Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 44

How Long Should A Story Be?

The simple answer to this question, of course, is this: A story should only be as long as is necessary to complete it. Word count goals aside, the main thing is writing a story that isn’t rushed but also doesn’t drag on. It should keep the reader wanting to turn the page. When it’s done, there should be a satisfaction in it.

Lately, I’ve been discouraged because my stories seem to go on and on. My stories often range from 50,000 to 70,000 words. Most of the time, I end up with 60,000.  Other authors around me seem to manage to produce a satisfying story at 30,000 or 40,000 words. If I could cut my word count in half, I could produce twice as many books in a year, and the more books an author can produce, the more money that author has the potential for making. I’d like to say that money has nothing to do with writing, but the truth is, it has a lot to do with writing. If the books aren’t selling, then authors have to find other ways to earn money, and most of the time that will require the authors to write a lot less.

At the rate I’m going right now, the most books I can produce in a year is between 8-10. That’s what I’ve been pretty much doing for the past couple of years. I thought I was doing more this year, but the truth is, I’m going to be at 9. Last year I was at 10. But then, last year, I did that nonfiction novella.

So I’ve already been writing as much as I can without going through burnout. Some authors think I write too many books a year. Well, I know of authors who are publishing a lot more than I am. Some are publishing a book a month. Some even publish two in a month. I don’t know how they do it because I’m maxed out on how many I can do unless I start writing shorter stories.

My last attempt at doing this was The Bride Price. It was supposed to be 30,000 words. It turned out to be 50,000. I thought plotting it first would enable to me to bring the word count down. It didn’t. I’m already at 52,000 words in Married In Haste, which needs at least 10,000 more words in order to wrap things up nicely. I just started The Rejected Groom (which follows The Bride Price) which is already at 13,000 words, and I know that I’m only 1/4 of the way into the story, if even that far along. Then in Wanted: Mail Order Husband, I’m at 22,000 words, and I don’t see this finishing before the 50,000-word mark.

It’s frustrating because sales are going down on all of the retailers except for Amazon. Now, I don’t know if that’s because more people are switching over to Amazon, if I don’t have the same visibility I used to at those other retailers, or if it’s because I’m not producing books fast enough. It’s probably a combination of all three factors.  Charging $3.99 instead of $2.99 for a new book is out of the question because my sales will drop if I do that. That’s why I spend this year doing everything I could think of to get more books published. I thought dictation was the answer, but it turns out I dictate at about the same pace I type when you factor in all the editing I need to do with dictation because dictation doesn’t pick up the nuances in the English language, like dear vs. deer.

So I’ve had to come to a very difficult question: how long should my stories be?

Would I be happy with my work if I were to shorten it in order to produce more books in a year? I know some would argue that happiness shouldn’t be a prime motivator for writing. They would argue this is about making money, and an author should do whatever it takes to make more of it. If that means writing about stuff you aren’t all that excited about, then you should do it. So, I’m guessing they would tell me that I should write the stories at the length that will make me the most money. Shorter, in this case, would be better.

But let’s say we fast forward to my death bed. I love writing, and I love writing the types of books I do. Up to this point, I have written each story in the way the characters wanted it to go. These stories average 60,000 words. If I were to have trimmed out some of the subplots, would I have been as happy with the stories as I am with them right now?

The truth is, no, I wouldn’t be as happy with them. One of my favorite series is the Chance At Love Series because of the thread I had going through each story about Abe and Carl. I especially liked Carl, which made it fun to do into the murder of his first wife and the fallout from that.  If I had removed all of that, the stories would have been shorter. Would they have been complete? Yes because that extra stuff had nothing to do with the main plot, and I suppose when you’re making a story shorter, you have to cut out some of the excess around the edges. I kind of like the excess.  One of the things I’m enjoying most about Married In Haste (which is Book 2 in the Marriage by Fate Series) is that I’m finally going to put something at play with Lady Eloise that I’ve been working on since the last Regency series I did (Marriage by Bargain Series).  These little excess things I do don’t really add anything of importance to the main plot, but they’re fun, which is why I’ve been doing them. They lengthen the story.

So I guess what I’m saying is that I want to keep my books the length they are.  Now, for another author, the way I do things might not work well. Short stories and novellas can be very well done. Longer books than what I do can be very well done, too. I just have to come to peace with the fact that I’m not other authors. I am me. I need to stop comparing myself to others, which isn’t as easy as it sounds.

What Book Signings Are Like

Right now I’m in the Omaha, Nebraska area visiting my good friend Janet Syas Nitsick.  She signed up to be one of the vendors at the AppleJack Festival in Nebraska City, Nebraska.  There were lots of vendors, but Janet was in the Fox Center.  I played the gopher for her, running around and getting things she needed.  It was a lot of fun.

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Janet Syas Nitsick at her table. She is dressed in the same outfit the heroine is on The Bride List book cover (which is featured on the poster next to her).

So anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever done a post on what an author goes through to set up a book signing at a craft show, festival, or some other kind of event where people can sell things.

1. The author needs to search for events that are going on in their area that they are interested in going to.  

There will be a person to contact if you want to be a vendor.  The author contacts the vendor, and the vendor will give the author the information on where to go, when to be there to set things up, etc.

2. The author needs to look at expenses.

There is usually a cost to reserve the spot.  For this particular event, Janet paid $75 to be a vendor.  Also, since she’s in Nebraska, she is required to charge sales tax.  In this case, Nebraska City’s sales tax was 7.5%.  The sales tax varies from one city to the next. (The taxes all go to the government. She doesn’t keep it.)  In addition to that, Janet had to figure in cost of gas since this is almost one hour from her home and money paid for food and drink while she is out.  Also, she had to keep track of the miles she drove. Those costs are business related and can be written off when she files her taxes, but she will need to keep careful track of her expenses, so receipts are a must.  I mention all of this because unless she can make more than all of the expenses, she will not make a profit.  So as you can see, her asking $9.95 for a paperback isn’t outrageous.  If she was to have any hope of recouping the costs, she needed to ask that.

3. The author must engage people.

One thing I noticed over the two days was that if Janet didn’t start talking to people, no one would have bought her books.  The rules of marketing are different when you’re in person.  Online, you have some flexibility. You can do free reads, engage in social media, run ads, etc, but at a book signing, you don’t have that luxury.  You need to get out and mingle with people.  If you don’t, people will go right by the table without looking back. About half the people Janet talked to loved to read, but they hadn’t planned on stopping by the table. She had to make eye contact with them, smile, and engage them into a conversation in order to get them to stop. When I found out they loved clean romances, which is what she writes, I kept wondering why they didn’t stop before she talked to them. So if you’re going to have a book signing, you must be willing to get out there and socialize.  (The same was true for other vendors as well. Those who initiated the most conversations sold the best.)

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Now, I skipped over the whole thing where an author has to set up their table because I have pictures for that!  Pictures are the fun part.

Some Pictures From My Trip to Fort Benton, Montana

Since I’ve started Wanted: Mail Order Husband which is the first book in Fort Benton, Montana Series, I decided to go over there to take a look through their pioneer village and museum.

Fort Benton is the birthplace of Montana.  They were a thriving town as long as the steamboat was the preferred method of transportation, but when the railroad came in, it stopped being a big hub in the state.  It was a “wild” west town in its early days. People were shot in the street, and it got pretty rowdy on the main street at night with the gambling and prostitution.  I also learned that buffalo hunting was a huge deal in this area of the United States from both Native Americans and the white settlers.  Also, grasshoppers were a hardship people who grew crops had to contend with.  Those are just a couple of highlights I learned along the way.  I have some good material for this upcoming series that will be a lot of fun.

I thought I’d share some of the pictures my husband and I took.  The things on display ran the range from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

Here are a couple of restored buildings.

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On the second floor this building was the dentist, eye doctor, and regular doctor.  The mercantile was on the main floor.  We were able to go inside and see all of the items that were in them.

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This is what a dentist’s office used to look like:

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This is in the mercantile:

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Here’s a buggy:

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This is an old cookstove with pots and pans:

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Here is a kitchen sink with a pump:

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And since I love to write romance, the pictures would be incomplete with a groom’s and bride’s clothing:

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Next time I go to Fort Benton, I will take some pictures of the town as it is today.  It really is a picturesque place.  They have done a wonderful job of preserving their history.

If It Takes A Scandal is Now Available!

This morning, If It Takes A Scandal is featured with an excerpt on the Buried Under Romance blog!  To celebrate, I’m offering a giveaway.  The winner will win a free ebook copy of If It Takes A Scandal.  To have a chance of winning, just leave a comment to the question I posed over there. So click here to get to the post!

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If It Takes A Scandal (Marriage by Bargain: Book 4)

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If It Takes A Scandal is the last book in the Marriage by Bargain Series.

If you would like to read the entire series in order, here is the list of the books:

Book 1: The Viscount’s Runaway Bride
Book 2: The Rake’s Vow
Book 3: Taming The Viscountess
Book 4: If It Takes A Scandal

And, though Her Counterfeit Husband is not a part of this series, that book features Jason and Anna (the Duke and Duchess of Watkins) who are friends with the heroine in If It Takes A Scandal.  Because of that, they do play a role in this book.

Here’s the description for If It Takes A Scandal:

A liberated widow. An impoverished earl. A forced marriage may be just what they needed…

Lady Candace Daniel is finally free from her cruel, abusive husband. He’s in no position to order her around from six-feet under. And with all the fun she’s having on the social circuit, she intends to never let a man have that kind of power again…

Corin St. George, the Earl of Durrant, has inherited an earldom and a ramshackle estate. He’s toiled for years to restore the property to its former glory, and he has little respect for the noblewomen around him squandering their husbands’ fortunes…

But when Corin is thrust into a compromising predicament at a ball, he’s forced to marry Candace, the unlucky widow who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Neither spouse has an interest in being together… until friends and fate conspire to show them the possibility of love…

If It Takes a Scandal is the forth and final book in the Marriage by Bargain series. If you like 19th century settings, stubborn but lovable characters, and second chances at happiness, then you’ll love Ruth Ann Nordin’s marital tale.

Buy the book to start the scandalous and heartwarming romance today!

You can find it at these retailers:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

iBooks

Smashwords

*If I didn’t post a link for your country, please let me know, and I’ll see if I can add it to my list in the future.

 

Update on the Goals I Posted on the Publishing Side of Being an Indie Author

In the post where I wrote about the biggest challenge of being an indie author.  I listed several things I needed to do as the publisher of my company.  Indies are their own publisher.  I thought since my writing break is now over, I would go back and check my progress.  If this kind of thing bores you, feel free to skip.

70% of my marketing and promotion goals were met.

What I got done: I have If It Takes A Scandal set up with the author assistant to promote on Facebook.  I also have a blog post scheduled at a romance blog on the book’s release date.  (The blog post includes a giveaway, so I’ll share it on this blog when it’s ready.)

What I still need to do: I have to set up a Bargain Booksy ad, but I can only do that after The Viscount’s Runaway Bride goes free on all channels.  I’m not doing this until September, so technically, I’m not behind on this one.  However, I haven’t sufficiently updated my blog and website, which is something I do need to do ASAP.

100% of the Formatting and Publishing Goals were met.

Copies of Taming The Viscountess have been mailed to my beta readers.  Forced Into Marriage is now in paperback.  If It Takes A Scandal has been uploaded in ebook and placed in all the retailers.  I finished formatting Shotgun Groom and got it uploaded to Smashwords and the retailers it distributes to. (I had to reformat that book because Smashwords wasn’t accepting the file.)

100% of Copyright Registration goals have been met.

I registered the remaining three books that I needed to do in order to get up-to-date to the US Copyright Office, and I sent off paperback copies to the office.

98% of Social Networking goals have been met.

Except for a personal email to send to a friend, I am all caught up.

60% of edits for The Bride Price are done.

I’m doing a chapter a day in this book.  It’ll be done next week.

100% of Book Cover goals have been met.

I did find someone to update all of my Marriage by Scandal Series.

I got the next two books in the Misled Mail Order Bride Series done.   I also got the pre-orders set up for these books.

I decided to get a new cover for Married In Haste because I wasn’t fully happy with the one that I currently had.

This was a cover I made, and here it is:

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Here is the new cover made by Yellow Prelude Design:

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Personally, I love this one a lot more.  Now I have to go and update this new cover on my blog, website, and in the pre-order information.

I am going to upgrade The Reclusive Earl cover, which is Book 1 in the Marriage by Fate Series.

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I think those were the goals I had listed.  As you can see, I didn’t have a 100% success rate for everything, but I got most of the stuff I had listed done, and that makes me very happy.

 

If It Takes A Scandal is Now on Pre-Order at all Retailers

If It Takes A Scandal is now on pre-order!

This will be available on August 31st

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This is the fourth and final book in the Marriage by Bargain series.

Here are the books in the Marriage by Bargain series:

The Viscounts Runaway Bride (Book 1)
A Rakes Vow (Book 2)
Taming The Viscountess (Book 3)
If It Takes A Scandal (Book 4)

A liberated widow. An impoverished earl. A forced marriage may be just what they needed…

Lady Candace Daniel is finally free from her cruel, abusive husband. He’s in no position to order her around from six-feet under. And with all the fun she’s having on the social circuit, she intends to never let a man have that kind of power again…

Corin St. George has inherited an earldom and a ramshackle estate. He’s toiled for years to restore the property to its former glory, and he has little respect for the noblewomen around him squandering their husbands’ fortunes…

But when Corin is thrust into a compromising predicament at a ball, he’s forced to marry Candace, the unlucky widow who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Neither spouse has an interest in being together… until friends and fate conspire to show them the possibility of love…

If It Takes a Scandal is the fourth and final romance in the Marriage by Bargain series. If you like 19th century settings, stubborn but lovable characters, and second chances at happiness, then you’ll love Ruth Ann Nordin’s marital tale.

You can pre-order this book here:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

KOBO

iBooks

Smashwords

 

Biggest Challenge of Being an Indie Author

I recently had a very good question posed to me.  “What is the biggest challenge you face as an indie writer?”

I had to think over this one for a while, but it finally came to me: the biggest challenge indie writers face is taking over the role of a publisher.

Writing is the easy part.  (And yet, it has its own challenges because you have those times when the story isn’t “coming” to you because the characters are silent or you are going in a direction the characters don’t want you to go in.  There are also days when you don’t feel like writing but have to anyway.)

But the hardest part is playing the role of publisher.  I’ll give you an example of what tasks I have on my list to take care of in the next two weeks.

Marketing and Promoting: I need to get ads scheduled for The Viscount’s Runaway Bride and If It Takes A Scandal.  If It Takes A Scandal is due out soon, and I want to maximize potential effectiveness in launching the book by promoting it via Facebook through an author assistant who helps to promote romance authors.  She’s very effective and knows the right groups to hit with the promos.  I’m not sure if I can say her name, so I’m not going to.  But The Viscount’s Runway Bride is the first book in the Marriage by Bargain Series.  When that goes to free, I can then run a Bargain Booksy ad (via Freebooksy) that promotes an entire series.  Since If It Takes A Scandal is the fourth and final book in the series, now is the optimal time to promote the entire series.  This method has worked well in the past, so I’m doing it again.

Thank you gifts to the people who take time out of their busy days to help me out: I need to send out paperback copies of Taming The Viscountess to my beta readers.  I finally got the paperback approved, and the books are sitting on my desk waiting to be signed and mailed out.

Publishing: I need to make the paperback version of Forced Into Marriage now that my formatter has gotten it back to me.

Editing: I need to edit The Bride Price.  I just finished the first draft yesterday, so I’m onto the edits.  Once I finish the initial edits, I send it off to my editing team which composes of two editors and some beta readers.

Formatting and Publishing: I need to reformat Shotgun Groom so it’s ready when The Bride Price is out.  Sep Wilson is Joel Larson’s younger brother-in-law in Shotgun Groom.  Now that I have written Sep Wilson’s romance in The Bride Price, I need to go back and give Shotgun Groom a table of contents so that Smashwords will approve it for wide distribution.  While I do that, I’m going to advertise The Bride Price at the end of it.  I also need to do a Kindle version and upload it to Amazon.

Copyright Registration: I need to register the copyright to my latest books.  I have to send in the paperback versions because the US Copyright Office wants the very best version, and they have written to me in the past telling me they want the paperbacks.

Marketing and Promoting: I need to update my website and blog to reflect the new books I’m going to be writing soon and to announce when If It Takes A Scandal is released.

Cover Design and Description and Setting Up Pre-Orders: I need to get three covers and descriptions done for three upcoming books.  Now that I know what the titles will be to Books 2 and 3 in the Misled Mail Order Bride Series and I know what the stories will be about, I can move through with getting the books set up for pre-order.  I also finally figured out what to do with Book 3 in the Marriage by Fate Series.  So I’m going to be working on those things as well.  Usually, I hire out for covers, but in this case, I’m doing these myself because I bought the fonts and images and want the same look for the entire series.

Hiring Cover Artist: I want to give the Marriage by Scandal Series (a series that has been out for years) new covers since they need a facelift.  I have already contacted someone about this.

Formatting: Once I get If It Takes A Scandal back from a couple more people, I can move ahead with formatting the ebook version and putting it on Smashwords and Amazon.

Social Networking (which is really marketing and promoting that a writer would usually do anyway): I also have about 60 emails to go through, some of which are from Wattpad and Facebook.  So I have to get that all answered.  I do try to get to people as soon as I can, but the work above can get overwhelming, and with four kids and a husband, it’s hard to get around to all of the social media stuff in a day.  I answer a couple of emails at a time and then come back to answer more the next day.

I won’t be writing for the next two weeks so I can get caught up on the stuff I’ve been putting off for the last month in order to get The Bride Price finished.

Some authors get personal assistants to help with the stuff I mentioned.  I do hire out for editing and (sometimes) covers and formatting.  Lately, I’ve been hiring out for book descriptions.  I also pay for ads.  I also have an accountant and payroll service.  So I have people helping me for key things, but I do most of the stuff myself.  Some people will say I’m nuts, but I enjoy having my hands in these other details.  I love the writing, but the aspect of controlling the publishing process and setting up deadlines are fun, too.

Characters in Rebellion in The Bride Price and a Facelift for Her Counterfeit Husband

My characters in The Bride Price (the book I plotted out before writing it) have rebelled and are changing the course of the story.   

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First of all, this isn’t just something that comes with plotting.  Pansters go through this, too.  So I’m not saying that this is something negative in plotting.  What I am saying, though, is that characters definitely have a mind of their own.

In The Bride Price, Sep (the hero) decided he didn’t want to wait until the end of the story to confess his love for Angela, which was one of my main plot points to end the book.  So that particular ending is now tossed out.

Then Sep decided he wasn’t going to as weak or reckless as I wanted him to be.  Sep, if you’ll recall in Shotgun Groom, went through a lot of abuse early in life (11-14), and Joel Larson had his work cut out for him in helping Sep heal from all of that.  Well, if I went with what I had plotted out, then all that work Joel did would have been for nothing.  (Something neither Joel nor Sep are all that thrilled about.)  So that changes the second half of the entire book.  Sep wants to prove that he can calmly and rationally handle the conflict that has now been brought to his attention.  I would say what, but that would spoil the book.

Then Angela (the heroine) has also decided she’s not going to follow the things I plotted out.  First, she decided she wasn’t going to have a limp.  In the beginning, she was supposed to have scars and a limp, but she didn’t want the limp so I had to toss that out.  Now, she’s decided she doesn’t want to be clueless that something is bothering Sep.  (This goes into the conflict I was talking about above.)  Right away, she knew something was wrong, and she’s decided she’s going to spy on him until she finds out what it is.  This also changes the entire course of the story.

The villains are also not fully cooperating with me.  I’m not sure what’s going on there, either.

So I’m throwing out the rest of the outline I had made, and I’m going to wing it the rest of the way through.  Honestly, I’m surprised my attempt at plotting lasted halfway into the story, so I wouldn’t call my experiment a failure.  It wasn’t.  I could go back and plot out things again, but I would rather spend that time writing the book.  I would like to have this one all finished and off to my editing team by the time school starts.

When it comes to writing, authors are not the ones in charge.  The characters are.  But that is why writing is so much fun.  It’s neat to see how the characters develop over the course of the story.

Her Counterfeit Husband is getting a facelift.

One of my friends/beta readers pointed out something that had slipped my mind.  Candace (Lady Hedwrett) is the heroine in If It Takes A Scandal (Marriage by Bargain Series: Book 4), and if you’ll recall, I introduced her in Her Counterfeit Husband.  The main characters in Her Counterfeit Husband are Anna and Jason (the Duke and Duchess of Watkins), and since they are Candace’s friends, I brought them back for If It Takes A Scandal.  For those who read If It Takes A Scandal and like it, they might want to go back and read Her Counterfeit Husband.  So I thought I’d get a new cover.

Here’s the old one:

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Here’s the new one:

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The cover was made by Love, Lust and Lipstick Stains, and I found them at The Book Cover Designer website that features pre-made covers.  The link I posted will take you to the other covers Love, Lust and Lipstick Stains have made, but you can look through other covers by other artists and in a variety of genres on the website.  I was really pleased by the look of the cover I selected.  Once you buy the pre-made cover, they take it off sale.

I am also going to give the description a facelift, too.  For that, I am hiring Best Page Forward to redo that for me.  I can write a novel, but it’s hard to describe it.  I started using this service for The Bride Price and was so happy with it that I’m letting Best Page Forward do other descriptions for me.  Since I’m giving Her Counterfeit Husband a new cover, I decided to give it a new description, too.  I haven’t gotten that yet, but I’ll post that when I publish If It Takes A Scandal so that you can read both of them together if you want.

Dictation, Plotting, and What I’m Working On Now

Dictation is now my preferred method of writing.
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Dictation has finally grown on me.  Learning to adjust to it was like learning to ride a bike.  Earlier this year when I started, I ended up disgusted with it because I ended up having to rewrite 75% of the scenes I dictated.  It was a lot more work than simply typing the story out.  Since I was forced to go back to it last month, I started out with small word counts.  I didn’t even add punctuation for fear it would pull me out of the story because it can be hard to think of what the character is thinking, saying, or doing when you’re worried about what punctuation to use next. I was pretty much forced into using it because my husband couldn’t make out anything that I had dictated, and I was tired of sitting with him for an hour to work on one scene.

Now, I am very comfortable dictating with punctuation.  Better yet, I don’t have to rewrite anything because dictating the story has become as natural as typing it.  In fact, I actually prefer dictation at this point because when I dictate, I can go for a long walk, too.  I dictate while on my iPhone and then email myself the scene when I’m done.  I then take the email and paste it into my document.  From there, my husband will polish it up. Sometime, I’ll have to share some of the amusing things the software “thinks” I said.

I have finally established a regular word count goal for each dictation session.  I figure for every 1-2 miles I walk, I can write one scene into a story.  One scene is between 1200-2000 words.  Sometimes I break up a scene between sessions, but sometimes the words just keep flowing, and I’m able to get everything in. It’s not too unlike typing.  These days I’m averaging 3-5 miles of walking a day.  When I first started, I did good to get 1 mile in. I didn’t realize I had been that out of shape.  So when I think about it, this issue with my eyes has been a blessing in disguise.

My eyes are doing a lot better, but I still have to limit how much time I’m on the computer.  I find that it’s also better when I’m outside instead of indoors.  I suspect there’s something in the air conditioning that is aggravating my eyes, but I have no proof of that.  Come winter, it’ll be interesting to see how my eyes do.  I don’t think I’m going to go back to typing, though.  I’ve now gone from 1500-3000 words on a writing day to 3500-5000 words.  I heard that exercise can boost creativity, and I’m inclined to agree with it.  Plus, I feel better than I’ve felt in years.

By the way, I use an app I bought off iTunes called Dragon Dictation. I would highly recommend it if you’re looking into dictation software. Once you get used to it, it’s a great tool.

Plotting is actually going okay.
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ID 96571708 © Albin K.B | Dreamstime

I’m surprised.  The Bride Price is my serious experiment in plotting.  I had Stephannie Beman’s help on it because she plots and I don’t.  I thought for sure the story was going to morph into something else about 1/4 of the way into the story.  I’m shocked that it’s right on track.  I’m halfway into the story now, and things are progressing just as it was supposed to according to the outline.

Just so everyone knows, my outline is very simple.  It’s like this:

Angela gets off the train and realizes something is wrong.
Sep learns that there’s a man who are going to auction off women the next day.
Sep enlists the sheriff’s help and rescues them.
Sep picks Angela to marry because of her scars.
Etc

So I didn’t go into detail on anything, which left me plenty of wiggle room to be a panster in certain scenes. For example, between #1 and #2, I inserted a scene where Angela finds out what has happened to her, and she meets the other two women, who will be the heroines in books 2 and 3 of the series. So I have been inserting things to help flesh out the story better.

My original plan was for this book was for it to be about 30,000-35,000 words since novellas in romance seem to be popular these days, but this story is already at 30,000 words, and I’m only halfway through.  I might be just over the halfway point.  But there’s no doubt that this will be a full-length novel.  And that’s fine.  I don’t stress over how long a book is going to be.  As long as the story is complete and doesn’t have any sagging middles, I’m happy.

Another thing that surprised me is that plotting out the book hasn’t caused me to lose interest in it.  Some authors say they get bored if they know what will happen in the story.  That’s not happening with me.  Maybe that’s because I made a skeleton of an outline which has given me plenty of room to be a panster.

Would I plot another book?  Probably not.  I love being a panster. Being surprised by the twists and turns that pop up are my favorite part of writing.

Here’s What I’m Working On

If It Takes A Scandal

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Click here to pre-order on iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo

I hope to have it available for pre-order on Amazon soon, but at this point, I suspect early September will be the release timeframe for it.   Right now, it’s with my awesome editing team.

This book finishes up the Marriage by Bargain Series, but don’t worry: I’ll tackle Lady Eloise in the Marriage by Fate Series.  In this one, she got off unscathed.  Sometimes it takes a while for characters to get their just desserts.

The Bride Price (Misled Mail Order Brides: Book 1)

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Click here to pre-order on iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo

The Bride Price was originally posted for a November release, but I expect it to come out in October instead since I’m already halfway into it.

Married In Haste (Marriage by Fate: Book 2)

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Click here to pre-order on iBooks and Kobo

This one is about 20,000 words in, so we’re just 10,000 words shy of the halfway point…I think.  The heroine (Miss Ava Baynes, who was Opal’s best friend in The Reclusive Earl) is going to try to join Lady Eloise’s group.  The hero in this book is Brad Bachman, the Earl of Youngtown (who was Loretta’s brother in The Rake’s Vow), and if you’ll recall, Brad hated Lady Eloise.  So yeah, some interesting stuff is coming up in this one.  But it’ll also start the ball rolling for what I have in mind for Lady Eloise.  *rubs hands in evil delight* I know it’s usually wrong to be excited about the downfall of a character, but I’m looking forward to getting to the end of this series so I can finally give Lady Eloise what’s coming to her.

I want to get this out during the last week in December.

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I have no cover yet, but the book I just hit 11,000 words in is  Wanted: Mail Order Husband.

I am going with the romantic historical western romance about the hero who grew up in a wealthy household back East who thinks he’s marrying a wealthy woman out West.  His family has lost all their money and has gone to London, leaving him all by himself in America, so he marries a rancher’s daughter, thinking that since her father owns a ranch, he’s wealthy.  Boy, is he in for a rude awakening.  He hasn’t had it yet, but he will very soon.  I’m looking forward for the humor to begin.

Anyway, this was the one everyone voted for.  Thank you for chiming in on the book you wanted most to read!  It helped to make the decision a lot easier.  You guys are the best for helping me out!

I’d love to have this one out in January.

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I’m finally in 16,000 words into The Outlaw’s Bride

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The hero and heroine are already married and have just arrived at his cabin tucked into the mountainside.  This isn’t on pre-order because it’ll be released as a free book since it’s a rewrite of The Stagecoach Bride.  Right now, I’m having to decide which parts from The Stagecoach Bride will go into this book.  I still want her past to come for her, but I think I want to insert more of the hero’s sister into this book.  The heroine doesn’t know her husband is an outlaw, so I need for her to find that out, too.  At least, I want her to discover it.  We’ll see how the story plays out.

Forced Into Marriage is Now Available!

This is book 4 of the Pioneer Series.  This is going to be the last book in it, so if you like to wait until an entire series is out before buying it, this will be a good time to get all of the books.  This way you can read the whole series at one time.

Here are all of the books in the Pioneer Series:

Book 1: Wagon Trail Bride – Richard Larson and Amanda’s romance
Book 2: The Marriage Agreement – Jesse Palmer and Laura’s romance
Book 3: Groom For Hire – Joe Otto and Michelle’s romance
Book 4: Forced Into Marriage – Brandon Herman and Lokni’s romance

For quick reference, here is the link to the Pioneer Series page on this blog.

Now here is the information on Forced Into Marriage

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A broken-hearted divorcee. A pregnant survivor. Can they turn an unwanted marriage… into love?

Brandon Herman wants to drink away his heartache. Divorced, disgraced, and out of work, the last thing he wants to do is marry again. When he’s strong-armed into marrying a Crow Indian woman, he only thinks of running away… until he learns his bride-to-be is nine months pregnant…

Lokni doesn’t trust her pale-skinned husband. After all, his kind raided her tribe, killed her loved ones, and stole her freedom. If it weren’t for the contractions, she would’ve already left her intoxicated groom. But until the baby is born, Lokni must bide her time and plan her escape…

As the unlikely couple embarks across the untamed West, Brandon’s support helps their friendship to blossom. They start to realize that it’s more than the baby that draws them together. But on the trail to a brighter future, not everybody they meet is interested in their happily ever after…

Forced into Marriage is a historical western romance set in a more realistic Wild West. If you like spirited characters, journeys of exploration, and the healing power of family, then you’ll love Ruth Ann Nordin’s stirring tale.

Buy Forced into Marriage to set a course for romance today!

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