Dig into this Old West treasure quest, where a helpless treasure hunter armed with a map finds herself bound to a wanderer and trailed by villains. Saddle up for a novel with all the elements—humor, suspense, inspiration, and romance, from award-winning author Mary Connealy’s
Deep Trouble. Gabe Lasley finds Shannon Dysart stranded in a mountaintop cave. She is on a quest to prove her father’s research isn’t the work of a madman, that he really did find a treasure in the Wild West. With trouble on their trail from villains who want Shannon’s map, the dream of gold coloring every decision Shannon makes, and Gabe’s surprising need to protect her, they set out to find a city of gold deep in the Grand Canyon. Along the way they find that true treasure is rooted in love—that was within their reach all along.
Q: Do you know ahead of time how your books are going to end or what you are going to write about next with the next book in a series? Or do you just go with the flow and hope it all comes together in the end?
I sort of know because to end the book well, you need to bring it full circle and usually have the hero or heroine or both face up to their deepest fears or greatest failures. And that is often
rooted in how you begin your book. So the beginning creates the ending. And in between the beginning and ending, I just shoot people and have runaway stage coaches and the occasional passionate kiss.
Q: How did you come up with the story Deep Trouble?
Barbour Publishing was focusing on setting books in fascinating places, and I wondered about several cool locations. I set one near Mount Rushmore and that seemed to work well. Researching different ideas, I found a really wonderful book written by a man who had hiked the length of the Grand Canyon. I realized how little I knew about that famous place and decided to explore it through my book Deep Trouble.
Q: Do any of your characters have a little piece of you in them?
I write really tough, plain spoken frontier women who never get pushed around. That is the exact opposite of me. I think I create characters who are like I wish I was, rather than who I am. I have a pretty good sense of humor, but I mostly keep it to myself…to the relief of all who know me.
Q: Do any of your characters bear resemblance to characters you have crossed paths with in real life?
For the most part, real people are too sane. Sometimes I find someone who gives me a jumping off spot, but I usually have to exaggerate that character until they lose all resemblance to real people.
Q: If you could be a character in a novel, movie, or on television or if you got to write yourself into one of your books, what type of character would you want to be? What genre would it be in?
Well, since this is fiction, I’d be young and slender and maybe I’d know karate. And I’d like to drive a snazzy car, too. And eat all I want without getting fat. Who would that be? Maybe Mrs. Peel on the old 1960s Avengers TV show — not the movie. I really love Belle Tanner in my book The Husband Tree. But I know how badly I’d miss air conditioning, so I wouldn’t want to be her.