Caryl McAdoo

Award-winning author Caryl McAdoo loves writing stories that move her readers closer to Him in her forty-four best-selling novels, and she also loves singing the new songs the Lord gives her. Married to high school sweetheart Ron, she counts their four children and eighteen grandsugars life’s best blessings. The McAdoos live in Clarksville, Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door.

Tell us about your newest book.

Remiis my May release this year, book two in the Prairie Roses Collection. Her name is Agnus Remington Dalrumple, so you can see why she goes by Remi. She’s a loner bookworm, a bit introverted, and suffers horribly with seasickness, so she’d sworn off all water travel.
She never dreamed she would go west in a covered wagon, but when her stepfather takes her mother to the French Riviera, that’s exactly what she does. California is her destination—the last address on a letter from the father she’s never met. She thought it would be a lark.

What genre do you focus on and why?

My second NY agent said to write her a historical Christian romance set in the 1800s and she’d sell it. We did and so did she—to Simon & Schuster! I’ve dabbled in contemporary romance, too, but the times-gone-by so speak to me.

I love the times of families and communities when godly morals prevailed and honesty, modesty, and morals were valued. Historical romance (twenty-five titles) is by far my readers favorite genre, so I write to my audience. I also love writing Biblical fiction (five) and for children (four)—and a couple of non-fiction titles (four) as well.

Why do you write? What drives you?

I write because God called me to it. I studied to show myself approved and learned enough to write Story&Style, The Craft of Writing Creative Fiction. God blessed my husband and co-writer Ron and me with awesome mentors at the DFW Writers’ Workshop. Having my name on the cover drives me. My husband is why I have such wonderful heroes. My high school sweetheart and husband of fifty-plus years, he is of course my inspiration and a part of every hero I write. He keeps their dialogue manly and knows so many manly things!

Who is your main character, and how did you choose that name?

My title character, Remi, is my heroine and Asher Adams, her hero. Readers met Asher’s family in Uniquely Uncommon, my April release when the widower unexpectedly takes his sister Christina (the heroine of that book) across the country along with his two daughters to plant a vineyard in Napa Valley, California. So this is Remi and Asher’s story, and we set up his thirteen-year-old daughter Samantha to have her own romance next year in my Prairie Roses contribution. I love writing about the same people from book to book.

What is the hardest part of being an author?

Without a doubt, the answer is marketing, even though I’m a born marketer. Why? You’re never through with it. If an author doesn’t market, how will readers ever know they’ve written a book? And there are so many competing for their attention, yours need to stand out.

What’s the best part of your author’s life? Why?

Writing with my husband, spending 24/7 with him and “creating” with him. He’s my best friend and the most Christlike man I’ve ever known. We enjoy writing together. We work together on designing and decorating our home, The Peaceable in the woods five miles south of Clarksville, Texas—like the mosaic walls in our master shower and wallpaper of our booksignings through the years.

What is the craziest thing you’ve experienced as an author?

Meeting Mary Sue Seymour, my NY agent, at a small East Texas Writer’s Conference. As members of the group, Ron and I volunteered to be her gopher at the conference, including picking her up at the hotel and getting her there as well as taking her back to DFW International (a three-hour drive) for her flight home. When she got out of the elevator, she ran and hugged my neck, telling me, “You’re the first McAdoo I’ve ever met who wasn’t a McAdoo.” Come to find out, McAdoo was her maiden name! How about that for God putting His stamp on our divine appointment?

What is your favorite pastime?
Both of us are very competitive, so Ron and I love playing games. We enjoy bridge twice weekly: Tuesday evening’s Red River Bridge Club and a couple that comes every Friday for dinner and bridge—we alternate cooking. Then add a once-a-month afternoon bridge club.
The game of Acquire (a financial theme, buy and sale stocks, merge companies) is a favorite we play mostly with Ron’s older brother, Bruce. When we go in for a visit, we might play as many as fifty games in a weekend—the boys wake me up to play.
And lately we’ve added Quirkle that we play together while we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He keeps all kinds of records and monthly scores so we can know who won for the year. I’m scorekeeper for Acquire and have fifteen years of score sheets with annual winners between Bruce, Ron, and me.

Do you have other books? We’d love to know.
I do. In ten years, our first ten titles published traditionally, the tenth with S&S. In the fall of 2014, I started as an Indie, releasing our own books our own selves, and I love it. I’ve published thirty-five more books in the last five years, and by fall, it’ll be thirty-eight—a total of forty-five.

Of those, the Texas Romance Family Saga series is the most popular series with ten novels that span five generations from 1832 to 1951 with five more spin-off books, including more ancestors and descendants. Last September, I’ve started a new Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga, and the third book debuts this September.

What are you working on now?

Getting Jewel’s Gold, book four in the multi-author Gold Diggers Collection ready to launch July 20^th!
And writing Texas Tears, my September release, getting close to finished. I started it in March. It’s book three in the Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga and will also be my contribution for the Thanksgiving Books and Blessings Collection (a multi-author project of mine).

I want to thank you so much, Susan, for inviting me to visit! I’d love to offer a giveaway of Remi (eBook) to one of your commenters! Ask me any question about me or the books!

LINKS:

Website:http://www.CarylMcAdoo.com

Link to book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NYVRN8S

Social media links:

 Author Pages:

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Caryl-McAdoo/e/B00E963CFG

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1hQx6UZbWi3OYwmKKxh6Q

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/CarylMcAdoo.author

Blogs:
The Word & the Music http://carylmcadoo.com/blog/

HeartWings (Devotional) – http://www.HeartWingsBlog.com

Sweet Americana Sweethearts (Historical) http://www.SweetAmericanaSweethearts.blogspot.com

GoodReads:  http://tinyurl.com/GoodReadsCaryl

Google+:http://tinyurl.com/CarylsGooglePlus

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryl-mcadoo-00562323

Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/CarylMcAdoo

Pinterest:http://www.pinterest.com/CarylMcAdoo