Letter A The April A to Z blogging Challenge #AtoZChallenge

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Welcome to the first day of this year’s April A-Z blogging challenge.

I’m blogging my way through characters from books I’ve read, then I have some audience participation going on.

 Letter A is for Anne Haddon the heroine of June Kearn’s book An Englishwoman’s Guide To The Cowboy.

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It’s 1867 and 9 people are squashed inside a stagecoach as it beats it’s way across the hot dust of Texas. Inside are English trio Annie Haddon, her cousin Charlotte and Aunt Bea. In true British aristocracy style the ladies are broiling in their layers of clothing, gloves and hats, but it is against strict etiquette to be seen in anything less.

The white man is sweeping across the states of America, bringing it’s railway and forcing the native Indians out. Tensions are high and stages coaches easy targets. When the stagecoach crashes in a typical hold up, Annie if left for dead. That is until Colt McCall rescues her.

With an Irish father and a Sioux mother, Colt has had a tough life. He learned to fight hard to get where he is today, he respects the Comanche Indians and hates the way that money and greed of the white man is killing off a way of life. Yet he’s not safe from either side, he’s a wanted man by the army, and he hasn’t much time for a prim and proper English lady.

In the time it takes to get Annie back reunited with her relations at Fort Mackenzie, she learns to like much of the wildness. Stupid and feisty, causing endless trouble for McCall, she’ll stick up for what she thinks is right, making mistakes but earning respect along the way.

I really enjoyed this book, a fan of the old cowboy movies, this book took me back to the old stories about the wild west, with an old fashioned romance. I felt I was watching a movie again and half expected Calamity Jane to walk on set at any time.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

For my audience participation I’m focusing on Book Titles, using the picture below I want readers to come up with book titles using the letter A

A book title and cover picture can often make or break a book sale. Is a book cover eye-catching? Does the book title appeal to the reader?

Have fun creating book titles from my own pictures, you might even think about a genre they could fit.

jpeg typhoo teapot

Leave your answers in the comments below and I’ll be picking my favourites.

Each day I’ve chosen fellow challenge bloggers for you to visit.

http://www.fictionzeal.com/

Home

http://www.djsbookcorner.com/

https://metwriter.wordpress.com/

http://sylmion.blogspot.co.uk/

Throughout the challenge we encourage readers to leave comments on blogs, thank you.

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88 thoughts on “Letter A The April A to Z blogging Challenge #AtoZChallenge”

  3. The book sounds interesting. I can imagine the interesting romance between two mismatched souls.. should be fun.

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  5. Thank you so much for that intro, Rosie!! (It’s a bit daunting being first!)
    Book titles? Hard if you can’t use all the A something’s!
    All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.

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  7. Hi Rosie – love the sound of the book – looks like it will be really informative … about an era I fell in love with via the heroes of the tv!! An excellent A for Annie Haddon .. cheers Hilary

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  8. Am not clear – are we supposed to think of titles that we’ve made up, or titles that exist already, and could be used for your picture? (You know how dumb I can be at times…!) It’s just that Judith has done one and June has done the other and I don’t know…

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  9. ‘Assam Dreaming’, as in ‘California Dreaming’ perhaps. And, anyone who hasn’t read The Englishwoman’s Guide . . . and likes a soupcon of danger, and downright wickedness to spice up their lurve stories should read June’s novel. Annie and Colt are characters to fall in love with.
    Oh, I know it begins with A . . . but I’ve only just now read ‘A Week in December’ by Sebastian Faulks (Vintage version 2010), absolutely brilliant, the themes he covers are as relevant now as five years ago – plus ca change . . .

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  13. Love this! Great start to the challenge!
    How about – “Actuali-TEA”… I appear to be in a mood for puns… Should be an interesting day in the office! 🙂

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  14. Loving this Rosie …mine is – Agatha Christie, Killer Queen – a pun there too, but it would be about our cat Agatha Christie and her penchant for slaughter! June is one of my favourite writers, her characters are delightfully quirky yet have real resonance…and the frisson between these two, ouch!

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  16. I do love your blog, Rosie! Annie is a fab pick to start off the A-Z. I’m a huge fan of June’s writing. I’m desperately trying to come up with a tea-based title or pun and failing miserably. I shall have to get my thinking cap on. Really enjoyed reading this, ladies 🙂 X

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  17. Rosie – I’m thinking – A STORM IN A TEA CUP BY BROOK BOND. LOL. Okay, getting serious now. You are amazing – giving us indie authors a shout out in such a prominent fashion. I have loved both of June’s books and throughout EGTTC, I felt the heat and could taste the red dust at the back of my throat. Colt is a fabulous hero and Annie is the perfect foil for him. Anyone who hasn’t read it is missing a trick.

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  18. A prim and proper English lady and an American Cowboy romance? Sounds interesting… I quite liked the way you have described Anne… 🙂

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  22. Really love the sound of June’s books and they are already on my TBR list. Why oh why won’t some one employ me as a professional reader? How about a bit of existential angst with ‘To Tea Or Not To Tea? 😀

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  24. How fun! What a great idea, Rosie! 🙂 As for a book title, the only thing that came to me was “Afternoon Tea with Two Lumps of Murder”. LOL! 🙂 I will definitely have to check out “An Englishwoman’s Guide to…”. Sounds like a great read! 🙂

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  25. This sounds like a rip snortin’ romantic western – and it does remind me of Zane Gray. This book could use a more compelling cover, though.
    Got the Tea – Where’s the Party? women’s fiction – British of course

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  26. Such a good idea, Rosie. For those of us old enough to remember the tagline “You only get an oo with Typhoo”…how about “Amber Gets Her Oo”?

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  27. Nine people in a stagecoach, yep that would be a little squished! We saw a stagecoach the same place I took a picture of the wagon I used for Arizona and we were talking about how many would fit into it. I think we arrived at six, but nine would definitely be crowded!

    Book Title: A recipe for disaster.

    have fun with the challenge!

    betty

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  30. Fabulous idea for a theme, and that is a difficult photo to work with for an “A” title, but I love the participation prompt.

    Happy A to Z!

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  31. Such fun – an interactive theme is always popular!
    Here’s my made-up title and brief book description :

    AIN’T MY CUPPA TEA – a lighthearted contemporary romance featuring a ‘prim & proper’ high-society lady and a charming scoundrel.

    (P.S.To add to the fun, you should ask participants to provide a brief description of the story… IF they want to…)

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  34. Missed the start of your challenge, but catching up now. What a brilliant idea and what a brilliant choice for A. I absolutely adored this book, it transported me back in time and I could feel the heat of the Texas sun as I turned the pages. As a reader, I find that there are some characters that I would really like to be and Annie is one of them, just my kind of adventure. She lived on in my imagination long after I reached the last page.

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