CARRA COPELIN SHARES A BIT ABOUT HER LIFE AND BOOKS

A LITTLE ABOUT ME AND MY BOOKS

by:

I'm a sixth generation Texan on my mother's side. My ancestors helped to settle Dallas in 1845 and stayed in the area. I am proud to be a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

Matelyn Gloria Roddy and Phillip Arthur Carr met in Dallas in the summer 1942. She was 14 and he was a much older man of 18. They dated, with my grandmother's permission, until he enlisted in the Army in February 1943. A very determined young girl, my mother boarded the train a few days after her 15th birthday and headed  for North Carolina to say, "I do".

Matelyn and Phil Carr c.1943

Gloria Lynn Carr (Cope) aka Carra Copelin about 9 months old in this snap.
I'm proud to say I've managed to maintain my girlish figure. 

I came to Dallas on December 6, 1947 at 11:55 am, via Florence Nightingale Hospital.

My first abode - 1022 Kings Highway

My parents lived with her family in a beautiful old home in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas.

Mother and Daddy bought their first house in 1951, in the newer neighborhood, where my brother made his appearance in 1952. We lived there until 1956 when we moved to the little town of Arlington. My dad wanted his children raised away from the big city.

Carra in 3rd grade

 I attended school there from 2nd grade through the 12th and graduated from Sam Houston High School.  

Jerry Cope about 10 months

Now, oddly enough, I met my future husband, Jerry Cope, at the local A&P Grocery in 1966 and as folks do we got to talking. He was born at Florence Nightingale Hospital, lived in Oak Cliff and moved to Arlington in 1953. Turns out we've always lived within five miles of each other.

Jerry in 3rd grade

Jerry and I married in May, 1967 and started building our home in 1969, in Arlington. Where else? It remains our home today.

Our daughter, Amye, came along in 1972 on Thanksgiving morning and our son, Brady, was born in 1976 in the Bicentennial year. 

I worked as a Medical Laboratory Technologist from 1965 (I did start in high school) until the clinic I worked for sold the lab in 2008. Since Jerry was already retired, I decided to stay home, too. Why should he have all the fun?

Writing became my focus and my first book, Code of Honor, Texas Code Series, Book One ,was published in July 2013. Three other titles followed with a fifth due out soon. I'm a member of RWA and serve as President of Yellow Rose Romance Writers.

Jerry and I this past summer on our Arkansas vacation.

I enjoy getting together with friends, critique partners and my bridge group. Our grandkids come over frequently, oh and Jerry is now a chicken farmer. He has twelve chickens out back in their area we call, Cackleberry Farms. Save your cartons, we have plenty of eggs.

Angel and the Texan from County Cork, a novella, is the third book in the Brides of Texas Code Series. It will be available on Amazon Kindle and Apple iBooks in August.

Blurb:

 Jamey O'Donnell has reached a crossroads in his life. It's time to make his own way and stop living off the charity of others, specifically from his brother-in-law, Ian Benning. Off to find his new life, Jamey stops to help an old friend only to find out the friend has been killed. Can he help the widow restart her life and then walk away? Will he be able to ignore the newly awakened emotions she brings to the surface?

Angel Rivers buried her first husband on the trail after a short three month marriage. Now, one year later, her second husband, Will, has been shot and killed leaving her to fend for herself, to work a ranch with little to no knowledge. When the stranger shows up in her barn on the coldest day she's ever experienced, can she trust that he's her husband's friend and not a henchman sent by her neighbor? The same one she suspects of the killing? Will she embrace her bad luck in marriage and bury the feelings stirred by the stranger to live a life alone?

Hugs, 

Carra

Find me: Carra Copelin Website, Carra's Blog , Carra's FB page , Carra's Twitter Page

Book One, Katie and the Irish Texan is available at Amazon:

 http://www.amazon.com/Katie-Irish-Texan-Brides-Texas-ebook/dp/B00LD0XRPG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1437200392&sr=1-1&keywords=carra+copelin

Book Two, Matelyn and the Texas Ranger is available at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Matelyn-Texas-Ranger-Brides-Code-ebook/dp/B00R0OA99Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1437200392&sr=1-3&keywords=carra+copelin

 

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Finding a location in which to plop our characters has tremendous bearing on the story, but can be a bit of a dilemma for the author. Several elements come into play and must be considered. For instance what is the time period? Is the story a historical, contemporary, or futuristic? Is the story a time travel or paranormal?

I decided early on that all my stories would take place in my native state of Texas. This seemed the best plan for me because I'm comfortable writing about Texas and would be able to research easier here than in distant states. Next, Texas has varied terrain for any time period and with its multiple areas to choose from, each story can be unique unto itself.






When it came time to choose an area in which to base my Brides of Texas Code Series, the natural choice for me was right here in North Central Texas. The history of the Bennings and McTiernans started in Civil War when Ian Benning and Dermot McTiernan came from Ireland with its political unrest to start their lives anew in Texas with the land grant amended in 1850. The Texas Emigration and Land Company offered 160 acres to single men, plus a free cabin, seed, and musket balls.

The two men received their land located north of Dallas in the originally named Peters Colony. Each generation will have a chance to tell their stories in and around the fictitious town of McTiernan, along with the ever changing landscape that will either be a blessing or a challenge all the way to present day.

In Katie and the Irish Texan, A Brides of Texas Code Series, Book 1, the story took place in 1873, Dallas. The lusty town suited Dermot McTiernan's rowdy personality.

Dermot McTiernan is determined to move on with his life after losing his one and only love to another man. He decides to try his hand at ranching in North Central Texas with his friend, Ian Benning. He figures if that doesn't work out, there are many other opportunities in the booming post-war state. When the luscious red-head from County Cork, Ireland shows up in Dallas, can he retain the courage of his convictions and move on without her?

Kathleen O'Donnell made a monumental mistake marrying, Kelsey Gilhooley. Her decision for entering the union, no matter how honorable, had made her life a living hell. Even though still married, she holds out hope for finding the man of her dreams. When she comes across her tall, dark-eyed Irishman in Dallas, Texas, will she be able to abandon happiness and walk away a second time?

Book 2 of the Brides of Texas Code Series, Matelyn and the Texas Ranger, is set in 1875 Galveston in the middle of the 1875 hurricane that devastated Galveston and Indianola.

Overcome by the death of his wife, Ian Benning leaves his small son in the care of best friends, Katie and Dermot McTiernan. He rejoins his old outfit with the Texas Rangers to keep his mind off the loss of his only love, Emma. His assignment takes him to Galveston on the Texas Coast in pursuit of a group of bank robbers, and to the middle of a horrific hurricane.

Matelyn O'Donnell accompanies her employer, Veronique de Marceau, from New Orleans to Galveston, Texas to reunite Veronique with her cruel and conniving husband, Gerard. Introduced to Ian Benning while aboard ship, Matelyn dismisses him as a criminal in cahoots with Gerard. When their ship is capsized from the vicious winds and waves in the Gulf of Mexico, Ian Benning rescues her from certain death.

Will she accept that he is undercover and help him bring de Marceau to justice? 

Book 3, Angel and the Texan from County Cork, is set in 1879, around the Denison, Texas area in North Central Texas, in the middle of the worst snow and ice storm on record.

Jamey O'Donnell loves his family, but feels the need to once again answer the call to adventure. On his way to join the Silver Rush in Leadville, Co., Jamey stops to help his old friend, Will Rivers. When he finds out his friend has been killed, he seizes the opportunity to repay an old debt. He decides to stay to help the widow rebuild her life and find who murdered his friend. Can he ignore the long buried emotions she brings to the surface and then walk away?

Angel’s second husband, Will Rivers, has been shot and killed leaving her with an impossible dilemma. Either marry her neighbor to satisfy her husband’s debt or the stranger she shot in her barn who says he’s a friend. Which one does she trust? Will she be able to bury the feelings stirred by the stranger to live a life alone?

In addition to the surrounding areas of the story, the weather can also be used to set the scene. Katie's story dealt with a severe flood in Dallas, Matelyn had to survive a hurricane, and Angel had the deadly ice storm.

My most recent book, Laurel: Bride of Arkansas, had a tornado. Yes, I broke my own rule and journeyed to a neighboring state. (grin)

Thanks for stopping by, it's always great to see you here!

Carra

Carra's Amazon Author Page

A LITTLE ABOUT ME AND MY BOOKS

by:

I'm a sixth generation Texan on my mother's side. My ancestors helped to settle Dallas in 1845 and stayed in the area. I am proud to be a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

Matelyn Gloria Roddy and Phillip Arthur Carr met in Dallas in the summer 1942. She was 14 and he was a much older man of 18. They dated, with my grandmother's permission, until he enlisted in the Army in February 1943. A very determined young girl, my mother boarded the train a few days after her 15th birthday and headed  for North Carolina to say, "I do".

Matelyn and Phil Carr c.1943

Gloria Lynn Carr (Cope) aka Carra Copelin about 9 months old in this snap.
I'm proud to say I've managed to maintain my girlish figure. 

I came to Dallas on December 6, 1947 at 11:55 am, via Florence Nightingale Hospital.

My first abode - 1022 Kings Highway

My parents lived with her family in a beautiful old home in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas.

Mother and Daddy bought their first house in 1951, in the newer neighborhood, where my brother made his appearance in 1952. We lived there until 1956 when we moved to the little town of Arlington. My dad wanted his children raised away from the big city.

Carra in 3rd grade

 I attended school there from 2nd grade through the 12th and graduated from Sam Houston High School.  

Jerry Cope about 10 months

Now, oddly enough, I met my future husband, Jerry Cope, at the local A&P Grocery in 1966 and as folks do we got to talking. He was born at Florence Nightingale Hospital, lived in Oak Cliff and moved to Arlington in 1953. Turns out we've always lived within five miles of each other.

Jerry in 3rd grade

Jerry and I married in May, 1967 and started building our home in 1969, in Arlington. Where else? It remains our home today.

Our daughter, Amye, came along in 1972 on Thanksgiving morning and our son, Brady, was born in 1976 in the Bicentennial year. 

I worked as a Medical Laboratory Technologist from 1965 (I did start in high school) until the clinic I worked for sold the lab in 2008. Since Jerry was already retired, I decided to stay home, too. Why should he have all the fun?

Writing became my focus and my first book, Code of Honor, Texas Code Series, Book One ,was published in July 2013. Three other titles followed with a fifth due out soon. I'm a member of RWA and serve as President of Yellow Rose Romance Writers.

Jerry and I this past summer on our Arkansas vacation.

I enjoy getting together with friends, critique partners and my bridge group. Our grandkids come over frequently, oh and Jerry is now a chicken farmer. He has twelve chickens out back in their area we call, Cackleberry Farms. Save your cartons, we have plenty of eggs.

Angel and the Texan from County Cork, a novella, is the third book in the Brides of Texas Code Series. It will be available on Amazon Kindle and Apple iBooks in August.

Blurb:

 Jamey O'Donnell has reached a crossroads in his life. It's time to make his own way and stop living off the charity of others, specifically from his brother-in-law, Ian Benning. Off to find his new life, Jamey stops to help an old friend only to find out the friend has been killed. Can he help the widow restart her life and then walk away? Will he be able to ignore the newly awakened emotions she brings to the surface?

Angel Rivers buried her first husband on the trail after a short three month marriage. Now, one year later, her second husband, Will, has been shot and killed leaving her to fend for herself, to work a ranch with little to no knowledge. When the stranger shows up in her barn on the coldest day she's ever experienced, can she trust that he's her husband's friend and not a henchman sent by her neighbor? The same one she suspects of the killing? Will she embrace her bad luck in marriage and bury the feelings stirred by the stranger to live a life alone?

Hugs, 

Carra

Find me: Carra Copelin Website, Carra's Blog , Carra's FB page , Carra's Twitter Page

Book One, Katie and the Irish Texan is available at Amazon:

 http://www.amazon.com/Katie-Irish-Texan-Brides-Texas-ebook/dp/B00LD0XRPG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1437200392&sr=1-1&keywords=carra+copelin

Book Two, Matelyn and the Texas Ranger is available at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Matelyn-Texas-Ranger-Brides-Code-ebook/dp/B00R0OA99Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1437200392&sr=1-3&keywords=carra+copelin

 

Pioneer Hearts Western Romance $.99 Event Oct 17-20

You are going to love this! I'm so happy to announce the first ever Pioneer Hearts 99c Western Romance Event! The dates for this event are October 17-20.This sale includes dozens of books for your Kindle, and a selection for your Nook or iBooks libraries, as well. And you know what else is fun? You can win some pretty snazzy prizes!                        Want to one one of two $10 Amazon gift cards? Share our sale and follow our authors! You could also win signed books, a beautiful turquoise pendant necklace (voted a favorite by the Pioneer Hearts Readers Group!), and more! See Rafflecopter here and win! See Nook links here See iBooks links here

By the way, my own book, KATIE AND THE IRISH TEXAN, is also included in this event on Amazon and Apple iBooks for .99.

I hope you can take advantage of this wonderful event and find some great new authors to read!

Thanks for visiting today,

Love, Carra

  Carra Copelin Website, Carra's Blog , Carra's FB page , Carra's Twitter Page