EQ Welcomes E. Ayers!
EQ: Welcome to EQ!
Tell us a little bit about yourself!
There’s an
expression in computer programming that is What You See Is What You Get or
WYSIWYG (pronounced wizzy-wig), and I think that pretty well describes me. I believe I’ve always been that way. I might have been born with a sliver spoon in
my mouth, but it didn’t mean very much to me. I was who I was. I realize it
gave me opportunities and sent me places that other people dream about, but it
all came with a price tag. Very early, I learned that money didn’t protect you
from certain things and that everyone has the same basic need to be loved.
When my Prince Charming
came along, I didn’t think twice. I married him! My world flipped upside down.
I went from wealth to ohmigod poverty! My mom had more grocery money for a week
for her and my dad, than my husband made in a month. Way too proud to let on
how terrible things were financially, I managed. I counted pennies and we
survived. Thus began my married life. The lessons were hard, but I also learned
that our love could get us through almost anything that life tossed at us.
Then a few years
ago, my husband died. It was a shock and my life shattered. I hadn’t just lost
my husband, I lost my best friend, my lover, and my rock. I was too old to
start over, and too young to be a widow. I had to pick up whatever was left and
continue. It was my writing that kept me going and it still is.
Having lived in
almost two separate worlds, I knew plenty about each and I bring the realism of
those worlds into my writing. I love giving my characters freedom to be
themselves. I don’t try to impose my personal beliefs onto my characters. And
they have surprised me by doing things that I would never ever do!
EQ: Tell us a little
bit about your historical release.
A Rancher’s Woman
came from my writing a short story, A Christmas Far From Home,
featured in the historical anthology Sweetwater Springs Christmas with
Debra Holland and several other friends. I had this budding relationship
between Malene and a Crow Indian named Many Feathers even though the story was
about Adie and Frank. Many Feathers just wouldn’t let that story end. He poked
and prodded me into writing his story. And, well, I fell in love with him. His
desire for a better life for his people and his wish to prove he was worthy of
Malene, created a challenge that I had to pursue.
The year was 1896
and life was difficult for most women. Change was in the air and women were
gaining rights that they had never had, but many women were still trapped by
customs. Men ruled. Women obeyed their fathers and their husbands. Divorce was
almost unheard of and placed a stigma on the woman. Our American Indians were
trapped on reservations and were slowly being starved to death. The prejudice
against them is almost unfathomable, as they were looked upon as being subhuman
dirty creatures.
Malene had posed as
a chaperone to her younger sister as a way to flee from an abusive marriage.
Then this Crow Indian who looks totally different from any man she’s ever seen,
fascinates her, and he’s also been kinder to her than any man she’s ever known.
And he’s just as interested in her, maybe more so. It’s his job to make sure
the two women and Frank Coleman arrive safely at the Coleman ranch.
Circumstances tossed them together and a tentative friendship formed.
It’s a western, set
against the harsh realities of life at that time. It’s Malene’s story of
finding her way and her own independence. And it’s Many Feather’s story as he
discovers he’s caught between his proud heritage and the ways of the white man.
But tucked between the pages are two hearts, and a society that is determined
to keep them separated.
EQ: What kinds of
female characters do you prefer to write?
I like writing about
strong females. Yes, everyone says that so let me explain. I admire those women
who are physically strong, but deep inside women have an innate mental strength
about them. That’s the strength that I like in women. Even with today’s
attitude that women can do anything, we fail to foster that inner strength.
It’s there, lying dormant. Even the meekest, most shy, and timid woman has it.
I like writing about the women who find that strength and learn to stand on
their feet and then spread their wings and fly. Those are the women who are the
most interesting, the ones we want to emulate, and the ones we admire.
EQ: What kinds of
male characters do you prefer to write?
Good guys! I don’t
write about bad boys. There’s a lot of truth in the saying you can smooth the
coat of the tiger but you’ll never change his stripes. Men are not going to
change! They are what they are. They might need to learn a few social graces or
be taught which knife to use, but that personality is there to stay.
I also avoid the
totally alpha males. In real life, we probably do need them, but I find that
men who are a combination of alpha and beta qualities make the best husbands. I
want a male who will protect his woman and children if necessary to his death,
and can be totally ruthless when he must, but I want a man who can cuddle a
newborn, knows how to at least sort laundry, and can carry on an intelligent
conversation that goes beyond grunting or sports. He might avoid the ballet
like the Black Plague, but he’d willingly buy two tickets so his woman can go
with her sister to see it.
EQ: What is the
biggest risk you’ve taken in your writing?
Being totally
realistic. The romance genre is filled with the fantasy of a hunky man sweeping
a woman off of her feet and I don’t write it. I write about life! But with the
happily-ever-after of a romance. I write stories that could happen, not
Hollywood renditions. I don’t whitewash things.
People don’t always
like what I write. We want to believe that the world is a nice place when it
isn’t. We want to think that there is no prejudice even though it still exists.
Children are molested, people get away with murder, money talks, and life can
be brutal and extremely unfair. On the other hand, I have this total belief
that people who belong together will work through what life tosses at them so
that they can reach that happily ever after. Getting to that point isn’t a
single battle, but often a series of things until they realize their lives can
mesh together.
I don’t think anyone
should ever give up a dream or a career to be married. That’s total nonsense,
yet it is perpetuated in many romances today. Yes, it happens. We all know that
Edward VIII gave up the throne to marry Wallis Simpson. If someone must give up
what is important to him or her, it will cause resentment.
Marriage needs to be
an equal union of two people who love and respect each other. And today, she
might be the breadwinner and he’s the stay at home dad. It’s all about having
choices, acknowledging, and appreciating one another.
Find
E. Ayers at these places:
(Twitter) @ayersbooks
(Website) http://www.ayersbooks.com
(Email) e.ayers@ayersbooks.com
(Blog) http://ayersbooks.wordpress.com
(Shared
Blog) http://authorsofmainstreet.wordpress.com
(Amazon
Author Page) http://amzn.com/
e/B005AYJ0XE
Read
these titles by E. Ayers:
Wanting
(A River City novel)
A New
Beginning (A River City novel)
A
Challenge (A River City novel)
Forever
(A River City novel)
A Son
(A River City novel)
A
Child's Heart (A River City novel)
Coming
Out of Hiding (a novel)
A
Rancher’s Woman (historical western novel)
With This Ring (novel)- NEW June 2014
I Thee Wed (novella) -NEW June 2014
With This Ring (novel)- NEW June 2014
I Thee Wed (novella) -NEW June 2014
A
Fine Line (a novella) *
Mariners
Cove (a novella)
Ask
Me Again (a novella)
A
Skeleton at Her Door (a novella)
A
Snowy Christmas in Wyoming (a novella) *
A
Cowboy's Kiss in Wyoming (a novella) *
A
Love Song in Wyoming (a novella) *
A
Calling in Wyoming (a novella) *
Sweetwater
Springs Christmas (anthology) *
Coming
soon:
Campaign (A River City novel)
* sweeter
reads
