Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 66

Why Getting Older Can Mean Getting Better

Yes, I realize youth has its advantages.  You’re naturally better looking (lack of wrinkles, skin isn’t sagging in certain places, no need to color the hair, etc).  You can get away with less sleep a lot easier.  I remember pulling all nighters in college then sleeping for a couple hours without any problem.  I could eat junk food and not get sick.

But when I was thinking about it today, I realized I would rather be 40 than 30 or even 20.  My parents used to say if they had the choice, they wouldn’t go back and do it all over again.  When they told me this, I was a teenager, and I couldn’t understand why they’d pass up the chance to be a teen again.  I had a lot of fun as a teenager.  I also had fun in college.  I enjoyed my 20’s, etc.    I always thought when I was 40, I’d be wishing I could go back and reliving those periods of my life.

But I’m not.  In fact, I am more excited about life than I’ve ever been before.  I think the best is yet to come, and here’s why:

1.  Getting Older Means Making Better Decisions

I really wish I had known back then what I know now.  I made some really stupid mistakes when I was younger.  For example, I like people who didn’t even like me take advantage of me.  Why?  Because I felt like I had to be nice and being nice was doing what they wanted.  You know the type of people I’m talking about.  These are the ones who want to tell you all their troubles or need to do something for them.  But the minute you need someone, they are conveniently busy.    Then, if you dare say no because you do have something going on that is important (like having to take care of a sick kid or going to the store to pick up milk because you’re out and need it for dinner), they find a way to make you feel guilty for not being there for them when they “needed” someone.

I said yes when I should have said no.  This resulted in me letting these people walk all over me.  I wish I had spent more time being nice to those people who cared about me, the ones who understood when I was busy and were there for me when I needed someone.  The users in life just aren’t worth it.  I don’t care if they are family.  Being family doesn’t mean it’s okay to let them walk all over you.  You have the right to say no and, more importantly, you have the right to not feel guilty for it.

Getting older has allowed me to understand I have the right to set boundaries down with people.  Yes, it’s important to be kind and helpful, but that shouldn’t be at the expense of your family, health, career, God, or whatever else is important in your life.  Sometimes you have to say no to the wrong things so you can yes to the right things.

2. Getting Older Means I Know I Need To Take Care of My Health

When you’re younger, you really don’t think about death or illness (unless you happen to have suffered something serious).  My childhood and adulthood (so far) have been pretty uneventful.  The worst I’ve had is a miscarriage and kidney stone.  So I am not complaining.  I get out of bed every morning and walk and do everything I need to do without really thinking about it.

But now that I’m older, I am more aware of how blessed I am, and I’m more appreciative of it.  I also make a concentrated effort to take better care of myself.  I eat a lot more vegetables and fruits than I ever did before.  I exercise more.  I rarely eat junk food, candy, or drink soda.  I’ve never smoked or done drugs.  I only drink a glass of wine once in a while.  So I’ve been doing some things right all along.  But there’s always room for improvement, and getting older makes me more aware of this.

Because of my diet change and increase in exercise, I actually have more energy and feel much better than I did in my 30’s, and that is emotionally and physically.  I will add I didn’t do any major diet or exercises changes right away.  I would add one or two things a week.  When I exercised, I would add another block when I walked after a week.  I made them gradual so they had a better chance of sticking, and I only pick things I want to eat and exercise I want to do.  Walking is my top choice, especially hiking when I can do it.  There’s nothing like being on a nature trail with autumn leaves.  That’s my favorite time of year to walk.  Spring is second.

3.  Getting Older Means I Appreciate Things More

When I look back on my life, I get a better picture of the good things that have been a part of it.  Even the bad times made way for something good to emerge.  The bad times are never pleasant.  Even now, I cringe when I think more bad times are coming.  Good and bad times will always come.  It’s the way life is.  But by choosing to focus in on the good and how it brought me to where I am, I feel more grateful, which in turn has led me to feel more positive about the present and the future.

I think getting older helps to put things in perspective.  I used to worry about silly small things like whether or not people would think I was a geek for wearing a snow hat when it was cold outside when I was in high school.  Or I’d wear uncomfortable clothes so others wouldn’t think I was a slouch.  Now, I think, “I want to be warm.  I want to be comfortable.  Who cares if someone thinks I’m weird?”

4.  Getting Older Means I Am More Passionate About My Purpose In Life

Whatever your purpose is, I guarantee you, someone isn’t going to like it.   You can’t please everyone, no matter how hard you try.  But if you know what your purpose is and you’re passionate about doing it, it gets easier to do it the older you get because you’ve already suffered some dings and bruises of rejection along the way.  Your skin does get thicker as you keep trudging forward.

If someone doesn’t like what I write, that’s okay.  It just means my books aren’t their cup of tea.  I understand this because there are some TV shows and movies my husband loves but I don’t.  It’s not personal.  It’s a preference, that’s all.  So people not liking my books doesn’t upset me like it used to.  I also know some people read my books because of what I write.  Those are the ones I write for.  Getting older gives me a better perspective on the big picture, and this is what enables me to fine tune my skills and get better at what I do.

I’ll end the post here.  I rambled on much longer than I expected.  But I will close with saying I wouldn’t want to go back and relive any part of my life because where I am now is much better than where I’ve been.  :D

If anyone else has any reasons why they found getting older to mean getting better, I’d love to hear them.

His Convenient Wife is Now Available!

This is my personal favorite of all the books I’ve written, so in order to celebrate the release of this book, I am having a Facebook Release Party.

I’m having it tomorrow, January 5 from 6-8pm Central Standard Time.   (For those who read I put 5-7pm Eastern Time, my apologies.  I was in error.  It’s 7-9pm Eastern Time.) :)

I’ll be giving away a signed paperback of His Convenient Wife, and the other authors (listed on the banner above) will be giving a signed paperback copy or two of their books as well.  The authors above are personal friends I’ve had the honor of getting to know over the years.  They’re super nice people in real life.

Anyway, this party is an informal thing where we can get together and talk about whatever’s on your mind.  If time permits, I hope you’ll stop by and say hi. :D

Now for the places where you can find His Convenient Wife:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

iBooks

Smashwords

Flipkart

paperback

Overview Of What I’d Like To Get Done This Year

Quick update on Battle Royale: I haven’t been able to read it because I was out of town this week.  I’m stuck in initial edit mode, too, so I’ll really be snail pacing it.  This is why I don’t read many books in a year.  I get stuck working. :)  I tend to be a workaholic, which is why I need to take more breathers so I don’t burn out.  Reading would be one of those breathers.

Anyway, this is a brief sketch of what I’d like to get done this year.

1.  His Convenient Wife 

Fortunately, this is ready to go tomorrow.  I’m going to quickly add that this is my favorite book.  My favorite used to be Loving Eliza, but after thinking about it, I realized this has taken its place.  It was hard to bump Loving Eliza to Number 2.

I’ll make a post on here when it’s live.

2.  Love Lessons With The Duke (Book 2 in the Marriage by Deceit Series)

This will be out February 14.

Having two books out of the way does help with making this list. :D

3.  Online Proposal (novella under pen name Barbara Joan Russell) that is going to be in the anthology I’m doing with Catherine Lynn.

We don’t have a title or cover for the anthology yet.  But we are hoping to have this out in either February or March.  (I only have 10,000 more words or so to finish this one.)

4.  Ruined By The Earl (Book 3 in the Marriage by Deceit Series)

This one is so much fun.  The hero is so cocky he’s a blast to work with.  I’m still hoping to get this out in March, though it might be toward the end of the month.  *fingers crossed*

5.  The Earl’s Stolen Bride (Book 4 in the Marriage by Deceit Series)

This should be out in either April or May.  Other projects have come to the forefront.

6.  A Groom’s Promise (anthology with Janet Syas Nitsick)

I’m not sure when this will be out.  Things have slowed on my end (due to Ruined by the Earl and Online Proposal).  I’m about 10,000 words into my novella, The Shy Groom.  I am thinking The Shy Groom will be 30,000-40,000 words when all is said and done.  That only puts me about 1/4 (or slightly more) into the story.

We might be looking at a late spring to early summer release on this one.

7.  Co-Authored Project #1

Until the author and I have more details, I can’t say more about it.  I’m just marking it down as something I plan to get to this year.  I have no idea when it’d be published.

8.  Co-Authored Project #2

The same applies as above.

9.  Wagon Trail Bride (Book 1: Pioneer Series)

Stephannie Beman will be redoing this cover, so I won’t bother posting it.  I’d like to get this out either this summer or early fall.

10.  Royal Hearts (Book 2 in the Enchanted Galaxy Series)

The good news is I already wrote it.  The bad news, it needs to be rewritten.  The release date is set for July.  (It’s one of the books I already set up on pre-order.)

10. I’d like to get started on the next Regency series since I got an idea for them the other day.

I’ll discuss this more in detail in another post, but I’m excited about it and plan to use Lady Seyton (heroine in Love Lessons With The Duke) as a central figure in the series.  This means I get to bring back some characters from the other two Regency series, which is always fun.

***

Other Notes

1.  There’s a certain time period in the year where it makes no sense to publish anything, and that seems to be between October and December.  I think people are too wrapped up in the holidays to worry about reading.  So in those months, I’ll be writing and getting books ready for the next year.

2.  I was planning on another Barbara Joan Russell book, but after thinking over the storyline, it might be one of those books that would be better off with sex in it.  Some books seem to be better off with it and some not.  It depends on the characters and the plot, and I can’t know for sure until I work on it.  So I might snag it and publish it under Ruth Ann Nordin.  We’ll see what happens.

3.  I’m not sure if I can get started (or even do) another book in the Pioneer Series.  It depends on how the co-authored projects go.

Updates on What I’m Doing

Christmas break has been a surprisingly productive time for me.  Despite the fact that I have one kid who doesn’t go to sleep until almost midnight and gets up at seven, I’ve gotten quite a bit written.  It might help that I’ve started taking two days off a week to work on puzzles.  I’m making myself take days off on the weekends to avoid burning out.  When I burned out after I finished His Convenient Wife, it threw me off two months, which is why I had to push back the release dates on His Convenient Wife and Love Lessons With The Duke.  I don’t want that to happen again.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to…

Next weekend His Convenient Wife is Due Out: Release Date is January 3

I can’t believe it’s going to be 2015 this upcoming week.  The older I get (I’m only 40), the faster time seems to pass.  I know my mom told me this would happen, but when I was a kid, I didn’t believe it. :)

But yep, this will be out soon.  God willing, it’ll be available on all the sites and goes to the people who pre-ordered them when it’s supposed to.  *fingers crossed*

Done With Love Lessons With The Duke: Release Date is February 14

I uploaded this to Smashwords a few days ago.  I figure it takes at least a month for the book to go from Smashwords to Barnes & Noble and Kobo.  The reason I pushed back the release date on this book to February 14 is because of this.  I could have published it sooner if I didn’t need to wait for the other channels to pick it up.  Since I put it in pre-order last summer, I have to follow through on it.  This is my second to last book in pre-orders.  The last one is Royal Hearts.  I won’t be doing pre-orders on other books.

Coming Soon: a Contemporary Romance Anthology under the pen name Barbara Joan Russell

I wanted to wait until I had more information, and now that I do, I can give more specifics.  This is going to be published with Parchment & Plume.  I don’t have a projected release date on this, but I’m almost halfway through my novella, Online Proposal.

I still need to work through the description, but it’s pretty much a cute sweet romance about a young woman who goes to South Dakota to meet the man whose proposal she accepted in an email.  At the moment, I’m almost at 12,000 words into this novella.  I expect it to be around 25,000 words when it’s done.

I’m excited to be working with Catherine Lynn.  I’ve been wanting to work on something with her for a while now, so this is fun.

A Groom’s Promise Is Slow Going

Janet Syas Nitsick and I are going to get together on January 7 to further plan out what to do with our novellas.  I’m fine with taking some time on this since I have so many other things going on right now.  One thing I love about Parchment & Plume is how willing they are to work with me, especially when things are delayed or if I realize a certain idea I had isn’t going to work out.  For example, I decided not to do a fourth book in the Montana Collection.  Instead, I’d like to focus on Wagon Trail Bride, and I’d like to publish it with them.  So I talked to them about it, and they’re letting me go with Wagon Trail Bride.  I’ve heard other authors who are happy with their publishers.  I think the right publisher can be a great experience.

Other Co-Authored Books I’m Working On

I plan to pick up on one or two projects with another author in January.  The author is debating a pen name, so I can’t go into any specifics.  When we figure out what to do, I’ll give more information.

Ruined by the Earl

I’m having so much fun with this book.  I had a lot of fun with A Most Unsuitable Earl and His Reluctant Lady.  I especially love Lord Edon and Christopher Robinson because it’s hard to take the two characters too seriously.  I gave them some scenes in Love Lessons With The Duke because I missed them. :) Logan is a similar character.  He has a mischievous side to him, but deep down, he’s a good guy.  It just takes time to see the good guy side.

Ironically, my favorite Regencies are the humorous ones.  But my favorite historical westerns are the more serious ones.  I don’t understand why that’s the case, but it is what it is.

Anyway, I’m at 25,000 words in Ruined by the Earl.  This puts me right on track for publishing it in March.

There are other books, but the ones above are the immediate ones.  Since this post is long enough, I’m going to end it here.

Announcing A New Pen Name for my Sweet Romances

I’ve been thinking of branching out into sweet romances for a couple months. But instead of jumping into it like I had in the past, I wanted to be sure this was something I should do. Then there was the question of whether or not I should announce it (something every author who uses a pen name has to ask). The other pen names I’ve had in the past didn’t work out, and I think they didn’t work because they weren’t compatible with my natural inclinations as a writer. In other words, I was trying to be someone I wasn’t as the writer in those books.

In this case, I can stay true to who I am. I’ve decided no story is worth writing unless I can do that. Regardless of the name I use, I need to be me.

Why a Pen Name?

My husband asked me why I’m bothering to make a pen name for sweet romances. In case someone is wondering the same (since I do have two sweet romances already–A Bride for Tom and Romancing Adrienne), I thought I’d explain why. Out of the 46 romances I’ve done so far, only 2 of those (A Bride for Tom and Romancing Adrienne) are sweet. The rest have sex after marriage. This is my brand. It’s what people have come to expect when they read my books. That being the case, I want to stay true to the brand I established. This way, I won’t disappoint people.

However, sometimes I have a story idea where the characters and/or plot doesn’t require sex. I only like to add sex if it moves the story along. I don’t like to throw it in just to have it there. This is why different books have more sex than others. The amount of sexual tension and sex I put in is directly related to what the characters’ need in the story.

And in some stories, there’s no sex needed at all. These are the stories I’ll be putting under the pen name.  But I’m not going to hide the fact that it’s me writing them.  I figure I’ll put something like “Ruth Ann Nordin writing as…” on the book and description like I see some authors do.

The Pen Name

The name I chose is Barbara Joan Russell. I have set up a WordPress website for this pen name at this link.  I’m still working on it, but the basics are set up.  More will be added as I keep working on books under the pen name.

But you don’t have to go to that site to see what I’m doing under this pen name. I’ll be sharing these books on this blog when I do updates and letting you know on this blog when I publish a book under this name.

The site for Barbara will not have blog posts in it. It’s for people who aren’t familiar with me who happen to stumble under the books I write as Barbara. I keep busy enough running this blog, my newsletter, and doing the occasional blog post for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. I can’t manage another one.

What I’ll Be Writing Under the Pen Name Barbara Joan Russell

When I say sweet, I mean no sex at all. They’ll be a kiss or maybe a teasing touch (like a playful tap on the behind or something), but that’s as far as I’m going to take it. The rest of the story will be like others I write. I’ll do historical western and contemporary romances.

Current Projects I Have Created Under Barbara Joan Russell

There are two, but one has my focus at the moment because it’s an anthology with another author.

1. Contemporary Sweet Romance Anthology

There is no title or cover for the anthology yet. But it will be composed of two novellas, each one featuring a sister who is going to head off to her romance.

I do have a title for my novella. It’s “Online Proposal” and is about a couple who met online. (My husband and I met online, but under different circumstances from the characters in the book. In this case, there’s a mutual friend involved.) Anyway, while the heroine in this story accepts the proposal, she goes to the small town he lives to meet him in person so they can both make sure it’s the right thing to do.

The other author is Catherine Lynn. Catherine’s story is about a young woman who accepts a job as a bridal dress designer in New York. I don’t know a whole lot about the novella, but she comes across a bitter homeless man while there. When I know more, I’ll post about it. I’ll also link up to Catherine Lynn’s site when she has it up. Catherine is her pen name because she writes other books under a completely different genre.

We are both hoping to have this anthology out before or by March next year, and we will be going with a publisher (Parchment & Plume) to get it out.

2. Bride of Convenience

I don’t have a cover for this yet. This will be a historical western mail-order bride romance. I plan to make it a novella, but if it turns into a novel, then that’s what it’ll be. I won’t be starting this one any time soon since I have other projects I’m doing, but I would like to get it out before October of next year.

Thoughts on Battle Royale (Halfway Into It)

Update on My Reading of Battle Royale by Koushun Takami.

I wish I could say I’m further into the book than I am.  The thing is about 600 pages, and I’m at page 300.  The kids and I came down with a bad cold, and when one of my kids is sick, he will not leave me alone.  He will follow me into the bathroom and hang on the shower door, being as loud as possible while he swings back and forth on it.  Usually, he won’t do this, but when he has a cold, I guess he likes to be with me.  Needless to say, this makes reading nearly impossible so the book has been on hold.  (My husband, by the way, has managed through this whole time without getting sick.  Lucky.)

….Possible spoilers below…

Anyway, I can give my initial impressions of the book.  When I read the first chapter, I realized there was a lot of info dumping.  I didn’t know any of the characters yet, but I was told about this student and that student, etc.  I don’t know why the author did this, nor do I know the author to ask him about it.  There wasn’t enough time to establish a connection with any of these characters yet to care who was doing what or what the main character thought about any of them.  I suspect the author wrote this while either in the middle of the book or at the end of it.  (I don’t know for sure.  I’m just speculating.)

I’m going to wait until I’m done with the book then I’ll go back reread that chapter because at that time, the characters will be familiar to me, and the chapter will mean something to me.   I will admit, I skimmed through some of that chapter to get to the good stuff.  I only kept reading because I knew there would be the moment where all the students realized they were going to have to fight each other until there was only one left alive.  But had it not been for the premise and the fact that the next chapter started off at the “good point”, I would have stopped reading.  Being as slow as I am with reading books, I don’t keep going past (what I consider) two consecutive boring chapters.  With this book, that was the only chapter that didn’t hold my interest.  But, I suspect when I do reread it, this is a chapter that just might have the biggest impact because of everything that happens later in the book.

So far, this book has been an awesome one.  There are three main characters, and I do find myself rooting for them, even though I suspect the one is going to die because I’ve been told ahead of time that one boy and the girl end up together.  This boy is the primary one telling the story.  We are given other characters’ points of view throughout the book, but we always come back to him.  I’m not even going to try naming these characters because I’d probably spell them wrong.  Suffice it to say, the main characters are a boy (Boy 1), a girl, and another boy (Boy 2).  Boy 1 is the character we get to know what he’s thinking and feeling about everything, and he’s the one who ends up with the girl.

So far, I haven’t been given the girl or Boy 2’s points of view.  That is probably done on purpose because Boy 2 is a mystery.  I can’t help but wonder about his motives.  Of course, this is a good technique.  I love it when there’s one character you wonder about.  Is this a good or bad guy?  What is his motive?  I know what he’s saying, but what is he really thinking?  These types of characters are often the most interesting in any story because they aren’t black or white.  They’re a mix of gray, and gray makes you wonder.  Boy 2, as it turns out, has survived one of these programs in the past, and that makes the story even more intriguing.

But while the three main characters are hiding out and trying to survive, the author weaves in what is happening to the other characters on this island.  While I was reading through some reviews on this book, I was prepared for this, so it didn’t throw me off when this happened.  At first, I wasn’t sure what to think of this technique.  The Hunger Games book is only given in one person’s point of view.  This book, on the other hand, gives you many characters’ points of view, even that of the bad guy.

There was some criticism for this technique, but I actually like it.  In a situation like this, you would run into different personalities, so there would be several ways to respond to a situation where you’re told, “Kill your classmates or risk being killed by them.” Would you do it?  Would you try to get your classmates together and form an escape plan?  Would you hide out and wait until you’re the last one standing?  These questions are what these characters are answering.  Based on their personalities, they choose different options, just as you’d see in real life.

This is not a “happy” book.  It’s really quite brutal, revealing the darkest potential in the human heart.  Some characters are taking the offensive and killing their classmates, and some are those they once called friends.  In some ways, it’s heartbreaking because you’re investing time into a few good characters who are going to die, and you watch them die, knowing full well they have to based on the premise of the book.  There are a couple characters you don’t mind seeing die, like those who I’m sure we weren’t supposed to be rooting for anyway.

I think that’s why the main characters’ story keeps weaving in and out of the rest of this.  It gives the reader a centering point to go back to.  These are the characters you end up really rooting for.  I’ve been trying to guess how Boy 1 and the girl will end up together (and alive), but I really have no idea how it’s going to happen.  The bad guy can hear them and see what they’re doing (just like they did in the Hunger Games).  But unlike the Hunger Games, each student is given a collar around their neck that can explode at any time, and the students can’t remove them.  So yeah, there are some major obstacles our main characters have to overcome.

I look forward to seeing how it all plays out and will report what I think when I’m done.

Updates on What I’m Doing

 His Convenient Wife (standalone)

This is still due out January 3.  I’m going over the paperback proof copy to check for errors on this one.  I’d like to get the ebook and paperback out around the same time.

On January 5, I’ll be having a two-hour Facebook party for the release of this book.  I’ll give the details about a week from the day of the party.

Love Lessons With The Duke (Marriage by Deceit: Book 2)

This is due out February 14.  Yes, I picked that day because it’s Valentine’s Day. :D  I did get this back from one person on my editing team already, but I haven’t gone over what she found yet.  I want to wait until either this upcoming week or next to work on this book.

Ruined By The Earl (Marriage by Deceit: Book 3)

I just started chapter 6 of this one.   Stephannie Beman did this, along with the other four covers in the Marriage by Deceit Series.  I have scheduled more book covers for her to do for me next year.  Her quality is way better than what I can do.

Anyway, this book is going along very well.  I won’t be putting this on pre-order, which gives me greater freedom to get it out in March.  If I can keep up the pacing I set up, I shouldn’t have any problems doing it.

The Earl’s Stolen Bride (Marriage by Deceit: Book 4)

I’m not far in this one.  I’m only at the beginning of chapter 2.  I’d love to get this one out in April, but we’ll see.  At this early in the book, it’s hard to get a good idea on how easily the book will progress.

A Groom’s Promise

I’m at chapter 3 in my novella for this anthology.  I think Janet Syas Nitsick is about as far in her novella as I am in mine.  We are meeting tomorrow to work on this anthology.  We’ve had to do more together in this anthology than the other one we did (Bride by Arrangement) because the main hero in our novellas are brothers.  Our storylines also intertwine.  The father of my heroine is trying to convince the hero in Janet’s book to marry her.  But, the heroine is going to end up with my hero.  So we are going slow in order to make sure the whole thing works out like it’s supposed to.

About Wagon Trail Bride

New Cover Coming Soon

This will be the start of a new historical western romance series.  I have only gotten into chapter 2.  I don’t plan to publish this until after I’m done with the Marriage by the Deceit series.

Wagon Trial Bride will be book 1 in the Pioneer Series.  I know.  It’s not a “wow” kind of series title, but since I did Nebraska Series, South Dakota Series, etc, it fits best with my other historical western romance series.  I know Wagon Trail Bride features Richard Larson, but this isn’t a “Larson” series.  It a series that happens to have Richard Larson in it.  I haven’t decided which characters will be the main ones in books 2 and 3, but they’ll be introduced in Wagon Trail Bride.  Their stories, however, won’t take place until after Richard and Amanda reach Omaha.  I haven’t decided if all of them will stay in Omaha with them or not.  I’ll have to see how things play out.

Now that I know where I’m going with this book and that it’ll be part of a new series, I want to change the cover.  I’ll be having Stephannie Beman make them for me, and she gave me a good idea for a “look” to go with them the other day.  But her calendar gets full quickly, so she won’t be able to get to them until February at the soonest.  In the meantime, I’ll be using the old cover for Wagon Trail Bride when referring to it in these posts.

 

Why Romance is Popular

Contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, romance readers don’t read romance because they like trashy novels.  They aren’t sex-crazed bored housewives who desperately need something useful to do with their lives.  I don’t know who started this stereotype, but it doesn’t play out in real life.  Just like people who like horror novels aren’t secretly keeping dead bodies in their basement or performing sacrificial rituals in their backyard.  But I’m not talking about horror novels.  I’m talking about romances and why romances are popular.

The reason why they’re popular is because they guarantee a happy ending.  You can rest assured going in that you are investing your time into characters who won’t die on you or end up unhappy.  You don’t have to go to the end of the book to look at the last page wondering if everything will end up okay before you get started.  You know the hero and heroine labeled in the description will end up together.

Some of you may wonder what’s the point if you already know how things will end.  It’s simple.  The key isn’t how the book is going to end.  The key is the journey.  It’s how the hero and heroine will find their happy ending.  The safety net in reading a romance is knowing that no matter how bad things get for our main characters, you know everything will work out for them in the end.  It’s about hope.

I think romance readers are some of the happiest and most optimistic people I’ve come across.  They’re supportive and caring.  They tend to be happy in their marriages, and they tend to spread happiness wherever they go.  I think that’s why they enjoy romances.  Romances are about giving two people a happy ending, and when those characters get that happy ending, the readers (in turn) share in that happy ending.

This all goes to the post I wrote on creating an emotionally engaging character.  There is a connection between the character and the reader.  The reader wants to escape into the character’s world.  (The same is true for the writer.)  Romances allow the reader to escape into the journey of the heart.  But this doesn’t detract from the reader’s real life.  I’d say it enhances it.  Since most romance readers I know are happily married, they aren’t looking to put a hero into their husband’s shoes.  They just want to enjoy someone else’s journey of the heart.

I don’t know how else to explain it.  Since there seems to be so many people who have a hard time understanding what makes romances so popular, I’m hoping this post will help explain it.  I’ve been married for fourteen years, and while my husband and I have had our ups and downs, we’re happy together.  In fact, I’d say the longer we’ve been married, the better things get because we understand and accept each other (faults and all) a lot easier.  So when I read romances, it’s not because I’m a bored and lonely housewife.  It’s because I know how wonderful romance is and enjoy watching two characters discover this for themselves.

Wagon Trail Bride: Flash Fiction (Teaser About Amanda’s Past)

I’ll have Stephannie Beman work on the cover to fit it in a series if a series does evolve from this book.

This is in first draft form so it’s not perfect:

“We’ll stop here for tonight,” Joe called out to the group as he rode by on his horse.

As tired as Amanda was, she wished they could have kept going for another half hour. But he was right. They should stop for the evening. The day had been a long one, and this one seemed especially difficult given the lack of wind as the sun beat down on them. She came to a stop and opened her canteen. There was no more water in it. With a sigh, she put the lid back on and studied her surroundings.

In New York City, she got used to buildings and lots of people. But out here, it seemed like a desolate wilderness. There was the occasional town along the way, but for the most part, it was open land as far as the eye could see. She couldn’t decide if she liked it or not. Omaha was bound to be much different from what she was used to.

“You want to eat with my family tonight?”

She gasped and turned, unaware Richard had come up behind her.

He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Relaxing, she returned his smile. “I don’t know where my mind is.”

“It’s been a long day.” He glanced back at their wagon. “I need to get the animals settled before supper.” He turned his gaze back to her. “My ma asked us if we wanted to eat with them tonight. I told her I’d ask you. I wasn’t sure if you feel up to preparing something or not.” He took his hat off and wiped the sweat from his brow. His blond hair, which was a light shade of blond, appeared darker in the orange and pink hues of the evening sky. Hat still in hand, he continued, “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I can bring something back for you if you’d rather not talk to anyone. I know Laura was giving you a difficult time earlier today.”

She met Richard’s eyes again. They’d gone to school together, but it wasn’t until recently that she got to know him. Their wedding had been so rushed, being that it was done out of necessity. “I’ll be happy to join your family for supper this evening,” she finally said.

After everything he’d done for her, it was the least she could do. And as he’d pointed out, Laura had been unusually annoying that day by coming up to her during the break at the stream. Amanda scanned the area where people were getting settled for the evening. Good. Laura was preoccupied with her mother.

“We’ll go to their wagon in a little bit,” Richard told her, directing her attention back to him.

She nodded then found a private area where she could go to the restroom. Of all the conveniences she missed in New York, this was the one she missed most. Outhouses might have stunk, but they offered a better sense of privacy than a group of bushes did. She had to keep worrying someone would happen to find her like this. Though was it any worse than the condition Richard found her? And had it not been for him, who knew what would have happened to her?

Don’t think about it, she admonished herself.

She left the bushes and returned to her wagon. He’d already unhitched the oxen for the night and was letting them rest with the other animals. “Do you need any help?” she asked as she pulled the strap holding her canteen over her head.

“No. I have it all taken care of.” He held his hand out to her. “I’ll put that in the wagon and fill it up tomorrow.”

She thanked him and handed him the canteen. As he jumped up into the wagon, a movement not too far away caught her attention. The last thing she wanted to do was look over and see what it was. Or rather, who it was. She had an unsettling feeling someone was watching her. And if she guessed right, it was Joe. Forcing her hands into her pockets, she kept her eyes on Richard who was setting the canteen next to the blanket that served as a bed.

Relieved when he returned, she relaxed. But only slightly. Joe was still watching her. She told herself not to think about it. He was a part of her past. Richard was her future. And really, no one could blame her. She had no other choice at the time.

Richard smiled and took her by the arm, gently leading her away from the wagon, away from Joe. She stepped closer to Richard, taking comfort in his silent strength. He’d been there when Joe hadn’t been, and for that, she owed him her life.

“Ma said my brothers caught a couple rabbits earlier today,” Richard said. “She’s going to cook them then put them in stew with the carrots and potatoes they saved from the last town we were in.”

“Your ma’s a good cook,” she replied.

“You are, too.”

She wanted to argue with him but didn’t. He seemed to see only the best in things, and that included her. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. How did someone tell someone they weren’t as perfect as they were made out to be? Would he find out soon enough? And at that time, would he realize he made a mistake?

She forced the questions aside. It’d been a long day. Tomorrow would be just as long. And quite frankly, she was tired. All she wanted to do was eat and go to sleep. Sleeping was her favorite activity because it was in sleep she could forget everything. Then, for a few hours, she had peace.

His Convenient Wife is Still Due Out January 3

I forgot to mention His Convenient Wife in the last post.  Thanks to the person who brought it to my attention. :)

Yes, this is still due out January 3.  

I have it all set and ready to go.  I had to push back the release date because this time of year just sucks for publishing books if you’re self-publishing anything.  No one is buying them.  They’re buying gifts for others.   I’ve decided it’s just better to hold onto a book and wait for the Christmas season to be over.  Then people are settled in and able to do more reading.

This time of year is a hard one for me, too, so I completely understand.  My kids get a lot of breaks from school, and it’s too cold to take them to the pool or park.  So they are usually buzzing around my house, climbing the walls (literally), and getting into lots of fights (since there are four of them).  I do good to get the meals on the table and keep the house clean.  And honestly, I am not the perfect housekeeper.  Even when I clean, I usually forget the small details like dusting.  As for cooking, I’ve been known to burn soup and set the microwave on fire.  I wish I was kidding, but I’m not.

Anyway, this is another excellent reason why pre-orders aren’t working for me.  Once I finish a book, I forget all about it.  I start focusing in on the ones I’m currently working on.  I know I’m supposed to keep promoting books, even after I’m done with them, but I have so many other books I want to do that it’s hard for me to go back and remember those that are out.  Fun for me is working on the current story.

I’ll try to remember to include His Convenient Wife in my update posts until it’s actually available.