Today's Special - - Jesse Hayworth

Today, we have not one but two of my favorite authors in the spotlight.  Jesse Hayworth, author of the heartwarming Mustang Ridge contemporary romance series will be interviewed by her good friend, Nancy Northcott. Nancy is the author of the action-packed, fantasy romance The Light Mage Wars series.  I highly recommend both series!  Take it away, Jesse and Nancy! ~PJ

Nancy: Our guest today is national bestselling author Jesse Hayworth.  She’ll chat with us about her new release, Harvest at Mustang Ridge and about the various series she’s written.

Welcome, Jesse! What drew you to writing fiction?

Jesse: I’d say it was a quarter-life crisis, really. I was finishing up my PhD in Genetics and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next, either with my career or my love life. So I asked myself “What if?” What if I could do anything next? What if I didn’t stay in science? What if my fiancé was out of the picture? Somehow all those what ifs turned into a story about a woman who, after her researcher fiancé’s suspicious death, quits science and retreats to her aunt’s horse farm to grieve.

Of course, there is the mystery of her fiancé’s death to solve, a romance with a hunky photographer who is also caught up in the danger, a cute little kid, ponies, horses, family … in the end, I had almost a thousand manuscript pages with two main plots, a gazillion subplots and five different endings. And I had so much fun with it! More than I was having in the lab, really, and after I took a step back and looked at what the story was telling me, I made a big leap of faith. I finished my degree, left the lab, and worked at a barn for several years until I finally sold a book to Harlequin.

Part of me wants to say that, hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have made some changes back then in the fiancé department, too. But, really, all of the experiences I’ve had along the way prepped me to be in the right place at the right time to meet and marry my wonderful husband, Arizona, a few years ago. (We both agree we weren’t ready for each other in our twenties or early thirties.) These days, I write full time, edit scientific articles on a freelance basis, and always put down what I’m doing and give hubby my full attention when he walks into the room.

Nancy: Please tell us about the Mustang Ridge series.

Jesse: Mustang Ridge Ranch is located in beautiful northern Wyoming, where the mountains hunker in the near distance and the wild mustangs roam. The ranch has been in the Skye family for more than two centuries, and for most of that time, it’s been a top-notch cattle station. But the times they are a changing. Six or so years ago, fresh-out-of-college Krista Skye went up against her grandfather, Big Skye, and swung the family vote to transform the cattle ranch to a high-end dude ranch that offers guided trail rides, roundups, Gran’s down-home country cooking, and a whole lot of hunky cowboys to round out the package. And with Krista, her twin sister Jenny, and a whole lot of single ranch employees and guests coming and going, there’s no shortage of potential for romance!

The series leads off with Summer at Mustang Ridge, Winter at Mustang Ridge and Harvest at Mustang Ridge, with more coming in 2015.

Nancy: Horses play a huge role in the Mustang Ridge books.  What’s the best thing about horses to you and how does that influence these books?

Jesse: Growing up, I always felt like an outsider—geeky, awkward, off and on chubby, and always liking the wrong stuff and wearing the wrong clothes—except where it came to horses. Sure, I couldn’t afford my own horse for a long time, and even when I could, I didn’t have the newest equipment or the trendiest clothes, and I didn’t go to the biggest shows. But that’s people stuff. Horses don’t care what brand name is on their tack as long as it’s comfortable, and they don’t care what their humans are wearing. They care that you’re gentle and fair, that the same command always means the same thing, and that good behavior gets rewarded.

That’s an important facet of Mustang Ridge, in fact. From Summer at Mustang Ridge, when a child finds her voice again with the help of a slow-to-develop foal, to the new Harvest at Mustang Ridge, when a wild mustang teaches Krista and Wyatt a few things about being good to each other, horses are woven into the fabric of the dude ranch experience and the love stories that flourish under the wide-open sky.

Nancy: Who are the hero and heroine of your new release, Harvest at Mustang Ridge, and what’s their story about?

Jesse:  Harvest reunites the ranch’s mastermind, Krista Skye, with the college boyfriend who broke her heart eight years ago. Sure, it’s water under the bridge, but are they really ready to team up to train a wild mustang for a prestigious ride-off? Krista might tell herself that off-the-charts chemistry isn’t enough to make a relationship work, but when she gets to know Wyatt again after all these years, the lines blur, sparks fly, and all bets are off…

Nancy: Will you be doing any more of Mustang Ridge in the near future?

Jesse: Absolutely! Firelight at Mustang Ridge will be available next February, with Another Fyne Thing (a Mustang Ridge e-novella) following in late spring, and Coming Home to Mustang Ridge (tentative title) releasing in the summer!

Nancy: In addition to working with horses, you have a science background.  How have you drawn on that in your writing?

Jesse: Yes, ma’am! I wrote more than twenty-five romantic suspenses for Harlequin Intrigue, most of which are either set at my fictional Boston General Hospital (seriously, I don’t know why anyone would ever go there, what with all the nefarious plots and steamy rendezvouses going on!) or involve the forensic side of police work, especially DNA analysis. I’m excited to get back to that soon (more on that later!).

Nancy: Your first series, The Nightkeepers, was Mayan-themed paranormal romance written under the name Jessica Andersen.  What drew you to that type of story?

Jesse: Pure and unadulterated geekdom. LOL. I love ancient civilizations, mythology, archaeology, anthropology, and any other –ology that talks about old stuff, new stuff, the collective unconscious and how they all fit together. I also love hot romances and action-adventure stories, so when I stumbled on an article about a Mayan-prophesied apocalypse, I was all, “Indiana Jones stuff, sorcery, paranormal romance and ancient Mexican pyramids, oh, my!” Eight books and a novella later, and I still adore the Nightkeepers and their world.

Nancy: Do you currently plan to write any more Nightkeepers adventures?

Jesse: I’ve toyed with the idea. I think it would be cool to revisit the Nightkeepers and see how their lives have changed since they averted the apocalypse and sealed the barrier between the earth and underworld, seriously altering their magical powers. But at the same time, I feel like the series came to its natural conclusion, and I have a great deal of respect for storytellers who stop before the audience loses interest (new Battlestar Galactica, anyone?). So I can’t say for sure if there will be more Nightkeeper books. I can, however, promise that there will be some new Jessica Andersen medical romantic suspenses soon, though! Look for the first two or three books in the tentatively titled Outbreak Incorporated series sometime next year!

For more about Jesse, you can check out her website: www.jessehayworth.com or her Facebook page www.facebook.com/docjess. You can also connect with her on Twitter, where she’s @JesseHayworth.

Jesse and Nancy, thank you so much for a terrific interview! We appreciate you both taking time from your busy schedules to visit The Romance Dish today.

Readers, what if you didn't stay in your current profession/situation? What if you had the opportunity to do anything you wanted? What would you do next? 

One randomly chosen commenter will receive the signed backlist Jesse Hayworth book of her choice J.