The Rancher and The Rock Star Book Tour: character interview, giveaways + review

Presented by Goddess Fish Promotions

Book summary: There comes a time in every independent woman's life when she has to step aside and let a White Knight do his job.

Abby Stadler has fought to carve out a quiet, independent life for herself and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Kim. She may need a White Knight, but she doesn't want one. Especially when he shows up in the form of a superstar with a missing son and vindictive paparazzi on his tail.

To the world, Gray Covey is a rock god. To his teenage son, Dawson, he's simply an absent father. When Gray is forced to track a runaway Dawson to Abby's struggling horse farm in small town Minnesota, he finds far more than a widow and a ranch with a silly name.

Faced with one teen who despises him, one teen who worships him, and a woman who flips his heart on its axis, Gray must learn not just how to be a father, but how to be real superstar.

An Interview with Gray Covey

Thanks so much for inviting me to join you on Reader Girls today. What an awesome site! I love that you’re all family and are so passionate about reading. I can’t think of a better place for an artist like Gray from my debut novel “The Rancher and the Rock Star” to do an interview!

“The Rancher and the Rock Star” is a fun romance about what happens when rock superstar Gray Covey shows up unannounced on a small horse farm in Minnesota looking for his runaway son. The “rancher” is Abby Stadtler, a single mom (whose daughter, Kim, has a huge crush on Gray, btw) and she isn’t at all ready for the chaos of a rock star’s life to invade her quiet world.

But let me have Gray answer some questions about that and give you a little insight into his life.

I was very excited that he had time to come along today and chat with everyone at Reader Girls.

So without further ado, let me introduce Gray Covey.

Liz Selvig: Welcome Gray! I want to start by asking about your music. We know you’ve had hit after hit on the Billboard charts, but you came to rock music in a very unusual way. Can you tell us about attending Juilliard? How did that happen, and why did you choose rock rather than the classical music you were studying?

Gray Covey: Thanks for inviting me to come with you. I’m happy to be here. I was kind of a music nerd when I was young. Nerd because I started in the school band playing clarinet and took piano lessons as well. Believe me, when I figured out how many guys played clarinet—that would be zero in my junior and senior high schools—I tried hard to quit. Fortunately, between my taskmaster mom and an inspirational band director, I stuck with it. Piano was easy for me and by the time I finished high school I’d won some major competitions and learned to play a few other instruments, like the guitar and the trumpet. I wanted to be a performer, so I applied to Juilliard and was accepted.

After that, it was more like rock music chose me than vice versa. I roomed with Buzz Jackson, who is my band’s lead guitarist Spark’s brother. (Buzz and Spark, great names right?) The three of us started a band just for kicks and had so much fun we just kept doing it. I graduated from Juilliard, but played rock gigs to get by while I waited for Carnegie Hall to call. They never did, but the rest of our success happened overnight (aka about fifteen years).

LS: Who are your musical influences and your favorite musicians?

GC: My teachers got me interested in jazz clarinetists to keep me playing when I was young. Most people know the legendary Pete Fountain and he’s amazing. But I really liked a guy named Peanuts Hucko who played with Benny Goodman. Man, he could coax beautiful sounds from a clarinet. As for my rock influences, I have to go with the gold standard—the Beatles. They paved the way for all musicians to follow their dreams and try things that aren’t the norm. And there are some amazing musicians and voices today too – can you say Adele? Bruno Mars? And groups like Dashboard Confessional.

LS: What’s your favorite instrument?

GC: I know I’ve talked a lot about the clarinet but my favorites have to be piano and guitar. They’re so versatile and you can make endless varieties of sounds with bothr of them. I own maybe twelve guitars, but my two favorites are my blue Ovation acoustic and my gray starburst Les Paul. They’re old friends and I’ve got them well broken in!

LS: You said your mother was a taskmaster. Are you uncomfortable talking about her?

GC: No, not at all, although it is sad. Mom has Alzheimer’s, and even though she’s young, only sixty-four, the disease is progressing too quickly. I miss the taskmaster in her. She was very big on me following through with my commitments. But she was also kind and loving. A rock. The days when she’s lucid and knows us, she still loves to give advice. She loves Abby, too, and I’m really glad she’s gotten to know her.

LS: Ah, yes, Abby. Your jealous fans think she must be some kind of lady to win your heart.

GC: She’s some kind of lady, all right. She saved my life in a lot of ways. Made me look beyond my career to what was important in life. She’s so smart and organized and has a work ethic like you wouldn’t believe. She’s such a survivor, sometimes I have to remind her to relax and just enjoy life! She has so many talents. You should see her ride a horse – it’s like watching two lovers dance. And she’s a terrific mom. She won over my son, Dawson, and her daughter, Kim, is a beautiful young woman. Plus, she loves me – that makes her a candidate for sainthood right there.

LS: Let’s talk about Dawson. You’ve said your son is the one truly responsible for where you are today. Can you explain?

GC: Dawson, my little juvenile delinquent. He’s the one who put the ultimatum out there: “Prove you love me more than you love your career.” It was true. I was an absentee dad for a long time. If he hadn’t challenged me and I hadn’t cancelled those concerts in the middle of my last tour—none of this would have happened. He’s still a young pistol, but I’m forever grateful.

LS: Yeah, about that. What was going through your mind when you decided to walk out on six concert dates?

GC: Oh, man, you have no idea. I was scared to death. It was really a dumb move from a career perspective and there are a few people who still haven’t forgiven us. But, something told me it was time to do something drastic. I needed to reconnect with my family—something I hadn’t realized until I met Abby. She says it’s all God working His miracles. Could be. All I know is, I’m very glad I ignored my better sense.

LS: How are you getting along with the other new girl in your life? Abby’s daughter was a little uncertain about you as a father figure wasn’t she?

GC: Kim is wonderful. She’s one of the happiest, most grounded kids I know. She keeps Dawson in line and helps me remind her mother not to get too serious. It’s true we had to work on the little—okay, big—crush she had when I first arrived. That was interesting to say the least.

But it was an honor, too. The book tells more about how I learned to deal with those emotions.

LS: We’re nearly out of time and space, Gray, but one last question. How do you like living in a small town after spending the last twenty-five years in L.A.?

GC: Kennison Falls, Minnesota is an amazing place. And, as you saw in the book, the people have a lot to overcome since the disaster in August. But I’m doing all I can to become part of the community, and the people are great to me. It’s small town, USA and nobody has time for big-headed celebrities. So, I’m just a guy. I still maintain my offices in LA, but I’m very happy in Kennison Falls. I invite everyone to come and visit.

LS: Thank you so much for answering my questions, Gray. I wish you many more number one hits in the future. If any of you have questions for Gray, or for me (Liz), please ask. We’ll be around all day. Otherwise, just stop by and say hi. Tell us about your favorite kind of music.

In addition to the gift certificate Avon/HarperCollins is giving away to some lucky Virtual Book Tour visitor, Gray and I would like to offer a special gift to someone who comments today here on Reader Girls. If you leave a comment by March 2 at midnight, you’ll be in the running for a copy of “The Rancher and the Rock Star,” as well as some other goodies. 

Thanks so much, everyone, for coming by to visit!

Website

About the author: Growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota with three brothers and no sisters definitely shaped my personality. Even though my girl friends were great, I was much prouder of the fact that I was the only female allowed into the neighborhood Boys Only club. Girlie stuff (with exception of the occasional Barbie play date) was simply a waste of time. Baseball, climbing trees, begging my parents for a horse, and avoiding wearing dresses at all costs were much more fun--and seemed much more fair. After all, girls simply didn't have any fun in life.

Imagine my surprise when, after years of my tolerant mother putting up with me wanting to BE a guy, like one of the Beatles or the Monkees, I looked up at a picture of Paul McCartney on my wall one day--and fell in love. Like a doggone proper girl.

Making up stories was second nature to me. As far back as I can remember I told myself tales when I went to bed. As I got older and competent enough, I started writing them down. When most girls were reading themselves to sleep, I was writing until the wee hours.

After the momentous epiphany over the poster from Tiger Beat Magazine, all my written tales were romances. At first, they were romances about Davy Jones and Bobby Sherman and Paul. Then I discovered my own characters, and writing became more than a bedtime activity, it became a passion.

It took lots of years, fantastic adventures, the raising of two children, and a real-life love affair that is still going on, to get my stories ready-for-prime time. Suffice it to say--girls, I've learned, have ALL the fun.

And my love affair with romance novels has never died.

GIVEAWAY: Lizbeth and HarperCollins/Avon will be giving away a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Also Lizbeth will be awarding one eBook or Print copy of “The Rancher and the Rock Star” (print book is US/Canada only) to one commenter at EVERY stop. 

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. 

Tour dates: The tour dates can be found here.

I thank Lizbeth Selvig and Goddess Fish Promotions. 


OUR REVIEW:
My thoughts: I will immediately say I'm not a fan of this book's title, it sounds kinda cornball to me, but after laying eyes on the cover ART, who cares about the title? On the serious side, I LOVED this story. I was drawn into Gray and Abby's worlds, however drastically different they are. Lizbeth Selvig's writing style is very effortless, I felt as if every scene was happening right in front of me in real time. I could smell the grass from Abby's farm, hear the fans clap for Gray, watch the swoosh of a horse's mane in a summer breeze and taste the pie inside that Main Street restaurant. When I had to stop reading, the characters remained with me until I was able to continue and wrap myself back into this romantic story.

The main characters were interesting and well written and the secondary characters were well crafted and had a purpose (even down to the pair of birds). I especially liked Abby, her heartbreak, her fierce desire to take care of her daughter, Kim, and keep her farm, and I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes in the darkroom or when she had her camera in hand. Gray was sexy even if there were times I wanted to hit him over the head with a microphone or drumstick. His lack of understanding his son, Dawson, was typical of a traveling music man, and I found myself cheering them on whenever their attempts to patch things up hit a bump.

The Rancher and the Rock Star just has so much good going for it: realistic characters and true to life dialogue and situations, two adults so opposite there's only one place for them to be (and that's in each other's arms), two teens whose essence was truly captured in each scene they were in, laugh out loud moments, tension, surprise twists and turns, and a town full of residents who brought a bunch of smiles to my face and warmed my heart.

Abby's a little bit country, Gray's a whole lot of rock'n'roll, and I believe Ms. Selvig has a hit on her hands with The Rancher and the Rock Star.

Rating: As I said earlier, I LOVED it!

Cover comment: Mmm, really liking the cover photo here.

Book source: Received from publisher for my honest review during a book tour.