Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 26
October 18, 2020
Nobody’s Fool is Available!
This is Book 2 in the Marriage by Design Series!
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Nobody’s Fool is a romantic comedy.
I’m trying to think of what other Regency I’ve done that is similar to this one, and I guess the kind of humor in Kidnapping the Viscount had in it matches up the best. The whole thing is based around Emilia’s goal to dissuade Benjamin from falling in love with her, and no matter what she tries, it doesn’t work. It’s a light and fun read.
If this sounds like your kind of book, you can find it at these places:
October 6, 2020
Stuff I’m Doing
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The editor got this back sooner than I expected, so I was able to set the pre-order date for October 17.
This is a cute romantic comedy. It takes a fun look at one wife’s dream of discouraging her husband from falling in love with her.
You can reserve your copy today if you wish at these retailers. (I’ll be getting it up on Google Play soon.)
Here are the links to the pre-order:
2. I finished the first draft of A Deceptive Wager two weeks ago.
My goal is to start on the edits in the next week or two.
This is a battle of wills romance where the two main characters don’t like each other at first. It’s an “enemies to lovers” type of romance. There are a lot of humorous moments, but I don’t know if I can classify this as a romantic comedy like I can with Nobody’s Fool. Nobody’s Fool was funny the entire way through. This book has some more serious moments because the hero has a lot of trust issues since his mother took lovers and had illegitimate children she cared more about then she cared about him. After giving it a fresh read through, I hope to be able to better pin this one down. It’s not dark or anything. It’s just more serious, kind of like The Earl’s Scandalous Wife or The Earl’s Wallflower Bride.
This is the last book in the Marriage by Design Series.
Here are all of the books:
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3. I uploaded The Wedding Pact audiobook.
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It’s going to take time to get up on all of the retailers, but so far, here are some links that Findaway Voices have put them up to.
This audiobook will be up on more retailers soon.
4. I’ve been listening to audio files for the rest of the books in the Marriage by Fairytale Series. Soon the entire series will be available as audiobooks.
It takes me a while to go through these. I don’t want to rush through the process. But soon, I’ll be getting Fairest of Them All and The Duke’s Secluded Bride uploaded. All of these are narrated by Stevie Zimmerman. I haven’t been able to make the audiobook covers yet, but here are the paperback ones for quick reference. It always helps me to see the book cover to remember what book an author is talking about. 
September 23, 2020
Boaz’s Wager Trivia
When Stephannie Beman and I wrote the beginning scene of The Stagecoach Bride (which is now The Outlaw’s Bride), I thought, “What would happen if the women on the stagecoach had been sold off to the highest bidder?” At times, I’ll write a scene or set up a book in a way that makes me wonder, “What would have happened if the story went in another direction?” Before I started Boaz’s Wager, I had already decided I wanted to set up a romance where the heroine was auctioned off because of the opening scene in The Stagecoach Bride.
I didn’t originally know who was going to be the heroine in this book, but I had wanted to bring in a character I had already introduced from another book. I keep a timeline on this blog that’s tucked into the series’ pages for easy reference so I can pair up couples who are in the same age range. I had been wanting to do a book for Eva Connealy ever since Isaac Larson broke her heart in Isaac’s Decision. (I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.) When I saw that she was old enough for Boaz to marry, I happily put her into this book. I wanted to give her a friend, so I brought Rachel Larson (Dave and Mary’s daughter) into the book, too.
Speaking of Rachel, I have been asked if I’ll do a book for her, but there is no story beyond this one to tell for her. Rachel and Herb got along right away, and there’s nothing that I can give these two to warrant their own story. I only write a story if there’s a substantial plot.
Like Eva, I’d rather read than cook any day of the week. 
September 16, 2020
Updates on What I’m Doing
These were the books I got back from my publisher. There was a little snafu with Google Play Books, but I finally got that all resolved. If anyone hasn’t read any of these and would like the link to a certain retailer, let me know in the comments.
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It feels good to get all of that out of the way. Now I can focus on other stuff.
Release date for Nobody’s Fool pushed back to October 28.
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Someone on my editing team has run into a couple of situations that has required her to go to doctor appointments and care for her elderly mother. To help lighten her load, I have decided to move the date from October 17 to the 28th. The book is done. I will have it out before the end of October. All she needs it a little more time to work on it.
I hope to finish the first draft of A Deceptive Wager this month.
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This is scheduled to come out on January 17.
I am still working on Perfectly Matched.
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This one is due for a March release. Poor Jim has Patricia and Erin Larson both fighting over which one will get to marry him. And poor Tom Larson doesn’t know how to stop them. 
September 7, 2020
The Marriage Contract Trivia
I’m finally getting back to doing some trivia blog posts.
September 4, 2020
The Marriage Contract Audiobook is Now Available! (This is my first legitimate audiobook.)
This one is actually from me, so it’s safe to get it.
This is Book 1 in the Marriage by Fairytale Series.
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I am in the process of getting all of the books in the Marriage by Fairytale Series into audiobooks.
The reason I picked the Marriage by Fairytale Series was because this is my favorite Regency series. I figured it was going to spend money on making an audiobook, that I was going to do the series I loved most.
Stevie has agreed to do all of the books in this series, and to offer a quick reminder, here the other books:
One Enchanted Evening, The Wedding Pact, Fairest of Them All, and The Duke’s Secluded Bride. I’m in currently in the process of uploading One Enchanted Evening.
Stevie Zimmerman did an excellent job of narrating this book. I’m very pleased with the results. Her voice is perfect for the tone and feel of it.
I tried to upload the audio sample file, but it just didn’t work. Please go to one of the links to hear the sample.
The distribution of this audiobook:
After talking things over with Stevie, we agreed on a pay per finished hour arrangement. This means that I paid her upfront for the work, and I officially own the audiobook. That means I can publish the audiobook wherever I want. I chose to go through Findaway Voices and ACX.
This means that this audiobook will be available in 43 places. To list all of the links would be overwhelming, so I’m going to post the main links I’m aware of. If you look for audiobooks on another retailer, let me know in the comments, and I’ll see if I can track down the link to that place.
Here is where you can find it:
September 2, 2020
About The Purchased Bride and The Bride’s Choice (With Some Book Trivia)
I want to avoid as much confusion as possible. I don’t want someone to browse a retailer and think I published brand new books without publicly announcing it on this blog.
My publisher has given me back my rights to the books I had with them. These books are Wagon Trail Bride, The Marriage Agreement, Groom for Hire, Mitch’s Win, Boaz’s Wager, Patty’s Gamble, Shane’s Deal, The Purchased Bride, and The Bride’s Choice.
Now some of you may wonder, “What does she mean? I don’t recognize The Purchased Bride or The Bride’s Choice from her book list.”
These two books were tucked into anthologies.
The Purchased Bride originally appeared in the Bride by Arrangement anthology I did with Janet Syas Nitsick.
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The Bride’s Choice originally appeared in the A Groom’s Promise anthology I did with Janet Syas Nitsick.
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If you own those two anthologies, you already have The Purchased Bride and The Bride’s Choice.
But, if you haven’t picked up these anthologies and would like The Purchased Bride and The Bride’s Choice, I’ll give the information about them below.
First, since these stories are so closely related, I decided to create a series for them. Since they take place in homesteads in Nebraska, I opted to go with the Nebraska Prairie Series.
The Purchased Bride (Nebraska Prairie Series: Book 1)
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Ada Wilcox’s brother sells her off to marry a complete stranger. But the book goes deeper than that.
Here’s the trivia:
The hero in this book is deaf, but his brother assumes he has less than average intelligence. Some people find this hard to believe, but I can tell you from firsthand experience that this is possible. I didn’t hear anything for the first three years of my life, and my parents and doctor assumed I was didn’t have normal intelligence. It wasn’t until a daycare worker pointed out the possibility that I was deaf that my parents went to a hearing specialist. In one ear, I am deaf, but I had fluid built up since birth that prevented me from hearing. Sometimes you can be so close to someone that you miss something an outsider will see. Also, though my son was born deaf, the initial test they did on him when he was born showed that he heard. As a result, we just assumed he could hear until he was a year old when a woman who came out to help my other children with a speech delay picked up on it. My point is that unless you know what to look for, it’s easy to miss something as simple as whether a person is hearing you or not.
I took the above personal experiences in my own life and the lack of accommodations for people with special needs of that time period into consideration to build the plot. If Pete had been allowed to interact with more people, someone might have figured it out before Ada came along, but his family chose to keep him secluded from everyone. Had this been written in a place along the East Coast, Pete’s deafness would have been pointed out early on in his life. But I wanted a scenario where it wasn’t pointed out until he was an adult, so I chose to place him on a remote farm.
You can find out more about it at these places:
The Bride’s Choice (Nebraska Prairie Series: Book 2)
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Shy and clumsy Jack Warren has finally found the woman of his dreams, but her father wants her to marry his brother instead.
Here’s the trivia:
I wrote this one closely to match Janet Syas Nitsick’s story, When the Whistle Blows, that was in the same anthology. We had to sit together quite a bit to compare notes so that there were contradictions between our stories. A lot of people have said our two books are so similar, and this is why. So much of our plots relied heavily on what was happening in the other story. I wanted to write a story that could be read as a standalone. I’m sure Janet felt the same way. The nature of anthologies is to eventually take the individual stories and publish them independently of the other authors who contributed stories to that book. So I didn’t want to leave any more loose threads than I had to.
I took one brother, Jack, and she took the other brother, Hugh. My original story idea never made it to the page. I had to discard it in order to go along with Janet’s vision for her book. Originally, I had planned for Maybell’s father to want Jack to marry her, and he was supposed to feel inadequate and run off hiding from her on their wedding night. I had envisioned a romantic comedy. (I later took the idea of the bridegroom hiding and put it in The Reclusive Earl, which is a Regency romance. So the idea did makes it way into another book. I have a weird sense of humor, and the idea of a husband running in fear of having to consummate the marriage just cracks me up.)
All things considered, I think the story worked out better the way it did where her father wanted her to marry Hugh and Jack had to prove himself.
You can find more about this book at these places:
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Book 3: To Be Determined
I have an idea for a book that’s been in the back of my mind for the past few years that I think will fit well with this series. Since my mind’s been blank on what to write next, I’m going to give this third book a try and see what happens. I’ll keep you posted.
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On a final note:
All of the other books Wagon Trail Bride, The Marriage Agreement, Groom for Hire, Mitch’s Win, Boaz’s Wager, Patty’s Gamble, and Shane’s Deal are all up again! If anyone wants links, let me know.
I did put all of these books (including The Purchased Bride and The Bride’s Choice) on Google Play, but they haven’t gone live yet.
August 29, 2020
Audiobook Thief is Back
A quick note to any narrator reading this post: please do NOT create any audiobooks from someone claiming to be me. I am currently working with Stevie Zimmerman and Shonda Bourn. I have NOT contacted any other narrator to create audiobooks.
Now to the post:
As I was tracking down links to the audiobook I legitimately created, I found that the thief has returned. He/she (we’ll say he since he’s now going by the name “benjamin anyanwu”) is back, and this time, he has taken the audio files, made new covers, changed his name as producer, and distributed these books wide.
Here’s what’s happening:
Once the original theft attempt failed on Amazon and Audible, this jerk went ahead and changed the covers, his name as producer, and distributed the audiobooks to as many places as he could. I’d point out why no one should believe these were done by ME, but I don’t want to give stuff away to make things easier for this jerk in the future.
Here are the links I’ve tracked down so far.
iTunes/Apple:
An Unlikely Place for Love: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/an-unlikely-place-for-love-virginia-collection-book-1/id1525871012?mt=11
A Most Unsuitable Earl: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/a-most-unsuitable-earl-marriage-by-scandal/id1526285522?mt=11&fbclid=IwAR0DFnaHm_xuEL3SpCunFx-V0rKiMaqXkbmcl39uEoo-Bzb1DRpmxji6Uss
Google Play:
An Unlikely Place for Love: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Ruth_Ann_Nordin_An_Unlikely_Place_for_Love?id=AQAAAEAcGG1YYM&hl=en_US
A Most Unsuitable Earl: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Ruth_Ann_Nordin_A_Most_Unsuitable_Earl?id=AQAAAEAc-CC4LM&hl=en_US
Chirp:
An Unlikely Place for Love: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/an-unlikely-place-for-love-by-ruth-ann-nordin?fbclid=IwAR2vE-Gg-STDZ_LSEYJuw_S4X5Tesx5181JZceBX-OB8gf-azkHo_Q_qz_I
A Most Unsuitable Earl: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/a-most-unsuitable-earl-by-ruth-ann-nordin
I have submitted copyright notifications to each of these places, but there’s still more I need to wade through because there are about 43 distributors out there total. This thief has a head start on me. I am currently seeking out help from someone who can help me, and I will pay this person for their help. I’m currently looking for referrals on Facebook. I will only work with someone I know. I don’t trust any strangers because for all I know, the thief could offer to “help”.
About Shonda Bourn:
I contacted Shonda on Facebook when I discovered the original theft of An Unlikely Place for Love took place. Back then, this thief went back the name “Leon Publishing”. I tried to find the other narrator this thief conned into making A Most Unsuitable Earl, but I was unable to.
Anyway, Shonda and I got along, and I decided to let her do some of my books. I got the right to claim my book (An Unlikely Place for Love) on ACX, and we decided we’d take the files she had created and do a royalty share agreement. I’m still in the process of listening to this book. I have not “okayed” it for publication. When I do, I’ll let you know on this site.
So the thief downloaded the files from ACX that Shonda had done, and he stole those and used them to upload the audiobook everywhere else. He did not have her permission. He is in violation of a contractual agreement with her. He did the same with the other narrator, but I’m unable to tell this other narrator what happened to her. I did notify Shonda.
To all narrators:
I realize this is as upsetting to you as it is to me. It’s getting to the point where it’s impossible to know who you can trust and who you can’t. I’m just one author. I am doing what I can to warn other authors of this stuff by sharing my experience on this blog and on Facebook. I am going to be as loud and obnoxious about this as I can be to help spread the word.
I just want to plead with the narrators reading this to double check to make sure you are in contact with the actual author of the book you’re being asked to make into audio. I know there are sites that make it super easy for thieves to con narrators into making audiobooks. ACX is one of them. But there are apparently other sites thieves can use to con narrators into producing audiobooks for a royalty-share option. I think another is Audio Unleashed, but I’m not 100% sure. There is another one, but I can’t think of it off the top of my head. All I’m saying is that if you’re on a site that does royalty-share, be extra careful.
These thieves never pay. They want everything for free. That is the first warning sign. I offered Shonda a paying deal, but she wanted royalty-share. I did, however, create a pay per hour agreement with Stevie Zimmerman. I was willing to pay upfront. I realize not every author can afford to offer this. I’m just asking to be extra careful before entering into a contract with someone who puts a book up to be auditioned. This may be a thief.
The Fugitive’s Bride is now available!
[image error]This is Wade’s romance.
Here are the books in this series:
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This series is now complete. I don’t plan to write any more books for this specific series. I might one day write about Katie, but right now, there’s no plot for her story. I will have to wait until the right time, if such a time comes. I have no plans to write Jeremiah’s story since he has his happy ending, and he’s very happy with the way things turned out.
This has been one of the most satisfying series I’ve ever worked on. I was able to blend in elements I love most into it. I got to blend in humor and serious situations within the series.
While The Rancher’s Bride had the most amount of humor, The Fugitive’s Bride was pretty much serious the entire way through, but I found it intriguing to dive deep into Wade’s personality, and he had a lot of pain and bitterness to go through. So this series gave me plenty of range to explore the heights of humor and depths of despair. I find stuff like that helps me grow most as a writer. And that’s fun.
I’m not really sure what I can say about this book that won’t spoil it, so I’ll just tell you where you can find it. If anyone has any questions about the stories or the characters, feel free to ask.
Also, is anyone here a Google Play/Books reader? If so, I’ll get add a link.
August 18, 2020
Trying to Wrap up Two Books, Getting Back Books from my Publisher, and Getting into Audiobooks
[image error]Marriage by Design: Book 2
I should finish Nobody’s Fool tomorrow. I’m currently on the last chapter. I’m very pleased with how this turned out. It’s a cute romantic comedy. The heroine finally caved and fell in love with the hero. When I started the book, I wasn’t sure how this was ever going to happen since she was so opposed to the marriage. Fortunately, the issues worked themselves out while I was writing.
I know election time is pretty much a terrible time to get a book out, but this one is due out in mid-October. I wasn’t able to finish it before now, and I need time to get it through edits before it’s ready. I also want another book out before the end of the year. So, this is coming out around a horrible time for authors who are looking to hit an ideal publishing time.
[image error]Marriage by Design: Book 3
I’m not sure how much more I need to go in this one, but I’m determined not to rush it. This has been another comedy, but things have taken a sudden turn where it’s more serious at the moment. Essentially, our hero has finally come to grips with what a jerk’s he’s been. I don’t like getting too heavy in a romance where 80% of the book is light and funny. So I’m trying to find a balance between making him grovel enough (because he needs it) without making it drag on needlessly. I’m in the middle of figuring this out.
I want this out in January, so thankfully, I have time.
Those are the two books I’m trying to wrap up.
And I almost forgot, this one is due out August 29.
[image error]Wyoming Series: Book 3
I need to get the blog post and email list ready when it’s time to announce that this book is out. I’m worried I’ll forget to do this. Thankfully, I can schedule blog posts and MailChimp emails out in advance.
If you want to get this on pre-order, I do have them up at most retailers.
A note about Payhip: My last two releases ended up with no one buying the book from Payhip, even though I offered 50% off the price. I’m thinking about not putting it on Payhip this time around. No one seems interested in that storefront. So if I don’t get a comment on this blog about wanting the book on Payhip, I’ll skip Payhip this time around.
A note about Google Books/Play: I am going to get it up over there on release day or close to it. Google will lower prices from time to time, and this could hurt me on the pre-orders at Amazon. The money I make on pre-orders is what I need to afford cover artists, editors, and other things to keep the business side of things going.
2. Getting Publishing Rights Back from my Publisher
I’m in the process of acquiring rights back to these books:
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What that means is that there might be a short period of time where these books won’t be available. The publisher and I are working to make the transition as possible, but there’s bound to be a hiccup or two along the way. It can’t be helped. Different retailers have different ways of operating.
Please Note this about Bride by Arrangement and A Groom’s Promise:
Bride by Arrangement and A Groom’s Promise are anthologies. I’ll be taking my stories from each anthology and republishing them as brand new books. I’ll address this more in the future when they’re up.
3. A Note About Audiobooks
I have already started a couple of them. I am working with two narrators.
One is Stevie Zimmerman, and since she has an English accent, I felt she’d be ideal for the Regency Series. So far, she has done The Marriage Contract, One Enchanted Evening, and The Wedding Pact (all books in the Marriage by Fairytale Series which is my personal favorite series).
[image error]Marriage by Fairytale: Book 1
I uploaded this to ACX (which distributes to Amazon, Audible, and iTunes) and Findaway Voices (scroll down the page to find where they distribute to). I’ll announce it on this blog when this is ready.
Stevie Zimmerman and I agreed on an upfront cost, so I paid for this outright for this audiobook. This is called “pay per hour”. (I didn’t know that before.) That means I own all rights to it, and I get to say where the book goes. I am paying this way for all of the books I do with her.
There is another narrator I’m working. She is Shonda Bourn, and she prefers the royalty-share option. Long story short, when I claimed all of my books on ACX, I didn’t realize that I locked myself into the non-exclusive contract with ACX. I was in a hurry to stop the scammer from stealing more of them since this person had gotten away with stealing two of my books already. So I may or may not be able to do more books this other narrator.
A word of warning to authors who might be reading this: if you choose non-exclusive, then you can NOT do royalty-share on ACX. You have to pay per hour. Also, if you claim a book on ACX, Findaway Voices will NOT put the book on Amazon.
So in my hurry to stop the scammer, I boxed myself into a corner. I’m trying to get that resolved by contacting ACX to be able to switch the books the narrator wants to work on out of non-exclusive to exclusive, but I don’t know if that will be possible. It all depends on what ACX will let me do.
I was able to get one book in the exclusive agreement, and that was one I had not been able to claim yet because it was one of the stolen books. This is the same book Shonda had done, and it had made it to Amazon. I got the stolen version removed (thankfully), and then Shonda and I started communicating, and we saw no reason to let her work go to waste. So we’re in the process of getting this book back up:
[image error]Virginia Series: Book 1
Since we did a strict royalty-share agreement on this book, it can only be on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. I can NOT put it on Findaway Voices.
I’ll let you know when that goes live.
4. You Tube Channel and Audiobooks
I was thinking of dusting off my You Tube channel, which I haven’t uploaded anything to for years, and making old books available to listen to over there for anyone who can’t afford audiobooks. The catch on this is that my voice is nothing like Stevie Zimmerman or Shonda Bourn. My voice is amateurish, so the quality is not going to be professional. I just wanted to warn everyone. I don’t want people to go to my channel expecting an award-winning performance. 
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