Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 21

Updates on What I’m Doing

Lord Edon pulled it off! I won’t spoil how he did it, but he managed to keep his membership at White’s and get even more respect from the other gentlemen. I honestly didn’t think it would go the way it did. I thought this would have to go into the next book in the series, but as it turns out, he said a couple of sentences that got him out of trouble. As Lord Clement told him, I don’t think anyone else could have pulled it off.

As for Charles Duff, he is convinced that a certain side character is going to murder Algernon (our hero). I was chuckling through the scene today as Charles was telling Eris his plans to rescue Algernon. She had the good sense to insist he includes her brother (Byron who is a Runner) in his plan. That will minimize the “trouble” Charles will cause.

Meanwhile, things are going well for our hero and heroine for the time being. That’s going to change in a bit, but in the end, we’ll get to our happy ending

It turns out as soon as Katie decided she’s going to marry Jeremiah, he never had a chance. It’s just a matter of time before he gives in. She’s subtle about it. He has no idea she’s already picked him. Today, Katie told one of the older children at the orphanage she’s going to marry Jeremiah. She made the child promise not to tell anyone, and this particular child won’t.

As a side note, the child is Pearl. Does anyone remember the baby Jeremiah found in The Rancher’s Bride as he was searching for Abby? This is the same Pearl. I thought it would be fun to show how things turned out for her.

Erin is finally coming around to falling in love with our hero. She just doesn’t realize it yet. Alex realized that following her all over the place like a lovesick puppy wasn’t working in his favor. As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Thankfully, he figured out he had to change tactics, and it’s been working in his favor. I like Alex. It’s hard not to root for him. The book is turning into a cute romantic comedy.

I don’t think Erin is going to come out and admit her feelings. I think she’s going to have to be forced into a marriage somehow. But I could be wrong. I’ll just have to keep writing to figure this one out.

In case anyone wants to put this on pre-order, I have it up across all retailers. It’s due out September 25, and, as usual, I’ll announce this book’s release on the day it comes out.

This finishes up the Nebraska Prairie Series.

   

This is the book about the widower with two children who is in a wheelchair. I didn’t go heavily into this for the bulk of the book, but the hero doesn’t feel like a complete man so there is a little difficulty he has when it comes to the bedroom. The heroine’s first husband died, but he blamed her for their bad marriage since she was barren. I’d say of all the books I’ve done so far, this one has a tone similar to Eye of the Beholder, except both the hero and heroine are dealing with insecurities.

Here are the links if you’re interested in it:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple

Google Play

Smashwords

I Will Never Have a Single Book in KU

I’m in a bad mood at the moment, so this is a rant I need to do in order to get something off of my chest.

This morning, I decided to put one of my books at free across multiple retailers because, as the author and publisher of my books, I have the right to do that. One thing that I love about Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Google Play, Payhip, and Smashwords is that if I want to do something with my book, they never ever give me any grief about it. They are so easy to work with.

Amazon, on the other hand, is a nightmare. I hate Amazon. Amazon is great if you’re a customer, but if you’re an author, it totally sucks.

I can’t help it if Amazon won’t let authors who aren’t in KU price their books to free. The lowest I can put the books at is $0.99. It’s up to Amazon to price match. That, in itself, is a source of frustration since it hinders my rights as author and publisher to effectively price my own books.

But what really grinds my gears is that Amazon consistently sends me the “prove you’re the copyright holder of your own book” email even though the book has been over in that KDP dashboards for years. For YEARS. Some books they’ve made me prove ownership of copyright have gone as far back as a whole decade.

So anyway, this morning I got an email from Amazon, and in this email, they threatened to remove the book I just priced to $0.99 (since I put it free everywhere else). Why? Because they noticed similar content already out there on the internet.

Well, duh. It’s NOT a KU book. This is a book that is wide. That means I can take the book and publish it wherever I want. I don’t have to be beholden to the Amazon gods who have the right to demand exclusivity.

I get that this is an automated email I received. Something flagged the book in the system. So no human actually looked at this thing. The email came to me within an hour of changing the price.

But really, how difficult would it be to have someone over at Amazon to look through this stuff BEFORE sending an email demanding proof of copyright? I mean, Amazon’s had record profits over the past year. They’re getting bigger, not smaller. They have the money to pay people to check things over before threatening an author over something.

I am sick and tired of being harassed by Amazon. These types of emails where they demand I prove copyright pop up 1-2 times a year. Meanwhile, the same company is so lenient when it comes to allowing so much theft to flourish over there. Between ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks, I’ve had to battle thieves about 5 or 6 times now. This is why I spend money to register my copyright with the US Copyright Office. About twice a year, I’m having to pull out the copyright letter to give them my registration number in order to get the thief’s book removed or to prove I have the right to change the price or description or even the content of my own work.

The book they’re currently demanding that I prove that I own the rights to has been out for three years. In the email, they demanded to know the publication date, along with other proof. All someone at Amazon has to do is look in my dashboard to see when the book was uploaded. Since I do pre-orders, the dashboard shows when I uploaded it for pre-order. It was before the book was released. Who but the actual copyright holder would have the entire book uploaded before the book was released? Then they can also check the actual file to see if it’s the same book that is on other retailers out there.

In the email I just sent them, I was professional. I answered their questions and presented my copyright registration number. But I was tempted to get really snarky with them because I’m tired of being branded as a criminal when I’ve done nothing wrong. And I’ve been targeted multiple times. I guess someone could argue they target me since I’ve reported theft several times in the past. But before they jump the gun, they could at least check my dashboard to see if there’s a valid reason to threaten to remove my book from their site.

I don’t care how much money I’m leaving on the table by not being in KU. Being exclusive with this company is not worth any amount of money. I’ve lost $100K a year in Amazon income by staying wide, but it’s been worth it. Some things are more important than money, and freedom and peace of mind are two of them. I’ve been steadily working over the years to put myself in a financial position where I don’t have to give a flip about how much Amazon brings in for me. I never want to be dependent on Amazon for anything.

That is why staying wide this entire time has paid off. When Amazon launched their exclusive KDP Select program back in 2012, I didn’t go in. I stayed wide. When Amazon launched KU, I stayed wide. In my gut, I had this feeling that I would be glad I stuck it out. That feeling paid off today. I am so glad I learned to be content with making less money with my books. I’m living proof you don’t need a “six figure income” to be happy.

When that email came in this morning, I wasn’t scared they might remove the book. I wasn’t scared because my financial security doesn’t depend on Amazon. I will stop writing before I let Amazon have any power over my writing career. Thank God for places like Smashwords and D2D that make it easy to distribute books wide. (Retailers like Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and Apple allow authors to publish books directly to their site, and I do use Kobo and Google Play for this, but it’s been easier for me to use Smashwords and D2D for most of it.) I am grateful to Mark Coker at Smashwords for leading the way in true author independence. I think Smashwords launched in 2008, but I didn’t publish anything over there until 2009. Smashwords is what opened the door to being on sites like Barnes & Noble and Apple without having a traditional publisher. They paved the way for authors like me to be on multiple retailers, so we’re not all dependent on Amazon.

If you’re an author who wants to be in KU, that’s fine with me. All I’m saying is that it’ll be a cold day in hell before I go into that program. If people don’t want to read my books because they aren’t in KU, that’s their right. If you’re a reader who is hoping I’ll eventually go into the program so you can read my books, then you should find authors who are in there because I’ll never be there. I can’t stomach Amazon. They make me want to vomit. I’m staying wide with every single one of my books forever.

When You Might Want to Plot a Book (A Post for Writers)

While I write by the seat of my pants, I realize this technique doesn’t work for everyone. So, today while I was browsing possible things to learn on Skillshare, I thought of the possible things a person might teach about storytelling. From there, I remembered a conversation I had years ago with a new writer who was stuck in her story. It happened so long ago, I don’t remember the details, but I did wonder if I recommended plotting.

Below I’m going to discuss reasons why you might want to plot your book.

1. You can’t complete the story you’re writing.

At some point, you might get stuck somewhere in the story you’re writing. This is normal. It happens to every writer who’s written enough books. Often, we know how things begin, and sometimes we know how they end. But the middle part is what leaves us scratching our heads, wondering how we’re ever going to finish the story.

This is a good time to sit down and outline everything you’ve done so far. If you know the end, go ahead and put that down. After you’ve done all of that, determine if you’re happy with the progression of the story up to the part where you got stuck. Are you happy with it? Then keep it. If something feels “off”, go back through each scene and see if you can pinpoint the scene where things got less exciting for you. Usually, this is your trouble area. Most of the time, when I get stuck, it’s because I had the characters do something that seemed good at the time but ended up taking the story in a direction that sucked. Going through each scene is an excellent way to find the trouble area. Then you can change the scene and see if that puts you on the right track. Sometimes it helps to brainstorm multiple changes and outline how the rest of the story goes with each change you make. Compare the changes and pick the one that gets you excited.

But let’s say you are very happy with everything in the story up to the point where you got stuck. What then? I recommend writing down a list of choices available to your characters. Think of every possible action available to them and how those actions will impact what happens next in the story. When you exhaust all of your ideas, I suggest taking a break. Take a walk. Watch a movie. Talk to a friend. Give your mind time away from the story to rest. Since the goal is to finish the book, you don’t want to take a long break. I would recommend no longer than a week. Too many books go unfinished because authors never get back to them. When you come back, look at your ideas. If you’re still stuck, pick Choice A (the option that appeals to you most) and see what happens. If it turns out you don’t like what happens in the story, go back and pick Choice B. Then Choice C. Etc.

If you are still truly stuck, talk to someone you trust (preferably someone who likes your genre) and get their opinion. This should be someone who is willing to sit down and brainstorm ideas with you. The key is to pick just one or two people. If you ask for too many people, you’ll get too many opposing viewpoints which will leave you frustrated. As much as it sucks, you might end up finishing a story that just isn’t going to be your favorite. I’ve done a little over 100 books in all, and I’m not thrilled with how every single one went. I’m 100% satisfied with most of them, but there are those that I just tuck away and never read. Thankfully, my core reading groups enjoys them. If you can’t please yourself, at least look to please your readers.

2. You’re afraid you’ll forget to add something later that you think will impact the story in a meaningful way.

This doesn’t require a plot for the entire book. I think this is more like notes you’re putting down so you remember what to add later when the right scene comes up. I do this all the time. It works very well with a panster. I have a writing journal where I’ll just mark down small things (action or dialogue) that I want to add later. When the right part comes up, I slip it in. This technique works great and doesn’t spoil the fun of discovering the story while you’re writing, so it can work with pansters and plotters.

3. You won’t be writing this story for a while, and you don’t want to forget it.

You can’t finish your current work in progress if you start writing the new shiny idea you just had. You will need to keep devoting your time to the current story. But if you’re afraid you’ll forget all of the fun and exciting stuff that makes you eager to write the next story, then you can give yourself a couple of days to plot out this next book. That way when you finish up the current one you’re writing, you haven’t forgotten all of the stuff you want to do with that next book.

This one doesn’t necessary require a thorough outline. It could be a basic statement about the book or even a book description. Maybe you’ll want to add some notes of what you’d like to see happen in the story. But if you feel let to make an outline, run with it. Go on and let it all work out on the page. Then when you’re done, put it aside and go back to the current book. I know it’s hard to get back to the other book. Whenever I hit the mid-point in about 90% of my books, I get bored and want to do something new. This is why I write three books at a time. But you have to push through the “this is no longer exciting to me” phase. I’ve found that when I stick to the story and keep writing it, I’ll get my enthusiasm back. It’s just a matter of discipline.

The downside is that when you do finish the current work, you might not be as excited about that shiny new idea. (I’ve been there, too.) But usually once you start the story, your enthusiasm starts to pick up for it. You just have to be consistent.

4. You want to make sure you have no loose ends when the story is done.

In this case, you’re outlining the story as you write it. You may want to add notes of different plot points you want to resolve by the end of the story. Once you resolve that particular plot point, you can put a check mark so you know you’re done with it. That leaves you free to concentrate on the other loose ends you need to wrap up. I’ve done this a couple of times in the past. Even pansters can find this one helpful.

Of course, you can always write out a full outline of the book with as many details as you want. If that helps you process the plot points better, you should do it. Some people think better when they list everything out.

5. You need to work backwards.

Sometimes you know the end of the story before you know the beginning. In this case, try plotting backwards. You can go from the end to the climax of the story then the scene that leads to the climax and the scene that comes before that.

Basically, you’re forcing your mind to consider what logical steps lead to the ending of your book. Ask yourself, “How do these characters end up in this particular situation?” As you keep working your way back, you have to constantly ask how your characters ended up where they did in each scene you develop. And on and on you go until you’re at the beginning.

You can always fill in blank spots if the answer doesn’t come to you right away. Say you know that at some point in the story, the villain revealed some particular information that makes a character do something during the climax of the story. Mark down what the villain said then look for the right place in the book where this villain gave the information. Making notes of something you need to put into an earlier scene somewhere in the book might help you get more ideas to get you to the beginning. When you’re done, go from the beginning and see if the outline makes sense. If the progression through the story flows naturally, you’re ready to write the story. If the progression is “off”, then look for how you can make the progression flow better. This is a time when you can brainstorm different ideas and play them through like I mentioned in point #1.

***

That’s all I can think of for reasons to plot a book.

Is there anything I missed? If you plot, what is your strategy? Are there any tips you’d like to share in case someone who wants to plot reads through the comments on this post? Feel free to share anything that’s on your mind.

Updates on What I’m Doing

Interview for a Wife (Nebraska Prairie Series: Book 3)

This will wrap up the books in the Nebraska Prairie Series:

   

I’m currently debating whether to leave in a particular scene or cut it out before I finalize this book. What I think I’ll do is edit the scene out and read it over to see if I like it better or not. My goal is to get this finished by August 1.

I’ll have this ready by September 25.

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

These are the books in the Marriage by Necessity Series:

I originally thought I might make a Book 4 to add in this series, but I would rather have Lord Quinton, whom I introduced in this book, as the hero for the next Regency series I’m going to do. His story will be much better there. So Heiress of Misfortune will finish up this series.

The plan is to get The Cursed Earl out in November. I was hoping to bump that up to October, but there’s been so much going on around here that it’s not going to be possible. The good news is that I hit the 40,000 word mark today, and I know where I’m going in the story. That helps to make things move along.

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

Books in the Wyoming Series:

I am steadily moving along in this one. I got to 22,000 words in this today. That means I’m probably only 1/4 of the way in. This one is due out in January. I have to admit that I was intimidated as I got started in this book. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get Jeremiah and Katie to be attracted to each other, but I’m happy to say that this turned out to be easier than I expected. Katie was attracted to him right away, and after watching him teach some of the orphans how to set traps, she got to see how much he knows about survival and how well he works with kids. Now she’s determined to marry him. (And if you read The Rancher’s Bride, you know Katie is the kind of character who keeps going after what she wants until she gets it.)

Now I just need to get an idea of how I can get Jeremiah to overcome his reluctance to be with her because of their age difference. He’s convinced that Katie is better off with someone close to her age, so even though it’s bothering him, he is acting as her chaperone while she meets the bachelors in town.

On another note, the widows, who are helping with the orphans, are a hoot in this story. I think they might provide some comedy along the way. And who knows if they’ll help “nudge” Jeremiah toward Katie? That would be a lot of fun.

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

Books in the Husbands for the Larson Sisters Series:

  Book 4 To Be Placed Here

I finally got to the point where Erin is starting to like Alex, although she doesn’t realize it yet. I have some things to do before she’s ready to admit it. But in the meantime, things have been pretty funny. The humor in this one is more subtle than it was in Perfectly Matched.

I suspect Daisy (the youngest sister of this bunch) is going to end up helping Alex get Erin, which would be a fun since her goal at first is to help Erin get Alex to find someone else so he’ll leave Erin alone. Though Daisy isn’t a main character in either this book or Perfectly Matched, she’s turning into one of my favorite characters. She just says whatever is on her mind, and it cracks me up. I have no idea if she’ll be this fun as a main character when it’s her turn to have a romance, but she’s been great as a secondary character, even if she is a little conceited.

My plan is to have this out in March. At the moment I’m 26,000 words into this book. I figure that I’m nearing the halfway point. Things are going to start turning in Alex’s favor pretty soon.

An Earl In Time is Now Available!

This is a standalone romance.

I typically do series, but I thought for this one, I’d stay within one book because I’m not sure if I’ll end up doing more fairytale romances or not. Part of it depends on whether people like this type of romance or not. As much as I believe in writing for passion, I do take people’s wishes into consideration.

Willow Knudson just inherited an English estate that she intends to sell. There are two problems. One, she’s unable to sign the contract, and two, she can’t even leave the property. She’s not superstitious by nature, but common sense tells her something strange is going on.

In 1817, Julian Azazel, the Earl of Blackwell, went to his country estate to tend to his father’s funeral. That evening a missive came from a stranger warning him that when the clock struck midnight, he was going to be cursed to relive the same day. He laughed it off and threw the missive in the fire. Two centuries later, he’s no longer laughing. The curse is real.

From before they were born, Willow and Julian were destined to meet on June 17, 1817.

Willow had assumed wealthy and titled gentlemen would be snobs, but Julian turns out to be the kindest person she’s ever met. And even better, he’s more attractive in person than he was in his portrait. It’s enough of a temptation to convince her to stay in the past forever.

At long last, the aching loneliness that has plagued Julian’s life for centuries is at an end. Not only is there someone who understands what he has been going through, but she’s far lovelier than he recalls any of the ladies in London being. But isn’t it selfish to ask a lady from another time to give up everything to live under a curse with him?

The path to happy endings can get complicated, especially when magic is involved.

This fairytale romance features a dark villain, a curse, fairies, a hero who is an earl from the Regency era, and a heroine from modern times. People who enjoy Grimm’s fairy tales and romance will enjoy this tale of true love conquering the darkest of curses.

If this sounds interesting, here are the places you can find it:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple

Google Play

Smashwords

I Figured Out the Missing Piece for The Cursed Earl!

Marriage by Necessity Series:

   

I’m not going to post any spoilers, but I just figured out how this whole curse came to be.

I was originally thinking the story was going to head in a certain direction, but as I was writing a scene, I thought, “You know, instead of going this way, what about doing this other thing?” The other option is way better. I’m excited about it. I don’t know how many people will see it coming. Since it would spoil the book, I won’t give it away. I’m just hoping someone out there will be surprised. I’m sure some will figure it out before the “big reveal” moment.

One thing that has been a challenge about this book is working with a superstitious character who is obsessed with good and bad luck. I’ve been tying in the Regency and Victorian superstitions in with the plot. I’ve had to let quite a few ideas go because they didn’t fit with the superstitious stuff, and that has helped to shape the story. It’s why I had some trouble coming up with the origin of the curse and how things will play out. It’s not a fairy tale or fantasy, so I have to go with a logical explanation for everything. I think I got it all smoothed out.

I should issue a warning. I originally thought this book might be on the comedic side since the hero sees good and bad luck in just about everything. I had Don Knotts “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” humor in mind when I started this book. But things didn’t go in that direction. This is actually turning into a more serious kind of story. It’s tone is similar to A Perilous Marriage. I have a feeling that Heiress of Misfortune will be the same way, even though I thought that was going to be funny, too. The more I think on the plot for Heiress of Misfortune, the less funny it gets. I don’t think these books are dark, but some people don’t like it when murder is involved in a romance, so I thought I’d just give everyone a heads up.

There is a secondary plot that I’m not sure will find an adequate resolution in The Cursed Earl. This is Book 2 in a series, and there are times when it takes more than one book to resolve a secondary plot. In this case, the secondary plot is the truth of Lord Edon’s past coming out. (Everyone is going to find out he wasn’t ever a rake.) Mr. Christopher Robinson tried to stop the truth from getting out, but it’s all over White’s. At the moment, the gentlemen in White’s are debating whether or not to revoke Lord Edon’s membership.

During the course of the debate, I was able to bring up the wager between Davenport and Pennella in His Reluctant Lady (Marriage by Scandal Series: Book 3). I later wrote about this wager in The Earl’s Secret Bargain (Marriage by Deceit Series: Book 1). Christopher was the one who blabbed it to Agatha in order to get into her good graces. She, in turn, reported it in the Tittletattle. That’s how London found out about it. It also caused a lot of trouble at White’s since the wager became null and voice. No one successfully pinned down who blabbed the wager (though we all know). I suspect Lord Edon might end up taking the blame for the wager being exposed, and as a result, he’ll be thrown out of White’s. In all of this, I see an unlikely ally coming to Lord Edon’s defense, and if that happens the way I think it will, that will be a lot of fun.

It’s possible that things won’t get resolved in Lord Edon’s favor in The Cursed Earl. We might have to wait until Heiress of Misfortune to resolve everything. What I do know is that everything will eventually work out for Lord Edon. I love Lord Edon. He and Christopher Robinson are my two favorite Regency characters. I can’t leave Lord Edon in a bad spot forever. Part of the happy ending of my books are making sure my favorite characters continue living their happily ever afters, and this includes their reputations. So even if things are not looking good for Lord Edon at the end of The Cursed Earl, it will by the end of Heiress of Misfortune.

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.