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Mary Connealy

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomMAC

born

in Oakland, NE, The United States

gender

female

website

http://www.maryconnealy.com

genre

Historical Fiction, Romance, Religion & Spirituality

member since

November 2008

About this author

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I wrote my first book when I was about twelve. A romance novel. I shudder to think what a twelve year old could know about romance. I have no idea what happened to the manuscript. I suppose my mother found it, and burned it while screaming in horror, but I’ve always been afraid to ask. Was it a hundred pages? Two? I have no idea, but I seem to remember just writing FOREVER! So I’m guessing two pages long at least.

As a new bride I marched straight out of journalism school and into the kitchen, I did a lot of scribbling. I still have those heartbreaking works of staggering genius, Ode to Roast Beef, things like that, all born out of the ‘Write What You Know’ school of literature.

I began writing more seriously when my baby went to kindergarten...more I wrote my first book when I was about twelve. A romance novel. I shudder to think what a twelve year old could know about romance. I have no idea what happened to the manuscript. I suppose my mother found it, and burned it while screaming in horror, but I’ve always been afraid to ask. Was it a hundred pages? Two? I have no idea, but I seem to remember just writing FOREVER! So I’m guessing two pages long at least.

As a new bride I marched straight out of journalism school and into the kitchen, I did a lot of scribbling. I still have those heartbreaking works of staggering genius, Ode to Roast Beef, things like that, all born out of the ‘Write What You Know’ school of literature.

I began writing more seriously when my baby went to kindergarten. Not writing well of course, but just putting words on paper. No one does anything well the first time. I’m sure Babe Ruth missed the first ball pitched to him. I’m sure Picasso smeared pages with paint-y fingers when he was a kid—as I remember he went back to that later in life. I’m sure Beethoven played the eighteenth century version of Chopsticks before went for the sonatas.

My writing journey is similar to a lot of others. Boil it down to persistence, oh, go ahead and call it stubbornness. I just kept typing away. I think the reason I did it was because I’m more or less a dunce around people—prone to sit silently when I really ought to speak up(or far worse, speak up when I ought to sit silently).

So, I have all these things, I want to say, in my head; the perfect zinger to the rude cashier, which you think of an hour after you’ve left the store, the perfect bit of wisdom when someone needs help, which doesn’t occur to you until they solve their problems themselves, the perfect guilt trip for the kids, which you don’t say because you’re not an idiot. I keep all this wit to myself, much to the relief of all who know me, and then I write all my great ideas into books. It’s therapeutic if nothing else, and more affordable than a psychiatrist.

So then a very nice, oh so nice publishing company like Barbour Heartsong comes along and says, “Hey, we’ll pay you money for this 45,000 word therapy session.” That’s as sweet as it gets.

My journey to publication is the same as everyone’s except for a few geniuses out there who make it hard for all of us. And even they probably have an Ode to Roast Beef or two in their past.(less)

1011 posts
Mary Connealy's Blog

The Literary Maidens: In Too Deep By Mary Connealy Book Review

The Literary Maidens: In Too Deep By Mary Connealy Book Review: I n T o o D e e p { R e v i e w B y M a d i}...
A really nice review for In Too Deep Thanks, Madi Read more of this blog post »

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Mary Connealy's Books

Average rating: 4.07 · 8,689 ratings · 1,174 reviews · 34 distinct works · Similar authors

	Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1) 3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 1,041 ratings — published 2011 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Petticoat Ranch (Lassoed in Texas, #1) 4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 884 ratings — published 2006 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Montana Rose (Montana Marriages, #1) 4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 avg rating — 859 ratings — published 2009 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Calico Canyon (Lassoed in Texas, #2) 4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 avg rating — 732 ratings — published 2008 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor in Petticoats (Sophie's Daughters, #1) 4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 609 ratings — published 2010 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Husband Tree (Montana Marriages, #2) 4.24 of 5 stars 4.24 avg rating — 550 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gingham Mountain (Lassoed in Texas, #3) 4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 528 ratings — published 2009 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In Too Deep (Kincaid Brides, #2) 4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 526 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wrangler in Petticoats (Sophie's Daughters, #2) 4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 451 ratings — published 2010 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sharpshooter in Petticoats (Sophie's Daughters, #3) 4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 avg rating — 430 ratings — published 2011 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Mary Connealy…

Series by Mary Connealy

Texas-Montana-Petticoats (9 books)
by Mary Connealy (Goodreads Author)
4.156322247910368 of 5 stars 4.16 avg rating — 5,623 ratings

Lassoed in Texas (3 books)
by Mary Connealy (Goodreads Author)
4.129190880643719 of 5 stars 4.13 avg rating — 2,237 ratings

Montana Marriages (3 books)
by Mary Connealy (Goodreads Author)
4.149703823371029 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 1,857 ratings

Kincaid Brides (3 books)
by Mary Connealy (Goodreads Author)
3.8815455007625825 of 5 stars 3.88 avg rating — 1,967 ratings

Sophie's Daughters (3 books)
by Mary Connealy (Goodreads Author)
4.2040549378678875 of 5 stars 4.20 avg rating — 1,529 ratings

More series by Mary Connealy…

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Mary Connealy wrote a new blog post The Literary Maidens: In Too Deep By Mary Connealy Book Review The Literary Maidens: In Too Deep By Mary Connealy Book Review: I n T o o D e e p { R e v i e w B y M a d i}...A really nice review for In Too D... Read more of this blog post »
May 19, 2013 11:24pm · like
Mary Connealy made a comment on Paula's Thoughts: If you liked the Kincade Brides series you are goi... "I've been getting a great response to it. I'm so glad you liked it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!"
Apr 15, 2013 05:19am · see blog post
Mary Connealy liked Mary Connealy's blog post: Paula's Thoughts: If you liked the Kincade Brides series you are goi... "Paula's Thoughts: If you liked the Kincade Brides series you are goi...: If you liked the Kincade Brides series you are going to love reading this new series by Mary Connealy Swept Away by Mary Connealy My ra..."
Apr 13, 2013 07:56pm
Mary Connealy made a comment on Win a Historical Novel by Mary Connealy "Carenda, I've had really good responses to my books from men ... if I can just get them to read them!!!"
Apr 05, 2013 02:31pm · see blog post
Mary Connealy liked Colletta Miller's review of Swept Away (Trouble in Texas, #1): " I was really looking forward to reading this book. I love series and especially the first book of a new series. It started off great! Very fast paced and moving right along. Then it slowed down considerably. There was a lot of introduction to new c... " Read more of this review »
Mar 23, 2013 06:12pm · see review
Mary Connealy wants to read A Bride for All Seasons by Robin Lee Hatcher (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 21, 2013 02:11pm
Mary Connealy rated a book 5 of 5 stars Swept Away (Trouble in Texas, #1) by Mary Connealy (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 21, 2013 01:02pm
Mary Connealy rated a book 5 of 5 stars Winning the Widow's Heart by Sherri Shackelford (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 21, 2013 01:01pm
Mary Connealy rated a book 5 of 5 stars Land of Dreams by Cheryl St.John (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 21, 2013 01:01pm
Mary Connealy rated a book 5 of 5 stars The Importance of Being Wicked (Millworth Manor, #2) by Victoria Alexander	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 21, 2013 01:01pm

More of Mary's books…

Quotes by Mary Connealy

“The decent, strong person had to do decent, strong things like love unlovable people and keep peace even when it wasn't easy.”
― Mary Connealy, Doctor in Petticoats

tags: character, integrity

17 people liked it

“Of course she'd told him she would, but if the man hadn't registered her sarcasm, then he wasn't making full use of his ears.”
― Mary Connealy, Petticoat Ranch

14 people liked it

“We're married. I will protect you. I will die for you. Better than that. I will live for you.”
― Mary Connealy, Sharpshooter in Petticoats

13 people liked it

See all Mary Connealy's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Fans of Amish Fic...: Abbie's 2011 Reading Challenge	23	19	Mar 02, 2011 09:08am
Fans of Amish Fic...: Inspirational Historical Romance	11	32	Mar 15, 2011 01:48pm

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Quotes Mary Likes

“Of course she'd told him she would, but if the man hadn't registered her sarcasm, then he wasn't making full use of his ears.”
― Mary Connealy, Petticoat Ranch

14 people liked it