Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 49

Turning A Villain Into A Hero

Thanks to a comment from another post, I got an idea to discuss the way a villain can be morphed into a hero.  This won’t happen for every single villain.  There are some villains who can’t be redeemed no matter how hard you try because they are so dark.  But there are those you can transform over the course of one book or a series.

Please note: this strategy isn’t the only one at your disposal.  It’s just the one that I noticed while I was discussing imperfect characters.

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Today, I’ll discuss the evolution of a villain turning into a hero from studying different TV shows and movies that have successfully done this.

First, you present the villain in all their awfulness.

I agree you wouldn’t want to push the line too far.  You don’t want the character to be so incredibly awful that they doesn’t have any humanity in them.  There must be room for redemption.  So be mindful of how horrible you are going to make this character when you present them before the reader.

The best way to introduce the villain is from the viewpoint of another character because the other character will best see the bad in the villain.  The wonderful thing about point of view is that each character in your book is going to perceive other characters in their own unique way.  You can use this to your advantage.  Remember, your point of view character does NOT know why the villain is the way he is.  All your point of view character can know is what he sees, thinks, and hears.  What your point of view character believes to be true about the villain will be the reader’s perception.

Until…

Second, give the villain’s point of view.

This is key.  The reader needs to get a look an accurate view of the villain.  To do that, we need to get into the villain’s head.   We need to see things from the villain’s perspective.  When we do that, we need to show the sympathetic side to him.  It doesn’t have to be something that is overtly sympathetic.  It can be subtle.  But there has to be something there that makes the villain seem human.

Remember, no human being is perfect.  We all have areas where we’re weak.  So you need to tap into the villain’s weakness in a way that offers a glimmer of sympathy.  It doesn’t have to be something huge.  It can be just a spark.  All you’re doing at this stage is opening the door that will allow the villain to transition from a villain to a hero.

Third, show a redeeming quality or two that still exists within the villain.

Redeeming qualities come in many shapes and forms, so you have to think wide on this one.  So think broad when considering what redeeming quality is in the character.  The character is still a villain at this stage, but the possibility of this villain becoming a hero is opened to the reader.

You can choose to show this from the villain’s point of view.  If you choose this method, the reader is the one who has to come to the conclusion that there is a redeeming quality in the villain.  This requires the reader to take the thoughts and actions of the villain and deduct, “I guess the villain isn’t so bad after all.” The villain isn’t going to be thinking, “Hey, I guess I do have some goodness in me.” The villain can be conflicted.  There can be a struggle with him that he’s aware of, but it should be the reader who comes to the conclusion that the villain is in the process of becoming a hero.   For example, in the movie Megamind, the villain sets out to make a new hero he can fight in epic battles because he gets bored by having everything.  He’s not aware that he is going something good by creating the hero.  His motives are selfish, but in creating a hero and then training the hero to defeat him, he is actually showing a redeeming quality.

You can also show this redeeming quality from the point of view of  a character who knows the villain.  This character can be anyone in the story.   If you choose this method, then the purpose is to shed light on the goodness that exists (deep down) in the villain, and it will be the character who realizes the villain isn’t all bad.  The character is the one who reveals the potential for goodness to the reader.  For example, in the TV series Bates Motel, the sheriff initially comes off as the villain until the point in the first season where he is willing to lie about a crime in order to protect our main characters (the heroine) because he knows she was trying to protect herself and her son.  This way, she avoids going to prison.  Now, it’s not really the audience who has to realize this because the heroine comes out and says it when she talks to her oldest son about it.

Fourth, present someone even worse than they are.

I’ve been surprised by how well this tactic works in TV shows and movies. I can hate a certain character, but since I am already familiar with that character, when someone worse comes along, I start to root for the original bad guy. There is something psychological about this tactic. I think familiarity with a character bonds the reader to him on a subconscious level.  So once you establish the villain has something redeemable about him, you can introduce someone even worse so the villain looks even better.  The key, of course, is that the second villain is a lot worse than the one the reader is already familiar with.

Fifth, the villain starts making choices that make him a hero.

The second villain is instrumental in this.  The first villain is forced to start making good decisions to counter the evil acts of the second villain.  The more often the first villain does this, the easier it will be for the reader to him.

There are a wide variety of options to go with this one, but I’ll use Megamind as an example.  Megamind created the hero to be the good guy that would put him in jail for being bad.  But then this new hero turned out to be the kind of person who wanted to steal and hurt people.  This new hero didn’t want to be a hero, after all.  This made him the second villain.  Megamind, for all his faults, was pretty harmless.  He never set out to hurt people.  The second villain, however, was perfectly willing to hurt people in order to get what he wanted.  This forced Megamind to change his tactics and save the people of the city.  The more decisions he made toward this goal, the more of a hero he became.

The process of choosing the right choices is usually done with some reluctance.  The first villain, after all, was used to be bad.  But overtime, it gets easier and easier to keep making the right decisions.

Sixth, the villain is now a hero.

The first villain will probably defeat the second one, and by that time, the first villain is no longer a villain at all.  He has completely redeemed himself.   The evolution of the villain from bad guy to good is now done.

One thing I will add is that the villain doesn’t always have to succeed once he does become a hero.  There are instances where he is defeated by the second villain.  For example, in the TV series Bates Motel, the last season ended with the sheriff (our villain turned hero) going after the second villain (who was a hero turned villain).  If you have seen the movie Psycho, you know the second villain wins.  He has to win because he ends up killing the woman who comes to his hotel.

So whether or not, your first villain will have a happy ending depends on the type of genre you’re writing.  In romance, if the villain becomes a hero, then he must defeat the second villain (or the second villain must also become a hero).  Romances are all about happy endings.  However, with other genres, you get your pick.

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What are your thoughts about villains?  Are there other strategies you’ve seen at work when it comes to making the villain a hero?

Updates on What I’m Doing

Which Books Has Crossover Into Other Series

I finally sat down and created a page on this blog that show which of my books correspond to other books I’ve done in other series.

Sometimes you’ll see a character who was a secondary character in one series become a main character in another series.  For example, Eva Connelly was a secondary character in Isaac’s Decision, which is in the Nebraska Series.  Later on, she was the heroine in Boaz’s Wager, which is in the Montana Series.  Another example, Eliza is a secondary character in His Redeeming Bride, which is in the Nebraska Series.  Later on, she became the heroine in Loving Eliza, which is a book in the South Dakota Series.

At other times, you’ll notice I will slip characters into a book so they have a brief encounter with other characters.  For example, toward the end of Brave Beginnings (which is part of the Native American Series), I brought in Ann and Todd Brothers from the standalone book Falling In Love With Her Husband.  Another example, in Bride of Second Chances (which is part of the South Dakota Series), Jeremy, the hero, briefly meets Dave Larson and his son, Jacob, at the mercantile.

So what I tried to do in the “Crossovers in My Romances” page on this blog was to tie in the overlap between different characters and the books/series they appear in.  Click here to go to the page.

The Viscount’s Runaway Bride will be out October 29!

Click here to reserve your copy!

The Viscount’s Runaway Bride is Book 1 in the Marriage by Bargain Series.

Technically, this follows The Earl’s Wallflower Bride (which is Book 3 in the Marriage by Arrangement Series), but the way the characters are introduced in The Viscount’s Runaway Bride demand I make it the first book in a new series.

Anyway, this is probably the first book I’ve ever done where every character has serious flaws.  That’s not to say they don’t have their strengths.  They do.  But I have never noticed how flawed a character can really be.  I’ll probably discuss this more in detail in another post, but suffice it to say, all of the characters who will have a main role in the four books in this series have major flaws to overcome, and they won’t all overcome them in one book.  This will span the whole series.

This book is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iBooks.  You can add it to your library on Smashwords or check out the sample over there.

The Bargain Mail Order Bride Will Be Out January 7

Click here to reserve your copy!

The Bargain Mail Order Bride is Book 4 in the Chance At Love Series.

(Book 1: The Convenient Mail Order Bride; Book 2: The Mistaken Mail Order Bride; Book 3: The Accidental Mail Order Bride)

I was hoping to have this out before January 7, but it’s not looking like I’ll be able to.  The main factor is all the holidays coming up.  We have Thanksgiving in late November.  Then there’s Christmas.  I don’t know the exact days Apple won’t be uploading any books to their iBookstore, but for the last couple of years, they have taken some days off.  This means I don’t have as much wiggle room to play with dates that I usually would.  I’ll have to get this uploaded right before Christmas, but I can’t guarantee it can go through all the channels before the 7th.

The good news is that I’m about halfway into the book.

I Have Groom For Hire Set for February 12

Groom For Hire is Book 3 in the Pioneer Series.

(Book 1 is Wagon Trail Bride and Book 2 is The Marriage Agreement)

I still don’t have a pre-order page for this.  I’m currently halfway into this one, but The Bargain Mail Order Bride has taken center stage, so the word count is minimal at best.  I’ve had an issue with my eyes that have required me to take things slower.  It’s nothing serious.  It’s dry eye, and if I don’t make sure I have a regular sleeping schedule, if I spend too much time at the computer, or if the temperature drastically changes, it gets worse.  Recently, there was a sudden drop in temperature, and this is what triggered it.  Once the cooler weather settles in, things will get better.  Until then, I keep on pacing myself and taking frequent breaks in writing so I’m not spending too much time at the computer.

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On that note, I am working on a blog post that I hope to have out in a couple days on transforming a villain into a hero.  I was working on it when the kids interrupted me and I lost my train of thought.  Hopefully, I can get back into soon.  I was enjoying the post because the topic of turning a bad guy into a good one fascinates me.

Until next time, happy reading!

Why I Became An Indie Author (#PoweredByIndie)

I saw this thing Amazon is doing, and I thought, “That sounds like a neat idea.”

Before I share my story, I want to invite those of you who buy books on Amazon to check out their Powered by Indie page that is up for the month of October.  One of the things I hear most from people who like to read books that are self-published is that they can tell the author loved writing the story.  That’s not to say that traditionally published authors don’t enjoy writing, but I think when an author publishes the book on their own, they have full creative control over the story.

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In a nutshell, that is why I became an indie author.  I wanted full creative control of my stories.

It all started in 2002.

Yep, that long ago.  But back then there was no such thing as directly publishing a book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords, or Draft 2 Digital.  There were vanity presses.  I won’t go into which companies I used, but I did get my feet wet in self-publishing that way.  (I had no idea you could take a book to a local printing shop.)

Back then, however, I was too scared to write romance because my family and friends all thought romance weren’t “real” books.  Even if I was caught reading one, I’d usually hear something like, “What are you doing reading that trash?” So yeah, I wasn’t about to write it. Instead, I wrote science fiction, fantasy, and thrillers.

All of these were in paperback only, and as you’d guess, no one knew they existed, which is probably good since now I know I was meant to write romance all along.

The end of 2007 saw the beginning of the romances.

By chance, I received a postcard in my mailbox advertising romance books.  These were sweet romances.  I read a couple, and I remembered my love for romance books.  Since these romances didn’t contain sex (which was the trashy part my family and friends had complained about), I thought, “I can finally write romance without embarrassing them!” Because honestly, they would have put paper bags over their heads had I used my real name on them.

I wrote a couple of sweet romances over the course of 2008, and again, I was using vanity presses to get them published and they were only paperbacks.  I was thrilled to be writing romances, but I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that something was missing.  That something was spice.  I wanted to know how my characters would relate to each other in bed.  I tried to tell myself I didn’t need to add sex scenes, but no matter how hard I tried, the books felt incomplete.  So I went back and put them, and finally, I was happy with the stories.

Toward the end of 2008, I became aware of CreateSpace on Amazon, which allowed me to publish paperbacks without paying hundreds to a thousand dollars for each book.  All CreateSpace wanted was for me to pay for the proof copy of the paperback so I could make sure it looked good before I put it up in the Amazon store.

 

Publishing on Amazon and Smashwords began in 2009.

This was the game changer.  I was so excited to be able to publish books so easily without paying anything that I vamped up my writing.  It was a good thing this came along after I had figured out what type of romances I wanted to write.  (Those with spice.)  I would have hated to hit the ebook scene with romances I wasn’t fully satisfied with.

Between 2009-2010, I struggled with whether to keep self-publishing or go the traditional route.

I started getting active in writing groups, and you wouldn’t believe the hostility there was toward indie books.  It was awful.  As soon as I mentioned committing the “sin” of self-publishing, I was pretty much thrown to the bottom of the ladder in the groups.  I had no qualifications, and any opinions I had didn’t count.

This did compel me to look into traditional publishing.  I submitted to a couple of them, but each company wanted me to change something in my stories and resubmit them.  The books I had submitted were Eye of the Beholder and His Redeeming Bride.  I had received positive feedback, but the problem was, “The couple didn’t fight enough.” I couldn’t bring myself to make those couples fight because it would have changed the stories into something I didn’t want.  I thought Dave and Mary in Eye of the Beholder were stronger because he supported her at all times.  As for Neil and Sarah, once she understood he had changed, I couldn’t see her giving him a difficult time.  And those were the things that bothered the publishers the most.

So I opted to keep self-publishing.  At the time I made the announcement on my blog, Myspace (this was before Facebook came on the scene), and LiveJournal, I got a few emails from well-meaning writers who wanted to save me from killing any chances I had of having a successful writing career.  Most advised if I was going to persist in this foolishness, I should at least not mention I was actually “self-publishing” to the public.

I was proud of going indie, and I decided to be open about it.

I was born with a stubborn streak.  My parents are no longer alive to testify to this, but they would tell you that when I set my mind to something, I did it regardless of what anyone said.  I don’t regret being vocal about self-publishing.  I was happier with my stories than I ever would have been if I had gone with a publisher because going with a publisher meant I couldn’t write them my way.  I wouldn’t have stayed true to my characters.  I would have had to force my characters into a plot that would have seemed forced.

This way, I got to write the stories as they were meant to be.  I’m not saying everyone has been happy with the way I wrote them, but I have no regrets in writing them the way they are.  Has my writing improved over the years?  Sure.  My understanding of story elements has improved, too.  You learn as you go.  But I can look back on those books that I wrote during that time of my life, and I still remember how much fun they were to write.  I don’t think I would have had that much fun writing for a publisher.

As a quick side note: I publish a couple of books with a small publisher (Parchment & Plume) these days, but Parchment & Plume allows me to keep the stories the way I want them. (I even get control over the cover and release date.)  I still self-publish most of my books, though, because I enjoy it.

 

The Good and the Bad in an Emotionally Engaging Character

I just finished writing The Viscount’s Runaway Bride, and while writing it, I learned something new about writing the emotionally engaging character, which I’ll share with you in this post.

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People Have Flaws

And characters should be no different.  Now, I know right away that a flawed character will earn criticism from some readers, but guess what: every single person has a weakness.  These weaknesses, when used to enhance the plot, can make the characters three-dimensional, and three-dimensional characters are relatable.  They are real.  We might not like everything about them, but they come across as authentic.

For example, my hero acted before thinking in a certain matter, and he’s easily manipulated.  Those are two huge flaws.  In real life, however, don’t we all know someone that has a tendency to make decisions before thinking them through?  We might even consider such a person “impulsive” and “stupid”.  We might consider a person who is easily manipulated to be “spineless” and “in need of a brain”.

Another example, the villainess in my book is the manipulator, but only because she honestly thinks she is doing what’s best for the hero.  She is well aware of his flaw to being too naive for his own good.  (In other words, she sees how “impulsive and stupid” he can be in certain situations, and what she’s trying to do is help him make the right decisions.)  But her flaw is that she wants to control him.  I’m sure you can think of someone in your life who has a tendency to be bossy because they think they know what’s best for you or someone you know.

My point to all of this is that characters, even our heroes, can be more realistic if they aren’t perfect.

People also have strengths.

Characters should have strengths, too, and those strengths can help provide a balance to their weaknesses.  In fact, I think a story is even stronger if one character is strong in an area where the other character is weak.  You get those two together, and they provide an excellent balance.

For example, let’s say you have a character who excels at resolving conflict.  I’m sure we can think of someone who is good at this kind of thing in real life.  This is the person with a cool head who seems to know the right thing to say at the right time.  This character is a peacemaker and can soothe over things for the other characters in your story.

Another example, let’s say you have a character who is a good judge of people.  In real life, we might know someone who seems to have a gut instinct about other people.  This person can’t often explain how they know whether someone can be trusted or not until after that person does something that makes us think, “Wow, that person was right!  I can’t believe it.” This type of character can be used in a story to foreshadow future events in a story.  The character doesn’t necessarily have to point out the “danger” another character presents, but the character can warn others of a situation or event that is going to happen.  (For example, I’m thinking of a movie where a character warns others of a catastrophic natural disaster.)  This character can cue the reader into something that becomes important later in the story.

No One is 100% Bad or Good

This ties into what I said above about strengths and weaknesses.  Characters, even a hero, can do something wrong.  The hero, of course, will redeem him/herself.  The hero won’t stay stuck in that wrong statement/action.  Sometimes I think a story can be more powerful if the hero makes some tragic error in the middle of the story that makes the reader think, “Oh no!  How will he/she ever recover from this?”

When I was in the 8th grade, there was a book I read where I started to panic over a decision the character made.  I got sick to my stomach because I couldn’t see a way that things could be satisfactorily resolved.  I looked up from the book and remembered that it was fiction.  At that point, I was able to relax.  But see what happened?  I was so engaged with this character that I was right there with that character in the middle of that horrible moment.  Obviously, this tactic won’t be used in every story you write.  You would end up with stories that all seem the same. But this is one tool that can be used in storytelling.

Another thing you can do with a hero is take advantage of the weakness.  We all have areas where we’re more likely to fail.  This can cover a wide range of things.  In the case of the hero that is easily manipulated, the hero can be convinced to make the wrong decision by another character’s influence.

The villain, however, might stay stuck in it.  Not all villains are the same, nor should they be.  Just because your character is a villain, it doesn’t mean that character has to be all bad. Now, the character might be irredeemable.  There might be no way you can make the character likable.  But even a drop down dirty character can be right about something.  For example, the villain might accurately point out the hero’s weakness.

I actually find a villain who has a sympathetic angle to be the most interesting characters in a story.  A villain can be overtly bad in the beginning of a story, but as the story progresses, the villain shows something good, it can be a game changer in how the reader responds to that character.  Suddenly, the character isn’t as awful as originally thought.  Personally, I love villains like this because they aren’t cardboard cutout characters of what you would normally expect.

Bottom Line

Utilize these strengths and weaknesses to enhance your story as it advances the plot.  Focus in on those traits that directly impact the story.  Doing so will also add to the depth of the character.

More Updates

The Viscount’s Runaway Bride is off to my editing team

(This is Book 1 in the Marriage by Bargain Series.)

Click here to reserve your copy!

I finally finished up with my initial edits yesterday and emailed the editors and beta readers on my team.  I’m not sure when the new release date will be yet, but I’ll let you know when I do.  Right now we’re looking at either very late October to the first part of November.

Groom For Hire has been pushed back to February 12 for a release date

(This is Book 3 in the Pioneer Series.)

Long story short, when I started this book in July, my husband was like, “When are we going on a vacation?” I had been writing all summer long, so I thought he had a good point.  So I took most of August off to spend time with the family.

Then when school started back up, I got back to this story and realized if I wanted to get this out by December 18, I would have to make it a shorter story than I originally intended.  (And I’m pretty sure you guys would prefer the story to be longer than a novella.)

After much debate and talking to my publisher (because this one is going to be with Parchment & Plume), the date’s been pushed back to February 12.

The Bargain Mail Order Bride is still on track for January 7

(This is Book 4 in the Chance at Love Series.)

Click here to reserve your copy!

Another reason I pushed the date back on Groom For Hire is because I want to make sure I can get this book out on time.  There is no pre-order already set up for Groom For Hire, so no one has pre-ordered it.  The Bargain Mail Order Bride, however, is up on pre-order, and I want to make sure I get it out to the people who already pre-ordered it on time.

I’ll start The Rake’s Vow this week

(This is Book 2 in the Marriage by Bargain Series.)

Click here to reserve your copy!

In addition to getting back to Groom For Hire and The Bargain Mail Order Bride, I am going to start on this book.  This book follows The Viscount’s Runaway Bride.

I’ll be uploading this book directly to Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon, so the pre-order is only available at iBooks right now.

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On a final note, I know some of you have sent me an email.  At the moment, I have about 100 emails waiting for me to answer.  Please be patient with me.  I will get to them as soon as I can.  I’m not ignoring anyone.  I took time off from emails for the last two weeks to finish up The Viscount’s Runaway Bride and then edit it.  I’ll be tackling my inbox this weekend.

Updates On What I’m Working On

The Viscount’s Runaway Bride (Marriage by Bargain: Book 1)

Click here to reserve your copy!

I’m almost done with this one.  I did have a hold up for the past two weeks because I wasn’t sure how to wrap it up.   I had to do some revising of several scenes and insert two additional chapters about 3/4 of the way into it.

Without spoiling the book, part of the goal for this series is to turn two very unlikable ladies you met in The Earl’s Wallflower Bride into heroines worth rooting for.  If you remember Miss Celia Barlow and Miss Loretta Bachman (the two who gave Iris a difficult time), then you know this isn’t going to be an easy task.  I have to introduce them in this book as spoiled, selfish, and condescending because that was how they were in The Earl’s Wallflower Bride.  Part of my goal is to change them, and in order to do that, I had to bring them into this one enough so the stage can be set for their books.

Loretta will be the heroine in Book 2, and Celia will be the heroine in Book 3.

For those who have been asking for Candace (Lady Hedwrett from Her Counterfeit Husband) to get her happy ending, I’m happy to say that she’ll be the heroine in Book 4.

I would like to have this book out at the end of October, but it might not be out until the first part of November.  Being that this is a pre-order, I have to have the finished version uploaded to the retailers about two weeks in advance.  So we’ll see how things play out.

Groom For Hire (Pioneer Series: Book 3)

This is currently not on pre-order, but my goal is December 18 for a release date.  To do that, it needs to be with my publisher no later than December 1.  I think I’m around the halfway point right now in this story.  I might be more like 40% of the way in.  At any rate, I was surprised to learn the heroine had an immediate attraction to our hero Joe Otto, who was nursing a broken heart after Amanda married Richard (if you’ll recall from Wagon Trail Bride).

I decided to be a stinker and let the heroine in this story look a lot like Amanda.  I know, I know.  It was mean to do.  But it felt right for the story, so I went with it.  And yes, this makes Joe want to stay as far from her as possible because all she does is remind him of what he couldn’t have.  So the initial conflict was set up, but that could only be sustained for so long before it gets boring.

Fortunately, this week the heroine decided to take things up a notch and challenge Joe on his assumption that just because she’s a woman she can’t handle doing tasks that typically go to men (such as helping keep the lookout during the night or participating in hunting for food).  Some of the retorts she throws at him makes me chuckle.  (She might look like Amanda, but she’s nothing like her.)  At the moment, she’s annoying Joe to no end.  Good stuff!  I love to see sparks fly.

The Bargain Mail Order Bride (Chance at Love Series: Book 4)

Click here to reserve your copy!

I haven’t done much in this book for the past two weeks.  I’ve been focused on getting The Viscount’s Runaway Bride worked out and forcing Joe to deal with the heroine in Groom For Hire (since he would have ignored her for the entire book if I let him).  That left me know time to work in this book.

However, that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in this book.  The truth is, I’ve been excited about this book ever since I finished The Convenient Mail Order Bride, which was released in February.  I’ve had to write the other books in the series before I could get to this one, and with that in mind, I worked on setting things up so we can transition Carl Richie from bad guy to hero.

I also had to get rid of his wife, Lydia.  Lydia was not redeemable at all.  There was too much bitterness in her.  She had been forced to marry him, and she never got the kind of life she thought she deserved.  As a result, she blamed him for everything, and over the years, it removed anything good that had once been inside of her.  I am a firm believer that tough times will either make people better or bitter, and in her case, it ultimately destroyed her.

She had managed to cause significant emotional damage to Carl, which I am excited about exploring during the course of this book.  I could only give a glimpse of how severely damaged he is in the other books.  He really feels like he has no one in his life that cares about him, and the only thing that keeps him going is the dream of getting that gold so he can get away from the town and all the bad things associated with it.  His thinking is that if he can only have money, he’ll be happy.  (This is a false belief, of course.  Money itself does not create happiness, and he’ll learn this by the end of the book.)  But it will take having someone who is willing to give him a fair chance in order to be open enough to learn this very important lesson.  This someone, of course, will be the heroine of this book.

Most interesting to me is how sexually damaged he is.  We don’t often think of men as being damaged in this way.  We typically think of women who are.  But as I writing the wedding night in this book, I realized just how broken he really is, and the process that he’ll need to go through in order to heal is particularly intriguing to me because it’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced as a writer.

Sex isn’t just sex.  At least not in my books.  I have a purpose for every single sex scene I add to the story.  There are so many layers to it.  So much is going on emotionally between the characters during the scene where they make love.  Sometimes the character learns something new about him/herself.  Sometimes the character learns something about the husband/wife.  But there is always something the character learns during the act that the character can’t learn any other way.  In this book, I actually cried when Carl forced himself to consummate the marriage.  Carl got absolutely no enjoyment from the process because Lydia had robbed that for him by the way she treated him in, and out, of the bedroom.  I would never have known just how bad off he was had it not been for that scene.

I learn things during the sex scenes I write that I didn’t know about the character before.  There’s always the “aha!” moment, and I believe it makes the story richer and deeper, and the character is more real because of it.  I understand not everyone views sex scenes the same way I do, but I don’t see a sex scene as a means to erotically entice the reader.  I see it as a way to convey something new about the character’s emotional development within him/herself or with the hero/heroine that I can’t show any other way.

***

Okay. I’ve rambled on long enough.  As you can probably tell, I’m super excited about these books.  Every time I sit down to write, I feel like a kid on Christmas day just waiting to unwrap the present to find out what’s inside the box because I never know what the characters will do until I’m writing.

Situations Where Authors Can’t Win

Today I thought I’d make a post describing certain situations where authors are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  No matter how they answer the question, they can’t win.  So what ends up happening?  They keep quiet.

Today, I’m going to address this on this blog, so hopefully, you can understand why we just can’t answer you.  We aren’t trying to be mean by not replying.  We just know that no one will be happy with how we answer it, so the safest recourse we have is to not answer.

Don’t you take the time to hire an editor/proofreader?

The answer is: yes.  Of course, we do.  We care very much about producing a high quality book.  Self-publishing isn’t what it used to be.  Sure, there are still a few badly edited books out there, but most of them will be very professional.  If they aren’t, those authors won’t be around long.  This is a business that requires authors to put out the very best they can if they want to be around for a long time.

The problem is that no one can catch 100% of the errors.  I do think it’s especially important that the author isn’t the only one editing and proofing their own book.  Authors are blind to their work because they will read what is supposed to be there instead of what actually is there.  That’s why we hire an editing team.  This team comprises editors, proofreaders, and beta readers.  I have all of these.  Do they catch everything?  No.  Do they come close.  Definitely.

I am very happy with the group of people I have working on my books.  I plan to keep them on my team for as long as they’re willing to be on it.  I never take it for granted that they take time out of their busy days to help me, especially since my schedule is demanding.  I am constantly bombarding them with books to go over before I publish them.

From time to time, authors will ask others for good people to work on their books, and we exchange names and email addresses.  Just like people exchange information on books they enjoy, authors do pass on information if they like a certain member of their editing team.  So we rely heavily on word of mouth.  The people we’re most likely to pass on are those who’ve been good to us.

Why do you write such sucky books?

Authors don’t write books they think will suck.  We write books we think will be entertaining.  The majority of authors I talk to are passionate about their work, and they give 110% into the story.  To them, the story doesn’t suck.

Now, it would be fair to say that the particular story the author wrote was not to a certain reader’s enjoyment.  Taste is highly subjective.  For example, some people love alpha heroes.  They want strong men who aren’t afraid to go in and get what they want.  I write beta heroes.  They are strong on the inside, but they are gentle on the outside.  This comes off as a sign of weakness.  People who like alphas will find my heroes wimpy.

Everyone comes to a book with their own preferences.  No author can please everyone.  It’s impossible.  So why do we write sucky books?  The answer is, “We wrote a book you think sucked.” It doesn’t mean the book is sucky to someone else.

I encourage you to take a look at a popular traditionally published book.  It could be anything.  Fifty Shades of Grey, Twilight, Harry Potter…  Just make sure it’s a book that the majority of people know exists.  Check out the 1-star reviews.  I guarantee you that every major book has a group of people who thought it sucked.  No author is immune to this, no matter how well it does.

Why are you so greedy that you charge a price for your book?  

I only bring this up because this question seems to get asked with authors more than any other.  Forgive me for being redundant since I’ve already addressed this on this blog.  I’ll try to make it brief.

When an author writes a book, they either put it in with a publisher or publish it on their own.  I do both.  The publisher sets the price.  Publishers have costs they need to cover, and since they must stay in business, they need to make a profit.  To do that, they need money.

Now, when a book is self-published, the author bears the weight of paying for the editing team, paying for covers (unless they can make their own), and they pay taxes.  Authors will pay taxes if under publishers who don’t take the taxes out for them, too.  We need to make money to cover these expenses.  Some authors are also trying to provide for themselves or their families with the money they earn.

Authors aren’t trying to be selfish by putting a price on the book.  Like you, they need to survive, and you can’t survive without the necessities like food, water, shelter, clothes.  It’s not that money is the most important thing to us.  We write because we have a story burning inside of us to write.  But to think we can live off of praise alone just isn’t true.  People work because they want to money in order to survive.  Writing just happens to be the form of work we’ve chosen.

***

I’ll just conclude that writing is hard work.  The process of making a book isn’t easy.  So much goes into it.  From the conception of an idea to the time it’s published, there are a lot of steps most people never see.  It might take a day to read a book, but that book wasn’t written and polished in one day.

Authors have their critics, and that’s fine.  I feel that people should be free to express their opinions about the books they read.  I just wanted to time the time to explain why there are some criticisms we just can’t answer when you send a message our way.  It’s not that we don’t care.  We do.  We’d like to answer every question we receive.  We just know there are some questions that aren’t safe to answer because no matter what we say, we can’t win.  So instead of answering, we write the next book.

A Note of Thanks and A Promise to Keep Writing Historical Western Romances

I wanted to do a post that wasn’t an update on what I’m working on.  The summer has been so crazy that an update was all I could come up with.  Now that the kids are back in school, I feel like I can think about things other than, “What can I possibly make them today for lunch that they can all agree on?” or “How are we going to all survive in the house without driving each other crazy since the kids aren’t in school to help break up the day?”

The Accidental Mail Order Bride is Now Available!

It’s finally out!   And yes, I do reveal who killed Lydia in this one.

Updates

The past week was hectic, so I didn’t get a chance to make a post.  Now that I caught up on my emails, I’m ready to make a post.[image error]

The Accidental Mail Order Bride (Chance at Love Series: Book 3) will be out August 27!

That puts it one week ahead of schedule.  I do reveal the person who murdered Lydia (Carl’s wife in The Mistaken Mail Order Bride).  The romance in this book was based off the Beauty and the Beast scenario, something I’ve been wanting to do for years.  Sometimes a plot sits on the back shelf until the right characters come along.  This was one of those times.

You can pre-order it on these sites today if you wish to receive it as soon as it comes out:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

iBooks

The Viscount’s Runaway Bride (Marriage by Bargain: Book 1)

Click here to reserve your copy!

This is the start a new Regency series, but it will include the same cast of characters from the other Regency books I’ve written.  This book actually starts off on where The Earl’s Wallflower Bride ended.  Warren’s friend, Anthony (the one with the horrible sister and friend whom Iris hated) is the hero of this book.

In this book, we will get to see Iris again, and Anthony’s new wife will become Iris’ friend as the two go up against Anthony’s sister (Celia) and the his sister’s friend (Loretta).  But…before you think I don’t have plans for either Celia or Loretta, they actually get their own books later in this series.  Yes, the two are horrible in The Earl’s Wallflower Bride and The Viscount’s Runaway Bride, but they are redeemable, much like Warren was.  (I’ll discuss Loretta’s book further into this post.)

I estimate this book to be out in either October or November, though I did set the pre-order date in April.  It’s easier to bump a date up than it is to push it back.  At the moment, I am in chapter 11 of this book, so I’m halfway done.  I see no reason why I can’t have it out by November at the latest.

Groom For Hire (Pioneer Series: Book 3) is due out in December 

Specifically, I’m looking at December 18.  That’s what I told my publisher.  (It will be on pre-order soon.)

The books in this series up to now are as follows:

Wagon Trail Bride: Book 1
The Marriage Agreement: Book 2
Groom For Hire: Book 3

I did something really rotten to poor Joe.  The woman he contracted to marry looks a lot like Amanda.  They say we have a look-a-like out there somewhere, and the heroine in this book happens to be Amanda’s.  I didn’t plan it that way.  It just popped up when I was writing.

But, the heroine only looks like Amanda.  She’s nothing like her.[image error]

I’m currently on chapter five, and they just started heading to California.  So exciting stuff is coming ahead.

The Bargain Mail Order Bride (Chance at Love Series: Book 4)

Click here to reserve your copy!

This book is due out January 7.

It will complete the Chance at Love Series.  The books in this series are as follows:

The Convenient Mail Order Bride: Book 1
The Mistaken Mail Order Bride: Book 2
The Accidental Mail Order Bride: Book 3
The Bargain Mail Order Bride: Book 4

I don’t know how, but Carl and Abe (the two half-brothers) are going to end up being friends in this book.  From Book 1 when Carl and Abe were got into that physical fight on Carl’s property, I knew they were going to end up being friends.  I have no idea how this is going to happen.  I just know it is.

This is why I love writing without an outline.  Writing for a panster is like seeing only a few pieces of the puzzle.  You know certain things will happen, but until the story is being written, you have no idea how it’ll all connect.  I’ve been anxious to write this book ever since I finished The Convenient Mail Order Bride.  So I’m very excited about this one.  Carl’s character fascinates me in the same way Neil Craftsman’s did.  He’s as wounded as Neil was but the time Neil took Sarah into his home.  It’ll be fun to see how a good woman will open him up and turn him onto a hero worthy of her.

On The Immediate To Write List:

The Rake’s Vow (Marriage by Bargain: Book 2)

Remember above that I said Loretta (Anthony’s mean sister in The Earl’s Wallflower Bride) will be getting her own book?  Well, this is it.  Anthony’s sister will be in Book 3 of this series, which I have yet to title.  But I already know who his sister ends up with, and let’s just say he’s not happy about it.

I’m hoping to have this out early next year.

His Auctioned Bride (Mislead Mail Order Brides: Book 1)

Finally, Sep (from Shotgun Groom) will get his own book!  I’m hoping to have this out between March – May of next year.  I’ll start this when I finish Groom For Hire.

I know there’s been questions about Vivian and Huge (from Her Heart’s Desire), but I put Sep vs Vivian into a vote in my Facebook group, and Sep won.  So I’m doing his series first. This series will also feature Amanda and Richard’s two twins (Mark and Anthony) since they’re only two years younger than Sep.

I do want to get to Shane’s Deal sometime in 2017, so I’m going to have to do that before I tackle Vivian and Hugh.

The Reclusive Earl (Marriage by Fate: Book 1)

COVER COMING SOON

Remember Opal from The Earl’s Wallflower Bride?  She was Warren’s sister.  Well, I’m going to be writing her book, and I’ll start it with a new Regency series.  I’ll be starting this series when I finish with The Bargain Mail Order Bride.

I want this out by April of next year.  We’ll see how things go.