Today I am so pleased to welcome Lisa Henry to Joyfully Jay. Lisa has come to talk to us about her latest release, Sweetwater. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving Lisa a big welcome!

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Hi! I’m Lisa Henry, author of Sweetwater! I’m touring the web talking about my inspiration, my writing process, and giving you a behind-the-scenes look at Sweetwater. And of course there’s a giveaway! You could win a title from my back catalogue, as well as a $20 Riptide gift voucher!

Thanks, universe!

Writing Sweetwater wasn’t my idea, but when Rachel Haimowitz suggested I write her (and Riptide) a historical western, I jumped at the chance. I love historicals. But I wasn’t really that familiar with the period, or the geography, so I had to do a fair amount of research.

After picking South Pass City as being a perfect location for my story, I spent a while online checking out photographs and maps of the area. Also, the Wyoming Tourism Board will send you brochures for free! I ordered a few books off Amazon, and then got down to writing.

Still, there was something missing. I was worrying a lot about the little details. For a period of history that has spawned about a gazillion movies and books, it was surprisingly difficult to get a consensus on the basic stuff.

Like what did a drink in a saloon cost?

What would a man carry in his pockets?

What would his clothes look like?

Then, last year, on a family holiday to Melbourne, I found the perfect book. Not just the perfect book, but what I’m pretty sure had to be a sign from the universe:

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This book, you guys! This book was perfect. Clothes, food, horses, firearms, bullets, money, everything… Sometimes, the universe says yes.

And sometimes my mum does.

One day, I mentioned to my mum that I wasn’t exactly sure what cowboys actually did. A few days after that I got home to find out she’d let herself into my house and left this on my kitchen counter:

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Which is why the dedication in Sweetwater ends with “Also for my mum, for helping me imagine I was a cowboy.”


Blurb

Sweetwater_1200x1800HRWyoming Territory, 1870.

Elijah Carter is afflicted. Most of the townsfolk of South Pass City treat him as a simpleton because he’s deaf, but that’s not what shames him the most. Something in Elijah runs contrary to nature and to God. Something that Elijah desperately tries to keep hidden.

Harlan Crane, owner of the Empire saloon, knows Elijah for what he is—and for all the ungodly things he wants. And Crane isn’t the only one. Grady Mullins desires Elijah too, but unlike Crane, he refuses to push or mistreat the young man.

When violence shatters Elijah’s world, he is caught between two very different men and two devastating urges: revenge and despair. In a boomtown teetering on the edge of a bust, Elijah must face what it means to be a man in control of his own destiny, and choose a course that might end his life . . . or truly begin it for the very first time. 


Bio

Lisa Henry lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

She shares her house with too many cats, a dog, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

You can visit Lisa her website, at Goodreads, or on Facebook or Twitter.


Giveaway

Thanks for following the tour! To celebrate the release, I’m giving away an ebook from my back catalogue, as well as a $20 Riptide gift voucher. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with a way for me to contact you, be it your email, your twitter, or a link to your facebook or goodreads account. Please put your email in the body of the comment, not just in email section of the comment form, because I won’t be able to see it otherwise! On October 8, I’ll draw a winner from all eligible comments! Be sure to follow the whole tour, because the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win the prize!

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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