Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 36

The One Simple Trick to Getting More Done

Today’s post is inspired by this You Tube video.

It’s twenty-six minutes long, but there are a lot of good tips in it. I’m not going to rehash them. I’m using this video as a springboard.

There is actually a very simple trick to getting more done, but it requires discipline to follow through with it. Ready for it?

Here goes:

Limit how much time you give yourself to doing the task you want to do.

That’s all there really is to it. I tried two different methods. One was giving myself a set word count to finish. I couldn’t stop writing for the day until I hit that goal. On average, it took me all day to reach it. I found if I don’t set a limit on how much time I’ll give myself to write, I’ll actually write more in a shorter amount of time.

For example, I used to give myself 6-8 hours to write 3,000 words for the day. On some days, I would get to 3,000 words, but on others, I would only get 1,500 or 2,500 words. I rarely ever wrote over 3,000. Why? I guess it’s because my mind was fixed on 3,000 words at a maximum. But I also would let myself check social media, emails, You Tube, and do other things with my time while I was supposed to be writing. Then I started giving myself 1 hour per book to write in as much (or as little) as I could for that particular day. I found that I not only got more words in, but I got more time freed up afterward to exercise or relax.

I know this sounds like it wouldn’t work, but it does.

Here’s the key: You have to get rid of ALL distractions AND you have to focus only on that one book for the ENTIRE time you have devoted to it.

You can listen to music if it tends to motivate you for writing. You can even take a drink of water, tea, coffee, etc. You can stretch your muscles if you need it. You can also use the bathroom as long as you come right back to the computer. No cheating on this one.

But you can’t do any of the following: answer phone calls, make phone calls, check the internet, listen to TV, watch TV (even if it’s out of the corner of your eye), listen to the radio, engage with anyone on social media, talk to someone (throw people out if they come into your room, or find a library/cafe/park to write).

The basic idea is that it must only be you and the story. Nothing else matters.

See what I mean? This requires a lot of discipline, and it’s not easy. Some days, you’ll do better than others. I have fallen out of this routine after implementing it, and it’s lowered my progress each and every time. So you have to be dedicated to this method.

It’s really easy to do, and yet, it’s not. The bottom line is how determined are you to write the book?  If you want it bad enough, you’ll do this.

So, let’s say you have one book you’re working on, and you’re crunched for time. Give yourself 30 minutes to give your 100% attention to it. When those 30 minutes are up, you’re done. You can’t go back to that story until tomorrow. So, if you didn’t get much done on your first day, you have extra motivation to get more done the next day.

This is a process. It takes time to develop this habit. It won’t always be easy to stick with this. If you fall off the wagon and slip into old habits, give yourself some grace (because we’re only human), and just hop back on the wagon tomorrow.

I used the example of writing for this post, but this tactic works for a lot of other things, too. It can be used for social media, emails, blogging, formatting, marketing, cleaning a room, exercise, etc, etc.

Writing for Passion Buffers Writers From Fickle Trends

Today’s post is inspired by an excellent blog post I came across in a Facebook writing group on The Ghostwriter Game by Sherry Ficklin.

Writing for passion offers wonderful buffers that I didn’t even consider when I decided to leave the rat race of trying to keep up with the trends in the indie publishing world. There have been several trends I’ve noticed over the past ten years I’ve been in this business.

Here are four trends I’m aware of that has played a big role in indie publishing:

1. Exclusivity to Amazon. This meant authors had to enter the Kindle Direct Publishing Select program, which later gave birth to Kindle Unlimited. Authors who entered this program could only sell their ebooks on Amazon. They could not sell it on any other retailer. In return for this, Amazon gave these books special rankings (aka visibility) not granted to books not in the program. Greater visibility means more sales (or, at the very least, more pages read money).

2. Writing to market. If authors wanted to keep sales going, they had to figure out what types of books were selling the most and then write books tailored to that audience. (I fell into this particular trend, which I have come to regret. But I learned a lot of valuable things from it, so it was worth slogging through the pain of being immersed in it.)

3. Ads. This one gained serious momentum in 2018 and is still riding high. Authors are talking about how it’s “pay to play” now. In order to make money, you have to spend a lot of money. Some authors spend $1000 to $10,000 a month on ads. These ads are mostly run through Amazon or Facebook, and yes, people really do spend a lot of money to get noticed. So if you’re not playing this game, your sales are taking a hit. Even authors writing to market have to run ads to stay relevant.

4. Ghostwriters. This is the latest trend. I’m not sure when it started, but I suspect it was around 2017. That’s when I noticed that in order to stay relevant, I had to get books out as fast as possible. Before 2016, I  used to be able to release a book and rest for a month or two before I needed another one to keep sales going. I can’t speak for other authors on when they noticed they needed to get books out faster to keep a steady amount of sales coming in, but 2016 is when I noticed it. (Hence why I began writing to market at that time.) Anyway, over the years, the time period between release dates has gotten shorter and shorter. It started out that a book would fall off the map of visibility in 90 days. Then it was 60 days. Then it was 30 days. And at the time I’m writing this (March 2019), it seems like you need to get a new book out every week or every other week to stay relevant. This is where ghostwriters come in. There’s no way in the world an author can stay sane while getting all of those books out so quickly. Authors need breaks. No one can work without a break. So ghostwriters are a trend. They help authors stay relevant in the indie publishing world.

Why writing for passion buffers against trends:

I don’t fault authors for doing any of those trends. As I said, I did one of them myself. They keep authors afloat in an ever-changing landscape. But chasing these trends is stressful because they aren’t consistent. They only work for a while. And believe me, this ends up taking a toll on the author. This is why some authors have personal assistants to help them. They can’t manage all of this load on their own. There’s only so much any one person can do in a day.

Chasing trends is really about chasing money. Yes, money is important. I’m not going to pretend it isn’t. We need it in order to pay the bills and eat. Who wants to work at their job and NOT get paid? Writing is work. It’s work authors enjoy, but it’s still work. Just because you enjoy your work, it doesn’t lessen its value.

But when money becomes the focal point of what we do, it can hinder us from being able to enjoy writing. Most writers I talk to started writing early in life. They wrote because they loved writing, and they had stories they wanted to share with the world. When you replace that passion with the quest for money, it makes writing a chore. As I said in the last paragraph, money is important, but it needs to be placed in the right perspective to avoid making it the only thing that matters.

This is where the benefit of writing for passion comes in. Writing for passion gives you something other than money to aim for. It focuses your attention on the story itself. It frees you up to indulge in the characters’ lives. You immerse yourself into the story, and, as a result, the story becomes the reward.

When your focus is on the story, your eyes go off of the trends. It no longer matters what the new gimmick is. All that matters is writing a story you can give 100% of yourself to. So while other authors are chasing trends at a frantic pace, you can relax and enjoy the world you’re creating. I’ve written plenty of stories for passion and more than I care to admit for money, and the difference between the two is like night day. Writing for passion energizes you. It excites you. It makes you eager to wake up. Really, what it does is produces a joy in you that money can never give you. Money is a temporary pleasure, but the joy that comes from working on something you’re passionate about brings pleasure for a lifetime. When your focus is on the joy of writing for passion, you will stay level while the rest of the world is on a crazy rollercoaster ride.

The Imperfect Husband is Now Available!

I’m very excited about this one. It’s a romantic comedy, and those are always fun to write. And for those who were upset that I didn’t resolve the subplot between Tony and Mark in Book 3 of this series, I did it in this one. So this wraps up all the loose ends in the Misled Mail Order Brides Series.

Quickly, here are all of the books in this series:

[image error]  [image error]  [image error] 

The Bride Price is Sep’s romance. (Sep was Joel Larson’s brother-in-law in Shotgun Groom.)
The Rejected Groom is Anthony (aka Tony) Larson’s romance. (Tony is one of the twin boys Richard and Amanda had.)
The Perfect Wife is Mark Larson’s romance. (Mark is the other twin boy Richard and Amanda had.)
The Imperfect Husband is Annabelle Larson’s romance. (Annabelle it the daughter Richard and Amanda had.)
This is Annabelle Laron’s romance. She’s the daughter of Richard and Amanda Larson.

So, now that I’m done with Richard and Amanda’s children, I have started writing about Tom and Jessica’s four daughters. Nelly’s Mail Order Husband should be out before the end of the year. (I’m already halfway into writing it.)

But since this is about The Imperfect Husband, let me get to it…

[image error]

As I wrote above, this is a romantic comedy. The hero, Ben Martin, has a terrible time knowing what to say around Annabelle. In desperation, he decides to join Annabelle’s women’s group (disguised as a woman) so he can learn who she is as a friend, rather than a love interest. Keep in mind it’s all a comedy, and while I have a couple of serious moments, the overall tone is fun and light. Below, I’ll share a couple of snippets that are part of my favorite scenes to give you an idea of what you’ll be getting with this book.

This is my personal favorite in the series. It’s also the longest book, and again, it ties up all of the loose ends I left hanging from the previous books. Most of all, there’s a happily ever after ending.

If interested, here are the links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple

Smashwords

Google Play

Okay, so now that I’m done with that part of the post, here are a couple of snippets that made me laugh while I was writing the book:

Snippet #1 (Annabelle arrives at Ben’s house)

Annabelle’s mother was the first to talk when they reached the door. “Good afternoon, Ben. How are you doing?”

Ben, having forgotten his mouth was full of peppermints, started to answer, and one of the half-melted pieces of peppermints flew out of his mouth and landed right on Annabelle’s dress—directly above her right breast. Face warmer than the hottest day in August, Ben hurried to dig his handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to her.

….. (later in the same scene) …..

Once he made sure he was done with the peppermint, he headed to the parlor.

“It is a sign of things to come,” Annabelle was telling her mother in a hushed tone. “Every time he’s around me, something bad happens.”

“You mustn’t look at things like that,” her mother said in a quiet voice. “Ben’s a good young man. He’s just nervous, that’s all. After some time, that will go away.”

“I don’t think so. I think he’s going to be spitting peppermints at me for the rest of my life.”

Snippet #2 (Tony confronts Mark and Ben in Ben’s house) – Ben’s reaction still makes me chuckle (though this does show that Tony had not forgiven Mark at this point in the series, and yes, Mark will finally get the point)

“I thought I heard you telling me to come in,” Mark replied. Then, after a moment, he asked, “I assume the first night as a married couple didn’t go as hoped?”

At first, Annabelle thought he was asking her the question, but then she realized his gaze was focused on someone behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Ben gesture for Mark to stop talking.

Tony noticed it, too, because in the next instance, he let go of Annabelle, ran over to Mark, and gave him a swift punch in the nose. Then he headed right for Ben. Ben let out a startled shriek and darted around the furniture, successfully avoiding him.

“You’re not going to force Annabelle to be your wife,” Tony barked, his face red from the effort of chasing Ben around the room. When it became clear that he wasn’t going to get to punch Ben, he returned to Mark, who was wiping his bloody nose with a handkerchief.

Inspirational Video for Writers: Follow Your Passion

I stumbled upon this video this morning, and while it’s geared toward aspiring writers, it can also fit for writers who’ve been doing this for a while. This video is under 3 minutes, but there’s a lot of wisdom in it.

When I published my first indie book in 2009, the authors around me who decided to also publish their own books were doing so for the passion of writing. We were glad to finally have an avenue to publish our stories that didn’t require a ton of money or a publisher telling us to change them.

(Now, don’t get me wrong. I think traditional publishing is wonderful. I have nothing against it. But I am grateful to indie publishing because it opened up doors most authors wouldn’t have had open to them otherwise.)

So, early on, the mindset of most authors in indie publishing was on writing for passion. I don’t know exactly when the mindset shifted in the indie community, but it seemed that most authors started entering the indie publishing world in order to make money around 2013-2014. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to make money if you’re writing. If you can write books you love and make money at it, that’s great. My concern is when money is THE MAIN REASON you’re writing. Writing stories for the purpose of making money will end up stifling your passion. When you stifle your passion, writing becomes more of a chore than a labor of love, and if it keeps being a chore, you’re going to probably end up bitter and resentful. Something you once loved can become something you hate.

I don’t think the “writing to market” mindset really exploded until 2015-2016. Suddenly, there were courses all over the place where authors could learn how to write to market. You couldn’t get away from it, or at least, I couldn’t. This philosophy was all over You Tube, in podcasts, in author forums, on Facebook, and in blog posts. These all led to me feeling like a failure as a writer because I couldn’t measure up to the level of success some authors were “so easily” obtaining. And, now that I think about it, it probably made a lot of other authors feel the same way.

But it seems that this phase is starting to fizzle out. I think authors are beginning to realize that writing to market doesn’t work well in the longterm. You can sustain it for a few years, but sooner or later, the chore of writing what others want (instead of what you want) starts to take its toll on you. Oftentimes, I don’t even think writers are aware of how much of a toll it’s taking until they wake up one day feeling as if all of their energy is gone, which is where I was at in March 2018.

Writing what you’re passionate about is energizing. It fills you up. Since writing for passion in October 2018, I have been averaging 3500-4500 words every writing day. (I take weekends off, and sometimes a day or two off during the week. You do NEED breaks!) At this time last year, I was struggling to reach 3000 words, and sometimes I would only manage 2000 on a good day (even with the breaks). So yes, there is a huge difference between writing to market and writing for passion. And honestly, I’m super excited about all of the books I have coming out this year. I want to go back and reread them, even though I just finished editing them. These are what passion books are like. They’re the keepers.

I think as we move forward in indie publishing, we’ll realize that “writing to market” is unsustainable. As the men in the video I posted above said, there IS room for passion books in the market. But it takes courage to pursue passion because the world is only impressed with a big sales number (aka lots of money). The world isn’t impressed with a story written out of love. The world wants to hear the success stories of how an author sold a million copies or made a six-figure income in under a year.

But at the end of the day, I believe writing stories for passion will produce books that resonate with the people who read them. I have never once regretted the time I spent on a book I wrote for passion. I’ve done quite a few books for passion that have sold very little. For example, one series didn’t even earn $50 in 2018. (Keep in mind that is an entire series, not just one book.) I have other examples just like that, too. But I’m still glad I wrote them. I go back and reread them, and I enjoy them as much today as I did when I wrote them. Most of my books don’t make much money. It’s a myth that all writers are making a lot of money off of their books, whether they indie or traditionally publish.

This is why it’s important to focus on the main thing that truly matters if you’re writing: a book’s real worth boils down to how much that book touches the person who reads it. That is why writing for passion is so powerful. Books are more than words on paper; they are an emotional experience to be savored.

So for those of you who might be feeling discouraged, I just want to say that it’s okay if your book isn’t a big seller. We shouldn’t be measuring our worth by a dollar amount. We should be measuring it by the joy we have and the joy we can pass on to others. There is a place for your book in this world. There is a story only you can tell. So I encourage you to follow the advice the two men in this video offered. That advice will sustain you for a lifetime in the writing world.

Updates on What I’m Writing

First and foremost, I do have one book on pre-order for March 2 (that is The Imperfect Husband), and two books in the editing stages (Shane’s Deal and Kidnapping the Viscount). I haven’t forgotten about these. I’m just pretty much done with them.

What I’m going to discuss today is what I’m currently writing. 

Something that surprised me is that I didn’t get really excited about any of these four current works in progress until I hit the 15,000 word mark. That’s really strange, and I don’t remember if that is how it used to be when I started writing romances back in 2007.

To put things in perspective on how long it’ll probably take me to finish these books, my average word count for a book is between 50,000 to 70,000 words.

Anyway, here’s my progress in each book:

The Wedding Pact (Marriage by Fairytale: Book 3) is at 26,000 words!

[image error]

This is loosely based off of Little Red Riding Hood, but I added a lot of other elements that makes this a unique story. So we have the heroine who wears red as she’s fleeing, you have a villain with the title Lord Wolfe (not very original but I wanted to do it, so I did), and the cottage in the middle of the nowhere. But that’s pretty much where the similarities between this story and the tale of Little Red Riding Hood end.

At the end of last week, I was struggling with which direction to transition it from the hero marrying the heroine to where the hero’s brothers start dying off. My original plan was to have him go to Mr. Stephen Bachman’s home since the hero is friends with him, but I realized that didn’t really excite me. So I decided instead to send the hero and heroine off to London where the hero (Vicar Julian Roskin) could face his older two brothers who hate him for something terrible he did. And that’s where things got really fun for me. I had no idea what terrible thing Julian had done in the past, but it was fun to write the scene and flesh things out so that the answer came to me. And then I got even greater ideas from there. I don’t want to spoil the book, but it’s going to be fun to weave in gothic-like elements that I’ve been itching to get at for a while now.

Nelly’s Mail Order Husband (Husbands for the Larson Sisters: Book 1) is at 27,000 words.

[image error]

This is turning into such a cute romantic comedy. Nelly is Tom and Jessica Larson’s oldest daughter. Nelly is determined to run a homestead without the help of a man because she’s afraid he’ll want to take over and run it for her, thereby confining her to the kitchen all day. Nelly’s three younger sisters can’t imagine how their sister will really be happy without a husband, so they take it upon themselves to answer an ad from a man back in Boston who’s looking for a wife.

I’m at the point where Nelly’s already found out about this, and she agrees to marry him only because there’s a neighboring homesteader who won’t leave her alone.  This neighbor is a guy who’s a lot an unredeemed Neil Craftsman. So yeah, he’s definitely not the kind of person our heroine should be marrying.

Anyway, I just got through writing a couple of scenes where our hero, Val, has had to milk a cow and muck out stalls, both things that are nothing like what he imagined his life was going to be like when he came out to Omaha. He had (wrongly) assumed that a landowner had lots of money and servants, so now he’s having to adjust to doing things he never once imagined he’d ever do. I’m laughing through most of the scenes as I’m writing them. The poor guy wasn’t prepared at all for this.

I have an idea of where I’m heading with this, and if all goes as I think they will, this will be one time where the heroine is going to save the hero, which would be a nice change of pace.

Fairest of Them All (Marriage by Fairytale: Book 4) is at 27,000 words.

[image error]

First off, this is not a retelling of Snow White. It’s inspiration did come from Snow White, but there are very little similarities between that fairy tale and this romance. The elements that it has in common is a step-mother, a mirror, and beauty. But that is where all similarities end. Because in this version, the step-mother is the heroine. The  hero is the step-father, and he’s alive, though he believes himself to be under a curse that kills every wife who looks at him. The heroine (Viola) and her step-daughter do have some friction because the step-daughter assumes the heroine is going to die because of the curse, but she has to let the heroine chaperone her since it’s her first Season.

This book is a lot of fun because I’m getting to work with gothic elements. It’s primarily a romance. The focus is on the main couple as they fall in love. But within that is the contrast of beauty vs darkness of the human soul. The townhouse does figure into the feeling of darkness that hovers over the hero’s life, though it’s just beneath the surface, and it’s something that must be overcome. This is not a supernatural book. All elements have a natural cause. My stories all take place in the real world, and I’ll keep them there. But I thought it’d be fun to have a townhouse that had the spooky feeling to it.

Anyway, I’m at the point where the heroine is aware of the heaviness that hangs in the air, and she’s just decided to fight against it. The hero has spent so much time in isolation from the rest of the world that he’d definitely weaker than most heroes. He longs for a meaningful human connection but has been afraid to take it because he feels like he dooms everyone around him. I haven’t gotten too far into his point of view. I had to deal with the heroine first since (at the moment) she’s more open to me than he is. We’ll get there with him, though. She’ll draw him out, and when she does, I’ll be able to dive more into who he is.

Okay, now for the fourth book…

Forever Yours (Dave and Mary’s third book) is at 15,000 words.

COVER COMING SOON

Today, I finally got my full-blown enthusiasm for this book. I’m excited about the other three, but I had an easier time getting into those than I did this one.

Something I never said (but always felt) is that Dave and Mary were meant to have a trilogy, each being a standalong novel. When I wrote Eye of the Beholder, I felt there were two more books I should write. I wrote To Have and To Hold, and then I got distracted with other books.

I want to do their third book justice. I’m happy with their other two books, and I want to be happy with this one, too. So I took longer to get into this one. I had to get back into the mindset of the characters. This is a book where the characters are already established, and I want to be true to who they are. I had to go through my timelines and figure out how old each of the children are, and that isn’t only for Dave and Mary but for all of the Larson family. I spent a couple of weeks getting re-acquainted with the entire family.

I’m finally into the groove of the story now, and I must say that it’s not turning out to be the way I expected. Dave did fall off a horse and break his leg, like I had planned. But I have to be honest. I’m chuckling through most of the scenes I’m writing. I didn’t chuckled through Eye of the Beholder or To Have and To Hold, but I’m laughing a lot in this one. So this might actually turn into a lighthearted story.

And maybe that’s what they need. Maybe after all the hard times they’ve faced, they need a lighthearted book. Maybe that’s the perfect way to tie up the three books dedicated specifically to this couple. I do think Dave will still have to face a bout of insecurity, but I don’t think it’s going to be as long or deep as I originally expected.

I’m going to let Dave and Mary take me where they want me to go. I’ve learned a long time ago to trust the characters to tell the best story possible.

Yes, It Is Possible To Fall In Love With Writing Again

[image error]

ID 136842390 © Rio Satriawan | Dreamstime.com

I don’t recall if I shared this, but there were a couple of times over the last year where I began to wonder if it was possible to ever fall in love with writing after I left the “writing to market” mindset. Though I enjoyed what I was working on, I didn’t fall in love with my stories like I had when I started writing romances back in late 2007.

Those initial years of getting my feet wet in indie publishing and figuring out what kind of romances I most wanted to write was like a courtship. Everything came so easy. I didn’t think about word count or money. I just sat down and wrote the story that came to mind. I joined the characters on the journey they took me on, and when each story was over, I felt this huge sense of sorrow that there was no more story to tell. I never thought that feeling would return, especially after being wrapped up in word counts, book promotion, sales, etc, etc…

I had brief periods last year where I would get a boost or two along the enthusiasm radar, but I’ll be honest, most days I had to force myself to sit in the chair and write. I enjoyed the story, but I had to make myself write it.  The reason for this is obvious now that I look back on it. I was detoxing from the “writing to market” mindset. Apparently, just making the decision to write for passion wasn’t like turning on a switch and making all of my dreams come true. It took time to re-train my brain to think the way I thought back in 2007.

Looking back, I realize this was bound to happen. No one acquires a habit overnight. It takes time and perseverance. I hadn’t adopted the writing to mindset philosophy right away, either. I’m not even sure when it slipped it, but I know it grew bigger and bigger the more I focused on podcasts, blog posts, and books aimed at selling more books. I also had conversations with other authors in forums and in emails where this was the dominant theme. Authors weren’t concerned much about the craft of storytelling. They were much more interested in maximizing the money they were making.

For example, today alone, I got an email with the headline, “How an author doubled her income on the first book in her series.” This is from a site that isn’t known for pushing the book promotion, so I was surprised to see that email. But it shows how prevalent this mindset is in the writing community. I continually have to delete and unsubscribe from this stuff because it only pulls me back in, and I don’t want to go back to that.

When I think on it, it’s sad that very few of the conversations I had over the past few years had anything to do with the love of writing. I remember starting out with publishing ebooks in 2009, and the conversations I had with most authors were focused on the love of writing. We were indie publishing because we didn’t want a publisher coming in and telling us to do with our stories. We wanted freedom to write what was in our hearts to write. Sink or swim, the focus was on creating the best book we were inspired to write. And it was so easy to write those kinds of books. Those books pretty much wrote themselves. All we did was record the movie that was playing out in our minds. And it was natural that falling in love with the story would happen. Ending the story was saying goodbye and moving on. It was hard to do.

I never felt sad when I finished a book that was written to market. I was relieved. Why? Because I could finally publish it, make money, and start the next book. And as I write that, I cringe. That shouldn’t be the driving focus of writing a book, especially not one that is fiction. I only confess this because if some other writer is struggling with trying to find their passion same way I was last year, they’ll know they’re not alone. Sometimes it’s nice to know you’re not the only person who’s struggled through something. I was relieved when I found out Dean Wesley Smith grew to hate the critical voice when writing. (That critical voice is what writing to market is all about. It’s always looking at what others want in the book instead of letting characters tell you what will be in it.) What he wrote about critical vs. creative voice in his book, Writing into the Dark, resonated with me, and it gave me hope that I could once again fall in love with writing.

Anyway, it took me almost an entire year before I finally shook off the last remnants of the writing to market philosophy. It is HARD to train the brain to think differently once an idea takes a root. But I finally did it. In December, for the first time in years, I finished three books that are 100% passion based. I was sad to see all of those books end, and I missed working in them for a full month. It was only when I got about 15,000 words into my current books that I began to fall in love with the new ones. Once you’ve had an amazing high while writing one book, it’s hard to think another book will ever be as wonderful. But it turns out that falling in love with the next book is possible. It might take some time while you get to know the characters and figure out the story they want to take you on, but it’s definitely possible.

Happiness Thrives off of Positivity

I should remember to limit my time on Facebook. There is so much negativity flying around on that site. Authors are told to keep their platforms alive by engaging on places like Facebook and Twitter, but when I go there, I get majorly drained. I went there today and, afterwards, when I sat down to write, I had a hard time getting into the stories that I was super excited about writing just last week.

One thing I’ve learned is that negative thinking drains a person’s energy. It doesn’t help writers make better stories. It actually hinders them. So I’m not going back on Facebook for a while. If a friend messages me, I’ll go to the message there, but I’m not checking the timeline. It’s counterproductive to what I need to be doing.

I understand there are terrible things going on in the world. I keep up with the news, though I prefer independent news sources since they are far more balanced than what I’ll find on TV. I find independent news sources to be a lot less “panic! panic!” in tone, too. To me, Facebook has became increasingly negative over the past couple of years. It used to be a place where people were civil. Sure, there were the hackers that caused us grief, but at least there was a sense of peace when scrolling down the timeline.

These days, I see a lot people arguing with each other. I really don’t like to watch the arguments that erupt over there. I also don’t like seeing people putting down other people for not believing the same way they do. None of this is productive. I don’t know how anyone can expect to change someone’s mind about something when they say, “You’re such an idiot if you believe that.” (And believe me, that is tame compared to some of the comments I’ve read over there.)

I realize we’re not all going to agree on everything. What saddens me is that some people don’t even take the time to listen to the other side. They’re too busy trying to convince someone they’re right that they refuse to acknowledge there might be something they can learn from an opposing person’s point of view. I’m not saying they have to agree with  that person. But whatever happened to listening to them? Whatever happened to sitting down and having an honest discussion where both sides feel safe to give their point of view?

I’ve met people who didn’t agree with me on many things, and yet, we were able to get along anyway. In high school, I used to have fun political debates with a friend who supported the other side. We joked around and had a good time. We weren’t calling each other names or treating each other like trash. I’ve also had good discussions with people of different faiths. I found it interesting to find out what they believe and why, and I felt the spirit of give and take was a positive one. It didn’t change my own faith, but it showed me a perspective in the other’s life that I never would have had otherwise, and in the end, my faith grew stronger as a result because I was better able to solidify why I believe the way I do.

Anyway, it’s just sad to see where social media is going. I’ve enjoyed Facebook because I met some wonderful people over there. It’s sad that going there isn’t a pleasant experience anymore. I have to get away from it in order to get back into the positive mindset. I really do believe that what we surround ourselves with impacts our attitude. Now, I don’t think we should put our heads in the sand. It is good to know what’s happening, but we also need to keep a positive perspective on things so we don’t lose our joy for doing things we love. Because what we put into our minds will come back through our words and actions.

I hope I didn’t bring anyone down by writing this post. That wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to encourage people to focus on what is right with the world instead of what’s wrong with it. We might not be able to change things on a global scale, but we can be a source of encouragement to a person we know in our lives. Also, we have a purpose. There is a reason we’re here at this point in time. We have something we’re supposed to do, and you are the only person who can do what you’re called to do while I’m the only person who can do what I’m called to do. There are no two people exactly alike. We’re all unique. By being positive, I think we can best reach our purpose and help those around us.

It’s a Tie (So I’ll Work On Both Books)

Before I get into the post, I should mention that One Enchanted Evening is now available.

[image error]

Here are the links where you can find it:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple Books

Google Play

Smashwords

I have so much going on that I had to include that in this post because I probably won’t be doing another blog post for a week or two.

Help Me Decide My Next Book

I’m done with writing and the initial edits of the three books I was working on at the end of last year. The Imperfect Husband, Shane’s Deal, and Kidnapping the Viscount are all ready for my editing team.

This means that I have an opening now for three new books. I’ve already picked out two that I want to do.

The first one is The Wedding Pact.

[image error]

It’s a Regency, and it is Book 3 in the Marriage by Fairytale Series. This follows One Enchanted Evening (which will be available this Sunday).

This one is very loosely based off of Little Red Riding Hood, and it will have a gothic undertone with the primary focus, of course, on the romance. Our heroine has been forced to live a secluded existence after her parents’ death. She has a guardian she’s never met, but this guardian has dictated every detail of her life. Through the servants, everything she’s been taught, what she’s been allowed to wear, and what she’s even been allowed to eat has been under his control. She’s never been to London, nor has she had a Season.

The day comes when she turns twenty-one, and this is the day he’s decided to pay her a visit. Long story short, he’s been keeping her under lock and key (so to speak) because he intends to marry her. I don’t know the details of who he is, and I won’t know them until I write the book. But suffice it to say, this guy’s a jerk. She ends up running away, and that’s when she comes across Vicar Julian Roskin. Julian has appeared in The Marriage Contract and One Enchanted Evening.

I don’t really know much more than this at this time except that her guardian will be tracking her down. I have a side plot that is happening during these events, but I don’t want to get bogged down into that in this post.

The second book is Nelly’s Mail-Order Husband.

(I have no cover yet)

This is going to start a new series that features the Larson family. In this case, we’re getting to Tom and Jessica’s daughters. Since they had all girls, I decided to name the series “The Husband List” since these girls all have a mission to find husbands. That is, except for Nelly, who is the oldest daughter.  She’s very independent, and she would rather stay single. I introduce her in The Imperfect Husband (which is coming out in March), and I set the stage for who she is. She’s pretty much a tomboy, and she loves working the land. She hates cooking and sewing. And by the time this story begins, she owns her own homestead.

Well, her sisters feel sorry for her because they can’t imagine how she can be happy without a husband. So they get a mail-order husband for her. The man they pick, however, has no idea that a landowner out west isn’t wealthy. He agrees to the marriage thinking that there will be money and servants. His family just lost their money, so he had gone out west to marry Nelly thinking his financial problems are over.

So really, both he and Nelly are going to be in for a surprise because of her scheming (but well-meaning) sisters. This book is going to be a comedy. I don’t know much more than what I just told you, but that’s how things are for me when I write. I only have enough to get a story started. The rest evolves as I write it.

Okay, so that brings me to a third opening, and this is where I need your help.

I have two options that I’m willing to write, but I don’t know which one to go with. I’m going to tally up the answers you leave in the comments, and the book that gets the most mentions will be the one I’ll write.

Option 1: Forever Yours

This will be Dave and Mary’s third and final book. Dave’s going to sustain an injury that will render him unable to do any farm work, and it’ll be up to Mary (and others) to get through the summer. Dave will be the one who’ll deal with insecurities for a change. Usually, it’s Mary, but I thought it’d be fun to switch things around.

Option 2: Not titled yet

This will be a Regency, and it would be Book 4 in the Marriage by Fairytale series. This will be loosely based off of Snow White, but in this case, the step-mother isn’t the villian. Our heroine is a lady who has given up on ever finding a husband. She’ll be in her earlier thirties at the beginning of the story. Her family (younger sisters, perhaps) will come into need for money, and they’ll need it fast. So our heroine agrees to marry a duke who keeps himself holed up from the world. No one has seen him in years. He has a stepdaughter, and he has gone through two wives. Both wives have mysteriously died, which makes our heroine’s venture into this marriage a risky venture and will offer wonderful gothic undertones that I’m eager to explore.

Which one do you want to read more? Option 1 or Option 2?

 

 

Why I Write What I Do (How to Tell If My Books Are A Good Fit For You)

I wasn’t going to address this topic, but I saw a video on You Tube this morning on the problem with Christian music, and it made it think of romances, specifically Christian ones. Back in 2007, I got back into reading romances after spending considerable time in fantasy and thriller.

My journey on finding out what I want to write:

Since I don’t like reading romances that have sex outside of marriage, I went to the Christian romance category first, thinking it would be a safe bet since so many non-Christian romances have sex outside of marriage in them. I hate to say it, but I quickly got bored with those Christian romances. The storylines were often simplistic. Most of the time, there was one thin plot line, and it was filled in with a lot of “God spoke to me…” and “The Bible says…” comments that it came off more like a sermon than a story.

Now, those of you who’ve read my books know that I have mentioned God in some of them. So I’m not opposed to bringing God or the Bible into a romance. When done right, it can be effective. The problem is the way those Christian romances used God didn’t add to the story. It only jarred a reader right out of the story so that the reader felt like they were getting info dumped with religion.

And quite frankly, when the characters did get married and when every single author closed the door on the bedroom scene (esp. in a book where a character had a sexual hangup of some kind like the hero losing his first wife to childbirth and being scared of having sex), I found it to be very disappointing. Over the years, people have told me that sex should never be included in a book by a Christian author. But God created sex, and since He did, I see no reason not to include it. I have prayed about this issue, and I’ve studied the Bible on it. I’ve received confirmation several times over the year from God saying what I’m doing is in His will.

Thinking over the purpose of writing fiction:

The purpose of fiction in any genre is to tell a story.  What is the purpose of a story? It’s primarily to entertain. It’s not to give a lecture on something. Nonfiction is for lectures. Now, I do believe we can teach things through fiction, but this is something that has to be done will skill. Info dumping pulls a reader out of the book. As a reader, I want to be swept up in the story, and the best way I do that is by immersing myself in the character I’m reading about. I want to join the character on his/her journey. I want to feel what they feel in every way. If I read horror, I want to be scared. If I read fantasy, I want to be awed by magic. If I’m reading romance, I want to fall in love. Story is all about emotion.

So, story is not about facts. Fiction taps into our emotions. And if there is something we learn from it, that learning takes place from within us (as a reader). It doesn’t come from the author. I think that’s what a lot of these Christian romances are missing when they harp on “God this” and “God that” to the point where the author is beating readers over the head with a sermon. I know why Christian romances do this. They’re trying to make sure they get across something about God in the story. But readers don’t need to be beat over the head with something. Readers are smart enough to figure out the subtle nuances in the story. Besides, if you layer in those nuances, then the reader will discover something new the second time they read the book. Layers are fun to write, and they should be fun for readers to discover if they want to search for them. The best books I’ve read are those that make me think about it well after I have finished them.

I do believe romances can be written through a Christian world view and be done in a way that sweeps the reader through an exciting storyline where they keep turning the page to find out what happens next. BUT… these romances have to take risks. They can’t be watered down stories with a slim plot line connecting scenes together. In other words, they can’t be written to market.

Writing to market is playing it safe. Writing to market is watering things down. Writing to market is about appeasing as many people as possible. After studying this whole “writing to market” thing for almost a year, I have come to the conclusion that writing to market makes books boring because writing to market eliminates the risk in telling the story.

The best books are those written from passion. Those authors take risks. They venture into territory that other writers don’t dare to go into. I have been slimming down my messages about God for the past couple of years because I knew that most Christian women reading my books would get upset with the sex scenes in them. So I was tailoring my books more for the non-Christian market. But I just got through writing four books from a place of passion where I have taken a lot of risks (and yes, mentioning God was one of them), and I am in love with those books. I haven’t been in love with my own books for a long time. These are books I’m 100% excited about. I will never write to market again.

Here is what I’m writing:

I’m writing books that are meant for a small niche of romance readers who like reading about imperfect people, storylines you wouldn’t expect in a typical Christian romance, a mention of God when it fits the plot, and sexual situations within marriage.

If that is what you want to read, stick around because that’s what I’m going to write from now on. If, however, those aren’t the kinds of books you want to read, then I’m giving you a warning because you might want to go somewhere else.

I know it’s not often an author will advise people to stay clear of their books, but I don’t want people to be disappointed because they expected my books to be something they’re not. Your time and money are best used on things you want to spend them on.