Special Guest: Tracey Cramer-Kelly

Visiting with us today via Goddess Fish Promotions' blog tour, welcome Tracey Cramer-Kelly, author of the romantic suspense novel, "Last Chance Rescue". Want a chance to win an autographed copy of her book? It's easy to enter -- just leave a comment here today! And visit her other tour stops to comment, for even more chances.

Now... welcome Tracey!!

Why I Write from a Male Point of View

“Did you consider yourself a tomboy?”

That was the question from the male hosts of a popular outdoors radio show.

When I was a kid, all the neighborhood kids ran around together. We were a mini-gang and we were outdoors all the time, climbing on jungle gyms, playing tag and hide-and-seek, creating chalk drawings, running through sprinklers or building elaborate snow forts.

I never fell out of a tree. I never broke a bone. I didn’t play organized sports (not that I didn’t want to, but that’s another story).

I didn’t have dolls, but I had LOTS of stuffed animals, each with their own name and personality.

So…no…I never felt like a tomboy!

But…

I do have hobbies and interests that are typically associated with males. I ride a motorcycle, and have since I was 16 (thanks to my dad’s influence). I got my helicopter pilot license in 2001 (and am slowly getting my fixed-wing endorsement). I have a particular fondness for white-water rafting and other adrenaline-producing sports.

And I am definitely not a tea-and-gab kind of gal! I would rather bond with others the way men do: by doing some sort of physical activity (like basketball, for example). I sometimes have difficulty connecting with other mothers who have no interests or goals outside of their family (which you might say is a female trait...and I have those, too, especially when it comes to my kids, who are 2 and 6).

So I tended to have male friends. And my background in the military compounded that. I worked and hung out with a lot of males (and still do as owner of a motorcycle accessories business www.LeaderMotorcycle.com).

So perhaps, in some ways, I think like a man.

So why do I ‘write like a man’? (I consider that a compliment, by the way.) Perhaps it’s a little of the old adage ‘write what you know’ (which I don’t believe in, although I’m convinced that the seed has to be sown somewhere).

But mostly…I just find men fascinating. In particular, how they react to problems. How they deal with intimacy and emotionally trying situations. How they struggle with identity and regrets. My male friends (and my husband!) will tell you that I’ve grilled them at some time or another about something or other. In my writing, I like to explore how a male character may change/be changed by events/situations (a major theme in Last Chance Rescue).

Women always want to ‘understand’ men and see the more vulnerable side of them. Last Chance Rescue gives them lots of that. AND men like it too (just ask the radio talk show hosts)!

About the Author: I'm married to a man (Tim) who actually puts up with all my crazy ideas ... a "homebody" balance to my manic Type-A "go-go" personality ... a man who keeps me grounded. We have two children (son Nathan, 5, and our "love child" daughter, Evelyn, 1). For someone who swore in my younger days that I'd never have children, I am regularly astounded by my capacity for love and humbled by the blessing these two bring to my life.

I enjoy outdoor activities of all kinds (downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, water skiing, whitewater rafting, kayaking, etc). I would spend every day on the river if I could!

I've been a "biker chick" since I was 16 years old (and yes, I wear leather!). My current ride is a Kawasaki Vulcan 900. But I tend to get a new motorcycle more often than I should!

Visit Tracy at her website and blog.


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Blurb of "Last Chance Rescue":

When Brad Sievers runs into his old friend Jessie Van Dyke at his high school reunion, little does he know how much it will change his life. When his high-powered advertising career fizzles, he falls into a most unlikely career opportunity -- becoming a member of Jessie's search-and-rescue team. Nothing in his life has prepared Brad for this, but he finds it more fulfilling than a dozen advertising campaigns.

Through dangerous rescues and personal trials, Brad and Jessie become close friends. They share in the birth of her first colt from her rescued horse; Jessie helps Brad when one of his first rescues doesn't make it. When one of their rescue victims turns out to be a fellow soldier from Jessie's Iraq War days, Brad almost loses her to old demons. But when Brad is severely injured in a training accident, Jessie nurses him back to health as only she can. And when she goes missing one night, Brad realizes just how important she has become to him.

Both Brad and Jessie must fight their own defenses to finally let down the walls that will allow them to rescue each other. This is a story about breath-taking action and adventurous lives, and the heart that is behind it all.


Read an excerpt of this great story!

Despite three blankets and a roaring fire only two feet away from him, Brad couldn’t stop shivering. Even the hot shower he’d had only thirty minutes before was a distant memory. A warm mug appeared in his hands. “What is it?”

“Hot toddy with herbs.” Jessie sat in the easy chair across from him. “It’ll help warm you.”

The bourbon burned the back of his throat but the herbs left a pleasant aftertaste.

“You might start feeling warmer in a week or so,” Ryan teased, sipping on his own. The younger man sat next to Brad, nearly as wrapped as he was. Micah had been soaked as well, but he didn’t seem as affected by it. He and Tony—who had performed CPR with Jessie during the medevac flight—sat on the sofa, engaged in a conversation about fishing, of all things.

They fell silent when the phone rang. Every eye watched Jessie as she spoke a few short words into the phone and hung up. She shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she addressed Brad specifically. “He didn’t make it.”

Brad sat staring into the fire long after Tony, Micah, and Jessie had left. He wasn’t prepared for the impact of her words. Although he knew it to be true, he didn’t want to believe it. When? he demanded silently. When had the man died? Had he been dead when Brad had held him in his arms? Had everything he’d done been meaningless after all?