Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 21

The Long View (A Reason Why Passion is Never Wasted in a Book: A Post for Writers)

Nothing in this life lasts forever. Books that are huge sellers today won’t stay up on those charts forever. Sooner or later, the books will lose momentum and come back down. Yes, there are books that have survived over the centuries, but the fame and money made on those books don’t directly benefit the author anymore because the author is longer here.

I don’t say all of this to be depressing. I say it to put things in perspective.

ID 157283850 © Prem Bahadur | Dreamstime.com

Life is short. Some people live longer than others, but sooner or later, we leave this life and go to the next one. We don’t get to take our books with us. As I once heard Denzel Washington say in a speech, “There is no U-haul following a hearse.”

So, this poses an important question: “What do you want to do with your life?”

None of us get to repeat anything we’ll ever say and do. So, the question is, what do you want to see when you look back on your life?

A good exercise, if you’re inspired to do this, is to sit down and review your life up to this point. Is there anything you wish you had done? Is there anything you wish you hadn’t wasted time on? What would you change if you could? I do this exercise once in a while to evaluate my priorities because my goal is to end up with as little regrets as possible. I like my father-in-law. He’s a good man. He’s one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. But even back when I first met my husband, he mentioned things he regretted never doing. From there, he’s mentioned other things he wished he had done but hadn’t. And now he’s at a hospice with stage 4 cancer. This is it for him. He said that he thought he had more time, and he mentioned more things he wished he had done but hadn’t. The lesson I take away most from his life is how important it is to make the most of the time we’re all given.

The downside to writing to market is that you’re writing what other people want you to write. Maybe your goal is to make a six-figure income, or you’re seeking the praise and acclaim of other people. All of these are external goals, and they depend on someone else to make you happy. If you don’t reach these goals, you feel like a failure. This path doesn’t lead to lasting contentment with life. (In fact, among my father-in-law’s list of regrets, making more money and getting fame were NOT among them. That puts things in perspective.) It might seem like these authors making a six-figure income and winning awards are living the best life ever, but how happy are they deep down inside? At the end of one’s life, it doesn’t seem like any of those things matter. It’s stuff like faith, family, and friends that ultimately prevail.

The day I walked away from writing to market was the day I found real happiness, and that happiness doesn’t go away.

When you write what’s in your heart, you get a sense of satisfaction when you reread your books. I have yet to write a book from passion where I judged its merit on how much money it earned me. Long after the books have reached their peak in sales, the thing that matters most is how much enjoyment the books bring me on an internal level. The value lies in the content of the story.

I don’t see how a book can truly satisfy an author in the long run if the the author wrote a story tailored to someone else’s preferences. In the back of the author’s mind, they would know this wasn’t really “their” story; it was someone else’s story. In the back of the author’s mind would be the thought, “This story could have been better if I had written it my way.”

Years ago, I remember reading about an author who said he only read his book one time, and that was when he wrote it. After he wrote it, he never read it again. He didn’t say why he never read it again, but I bet I know the answer. He didn’t love the story. An author who loves their story will read it after it’s published. They’ll want to because it came from a place of passion. But if an author doesn’t give a crap about the book because they only wrote it for money or some kind of fame, there’s no emotional attachment to it. It’s just a widget on an assembly line to get out there as fast as possible. To me, that’s sad. What’s the point of writing something you don’t develop an attachment to? These are your characters. This is your world. You, of all people, should enjoy all of it.

So, how do you want to spend your time? Even 100+ years is short. I have yet to hear someone in their 80s or 90s tell me that they lived way too long. They tell me that life isn’t long enough. They all want more time. Deep down, we all want more time. It’s how we’re wired.

But what do we want to do with that time? While we are in today and can do something, what is it that will give our lives meaning? What will give us a sense of purpose so we don’t end up feeling like we wasted our years away? Your answer(s) will guide you in the direction that will allow you to go to your deathbed without a long list of regrets.

Omaha Series Trivia

Today, I’m discussing one of the few series I’ve ever done featuring characters in a contemporary setting. Once I discovered how much fun Regencies were, I stopped writing contemporaries, though I did originally have more contemporaries in mind.

       

With This Ring I Thee Dread

1. I wrote this after I wrote Falling In Love With Her Husband, An Inconvenient Marriage, and Eye of the Beholder in 2008. I thought I’d take a break from historicals and try something contemporary.

2. One of the bases my husband and I were stationed at while in the military was in Alaska, and I really enjoyed the three years we spent there. Since I wanted to go back (and physically couldn’t due to us being stationed in Nebraska at the time), I decided to make Alaska the focal point of this book. That was my way of revisiting the state.

3. In my head, the song that Ryan and Jacob used for their Intensity cologne commercial was “That’s the Way” by the Spin Doctors.

4. I decided Elizabeth would be an occupational psychologist because I found out about that division in Psychology while getting my degree. Had I pursued Psychology, though, I would have done Counseling. My real dream was to write books and be a stay-at-home mom. I went to college because, at the time, I didn’t know anyone who was going to give me the MRS degree.

5. The idea for the bear was based on the many nightmares my husband had while in Alaska that a bear would find its way into our bathroom.

6. I decided to do a “man and woman switching roles” setup because one of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes was when Lucy and Ethel switched roles with Ricky and Fred.

What Nathan Wants Trivia

1. The cover was done by Bonnie Steffens, a very lovely person I’ve had the fortune of meeting.

2. At the time I wrote this book, I was living just south of Omaha. I used to go by a large building when I drove to downtown Omaha. I don’t remember what this business was, but I liked the look of the building so much that I decided to make it the building where Nathan worked.

3. I picked a travel agent for Amy’s occupation because of the kind travel agents who helped me find reasonably priced tickets when I used to fly twice a year from North Dakota to Florida to visit my family.

4. I picked the Florida panhandle as the location for Amy’s family because I lived there for a few years (high school and college) and was familiar with the area. I went to the Emerald Coast beaches quite a bit in the past. While Florida is beautiful, I don’t miss the hurricanes at all. I’ve been through two, and that’s enough. I’d rather deal with snow.

5. Amy’s car is named after my favorite cartoon dog of all time: Snoopy.

6. Danielle is named after a good friend I had in high school. She and Amy share the kind of friendship we did, which brings me good memories even to this day.

Just Good Friends

1. I wrote this a few years after finishing up With This Ring I Thee Dread and What Nathan Wants. One day while I was going over What Nathan Wants, I thought that I needed to just sit down and write Tyler’s romance.

2. One of my readers at the time wanted to see Tyler in a scene at a pool where it turned out he had a lot of muscles, thereby shocking everyone since he came off as a nerd with his clothes on. So that’s why I added the pool scene.

3. I opted for the plot where Tyler and Tiffany pretended to be married because of a book I had read years earlier. While portions of the book were cute, the author kept going on and on about how wrong lying was, and this got to be annoying by the ¾ point where I stopped reading it. I liked the plot and decided to run with it, but I wrote it from the angle I wished the other book had gone. (Quite a few stories I write are inspired by the “I wish a book or movie had gone this way instead” idea.)

4. The dynamics within Tiffany’s family were partly inspired by real life on my husband’s side.

5.  I opted for the elopement because my husband and I had debated whether to run off to Las Vegas to elope or have a courthouse wedding. In the end, we went with the courthouse, but, looking back, I wish we had just eloped since it would have been a lot more fun.

6. I decided to set this book around Christmas since I hadn’t done a Christmas romance up to that point. I thought it’d be fun to do something different.

Figuring Out The Cursed Earl

I’m 26,000 words into this now, which puts me at Chapter 9. (My books typically end around Chapter 20, give or take a couple of chapters.) So that gives you an idea of how far along I am. Pacing is nice and steady, and things are finally rolling along after my dry spell.

I went into this book not knowing if Algernon, the hero, was merely being superstitious about bad luck or if there was a rational reason for the curse that makes him believe he’ll die on his 25th birthday. At first, I suspected that a certain character was behind the “curse”. I thought perhaps a character was intentionally scaring Algernon. By now, I know this character isn’t the culprit. This character is Algernon’s friend. But this leaves me with a piece of the puzzle I have yet to figure out. Someone is behind all of this. I don’t know who it is. I need to keep writing to find out.

What I do know is that Charles Duff (the hero in A Perilous Marriage who was also the overreacting brother in Kidnapping the Viscount) will pin the blame on the wrong person. Charles’ instincts about people tend to be wrong. He’s well meaning, but he doesn’t know what to look for. He tends to act first and think later. This hasn’t changed after A Perilous Marriage, though one might think so since he was so wrong about Eris being a killer AND he was wrong about Gill (Lord Powell) being forced to be Heather’s captive. But he hasn’t learned his lesson. When I think of how often Charles is wrong, it actually makes me laugh. (I have a weird sense of humor.) But Charles means well. He’s just not was good as figuring things out as he thinks he is.

Fortunately, there is a character I introduced in A Perilous Marriage who is good at piecing things together. That is Eris’ brother, Byron, who is a Runner. I’m going to end up needing Byron to get to the bottom of what is going on with Algernon.

This is what makes writing by the seat of my pants so much fun. I don’t know certain things until I’m able to work through a particular character. I’m sure the plotters out there don’t get why I don’t know what is going to happen or how I need a certain character to put the pieces together, but it’s how my brain works. I’ve been working this way ever since I was a teenager, and so far, it’s worked out every time. If I were to tell the characters what to do, it wouldn’t work. I need them to tell me what to do. (Yeah, I realize I’m actually the one writing, but some things are done on a subconscious level which is why I can’t plot this stuff out.)

Montana Collection Trivia

Today I thought I’d discuss what went into writing the Montana books.

It all started with Patty and Greg.

I think I got the idea for Patty and Greg’s story way back in 2008. I don’t remember exactly where I got the idea since it was so long ago. I think it was based off of a writing prompt I came across in a local writing group that involved someone shooting a gun and rain.

What I do remember is that my initial goal was to write a story that would be under 15,000 words long. If memory serves, I chose this word count because it fit what a publisher was looking for. Back then, I had been thinking of self-publishing but wasn’t committed to it at that point.

After a lot of praying, I ended up going the self-published route. I started with books like Meant To Be and Eye of the Beholder. I decided I enjoyed the complete creative control, so when I finished Patty and Greg’s story, I published it myself. The original title was The Keeping of Greg Wilson. This was the original Patty and Greg story. I posted the entire 14,000-story on this blog so you can read it if you want.

The Keeping of Greg Wilson only got 1-star reviews because it was “too short”. As a result, I ended up unpublishing it with the intention of rewriting it so it would be a full length novel. In order to do that, I knew I’d have to give the entire story a complete overhaul. To successfully pull off this overhaul, I realized I would have to make it Book 3 in the series. That meant I needed two books to go before it.

Boaz is created, and Mitch’s book is slotted to be the first in the series.

My original idea for Mitch was to be a widower with two children. Since I wanted to have a Book 2 before I got to Patty’s Gamble, I needed to throw in an additional character to the series. That’s why Mitch ended up being a bachelor who was taking care of his niece and nephew (instead of taking care of his own children like I originally planned). That is where Boaz came in.

But in creating Boaz, I needed a compelling reason to write his story in Book 2. That’s when I remembered a couple of romances I had read between the 2007-2010 time period where the hero lost his first wife in childbirth and was scared to consummate his second marriage in case his second wife died in childbirth. I really liked that idea, so I decided to give this role to Boaz. I had to give Boaz a reason for not taking care of his children. I went with the alcohol route because my dad was an alcoholic, and I understood something about it. In real life, my dad did overcome it, just as Boaz did in the series.

Mich’s Win

There’s really not to mention on this book. I have no idea where I came up with the idea of Mitch winning Heather at a poker game, but I needed to have a reason for him to go to a bar to get her. Boaz’s situation with alcohol is what led to the opening scene in this book. From there, the story between Mitch and Heather just progressed naturally and softly. While writing this book, though, I got to set the stage for Patty and Greg, and I got to start Boaz down the road to recovery. Those two were the main goals I had in this book.

Boaz’s Wager

I started writing trivia for this, but then I remembered I had already dedicated an entire post to this book. Here’s the link if you want to check it out.

Shane’s Deal

At the end of Patty’s Gamble, I realized I had left an opening about the mayor’s shady dealings in the town. I started the first chapter, but then I got involved in moving from Nebraska to Montana. I ended up having to put this book aside while I focused on wrapping up the Marriage by Deceit Series (Regencies) and the fantasy series I was determined to finally put to rest after working on and off on it for a few years. Suffice it to say that by the time I was settled into the new home, I lost interest in Shane’s Deal. I set it aside for a later time when I got the interest back.

Long story short, in the 2016-2018 time period, I started losing writing income. Pushing myself to write books faster did stop the drop in income, but I was hitting serious burnout. By mid-2018, I was ready to quit because I couldn’t keep up my hectic writing pace. I felt it was only right to finish up all of my series so that I didn’t leave any loose threads hanging out there. Shane’s Deal was one of the books I still needed to write.

During the time I was writing Shane’s Deal (and the other books that would wrap up the series I had started), I picked up a book at Barnes & Noble called The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything by Neil Pasricha. After the Bible, this is the best book I’ve ever read. When I applied the things Neil mentioned, my burnout fled away, and my perception of writing completely changed. Because of this book, I did not stop writing AND I found joy in writing again. When I look back on Shane’s Deal, I remember the renewal of passion for writing the most. For that reason, Shane’s Deal is one of my favorite books.

The primary purpose of Shane’s Deal was to bring the mayor to justice since he was behind the whole cattle theft that John Meyer helped to carry out in Patty’s Gamble. This is why the hero had to be a marshal. I also needed a compelling reason for the marshal to marry the heroine right away, so I made her a pregnant widow. The hero and heroine got along pretty well, and like Mitch and Heather, their romance just came along in a natural and soft manner.

So really, the bulk of the Montana Collection (to me) is about Patty and Greg. Without them, this entire series would never have existed.

Branding (A Post For Writers)

Your brand is how you can stand out.

Today’s post is inspired by one of my favorite creators, Creative Hive. She makes handmade craft items, but a lot of her input applies to writers, too.

Now I’m going to share what I got from this video using the “writer” lens.

Branding Your Books

This applies specifically for authors who’d like to make money on their books. I did address this in an older post, but I think it’s worth mentioning again because the key to branding is letting your readers know what kind of books you write. People who love your work love it for a reason. The more specific you can get, the better. All genres can be broken down into smaller segments. Do you have a unique angle within your genre that sets you apart from other writers? If so, that will narrow your brand down even further.

I have a unique angle within the historical romance genre. I write Christian romances where the characters wait until marriage to have sex, and when they do have sex, I show it. I do not get preachy because I hate preachy Christian fiction. I don’t always come out and state that my main characters are Christians, but they are. If they aren’t Christian at the beginning of the book, they will be at the end. I will insert overtly Christian messages into a book when it fits the plot. I prefer to keep things as natural to real life as possible.

Most historical romances authors don’t use this particular angle. The only two authors I know who do historical romances the same way I do are Carolyn Davidson and Rose Gordon, and I’m not sure if either one of them are still writing books. So my angle is very specific. It appeals to a smaller audience than your typical historical romance reader, and this does mean making less money overall. Keep that in mind when thinking of your brand. If you want the potential to make a lot of money, you might want to broaden your brand. Still, whatever brand you choose, stay true to it so readers know what to expect when they buy your book.

Also, when you’re branding your books, I advise picking only one or two genres to write. The reason for this is that people who love romance don’t tend to read thrillers or fantasy. (I know this from experience.) But people who love Regency romance might be willing to read historical western romance and vice versa. Those two genres are sub-categories of romance. There’s some overlap. Likewise, science fiction and fantasy are genres that can appeal to similar readers. Thrillers and horror seem to be a natural match, too. I’m sure there are others.

My point is that writing a variety of genres can dilute your brand, especially if they are wildly different from each other. It’s hard to build up a substantial readership that will follow you over time if you don’t have a solid brand. This is the reason I don’t write fantasies or thrillers anymore.

Branding Yourself Online

Years ago I read an article that said it takes people 8 times of seeing your book to remember it. Through the day, people are exposed to so many things that their subconscious mind has to filter all of the “noise” from their conscious awareness. If we picked up on every single thing around us, we’d go crazy, and in a world where we have the distractions of the internet, we need that filter more than ever.

That being said, I believe it’s important to stick with similar colors and images on all of your sites, such as blogs, websites, emails announcing new releases, and personal storefronts. These colors and images are a snapshot view of “you”. I don’t necessarily think all of your books have to look similar, but there should be a similarity within the series.

I think it’s also important to be consistent with the type of content you create on a blog or social media. You don’t have to repeat yourself all the time, but work within something that represents you, both personally and professionally. You are a part of your branding. The way you present yourself will inadvertently market your books because what people see coming from you online will affect what they think of the books you write.

I think you should be authentic. There’s no sense in trying to be someone else. There is only one you, and you have something to contribute that no one else can. There’s no point in trying to be someone else. I’ll explain why by sharing my own personal experience.

Back in 2012, I admired an author who had the gift of telling stories from real life that were so funny that she attracted a lot of comments. Those posts were fun to read. I enjoyed them as much as the others did. I tried writing a couple of posts about my personal life in a way that would make others laugh, too. Unfortunately, I didn’t have her gift. I’m going to age myself here, but does anyone remember the Bob Newhart shows–both the original in the 70s and the new one in the 80s? Bob Newhart’s characters were “dry” and “boring. On the show, this was funny because the the people around him were a strong contrast to his character. While this was funny on TV, it’s not funny in a blog post. The incident with my kids might be funny in real life, but the way I wrote the incident read like a technical manual. It was boring. I had to come to the conclusion that I’m not the author who had a gift for making her personal life so much fun to read about.

After experimenting with different posts, I finally realized my “niche” is writing posts as if I am sitting across from you and sharing a cup of coffee while I talk. It’s informal and relaxed. It’s like talking with a friend. Some authors are much more professional in their tone than I am. That’s their “niche”. They’re not me, and I’m not them. So there’s no point in them trying to be me, nor is there a point for me to try to be them. We’re all better off just being who we are. Whatever your personality is, make that personality work for you. Let other people see who you are.

Branding is About Quality More Than Quantity

I still believe that taking the time to write the very best book possible is worth it. I don’t think rushing books is a good idea. Even though money is something we want, we should devote everything we have into what we’re writing. I believe that, in the long run, producing quality in the eyes of our readers is what matters most.

Notice I wrote “in the eyes of OUR readers.” It doesn’t matter what the critic thinks. It doesn’t matter what our family or friends think. What matters is that we’re satisfying our readers. Quality is subjective. I know it’s easy to forget that when someone comes to you with a scathing review. It’s also easy to forget when you know a family member or friend really didn’t like your book, but to spare your feelings, they tell you they enjoyed it. Scathing feedback and false sincerity are both hurtful. That’s why I keep saying to focus on the people who love your work. They are your barometer of quality.

I have yet to come across a reader who has said they are willing to give up quality in order to have me publish more books in a year. While they might want more books (and it’s a compliment when they say that), they would rather have me take my time and produce something of quality. They are willing to wait. So don’t worry about trying to get X number of books out in a year. I know this is a huge deal in the writing community because everything is about maximizing income. I like making money as much as everyone else, but if you’re writing sloppy stories, how long do you think it’ll be before you hurt your brand? Eventually, readers will say, “This author used to write great books, but lately, something is missing. I’m done buying their books.” That’s the kiss of death.

A quick note on readers burning out:

Personally, I think we’re in such a “hurry up and get it out there” author culture that it’s easy for readers to burn out on the same author if that author has a new book coming out all the time. Having a waiting time between releases helps to give readers a break so they can read other authors’ books. The break is good. I think when you’re not getting a new book out all the time, readers will enjoy your books that much more because they weren’t trying to keep up with all of your books.

I mean, I enjoy certain types of movies, but I can’t watch them all the time. I need to break up the monotony and watch something else for a while. The same thing is true with music artists. There’s one that puts out a new song almost every week. It’s just a 3-4 minute song, but it wore me out when I was trying to keep up with all of his new releases. I ended up walking away for a couple of months just to catch my breath.

/burnout

A final thought: contrary to public opinion, you don’t need to write every single day. What other job would you say someone isn’t a real _____________ if they didn’t do it every day? We wouldn’t say it to a teacher or a doctor. My husband is a car detailer, and he takes days off. When he was in the military, he was on call and had exercises, but he still had days off. As writers, we should have days off. These are days to relax the mind. They can be days to get caught up on updating our website or catching up on emails. Or we can binge watch movies all day. Or maybe we can take that hike we’ve been meaning to get to. It doesn’t matter what we do just as long as we’re giving our creative wells time to fill back up. When we allow ourselves time to decompress, we are in a better position to create quality stories. Believe me, there’s nothing worse than putting a book out there and realizing it doesn’t represent your best work. I’ve made that mistake early on, and I have since rewritten those stories. I would have been better off taking my time instead of rushing them. Quality matters.

Updates on What I’m Writing

The Cursed Earl (Marriage by Necessity Series: Book 2)

Books in the Marriage by Necessity Series:

Might be a Book 4

I’m finally on Chapter 5. Considering I started this book back in March, it’s frustrating I’ve made so little progress, but it is why I pushed the release month from September to November.

Part of the delay was having to rewrite about half of An Earl In Time. I ended up putting all books on hold and focusing in on that book for a good month. An Earl In Time also turned out to be longer than what I usually write, so that didn’t help, but I was determined to fill in all of the loose ends. I didn’t see the point in making it a series or a serial. Despite all of the frustrations, I am glad I wrote An Earl In Time. It’s just that sometimes I wish there were two of me.

Since I did have such a wide gap between starting The Cursed Earl and finally getting to chapter 5, I forgot how I was going to bring Christopher Robinson and Lord Edon into this book. All I jotted down in my notes was “Lord Quinton, Lord Edon, and Mr Robinson”. I’m sure those three were going to be connected. I have Lord Quinton. He’s a new character, and his role has a direct impact on the hero of this book. But I have no idea what I was going to do with the my favorite two Regency characters. If they don’t fit in here, I’m sure I’ll find another place for them in a future book.

The Loner’s Bride (Wyoming Series: Book 4)

Books in the Wyoming Series:

I’m on Chapter 2. It’s funny that I never really understood why Jeremiah wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship with Abby in this series. On paper, they probably seemed like a natural match since he was a good family friend and they’ve known each other for the longest time. I knew Abby only saw him as an older brother, even though I never came out and stated it. I never got that deep into Jeremiah’s thoughts in The Rancher’s Bride since he was preoccupied with finding Abby and Lloyd. But from Abby’s viewpoint, she had zero romantic interest in Jeremiah. In fact, the prospect of a romance between these two was so far removed from her that it never even made a blip on her radar, hence why I never even addressed the “why” she wasn’t interested in him.

It wasn’t until I started Chapter 2 (Jeremiah’s point of view) in The Loner’s Bride that I finally understood why he has no interest in Abby. Until I’m writing a character’s point of view, I don’t really understand why the character does and think the things he/she does. This is probably why plotting doesn’t work for me. I think they term a writer who learns as they write a “discovery writer”. I had to look it up online, and I’m right. A discovery writer is a writer who has very little (if any) idea on how a book will end up. They just start writing and see how things unfold. That’s how I write, and it’s why I can’t answer questions I’ll get once in a while from someone who wants to know why a certain character did or didn’t do something. I might have written something in the book, and I know it’s what the character wanted to do, but until I’m in that character’s head, I can’t tell anyone why the character did it.

So basically, I start a story and let the character tell me who that character is. That’s how I figure out a character’s personality. A character’s personality shapes the story. Based on the character’s personality, that character will make certain decisions that will end up impacting things (for better or worse) as the story progresses, and as a result of this, other characters will react based on their personality traits. Then those characters’ decisions will impact how the character acts in turn. So it’s like a cycle that builds on itself. This is why twists often pop up when I’m writing. I’m often blindsided by about half of the stuff my characters end up doing simply I can’t predict their actions until I’m writing the scene.

The reason Jeremiah never had an interest in Abby was he doesn’t see her as a woman. He sees her as a “boy”. Abby’s not really equal with her brothers since he does feel protective of her, but she’s not really a “girl”, either. I’m not sure if that makes sense or not, but that is his perception of her. She’s halfway between a little brother and an adult woman. This realization came to me when I was writing the scene where she asks him to help Katie find a husband. Katie will be staying at the orphanage to help the widows and him take care of the children. Katie is now 20 and ready to get married, but Abby wants her “older brother” who happens to live in the center of town to be her chaperone. Anyway, as Abby is buttering him up to help Katie find a husband, she’s batting her eyelashes at him, and all he’s thinking is how ridiculous she looks because (to him) she looks like she’s trying to blink away a bug that’s in her eyes. So there’s no way Jeremiah could ever be matched with Abby.

Katie, however, is going to be a different story. Katie is feminine in how she looks and in her personality, and those two things will attract him. I had no idea this was why my subconscious mind told me that Jeremiah’s only match was going to be Katie. I shied away from writing their story because of the age difference. She’s going to be 20, and he’ll be 44, but as someone pointed out, Katie’s mature for her age. The men who are her age won’t appeal to her. To them, they’re going to be like “boys”, not grown men. This is all in her personality. This is why a character’s personality impacts everything. I’m hoping that I’ll get to do a scene where Katie bats her eyelashes at him. I think his reaction is going to be completely different than what it was when Abby did it.

Suitable for Marriage (Husbands for the Larson Sisters Series: Book 3)

Books in the Husbands for the Larson Sisters Series:

There will be a Book 4

I’m in Chapter 5 of this one. I started this book way back in December. It’s been very slow going on this one, but the ideas are finally flowing. I hope that keeps up. I have this set for March 2022 for a release month just in case it stalls out again.

Erin’s goal is to get Alex to give up his pursuit of her. His past proposal when he gave her a frog with a ribbon tied around it and a love letter didn’t impress her. He’s been doing other things to woo her, but he doesn’t have the slightest idea of how to be romantic in a way that actually appeals to women. So he’s a great guy. He just doesn’t know what he’s doing.

As a result, Erin’s desperately trying to find a young lady somewhere in Omaha who’ll take an interest in him. Alex knows exactly what she’s doing, and since it offers him a chance to spend time with her, he is going along with it. It wasn’t until I was writing in this story last week that I realized Daisy is starting to feel sympathetic toward him. That idea came to me when Daisy told Erin to be nicer to Alex. Alex’s initial thought was that Daisy might be an ally. So he’s going to ask Daisy for help, and I think Daisy will go along with it, even though her initial plan was to help Erin. We’ll see how Erin reacts if she catches on to what Daisy will be doing. It’s possible Erin won’t figure it out. I’ll find out as I keep writing.

You’ll Never Please Everyone, So It’s Pointless To Try (A Post for Writers)

The topic of this post is probably the #1 reason why it’s best to write what you want. If there is a single person out there who loves your story, it ought to be you since you’re the one who is writing it.

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Ayse Ezgi Icmeli | Dreamstime.com

No matter what you write or how you write it, there will always be someone who doesn’t like it. On the flip side, you’ll always have someone who does like it, which is good news.

Here are examples from my books to illustrate how people can have different opinions on the same book:

Book 1: Review #1 = “This author is awful with her historical knowledge.” Review #2 = “This author really gets into the time period with her understanding of how women were treated back then.”

Book 2: Review #1 = “Terrible grammar.” Review #2 = “Considering this was self-published, the grammar was polished up.”

Book 3: Review #1 = “No, not a heroine who is NOT a virgin!” Review #2 = “It’s refreshing to have a heroine who isn’t a virgin while the hero is.”

I’ve heard it all over the past decade. The stuff some people love, others hate. There is no pleasing everyone.

There are authors out there writing stuff they don’t like in order to please someone else. Either they are trying to please enough readers to get lots of sales or they are looking for tons of praise through reviews and awards. They are putting their own interests aside in order to tailor their work to someone else’s version of “the perfect story”.

I know. We’re apt to think, “Hey, she’s making a living. It’s a job. Plenty of people have jobs they hate.” While that is true, writing isn’t a job where you can just do A + B and get C. The creative process requires focus and effort. Books aren’t a widget on an assembly line.

So let’s say that we have an author who is pleasing others at the expense of pleasing herself. She’s writing books other people want to read (rather than a book she wants to write). Consider how short life is. We are all only given a set number of days from the moment we’re born. How would you like to spend that time? Do you want to do it crying in misery because so much of your time is dedicated to writing something you don’t care about, or would you rather be pursuing something that is your life’s purpose?

I do think it’s important to earn money with your work. I know that sometimes your passion isn’t what pays the bills. In the case where you need your writing to pay the bills, I recommend hiring a ghostwriter and writing the stuff you enjoy. Or, if you can’t find a ghostwriter, then at least give yourself something to write that is your passion. That way, you can at least get some enjoyment out of your work while writing stuff that pays the bills. It will probably mean less money (because the less books you get out there that sells well, the less you’ll make), but this might be offset by cutting back on expenses. If you’re so strapped for money that you can’t afford to stop producing books that you hate, then you might need to get another source of income. I realize that the advice I just gave sucks, but I’ve come across enough authors who hate what they write so much that they say it’s sucking the life out of them. That’s a terrible way to live.

In the case of authors who are striving for praise, I see two problems emerge here. One, there will never be enough praise to satisfy the writer. And two, if the book reaches enough readers, eventually someone is going to hate it. So even if you are getting praise, someone is going to creep into your world and disrupt that euphoric feeling. Not everyone is polite when they offer up criticism. Some people are downright rude. Check out the way people talk to each other on Facebook and Twitter. These two sites best demonstrate how strong the hate is in the world. Why would you expect reviews to be any different? Rude people is something all writers must deal with at some point. This is why I tell authors to read the 1 and 2-star reviews on books from popular authors in their genre. Even authors who are popular get their share of hate.

Also, keep in mind that creativity is subjective. The person reading your book is going to come at it from their worldview. They will have likes and dislikes that could differ from yours. They might have certain expectations going into a story. If you don’t meet those expectations, they aren’t going to enjoy it. There’s just no way of vetting the people who find your book and read it. Likewise, there’s no way that people can vet every single book they pick up before they read it. The reader has to take a chance to find out if you’re the kind of author that writes a story they will enjoy.

So if your aim is to get the praise of every single person who reads your book, you might want to rethink this goal because it’s just not possible. Instead of aiming to write a story to please everyone, why not write it to please yourself and the core audience you’re writing for? It’s okay to care about what people think of your book. Just keep in mind who you are writing for. As long as you’re pleasing them, that’s all that matters.

Updates on What I’m Doing

An Earl In Time and Interview for a Wife are still in edits.

So there will be no problem getting them out on their anticipated release dates. An Earl In Time will be out July 17. Interview for a Wife will be out September 25.

 

I had to get a new website.

Ever since 2008, I’ve been using http://www.ruthannnordin.com. Up until recently, I’ve been able to make updates and whatnot. Well, the service provider I was using has pretty much made it difficult. I gave up and am letting that site run its course until it’s set to expire, which won’t be until next year. To be fair, the provider did warn me that their changes were going to make things difficult.

I have no desire to pay someone to do my website. I want to do it myself so that I can make updates any time I want. I’ve come across authors who have, for one reason or another, been unable to get the person in charge of their website to return their email or adjust their website in a timely manner. Yeah, I know these websites are more professional looking than what I do, but I prefer the ability to do what I want when I want with it.

I have decided to use WordPress since it’s been the most user friendly site I’ve come across. This blog, my monthly newsletter, and now my main website will be under WordPress. Here is the site if you want to check it out.

I updated my Payhip store.

I added the option for people to get pdfs. You can still get the mobi and epub versions, but I thought adding the pdf option might be easier.

Payhip also gave me the ability set up the storefront so that it’s easier to find the category of books someone it looking for. I have broken the books down according to Regencies, Historical Westerns, and Contemporaries. At this time, I can’t sort books into the series they’re in, though. Maybe that will come up in the future.

I also want to offer special deals that are beneficial to those of you who regularly come here. If you share the book page (let’s say Eye of the Beholder) on the social media options Payhip allows (Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest at the moment), you can get 50% off of Eye of the Beholder.

When the next book comes out, I will try to come up with a nice deal.

I’m open to ideas on other special deals I can offer, so let me know if you have any.

I put up a couple of ebooks on Etsy.

I’m hesitant with this one since I don’t know how many people want to buy ebooks on Etsy. It’s primarily known for craft items, but I saw a few authors offering signed paperbacks and ebooks. I’ve already set up the paperbacks I have on hand, but I just recently tried the ebook thing.

I think what I’ll do is offer a special deal on Etsy with the next ebook. All of these changes with Etsy and Payhip were made after A Perilous Marriage went live. I can’t offer any free books on Etsy because I need to pay $0.20 just to list it. So the lowest I can offer there is $0.99. I can offer the ebook in mobi, epub, and pdf format, though. At the moment, I haven’t put many ebooks up.

I’m interested in knowing if buying ebooks on Etsy appeals to anyone, so let me know what you think.

At some point, I do want to offer something for authors. I got halfway into a project and ended up swamped with other work. Except for blog posts, my thing for writers tends to get slogged down on my fiction stuff.

Speaking of which….

I’m FINALLY writing again!

I know. It’s been so long. I had to dust out the cobwebs in my brain this morning.

I had to go back through the Wyoming Series and calculate how old everyone is by the time we get to Jeremiah and Katie’s romance. I had to go over The Cursed Earl and Suitable for Marriage to remind myself of what was going on. I have been heavily in edits and tweaking book covers, Payhip, the website, and wrapping up the homeschool year with my youngest. There’s been some personal stuff going on in the family on top of it. So it just all added up.

I’m glad I got the bulk of everything done. Now my aim is to get back into the writing routine again. Then I won’t have to readjust my publishing schedule again. *fingers crossed*

How To Stop “Shiny Object Syndrome” In Its Tracks (A Post for Writers)

Today’s post is inspired by this video from Creative Hive:

It’s not just people who make handmade crafts who get tempted to stray. Writers can fall victim to “shiny object syndrome”, too.

In today’s post, I’m going to discuss the shiny objects and how to overcome them.

Shiny Object #1: A Fresh New Story Idea

Usually, when you get halfway into the story you’re writing, you get another story idea that excites you. It’s so fresh and exciting that it makes the story you’re working on seem drab and boring. The temptation is to set the current work aside to start the next one.

A new story idea often comes out of nowhere, and it comes at the most inconvenient time. The “to write” list is already high enough. All this does is add to it. If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. I go through this with almost every book I write. I am tempted to put the current story aside and get to work on the new one. As hard as it is, the new idea needs to be put on hold. If you don’t finish the current book you’re writing, there’s no way you’re ever going to publish it.

What makes this shiny object so bad is that the progress you’re making in the current work tends to slow to a crawl. Maybe it doesn’t do that for everyone, but it does for me. The current work becomes a chore. My advice is to stick with the current work in progress. Even if you’re going slow, you’re still getting somewhere. Set down a goal each day you work on the story. Great goals are specific. So set down either a certain word count or a certain amount of time you’ll work on the story. Once you reach the goal, you can quit. If you want to keep going, by all means, keep going. But I find having some kind of goal, even if it’s 500 words or 30 minutes can go a long way in getting through the muck of the “this story has lost its luster” phase.

One thing I will add to this is a warning. If you have no idea what comes next, either work on a future scene or put the story aside. If you’re truly out of ideas, it’s usually because your story went off course somewhere. After setting it aside for a while, you will hopefully be able to come back to the story later with a fresh new look at it.

However, if you find that you are consistently putting books on hold, then your problem goes deeper than simply running out of ideas. Some things you might want to try is writing a short story or a novella to see if you can finish it. If you can, gradually work your way to longer projects. While I’m a panster by nature, I think plotting might help anyone struggling with the problem of finishing what they start.

Shiny Object #2: Another Genre

This one applies specifically for writers who are trying to make money. If you don’t need to make money, you have the freedom to work on whatever you want. It doesn’t matter if you hop from one genre to another.

If, however, money is part of your goal (and I admit it is part of mine even though I write for passion), then you want to make sure you’re diligent about sticking with your brand. I’m not saying you can’t deviate from the genre you typically do, but if you do something different, it has to be a “once in a while” kind of thing. Part of branding yourself is being consistent with what you write. The reason branding is so important is because your readers need to know what to expect. When you stay with your brand, you’re someone they can rely on to deliver the kind of stories they will enjoy.

I know what it’s like to be lured to write another genre, but there are two problems that came up when I pursued the “other genre” shiny object. One, the books outside of my brand didn’t sell well, and two, I simply didn’t have the time to juggle more than one brand for the long haul. That’s why I suggest only writing the “other genre” book once in a while. It’s hard to make up for the loss of momentum on not getting a new book out in your brand, especially when books only stay fresh and new for a short time. Yes, you can run ads, but it’s really hard to match the power of a new release.

So my advice, for what it’s worth, is to only write in multiple genres if you have the time to devote to each genre you’re working on OR if you don’t need the money from book sales.

If either of those two things aren’t in your situation, then (as hard as it is), put those ideas in a file for the day when it is possible for you to devote the time to that genre. I don’t think you have to permanently give up on the genre; it’s just not the right time to work on it. Another idea is to let our mind play out the story during your free time. I’ve done this method, and I find that if I can get through the entire story in my mind, I no longer feel the urge to write it. (This is why I never plot anything out that I’m writing. Once I know how everything goes, I lose interest in the story.) If you’re the type of writer who wants to write something even more after plotting it all out, then I suggest just writing the idea down and tucking it aside instead of working the whole story out in your mind.

Shiny Object #3: A New Marketing Strategy

There seems to be a brand new marketing strategy coming out all the time. If you run after all of these, it’s going to be hard to establish a marketing plan that works for you. You don’t have to pursue every fresh new thing that comes along. In fact, it’s best if you don’t. You need time to write. All the marketing in the world isn’t going to help if you don’t have books to publish.

I’m not saying you should just write and publish without doing any marketing. You will need to do some form of marketing to get noticed. The key is to pick the areas of marketing you enjoy the most. I suggest sticking with 2 or 3 of these. If you want to sample something new to see if it’s a good fit for you, that’s fine. You don’t know unless you try, right? But don’t go around sampling every new thing that comes along. Pick our your strengths and run with them.

Some authors are great on social media platforms like Facebook, MeWe, Twitter, Instagram, etc. They make fun and interesting posts, and they have a high level of engagement with their readers. Some authors do great with ads. They enjoy spending time factoring in the click rates and the return on their investment. Some authors do great with blogging. They love updating readers and sharing information in a blog format. Some authors do great with their email lists. They love emailing their readers on a regular basis with updates and running special sales. Some authors do great with making You Tube videos. They love getting in front of the camera and sharing what they know with others through a verbal format. Some authors do great with in-person events. They love meeting others face-to-face and socializing. I could go on, but I’ll stop there.

It all boils down to your personality. What interests you? What strengths do you have? Those are the things you should focus on. There’s no point in doing something you hate or something that doesn’t mix well with your personality. I’m all for trying something new and stepping outside one’s comfort zone, but marketing shouldn’t be a chore.

Find the 2-3 things you enjoy and focus your efforts on them. You’re far better off doing that because you’ll stick with it year after year. When you’re in the writing business, you need to take a look at what’s best for the long term. Just as writing and publishing consistently is important, marketing should also be consistent. Authors that come and go in their marketing efforts seldom do well with their book sales. At least, there’s not a single author I’ve come across who stopped their marketing who has continued to do well with their sales. Also, chasing after too many marketing strategies can hinder you from gaining traction anywhere.

The writing business is a marathon. Sometimes it’s exciting and things are zooming along, but most of the time, it’s doing a little more each day/week to add to your brand. The important thing is that you’re progressing in the right direction.

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Those are the three main shiny objects I’ve noticed when it comes to being a writer. If anyone has anything they’d like to share, I’d love to hear it!

A Perilous Marriage (Marriage by Necessity Series: Book 1) is Now Available!

A quick note:

This book features Charles Duff, who is the brother of Heather. I first introduced Charles in Kidnapping the Viscount. Kidnapping the Viscount was Heather’s romance.

I introduced Miss Eris Tumilson in The Reclusive Earl. Her role is small, so there’s not much of her in it.

Some people enjoy it when I mention when a character appeared in another book, so I thought I’d mention these here.

A Perilous Marriage is the first book of a brand new series.

I currently have 3 books planned for this, but depending on how things go in Book 2, the series might expand to 4 books.

   

What A Perilous Marriage is About

Eris, a wallflower and spinster, finally gets her chance to marry someone. On her wedding night, it turns out her new husband dies, but no one (including her) finds out about it until the next day. So poor Eris is left widowed and without even the possibility of having children all in one night.

Charles, known for jumping to conclusions in Kidnapping the Viscount, has once again jumped to conclusions. He is convinced that Eris murdered her husband. Her husband, by the way, happens to have been his best friend. Since he can’t convince the law that his friend was murdered, he sets out to prove it himself.

This is a story where the hero doesn’t trust the heroine right away, but he needs to play the role of the doting suitor. So he’s going to pretend to be in love with her. This is a romance, so there will be a happy ending.

If this setup sounds like the kind of book you’d like to read, here is where you can find it:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple

Google

Smashwords