Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 102

Almost Done With the First Draft of Her Counterfeit Husband

I wanted to do an interview with Anna (heroine) and Appleton (the butler) in Her Counterfeit Husband this weekend, but I’ve been on a roll with writing it.  The hero is now learning the truth about his past, and I’m pretty much learning it along with him as the other characters reveal it.  I know it sounds crazy, but I didn’t know the details of the hero’s past and how he ended up beaten and left for dead in the forest until tonight as the hero is learning it.  That’s part of the thrill of writing a book.  Sometimes I don’t know what’s going to happen until I’m writing it.  :D

If all goes well, I’ll finish with the first draft by Saturday.  *fingers crossed*  Tomorrow, I’ll run off to spend the day with my writing group to check on how this story is working overall.   So I’m excited about going there tomorrow, especially since I’m almost done with the book.

I should be able to have the book out around August 1.  :D

Her Counterfeit Husband: Anna and Appleton’s Plan to Hide Her Husband’s Death

I’m getting close to the end of Her Counterfeit Husband.  I hope to have the first draft done in about a week (July 14).  *fingers crossed*  Today, I thought it’d be fun to post a snippet of the book and (hopefully) do an interview with Anna (the heroine) and Appleton (the butler) this weekend.

As a quick note: I do have small changes to make to this scene.  For example, the gentleman who’s identical to Anna’s husband will be in the middle of the forest road.  At the moment, I have him to the side of the road.  I have the notes down on what should be different, but I haven’t made the changes yet.  I prefer to wait until the first draft is done before I go back and change anything.  I also have done no proofreading on it.

Oh, and I haven’t drawn out a timeline for this story yet, so I’m not sure when it begins, but I’m thinking sometime in autumn.

Anna is the heroine (the Duchess of Watkins)

Appleton is the butler (and protective father figure)

Lord Mason is Anna’s brother-in-law (and he will factor more in the story later on)

Those disclaimers aside, here’s the part of the book where Anna buries her first husband…

Chapter Two

He’s dead.  Anna stared at her husband, hardly believing it.  Though death was, in itself, an ugly thing, she studied him.  His vacant eyes remained open, his pale skin had taken on a bluish tint, and he wasn’t breathing.  Even as part of her experienced an overwhelming feeling of relief, another part knew she had a much bigger problem waiting for her.

She glanced out the window.  Dawn still hadn’t come.  A look at the pocket watch on the table beside his bed told her it was just after midnight.  Her husband’s valet had walked out, and considering how many valets her husband had been through, she hadn’t been surprised when the last one quit.  Her husband had expected to hire another one once he got well, but this wouldn’t be the case now.

No.  Now, the next valet in this house would be Lord Mason’s.  Unless…  She bit her lower lip and walked to the window.  It was dark out there.  Not even a moon tonight.  Anyone could be out there, and there was no way she’d see him.  She reached up and gripped the curtains.  Did she dare?  Could she get away with it?  But she couldn’t do it alone.  Her husband was too heavy.  Even if he was weak and had lost considerable weight, she could never carry him out of the house and quietly dispose of his body.

What she needed was help from someone she could trust, someone who would keep her secret to their grave.  Appleton.  If there was anyone who’d understand her plight and help her, it was him.  She dropped the curtain back in place and turned from the window.  No.  She couldn’t ask Appleton to do such a devious thing.  Not when he was the one good thing in her life, the one person who’d helped her keep going when all she’d wanted to do was give up.  Her gaze fell to the scars on her wrists.  If he hadn’t found her when he did, she wouldn’t be here now.  And he’d saved her for what?  So her lot would fall to someone worse than her husband?

Her attention went back to her husband.  The Duke of Watkins.  She never did feel comfortable enough to call him by his title or his Christian name.  Six years.  For six years, she’d been under his thumb.  And as his last act of imprisoning her, he thought to hand her over to his disgusting brother.  Taking a deep breath, she walked over to him, each step slow and calculated as she thought of all the misery he’d caused her, and even now in death, he had a slight smile on his lips, as if laughing that he had gained one more victory over her.  When she reached him, she slapped him.

“You don’t win this one,” she hissed.  “If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll make sure your brother never becomes the duke.”

Feeling a new sense of determination, she crossed the room and slipped through the door leading to her bedchamber.  She hurried over to the cord on her wall that would ring the bell in Appleton’s room.  If she was going to act, she had to be quick.  The doctor would arrive in under eight hours, and the longer she waited, the harder it was going to be to succeed in her plan.

She reached her wardrobe and pulled out a black dress and cloak so she could blend into the dark night.  After she returned to her husband’s bedchamber, she waited by his door until she spied Appleton hurrying down the hall.  She motioned to him to enter the room, and he obeyed.

“Your grace?” he whispered.

She quickly shut the door and led him over to her husband.  “I found him like this thirty minutes ago.”

His expression grim, he said, “I don’t know whether to be relieved or not.”

“I can’t let his brother assume the title,” she whispered, glancing at her husband.

With a heavy sigh, he nodded.  “That wouldn’t be a wise idea.”

“It’s dark out there.  If you wore a covering and we wrapped him up in a dark blanket, we can carry him out of here and dispose of his body without anyone seeing us.”

He stared at her for a long moment, and she waited for his response, wondering if he’d agree or tell her it was impossible.  “What you’re suggesting is very unusual,” he slowly replied.

She tightened her hold on the edge of her cloak.  He wasn’t going to go along with it!

“However,” he began, causing her heart to leap with hope, “I see no other alternative than to quietly bury him, but we can’t hide the fact that he’s missing for long.  If he were to take a trip for an undetermined amount of time…”

Relieved he was going to help her, she nodded.  “We’ll do that.”

“We also need to take him off this property.  No one must ever find him.”

“I agree.”

“We’ll need to take a carriage.  There’s no way we can carry him as far as we need to.”

“Can we risk it without being seen?”

“There is an old carriage that no one uses.  It’s in the old stable.  I’ll get that one ready.  As for finding the horses, I’ll find that are hardly used.  You find a blanket, and when I get back, we’ll wrap him up and carry him down the servant stairs.  No one should see us this late at night.”

It sounded wonderful.  So wonderful, in fact, that it might actually work!  While he left the bedchamber, she searched through the room to find a suitable blanket to cover her husband up.

***

Their task was a morbid one.  Two hours past midnight, Anna held the lantern up as Appleton finished burying her husband.  He pounded the new mound of dirt over the spot in the forest, which was hidden by a group of trees half a mile from the path.

Appleton straightened his back and turned to her.  “I think we’re done.”

She stared at the spot where her husband was buried, finally feeling free.  Six of the worst years of her life were over.  She didn’t realize she was crying until Appleton removed his gloves so he could reach into his pocket and hand her a handkerchief.  Grateful to his everlasting kindness to her, she thanked him and wiped her face.

“It’s over, your grace,” he said, his voice soothing.

“As long as no one finds out, we’ll be all right,” she agreed.

In silence, the two turned to the path that would take them to their carriage.  So much had happened that day, and her exhaustion was quickly catching up to her.  Once they reached the carriage, she slipped into the carriage while he discarded his clothes and put on new ones.  From there, he led the horses carefully through the forest.  She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the seat.

Exhaustion was quickly taking over, but even so, she couldn’t sleep.  She wanted nothing more than to sink into the sweet bliss of dreams where she could forget everything from her tainted marriage to the misery that brought her and Appleton to covering up her husband’s death.  The entire night kept replaying itself in her mind.  As much as she prayed no one would ever find out what happened, she couldn’t help but worry someone would try to find her husband and learn the truth.  But maybe by then, she and Appleton could leave the country.  They could assume another identity.  Maybe by the time people realized her husband was dead, she and Appleton could be long gone.

The carriage came to a stop, startling her.  She bolted up in her seat and peered out the window, wondering if someone caught them.  Maybe someone saw them sneak out off the estate and followed them into this forest.  Her heartbeat accelerated in dread.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  With a hard swallow, she told herself that whatever happened, she would make sure they knew this was her idea and she forced Appleton help her.  She’d do everything she could to absolve him from guilt.

The carriage door opened.  Her eyes flew open, but instead of someone else, she saw Appleton’s bewildered expression.  “What is it?” she asked him, tentatively peering out of the carriage to see if someone else was in the area.

“There’s a gentleman, your grace,” he told her.  He held his hand out to help her down.  “I can’t tell for sure, but he looks a lot like your husband.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, she followed him around the carriage.  He lifted the lantern so they could see the path in front of them.  She bent to avoid a tree branch and stepped over a dip in the road.  But then Appleton stopped and she came up beside him.  Her gaze went up ahead where a bloodied gentleman was lying unconscious off to the side of the road.

A scan of the wooded area revealed no one else was nearby.  “You said he looks like my husband?” she whispered.

“He’s been beaten, but there’s no denying the resemblance.”

Curious, she approached the gentleman.  He was lying on his back, his eyes closed and mouth open as he struggled for breath.  It was almost alarming to see him covered in blood, his lower lip swollen, his nose out of place, bruises lining the side of his face.  His clothes spoke of a commoner, but his face was horribly reminiscent of the husband she’d just buried.

She glanced at Appleton before she proceeded forward.  While Appleton held the lantern for her to see where she was gong, she approached the stranger and knelt beside him.  “Sir?”

He gave no response.  Uncertain, she looked back at Appleton.

“He might be the answer to our prayers, your grace,” Appleton softly told her.

Could he be?  She turned her attention to the stranger.  It was hard to tell in the dim light, but it seemed to be the same blond color as her husband’s.  She inspected the rest of him, sizing up his height and build.  If she wasn’t seeing it with her own eyes, she would never have believed it.  This stranger…this gentleman who was in no way of noble birth…could pass for her husband.

The stranger let out a slight moan of pain, and something in her snapped.  “We have to help him,” she told Appleton.

Appleton handed her the lantern.  She stood up and held it for him.  “He needs help.  If we’re not careful, we’re going to lose him.”

It took her a moment to realize he meant that this stranger could die if they didn’t tend to his wounds.  “But…  Who can we get to help him?  No one will believe my husband got beat up like this.”

“I have a friend we can go to who won’t ask questions.”

Surprised, she asked, “You do?”

With a kind smile, he lifted the stranger in his arms.  “An old friend.  I haven’t seen him in years.  He went to study medicine while I went to work for your husband’s father.”

“Will he be upset that we came to see him so late and unannounced?” she asked as he gingerly carried the stranger to the carriage.

“No.  I believe he’ll be too concerned about this gentleman’s wounds to think of the hour we’ll be coming to him.”

“But what will we say?  We can’t tell him we buried my husband and found this stranger on the road.”

“I’ll tell him this is your husband and he got into a nasty brawl.  I don’t think he’ll ask anything beyond that.”

“Then what?” she asked.

“Then we ask him if he’ll pretend he’s your husband.”

She halted in her tracks for a moment until she could comprehend what he was saying.  She quickly started walking again so she could open the carriage door for him.  After she removed her cloak and set it on the seat so it wouldn’t get dirty or bloody, Appleton set the stranger securely in the carriage.

Appleton turned to face her.  “Do you want to sit with him?”

She studied the stranger.  His head was tilted to the side and his eyes still closed.  She doubted he would wake up before they reached their destination.  “I’ll sit in here,” she decided.  And if nothing else, perhaps she could make sure he didn’t slide off the seat.

“If you change your mind, tap on the roof and I’ll stop,” Appleton replied.

With a nod, she let him help her into the carriage and sat by the stranger, close enough to help him remain in place if needed but far enough so she wouldn’t have to touch him.  As Appleton shut the door, she dared a good look at the stranger.

She couldn’t see anything but his silhouette, but even so, the likeness between him and her husband sent a chill up her spine.  Oh God, let this stranger be a kind gentleman, she prayed.  If they could just work out an agreement and get along amiably enough, it would solve all her problems.

The carriage moved forward, and she made sure the stranger didn’t fall out of his seat before she relaxed enough where her shoulders slouched.  She rubbed her eyes and thought of what an exhausting day it’d been.  So much had happened and was still happening.  She knew her life would never be the same again, but the question was would it be better or worse or more of the same?  She turned her gaze to the stranger who remained unconscious.  Only time would tell if she and Appleton had made a wise move or a tragic mistake.

Announcing a Giveaway: Enter for a Chance To Win Paperbacks!

How to Enter

So all the witnesses have testified in the court trail of Ruth Ann Nordin vs. Dave and Mary Larson.  To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is vote innocent or guilty.

“Innocent” means you side with Dave and Mary.

“Guilty” means you don’t side with Dave and Mary.

There is no right or wrong answer, and all votes are anonymous.  Just click “innocent” or “guilty” in the poll.  Then in the comments section below this post, say “I voted” and I’ll put you in the giveaway drawing.  I will need an email address in order to put you in the drawing because if I don’t have an email address, I can’t contact you.  I do not save email addresses, so you will not be spammed.  Once the giveaway is over, I will delete all comments with the email addresses.  Please answer only on this blog so I can be sure the entries are all in one place.

How I’ll pick the winner

I’m going to do a drawing at random.org.

What you will win

My paperback books that I am giving away are the entire South Dakota Series (Loving Eliza, Bid for a Bride, Bride of Second Chances) and the Virginia Series (An Unlikely Place for Love, The Cold Wife, An Inconvenient Marriage, Romancing Adrienne and Falling In Love With Her Husband.  I know Falling In Love With Her Husband isn’t a direct book in the series, but the characters start out living there and Todd makes a very brief appearance in An Inconvenient Marriage).

Rose Gordon has graciously volunteered her Groom Series paperbacks to the giveaway.  Those books are Her Sudden Groom, Her Reluctant Groom, Her Secondhand Groom, and Her Imperfect Groom.

All paperbacks are signed.  I’ve signed mine, and Rose has signed hers.  :D

When the winner will be announced:

Monday July 9.

Here are the witness accounts:

Ruth Ann Nordin’s Testimony: Part 1

Ruth Ann Nordin’s Testimony: Part 2

Tom Larson’s Testimony

Sally Larson’s Testimony

Mary Larson’s Testimony

Dave Larson’s Testimony

Richard Larson’s Testimony

Now for the Verdict:

Take Our Poll

Remember to leave a “I voted” comment with your email address below in the comments so I can enter you in the giveaway.

Richard Larson is at the Witness Stand

Rick: Do you have a witness to call up here, Tom?

Tom: Yes.  I have one, and then we’re done with the trial.

Rick: Thank God.  I was beginning to think this trial would never end.  So who are you calling up?

Tom: Richard Larson.

Richard: *comes up to the witness stand and sits down*

Tom: Do you think Dave and Mary had a good reason to fake his kidnapping?

Richard: No.

Tom: Objection, your honor!

Joel: Objection to his objection!

Rick: Oh for goodness’ sakes.  What’s going on here, Tom?

Tom: Richard is supposed to be on Dave and Mary’s side.  That’s why he’s up here.  He can’t say “No”.

Richard: Well, it’s the truth.  The whole thing is stupid, but I think Dave has a point in why we should listen to him.

Joel: *mutters* This ought to be good.

Rick: Settle down, Joel.  Go ahead, Richard.  Where are you going with this?

Richard: Well, if we all remember it’s Dave and Mary who started the whole Nebraska series.

Tom: Right.  So what about it?

Richard: Originally, Eye of the Beholder was supposed to be a romance between Neil Craftsman and Mary Peters.  Then in chapter two, Ruth thought the story would be better if Neil turned out to be a slimy character.  That’s where Dave came in.  Had there not been the friction between Dave and Neil, a lot of what makes the story as good as it is would’ve been lost.  The only reason Ruth did everything she did in that story was because she was listening to her characters.  So when Dave is asking for Ruth to listen to her characters, it’s because the stories are better if she does.

Tom: Yes, very good.

Richard: And if it hadn’t been for Eye of the Beholder, she never would have went on to write more Nebraska books.  Let’s face it.  We’re a lovable bunch of characters, and all of us in Eye of the Beholder wanted Ruth to write out books.  You and Jessica, Jenny, Joel, Sally and Rick, Isaac and Emily, and soon I’ll have a book.  None of this would be possible if Dave and Mary hadn’t taken the initiative and been willing to be the first characters to be in Ruth’s historical westerns.  It’s because of them Ruth fell in love with writing historical westerns.  It’s because of them people fell in love with the Nebraska books.  We can’t dismiss Mary and Dave’s contribution to Ruth’s career.  I mean, no one would even know who she is without them.

Tom: Thank you, Richard.  That’s all I have to ask, your honor.

Joel: *stands up and approaches Richard* How much did Dave and Mary pay you to say all that?

Richard: Nothing, Joel.  I am capable of independent thought.

Joel: Hmm…  And yet it’s taken you nine books into the Nebraska series before you came up with an idea for your own book?  Nine books?  The rest of us had ideas sooner than that.

Richard: What’s your point, pipsqueak?

Joel: My point is you’re late.  You overslept.  You need to get your life organized.  Aren’t you aware that the series is moving to our kids?  It started with Dave and Mary’s oldest, Isaac, and will soon be Isaac’s friend, Clayton’s turn.  You are the first book in the series unless Ruth does a book on our parents.  It takes you forever to come up with anything, and now you expect us to believe that you came up with that whole “Dave and Mary started it all” spiel without help?

Richard: That’s the stupidest argument I’ve ever heard.

Joel: Do you really believe if it hadn’t been for Dave and Mary that Ruth would never have come up with plots for our books?

Richard: She might have come up with the same plot ideas, but the characters would’ve been different.  We were all introduced in Eye of the Beholder.  Do you know why some of the characters in her other books never got stories of their own?  Because they didn’t scream loud enough at Ruth to write their books.  We’ve been the most vocal bunch of all her characters, which is why we have nine books so far and one in the works and mine will be number eleven.  None of that would be possible if Ruth hadn’t written Eye of the Beholder.  So we owe Dave and Mary our thanks for that.

Joel: Aren’t you worried that if Dave keeps bothering her, she’ll stop writing Nebraska books?

Richard: No.  The series is more than Dave and Mary now.  It’s also you, me, Tom, Sally, Jenny, and all of our children.  Dave and Mary are just two characters.  Ruth might not write anything else with them in it, but there’s too many of the rest of us and our intriguing plot lines for her to ignore.  George Lucas has Star Wars.  William Shatner has Star Trek.  Stephanie Meyer has Twilight.  CS Lewis has the Chronicles of Narnia.  Ruth has the Nebraska books.  Do you know what all of these people have in common?

Joel: *groans*

Richard: They all did other projects but one stands apart from all the rest.  Sure, Ruth might write other series with other characters, but when people think of her, they also think of the Larson family, and that’s something Dave and Mary has done for us.

Joel: I hate it when you’re around.  *turns to Rick* I have nothing else to ask, your honor.

***

This concludes the hearing.  Tomorrow, I’ll open up the giveaway to the verdict in whether or not Dave and Mary are guilty.

Just for Fun: Regency Do’s and Don’ts at Dinner and Balls (A You Tube Video I Found)

You have to start this a minute in, but this is hilarious.  I thought some of you might get a chuckle out of it, so I’m passing it on.  :D

Will You Vote on a Cover For My Friend?

Stephannie Beman is having trouble deciding on which cover to go with.  Will you be willing to vote on which cover attracts you most?  Thanks in advance!

Cover 1

Cover 2

Cover 3

Take Our Poll

Dave Larson is at the Witness Stand

Rick: Tom, who’s your next witness?

Tom: Dave Larson.

Dave: *goes to the witness stand and sits down*

Tom: Dave, tell us your side of the story.

Dave: There’s not much to tell except my side of things have been totally warped by everyone.

Tom: How so?

Dave: This whole thing started because I was a concerned parent.  I love my children, and I want what’s best for them.

Tom: What does this have to do with Ruth?

Dave: I’m getting to that.  You see, while she was writing Isaac’s Decision, it broke my heart.  I mean, how would you feel if  your kid was going to marry someone you thought wasn’t good for them.  What parent is going to sit idly by and let their child make a huge mistake?  So I intervened and tried to offer Ruth alternative endings to her book.  I don’t know why that is such a crime.

Tom: It’s not a crime to do that.

Dave: Exactly.  Then Ruth made fun of me by mocking my attempts at writing and saying I gave myself 5-star reviews while she gave me 1-star reviews.  Then I had to be the perfect character in To Have and To Hold, and I did my part.  But Ruth made a spectacle of me.  I was the laughing stock of this blog.

Tom: How so?

Dave: I merely wanted to caution her readers that she might be a bad author because she doesn’t listen to her characters.  If she’s not listening to me, then there are going to be others she won’t listen to in the future.  I was trying to prevent what happened to me happen to other characters.  I thought if her readers banned her books until she changed her ways, then she’d listen to all of us and give us an equal say.  We are her characters, after all.  Don’t we deserve to have a say in what happens in our books?

Tom: But the ban didn’t work?

Dave: No.  She made it sound like I was a joke.  Everyone was laughing at me.

Tom: It hurt, didn’t it?

Dave: *shrugs* Well, I was thinking it was more annoying than hurt.  I didn’t cry or anything.

Tom: So when banning the books didn’t work, you created the union?

Dave: Yes.  I thought if I couldn’t convince her readers to demand better treatment for her characters, then I could get other characters to join me.

Tom: And that didn’t work.

Dave: No, it didn’t.  Except for that immodestly dressed woman from the environmental group and her weird friends, no one was interested.  None of those characters would have helped.  I needed Ruth’s characters to stand with me and demand our rights.

Tom: But it didn’t work.

Dave: *looks pointedly at him* No, it didn’t, and you were one of the characters who supported Ruth during that time.

Tom: Objection, your honor.

Rick: How can you object?  This is your client.

Tom: My involvement in the union has nothing to do with this case.

Rick: Don’t you mean ‘your lack of involvement’?

Tom: *thinks for a moment* Yeah, I guess so.  Lack means I didn’t participate, right?

Rick: Objection sustained.  Move on with the questioning.

Tom: *turns to Dave* So in desperation, you faked your kidnapping?

Dave: It was all I could think of.  I could have kept doing the same things I did before, but there’s a saying that goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” I had to do something different.  It was all I could think of to help people understand the seriousness of the situation.

Tom: Thank you, Dave.  I have nothing else to ask.

Joel: *stands up and approaches Dave* So, you think this whole trial is pointless?

Dave: Yes.  It’s a waste of time.

Joel: Some might argue that you faking your own kidnapping is a waste of time.

Dave: Desperate men do desperate things.

Joel: So, you’re feeling desperate?

Dave: That picture isn’t me.

Joel: It’s not you but it represents your thinking process during the whole time you’ve been giving Ruth grief.

Dave: There’s nothing wrong with my thinking process, Joel.  Some day, Ruth will take your children and write a story about them.  What if she makes one of your children  a bandit who goes around robbing banks or a cold-blooded killer?

Joel: You can’t compare Isaac marrying Emily to a criminal.

Dave: I’m using an example to show you the depth of my pain.  Not that I cried or anything.

Joel: *rolls eyes* Sure, Dave.

Dave: I didn’t.

Joel: Whatever.  *holds his hand up before Dave can speak* Under oath to tell the truth, can you honestly say that Isaac is miserable right now?

Dave: That’s not the point.

Joel: It is the point.  The truth is that even if you didn’t cry *coughs* yeah right *coughs*, Ruth gave Isaac a happy ending because Emily turned out to be good for him.

Dave: It isn’t the point at all.  The point is that Ruth didn’t even listen to my concerns.  She made all these posts where people laughed at me.

Joel: Do we need our teddy bear, Dave?

Dave: What?  Teddy bears weren’t even around in the 1800s.

Joel: It’s an expression, Dave.  It means that even if  you’re a grown man with a family of your own, you still need to be protected from a few laughs.  You’re sensitive.  Your emotions get hurt easily.

Dave: That’s not true!

Joel: Oh, isn’t it?  I propose that the reason why you faked your own kidnapping — after Mary the mastermind thought up the clever scheme — was so you could run off and pout with your teddy bear.

Dave: No, it wasn’t.  I did it to make a point!

Joel: Yes, you did!  And now we all know when things don’t go your way, you act like a kid having a temper tantrum.

Dave: *motions to Tom* Aren’t you going to object?

Tom: To what?

Dave: Really?  You have to ask?

Tom: Well, you have been throwing temper tantrums on this blog and acting like it’s all about you.

Dave: *huffs and turns to Rick* Your honor, I want to represent myself for the rest of the case.

Joel: There’s no need, Dave.  I believe I just proved my point.  When things don’t go exactly as you want them, you get demanding like a little kid.  No more questions, your honor.

Behind the Scenes: A Writer’s Frustration (Not Enough Time To Write Everything She Wants To)

My problem is that I have too many ideas and not nearly enough time to write everything.  I was hoping to get eight books out this year, but it looks like I’ll only have seven, maybe even six.

I get why writers hire ghostwriters.  They have a ton of ideas in their heads and not enough time to write them all.  Today I was watching the movie “Mirror, Mirror”.  I don’t know if anyone saw it, but I rented it because it looked like it would be a fresh take off of “Snow White”.  I don’t know why, but I thought it would end up with the queen turning into the good guy.  Then I thought, “I’d love to write a book where the queen was misunderstood and ended up with the prince who was older than he was in the Disney movie.” Then I came back to reality and reminded myself that I can’t write this story because I’m already booked up on more story ideas than I’ll ever write.

I’d love to write everything that’s up in my head.  I really would.  But 80% of my ideas end up in the “never” pile because there’s not enough time in the day, and even though I write as fast as I can while trying to make each story the best it can be, I know I’ll never get to write everything I want.  So I have to pick and choose, which isn’t easy but necessary.

*sigh*  It’s so frustrating.  I just know that idea for a different viewpoint on Snow White could be a great story.

And yes, I know I need to make a post where Dave Larson gets on the witness stand, but my mind is blank so I have no idea on how to handle it.  I keep hoping inspiration will strike, but so far I can’t get anywhere.  I’m tempted to have him take the 5th and not say anything on the witness stand.  Is that a tacky way out?

Okay.  I’m going to see if I can get anything written.  Today hasn’t been a good one at all for creativity, minus the idea for a twist on Snow White.  LOL

It’s Cover 2

Thanks for voting!  The choice was overwhelmingly in favor of cover 2 as it is.  So I’m keeping it and replacing Mitch’s name with Clayton’s.    I appreciate all the feedback because it helped a lot.  Also, since some people wanted to see a bride in the background, I’m thinking of doing that for a future cover: maybe a mail-order bride one.

Here’s the new cover:

Now I can get to the task of rewriting parts of it to fit the Nebraska world. 

Need Your Input on a Cover

I decided to change the name Mitch to Clayton.  Clayton is Isaac Larson’s friend, and when I wrote Isaac’s Decision, I made a hint that Clayton was interested in someone but he didn’t say who.  Remember that scene where Emily is dressed like a man and hunting with the guys and she’s trying to find out if Isaac liked the teacher or not?  During that time, she found out Wiley liked her (and I do have a story planned for him), but Clayton said he wasn’t interested in anyone and Emily suspected he did but didn’t want to say.

Well, I’m going to modify Mitch’s Win, and Clayton, so it’ll be Clayton’s Win.  The story will take place a few years after Isaac’s Decision.  So the set up will be the same: Clayton will go in to the saloon to get his younger brother, Boaz, out of trouble, and while he’s there, he realizes a young woman is part of the bet.  He gets married to her and there’s still the trouble with Boaz who is having trouble cleaning up his life after his wife died in childbirth.  There’s more to the book than that, but Boaz is a part of it because I want to give Boaz his own story.

I had decided early on that Boaz would move to Nebraska to start a new life and end up with one of Dave and Mary’s daughters.  Well, this will make Boaz’s story much easier to do since he’s already in Nebraska.  I plan to match him up with Rachel Larson (Dave and Mary’s oldest daughter) who is also friends with Emily Craftsman.  So they can meet through Emily, the matchmaker.  I’m thinking Emily will continue to have a trick or two up her sleeve when it comes to the future Nebraska books.

Okay.  So all of that background aside, I am trying to decide which cover might go best with the Nebraska books.  I still have the title as Mitch’s Win at the moment, but I would switch it to Clayton’s Win.  So any thoughts on which cover you’d rather see for Clayton’s book?  Which cover says, “Read me!”

Option 1

Option 2

Edited to add: I can put a bride in the background for cover 2 as long as I find one that works with the lighting and colors.  I find the colors to be the hardest part when putting one picture into another one.  I like them to blend well together.  :D

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