Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 58

Jack and Maybell (Hero and Heroine in “The Bride’s Choice” in the Anthology A Groom’s Promise) Are Not Happy With Me!

And I’m in trouble. :(

No need to panic. This will still be available on December 20. You can reserve your copy today if you click on this cover!

I was so caught up in my dreams of stardom and fame that I neglected to pay any attention to them.  Apparently, someone (we’ll blame Janet Syas Nitsick) hasn’t been paying attention to her inbox.  So when I got up this morning and saw them knocking at my door, I knew this wasn’t good.

Jack who isn’t very happy with me at the moment. Why, oh why, did I sign that contract with them?

Jack Warren: You bet it isn’t good.  In your contract with us, you promised you would promote us.  Now, we don’t care that you gave Janet’s characters no marketing love.  But we are the ones you created.  We are the ones who matter.  It’s right here in this contract!

Maybell Smith: Jack’s right.  When we agreed to be the heroine and hero in your full-length romance in this anthology, you insisted on giving us a contract to sign saying we would not resign from our roles.

Ruth Ann Nordin: Yes, that was because Mr. Malcolm Jasper tried that trick.  It caused a ton of lost hours in rewrites with another hero I’ll never use.  I’m busy.  I work on three books at a time.  It’s not like I have time to redo these.

Maybell: But our time counts, too, Ruth.  After we’re done with your s0-called masterpiece, we have other books to move onto.  We need to pay our bills just like everyone else.

Jack: Exactly.  Our time is money, just like yours is.  Too many authors complain about their plight of wanting to sell books.  Well, you know what?  Without the characters to fill in for the roles of those books, the books don’t get done.  So it seems to me, you’re much better off working with us than doing senseless projects like auditioning for the role in a movie.

Maybell: Besides, Janet’s right.  You weren’t any good.

Jack: Yeah, can you imagine what would happen to us if we didn’t follow the script given to us?

Ruth Ann Nordin: Now, hold on a minute.  You two didn’t follow my script.  You improvised.  My original idea was for Maybell’s father to marry you and Maybell, with you being the very reluctant and ultra-shy groom.  But did that happen?  Nope.  You were practically all over Maybell halfway into the story.

Jack: *gasps* I wasn’t all over Maybell!

Ruth Ann Nordin: Sure.  *rolls eyes* I’m surprised you didn’t carry her up to the barn loft and have your way with her.

Jack: That’s not true.  I was a perfect gentleman.  I didn’t do anything more than kiss her until we were married.

Maybell who is attracted to Jack in real life!

Maybell: He’s right.  He was.  And I’m the one who had to get the ball rolling on the kissing thing.

Jack: I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.

Maybell: Oh, it was totally worth the wait.  Those scenes still make my skin tingle. …  * notices what I wrote under her picture*  You can’t put that for the caption of my picture!

Ruth Ann Nordin: Why not?

Maybell: Because I was acting in the book.  I was attracted to him in the book, not real life.

Ruth Ann Nordin: Oh puhleaze!  Don’t think I didn’t notice the little kisses you were giving each other when I was writing.  You two fell in love with real life.  I wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up getting married for real.

Jack: Well, we do have the wedding night already practiced out.   I have to say Maybell was awesome.

Maybell: *blushes and giggles*

Ruth Ann Nordin: So you see?  Instead of being upset, you should be thanking me.  If it weren’t for me, you two would never have met, and if you had never met, you wouldn’t be together today.

Jack: Alright, we’ll accept that, but we demand our promo time.

Ruth Ann Nordin: I can do that.  In the next blog post, I’ll put up a scene from the book.  Your choice.

Jack: Great!  I pick the wedding night!

Ruth Ann Nordin: No, Jack.  This is a PG blog.  I can’t do that.

Maybell: How about the one you ran a couple months ago that everyone forgot about since you neglected us for so long?  The one that has a lot of humor because I don’t want to be paired up with that boring Hugh character who was too scared of my pa’s shadow to tell him no?

Jack: He was weird.  Then he was so sick for almost a week that he couldn’t make it back to the farm.  And if he went five minutes past dinner without eating, he was going to die.  That’s all pretty lame.

Maybell: I didn’t like Hugh at all, especially what he thought when he looked at me.  I was good enough to make his meals, but I wasn’t at all attractive from his point of view.

Jack: Hugh was an idiot.  He’d rather take that string bean Winifred Better-Than-Everyone-Else Preston over the friendly and curvy Maybell.  *He winks at Maybell who giggles*

Ruth Ann Nordin: Jack, don’t be mean about Winifred.  I had no control over that character, nor did I control Hugh.

Jack: Well, someone needs to tell Janet a woman who knows how to cook good meals and is blessed on top is very sexy.  I’m tired of all these model thin women in Hollywood who look like they never eat anything.  I want a woman who has curves.  Curves is beautiful.

Ruth Ann Nordin: Being a curvy woman myself, I thank you.

Jack: So you’ll put up the sex scene?

Ruth Ann Nordin: No.  We’ll go with the funny dinner scene where Maybell intentionally dissuaded Hugh from being attracted to her.

Jack: Bummer.

Maybell: At least she’s willing to do some promotion on our behalf.

Jack: True.  We’ll take it.

Ruth Ann Nordin: *whew* At least they’re happy.  Now I can work on casting more characters for my upcoming books.

*****

Picture Credits:

Jack: ID 31407780 © Vladimir Nikulin | Dreamstime.com

Maybell: ID 46894163 © Voyagerix | Dreamstime.com

A Bride for Tom gets an Upgrade (And Random Thoughts About Why I Write What I Do)

Remember way back (years ago) when I said I was going to update A Bride for Tom so there’s a sex scene at the end?  This way people won’t stumble upon it and assume I write clean/sweet romances.

Once in a while I get a comment or email about how excited someone is to find a “clean” romance author and think, “Uh oh.  This person has yet to read anything else I’ve done.”  So I really did need to put the wedding night in the book.  I don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea of what I write.  Sorry, guys, I happen to be a spice kind of gal.

I did upload the new version, but it hasn’t gone up on some of the retailers yet, such as iBooks when I checked today.  I expect it will take another week or two to make its way to all the retailers.

You can download it on Smashwords at this link now if you wish.  (All I did was add the wedding night and fixed a few minor things.  The story itself is the same.  And this book will stay free.)

Stephannie Beman revamped the cover for me!

I’ll let you know when the new version is up on all retailers and put links in for them.  And, for fun, I’ll bring Tom on to see what he thinks of it.  (I love the Larsons, so it’ll be fun to see him…and Joel, who we just know can’t keep from picking on poor Tom…again.)

Anyway….

The Why I Write The Way I Do Portion of this Post

While I was working on this book, I was thinking of Adam Sandler (yep, the actor).  This probably happened because I just watched Pixels, which I really enjoyed.  It’s a fun movie. My point, and I do have one, is that as I was thinking of Adam Sandler a couple days later was that he’s not afraid to do things his way.  I really admire that about him.

He likes 80s music and having the same people in his films.  I don’t necessarily care for every single movie he makes, but I do appreciate how well he’s stuck with his brand and has, on occasion, stepped outside his brand to try something new.  It’s obvious he enjoys what he’s doing.  There’s a passion in his work that can’t be faked.

That’s what I want to be as an author.  I have my own preferences, and for the most part, I stick with them.  My first love is romance, specifically historicals, and I have an appreciation for the marital relationship between a husband and wife (hence why my characters often marry early on in my books).

A Love Scene is More Than Sex

I’m not afraid to add that I enjoy adding sex in them.  I like knowing how the characters respond to each other during sexual play or the actual act.  I realize some people consider this unnecessary, but for me, it is necessary.  I learn a lot about my characters when they are intimate (aka vulnerable) with each other.  The sex isn’t about the sex: it’s about delving in deeper into the psyche of the character.

There’s so much going on within the scene that has absolutely nothing at all to do with the sex, but it’s subtle.  For example, while writing The Convenient Mail Order Bride the other day, I worked on a sex scene, and at the end of it, I realized the hero never, in his entire life, ever felt like anyone had ever accepted him.

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I couldn’t have gotten that revelation without that scene.  Characters often reveal who they are best when they’re being intimate.  That is why I have a hard time writing books without sex in them.  I can only manage it if the characters either marry at the very end of the book or don’t marry at all.

Characters Guide Me (I Don’t Guide Them)

The thing is, I don’t tell the characters who they are.  I don’t give them what they think or feel.  They have to tell me this stuff.  This is why I can’t plot.  I have to write by the seat of my pants, and I only have a vague idea of how the book is going to go, which is why my description is often changed during the course of writing the book.  I try to stick with the main things (beautiful heroine; ugly hero; marriage of convenience), but everything else is fair game.  If you gave me an outline to go by, I guarantee you it’ll be useless by chapters 2-3.  Sometimes the first paragraph in chapter 1 is where everything takes another turn.  But often, it’s chapter 2 or 3.

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For example, yesterday as I was writing Her Devilish Marquess, I suddenly realized the hero and heroine are automatically attracted to each other, something that wasn’t supposed to happen.  This took place in chapter 2, and my entire concept for the book is gone.  I do know he scandalizes the Ton whenever possible, so that point stays.  I know she is scared to death of her reputation being harmed, so that point stays, too.  But the point is, they LIKE each other.  They weren’t supposed to like each other.  And this will change the entire course of this book.  How?  I don’t know.  The description still works, but the contents will shift to make room for whatever the characters are going to throw my way.

I can’t know until I write the book what will happen.  This happens in most of the romances I write.  Each time, the characters pull it off, and they do a better job than I would have done.  But, it’s always a process to finding out HOW they’ll make it work.  This is probably a plotter’s nightmare, but for me, this is why writing is so much fun.

Sometimes, someone will ask me why a secondary character did or said something in the book, and honestly, I don’t know.  Unless I can write in that character’s point of view, I have no idea why they do and say the things they do.  I know that seems weird, but it’s how  writing works for me.

In Conclusion

So what is the point to all of this?  I want to be like Adam Sandler.  I like how he does things.  He has fun doing it.  You can tell it by his enthusiasm, and he’s prolific.  He has a ton of stuff out there.  I just finished my 50th romance, and I love writing more today than I did when I got started.  The more I write, the more I appreciate the characters and the more I have fun writing their stories.  When I reach my goal of writing 100 romances, I want to be able to say I’m even more excited about writing than I was when I hit 50.

Chronological Order of Books According to the Characters Who Show Up In Them

The benefit to having written fifty romances at this point is that I get to play around with characters.  I’ll bring a secondary character from one series and merge them into another series.  This is fun because it means they continue to live far after the series is complete.  It means I never have to say the final goodbye to any of them because I might see them again.  (One of the saddest moments of finishing a book used to be saying goodbye.  But with all the books I’ve done, I never have to.)

So for those interested, here is a list of the chronological order in which these characters pop up in their own books and in other series…

Please note: as I continue writing, this order may change.

Regencies: All of these books take place in the same world, but they are divided up across series to best categorize them.  Here is the current chronological order of the books:

The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife

A Most Unsuitable Earl

Her Counterfeit Husband (this is not part of the series because there is no interplay between the characters in this book and the others)

His Reluctant Lady

The Earl’s Secret Bargain (due to the wager exposed in His Reluctant Lady)

Love Lessons With the Duke (due to the exposure of the wager)

Ruined by the Earl (due to the exposure of the wager)

The Earl’s Scandalous Wife

The Earl’s Stolen Bride

His Wicked Lady – editing

Her Devilish Marquess – currently writing

His Wallflower Bride – to be written

more to come

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The Larson Family

Wagon Trail Bride (Richard Larson’s book)

Her Heart’s Desire (Sally Larson’s book)

A Bride for Tom (Tom Larson’s book) – in the process of adding the wedding night so don’t read it yet

A Husband for Margaret (friend of the family)

Eye of the Beholder (Dave Larson’s book)

The Wrong Husband (Jenny Larson’s book)

Shotgun Groom (Joel Larson’s book)

To Have and To Hold (second Dave Larson book)

His Redeeming Bride (Neil Craftsman’s book)

Loving Eliza (Eliza was in His Redeeming Bride)

Isaac’s Decision (Isaac Larson’s book; ends feud between Dave and Neil)

Boaz’s Wager (features Eva Connealy who was interested in Isaac in Isaac’s Decision; also has Rachel Larson)

Off to the side:

Falling In Love With Her Husband (this does not directly involve the Larson’s, but it has Kent Ashton who later gets woven into the Larson family)

—————Another side note: Ann and Todd Brothers show up briefly toward the end of Brave Beginnings

—————Also, Jake Mitchell from An Inconvenient Marriage overhears Kent talking to Rebecca in Falling In Love With Her Husband and talks to Ann’s father about the matter

Kent Ashton’s Backstory (shows his side of things in Falling In Love With Her Husband)

Back to the Larsons

Catching Kent (Rose Larson’s book where Kent is the hero)

His Convenient Wife (Harriett Larson and Stan Craftsman’s book)

—————-Another side note: Jeremy Graham from Bride of Second Chances talks to Dave Larson and his son, Jacob Larson who owns the mercantile by this time, for a brief moment in the story

*********************

The Native American Series

Meant to Be – minor characters, Cole and Penelope, play a role, and they become more prominent in the Native American Series

Restoring Hope (Woape’s book; Woape befriends Penelope while she’s on the run)

A Chance In Time – I go more into depth on Cole and Penelope’s relationship and show another angle to the friendship Penelope and Woape shared

Brave Beginnings (Julia and Chogan’s book)

———–During Brave Beginnings, Julia and Chogan meet Ann and Todd Brothers from Falling In Love With Her Husband

Bound by Honor Bound by Love (Citlali and Onawa’s book; Penelope and Cole come back)

*******************

I think that’s the connections I have set up at this time.  The other series I have are pretty self-contained.

I’ll make this a page on this blog post and try to add more to it as I find more connections or write more books where I make them.  :D

Second Audition Bloopers

Here are some bloopers from the last post:

and

and

 

Second Audition Tape on my way to Fame!

I will not be deterred from pursuing my acting dream.  Even if Janet Syas Nitsick doesn’t want me as the role of Annie Lee in her work-in-progress, The Bride List, I just know some Hollywood producer will find this and recognize my talent!

A star is born!

Here’s my fabulous second audition tape.  Soak in the wonderful, raw talent that will have people lining up to get my autograph.  Matt Damon will be vying for the lead role as Jimmy Boy, just so he can kiss me.

For the sake of time, I ended it under 2 minutes.  We continued arguing about “booping” for the next hour, and I didn’t think anyone wanted to see it.

Why Does Janet Have to Crush My Dreams?

Can you believe Janet Syas Nitsick’s cold and heartless response to my audition?  I was awesome, but she totally failed to see it.

I mean, after her mean reply to my wonderful audition, she forced her way into my house and threatened me!

Janet ready to clobber Ruth on the head with a hairspray can

And I was like:

Ruth scared for her life

And I said, “Use your words, not violence, woman!”

So then she said:

“You’re not actor material, Ruth. Stick with what you’re somewhat good at: writing books.”

But I didn’t get to where I am today by giving up.  I’m the same author who started out with historical romances so modern people thought I chose the wrong category when I published them.   I even went through the process of making them contemporary until those who loved them convinced me to make them historical again.

This is just another bump in the road like what I faced early on with my historical romances.

I got better with writing historical romances, and I know I can get better with an audition tape.  So that’s what I’m going to do.  I’m going to send out a second tape, and this will be better than the first.

*The whole thing with Janet ready to hit me with hairspray is fiction.  The part about the historical romances, however, is true. :)

Updates on What I’m Doing

The rest of the Enchanted Galaxy Series is due out from in one week!

Already out!

Due out November 20!

Due out November 21!

Due out November 22!

I sent an email to those of you on my email list this past week explaining my special promotion for this series.  These were the books that officially got me down the road to writing and self-publishing books.  It’s a very long story with this series, but suffice it to say, this romantic fantasy series is now done.  I don’t know if I’ll ever do anymore of these. I never fully close the door on any potential story.  But for the time being, my focus will be exclusively on romance because it is–and will probably always be–my first love.

This is why I haven’t talked about them a lot.  I have a lot more fun with romance than I do with fantasy, though I enjoy a variety of genres.

A Groom’s Promise is now with my awesome publisher, Parchment & Plume!  It’ll be out December 20!

Reserve Your Copy Today so you’ll have it on December 20!

This includes a full-length story by me called The Bride’s Choice.  Here’s a brief description: Shy and clumsy Jack Warren has finally found the woman of his dreams, but her father wants her to marry his brother instead.

It also includes a story by Janet Syas Nitsick called When the Whistle Blows.  Here’s a brief description: Hugh Warren makes a deal to marry someone’s daughter as part of a land agreement. But when he meets the perfect lady, he must find a way out of the agreement, even if it means a little matchmaking.

On Monday, I’ll be sending Wagon Trail Bride to the same awesome publisher mentioned above!  
This will be out January 3!

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I got his back from my editing team and am finishing it up as we speak. This is Richard Larson’s book, and it’s the only book I’ll be revealing why Richard and Amanda really left New York.  I don’t plan on ever going into the true reason again.  This is one of my more serious romances, so bring the tissues.  Yes, it has a happy ending, but that won’t come without some dark moments first.

I have just completed my 50th romance, which is His Wicked Lady!  This will be out January 9!

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I just finished my initial rounds of edits and have sent this off to my editing team.  I’ll be publishing this one myself.  Like in Richard’s story where I reveal something that will never be known in another book.  In this one, you will finally learn who authored the infamous book, How to Pleasure a Lady, Lord Edon’s been handing out since I started writing Regencies with The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife.

On another note, I am sorry to say I wasn’t able to resolve the differences been Logan (Lord Toplyn) and Malcolm Jasper, who were introduced in Ruined by the Earl.  The two didn’t get along at all during that book, and they didn’t get along at all during this one either.  I don’t think I can get these two gentlemen to cooperate and play nice together.  This might be one situation where we’ll have to let them not get along forever.

I just got over the halfway point in this one! This one is coming out February 21!

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Like most books, I’m writing this one without really knowing how I’m going to get to the happy ending.  Things have progressed along nicely so far, but I have no idea what’s coming next beyond a couple of scenes.  This is one of those books that comes to me as I write, and I know this drives plotters nuts, but no, I can’t plot any book out.  I have to write it in order to know what to do next.  It’s the way I work.  I realize plotters don’t understand this, but it’s just how things work for me.

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I’ll stop there for now.  I have other things I’m working on, but I’ll go more into those in another post.

Janet’s Reply to My Audition

Well, Janet Syas Nitsick sent a response back on my fabulous audition.  I haven’t seen it yet, so I’ll watch it with you.

Janet’s Response (Bloopers)

To show these videos are all in good humor (and not to be taken seriously), here are the bloopers from the taping of Janet Syas Nitsick’s response to my fabulous interview.

Tomorrow, I’ll post the “final version” of the video.

Blooper:

Blooper:

My Husband Says My Videos Embarrass Him!

The last two posts on this blog have featured me.  I was giving everyone a flavor for my acting style.  But after seeing the posts, my husband hung his head in shame and pleaded with me to remove them.  I decided to bring him onto this blog.  (Note: He really didn’t agree to an interview.  The truth is, I’m doing this without him knowing about it, something I’m sure which will further embarrass him, but I thought it’d be funny to pretend he’s here.  We’ll call him DH for Dear Husband.)

Ruth: So, I hear you weren’t all that happy about the videos I did.

DH: You heard?  I was sitting right there when you were playing them on your computer.  You were showing it to our kids and laughing.  But Ruth, seriously, this is not funny.

Ruth: I thought it was funny.

My husband hiding his identity to protect the reputation of him and our kids in case someone we know happens to see these string of embarrassing videos.

DH: But just because you think it’s funny, it doesn’t mean it really is.  I only say this because I love you and want to do everything possible to protect your reputation: please, please, focus on writing.  It’s what you’re best at.

Ruth: I love writing.  I’m not going to give it up.  You have nothing to worry about.  And Janet Syas Nitsick isn’t going to make her next book into a movie.  When we were at the writing conference a couple weekends ago, we took a workshop on vlogging.  In it, the speaker said more people are likely to pay attention to a video instead of read a blog post.  I thought I’d test out the theory.

DH: In order for that to work, the video has to be interesting.  In your case, it’s not.  I can’t believe Janet went along with you on this crazy idea.

Ruth: Janet did it because she’s a good sport…and I pretty much dragged her into it with presents of mochas and European chocolates.  *rubs stomach* I’m still in chocolate overload from all the sweets we had–and I thought I had a high tolerance for all things sweet!

DH: *shakes head* I agreed to watch the kids so you could go visit Janet and go to the conference.  You were gone for two weeks.  You were supposed to get a lot of writing done, not play around with the iMovie feature on your computer.

Ruth: But I did write.  I finished the first draft of His Wicked Lady, and (in case anyone is interested), Malcolm Jasper pulled it off.  He did provide some steamy sex scenes.  I was pleasantly surprised.

DH: See?  That’s what I’m talking about.  Right now you could be at 35,000 words in The Convenient Mail Order Bride instead of only 27,000 words.

Ruth: I know, but I was having so much fun with the videos.  I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.

DH: No one wants to hear that last part, Ruth.

Ruth: It’s the truth.  If nothing else, these series of videos will serve as a reminder of the fun times Janet and I had while I was in Nebraska.

My husband is now convinced he can’t leave the home unless he has a bag over his head.

DH: Series of videos!  You mean you did more than that audition?

Ruth: Yeah.  Next week, Janet will give her response to my audition.  Then we’ll exchange a couple of pictures using common things like a can of hair spray, a “Bump” construction sign, a “Stop” sign, a second audition tape (with bloopers), and a lead into A Groom’s Promise, and then a final video.  The whole thing will go on until the end of the year!

DH: Are you daft?  No one wants to see all that?  It’s bad enough you put up this audition and then the bloopers.  You plan to keep up this ridiculous “I want to be an actress gig” for the next two months?

Ruth: Technically, it’s only a month-and-a-half because we do devote a couple posts to the characters in A Groom’s Promise.

DH: For the love of all that is good and decent in this world, delete all of those posts at once and just go into the promotion for A Groom’s Promise.

Ruth: I would except Janet and I had so much fun doing them.

DH: No one cares.  This is crazy.  You’re going to drive people away from this blog.  People will be so scared they’ll be subjected to more of these embarrassing things and unfollow you.  You’re going to lose readers over this.  No one wants to be known as the person who reads books by that psychotic writer who thinks she can make fun videos.

Ruth: Oh sure, they will.  If they want, they can skip them and only read the posts that interest them.  That is what makes blogs so handy.  People don’t read every single post.  They read the headline and decide whether or not they want to find out more about the particular topic I’m working on.

DH: The title “I’m going to be an actress” is misleading. It makes it sound like you really got in with a Hollywood producer.

Ruth: I thought it was a cute title.

DH: It was misleading.  It should have been, “I’m auditioning for a role in Janet’s next book.” (Though we all know it’ll never be made into a movie.  You two aren’t exactly Janette Oke or Danielle Steel.)

Ruth: I know that, and Janet knows that.  But it’s fun to pretend.

DH: Keep the pretending to your books.  Please.  I’m begging you.  Our kids need to face their friends at school.  I’d like for them to avoid being picked on because of this.

Ruth: It’s okay, sweetie.  None of their friends or their friends’ parents ever read my stuff.  They don’t even know what I write.  This secret is safe.

Ruth’s husband’s final plea before he gives up and leaves

Ruth: Something tells me he’s not convinced this isn’t the end of the world.

****

Photo credits (Pictures all purchased at Dreamstime.com)

Man in shadows: ID 49773084 © Christefme | Dreamstime.com

Man with bag on head: ID 37563364 © Loganban | Dreamstime.com

Man with help sign: ID 19239343 © Tom Wang | Dreamstime.com