The wedding of the century (at least until our younger son gets married) is over, and it was lovely, and now I'm back hard at work on the final edits of To the Gap. In the meantime, here's an interview with Brin Coltor, the wealthy rancher from The Rancher's Daughter. Coltor is notable in being one of the few secondary characters who appears again later in the series. If you have other questions for him, feel free to ask them in the comments. (Same goes for all my other character interviews!)

1. What is your full name? Is there anything significant about your name?
The name I've chosen to be known by is Brin Coltor.

2. How old are you?
I am 37 years old.

3. Tell us about your family. What do you like and not like about them?
My family lives in Granadaia. I've been out of touch with them for many years. Our values, the things we want out of life, are not the same. I've also been estranged from my wife for many years. She was not an easy person to live with. I'm not sure why I'm still married to her; I really ought to man up and resolve the matter one of these days. I think the only reason she hasn't divorced me by now is because of my family's money, and because she doesn't have specific evidence of grounds for divorce. But I'd like my freedom, and I'm sure she would, too.

I do have a young daughter here in the Wildings, but the union that produced her was... unconventional. I don't want her to be the target of misunderstandings and prejudice, so I keep her existence a secret. Don't know how long that can last, though.

4. Who was your first kiss, and what did you think of it?
Ah. I believe it was a young lady at my thirteenth birthday party. I'd rather not reveal her name, but she was charming. It's a fond memory.

5. What is your occupation?
I own and operate the BC Crown Ranch in the Bentwood Valley. It's one of the largest ranches in the Wildings, if not *the* largest.

6. What are your best and worst qualities?
I'm a good businessman. I deal fairly and generously with my workers and the people in my town. And I love my daughter dearly.

I do have a short temper, and I'm not particularly good at managing my personal life.

7. What quality do you value most in a romantic partner?
I want a strong, intelligent woman who can stand beside me as an equal partner in business and in life without trying to henpeck me. I do know a woman who would be my ideal partner, but... Well, I'm afraid I burned that bridge years ago. I couldn't offer her what she wanted, a respectable marriage, and now, well, I'm afraid it's too late.

8. What is your favorite thing to do?
I love my work, both managing the business affairs of my ranch and being in the outdoors, working hands-on with the stock. The Bentwood Valley is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I also, well, I do have a bit of a reputation as a skirt-lifter, and I'm afraid it's well-earned.

9. What is your greatest fear?
My daughter coming to harm.

10. What is your most treasured possession?
My daughter and my ranch.

I missed the Friday 5 last week because I couldn't think of anything. This week, as I've been working on edits on To the Gap (Daughter of the Wildings book 4), I noticed five (possibly) interesting things readers will learn about in the book:

1. What happens if you don't mind your manners in Lainie's kitchen.
2. How Silas gets the nickname "Shark".
3. How to make a mage ring.
4. Silas's "first time".
5. Cows can swim.

Still working hard to get the book ready for release. We had a pre-wedding event to go to last week out of town, and the wedding is late next week, if all goes according to plan. But I'm finding that with plenty of rest and carefully limiting any other demands on my energy, I'm not falling too far behind. Stay tuned for details as the release date draws near; to make sure you don't miss the announcement, sign up for my email alerts. (Don't worry; I won't spam you or share your info with anyone else.)

Time for the monthly roundup and look ahead:

June was, again, all about working on revisions and edits on To the Gap. This book is longer than books 2 and 3, (over 60,000 words, while Bad Hunting and The Rancher's Daughter are under 50,000) so it's taking longer to finish it. I also finished the A-Z Reading Challenge (see the previous post for the final installment) and I'm now back to reading whatever I feel like. Finally, the month ended with a bang with a bunch of dental work. My mouth still hurts, but at least we addressed the problems before they got bad enough to require root canals.

Coming up in July: the release of To the Gap, though probably a little later than I had anticipated. A week ago Sunday, our older son and his fiancee informed us that they've moved their wedding up from this fall to the middle of this month. They aren't having a big huge fancy deal, but there's at least one wedding-related event in addition to the wedding we'll need to be at, and it's all out of town (though only 100 miles up the freeway), which means a couple of road trips. So that has thrown a slight hitch into my work schedule, but I'm working as hard as I can to still get the book out as soon as I can without compromising the quality. I know there are at least a few of you waiting for it, and I don't want to keep you waiting too long! Of course, we're thrilled and delighted for our son and his fiancee, and excited to have our family grow. Maybe best of all, she has an absolutely precious 2-year-old daughter, so we get an instant grandchild out of the deal :-D

All other projects are on hold while I get through this busy time and try to keep to my release schedule.