Meet Nicodemus Dartmouth

I don't know who to blame: Blogger for not allowing me to post pictures, (although I've done it before) or my lack in keeping up with Blogspot's changes. Either way, this dull explanation is sitting in for the picture of author Phyliss Miranda and the hot cover of her latest book. You can see the pictures that I'm unable to copy at Phyliss Miranda's website: phylissmiranda.com. But first, learn what my guest blogger has to say about her character, Nicodemus Dartmouth.   --  Bernice Simpson

Meet Nicodemus Dartmouth

by

Phyliss Miranda

I’m honored to introduce you to Nicodemus Dartmouth, my hero, in my September 5^th eKensington release The Tycoon and the Texan.

Before we begin with the interview, I’d like to give you the background on both how I selected the plot and Nick’s last name. I truly believe it was a gift from above.

My husband and I have friends who we've know for over forty years and vacationed with since their boys and our girls were young. 

In 2002, my DH and I were on our way to meet them in Florida when we received a call, thank goodness for cell phones, that Harry had emergency heart surgery. He was in a coma, and the future was uncertain.  We immediately turned our car north and headed for Dartmouth Medical Center where he laid critically ill for weeks.  We were determined not to leave until he and Pat were safely home under their own roof.  And, that we did. 

One day while sitting in the waiting room, my attention was drawn to a show on TV, you know the ones up in the corner of the room you have to crane your neck to see and can barely hear, that pertained to a foundation’s auction of bachelors for charity. That seeded the idea for a story about a strong, multi-millionaire who ends up buying an ugly duckling at his own foundation’s charity ball. Of course, she had to be from Texas, and his name had to be as strong and willful as my character, so Nicodemus Dartmouth was born.

Now nearly ten years and many vacations together later, my story The Tycoon and the Texan came out recently and needless to say, I dedicated it to our dearest friends.  

Let’s get on with learning more about Nicodamus Dartmouth. I’m gonna let him tell you about himself first, and then he’ll answer questions if you care to post them.

I don’t really like being referred to as a tycoon because I see myself as just another hardworking man in his 30’s. I have to admit being a product of a wealthy, widowed mother, who I don’t always see eye-to-eye with, did have its benefits. I worked my fingers to the bone to establish one of the largest construction firms on the west coast, while being CEO of Mother’s charity ... the Elliott-Dartmouth foundation.  I own a Double A baseball farm team and love to workout with my players.  Mother is pretty well appalled when I show up at the office with bloody road rash showing threw a tear in my baseball pants.  By the way, Josie, the Foundation Director and mother hen, thinks I belong in the dog pound. I have one supporter in the organization, well most of the time, and that’s McCall Johnson, who used to be my secretary at the construction company until I transferred her over to the foundation when I found myself crawling up twenty stores of red iron thinking about her.

Now back to the charity auction that Phyliss mentioned. Mother thought it was a grand idea to auction off bachelorettes, while I told her from the start is was a bad, really bad idea.  She called me into the office to go over the final arrangements, including the table decorations.  I need to be out at the construction company offices arranging for a shipment of material we don’t need to be shipped to Habitat for Humanity, but no I’m standing here looking at a bunch of flowers stuffed in a vase. I won’t even tell you what I think about them because Mother sure didn't approve of my description.

The auction was a nightmare, just as I had predicted, although it raised a lot of money for the foundation ... a good bit coming from me.

The jinks I apparently put on the event began when one of the bachelorettes called in sick and our resident Texan McCall Johnson was forced to step in. In an unexpected turn of events, and I have to admit a bit of jealousy on my part to boot, I ended up paying what McCall called “a vulgar” amount for a week long date with her.

That began our adventures ... seven days to Texas.

I wanted so badly to show her that our lives weren't that much different, but at every turn, I hit a roadblock.  From nearly cutting my finger off trying to prepare dinner on my private boat for her to seeing a ghost on Harris Grade coming out of Lompoc, California, something got in my way of showing her that I don’t get everything I want, although she thinks I do.

It took me the full seven days, plus some while visiting her Granny’s ranch in Texas, but I finally succeeded at showing the independent, spirited, uprooted Texan that our lives aren't as different as it might seem, only to find that we are more alike than I ever dreamed ... including our secrets.

I hope you’ll go buy The Tycoon and the Texan by native Texan, Phyliss Miranda, so you can learn more about me and Miss McCall Johnson.  By the way, if I have my way, she won’t be a Miss much longer.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Phyliss Miranda is the author of six historical western romance anthologies and her contemporary romance The Tycoon and the Texan is scheduled to be released on September 5, 2013, with her second eBook The Troubled Texan due out early 2014. Phyliss is the 2007 recipient of Panhandle Professional Writers’ Writer of the Year award. She enjoys sharing her love for the new frontier, particularly the Texas Panhandle, the Civil War, quilting, and antiques; and still believes in the Code of the Old West.
 

Visit her at phylissmiranda.com

  

Thoughts for Panhandle Professional Writers

Have you visited panhandleprowriters.org lately? The home page is clean, and gives readers a clear understanding of Panhandle Professional Writers’ goals. I would like that page to include officer’s contact information, but found it in the association’s latest newsletter, The PPW Window.

On page two of The PPW Window, you’ll see a heading, “Survey from Matt.” Members and prospective members may profit by responding to it. Matt expects a response of 10 to 15%. PPW can do better than that, right?

Thinking his questions were cogent to my blog, I decided to gather ideas. I phoned a dozen members and discovered numerous incorrect phone numbers in our directory. No surprise, actually—my phone number, unchanged for 47+ years is not even listed.  Why not simply make the group’s database available via email attachment? Something is better than nothing. Besides, why dun the treasury for a print version that goes out of date before it reaches the press?

Matt asked for opinions. After the conference last year, Suzi Sandoval told me it was money well spent. She had a great time, and because attendance was lower than expected, she enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and opportunity to spend more time with both staff and other participants. At Market Street today, the pharmacist said he was impressed with the conference, and it stimulated his interest to learn more about writing. I was getting a flu shot, so thought it wise to discuss only positives with a man with a needle in his hand.

He mentioned attendance. He’d like to attend all PPW meetings, but his work schedule has prevented it. Distance may be the number one reason out-of-town members don’t make it. How easy is it to drive to Amarillo from Albuquerque, NM; Brownfield, TX; or Eads, OK? I noticed on one page of our directory 41% of members listed lived at least 100 miles from Amarillo. How do we improve attendance? Well…a decade ago, we had at least one agent or editor speak at our meetings annually—a definite draw. Now that the industry has undergone so many changes and air fares have exploded, that may no longer be an option.

Considering the business of writing, though, pitching to agents and editors is why a serious writer attends writers’ functions. Isn’t that particularly true when the cost of a function (like a conference) runs well beyond dues already paid, and participation devours a weekend? In business, every expense is weighed against value. When a conference is targeted to beginners, published authors don’t attend. One member said that even inexperienced writers like to rub shoulders with established authors of various genera. Perhaps a semi-annual conference with broader audience appeal would prove profitable. Profit—years ago Ellen Richardson told me FIW was PPW’s annual fund raiser. Times change, don’t they?

On the subject of speakers, “variety” had the edge, but ambiguity reigned. Laura Stevens applauded the idea of variety, but added, “I could listen to Phyliss Miranda again and again, and never tire of her.”

What could I possibly add to that?

(c) 2012, Bernice Simpson