Spring Fling

Winner of the Spring Fling Blog Hop: Congratulations Brandi. 

Thank you to all who participated in the hop. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Spring. 

Judy

If you haven’t read Ghost Thunder, second book of the my contemporary Yellow Creek series, available under my aka Anna Sugg, then here a chance to meet Becca Tripp in Ghost Thunder. She is participating in a Spring Fling Hop this week and has agreed to an interview, so come and see what she has to say. 

It’s the beginning of spring in Ghost Thunder when we meet Becca Tripp, pregnant with her first child and without a husband.  

 Hello Becca, welcome to my blog. We have a few questions to ask you about your life in Yellow Creek, Tennessee. I know you wanted to have this interview while out riding your horses, but since you’re pregnant, we’ll just lean against the fence and watch your Tennessee Walking horse kicking her heels up and enjoying the sunny afternoon.

Judy:  What do you do for a living? 

Becca:  I’m a school teacher. Yellow Creek is a small farming community without a school, so I have to drive twenty miles every day to the school in Dickson. I don’t mine. I even enjoy the drive since I pick up my nephew, who lives down the road from me. We always have such interesting topics to talk about. He’s twelve years old and is so much like my brother, Ketch.

Judy:  Is your pregnancy a good thing, or am I being too personal?

Becca:  Yes, it’s good. I’m so excited, but it’s hard since my baby won’t have a father…something I would rather not discuss right now.

Judy: Do you live alone in Yellow Creek? 

Becca: Yes, well, no. I have my dog, Maxine, and my Tennessee Walking horses, Josie and Silver Dapple. Also my brother, nephew and sister-in-law live down the road.

Judy: I only see one horse out in the field. Which one is he?

Becca: She. Josie is a filly. I board Silver Dapple at my brother’s farm. She’s a Tennessee Walking horse that I rescued from an abusive owner and requires medication.

Judy: Will we meet you in book one, Secret Past? 

Becca: Yes. My brother, Ketch and his son lives with me, but their life changes when Sarah moves to Yellow Creek. If you haven’t met Sarah yet, please stop by Yellow Creek in book one, she’d love to tell you about her grandmother’s secret past.

Judy: What does the title Ghost Thunder mean? 

Becca: Oh my…have you not been in Tennessee when the rain pours. Its buckets. It seems that every time there’s a thunderstorm, I’m confronted with ghost horse. He’s leading me into something dangerous, and I’m scared for my unborn child.

Judy:  Can you elaborate?

Becca:  No, I can’t. Someone might hear.

Judy: Do you have a love interest? Who is he?

Becca: His name is Thomas and he has a daughter named Ellie. Ellie is a sweetheart, but she’s worried about her father and I can tell she is keeping something from me. I know Thomas has a secret and I’m not sure if he’s truly honest with me, so I’m being cautious. I have to protect my baby.

Judy: Do you have a favorite spring drink you can share with us?

Becca: I have to confess it’s Southern Sweet Tea with lemon, of course. I love sitting on my brother’s porch, swinging and drinking sweet tea with my sister-in-law, Sarah. Here’s my recipe:

Sprinkle a pinch of baking soda into a 64 ounce, heat proof glass pitcher. Pour in 2 cups of boiling water, add 6 tea bags and cover and steep for 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags, stir in ¾ cups white sugar (I like my tea sweeter, so I add 1 cup sugar), then, pour in 6 cups of cool water, refrigerate.

Pour the sweet tea over a glass of ice, squirt in some lemon, and enjoy.  

Judy: Do you have a favorite scene that you can share?

Becca:  I do. This short excerpt comes from Ghost Thunder:

A horse neighed.  

Her hurried glance swung out into the field beyond the fence line. She frowned and squinted into the heavy downpour, stopped near the fence, and searched the saturated field. Josie wouldn’t have left the barn. She didn’t like thunder.

There it was again. A horse neighed as if saying, “Over here, where are you?” She was sure of it.

In the seconds the bright blue blaze lit up the sky her breath hitched at the sight before her. Through the pouring rain, a horse ran at full gallop. Another sheet lightning covered the sky above to reveal the large muscular body of a beautiful horse moving at a high-speed. His long stride stretched reaching out toward her. Becca wiped the raindrops from her eyelashes and stared. The flash above shimmered on his black coat and the white marking on his face bobbed with each galloping movement. And then, he stumbled, caught himself, stumbled again, but managed to continue in her direction.

Becca climbed upon the bottom fence rail. He was hurt. The animal lurched forward and went down. He didn’t move. How did an injured horse get inside her field and where did he come from? Without any thought of how pregnant she was, she climbed up and over the fence and on a fast run headed toward the horse through the soggy wet field. A gust of wind blew the hood from her head soaking her hair. She stopped.

Where did he go? Her wet hand held out the flashlight and searched the ground. Once again a sheet of lightning turned the sky from night to day. Nothing. Standing beneath the thunderclouds, she dropped to her knees and gazed beyond the field in the dark. Distant thunder roared beyond the rolling hills, moving on with the heavy rains and wind. The storm had settled down to a steady drizzle, though it had already drenched her entire body. Raising her hand, she wiped her face and eyelashes to scan the field again. Did she imagine the incident? It was too surreal, and yet, she was almost positive he’d been real. Why in this world did she have a vision of such a beautiful animal galloping toward her like his life depended upon reaching her? What did it mean?

Thank you Becca for joining us today and your participation in the Spring Fling Hop. I know everyone will want to leave a comment so their name can be entered into a drawing for one of your mugs. Becca will have me draw a name on April 25 and contact the winner. 

Now, you have a chance to win more prizes…

I’m participating in a Spring Fling Blog hop April 21 – 24 with over fifty authors and bloggers joining together to bring you some amazing posts, great giveaways and lots of fun! Don't forget to enter the rafflecopter to win a Kindle tablet, gift cards, paperbacks and swag and be sure to check out the other blogs taking part. http://www.lovelustandlipstickstains.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-hops.html  (I’m #46: Country Girl at Heart)

Thank you for participating in this Spring Fling Hop and if you’d like to read Becca Tripp’s story, Click Here.

Happy Hopping.  Judy