Guest Post & Giveaway: Home For A Cowboy by Amy Aislin

Posted June 9, 2020 by Dale

Las doesn’t date seasonal workers. Marco’s on a three-month contract.

Lassiter Windsor-March has been planning for his future for as long as he can remember and he knows exactly where that future lies: at his family’s ranch in Wyoming. What doesn’t lie in his future is a summer fling with one of the seasonal workers—they never stick around.

Even if one of those workers is the college crush he’s invited to work a summer job at the ranch.

Marco Terlizzese is as laissez-faire as Las isn’t. He might not know where he’ll be once his contract with Windsor Ranch is up, but he knows three months is plenty of time to get his long-time crush to agree to go out with him.

Amid a starry summer sky, their chemistry ignites as feelings deepen, forcing Las and Marco to decide where they truly belong.

Release Date: June 9, 2020
Goodreads | Amazon | Apple | B&N | Kobo
Cover by: Designs by Morningstar

Thank you for joining me to celebrate the release of my newest m/m romance, Home for a Cowboy, the first book in my brand new cowboy romance trilogy. It features a friends-to-lovers, opposites attract romance, lots of stargazing, sexy times in the hay, and pining for days! And thank you as well to Queer Books Unbound for sitting down with me to discuss writing, the development of Home for a Cowboy’s main characters, and more!

How do you come up with the titles to your books?
That honestly depends on the book. For all of the books in the Stick Side series (up until now) the titles were taken from something the characters say to each other in the books. The Lighthouse Bay and Lakeshore series are both based on locations. This particular book, Home for a Cowboy, as well as the next two books in the Windsor, Wyoming series, are based on the books’ themes. Home for a Cowboy is literally the theme of the book!

What is the most difficult part about writing for you?

There are two parts that I find the most difficult. First, the first 20,000 words. Because I’m a pantser, not a plotter, I generally start writing a book knowing the overall theme, what the characters want, and what they’re conflict is (IE: why they can’t be together). That’s it. I get to know my characters in the first 20,000 words, so they’re always hardest to write.

Second, editing. When I get feedback from my beta readers, and then from editor, I always have a tough time going back into the story to make the necessary edits. And that’s because I’ve away from the book for a while, either taking a writing break or working on something new, and I find it difficult to get back into that headspace.

When writing a series how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

I make sure to change everything up in every book: different themes, characters with different personalities, different tropes, and different situations.

Do you find it more challenging to write the first book in a series or to write the subsequent novels?

The subsequent novels! Because I’m horrible at keeping track of character and settings details, not to mention timelines, when I write the subsequent novels, I’m constantly going back to previous books to double check information I should already have in a series bible.

What is the future for the Las and Marco? Will there be a sequel?

There will be a sequel, but with new characters. As far as Home for a Cowboy goes, it’s a complete story on its own with an HEA and no cliffhanger, but you’ll see more of Las and Marco in future Windsor, Wyoming novels.

If you had to describe Las in three words, what would those three words be?

Homebody, cautious, planner.

If you had to describe Marco in three words, what would those three words be?

Fanciful, easy-going, fish-out-of-water.

What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

A little town called Niagara-on-the-Lake on the shores of Lake Ontario, near Niagara Falls. It’s about an hour drive from where I live, so my parents have been taking my sisters and me there since we were little. It’s the cutest little town, and their downtown is the basis for the downtown in both Christmas Lane and The Heights. They have the best jams and jellies, a yearly peach festival, a Christmas house tour, the best ice cream and gelato, and a great trail to cycle along the Niagara River.

Do you have a scene or moment that you consider one of your best?

There’s a scene in On the Ice that’s very carefully written and I honestly think it’s one of my best. It’s the scene that takes place on Halloween and Mitch’s college hockey team has just won their game and there’s a party at the local pizza joint. That scene was very complicated because Mitch needed to be his bratty self, but at the same time allow Alex glimpses into who he realizes is underneath it all. It was quite the balancing act!

What keeps you motivated? Do you get writer’s block?

Honestly, what keeps me motivated is the desire to get books into readers’ hands. I don’t look at reviews, but I always look forward to hearing from readers about what they thought of the book.

And yes, I do occasionally get writer’s block. When that happens I try to remind myself what the goal is for the story, what I’m trying to accomplish, and what my characters want, and then try to get them to that place.

What’s your favorite scene from Home for a Cowboy?

There are a few that are really great! There’s one where Las and Marco are caught by their friends the morning after some hayloft sex that serves absolutely no purpose to the story, but it was fun to write, so I left it in there. But I’d have to say my favourite is one where Marco asks Las on a date. I won’t tell you what happens, because spoilers, but it’s a particularly moving moment in the book with all the feelz.

Amy Aislin is celebrating the release of Home for a Cowboy with a fantastic giveaway! Win 1 of 2 paperback copies of Home for a Cowboy + a fabulous character art print and swag. Must be 18 to enter and win. Open internationally.

*click the graphic to get to the Rafflecopter*

Amy’s lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she’s read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she’s been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn’t at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada’s largest environmental non-profit.

An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group, Amy Aislin’s Readers, to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram and Twitter, or sign up for her newsletter.