Coffee with Davalynn Spencer

This morning, I have a new author to The Back Porch. Please help me welcome Davalynn Spencer, the author of Covering Grace.
After looking up her Amazon Author Page, I feel bad that I have never read her work before. She has quite the resume of will-west, cowboy romances. If that is the kind of story, then pull up a chair, bring your favorite morning beverage, and enjoy the conversation. 

Davalynn, thank you for joining us this morning. What research did you conduct, if any, while writing this book? How did it influence the story or characters?

For authors of historical fiction, research is part and parcel. (How’s that for a historical phrase?) We discover so much more than we can use, but everything is fodder for another story. My research for Covering Grace began quite unexpectedly while horseback riding with a friend. She supplied the horses and my mount was Harley, a bona fide chocolate Rocky Mountain gaited horse. He was an easy ride for sure with his walk-run replacement for a trot. My friend referred to him as Harley the Wonder Horse—and the story was born.

I love that! I’m partial to the name though (we had a beloved dog named Harley). Are there any secondary characters in your book that hold particular significance to you? If so, why?

I happen to adore secondary characters. For some reason, I give them much more license than I allow my main characters. In Covering Grace, the widowed boarding house owner, Dorrie Berkshire, is a hoot. She was a much younger friend of Grace’s grandmother Annie Hutton. Through her, Grace learns a lot about herself and her grandmother (who is the heroine in Book 1 of the Chronicles). In addition to Dorrie, Daniel Waite makes an appearance as the ailing father of the hero, Dan Waite, and he’s as snappy as Dorrie. There’s something about older folks and their right to say what they really think, but rather than spoil things, I’ll leave it at that.

Elder characters seem to add a bit of life to a story, don’t they? The elderly and children create a whole new element to the story that makes it richer. What do you hope readers will remember most about your book after finishing it?

I want readers to enjoy the Western life and language that fills my books. To laugh and cry and pull for the good guy. I want them to see that the early days of the American West were not easier, but they were simpler. Emotions, goals, and challenges are pretty much the same in the human heart over time, but our settings and the clutter in our lives have changed. If we get right down to the ground, we’ll find that life can be simpler based on the choices we make. The most important choice is trusting that God knows what He’s doing and we’re not Him.

YES! Our lives are directed by the choices we make. “Follow Christ” or ” Do my own thing”? What advice would you give to aspiring writers who are just starting?

My advice to those who long to write – and there is a difference between wanting to write and wanting to have written a book – is the same advice credited to former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill: Never give up. Writing is not easy and nay-sayers abound, especially those who think you should get a “real job.” Not all writers can write without an outside income, but if time is the problem, force yourself to write twenty minutes a day. It’s doable. It’s less than the time most people spend on their cell phones looking at social media. Choose what you do. Don’t follow the crowd. Write.

Great advice and I completely agree. What kind of impact do you hope your writing will have on readers?

I always want readers to place themselves in the shoes of my characters and realize that they can trust God in their everyday lives as well. My books may be fiction, but God’s role in the lives of people is not. He’s that available to each of us. As readers root for their favorite character, I hope they recognize that life is a journey of faith.

Beautifully said, Davalynn. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and heart with these readers. Life is a journey of faith, most definitely. I pray this tour blesses you and Covering Grace is well received. 

Readers, thank you for joining us this morning. Please take the time to keep reading, comment at the end of the blog piece, enter the giveaway, and maybe even pick up a copy of Covering Grace by Davalynn Spencer.  

About the Book

Book: Covering Grace (The Cañon City Chronicles Book Six)

Author: Davalynn Spencer

Genre: Historical/Western Romance

Release date: July 11, 2024

Grace Hutton defied the shadow of her ranching brothers, Cale and Hugh. Always the tagalong little sister who tried to best them at everything, she signed on with the Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West Show to prove herself. After three years of trick-riding and roping, she returns home to Cañon City, Colorado, with a world of experience, Harley the Wonder Horse, and a broken heart. It’s 1912, and the first thing she needs is work and a place to live. The last thing she needs is romance.

Dan Waite is caring for his invalid father and trying to keep their hat business in the black. Showing up in the wake of an assault at the boarding house, he helps Grace Hutton rescue the elderly owner. But he doesn’t have time for the two women, especially when Grace asks him to spend a day with the widow. Grace turns out to be more than he bargained for, and when her trick-riding ways put her in danger, he risks more than his time intervening. He risks his heart.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Author of the beloved, award-winning series, The Cañon City Chronicles, internationally acclaimed novelist and Will Rogers Gold Medallion winner, Davalynn Spencer writes historical Western romance set along the Front Range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. She is a Publisher’s Weekly and ECPA bestselling author, an award-winning rodeo journalist and former crime-beat reporter. As a member of the Colorado Humanities CBA Speakers Bureau, she also teaches writing workshops, plays on her church worship team, and loves bacon and chocolate. But not together.

More from Davalynn

Harley the Wonder Horse

He was a beautiful, chocolate-colored gelding with an easy gait, and my friend called him  Harley.

“Harley the Wonder Horse,” she said, bona fide Rocky Mountain breed. “Everybody loves him.”

I sure did after a day of riding up around Brush Hollow in the hills not far from my home.

It’s a very short trip via horseback to the fictional world of my characters in the Cañon City Chronicles. I knew Harley had to be in the next and final book in the series, Covering Grace.

Grace Hutton had been hanging around in my head for three years—ever since I wrote about the younger of her twin brothers, Cale (Book 4, A Change of Scenery). He talked about his sister who could out-ride any of the cast in the Selig-Polyscope flickers being filmed in and around Cañon City.

When the older (by a minute) twin, Hugh, got his own story (Book 5, Hope is Built), he also mentioned their little sister, Grace. How could they not, with her never-say-die approach to life, and stick-like-flypaper perseverance. When they were all growing up, she was never far behind the boys, showing she was just as good as they were.

Trouble was, she was better, and her skills earned her a place in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. That’s where she met Harley, and when she came home, he came with her.

And there you have it, the story-behind-the-story of Harley the Wonder Horse. Now understand that real-life Harley is not a trick-riding horse, but I have a long-time friend, Linda Scholtz, who is a real-life trick rider. I’ve watched her do some mighty fine stunts, so fine that she instructs would-be trick riders how to be real trick riders.

A few other things from my life play into this book, like the setting. Is there anywhere more beautiful than the Rocky Mountains as a storm blows in quicker than your breath? Or the aspens that shiver in the slightest breeze and pour gold down the gullies and ravines in autumn? And what of sitting before a crackling fire in the woodstove or fireplace as fall runs in ahead of winter?

Join me for a ride in the final book of The Cañon City Chronicles, Covering Grace. It may just be more than you expected.

Blog Stops

Stories By Gina, August 8 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 8

Holly’s Book Corner, August 9

Texas Book-aholic, August 10

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, August 11 (Author Interview)

Locks, Hooks and Books, August 12

Back Porch Reads, August 13 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, August 14

Pause for Tales, August 15

For the Love of Literature, August 16 (Author Interview)

Devoted To Hope, August 16

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 17

Artistic Nobody, August 18 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, August 19

Connie’s History Classroom , August 20

Cover Lover Book Review, August 21

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Davalynn is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.