would be fun to give away copies of Call Me and Getting Rid of Bradley since I have originals of both sitting here collecting dust. Anyone want them? Comment by Sunday night, April 5, 2009, 8:00 p.m. CDT to be eligible AND give me your thoughts on Western set contemporaries. Do you like cowboys? Ranches? The Wild Wild West with all the modern conveniences?
And, really. How *do* you feel about raunch? Inquiring minds!
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I happen to be fond of raunch, especially the way you guys do it.
And I like ranches too. What a great post! I love “this is how it all began stories.” 
And Iove your books! (L)
The teasing I take simply because we Canadians don’t stretch out our vowels the way you Americans do…
Good post, Alison.
Did you say Cowboys? Is there anything manlier? I gotta agree with that country song, “Save a horse, ride a cowboy”!…and you can’t do that without raunch!
Can’t have cowboys without ranches. Where do I sign up?
Thanks,
Michelle
Great story Alison! I love western set contemporaries because who doesn’t love a hot cowboy especially with his own ranch and plenty of “raunch” too
I love that video! As a Blazer-in-the-making (gotta be positive, right?), it’s great to actually see you in the same position then and to know how far you’ve come now. It really can happen! :P And raunch? I think I prefer the term “naughty” (would that be “notey” in CA?
Just kidding, Brenda!), but whatever the word, bring it on! The steamier, the better, as far as I’m concerned.
LOL, how funny to think that the birth of Blaze started with a misunderstanding. “She said ranch, I heard raunch, and we ended up selling millions.” LOL! Great story!
I remember when you sold, Alison!! And I remember CALL ME. Great book. I had something similar happen when I wrote for Mills and Boon–my editor over in London asked, “Can you write us a ranch book?” which in her accent sounded like “raunch book.” I squealed, “RAUNCH book?” :-O
I love cowboys! and the West. My sisters and I went on a hiking trip out in Co. We decided to go horseback riding one afternoon. When we returned home, we cracked up – all our pictures were of the hot cowboy guide wearing full leather chaps and cowboy hat. I guess we all love em.
(K)
Ome can NEVER get enough cowboys! LOL
I kove romances set around ranches and if it has raunch, EVEN better!
Nothing beats a cowboy in tight blue jeans and a great body and heart to match!
I am from Texas and have spent alot of time with cowboys, My step grandfather was one. And let me tell you they work hard and they love from deep inside . But lets be honest, what makes a great cowboy is a strong cowgirl standing beside him willing to face down any one who threatens her man or the land she loves. Hey the makings of a great romance!
As they say “Save a horse, Ride a Cowboy!”
Have a great day ladies! I am soooo enjoying this Blaze Blog! (F)
Hey I’m writing a western set contemp right now. Set on a ranch. With maybe a little raunch. Heh. Gotta love those cowboys! Yippie Ki Yay!
LOL. What a great story!
And as a Central Texan, I gotta say, the raunch here is pretty good.
Hello Alison,
Here lately in my reading, I can’t seem to get enough of the cowboys. If I have one in my TBR pile, I have a tendency to pick that up first. Love all things western, now if I could just move out west. It is the one thing I would love to do the most.
Have a great day.
Hilarious post, Alison! It’s so fun to hear how you first sold to Temptation.
Me, I love raunch dressing.
(Ewww, sorry about that.)
–Jamie
Wow what a story! Cowboys, who does not love them! Ranch, Raunch whatever BLAZE wants to share with us!
I’ve got a 2 year old underfoot today, so no computer time until his mom picks him up after work. I’m sneaking a blog break while he watches Barney!
Candace – Welcome to Blaze! You’re going to have a great time here! (Y)
Brenda – Gotta get in the digs where we can. (H)
Hi, Michelle! LOL on riding a cowboy. My original title for my Tex Appeal novella Unbroken was Ride Her Cowboy.
Hi, Crystal! I love contemporary cowboy stories. I’m thinking of a proposal idea so I can write more of them!
Hi, Sally! That video brings back SO many memories. Good luck pursuing Blaze!
Hi, Lori! I felt like such a noob!
Well, ranch or big city, I love sense of place in a book. And I’m with Brenda, I like to see where I am so I can be there too. Of course, the misunderstanding sounds like it yielded equally fun book additions (Y) .
Hi, Heather! I remember that story, too. Maybe it’s just our Texas ears! :-P
Hi, Lori L! I think I would’ve taken a lot of the same pictures! (H)
Hi, Patsy! I think you nailed it about what makes a cowboy so appealing!
Hi, Jaci! Don’tcha love writing them? I really, really do. And I’ve never even lived in the West, though we used to vacation every summer on our doctor’s ranch when I was a kid. No cowboys, just lots of horses and cows!
Forgot to mention… I remember reading Temptation and thinking the same thing. Fun + Sexy. So different from anything else on the shelves. Now with Blaze we get some Fun + Sexy. Some Suspense + Sexy. Some sexy, sexy, sexy… It’s been a good evolution!
Hi, Avery! A fellow Texan!
Hi, Roberta! I think I’m going to have to dig through my TBR and see what cowboys are waiting for me!
Hi, Jamie! LOL on the raunch dressing!
Hi, Colleen! Glad to see you over here, too!
Gotta go play with the grandson for awhile now! As if that’s any sort of sacrifice, heh. Be back later!
Hi, Joanne! You snuck in while I was replying to everyone! I do love all the variety in Blaze. Not just that readers get a lot of it, but that we get to add it to our stories. I’ve done the lawman hero, the mechanic, the lawyer, the author, the architect, the firefighter, the cowboys . . . yeah, love all that sexy fun!!
(Y)
lol Alison–too funny! Were you still new enough to say, “Sure, how much raunch would you like?”
I actually had a funny copy editor story last year. During editing of my June Blaze last year, Brenda hand-wrote in something we’d discussed on the phone, and it described the heroine looking at the hero like “a diet-deprived housewife eyeing an ice cream cone” or something along those lines.
So I get the galleys a month or so later, am casually flipping through them, and find the line above. I spewed when I read: “like a DICK-deprived housewife…”
I roared, called Brenda and we agreed that while it might be an apt analogy, it probably wasn’t quite the right way to say it.
Since I lassoed myself a cowboy, I have to admit to liking both the ranch and the raunch
So, yes please, throw my hat in the ring for books!
Hi, Rashda! Lucky you!!
Hi, Leslie! LOVE that story!!
Um yes please! I love the premise of “Call Me!” If only that would happen to me! :P And I liked Getting Rid of Bradley too – though I think I read it in it’s 5th reprint form or something :P
As for westerns, yes. Love them. Love cowboys. Ranches, the whole deal – and of course with modern accommodations. Who would want to give *that* up?
OMG ROFL – I love it!!! What a great call story. And its worked so well, that raunch thing. I’m a huge Jenny Crusie fan and Getting Rid of Bradley was one of my fave books, its so cool to hear that inspired your start in Temptation. I still have my original copy, right next to Manhunting.
Leslie, I’m snickering over your copy edit story. Its stuff like that that makes Blaze so fun.
Long Live Raunch!!! (D)
Hi, Alison –
I’m not a huge cowboy fan, to be totally honest. I don’t get it. I know, I know…I’m weird in so many ways. But I love the raunch, too. To me it makes romance novels so much deeper. I mean…people fall in love and have sex and get married, right? Sometimes the order is different, but that’s part of the process. No harm in including a little raunch, Blaze-style!
I love cowboys, the Wild, Wild West, ranches ,and raunch!
That is absolutely hysterical! Raunch indeed.
I enjoy reading cowboy stories and the wild west!
I love modern Westerns, but not historicals. I love the whole cowboy hat and boots thing, working on the ranch. But, not the historical, me man you woman kinda thing.
Great blog! I’m a city girl, so I love me my cowboys. And I recall laughing out loud at Manhunting and Getting Rid of Bradley. (which one had the heroine putting her head in the refrigerator?) Hilarious!
And, I think, I may have, just maybe, typed the last line of my revisions!
(D)
Sweet bliss…that is, until Brenda reads it again, eh?
Bonnie
Give me the raunch and no one gets hurt.
Please, I like my raunch on the side.
Actually, I take my raunch any way I can ge it. Reading it or writing it.
Enjoying the new blog ladies.
Raunch works for me. I tend to go more for historical heroes, knights and scots, but have liked a cowboy or two in my romance reading. Yet, I was, and still am a fan of western tv series, go figure.
Great post. How Funny!
I love “Getting Rid of Bradley.” Haven’t read “Call Me” but would love to. The whole premises of two strangers making eye contact on such a restricted ride and then expecting a call from the other is intriguing and exciting. I like it.
Debbie
I so miss those Temptations!! I have a few around here that I haven’t read yet, but I still pick up those that I find at sales so I get to read more of them. But too I love the Blazes and remember too some Temptation-Blaze books! I have had the joy of reading Jennifer Cruises’ when it was re-released. Is that one of yours going to be re-released Alison? Would be so neat! I loved that one! (Don’t put me in the contest, since I rather someone who didn’t have the joy to read them like I did wins).
Love my raunch! I wouldn’t miss them! I love finding the cowboy reads under Blaze! Or those on a ranch and small towns too!
I love Western theme stories and I love about them the ranches, wide open prairies, brandings, trail rides, rodeos, bunk houses with a big main house where the owners live. I love the bon fires at night where the cowboys sit around and share stories.
I love any stories set on ranches with cowboys. Linda Lael Miller, Diana Palmer, Elizabeth Lowell and now all of the Petticoats & Pistols authors!!
I actually like both the contemps and the historicals.
Cowboys=honesty, athleticism, integrity and the hard work ethic.
Add some romance/raunch ..Can’t beat it!
ooooh, Crusie love!
Please don’t enter me in this contest as I have read both of these books already, but I am pleased to hear how she inspired you to inspire yourself.
I also like how little snippets of life, of stories, of misunderstandings become the impetus for something really fantastic.
A little (okay, maybe a lot) raunch never hurts anybody.
Love this post and would love to read both books.
Laughing so hard I can barely type. Have been spending some summers out west and while the cowboys I have encountered at work, doing health screenings, haven’t inspired me to lasso many, there was one…..whom I referred to as The Marlboro Man who came in and pulled off his boots and lay down on my table….and I had the pleasure of tying him up. He forgot his cheap yellow sunglasses and I wore them the rest of the summer, till they snapped in the middle. Broke my little heart. The rest of the cowboys tracked manure into the screenings and wore shirts so tight I thought they were painted on. I prefer FANTASY cowboys these days, those that tip their hat at me and refer to me as “little lady”.
I like reading cowboy and ranch stories and raunch too! Although, I find I’m not attracted to cowboys in real life. At all. At least not the ones I’ve lived around. There was one when I was living in New Mexico but was at the hospital in Lubbock with my dad. He was pretty hot but was like 10 yrs older than me and I was only 20 so that kinda freaked me out. Anyway. I would love to read these books.
Thanks, everyone, for weighing in with your thoughts on ranches and raunch! My wrists are in a world of hurt right now so I can’t reply to all. Just wanted to say I’m enjoying reading all your comments!
I like a little raunch at the ranch, lol! I think those mysterious stoic cowboys are very sexy (in books). I don’t think I have ever met one in real life even though I have always lived in Oklahoma where Cowboys are abundant.
If it’s a well written raunch, about an extremely good looking cowboy, why not?
As it’s pretty hard for me to come across a real-life cowboy here in NZ, I love reading about them. Altho I agree with Jill; can’t stand the he-man historical cowboys. And the more raunch the better on the ranch, right?
Raunch–bring it on!
I don’t read many Western set contemporaries, but the few I’ve read I’ve enjoyed, so I probably should read more. I do like cowboys and ranches. Having lived in a city most of my life, cowboys and ranches seem exotic to me.
I totally forgot to post the winner, ack! It’s AVERY BECK! Avery, email me your mailing address and I’ll pop those books in the mail: ak AT alisonkent.com
Congrats Avery!
Whoa…just now discovered that I’ve won something…I so have not been paying attention. LOL
Thanks so much! I’ll email you, Alison…I hope it’s not too late to claim the prize!