Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 75

Sunday Story Sample: Boaz’s Wager: Introducing Patty

Before I get into the story sample, I wanted to update a couple links from books that were recently published. From time to time, I get asked when a book is up on Kobo and Apple iBooks, so I’ll take a moment to post those links now.

I’m also posting links to Diesel and Flipkart.  These books are also set to distribute to Page Foundry, Scribd, Oyster, and Baker & Taylor Blio, but I’m not sure where to go to find them at these places.  I have not signed up as a Scribd or Oyster member, and I’m not familiar with Page Foundry or Baker & Taylor Blio.  My publisher and I opt my books into as many places as possible to make things as easy as we can for anyone who wants to read my books.  This is why I don’t go exclusively at one place, and my publisher supports my decision.

I will say that I’m very sorry to see Sony go.  I knew a couple of Sony readers and wonder what they’re doing now.

Kobo

Flipkart

Diesel

Kobo – not there yet

Flipkart

Diesel

Kobo – not there yet

Flipkart

Diesel – not there yet

At this time, Boaz’s Wager is not on Kobo, Apple iBooks, Flipkart, or Diesel yet.  I’ll keep an eye on it and put the links in a post when it does.

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Patty’s Gamble is the rewrite of the novelette “The Keeping of Greg Wilson” which I had unpublished years ago.  In my next post, I’m going to go into the background of this and how I came up with the Montana Collection.

Now out from Parchment & Plume!

Patty’s Gamble takes place during the same time Boaz’s Wager does.  But I wanted to give some hints in what will be in Patty’s Gamble while I was writing Boaz’s Wager so I wrote the part below in  Boaz’s Wager.  (The women are on a porch.)

            “Patty, I want you to meet Eva,” Heather introduced as Eva approached them. “Eva just married Boaz.” Looking at Eva, she added, “Patty just got married, too. She married Greg Wilson.”

Patty tied the horse’s reins to the post and rolled her eyes. “I’d hardly call what Greg and I have a marriage.”

“Why? What’s wrong? Is Greg not happy?”

“That’s an understatement,” she grumbled and headed for the porch, her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve cooked and cleaned for him. I even brought him a newspaper and tried to rub his back. But does he appreciate any of it?” She turned to face the two women who followed her up the porch. “No! With the way he’s acting, you’d swear I just ruined his life.” She paused for a moment and smiled at Eva. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s nice to meet you.”

Eva returned her greeting. If one thing could be said for Patty, she was lively. She didn’t seem like the type who accepted everything that came her way. Instead, she went out and got what she wanted. Intrigued, Eva listened as Patty continued moaning about her ill-fated marriage.

“I just don’t understand Greg.” Patty plopped in the rocking chair across from them and crossed her arms. “I thought men were pretty simple to figure out. As long as their bellies are full and they’re not tripping over things in their house, they should be satisfied. At least my pa’s an easy man to please. He’s happy for the littlest things anyone does for him. And look at Mitch.” She gestured to Heather. “He was smiling and talking about you nonstop when he married you. I swear, he’d never been that happy before. But will Greg see what a blessing I am? Of course not. And why? Because he’s stupid.”

“Oh, you don’t think he’s stupid,” Heather replied. “A little misguided perhaps but not stupid.”

Lowering her voice so Hannah wouldn’t overhear, she said, “I went to his bed wearing nothing, and he didn’t do anything.”

“You what?” Eva asked, shocked that a woman would do something so…so…bold.

“I gave him what every man dreams of,” Patty replied, shooting her a meaningful look. “And what did he do? He left the room. Now, go on and tell me that’s not stupid.”

Heather bit her lower lip. “Well, it doesn’t take much to encourage a man.”

“Exactly. And honestly, I don’t know how I could have been more encouraging than that.” Patty grunted and leaned back in her chair. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything but nothing’s worked. The fool keeps going on and on about how he’ll figure a way out of the marriage.”

Eva glanced at the barn where Boaz helped Mitch with the evening chores and thought her situation wasn’t all that different. Not really. They were both married to men who didn’t want a real marriage. While Boaz wanted to be married, he only wanted a wife of convenience so in no way could she consider that a real marriage.

What Mitch and Heather had was a real marriage. What Herb and Rachel had was a real marriage, too. And anyone could tell how happy they were by simply looking at them. It’d be nice to have that kind of happiness in her own marriage, just as Patty wanted in hers. She couldn’t blame the woman for being frustrated, especially since she went out of her way to go into her husband’s bed without a single thing on.

Heather reached out and clasped Patty’s hand. “You haven’t tried the most important thing of all. You haven’t been yourself.”

She rolled her eyes. “If being myself would work, he would have married me a long time ago.”

“I don’t recall you being anything but the person you think he wants you to be.”

“A man doesn’t want a woman who can lasso cattle better than he can. Don’t get me wrong. Greg manages very well on the ranch, but there are some things he could do much better. Like breaking his horse? I could have handled that one, but he paid Boaz to do it. And why? Because he’s a man and I’m a woman. Greg expects me to be feminine at all times.”

“Patty,” Eva began, “just because a man wants to be married, it doesn’t mean he wants a wife.”

Eyebrows furrowed, Patty looked at her. “What?”

“Boaz only wanted to marry me so he could have a mother for his children. He sleeps in the parlor and I sleep in the bedroom.”

Heather’s eyes widened. “Was that his idea?”

“Well,” Eva began, “at first it was mine because I didn’t want to be with him right away. Then when I was ready, I found out he planned for us to sleep in separate rooms all along.”

“When I married Mitch, I thought he wouldn’t want to be with me right away because we rushed through everything.”

“So he slept on the couch?” Patty asked.

“No,” she slowly replied. “He slept in the same room with me.”

“And?”

“And…it went as you’d expect it to.”

“But it didn’t happen that way for me,” Patty pointed out, “and it’s not happening that way for Eva. You know what I think? I think some men don’t know a good thing when they have it.”

“Or they’re too afraid to accept it when they do,” Eva added without bothering to think over whether or not she should disclose so much about her marriage. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one with a husband who was reluctant to sleep with her. “I understand why, though.” It wasn’t fair to him that she didn’t explain things further. “Since his first wife died in childbirth, he’s afraid I’ll suffer the same fate.”

Heather pressed her hand to her heart. “You weren’t here before he straightened his life out. He’s been through so much, and he took her death hard.”

“I figured that. It’s why I’m not so upset about it. Sure, I’d like to have something like you and Mitch do, but I realize the situation is different.” After a pause, she added, “I think it’d help Patty to know she’s not the only one going through this. I know I feel better knowing I’m not the only wife who doesn’t have a normal marriage.”

“I feel better too, Eva,” Patty agreed. “It’s nice to know not every woman has it easy. I’m sorry, Heather, but it’s not fair to watch Mitch fall all over himself to impress you. You have him wrapped around your finger. I honestly don’t think there’s anything he wouldn’t do for you.”

Heather glanced between them and shrugged. “I don’t know what to say.”

“There’s nothing you can say,” Patty replied. “We’re glad you don’t have to go through what we do. It’s horrible. Eva,” she looked at her, “the notion that you’re going to die in childbirth might be possible, but I don’t think it’s likely. Most women survive it just fine.”

“I know that,” Eva said, “but I don’t think Boaz can be logical when it comes to this.”

“I know it doesn’t seem like it,” Heather began, “but Boaz is trying to protect you.”

“I realize that. It’s the only reason why I don’t try to knock some sense into him.”

Patty giggled. “I wouldn’t mind doing that to Greg, and I would if I didn’t want to kiss him so much. So tell me, Heather. What secrets do you have for us? What can we do to nudge our men in the right direction?”

Heather fiddled with her hair. “I don’t know.”

“What do you do if you want Mitch to join you in bed?”

Heather’s face went beet red, but Eva was glad Patty asked the question.

Clearing her throat, Heather softly said, “It doesn’t take much to get him interested. A touch in certain places, a lingering kiss, telling him I’ll be in bed waiting for him… He’s not hard to encourage like Greg is.”

Patty rocked back and forth, tapping the edge of the chair’s arm with her fingers. “I wonder if I can get close enough to Greg to try the touching and kissing thing. I think if I told him I’d be in bed, he’d run out of the house.”

Though it wasn’t funny, Eva felt a chuckle rise up in her throat. “I’m sorry, Patty. I didn’t mean to laugh.”

“Oh, I know it sounds ridiculous. It is ridiculous! No man in his right mind would refuse to take a woman up on the offer to be intimate. That’s why there’s something wrong with Greg up here.” She tapped her head. “I just wish there was some medicine I could give him to cure him of his stupidity.”

“Alas, no such thing exists.”

Heather shifted in her chair and leaned toward them. “Patty, if you really want Greg to act like a husband, then do something about it. Don’t sit idly by while he’s running out of the room.”

“And what do you suggest I do?” Patty asked. “Lasso and tie him to the bed?”

“Why not?”

“Oh, be serious. Patty can’t do that,” Eva argued, glancing at Hannah to make sure she was still out of hearing range from them.

“Sure, she can,” Heather began. “If anyone can lasso any moving thing, it’s Patty. She can make Greg stay in the house with her. She doesn’t have to tie him to a bed, but she can make it so that he has to spend time with her and get to know her. And who knows? Maybe if he’s on the run and she catches him, he might be impressed and see her in a new light.”

“But that’s not ladylike,” Patty replied. “You know that horrid woman at church wouldn’t like me doing something like that. She’s always telling me I act too much like a man for my own good. She’s the one who gave me the idea to let him rescue me and it worked. He married me to save me from John Meyer.”

Noting Heather’s grimace, Eva asked, “Who’s John Meyer?”

“Just the worst piece of scum in Lewistown,” Heather muttered. “Patty, you’re asking for trouble by arranging something with John.”

“Everything’s fine,” Patty assured her. “I paid him the amount due to him. He’s gone his way.”

“I don’t know.” Heather crossed her arms. “He’s a sly fox. You can’t trust him.”

Patty waved off her argument. “The mayor was there to help arrange the whole thing.”

“You better hope Greg doesn’t find out he was tricked into marrying you.”

“He won’t unless you two say something.”

“We’re not going to say anything. Besides, how can we if we don’t know the details of the arrangement you made?” Then after a pause, she added, “You and Greg will be a good match once he realizes you’re perfect for him, though you need to be honest about who you are in order for him to see it.”

Patty shook her head, indicating that she didn’t believe Heather and rose to her feet. “I better go. I want to be sure one of his ranch hands secures all the stalls.”

“You think one of his ranch hands isn’t doing his job?”

Shrugging, she said, “It’s a hunch. Nothing more. I won’t say anything unless I find out for sure. Thank you for lending me a caring ear.” Turning to Eva, she added, “And it was nice to meet you.”

Eva returned the sentiment and watched as Patty got on her horse. Though she dressed very ladylike, she mounted the steed like a man, something Eva suspected was so natural for her, she didn’t even think about the fact that she was wearing a dress. With a groan, Patty readjusted her legs so she was sitting on the saddle like a woman and smoothed the dress to properly cover her legs.

Boaz’s Wager is Now Available!

I sent out an email from Mail Chimp to those of you on my new release list.  If you didn’t get it or would like to be on it, please fill out the form and I’ll add you to the list.

[contact-form]

That aside, my publisher Parchment & Plume, LLC has gotten Boaz’s Wager up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.  They’re waiting for the ISBN.  Then they’ll publish it on Kobo and Apple iBooks.  The book will go up on other Smashwords channels, but that is a matter of waiting for Smashwords to approve it for premium distribution.  I won’t bore everyone with all the details.

Instead, here’s where it is on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords:

Now out from Parchment & Plume!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Patty’s Gamble, which is the next book in this series will be out around June or July.  I’m currently working on it.

About Wagon Trail Bride and His Convenient Wife (Includes a Very Long Post on How I Decide What To Write and When)

I’ve been getting questions about these two books enough so I thought I’d make a blog post about it.  I think I’ll add this post to one of the FAQ sections on this blog because in time, this post will get buried and be harder to find.

The main question, of course, is “Will I write them?”

The answer is yes.

But…and these books are not on the priority list.

My goal at the moment is to have Wagon Trail Bride out by the end of this year.  Barring any family emergencies (last year my husband almost died of a burst appendix and I lost a month of writing) or something else that will require me to put my writing on hold for a while, I should be able to get Wagon Trail Bride out by Christmas.

I don’t see getting His Convenient Wife out this year.  Maybe next year at the soonest.

Why is it going to take so long?

I know it’s taboo to discuss writing and how it relates to business, but this is my job.  It’s how I support a husband and four kids.  I’m very grateful for this job.  I love it.  Nothing else would give me as much joy as writing books.  In order to keep this job, I need to make enough money to support my family and pay taxes.  (The taxes, by the way, are almost half of what I earn.  So over 40% of my income goes directly into the federal and state taxes because I’m self-employed.)

This forces me to think of writing as a business.  As ideal as it would be for me to say that I write solely for pleasure, the truth is, I do have to think of money.  If I don’t think a book will sell very well, I push it down on the priority list.

I honestly don’t believe Wagon Trail Bride or His Convenient Wife will sell enough to put them high up on the priority list.

When I sit down to look at which books to put up high on my priority list, I need to look at a couple things:

how long it will take me to write the book
how other books in the series (or similar books) are selling already
what I think will interest a wide audience when looking at a new series or book idea

1.  The speed at which I can write.

I have been pushing myself hard ever since the year began to see how much I can write in a year.  Up to now, my average has been 6-7 books a year.  This seems to be about 5-6 full-length novels and a novella.  I don’t know if I can write faster than that, but I’m trying.

If I can write more books in a year, then I can afford to take a risk on a book I don’t believe has a good chance of selling.

So if I can get out an extra book this year, it’s easier to make that book Wagon Trail Bride because I don’t need that book to help me making a living.  It is an “extra”.  I can afford to take a risk on an “extra”.

2.  How books in the series or similar books are already selling.

I look at how my past books did to determine what to write in the future, and I determine in what order to write them.  I need to do this in order to get a picture of what people want and how to better gear my writing in that direction.  It’s a business decision.

I’ve noticed a couple of things that I wished I had paid closer attention to a couple years ago.

1) Romances where the heroine pursues the hero tend to bomb.  Not many people like them.
2) Heroines that are soft and tender sell better than those who are more likely to give the hero a hard time.  This is why I don’t do the “difficult” heroine anymore.
3) If a series isn’t popular, nothing will save it.  It might be possible to boost the series, but longterm, it’s something to write off and move on to a more promising series.
4) Romances are 1900 don’t sell well.  So I’m very reluctant to write after the 1800s.

Reason #3 is why Wagon Trail Bride isn’t higher up on the priority list.  Richard Larson is the oldest Larson brother.  My Larson books don’t do that well.  I mean, the $0.99 books do well, but I can’t make a living off of $0.99.  I’m keeping those books at $0.99 since that is what they were back when I published them.  I try not to mess with books that are already published.

But overall, the Larson family really doesn’t yield a lot of interest.  Not at $2.99, and I need that $2.99.

Reason #4 is why I don’t believe His Convenient Wife will sell very much.  It takes place after 1900.  Catching Kent (which took place after 1900) bombed.  There’s just not enough interest in it, and I suspect there are two reasons for it.  It had the heroine pursuing the hero (mistake #1) and takes place after 1900 (mistake #2).

3.  I focus my time and energy on books I believe will attract the widest audience possible.

I don’t write for everyone.  My books will always follow the guidelines I’m comfortable with: sex within marriage being the biggest one.  Anything I submit to a publisher or co-write will have my core values intact in the book.

However, there is some nice leeway I can work with (and do).  A couple times a year, I look over how my books have done.  I look at common elements/themes that appealed the most to people.  Then I look to see if there are any common elements/themes that turned the most people off.  I’m now at 39 romances (a couple of which are novellas) and from this large pool of books, I aim to better gauge why my top sellers are top sellers and do what I can to make sure my next book is a success.

This doesn’t mean I don’t branch out and experiment with something different.  I am doing fantasy romances this year, which is really a huge risk.  The only reason I’m doing them is because they are already written.  All I have to do is rewrite them which is an easy process.  But it’s an experiment.  If it doesn’t do well, don’t expect to see any other fantasy romances.

I’m also experimenting with mail-order bride books this year.  I believe these have a good chance of success based off the sales from Bride by Arrangement and Eye of the Beholder (two books where I had that as a theme).

Co-authoring with Stephannie Beman and Janet Syas Nitsick have been successful so I’ll continue working on those types of books.

I already know Regencies do well.  They do better than historical westerns, but my passion is so embedded in historical westerns, that I can’t “not” do them.  I can, however, do without writing another contemporary.  Contemporaries are a toss up.

Native American Romances, however, are not popular and I won’t be writing any new ones.  I finished the series I have and that is enough.  Yes, I loved writing the books, but love of writing a book is sometimes not enough.  It’s sad to say but that’s just how it is.

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I’m sorry to those I’ve upset.  I would love to do it all and have it all out there tomorrow.  But I can’t.  I only have so many hours in a day and a family to take care of.  I average 2.5 to 3 months for writing one novel.  And I average 1 month for the editing team and me to go over the book with scrutiny.  My editing team has been so wonderful about working for me at a fast pace.  I rely on them because they ensure I produce quality books.

So that is about 3.5 to 4 months on average for every book I write.

I seem to revert back to working on 3 books at a time if I’m focused.  If I add book 4, that book usually falls in the 100-200 words a day because that’s all I seem to be able to manage.  I know some authors can write 5,000 words a day.  I can’t.  I usually do 1,000 in one, 1,000 in another, and 500 in the last one.  Now, I have days where I do more than that and days where I do less.  But this is my average over the past two years.   And I usually write something  every day.  I rarely take days off.

When I’m not writing, I’m still working.  I do emails (and yes, I’m backed up a lot), get my tax stuff together (which isn’t as easy as it sounds), write blog posts, go on Facebook, work on covers, work on book descriptions, help other authors, format my books, brainstorm ideas, tweak on my blog/website, etc.  A lot more goes into my job than writing books, and I average working 55 to 60 hours a week.   I enjoy all of it, though, and want to keep doing it.  That is why I try to get books out there that I believe will enable me to keep doing what I do.

Updates on What I’m Doing

Due out March 15 from Parchment & Plume

The big news is that Boaz’s Wager is almost ready!

I’m thinking it’ll be ready around March 15, give or take a couple of days.

I got everything back from my editing team and am working through it.  Though I am handing this in to my publisher, I still want to make sure it’s as polished up as possible to make the publisher’s job easier.

I don’t know if I mentioned it on this blog or not, but the heroine in this story is Eva Connealy who originally appeared in Isaac’s Decision.  She had wanted to marry Isaac, but Isaac wasn’t interested in her.  In this book, I finally gave her a happy ending.  I hate seeing my characters rejected and want to see them get a second chance.

I also include Rachel Larson in this book who turns out to be Eva’s friend.  Rachel also appeared in Isaac’s Decision as one of Eva’s students, so it was fun seeing the two transition from a formal teacher-student relationship to a friendship.  Rachel Larson is Isaac’s younger sister and the daughter of Dave and Mary Larson (from the Nebraska series).

This book will probably be out around May 1.

This is probably going to be the next book out only because it’s already written out and all I’m doing is rewriting the scenes.  I am adding a few more scenes to better establish the romance.  To this end, I am including a nice scene where the hero and heroine get to better know each other early on in the book, the wedding ceremony and the wedding night.  I’m also adding two additional scenes to show the heroine becoming the Queen  and her meeting with the Palers and Laxes in her role as Queen.  I didn’t do those two things in the original book but looking back, wish I had.

I know I’m going to get a lot of flack for this once the book is published, but I am capitalizing the word “Queen” on purpose in the book and when I write about it in blog posts.  The Queen on this fantasy planet called Raz is the most important person, so it’s always capitalized, even without the name of the woman behind it (ex. Queen Ann).  I realize this is not grammatically appropriate, but then this is a fantasy world and I figure on the fantasy world, rules can bend a bit.  The word “king” however is only capitalized when using a name to go with it because the king’s only roles on the planet are to protect and serve the Queen and give her a daughter.  He has no power.

This might be ready near the end of May.

I’m halfway through this book as we speak, and it’s flowing along really well.  I have had to back up a bit and rearrange a couple scenes because this is one of those books I’ve been writing scenes out of order.  I don’t usually do that, but in this book, I know everything that happens in the story so I write what I’m inspired to write when I sit at the computer.

Due out this summer by Parchment & Plume

This will be ready this summer.

The question, of course, is when.  It’s too early to tell.  Until I’m in the middle of a book, I can’t really pinpoint anything specific, but I am still hoping to get it out in June.  I am currently sitting down and planning this book.  I have some good scenes planned out and am already at chapter 4 where I set the stage.  This book takes place at the same time Boaz’s Wager does, so as I’m going through Boaz’s Wager, I’m lining up what Patty says she’s doing so I can match it up in this book.

Cover Change

I decided to change the cover for Royal Hearts, which is book 2 in the Enchanted Galaxy Series.  I felt the original cover was a little too “young adult” looking in the face.

My books are not for the young adult market, so I don’t want to send out the wrong message.  I decided to go with a model who looks older.  This is what it is now.

Inspiration For the Book: A Royal Engagement (Book One in the Enchanted Galaxy Series)

I haven’t done one of these in a while but thought I would today.

Rambling a bit about my past (feel free to skip):

The first book in this series was written in 1996 when I was in college (getting my Psychology degree) at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota.  I love North Dakota.  It’s one of my favorite places to visit.  I especially love Medora and Bismarck.  After I graduated college in 1998 from the University of West Florida (I only stayed in Fargo for one semester), I moved to Bismarck, North Dakota.

I would have stayed in that state had I not married an x-ray tech in the Air Force and had to move to Florida, Alaska, and Nebraska.  I don’t regret moving around to these different places.  Looking back, I’m glad I got a chance to live in different places and check them out.  And I love Nebraska and am staying here for the time being.  Since my husband retired from the military, we can actually stay in one spot.  But…there is that part of me that will always love North Dakota.

Now for the actual post:

So anyway, while I was living in Fargo, I didn’t have a car and relied on my roommate/friend/fellow author Melanie Nilles, who was also in college, to drive me around.  There were times when I’d have to wait for her to be done at work or with her classes.  So to fill up the free time I had, I decided to write a story.  I asked myself, “If there was anything that could happen right now, what would I want it to be?”

And the answer was, “How cool would it be if some guy from another planet came to me and told me I was going to be a queen on his world?”

I thought the idea sounded pretty neat and started writing.  The world I chose was called Raz (which wasn’t all that original since all I did was use my initials “Ruth Ann” but then added a Z at the end because I rarely ever see “Z” anywhere).  I was also reading fantasy novels at the time.  My favorite fantasy book was Isle of View by Piers Anthony in the Xanth Series.  I have read a couple of other books by him because I loved his humor.  He took fantasy and made it a lot of fun.  These were light reads, and from time to time I like to take a break from the serious stuff out there.

Quick side note: I remember reading in his author’s notes at the end of one of his books that he was a fast writer.  I don’t remember his exact words, but he said it didn’t take him long to write a book.  And that freed me up so much because up to then, I thought if an author could write a book in a couple months, then the book wasn’t any good because it was rushed.  Well, nothing could be further from the truth.  Some writers work fast.  The ideas are there and they just flow out easily.  That’s how it is with me.  Piers Anthony was a huge inspiration to me as a beginning writer.

Back to the post:

So taking into account how fun Piers Anthony made his fantasies, I thought I’d try my hand at a light-hearted fantasy, too.  Back then, I loved a great romance but was too afraid to focus too much on the romance lest my family give me grief about it.  So the romance was toned down and the fantasy dominant.

In the rewrite I’m doing right now, I’m focusing more on the romance because romance is the really interesting part to me.  The fantasy that is woven around it is fun and light for the most part, and I enjoy that too, but without the romance, the whole thing falls apart.

The characters:

This is probably the most personal I have even gotten in a book.  At the time, I was hung up on this ex-boyfriend who I named “William” in the book and was looking for the hope of a “Hathor” (someone in my future I hadn’t met yet but would be even better than William).  I should state that “William” was a good guy.  It’s just that I did move while in high school and that was why we broke up.  I did move from Ohio to Florida.  From there, I went on to college.  I met Melanie Nilles while going to the University of West Florida.  She got me tuned into fantasy, which is how I found Piers Anthony.  She had grown up in North Dakota which is how I ended up in Fargo in 1996 as her roommate.

So at the time, I was looking for a hope that my life wasn’t going to be doomed to live in the past (which is the purposeless life the heroine in A Royal Engagement feels at the beginning of the book).  He had moved on, but I hadn’t.  And I was struggling look forward and believe that someone else would come along and that he would be my prince (which is why Hathor was the son of the Queen).  Everything Hathor was in the story was my dream guy.

The Palers (who were the enemies) developed out of a nightmare I had about these 7-foot thin white creatures that look similar to what we think of as aliens (except when we think aliens, we thing short creatures with big eyes).  These Palers went around eating people in my dream and one was lurking near me, hunting me.  So when it came time to come up with a suitable enemy for this story, I decided to go with the creatures in my nightmare that I named Palers (since they’re completely white).

The setting:

I just happened to put it all into the context of a fantasy setting because of the fantasy books and movies I was reading and watching at the time.  It was a lot more interesting than being stuck in class taking notes.  So when I went to all these different planets in the story, I was getting away from the tedious boredom of the days where I did kept wondering, “What the heck am I going to do with the rest of my life?”

I did get a Psychology degree, but it was only because I didn’t know what else to do.  Raz represented the perfect job I would love, that thing I was meant to do but had no idea what it was.  Now I know that the thing Raz represented was writing romance novels.

Today I have a husband (Tony) and four children and am doing what I love most: writing romances.

Story Sample Sunday: A Royal Engagement (Finding Out You’re Going to be Queen on Another Planet is Pretty Cool…If You Believe It’s Not a Dream)

This is the first book in the Enchanted Galaxy Series, which is a contemporary fantasy romance.  It’s about a college student who learns she is to be the queen on another planet.  As a warning, this is in first draft form.  I’ve decided to give it a complete rewrite.  Yes, the same events happen in it that happened in the original stories, but my voice and style has changed since 2003 and I want to make this the best book possible.

Quick note: On the planet Raz, the word “queen” is always capitalized.  This is not the case for “king” since the king is second to the Queen.  The Queen is the most important person on the planet and as such is given prominence.  I only mention this because if there are any typos in this sample, the way I use the word “Queen” is intentional.

Anticipated release month: Since this is a rewrite (and not something I am creating from scratch), I expect to have this out in May.

Ann yawned as the teacher at the front of the room droned on and on.  She had two more years of her undergraduate study before she went on to her master degree, but she had yet to decide if she’d go into counseling or some other field.  As she was writing down the definition of ‘cognitive appraisal’ in her notebook, she tumbled over her desk and hit the floor with a resounding thud.

What the…?

She blinked and assessed her surroundings.  She was in her apartment, face down on the floor.  But how in the world did she get here?  She was just at school for goodness’ sakes!  She rose to her feet and turned around in time to see a young blond-haired man standing in front of her.

She opened her mouth to scream when he clasped his hand over her mouth.  “I’m not going to hurt you.  Please don’t scream.”

Like she believed that one!  She’d seen enough TV shows to know that situations like this never ended well.  After considering her options, she gave him a nod.  As soon as he released his hand, she let out the loudest shriek she could muster.

He spoke a word and her voice went silent.  Not taking the time to figure out how he managed such a feat, she bolted for the door, but then he said another word and she froze in place.

This wasn’t possible.  First, she couldn’t scream and now this?  Just what was going on?  She tried to turn her head in his direction but couldn’t.  She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye and looked toward it.  Well, at least she could move her eyes.  That was something.  It wasn’t much, but she’d take whatever she could get right now.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he walked in front of her.  “I just got to this planet and thought the easiest way to find you was to summon you to your dwelling.”

Planet?  Summon her?  Dwelling?  Just who was this freak?

“First, I have to make sure you’re the right person.”

He reached out and took her left hand and turned it over.  She wanted to pull back her arm, of course, but she couldn’t.  She was powerless against him.  He could do whatever he wanted to her and she’d be at his mercy.  She wished she could go unconscious.  She didn’t want to be awake when he did whatever he had in mind to her.

He smiled and released her hand.  “Wonderful!  You have the birthmark.” Then, to her surprise, he bowed before her.  “You’re the next Queen of Raz.”

What a psycho.

Then she thought of how she suddenly appeared here.  Okay.  He wasn’t the only thing psycho about this whole thing.  There was definitely weird other stuff going on.  But how?

Maybe she fell asleep in class.  Of course!  She was having a dream.  Now it all made sense.  And that explained why the stranger in her apartment wore a silk white shirt and silk black pants that were tucked into his black boots that reached his knees.  No one in their right mind wore such ridiculous clothes, unless it was Halloween.

But she needed to wake up.  Even if this dream was a lot more interesting than the teacher, she couldn’t keep napping.  She mentally willed herself to wake up, but it didn’t work.

“It is my privilege to introduce myself,” the stranger said.  “My name is Hathor and I am from the planet Raz in the Enchanted Galaxy.  I am to bring you back with me so you can be the next Queen.  Upon our return, it will be my great honor to protect you and serve you.”

Why couldn’t she wake up?  Usually when she realized she was dreaming, she could pull out of it.  So why not now?  Come on, Ann.  You’re in the middle of class.  Wake up!

“You see,” Hathor continued, “my mother is the current Queen, and she’s due to step down from the throne on her next birthday.  The planet needs another Queen to take her place.  You’re the one who has been chosen for this task.”

This was ridiculous.  Never in her life did she have such a persistent dream.  With a sigh, she tried to answer him, thinking it might speed up the whole dream faster if she talked to him, but her mouth wouldn’t move.

“Oh!  Of course.  In my excitement, I forgot I unfreeze you.” He uttered a foreign word and her body relaxed, as if someone had been gripping her and had finally released her.  “There.  That’s better.” Then with a wider smile, he added, “I can’t believe I’m actually here.  I could hardly sleep at all last night.  I was so excited about meeting you.  And, if you don’t mind me saying so, you’re the loveliest woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Uh…okay.” Just how was she supposed to respond?  “Thanks?”

“Oh, you don’t have to thank me.  You are the most important person on Raz.” She didn’t think it was possible, but she thought his blue eyes grew a little bit brighter.  “I just can’t believe my good fortune.  You probably hear how pretty you are all the time.”

Well, maybe she should keep trying to wake up, but it was rather nice to be told she was pretty so it wouldn’t hurt to sleep just a little bit longer.  Besides, the class was a big one and she sat in the back.  No one probably even knew she was taking a nap.

“So,” she began, “I’m supposed to be a Queen on another world?”

“Yes.  The Great Magician let me borrow his Book of Spells so I could come here and get you.  When you arrive, my mother will transfer the crown to you and you’ll take her place.”

“Wait.  Your mother is the Queen?”

“Currently, yes.  But you will be the next one.”

“Hold on.  Doesn’t that make you a prince?  You can be the king.”

“It used to be that way on Raz centuries ago, but not anymore.  The Queen must marry and have a daughter in hopes of having an heir to take over the throne, but my mother only had me and I’m not able to assume her crown.  That’s why I have to bring you to Raz.”

It wasn’t the most logical story she’d ever heard but then she figured dreams didn’t require logic to be believable.  At least it was an interesting tale.

“And,” he continued, “if I protect you on the way to Raz, I get the high honor of marrying you.”

He stopped talking, an indication that he hoped she’d respond.  “Um…alright,” she finally replied with a shrug.

His smile faltered.  “Don’t you believe me?”

“Sure.  I mean, it makes total sense when you consider everything else that’s happened.  Me appearing in my apartment, you freezing me in place, me ruling a planet in another galaxy, and you marrying me…  It makes perfect sense when you put it all together.” At least it did in dream logic.

“It’s important that you believe me.  Someone or something out there doesn’t want you to be the Queen.”

Now that was an interesting twist she didn’t expect.  “Okay.”

By the way his face fell, she gathered he didn’t like her reaction.

“I could scream again if you want, but then you might make me mute again,” she joked, thinking since this was a dream, he’d laugh.

But as it turned out, her attempt at humor wasn’t even appreciated in the dream world.  “This is a serious matter.  We’ll need to be vigilant on our journey.”

Before she could reply, her cell phone rang.  “Hold on.” Maybe the dream was going to get even more interesting.  Maybe she’d find out the man had really brought her here to kill so the real Hathor couldn’t take her to Raz.  Now that would be an even better twist.  She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her jeans and saw it was William.  Well, it wasn’t the twist she hoped for but it was one, nonetheless.

Heroines Get Rejected Too: A Rant by Patty Dixon (Heroine in Patty’s Gamble)

Patty Dixon tells it like it is.

There seems to be a topic no one is willing to talk about. You read a romance novel and assume every heroine has an easy time of it when it comes to matters of a more personal nature.  You know what I’m talking about, hopefully.  The hero marries the heroine.  Sometimes they decide to consummate the marriage right away.  Sometimes they don’t.  If they don’t, they usually agree to wait together.  This is something they both decide.

Already Available

Most of the time, however, the hero is more than happy to welcome the heroine to his bed. Take Heather in Mitch’s Win as an example.  Mitch married Heather the very night they met.  She even proposed to him!  And he takes her home.

Does he make her sleep in another room?  No.  He brings her to his bed.  When she tells him he can sleep with her, does he run out of the room like a scared rabbit being chased by a hound?  Of course not.  He hops right into bed and enjoys his wedding night.

It’s enough to make me want to puke.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I like Heather.  She’s my friend.  I’m happy for her.  But sometimes it’s downright annoying that most heroines in these romance novels have it way too easy.

That’s why I’m glad Eva was brave enough to let us take a look into her world with Boaz in Boaz’s Wager.

Due out March 15

I, personally, have no desire to be with Boaz.  This is why I didn’t marry him.  Yes, I could have.  It would have made life easy for everyone, especially Greg Wilson.  But what’s the point in getting to marry to someone when your heart already belongs to another?  You think Greg is going to make it easy for me to slip into his bed?  You think he’s even going to be as polite as Boaz was to Eva in the Sunday Story Sample Ruth Ann Nordin posted on this blog?  Of course not.  Why?  Because Greg has decided that he will fight me every step of the way.

I’m getting so annoyed with all these romance novels by Ruth that make love seem easy.  Boy meets girl.  Boy marries girl.  Boy is 100% sweetheart.  He often waits for the heroine to be ready or they both get to it right away.  I can’t recall a single novel Ruth has done–besides Boaz’s Wager–where the hero absolutely refused to do it once it was offered to him.  And when I safe “offered”, I mean the heroine is 100% willing.

It makes me sick.

Is there no other heroine out there besides Eva Connealy who can understand my plight?  I really hope Boaz gets some sense knocked into him before Boaz Wager ends so poor Eva doesn’t have to be a virgin forever.  I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around how she’s going to get him to come to his senses.  I don’t think she has what it takes to go to the couch without any clothes on and demand he do his husbandly duty by her.  She seems like she’s too ladylike for that sort of thing.  I’m really interested in finding out if she overcomes this obstacle because no other heroine Ruth has ever written has ever had to deal with this issue before.

You’d think it wouldn’t take Ruth 39 romances to finally approach this subject.  That’s right.  It took her almost 40 romance to get to the fact that not every single heroine on this planet has a hero who is jumping up and down at the chance to get to be with her.  Seriously, I knew I couldn’t be the only one.

But I have to wait until March 15 when Boaz’s Wager is out to see if Boaz ever comes to his senses.  I don’t really understand Ruth at all.  You’d think after publishing 38 romances, she would have the whole writing thing down.  Why this continual hold up with something called “editing”, I’ll never understand.  If she can’t get it right the first time, then why doesn’t she go find something else to do?  Obviously, she’s incompetent if she can’t have a polished book on her first try.

Due out by June 1

*long, frustrated sigh*

Well, I, for one, am not going to choose the path that Eva has.  I read the end of that Sunday Story Sample where Eva calmly accepts Boaz’s rejection and goes off to her bedroom to think about what she’s going to do.  I’m an action kind of gal.  I grew up on a ranch.  I’ve had a bull charge at me and had to get out of the way before it got me.  I’ve caught a rattler right behind the head before it could bite me.  I’ve handled the most stubborn of horses and tamed them all.  I’ll get Greg to consummate our marriage if it’s the last thing I do.

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Picture credit –

Patty: © Igor Dolgov | Dreamstime.com

Sunday Story Sample: Even Women Get Rejected (A Scene from Boaz’s Wager)

Today’s scene comes from a part in Boaz’s Wager where Eva decides she’s ready to consummate her marriage with Boaz.

*Side note: Eva first appeared in Isaac’s Decision as the girl Isaac Larson wasn’t interested in.  I moved her up to Montana so she could get her happily ever after.

It starts with Eva and Boaz doing their familiar routine in the evening.  After the children are in bed, he reads to her in the parlor.  He’s been sleeping on the couch and up to now, that has suited her just fine.  But tonight, she has other ideas…

She got comfortable in the chair and listened to him as he read.  But on this particular night, she couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying.  She kept debating how she could extend the invitation to her bed.  And though she thought of different ways she could bring the subject up, by the time he was finished reading, she still didn’t know what to say.

“Did you want me to read more?” Boaz asked after he’d closed the book.

She cleared her throat.  “No.  I’ve heard enough for the night, thank you.”

With a nod, he held the book out to her.

She took it but didn’t leave like she’d done every other night.

He stopped fluffing his pillow and looked at her.  “Is something wrong?”

“No.  I-I just…” She took a deep breath.  If she was going to extend the invitation, she’d be better off doing it now before she lost her nerve.  “I just wanted to let you know you don’t have to keep sleeping out here.  You can sleep in the bedroom, if you’d like.”

“Oh.” He lowered his gaze to his pillow, and after a long, awkward silence, he said, “I need to stay out here.” She waited to see if he’d explain what he meant or if he’d tell her when he’d join her in the bedroom, but he only added, “It’s for the best.”

Realizing that was the only answer she’d get, she swallowed and rose to her feet.  Somehow she managed to leave the parlor despite her shaky knees.  She’d faced rejection in the past, of course, but she hadn’t faced anything like this.  And quite frankly, she didn’t know what to do.  Did she go out there and ask him why or did she keep quiet about it and wait to see if he’d ever explain why?  Maybe he didn’t want to that night.  Maybe he’d wait until tomorrow.  Or another day.

She reached the bedroom and set the book on the table.  Releasing her breath, she sat down.  Well, there was nothing else she could do right now.  What she needed was a good night’s sleep.  Maybe tomorrow she’d have a better idea of what to do.

After a moment to regain her composure, she got ready for bed and slipped under the blanket, the slight breeze drifting in from the window cooling the room off.  She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come, but it didn’t until well past midnight.

The First Draft of Boaz’s Wager is Done! (And Other Stuff I’m Up To)

And better yet, I’m very pleased with how it turned out. I’ll be sending this out to my editing team this week.

This puts me on track for publishing it in mid-March with my publisher Parchment & Plume.

I did put in some references (aka. hints) about what you can expect in Patty’s Gamble.  Patty’s Gamble takes place at the same time Boaz’s Wager does, so I couldn’t give too much away to what Patty’s going through.  But one thing I am really excited about (besides the scene where she goes to Greg’s bed completely naked and he runs off–should be funny) is what will happen when the mayor (mentioned in Boaz’s Wager) does to collect on a “favor” Patty will owe him for helping her get Greg to marry her.  John Meyer (from Mitch’s Win) also shows up in this book (I posted the sample scene on this blog).

Fun stuff coming up in Patty’s Gamble.  I am hoping to have the first draft done at the end of April. *fingers crossed*

This one is going along so amazingly well that it’s further along than the next Regency I’m working on.  Part of the fun for me is figuring out the past for all of these characters, especially the woman who the heroine is pretending to be.  Something was going on with her past that made her agree to be a mail-order bride.  But she doesn’t make it because she dies–but I know someone from that woman’s past is going to show up.  And I can’t wait to find out what this someone is going to do to the heroine.  I know some of it but not everything.

Part of the fun of writing by the seat of my pants is finding out how events unravel.  It’s like opening a Christmas present.

The next immediate book I’m working on, of course, is the first book in the Marriage by Arrangement series.  This one has been harder to figure out, much like Boaz’s Wager was.  I know what I want to do and where I’m headed, but it’s connecting one event to another that’s been the challenge.  But I’ll figure it out, even if it takes me longer than I expected.

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I’m really excited about revamping the fantasy romance series I did a long time ago.  I was going through the first book today and decided I’m going to rewrite the story.  Now, when I say “rewrite”, I don’t mean I’m going to change the story.  I like the story as it is.  I like the entire series as it is.

But what I need to do is write it over again so it matches my writing style now.  The way I used to write isn’t the same as it was back in 2003 and 2005.  I’ve come a long way and I want to build up more romantic/sexual feel to it.  So I’m going to write the same story with my current writing style/voice.  I expect the process will go fast.  I’m not sure how soon I can have the books out, but I want them to be worthy of the other romances I’ve done.   I want it to be similar to His Abducted Bride in the Across the Stars series, except instead of a know-it-all hero, the hero in these books will be the beta type I usually do.

Also, these three books feature the same hero and heroine through the whole thing, something I haven’t done in a trilogy before.  Each story is complete and runs are each full-length novels.  But the events in one book does impact the events in the next book (much like the events in the Native American Romance Series did).  Don’t worry.  I don’t “kill” the hero off in this one.

The series is the “Enchanted Galaxy Series” and here are the books:

Book 1

Brief description: An ordinary young Earth woman discovers her destiny is to be queen of a planet in another galaxy.  And her first order of business will be picking a husband.

Book 2

Brief description: An old nemesis sends our ordinary Earth woman back in time on Earth to ensure she never gets to become the queen.  And the king risks losing her and all they built together if he doesn’t intervene.

Book 3

Brief description: The queen is sent on a mission on another planet whose roots will take her back to Earth and to someone who has plans to make her his forever if the king doesn’t stop him first.

Old Books That Are Finally Free For Me To Republish

Long story short, I finally got off my butt and sent in requests to for a vanity press to unpublish my old works.  Yes, I had been dragging my feet on it because I was having too much fun writing.  Well, I decided if I was serious about doing it, I needed to sit down and do it.  So I did and the ebooks are being removed.  Some residual paperbacks are going to remain out there just because they already stocked somewhere.  But no new paperbacks will be created.

Okay, so that’s the short version.  Now to get to the books I will republish.   (I did a post listing all of these books way back in 2012.)

Romantic Fantasy Series

I’m going to do some very light revisions on these.  Specifically, I’m going to spice things up a bit.  I had done them over and published them for a while under a pen name, but then three things happened.  One, I realized I was using someone else’s name (and that made me feel guilty because I never intended to do that).  Two, the books got stolen (I did get the stolen versions removed).  Three, when the vanity press put the originals in ebook, there was no point in having two versions of the same books out there.

So I unpublished the pen name editions and let the vanity press versions remain up.  Now that the vanity press versions are down, I’m going to take those books and do what I should have done to begin with (add some spice–yes, this means sex) to them.  Then I’m going to put my real name on them.  I do need to change the covers to update the new versions.

This will be my primary project for my old books since I really do like the series and quite frankly, they should have been under a fantasy romance category to begin with (except at the time I wrote them, everyone I knew pretty much referred to romance as “trash” so didn’t for fear of what they’d say).

The Dimensions – a YA Romantic Fantasy Trilogy

I’ve talked with Stephannie Beman about helping me revamp this thing.  I’d like to take the original book and break it into three parts so it’s a trilogy.  Stephannie Beman has a gift for fleshing a story out, and since she loves fantasy and romance, I asked if she’d like to go into it with me.  I’m not sure how long it will take for these to come out.  I need to go back and dig up the old files that I have somewhere on a flash drive.

Witness to a Murder – YA Thriller with Romance

This one is a favorite of mine so I’m going to republish it.  I think it was a novella, not really a novel.

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As for the other old books on that 2012 post, I have no interest in putting those back out.   But the books above, I do and since I’ll self-publish these books, I have the luxury of doing it.

I’ll make posts as I get them out again.  There’s no huge rush on it.  My priority is the romances currently on my To Write list. I hope to finish Boaz’s Wager tonight. *fingers crossed*