Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 16

Back to Writing

I’m happy to say I’m back to writing. While I have to admit that one of the reasons I did not get much written in March was due to all of the books I uploaded to Radish, I have been getting more help from the people around here.

A note about Radish:

I do enjoy the site, and it’s been fun making episodes from my books, but it’s turned into a lot more work than I anticipated. I was trying to get 1-2 books up a day. In March, I got 42 up. I bundled a couple of series into one “Story” since the books in that series were so interconnected that if you miss events in one book, some of the events in the other books won’t make as much sense.

Anyway, since uploading books to Radish do take more time than I anticipated, I have decided to upload 1-2 books a week instead of every day. If anyone here reads my stories on Radish, let me know the ones you are most interested in reading, and I’ll put those at the top of the list. Right now, I’m posting whatever books pique my interest at the moment.

The latest developments in my writing:

This book took a turn I didn’t expect this week. The original plan a friend helped me outline is getting tossed out. (When I say “outline”, I mean we chatted about how the story would play out. I didn’t do anything formal with it.) The hero and heroine will still marry, but it won’t be through some clumsy incident the heroine has in a public place. Also, the villain will not be targeting the person I thought he or she would target. I have to come up with a new motive for the villain and why the villain is targeting this other person. I figure I’m just about halfway into the book, if not a little under halfway. There’s still time to work through the snags, but I only discover that way out by writing. I can’t do it by plotting.

Regarding the Husbands for the Larson Sisters Series, my original plan was to give Tom all grandsons, but at the end of Suitable for Marriage (which comes out in May), Jessica went through the hassle of painting all the cribs for her future grandchildren pink. Up to now, all of Daisy’s sisters have sons. I believe there are six grandsons at this point in the timeline. Daisy is the youngest of the four daughters Tom and Jessica had. I’m about to write a scene where Daisy takes a look at the pink crib that is left. (The other cribs went to the three daughters as they had children.) Otis and Daisy will be staying with Tom and Jessica so Tom can have help on the farm. Anyway, I think I might give Tom a granddaughter at this point because I feel sorry for Jessica who has her heart set on having a granddaughter. I figure, “Why not give her one or two?” I’d hate to see her have to paint another crib blue after she went through the trouble of painting four of them pink.

Remember my dilemma over what to do with the duke who was supposed to be the hero of this book? If not, I made a post about it. I decided to go with an option I’ve never used before: I’m going to kill him off. Now whether the death looks like a suicide or is a suicide, I don’t know. It’s too early in the Marriage by Obligation Series to tell. But this will make the story for the heroine who was supposed to marry him that much more interesting to me. Not only did she dread marrying him, but now she’ll wonder if the idea of marrying her made him kill himself. Pairing her up with a hero who had a bad first marriage which resulted in adultery will be the perfect combination. Two scarred characters who need someone to love them. I’m looking forward to writing it.

Will this kill the possibility of writing The Duke’s Return (since the intended hero for it is dead)? I don’t know yet. I do have a duke that I introduce in Book 1 of this series which is Secret Admirer. I’m currently writing Secret Admirer right now.

The duke in Secret Admirer is the heroine’s brother. I had no set story for him. I’ll have to keep writing this series to figure out if he fits in here. I don’t always write about characters I introduce because there is no intriguing plot for them. I need a plot that excites me in order to write it, and those plots have to go to the characters with the right personality traits.

So The Duke’s Return may or may not be written, but either way, the original hero slotted for the book will not be getting the role.

Don’t Apologize for Writing the Book that You Love (A Post for Writers)

The thing about writing is that quality is subjective. The longer you’ve been publishing books and receiving feedback, the easier it is to remember this. But for newer writers, it’s not so easy. I was in a writing group recently where a significant number of authors felt like they had to apologize to readers for writing their books the way they did.

I have one question for you, the writer, when you’re confronted with a random person who didn’t like your book:

Do you love the book?

If so, keep the book as it is, and don’t apologize for writing it.

You are under no obligation to write a book just to please a certain kind of person. This is your book. You are the creator. You get the final say in what happens in it and what doesn’t happen in it. I am tired of watching writers berate themselves for writing stuff someone doesn’t like. So what if that person doesn’t like the book? It’s not their book. They didn’t write it. They can go find another book by another writer that they can enjoy instead. Or, if they are that picky, they can write their own book. There is no reason for you to rewrite your book to satisfy this person. Also, there is no reason to stop writing because of this person.

That person’s problem with your book is their problem. It is not your problem. You are not responsible for how someone feels when they read your book. What they think of the book says way more about them than it does you. Yes, I know that some readers are mean. They will nitpick at every little thing, and they don’t mind being vocal about their grievances. It hurts. I used to answer these readers’ comments, but in the end, it turned into a total waste of time. I never won anyone over by addressing their grievances. I never won anyone over by rewriting my book to satisfy them. (I did this back in 2011 or 2012.) I think all I did was embolden these particular group of readers to go around criticizing other writers. In my opinion, you’re better off ignoring these people. Would you let someone into your house who is criticizing you? No. Your email inbox, your social media page, and your blog/website are your personal “homes” on the internet. You have a right to only answer positive people.

“Oh, but Ruth, what if their complaint is valid?” you might be asking.

Their complaint is not valid IF you love the book the way it already is. Your opinion is the only one that matters. You’re the author. You’re the one invested in this book. You put in your time, your emotions, and your talent into this book. This other person contributed nothing to its creation. They didn’t pay for the cover. They didn’t pay for the editor. They didn’t format the thing for you. They didn’t publish it. They’re not taking the risk it won’t sell. Let the person’s opinion go. Focus on what you enjoy about the book instead. If you love the book, it has value.

The only reason you should change anything in your book is because YOU want to change something.

I don’t know if this post comes off as harsh. I know how badly writers (esp. new ones) want to please the reader. No one wants to be told their book is a piece of crap. No one wants to get that 1-star review. But if we were to write the book that made that particular person happy, it would be a totally different book. It wouldn’t be the book we love. Books have meaning to the people who create them. That meaning is more important than money, and it’s more important than someone’s approval.

I’m on a Writing Strike

When you work at home, the people in your life pawn off all of the errands on you. Even though my family is aware that I am not wasting time at the computer, everything is pretty much up to me, whether it has to do with taking someone in to the doctor/dentist, dealing with the accountant, helping my kids learn to drive, repairing vehicles/the house, dealing with the school, and on and on it goes. On top of this, I haven’t been up to full health, so I’ve been struggling to get to the computer anyway. I also deal with little things here and there with my books that have nothing to do with the actual writing part of things. I know I’m seriously behind on emails. I am just so swamped with everything else that I just can’t get to it. And it wasn’t like I was quick to answer emails in the past when I was doing good. So it’s even worse now.

In short, I am way too stressed and overwhelmed. The rising prices on things has not helped one single bit. I realize some of you are on fixed incomes, and I feel like I’m in the same boat because I can’t even save $100 in my savings account. I am the primary breadwinner in the family, and you’d think that would get my family to pitch in to help, but it doesn’t. I have spoken to my family at length on this, but it has done no good. I am left to the final resort, which is to go on strike with my writing. I think that is the only way they will realize how important my job is around here. They seem to think that it takes no effort to get these books out. I wish I could just snap my fingers and have books written up in a few days, but writing doesn’t work like that.

So I am going to stop writing. I’ll still upload books to Radish. That is my current full-time project. It takes a while to separate books out into episodes. I’ve been at this for a month and still have over half of my books to put over there. I’ll still engage online with people. I’ll still gather my tax info so I can meet with the accountant every quarter. But I’m not going to write.

I know the other flipside of the coin is that I just don’t take care of the house or meals. I tried that. That did not faze these people. They were fine living in a pig sty and living off of junk food. All that scenario did was stress me out even more. I need a clean house, and I need good meals. Those are necessary for my sanity. The only thing I haven’t tried yet is the writing strike.

I don’t know how long this will last. I already have Suitable for Marriage up on pre-order. At this point in time, that’s my last projected book to go out there. I have a couple of books on pre-order that I will just keep bumping back. I am thinking that when these people around here realize how much money won’t be coming in, they’ll finally step up to the plate. That’s my hope. All I know is that I can’t keep going on like this. I am going to end up running myself into the ground, and I’m sure that will do even more damage to my health. I love my family. Really I do. But sometimes you just got to say “enough”. And I’ve had enough.

I Hit a Snafu in the Marriage by Obligation Series

The funny thing is that the situation that created the snafu is the reason I created the series to begin with. How is that for ironic?

Okay, so here’s the setup I was going for in this series.

Years ago I had this idea for a psychological thriller where a detective marries a woman who he begins to believe killed her first husband. When I realized I had written myself into a corner in the story, I trashed it. Then a couple of years later I was talking about this idea with my author friend Stephannie Beman, and she and I started a co-written historical western romance loosely based on the idea. It had morphed quite a bit, actually, from the original concept. Things didn’t work out with the co-written stuff, and I did buy the rights to the stuff we had worked on because I liked the setup she and I created.

The basic premise turned into a situation where a man was betrothed to a woman, but he jilted her before the wedding because he resented being forced into the marriage by their parents. So the parents arrange for her to marry his younger brother instead, and the younger brother was mean to her. So mean, in fact, that the hero could be suspicious that she killed the brother in order to get rid of him. And he goes about trying to prove she did it.

Anyway, I thought, “That setup could work in the Regency world.” So I created the Marriage by Obligation Series. Only, I needed to set things up for the hero to come back (after running off to avoid marriage) in Books 1 and 2 in the series. So I brainstormed and came up with ideas for Books 1 and 2 to set the stage for Book 3. Book 3 is the book where the hero returns.

This is how the original 3 books looked:

   

As I’ve been writing Book 1, which is Secret Admirer, I have developed other characters that have given me ideas for two more books that will fit into the series. These characters, whether I was aware of it or not while writing them into this series, has prompted the fate of the jilted heroine to go in another direction. I am no longer interested in writing about a hero who has to make amends for ditching the heroine at the altar and then having to return to make things right with her. I’d rather have her end up with someone else. And I’m thinking Lord Wright (the widower with a daughter who had a bad first marriage) could be perfect for her. I like the setup I have for Lord Wright. I’ve decided his story will be Book 3 in this series now.

I also want to finally write Reuben St. George’s story, which I’m now slotting for Book 4 in this series.

So what happens to the original Book 3 (The Duke’s Return)?

I’m not sure what to do about The Duke’s Return yet. I can write him out if the setup in Secret Admirer or Midnight Wedding (Book 2) has no space for him. Or I can let him “slip” out into sight to never been seen again. Or I could have him return, perhaps injured and a recluse, to be paired up with someone else. I do have a slot for a lady I brought into Secret Admirer that is open. I had thought to pair her up with someone else in another series, but she might work with this hero who resented being forced into a marriage.

I’ll have to keep writing to figure out the right direction to take. All I know is that Book 3’s original idea is getting trashed. I honestly don’t know how plotters do it. What if the idea suddenly gets boring? What on earth do you do? Do you go back to the drawing board and re-plot the whole series? If I had taken the time to work through all the ins-and-outs of these three books ahead of time, I would be upset with the time that I would have wasted. I might go slower while writing a book because there are times when I have to step away from the computer to mull over what happens next, but at least that time is spent on exercise, cleaning the house, with family/friends, non-writing tasks that have to do with my books, or something else that is productive. I didn’t use that time on a story/series that had to be thrown out. I get that plotters think pansters are nuts for not having a plan, but honestly, I’d much rather do it my way. My way offers flexibility to change things at a moment’s notice without committing time and effort into a story line or a series arc that fell apart.

So anyway, I’ll figure something out, and if I have to make this a 4-book series instead of a 5-book series, that is fine. I just want to work on stories that I am passionate about writing. Life is too short to stick with an idea that no longer excites me. I’m going to revisit the historical western Stephannie and I worked on and see if that is a better way to tackle the original idea I had. All I know is that it doesn’t fit in the Regency world. It might have to be in a setting that is more “westerny” where you can get into the nitty gritty stuff you can’t tackle in Regencies.

In the meantime, I have tentatively placed The Duke’s Return at the very end of this series. So at the moment, this is what the series arrangement looks like:

Lord Quinton Cracks Me Up

I know some people roll their eyes when a writer says their characters are “real”. Yes, I know these are figments of my imagination, but when I’m writing, they do seem to take on a life of their own. I don’t tell them what to do. They pretty much tell me who they are, and from there, they direct the course of the story. This is why I don’t plot. I can’t predict what they’re going to do or say. And once in a while, a character comes along who just cracks me up.

Lord Quinton is such a character. Lord Quinton was Algernon’s friend in The Cursed Earl.

Lord Quinton was a prominent secondary character in this book.

Algernon was superstitious, but Lord Quinton is ten times worse. And that is what makes his character so much fun. But even more fun is how the others around him react. In order to have a character work effectively in a story, there has to be others to provide a balance to him. This balance can be thought of as “opposites”. What one character lacks, the other has. And when you look at a certain character through the lens of another character, this can provide some good emotions.

In the case of Secret Admirer, Lord Quinton’s balance is Lord Wright. Lord Wright is not the least bit superstitious. In fact, he is driven by logic, and this logic leads to the choices he makes. So when you get these two in the same room, it’s a good chance to come up with some humor. I don’t know how many other people will find it funny, but I do, and that’s reason enough for me to include the scene in this story.

Lord Quinton has a lesser role in this book, but he will be the main character in Midnight Wedding.

I thought I’d share the scene that has me chuckling in Secret Admirer (Book 1 in the Marriage by Obligation Series) so you can get an idea of what Lydia (the heroine in Midnight Wedding) is up against when she and her brothers kidnap him and take him to their estate. I have to kidnap him. Lord Quinton will see all sorts of bad omens from a kidnapping, and that will make the story hilarious to write. So in Secret Admirer, I’m hoping to set the stage for the kind of character we’re going to deal with in Book 2 of the Marriage by Obligation Series.

Alright, here’s the scene. (Rachel is the heroine. Horatio is her brother.)

“Lord Quinton has arrived,” the butler told the group. “I expect Mr. St. George to be here soon. I believe I saw his carriage coming down the street a moment ago.”

         Rachel thought he glanced her way, but he left the room within the next moment, so it was hard to tell. It was truly a strange thing. How often had the butler been in the same room with her, but she hadn’t really noticed him?

         Horatio stood up and gestured for Lord Quinton to join them. “I’m glad you’re here.”

         As her brother proceeded to introduce them, Rachel noticed the way Lord Quinton kept patting the pocket of his waistcoat. Given the fact that his tailcoat covered most of his waistcoat, she couldn’t make out what was in the waistcoat pocket. Whatever it was, he seemed worried he might lose it. Her brother was right about him; he did seem a bit odd. But odd was something one could overlook if the gentleman was nice.

         Just as Lord Quinton sat down, the butler brought Mr. St. George into the room. This time, Rachel was assured the butler did glance in her direction as he introduced them to Mr. St. George. Her eyes widened in interest. Perhaps the butler was giving her a hint. Maybe Mr. St. George was her secret admirer.

         Her heartbeat picked up as Mr. St. George joined the group.

         “I hope I’m not late,” Mr. St. George said.

         “No, you’re right on time,” her brother replied. He quickly made the introductions then gestured for Mr. St. George to sit in the chair closest to Rachel. “We’re waiting for one more guest. In the meantime, you’ve already met my sister.”

         Mr. St. George offered her a nod and a smile. “Yes, I had the pleasure of dancing with her at the last ball.”

         Well, that settled it. He had to be her secret admirer. Despite what she’d thought, he hadn’t been bored while they danced. He’d just been shy. Feeling a bit shy herself, she offered him a smile in return.

         “We’re just waiting for Miss Hamilton,” Horatio said.

         Lord Quinton scanned the ladies, and he, once again, patted whatever was in his pocket. “Which lady will I be escorting to dinner?”

         “Miss Carnel,” her brother replied. “I will be escorting Miss Jamison. Lord Wright will escort Miss Hamilton, and Mr. St. George will escort my sister.”

         Lord Quinton took a careful look at Miss Carnel, and her eyebrows rose in surprise. Rachel couldn’t blame her. What was he looking for?

         “That amulet you’re wearing.” Lord Quinton pointed to the blue and green object surrounded by a gold frame. “Is that supposed to be the eye of a peacock feather?”

         Miss Carnel glanced down at the object pinned to her blue gown. “No. And it’s not an amulet. It’s a cameo.”

         He took another good look at it then relaxed. “All right. I’ll be happy to escort you to dinner.”

         Rachel glanced back at Miss Carnel. The two made eye contact. Miss Carnel gave Rachel a questioning look. All Rachel could do was shrug. She didn’t have the slightest idea as to why Lord Quinton was worried about the cameo.

         The butler returned the room, and this time he brought Lydia with him. Rachel smiled, glad her friend had finally made it.

         “Miss Hamilton, Lord Wright will be your escort to dinner this evening,” her brother said after he introduced her to the group.

         Rachel thought it was funny he should refer to Lydia so formally when they had grown up together, but considering the fact that they were surrounded by strangers, she understood why he’d done it. She just hoped she didn’t slip and call her friend Lydia until after dinner. After dinner, things would be more relaxed, especially with the men in another room.

         Lydia settled into her chair.

         “Can we change the ladies we escort to dinner?” Lord Quinton asked.

         Shocked he should ask the question, Rachel’s gaze went to her brother. She might be new to these dinner parties, but she was sure this kind of thing didn’t happen a lot. Poor Miss Carnel. This had to be embarrassing for her. She offered Miss Carnel an apologetic smile.

         Horatio moved his mouth for a moment but no sound came out. He cleared his throat. “It’s just dinner, my lord.”

         “Yes, but dinner can set the tone for the rest of the evening.” Lord Quinton, once again, patted his pocket. “It’s nothing personal against Miss Carnel. She’s a very attractive lady. It’s just that she is wearing that cameo, and while it’s not the eye of a peacock, it’s a bit unsettling. You see, the eye of a peacock is unlucky.”

         “Do you want me to take it off?” Miss Carnel asked.

         “Oh, I would never tell a lady to do that,” Lord Quinton replied. “That would be quite rude.”

         Rachel’s eyes grew wide. That would be rude, but asking to escort another lady to dinner wasn’t?

         Horatio glanced between Lord Quinton and Miss Carnel. “Well, I don’t wish to be a bad host.”

         Miss Carnel’s cheeks grew pink, but she offered a polite smile. “It’s all right with me if another gentleman escorts me to dinner. I don’t mind.”

         Rachel winced on her behalf. She had to have minded. If Rachel’s escort asked to be with someone else, she would be so embarrassed that she’d want to leave the room.

         “Thank you,” Lord Quinton told her. “That’s very gracious of you, Miss Carnel.” Not hiding his relief, he turned to Lydia. “I’ll escort you.”

         Lydia’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why me?”

         “You have a pleasant blond hair color. You’re wearing pink, and your last name isn’t so close the word ‘carnal’.” He spoke in such a matter-of-fact way that Rachel would have chuckled if she didn’t feel so bad for Miss Carnel.

         “But she’s supposed to be my dinner companion,” Lord Wright spoke up. “I don’t mean to be impolite, but I can’t escort my sister to dinner.”

         “Why don’t you escort another lady then?” Lord Quinton asked.

         Lord Wright turned his bewildered expression to Horatio. Horatio, in turn, glanced at Rachel with a question in his eyes. Rachel knew at once that she was the only lady who could be paired up with him. She wasn’t Lord Wright’s cousin or sister. As much as she hated to do it, it was the only way to ensure the evening went smoothly.

         “In light of recent events, would you mind if I let Lord Wright escort me to dinner this evening?” she asked. Mr. St. George.

         Mr. St. George offered her an understanding smile.

  “I don’t mind.”

         What a relief. He wasn’t upset with her.

         With a glance at Miss Carnel, he added, “It’ll be my pleasure to escort you to dinner. I happen to like the colors blue and green.”

         “It’s not the combination of blue and green that I don’t like,” Lord Quinton said. “It’s the way the colors were put together. Doesn’t anyone else see the eye of a peacock in that piece of jewelry she’s wearing?”

         “The eye of a peacock would be on a feather, not a cameo,” Lord Wright replied.

         “That thing was made by someone,” Lord Quinton argued. “That person could very well have intended for that thing to be the eye of a peacock.”

         Lord Wright seemed as if he was ready to respond but let out a loud sigh and shook his head.

         Rachel didn’t blame him for being annoyed with Lord Quinton. He had ruined things for her and for Lord Wright. Now she wouldn’t get to have her secret admirer escort her to dinner, nor would Lord Wright be able to escort Lydia. Poor Lydia was going to be stuck with Lord Quinton. That particular gentleman was more than odd. He was difficult. Thank goodness he hasn’t asked to escort her. She didn’t think she could have said yes. Then the dinner party would have been ruined for sure.

Then it continues during dinner. (Edwin is the hero, so we’re given his point of view in this scene. The Duke of Creighton is Horatio. Since Edwin’s a butler, he thinks of him by his title.)

         Dinner parties were rarely interesting enough to listen to. Most of the time, Edwin’s mind wandered. But this particular dinner party was different. Lord Quinton seemed unusually interested in everything he drank and ate. Edwin tried not to keep looking over at him since he ought to be focused on his master, but Lord Quinton was the strangest gentleman he’d ever seen.

         At the moment, he was sniffing the chestnut soup as if he wasn’t sure if it was safe to eat. Lord Quinton glanced up at the ceiling for a long moment before he dipped the spoon into the bowl and took a sip of the soup. He didn’t seem to know what to think of it since he hesitated to have more of it. Edwin would have worried there was something wrong with the soup if the others weren’t consuming their soups with great enthusiasm.

         Edwin heard a noise from the entrance of the dining room. He turned his gaze to the doorway and saw Mrs. Brown watching Lord Quinton. She probably hadn’t meant to stare. From time to time, she would peek in to see if it was time to bring in the dishes for the next course. Usually by this time in the meal, it would be time for Edwin to use the cook’s bell to let the other servants know their master and his guests were ready for the old dishes to be removed and the new brought in.

         Mrs. Brown happened to look in Edwin’s direction, and he shrugged. He had no idea why Lord Quinton seemed reluctant to eat the soup. She gave a surprised shake of her head and returned to the kitchen.

         “Forgive me, Lord Quinton,” the Duke of Creighton said after the others had been finished with their soup. “I didn’t realize you didn’t like chestnut soup. I hope the Mackerel with fennel and mint and apple tarts will be more to your liking.”

         “Oh, I like the soup,” Lord Quinton replied. “I was only trying to decide if the soup is cool enough to eat. It’s bad luck to burn one’s tongue.” Then he proceeded to eat it.

         Lord Wright glanced at Edwin’s master, and in a low voice, he said, “I suppose we should be relieved he’s more accepting of soups than he is of ladies.”

         Lord Quinton was far away enough not to overhear Lord Wright. It wasn’t often that Lord Creighton hosted a tense dinner party, but Edwin could see this would be a difficult evening for those in attendance. It was times like this that he was glad his role was on the outskirts of the event. No one would pay him any mind, and therefore, he would not be the focus of their displeasure.

         Once Lord Quinton finished the soup, Edwin rang the cook’s bell. Mrs. Brown and the others came in to take away the old dishes and to bring in new ones. Edwin removed the trays and served the food. Then, once more, he waited for his master to tell him it was time to fill up the glasses with wine.

         Lord Creighton and Mr. St. George ended up doing most of the talking. The discussion revolved mostly around the different sights of London. Mr. St. George, it seemed, had spent most of his life in the country, so he was eager to find out what social activities he hadn’t yet participated in. Lady Rachel voiced her enthusiasm over the menagerie, circus, and theatre. Edwin tried not to shift uncomfortably every time she glanced at Mr. St. George as if she hoped he would invite her to attend those outings with him in the future.

         Toward the end of the dinner, it occurred to Edwin that Miss Carnel had also begun to develop an affection for Mr. St. George. And since it was wrong, Edwin had to suppress the hope that Mr. St. George would pick Miss Carnel. Lady Rachel is a noble lady. You’re a servant, Edwin. Be mindful of your place.

         It was with great relief when the Duke of Creighton indicated that Edwin could finally leave the dining room. He went to the drawing room and the library to make sure the fires were roaring nicely in the fireplaces and to light more candles.

         Once the people in attendance left the dining room, Mrs. Brown and Mr. Hearty, the footman, found him in his pantry. As soon as he saw the way they were chuckling, he knew exactly what they were thinking.

         “No, I don’t think I’ve ever come across anyone as odd as Lord Quinton,” Edwin said before they could ask.

         The two burst out laughing, but it was Mr. Hearty who said, “You missed the best part. Right after you left, Lord Quinton wanted to know the exact ingredients in the pudding. It turns out there is some spice he’s certain will bring him nightmares.”

         “Lord Wright said that having him at the dinner party was already a nightmare,” Mrs. Brown added in a lower voice. “It’s a good thing the two didn’t sit next to each other, or Lord Quinton would have heard him.”

***

I don’t know if I’ll get Lord Quinton and Lord Wright in the same room ever again, but I had so much fun with these scenes, and it did help me understand Lord Wright better. I plan to include his story in the Marriage by Obligation Series, too. He’s the widower with a child who needs a wife. Mr. St. George is Lord Durrant’s younger brother (from If It Takes A Scandal), and he will end up with Miss Carnel, which is why I had them hit it off in Secret Admirer during this dinner party.

Making a Realistic Publishing Schedule is finally out!

I’ve been working on and off with this book for about two years. I’m relieved it’s finally done.

This is for writers, of course. It’s not a tool to make more money. This is a strategy book on how to find a writing and publishing schedule that works best for your particular life. I did add a couple of topics as side issues. It seems like getting stuck and not being able to finish a book are the two biggest problems writers contact me about. I hope something in this book can help with those.

I have it free everywhere I can, but Amazon isn’t price matching it. My recommendation is to skip Amazon. But, just in case you only get books on Amazon, I put it there. If you don’t want to pay the $0.99, I recommend you contact them and complain it’s free on other retailers. They listen to customers more than they listen to authors.

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple

Smashwords

Amazon

The Loner’s Bride is Now Available!

I’m happy to announce that Jeremiah’s book is finally out.

This book concludes the Wyoming Series. Here are all of the books:

Here is the description:

Katie Jackson is all grown up, and it’s time for her to find a husband. Though the young men have been coming by the orphanage where she is working, none of them catches her fancy. They all seem like they need to do a lot more growing up before they’re ready for the responsibilities of a wife and children. They’re all more like little brothers than serious prospects for marriage.

If only they were more like Jeremiah Barlow who happens to be running the orphanage. He’s perfect. Mature, kind, and gentle. Best of all, she’s attracted to him in a way she’s never been attracted to anyone before.

It’s not long before Jeremiah becomes aware of Katie’s interest in him. And worse, he’s just as interested in her. But it would never work. He’s twice her age. His best days are behind him.

Katie, however, is not one to give up. When she wants something badly enough, she’ll move heaven and earth to get it. And Jeremiah is on her list.

If interested, this is where you can find the book:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo (also available in Kobo Plus)

Apple

Google Play

Smashwords

Scribd

Radish (episodes come out 4 days a week)

Payhip (use coupon code UXMB47XMKU to save 50% off until April 13, 2022)

Suitable for Marriage is now up on pre-order

This is Erin Larson’s romance. Erin is Tom and Jessica Larson’s third daughter.

This is the third book in the Husbands for the Larson Sisters Series.

I like all of these books, but so far Suitable for Marriage is my personal favorite. Alex is such a sweet hero. Right away, he figures out she’s trying to fix him up with someone else in order to get rid of him. He’s been pursuing her since they were children. In this book, he plays along with her matchmaking scheme because it means she’ll have to spend time with him. If she spends time with him, he hopes she’ll realize they’re perfect together. It’s a romance, so we all know how things will go, right? But the fun part is always in “how” we get to the happy ending.

At the moment, I have this up on most retailers.

I am going to put this on Radish, Payhip, and it’ll be on Scribd, but those don’t allow for pre-orders. I’ll add those links when this book is actually available.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo (will be in Kobo Plus, too)

Apple

Google Play

Smashwords (not up as a pre-order, but you can “add to library”)

Things I’m Changing Due to Health Issues

I hesitated to make this post because I like to keep my personal life personal, but it’s become apparent to me that my personal life is going to impact my writing. To keep it brief, I’ve been dealing with health issues on and off since August that has forced me to cut back on my pace for writing. It’s not serious, but it has disrupted my life to the point where I have to make adjustments.

Slowing down the writing

The first adjustment I made was lowering my word count goals. I used to write 3,000 words a day 5 days a week. My goal is now to write 1,500 words a day 3-4 days a week. After experimenting with this new goal for the past month, I’m happy to say that it’s working. I love writing. It gives me something to look forward to. Unless I’m truly at the end, I can’t see giving up the writing.

Stuff to give up

But there are some things I do have to give up. Audiobooks has to go. It’s a shame because it was fun, and my assistant and I worked through a few chapters in two different books, but it is what it is. Those will just have to go into the “put aside” folder. I also had to let my assistant go. I spent more time training him than I did in working, and while I’m sure that would have been okay if I gave this setup a year, I don’t have the energy required to keep it up. Writing is the top priority. I’d rather write new books than make audiobooks or have an assistant.

One thing I will add

The one thing I have added, however, is Radish. This is a new retailer for me, but it’s one I believe is worth pursuing. Plus, I can go at my own pace, and I’m just uploading books I’ve already published. Very low energy needed. If D2D were to start distributing to serialized fiction apps, I’d be more than happy to look into other serialized fiction sites, too. (D2D acquired Smashwords. My books will still be on the Smashwords store, but I’m not an all-in D2D author.)

No changes to some things

Thankfully, I never did a lot with marketing outside of this blog post, tweaking my website from time to time, and running the occasional ad. So I can keep up with this stuff. Years ago, I decided not to go into Amazon, Facebook, or Bookbub ads because those require authors to track and update keywords on all the time. That turned out to be the best decision I ever made because if I had to rely on that kind of marketing, I’d be up a creek without a paddle right now. Some authors rely on those ads for their livelihood. If you’re a writer who is reading this, my advice (for what it’s worth) is to focus on building your brand. Write your books, make some free so people have a risk-free chance to try you out, and spread your net wide because you never know when something will take off.

Pre-orders will be set up closer to the release dates

I am having to change the way I do pre-orders in the future. In the past, I could project up to a year out when I’d have a book ready, so I was able to effectively set pre-order dates. That’s no longer the case. I still want to do pre-orders because they give me time to get the blog post, links to the book in order, and the announcement ready for people on my email list. Instead of setting up a pre-order far out in advance, I’m not only going to put them up when the book is done.

As a side note: I only did the pre-orders long term on Smashwords, B&N, Kobo, and Apple because those places made it easy to do them without the book already being finished. With Amazon, there have been glitches in the system where some authors didn’t have the final book go live on release day. Instead, Amazon put the draft version up, and that caused a lot of headache for the author and the readers. I only put up the final version of my book on Amazon for pre-order to avoid this nightmare scenario. Google Play/Books wants the final file. So that’s why it took so long for pre-orders to go up on Amazon and Google. But with this new change in my life, the pre-orders will start going up at the same time everywhere.

Being a Published Writer isn’t for the Faint of Heart

From time to time, I get the pleasure of talking to new writers. A lot of them are writing because they love writing. These are the best writers, in my opinion, because I think they have the best chances of weathering the storms that come with being a published writer.

Today in this post, I want to discuss something that isn’t often mentioned in the writing community but probably should be. You see, we’re typically surrounded by articles and videos about how authors are finding success with publishing books. Those are good. They give us ideas on what marketing strategies could help us also find success, and I believe writers, esp. those who love what they’re writing, should make money with their work.

But there is a void of information out there about the cold dose of reality that is a part of the published writer’s life. No job is perfect. No matter what you choose, there will always be downsides to it. These downsides aren’t a reason to avoid something. Instead, I think of them as things to be aware of. Why? One, you will know you’re not alone. There’s great comfort in knowing other people are going through something you are. Two, you can go into this with eyes wide open. Being forewarned is to be forearmed. There’s nothing worse than being confronted with a situation in which you don’t know what to do to resolve it. When you know the possible problems in advance, you can make a plan on how to tackle them. Make the plans while you have a clear mind instead of when you’re in the middle of the storm.

Alright, that aside, here we go. Why being a published writer isn’t for the faint of heart…

1. Sales are erratic.

Contrary to what we often hear, sales do now ALWAYS go up. Also, they don’t even ALWAYS remain steady. I get annoyed when people make it sound like the more books a writer publishes, the more they can expect to make. That simply isn’t true for everyone. For example, take me. I made more from 2013-2015 than I made in 2016. I made more in 2016 and 2017 than I make now. However, I did make more in 2021 than I did in 2019 and 2020. I published between 5-7 new romances every year from 2013 to 2021. I didn’t make major changes to my marketing strategies. I wrote the same kind of romances I always did. So just because you get more books out there, it doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to make more money or to keep your income steady. ALWAYS going up or ALWAYS remaining steady are myths.

Sales can be a seesaw. This seesaw makes budgeting difficult. And when sales drop, it can be scary. You wonder, will I ever see an increase in sales again? Is this the beginning of the end? Should I just hang up my writing hat and find another job? If possible, you can save money from your sales to buffer you from the dips. For some writers, though, they are doing good to pay this month’s bills from their writing income. If you have a family to take care of or own a house/car, there will be some unexpected expense that pops up. Unreliable income makes it a challenge to pay for those unexpected things.

2. Taxes

You are self-employed. That means you will pay more in taxes than if you worked for someone else. When I worked for someone else, taxes were taken out for me before I got my paycheck. I didn’t even think about taxes. All I thought about was the amount on the paycheck. This isn’t the case with being a published writer.

First, your royalties are your gross income. That means you have to pay the taxes from those royalties yourself. So don’t assume you can keep all of that money. If you make enough, you will owe the government something. Second, since you are self-employed, you are the owner and employee of your own little publishing company. You will pay taxes as the employer and pay taxes as the employee. Basically, you are served a double whammy. Third, the amount of taxes you have to pay doesn’t stay the same. Part of it depends on what you make, and the other part depends on what new rules the government puts in. Like your sales, your tax rate will fluctuate. Four, if you don’t make your tax payments on time, there will be a penalty. Make sure you meet your deadlines.

I went into length on this topic because no one sat down to explain this to me when I started publishing books. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Save aside money for taxes. Also, keep track of all of your expenses because you can use those expenses to help lower your tax burden.

3. You are your own advocate.

No one is going to come to your rescue if something goes wrong. This is, without a doubt, the most stressful part of being a published writer for me. Theft is a real problem in this business. I’m not the only author who has been subjected to the very unpleasant reality that someone stole my book and is out selling it as their own. I’m going to tell you right now that Amazon does not care about preventing this from happening. Google Play and Kobo are diligent about preventing duplicate copies of a book from getting on their stores. But Amazon really doesn’t give a flip.

I have had three cases now where someone stole my book, used my cover, used my description, used my name, and published it on their own KDP dashboard. What did Amazon do? Amazon replaced MY copy with the stolen one. Amazon transferred MY reviews to that book, and Amazon put that book in MY Author Central page. Do you see what’s happening here? Not only is someone stealing my book, but they are stealing my identity, too. It is like pulling teeth with Amazon to get these cases resolved. One time, I had to get a lawyer after them. The other two times, no lawyer would help me because I moved to a state where no lawyer seems to understand copyright law. Thankfully, I had the US Copyright Registration number to help me because that was the only proof Amazon would accept from me.

Just to warn everyone, yesterday on Facebook, I came across an author who is fighting with Amazon right now because a thief stole her book and claimed “copyright infringement” on the book. Amazon removed her book, and then Amazon put up the thief’s version. She is currently fighting Amazon on this, and I hope this gets resolved in her favor. She’s not in the US. I don’t know if authors outside the US can register their copyright in their country or in the US, but she doesn’t have that US Copyright Registration number to help her out.

Do most authors have to deal with this? It’s hard for me to say since I’ve been targeted more than once since I started publishing ebooks in 2009. To me, it feels like this happens all the freaking time. And Amazon just doesn’t give a flip. You are on your own. To my knowledge, there is no company out there that will help you, and depending on where you live, you might not be able to find a lawyer to help you, either. If you live in the US and you want to protect yourself, pay for the registration. It saves tons of time on how long you will have to battle with Amazon. Instead of going in circles for weeks or possibly a month or two, you can get it resolved in a couple of days.

4. There will always be a critic.

If you reach enough people, someone is going to complain about your book. I really don’t care if someone leaves a scathing review on a retailer about my book. Back in 2010 when my books started taking off, I did, and I almost quit because of those reviews. But these days, I either chuckle or roll my eyes. The longer you’re in this, the thicker your skin will get. Sometimes people will go to your blog, your social media page, or your website to lodge their complaints. I used to answer these, but now I don’t. I have learned you aren’t going to change their opinion. They just want to complain directly to you. Fine. My advice is to let these go. There’s no point in trying to convince someone your book isn’t bad when they believe it is. You have people who enjoy your book, and that’s good enough.

Even if you’re only writing to market, you will not satisfy every single person on the planet. Focus on the people you are writing for. If the people who love your other books notice something is off with one of them, it’s wise to pay attention to them. They may see something you don’t. I have a book that got quite a few complaints from people who love what I write, so I made a mental note to never write anything like that particular book ever again. I do listen to my readers, but I listen to the ones who already enjoy the type of stories I write.

5. You aren’t guaranteed a living wage from your work.

I’m lucky since I can help support my family from my writing, but there are writers who don’t make money. This whole, “If you write it and can market it, you’ll make a living,” thing is a myth. I’m sick of hearing it. I know authors who write excellent books with excellent covers and book descriptions. They spend money on ads. They are active on social media, they have awesome websites, and they have email lists or a blog to keep people updated on what they’re doing. They are marketing in the same ways the authors making a living are marketing. They try new things. They bend with the changes in the industry. But for some reason I can’t explain, they just aren’t making money. The genre doesn’t make much difference, either. This whole thing baffles me. I don’t understand why some authors make a living with their work and others don’t. But this is a downside to publishing books. You might not make the money you want. You can plug in all the right components, but at the end of the day, your book will either find your audience or it won’t. If I was starting out, I’d keep my expectations low but still produce the best book I possibly can.

6. The retailer won’t always get the book details right, and it’s up to you to resolve it because (once again) you are your own advocate.

Thankfully, it doesn’t happen a lot, but there are times when there’s some glitch in the system where the information you put in for the book doesn’t take. I don’t know what happens, but once in a while, you’ll look at your book page and realize something is off. I’ve had situations where the paragraph breaks I put in with the description didn’t make it to the book page, and I had to go back and redo it. I’ve also had a situation where my paperback linked to one of my other ebooks instead of the ebook that went with the paperback. I ended up unpublishing that paperback. Sometimes Amazon doesn’t link the ebook with the paperback or audiobook, either. Sometimes Amazon doesn’t link the series together. Sometimes you find out that Amazon removed the book for some reason and have to contact them to get it put back in place. I had a couple of books under a publishing company that were removed at the Australia store on the Amazon site, and my publisher didn’t get those put back up. Since those books weren’t in my dashboard, I couldn’t do anything about that one. Sometimes when you run a sale for a free book and buy an ad to promote it, Amazon switches the price from free to paid without you realizing it. So you essentially lost money on the ad and pissed off potential readers. Sometimes Amazon will send you an email saying if you don’t lower your book price within five days, they’ll remove that book from their store. (I had this happen before. It had to do with my book on Kobo being $0.02 cheaper in their Australia site, and since Amazon has to be the “best” deal everywhere, I had to make my book cheaper on Amazon to make them happy since I had no control over the Kobo pricing in Australia on my Smashwords dashboard.)

I could go on because I have more stories like this and I’ve heard authors share their stories of things that went haywire on retailers, but this post is long enough as it is. My point is that anything can happen, and it’s up to you to try to resolve them. Honestly, though, these are not that bad. Most of the time, it’s just a matter of taking the time to fiddle with something in your dashboard. Sometimes you have to contact someone for help, and that part is more of a pain. You just have to hope the person in customer support knows what they’re doing and actually cares enough to do it.

The only reason to write and publish books is because you love it.

To be frank, being a published indie writer has many joys, but it also has its share of stress. The money is nice, but money isn’t enough to stick with it. If money was the only payoff I got from this, I’d unpublish everything and quit today because no amount of money is worth the aggravation from #3 on the list I posted above. This job is not for the faint of heart. You are a writer, a publisher, a marketer, and the advocate. You are one person wearing four hats. I guess you can outsource some stuff to an assistant, but considering the fact that things didn’t work out with my last assistant, I’m stuck doing it all myself.

When I’m writing, I feel energized. When I publish a book, I feel an immense sense of satisfaction in seeing that book placed on my website with my other books. It’s not about the money. It’s about personal fulfillment. It’s about accomplishing something greater than myself. It’s my driving purpose in life. It’s what gets me up in the morning. It’s what keeps me going when the rest of the world is falling apart. I love my husband and kids, but this writing thing is at the central core of who I am. You remove my writing, you remove the essence of who I am. If this is how you feel about being a published writer, then you know what I mean when I say I do this because I have to. That love ends up overshadowing everything else, and it’s the only reason I think it’s worth going through all of the hassles that is inherent in the indie writing world. So do this because you love it and you have this burning need to share your books with others.