Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Sensual western romance. Heartwarming stories. Strong family ties.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Mailing List Sign Up
  • Contact Mary
  • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
  • Holiday Books
  • Two-Five Ranch Outlaws
  • Double Dutch Ranch Series
    • Visit Canyon Junction
  • Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love
  • Bull Rider Series
  • Character Family Connections
  • Reading Order
  • Meet Our Heroines
  • About
  • Category: Meet Our Heroines

    • Time Traveling: Strolling Through Pages

      Posted at 10:50 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on April 28, 2023

      The title is somewhat misleading. You know I didn’t time travel in a physical sense. Would you believe I did mentally and emotionally? The weirdest thing happened the other day. I’m calling it unplanned procrastination. Not so weird, huh? On Wednesday, I sat down to write in the afternoon. Out of the blue, I had the urge to go through one of my email folders.

      I have more email folders than any normal person needs. The one I’m mentioning today holds personal-to-me “stuff.” This covers, for example, saved reminders I email myself on occasion, among so many other email subjects. My list of “folders” holds a treasure trove of information from: Amazon news, to holiday gifts and shipping, to Writing Research with subfolders from Writing tools to Writing Weather Research, and beyond.

      Also, through the years, I’ve saved some messages from readers who have contacted me through my website to tell me they love my books. Their words make me so happy! Even the ones who tell me to write faster. LOL.

      Photo by Arshad Sutar on Pexels.com

      A Mom Thing

      To give you an idea of what else I found: Directions from my oldest son on how to make changes to the Excel sheets he makes for my business. Hey, I don’t know how to work Excel formulas. To avoid having to ask him over and over, I tuck his emails away under this “stuff” folder. Another example: In 2018, I searched for a poem I had written for him back when he graduated high school. A long time ago. I couldn’t find it. He had the original copy and emailed it to me. Now, it’s there with the other stuff and easy to find. There’s so much more, though.

      I like using this folder for anything important or special I want to find again.

      Anyway, I had over seven hundred—ten to a page—messages all the way back to 2009. Fourteen years of saved messages.

      See? Time Traveling.

      Some messages were nonsense, so I deleted them. Deletion became my primary goal for going through this folder. See how easy it is to convince ourselves to procrastinate? Am I the only one who does things like this?

      Friendship

      As I continued through the pages and years, I read special emails from my forever best friend. We’ve time traveled back to 2017 now. Including the email where one of her twin daughters told me she had passed away. This wasn’t an unexpected email. Another message came with funeral arrangements. These messages are far from happy.

      It’s a given… When we go back to memories of our previous years, we all have sad times intermingled with happy times. I save her daughter’s messages so I can remember the date of her death. Is it morbid if I want to remember?

      Then in the same folder, I found emails from back in the years 2013 and 2009. Email from my long-lost buddy who I’ve known longer than anyone who isn’t a relative. While strolling through the pages of years, I came across one of the first five-star reviews for Howdy, Ma’am from a beautiful Italian woman who loved the series and checked all the Italian language in the three books in the Bull Rider Series. Who could ask for more? Today, she’s a writer turned photographer.

      Precious Information

       Toward the end of 2016, my son’s fiancée, now my awesome daughter-in-law, sent me photos of her modeling her wedding dress and wanted my opinion on what shoes to wear. To connect this to their wedding, in 2017 in this folder, I came across my California son’s travel itinerary to come to his brother’s official wedding reception, which took place months after the wedding. (Only parents were invited to their small wedding.) Around this same timeframe, I found email messages from our vet who helped get our dog through some rough times.

      All Business

      Continuing, I came across correspondence with cover models who have given me permission to use their photos, and from models who sold images to me directly. One came from a cover model who asked her photographer if I could use her photo in promotional material for the book where she’s on the cover. The photographer sent me the photo with rights to use it, and to do whatever I wanted with it!

      Other emails are from the stock photo company Period Images. One message included our discussion for an exclusive photo shoot with one of their models, Jason Charchan (a Michigander too) for a book cover and promotion. Jason promoted my book with him on the cover when it came out. Now and then, when his post pops up in his Facebook Memories, he’ll post it again. Thanks, Jason! Here are two of the many poses from the shoot. With so many, I had a difficult time choosing the one for the cover. Photo manipulation in the second image is my own:

      In 2015, I saved an email from another author who gave me lifetime permission to use any of his quotes in my books. In 2014, I received permission from a song writer and singer to use a song title to one of his songs in one of my books. A younger me would never ask such a thing.

      Many more business-related emails remain in there for reference from formatters to cover artists, to editors I’ve hired and fired. They have their own folders too for more pertinent info related to them.

      Counting Down

      How many can say they saved a Promotional Direct Message on Twitter from former President Barack Obama? Please. No political comments. Please!

      Clicking Back to the Heart

      Once in this folder, I knew I’d keep going and deleting until I got to the end of the “folder,” but I forgot what I had saved so many years ago. Then, I came to the final two pages: 2010 and 2009. I found a couple messages and a lot of photos sent to me from my husband. I hadn’t seen the photos in years. In fact, I forgot them. They were sent less than a year and a half before he passed away. I must have transferred them to this account from an old email provider and stuck them in there. In the old account, I had saved many, many of our emails because after all…we met through email.

      Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

      All in all, I deleted over three hundred saved messages that were either outdated for me, or something I wouldn’t want others to see, like in the case of… Ah, nope. Leave it to your imagination. 😉

      During my journey through new and old email messages, I discovered one can travel through time.

      Go ahead. Start your own journey. Thanks for reading!


      Maybe you’d like to read this post for more bittersweet memories.

      Featured Image: Photo by Sharad Kachhi on Pexels.com

      Posted in #AmWriting, #WritersLife, Heartbreak's Reward, Meet Our Heroines | 16 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #WritersLife, Bittersweet memories., Double Dutch Ranch Series Love at First Sight, Heartbreak's Reward, mary j mccoy dressel, Of the Cowboy's Own Accord, Pexels images, Romance, Time Traveling: Strolling Through Pages, western romance
    • Meet the Heroine: Secretive Kimber Sinclair

      Posted at 9:07 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on June 15, 2019
      sunset sky, silhouette of cowgirl sitting, knee up, arm leaning over knee, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance Blog post Meet the Heroine series

      Meet the Heroines

      A Mini Blog Series

      Tressa Garnett/Kimber Sinclair

      Finding Kimber #2

      Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series

      A Double Dutch Ranch Spin off Series

      FindingKimber_2021_MED

      Kimber lives with a secret.

      Tressa Garnett’s secret began the night she’d intended on turning in her criminal boyfriend to the cops. She’s college educated and an intelligent woman, but she never saw his betrayal coming.

      Her plan backfired. His succeeded.

      Now, because of him, she has an image behind her eyes she’ll never forget.

      The event that night, took her away from everything and everyone she loved.

      Due to this betrayal, Tressa Garnett changed her identity and her appearance in order to survive and make a new life as Kimber Kay Sinclair.

      Kimber had been employed as a traveling credit union auditor, so she was used to rules. However, her new words to live by are: Tell no one. Trust no one. Follow the rules, follow the rules, follow the damn rules and you’ll survive!

      Swept away from Oregon to a rundown ranch in a small town in Arizona, she’s starting over. The only thing making her life bearable is two horses that remained with the ranch, and the quaint little adobe home on the property.

      Zach Bryson, the ranch foreman hired to help her, and show her the ropes, so to speak, is nothing more than a hot-headed smartass too handsome for his own good…and too nosy for her liking.

      Coming in contact with Zach before her identity change, makes keeping her secrets twice as hard.

      Uncomfortable around him, she watches each step she takes, each word, to prevent from triggering his memory of her. Except for that one time…

      She lives in fear of being found out, but she’s a fighter. Her life depends on her not being a quitter.


      couple embracing, black and white, checked shirt on man, woman short top, jeans, Blog post Meet the Heroine Kimber Sinclair

      She’s friendly but careful.

      Tressa loathes living a lie.

      She tries to find Kimber and forces Tressa out of her life.

      Kimber wants to be a mom and have her own family one day.

      She misses her parents and younger sister so badly and sometimes wants to throw her hands up at this new life and return to them.

      Kimber fears anyone she befriends will also become a target if she is found out, so she keeps a tall wall around herself.

      However, soon after, and doing her best to acclimate to this new life, the Carlson family from the Double Dutch Ranch befriend her. Kimber’s leery and untrusting at first though she’s willing to give friendship a try.

      Against her will, she envies their happy family when she is so alone.

      As if she didn’t have enough problems, she finds it hard to resist Zach’s cocky charm. She doesn’t know if she can ever trust a man again–especially when her ruggedly handsome foreman keeps digging for answers. Not to mention, his shoulders are damn strong and desirously comforting.

      Kimber wakes each day with one question. Will this be the day she gets a bullet in her head.

      Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series #2

      A Double Dutch Ranch Series Spin Off Novel.

      Universal Buy Link


      FindingKimber_2021_MED


      Meet our other heroines by clicking this link.

      Posted in #AmWriting, #WritersLife, Meet Our Heroines | 2 Comments | Tagged Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series, Contemporary #western romance series, Double Dutch Ranch Series Love at First Sight, Double Dutch Ranch Series Spin Off Novel, Finding Kimber, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance, Witness Protection romance
    • Meet the Heroine: Broken Yet Proud Roxanne Connor

      Posted at 2:17 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on May 22, 2017

       

      sunset sky, silhouette of cowgirl sitting, knee up, arm leaning over knee, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance Blog post Meet the Heroine series

      Roxanne Conner is the heroine in Lassoing the Last Dance. She lives up to the name of heroine, but she’s a real hero. She is sometimes called Rox or Roxy.

      male and female couple, teal tops on both, blonde woman, dark hair handsome man embracing

      Roxanne came to life in Cowboy Boss and his Destiny. Roxanne is Nora’s best friend. She lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. This is when she met Randy Drake, the savvy horse trainer who works on the Double Dutch Ranch and other surrounding ranches.

      She shared a long-distance relationship with Randy for well over a year. Was it love at first sight? She can’t allow herself to think of such things these days. Her heart is broken.

      Roxanne stopped communicating with Randy and swore her friends to secrecy about the circumstances that ended her career.

      Our girl grew up in Canyon Junction. Her father lives close to her now, as does her cousin, Brett Connor, who is more like a brother to her. Her mom is deceased.

      She and Nora have been friends since they were young girls. Roxanne moved back home. In fact, she bought Nora’s childhood home. Now she worries about facing Randy and will avoid him for as long as she can. (Don’t worry, he’s stubborn and doesn’t give up easily.)

      She’s a professional dancer by trade and loved dancing the Samba. She preformed in musicals, but also loved a country two-step or line dance. I’m surprised Randy didn’t deck his best friend, Zach Bryson, when he misunderstood the term professional “dancer.” Randy watched her do the Samba with a restaurant patron one night. I think he’s still drooling. However, she didn’t dance as close to her partner as this lady does in the video. But, will she ever dance again?


      Roxanne is divorced from Nate Evers, an abuser with a jealous bone. Moving doesn’t mean she’s escaped.

      Roxanne owns a Self-Storage business back in Broken Arrow, which gives her a steady income between shows.

      She loves children and Nora’s kids call her Aunt Roxanne or Aunt Woxy. She cares for them like they are her own.

      Roxanne struggles every day to find her way. All she asks for really is a happy, safe,Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Western romance, series romance and contented life. If Randy could be a part of it, her life would be complete, but…she isn’t the same woman Randy knew… She’s broken.

      In her own words:

      Weakness crept over her now, and she sobbed as she pressed her cheek against his strong and willing chest harboring a gentle heart. “That’s why…why I couldn’t, why I didn’t return your messages. I was broken, Randy—broken in all manner of living. No way could I have asked you to accept this, this change when I didn’t know if I could.”

      Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance, Lassoing the Last Dance, Roxanne Connon blog post Meet the Heroine


      Do you want to meet Velia, Nora, Brenna, Gracelyn, Beth, Kimber, and even Judy Carlson our ranch mom? Visit the Meet Our Heroines page.

      Next up is Tressa Garnett/Kimber Sinclair from Finding Kimber, book two in Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series. I’m sure hoping Zachary (Zach) Bryson, the ruggedly handsome hero in this book can help this sexy redhead find the real woman who lurks inside Kimber Sinclair. (Zach Bryson is Randy’s best friend, and wow, he is hot! He’s introduced in Lassoing.)

      Posted in Double Dutch Ranch Series, Meet Our Heroines | 6 Comments | Tagged best friends, contemporary western romance, country two-step, cowboy, Double Dutch Ranch Series, Full Length Novel, heroine, Lassoing the Last Dance, line dance, long-distance relationship, mary j mccoy dressel, Samba Dancing, series romance, western romance
    • Meet the Heroine~ This Week’s Star: Beth

      Posted at 3:21 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on February 11, 2017

       

      sunset sky, silhouette of cowgirl sitting, knee up, arm leaning over knee, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance Blog post Meet the Heroine series

      Beth Marconi is the heroine in Whispers of Forever: Mending Christmas and the next heroine in my Meet Our Heroines mini-series.

      Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance

      Beth dragged Jake into the picture for this post. Model portrayal- Ben and Gezzi from Period Images

      What can I say about Beth? I published the book in November, so I’ll have to give her some thought. One thing I can say is she pined for Jake for…well, since she was fifteen years old when she met him in the high school detention room. Yep, Beth went to detention. Jake says:

      What could’ve been better to a seventeen-year-old bad-boy? A hottie with a bad bone to send her to detention had fit his bill.

       

      Mary J McCoy-Dressel western romance

      • Beth is a compassionate woman. She’s sexy. Fun. A bad-bone still lurks beneath her calm, grown-up exterior. Bad in a good way, of course.
      • She has always been close to her mom, and Beth is  concerned for her mom’s future.
      • Ah, but Beth is pretty with coppery hair and green eyes. She is now my youngest heroine since the other ladies keep aging as all the series move on.
      • Beth is a whiz at math, but she doesn’t use it in her job.
      • This lady wants to be treated as an equal.
      • In high school, she got along better with the guys than the girls, but she had one close girlfriend. The girls bullied her because of her relationship with an older, popular guy in school…Mr. Jake Lawton.

      She’s strong-willed. I repeat…strong-willed. But she can be hurt easily. Give her a line she doesn’t like, and she’ll damn well give it right back… Proof? Jake’s POV:

      Before speaking, he shook his head. If he wasn’t already buzzed, he’d put a damn shot into the coffee. Ross had not acted like the type who’d hire call girls. “Come on. This isn’t the nineteenth century.”

      “Stop making fun of it. This happens more than you think. You don’t know his grandmother. Being the one who raised him, she had a lot of power over his life and future.”

      “Figures. What a wuss! How the hell did you meet Ross? No, wait, don’t you dare tell me you were—” Had Beth been a…a call girl—the way she’d met Ross? God almighty. He sank against the sofa back. Somebody shoot me right now.

      “Shut up. No, I wasn’t! Damn you, Jake Lawton.” Beth rose abruptly, stomping. She stomped not once, not even twice, but three times. “Damn you. How dare you. I don’t know you.” She turned toward the door, came back to shove his shoulder hard, then she took a step.

      “Don’t go. I’m sorry. But dammit, Beth. Have you listened to this story?”

      “I should slap your handsomely, sick-looking face, but it’s apparent someone already took care of the deed for me. Humph!” She sat back down, folding her arms. “Yes. I know how it sounds.”

      End of snippet. Oh, I love this girl!


      Have you met the other heroines? Judy Carlson, the matriarch of the Double Dutch Ranch can be found on the main page too! Her book will be out in 2019. Click here to find the other heroines.

      Y’all have a real nice weekend.

       

      Posted in #AmWriting, Meet Our Heroines, Whispers of Forever: Mending Christmas | 4 Comments | Tagged alpha here, Arizona, contemporary romance, Cowboy Romance Series, first love, Full Length Novel, Holiday Romance, mary j mccoy dressel, Meet Our Heroines, rancher, Second Chance, western, Whispers of Forever
    • This Site is Not Intended for Children Under the Age of 13.

    • COPYRIGHT 2007 – 2023 by Mary J. Dressel All Rights Reserved

    • Search this Site

    • Follow Mary J. McCoy-Dressel on WordPress.com
    • Click to sign up for Mary’s Newsletter. Powered by MailChimp.

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • Link
    • THANK YOU READERS!

      I appreciate your support.

    • Bull Rider #1
      Bull Rider #1
      #2
      #2
      #3
      #3
      #1 Double Dutch Ranch
      #1 Double Dutch Ranch
      Heartbreak's Reward, Mary J McCoy-Dressel
      #2
      Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Blog post snippet
      #3
      Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Western romance, series romance, book cover, cowboy, barn, two horses
      #4
      new release Seasoned with Destiny: A Gift of Love Book #5, Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, book announcement on Series page
      #5
      Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Secret Santa's Rundown Sleigh A holiday romance novella, New Release, Book Cover man and woman embraced at dark with snow falling, blog post Mighty Mac the Mackinac Bridge
      Single Title
      BlueSnowintheMoonlight_MED
      #2
      #2
      #1 Two-Five Ranch Outlaws
      #1 Two-Five Ranch Outlaws
      Book #2
      Book #2
      New Release, Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, western romance, small town romance, first love. second chances
      Spin Off Series #1
      #3
      #3
    • Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance, cowboys, series romance
    • Top Posts & Pages

      •   Welcome Hi, I'm glad you found your way her…
          Welcome Hi, I'm glad you found your way her…
      • 13 Songs from a Book Series Playlist~ Thursday Thirteen
        13 Songs from a Book Series Playlist~ Thursday Thirteen
    • Follow Mary J. McCoy-Dressel on WordPress.com
    • Website Last Updated May June 2, 2023

    • Terms of Use & UPDATES FOR MAILCHIMP NEWSLETTER Privacy Policy

      Terms of Use

      Privacy Policy

       

    • © Mary J. Dressel, Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel and Mary J McCoy-Dressel Books 2007 – 2023. All Rights Reserved.

      Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and prospective copyright holders, e.g., guest posters, is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary J. McCoy-Dressel and Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books and/or the author of guest posts with appropriate and specific direction to the original content with this Site’s URL.

      Read additional Terms of Use.

    • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • Link
    • Blogroll

      • a) Professional Bull Riders (PBR)
      • Apache Trail
      • Automattic Inc.
      • Bloganuary 2023
      • Chicago Manual of Style
      • Marketing for Romance Writers Blog MFRW
      • Military Working Dogs: Facebook
      • MockupShots
      • Romance Writers of America
      • South Mountail Park Stables
      • Suguaro Lake in Arizona
      • Superstition 1 Arizona State Parks, Lost Dutchman State Park
      • Superstition 2 Superstition Mountain
      • Superstition 3 Apache Junction Public Library
      • Superstition 4 Welcome to the Superstition Wilderness Trails
      • Superstition 5 Superstition Search & Rescue
      • Superstition 6 Hiking Flatiron
      • Superstition Mountain Trail Rides
      • The Writer's Forensic Blog by D.P. Lyle, MD
      • Tonto National Forest, Arizona
      • WordPress.org
    • Follow Mary J. McCoy-Dressel on WordPress.com
    • Meta

      • Register
      • Log in
      • Entries feed
      • Comments feed
      • WordPress.com
    • Mary’s Publishing Imprint

    • Follow Mary on BookBub

      western romance, series romance, mary j mccoy-dressel, cowboys
  • Click to Subscribe to Mary’s Newsletter. Powered by MailChimp.

  • © 2007 – 2023 by Mary J. Dressel, Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

    © Mary J. Dressel, Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, and Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books, 2007 – 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary J. McCoy-Dressel and Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

    • 13 Songs from a Book Series Playlist~ Thursday Thirteen
      13 Songs from a Book Series Playlist~ Thursday Thirteen

  • Follow Following
    • Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
    • Join 330 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.