Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 92

Very Inspiring Blog Award

The very sweet and talented Joleene Naylor has nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  If you happen to like vampires, romance and thriller, then I think you’ll enjoy her books.  She mixes all three elements, and the books are intended for adults due to the violent and sexual content.  I like the unique spin she has on the vampire world and some of the twists she throws in her books.  :D

Okay.  Now for the award…

The Rules of the Award are as follows:

Display the award logo on your blog.
Link back to the person who nominated you.
State 7 things about yourself.
Nominate 15 bloggers for this award and link to them.
Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

In keeping with the rules here are seven random things about me right now – yes, you get the randomness in REAL TIME!

I am watching Drake & Josh on Nickelodeon.  (I still enjoy watching teen TV shows, especially those on Nickelodeon.  And personally, if I was a teenage girl, I’d pick Josh over Drake because Josh is responsible, loyal, and sweet.)

I finished my writing word count goals for the day, which is so awesome considering I haven’t been able to achieve this feat for two months.  (Finally, I’m back in a writing routine!)
I’m about to write 500 more words for Runaway Bride and *fingers crossed* Mitch’s Win.   I’m hoping to finish the first draft for Mitch’s Win this month and Runaway Bride next month.  (Wish me luck!)
My four kids are currently behaving so I don’t have to get up to do anything.  (Yay!)
My husband is upstairs playing Cribbage, so I can watch a teen TV show.  :D
My weakness is soda, especially Sprite/7 Up/Sierra Mist.  That’s going to be my biggest hinderance in losing weight.
I want to lose weight so I don’t get diabetes (runs in my family).
Coming up with 7 random things about me is harder than I thought it’d be.  At least now it’s over.  LOL

And now I must nominate 15 bloggers for this award.  (Or in my case, 5.  I guess point 8 about me would be, “I’ve never been popular.” LOL)

Janet Syas Nitsick

Rose Gordon

Lauralynn Elliot

Stephannie Beman

Paula Freda

 

Inspiration Behind the Book: Shotgun Groom…And a note on the where ideas for other books come from

Shotgun Groom was inspired by one scene that happened in The Wrong Husband.  As soon as I wrote it, I knew exactly how Joel would get married.  The scene took place in Chapter 21.  It was after Owen defeated Big Roy and became the official deputy.

It was about time Jenny’s brothers stopped their harassment, Owen thought.  Owen’s chest puffed up with a sense of pride as he closed the door of the jailhouse and placed his hat on his head.

“Afternoon, gentlemen,” he said and buttoned his coat.  “Getting ready for Christmas?”

“We had some errands to run,” Tom replied.  “Even if women say they don’t want anything but our love, they don’t mean it.”

Joel snickered.  “And you had to learn that the hard way.”

Tom’s face grew red.  “I can’t wait until you get married, Joel.  I don’t care what you argue about.  I’ll take her side each time.”

“Unlike you all, I have no desire to tie the knot,” he replied and gave them a smug smile.  “I’m going to stay single forever.”

“Since when?”

“Since I saw how you all ended up.  No woman is going to tell me what to do.”

***

It was a subtle slip which went into the conversation, but it was enough to inspire Shotgun Groom.  I enjoy working with Tom and Joel.  They’re my favorite characters to put together in a book because of their good-natured banters.  The banter didn’t truly start until I wrote “A Bride for Tom,” which was written after Eye of the Beholder.  The Nebraska books are ones that I can’t write in order.  They need to be written when the characters are ready.  Part of it is because there are so many characters I plan to write about in the collection.  I figure I have at least twenty more ideas.  I don’t know if I’ll ever write all of the books that are meant to go with that world, but I’ll have fun trying.  :D

Back to this post…

Inspiration comes from a wide range of sources.  Last week, I talked about how a dream inspired Bride of Second Chances.  Other sources of inspiration can come from movies, a conversation with a friend, overhearing another conversation, browsing titles in a bookstore or online, seeing a picture (they say a picture says a thousand words), reading a book and wondering “what if this happened instead?”…

Most of my ideas come when I’m writing.  I’ll write a particular scene (like the one above) and think, “Ah ha!  I can go somewhere with that.” I’d say 90% of my books stem from what I wrote in a book prior to that.  Quick examples: Falling In Love With Her Husband gave me the idea for An Inconvenient Marriage (because I wondered what would happen if I paired up a hero and heroine who didn’t want to be together).  Loving Eliza was inspired when I wrote the scene between Eliza and Neil in His Redeeming Bride.  I wrote “A Chance In Time” because I enjoyed the romance between Cole and Penelope in Meant To Be and wanted another view of it.  From “A Chance In Time” came Restoring Hope, which in turn, led to Brave Beginnings and Bound by Honor Bound by Love.  

There are many other examples, but I won’t bore you with all the details.  Suffice it to say, the more I write, the more ideas I get.  I used to think that there was a limited vault somewhere in my mind where I could access ideas from.  And I believed once I used up my ideas, I would stop writing.  Back in 2008 when I wrote An Inconvenient Marriage, An Unlikely Place for Love, and The Cold Wife, I thought I was done with romances and would go back to writing fantasy (mainly the Raz books I had done prior to 2008).

But then I got the idea for Eye of the Beholder (because I wanted to read a mail-order bride story but didn’t find any that fit the plot I wanted where the heroine wasn’t drop dead gorgeous).  As I wrote that book, I realized I wanted to write a ton of books based on the secondary characters.  I wanted to know how Tom and Jessica ended up together, I wanted to give Neil a second chance, I wanted to see Jenny married to a good man after the trouble she had with Clyde.  Other ideas came later, but now you know why “A Bride for Tom,” His Redeeming Bride, and The Wrong Husband were written shortly after Eye of the Beholder.  From those three books came more ideas.  It snowballed and the Nebraska Collection grew bigger and bigger.

The concept of a limited vault of ideas is false.  The truth is, the vault has no limit.  Ideas pour out of it, and the problem is which idea to write next.  At any one time, I have ten books I’d like to work on right away, but I have to pick which ones to go with.  It’s hard to make the decision.  I end up making the decision based on how eager the characters are to tell me their story, how much interest their is in the story from you guys, and what other books I’m working on at the moment.  Sometimes I need a break from one sub-genre.  If I just got done doing a lot of historical westerns, I’ll go to a contemporary or Regency.  This is why I can’t just write one sub-genre in romance.  I need a variety to keep my mind fresh.

Story Sample Sunday: Shotgun Groom

Tomorrow, I’m going to share the inspiration behind the wedding scene of Shotgun Groom because it actually stemmed from The Wrong Husband.  :D  I’ll explain how in tomorrow’s post.

Realizing he was losing the argument, Joel decided to change tactics.  “Well, the bride’s made it clear that she doesn’t want to marry me.”

“I can’t blame her on that one,” Tom quipped.  “But even if she’s getting the bad end of the deal, she’s willing to make the sacrifice.”

Joel glared at Tom.  “Rick, will you please step outside for a moment?”

“Why?” Rick asked.

“Because I don’t need a judge to witness what I’m about to do to my brother,” Joel replied, not taking his eyes off of Tom who didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the threat.

Rick opened the book, and Joel realized the piece of paper he inserted into it was a marriage certificate which hadn’t been signed yet.  Rick tucked the paper between two other pages in the book and motioned for April to join them.  “We’ll get this ceremony started.”

Though April appeared hesitant, she joined them and clasped her hands in front of her, so Rick began performing the ceremony.

“I can’t believe this,” Joel muttered as Sep raised the rifle.

Exactly where did Sep think Joel was going to go?  He might be able to get away from Tom or Rick, but he wasn’t stupid enough to believe he could tackle both of them, especially since they were older than him.  Letting out a loud groan, he lifted his eyes to heaven and wondered what awful thing he did to deserve this fate.  Rick went on and on about something that had to do with this disaster, but Joel refused to pay attention.  Why would he care to listen to the words that sealed his doom?

Beside him, April said “I do” in a tone that indicated she’d rather not but had no choice.

Joel rolled his eyes.  That was just great.  His bride showed as much enthusiasm for this marriage as she did for the dust she wiped up when she cleaned.  Oh yes.  This marriage was going to be just the thing he needed to complete his life.  When it was his turn to say “I do,” Tom nudged him in the side and pointed to Rick.

Narrowing his eyes at Tom, he refused to speak the dreaded words.

“Come on, Joel,” Rick said in a gentle voice.  “It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be.”

“How would you know?” Joel snapped.

“Because I’ve been there.  Well, not with a gun and a judge like this, but I didn’t think I’d fall in love with your sister when we first met.  And look at us now.  I can’t imagine my life without Sally.  Sometimes love takes a while to develop.”

Joel shook his head, but Tom nudged him again.  “Say it, Joel.  Let’s complete this wonderful event.”

A gun clicked from across the room where Sep stood, and Joel made sure to groan before he muttered the words that sealed his future for the worst.  “I do.” He winced and blinked back tears.  He used to be a happy man, and now…

Rick let out an exasperated breath and asked, “I don’t suppose you’d like to kiss the bride?”

“No!” Both Joel and April shrieked at the same time.

“But that’s the best part,” Tom said.

Joel scowled at him, but Tom’s lips curled up into an amused smirk.  “You need a heart, Tom.”

Sep lowered the gun and relaxed.  “It’s done, right Judge Johnson?”

Rick nodded and placed the marriage certificate on the table.  “All I need are your signatures, but it’s a done deal.”

“Oh good!” Tom rubbed his hands together and hurried over to the table where Rick handed him the fountain pen that was tucked inside his suit jacket.  “I’ve been waiting for this day for years!  I can’t wait to tell everyone Joel’s a married man.”

Want to do a Christmas Romance This Year

This is something I’ve been wanting to work on for the past two years but haven’t been in the mood to write a contemporary.  Now that I’m working on two contemporaries (Runaway Bride and His Abducted Bride), I think I might actually pull the story off this year.  I’ve given up on the idea that I can transfer a story idea to a time period it wasn’t originally for.  I was going to put the idea of Just Good Friends (two friends pretending to be more to appease some meddling family members) into a Regency, but honestly, the plot points I had fall apart.  Same is true if I try to make a book that was supposed to be in one world and transfer it to another world.  (Mitch’s Win is meant to be a Montana book, and no amount of manipulating the circumstances or characters worked to convert it into a Nebraska book.)  So all I’ve learned is that you can’t modify a story from its original setting or with its original characters.

That all being said, I’m going to let Just Good Friends be the way it’s meant to be, a contemporary romance.  This also means that it will be book 3 in the Omaha series.  Book 1 is With This Ring, I Thee Dread and book 2 is What Nathan Wants.  The main character of Just Good Friends is Ryan Jackson’s cousin and Nathan Rudolph’s friend/vice president.   I’ll try to work in updates from those characters.  I enjoy doing stuff like that so I can see how the characters from previous books are doing in their happily ever after.  :D

My hope is to have Just Good Friends out in late September/early October so it’s up on all the sites in December when people want to read romances spanning Thanksgiving to the New Year.  I plan to go through my calendar and figure out my daily average word count in order to reach this goal.

Now that I know how to use GIMP, I decided to update the cover for this book.

The original cover:

The new cover:

I wish the cover to The Earl’s Scandalous Wife would come as easy as this one did.  Working with covers is a hit and miss ordeal.  Either I can get it the way I want it within a couple hours or it takes weeks.

Inspiration Behind the Book: Bride of Second Chances

I know I’m late posting this today.  Long story short: we decided to go back to Nebraska.  It’s a long and complicated tale, but it turned out to be better for everyone so we decided we might as well move back sooner rather than later.  When you have kids with IEP (individual education plans), it’s just easier to get them back to the old school while those IEPs are fresh and current.  Minnesota was nice.  I don’t want anyone to get the idea that we were miserable there.   The key to contentment is to be happy wherever you are. Home is more than a place where you live; it’s who you also surround yourself around.  :D  So we are happy wherever we live.  I think God just wants us to be in Nebraska.

Enough about all that.  I know I have two comments pending for this blog, but since it’s almost 11pm, I’m going to hold off until tomorrow to get to them.

Now for the post I promised to do today…

This was one of the rare stories where the plot was pretty much established during a dream I had.  I was writing Bid for a Bride at the time, and one night I had one of those dreams where you know the past of everything that happened up to the scene that you actually dream about.   I don’t know if that makes any sense, but suffice it to say that in most of my dreams, I know the background of the people in my dreams.

Anyway, the actual dream was of a man sitting at a kitchen table in the late 1800s.  He wore a suit, so I knew he wasn’t a farmer.  A woman was washing dishes at the sink, and as he watched her, he struggled with the awareness that he was falling in love with her when he should have stayed devoted to his first wife who had died.

That was the scene.  I knew this woman in the dream was the sister of his first wife.  I knew the woman married him out of convenience but harbored romantic feelings for him that she refused to acknowledge.

While I was asleep, I thought, “This has the potential to be a pretty good book.” I don’t often have dreams where I know I’m dreaming and manipulate what else happens in the dream.  But this particular dream was the kind of dream where I was able to work through various plot points in the story.

(Just so everyone knows, I haven’t had this type of dream since.  Most of the time, I dream about three things.  My kids are making a mess and no matter how much I clean, the mess only gets bigger.  I’m going in for another c-section so it would be my fifth since I had four boys via c-section, and I worry that my body won’t be able to handle another c-section and I’ll never recover from it.  And the third dream is usually one where my husband tells me he’s divorcing me.  When I wake up from those dreams, I am so relieved.  I know they’re all fears I carry around but don’t give thought to during the day.)

Anyway, during this particular dream, I went through different scenarios between the man and woman until I settled on one that made me happy.  :D

When I woke up, I brainstormed on where to put the characters and plot I had worked through in my dream.  Since I was working on Bid for a Bride and had been wanting to do a book about the child Eliza (from Loving Eliza) had but couldn’t keep.  So it was likely the timing of the dream that created the series the idea went to.  I wanted to see Eliza reunited with her son.  I knew her son would be a preacher (simply to show that his circumstances in being conceived didn’t hinder God’s grace), but I did hesitate to give him that role in Bride of Second Chances.  I worried that I’d offend someone by making him a preacher because I’d have to give him a more prominently Christian role than I typically give my characters.  But then I thought, “If this is who the character is, then he needs to be a preacher.” Besides, I manage to offend people in many ways when I write books, so why stress over what job a character has?  So I let him be what he was meant to be.

For other authors who might be reading this: Write the story as it’s meant to be and let characters be who they are.  The pursuit of trying to please everyone is fruitless.  You’re much better off following your heart.  It’s hard to block out the critic, but it can be done.  I find taking time away from the Internet for a few days helps a lot.  Sometimes you need time away to get reconnected with your characters.  :D

Sunday Story Sample: Bride of Second Chances

Tomorrow I’ll post what inspired this book.  My favorite scene is when Jeremy reads the letter Rebecca left for him, but that would be too much of a spoiler, so I’m going to go with part of the scene where Jeremy Graham decides to marry Jane.

Quick background into the scene:  Jane just learned her brother and sister-in-law (Will and Susie) has sold her to Micah, and she’s furious with him…

“You know Jeremy will never marry me to Micah when I say no,” Jane protested.

“Oh, don’t be silly,” her brother replied.  ”I wouldn’t take you to Preacher Graham.  He knows us.  I’d take you to one who doesn’t.”

She gasped.  “You can’t force me to marry Micah!”

“That depends on the preacher.”

“At least he’s a man,” Susie added with a shrug.  “I don’t see any other man coming by offering you his hand in marriage.”

“Then you haven’t been looking in the right direction.”

The three stopped to turn their attention to the man who stood in the open doorway.

Jeremy stepped into the house.  “The door was open so I thought you wanted me to come right in, but considering the discussion, I believe it was an oversight.”

Jane blinked at his bitter tone.

Her brother’s eyes widened and he let out a tentative laugh.  “Preacher!  I think you misunderstand the situation.  I’m trying to help Jane.”

“From what I heard, she doesn’t want your help,” Jeremy said.  “In fact, it sounded like she’s opposed to the marriage you proposed.” He turned to her.  “You don’t want to marry Micah, do you?”

“Of course not,” she replied.

Jeremy turned back to her brother.  “That seems pretty clear to me.  Did you have trouble understanding her?”

Her brother sighed.  “It’s not that easy, Preacher.  There are things to consider.”

“What kind of things?” Jeremy asked.

At first, he seemed baffled by the question but then answered, “For one, her age.  She’s not getting any younger.  She’ll be twenty-three come January.  I don’t want to see her end up an old maid.  She ought to have a husband to provide for her and children to tend to.” With an excited nod, he continued, “Susie here has never been happier in her entire life.  Her life was meaningless until she married me.  Isn’t that right, honey?”

Susie jerked and glanced from Jeremy to Will.  “I need to check on supper.  Come along, children.” Without any delay, she nudged Hank and Irene so that they were hurrying on out of the parlor.

Will looked like he wanted to protest but then caught sight of Jeremy’s grim expression and closed his mouth.

“Anything else?” Jeremy pressed.

Clearing his throat, he straightened his vest and nodded.  “Alright.  Yes, there is.  I’m her brother.  That means I’m the one who has to see to her welfare.  That being the case, I can make decisions on her behalf, even important ones.”

“I won’t marry her to Micah.”

“You’re not the only preacher around.”

“I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a preacher who’s willing to force a woman into a marriage she doesn’t want.”

“Force is such a harsh word.”

“Then what would you call it?”

After a moment of staring at the ceiling, her brother said, “Convince.  Yes, I’d convince the preacher it’s best for her.”

Jeremy narrowed his eyes at her brother.  “Convince?  Exactly what do you mean by that?”

Jane watched as her brother gave a slight shrug as he made a big show of checking the button on his shirt sleeve.  She didn’t like this.  It seemed to her that her brother was planning something horrible.  She stormed up to him.  “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I can’t believe you would even strike such a bargain with Micah.  I’m your sister, and this is how you treat me?”

Will glanced at Jeremy before he took her by the elbow and pulled her to the corner of the room.  In a whisper, he said, “Tell him to go home.  We shouldn’t be having this discussion in front of him.”

“There is no discussion, Will, because I’m not marrying Micah.” Pointing her finger at him, she hissed, “You better get that through your thick skull before I come after you with a rolling pin.”

Jeremy strode over to them.  “I’ve had enough.  Will, you want to see her married so she can be fulfilled, correct?”

Her brother glanced at her uncertainly before he turned his attention back to Jeremy.  “Ah…yes.  I don’t think a woman is complete without a man.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Jane shot back.

“If you were to use that kind of reasoning,” Jeremy began, “you’d conclude that a man isn’t complete without a woman either.  In marriage, the two are united as one, after all.” He looked at Jane.  “Do you want to be married?”

“Of course, I do,” she admitted.

“Ah ha!” Her brother pointed his finger at her and smiled in triumph.  “There you go.  See, Preacher?  She does want to get married.”

“Not to Micah!” she snapped.

“Micah.  Some other man.” He shrugged.  “What’s the difference?”

Now it was Jeremy who took her by the elbow and led her to another corner of the room. “Would you consider marrying me?”

 

 

Winners of the Native American Romance Series Giveaway Announced!

The three winners for the signed paperback giveaway for the complete Native American Romance Series are…

Katherine Sherping

Gini Bliss

Patricia Vickers

I will be contacting the winners in a bit to get their addresses.

My next giveaway, which I want to run next month, will be for Eye of the Beholder, The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife, Bid for a Bride, and Suddenly a Bride.

Inspiration Behind the Book: His Abducted Bride

His Abducted Bride is the third book in the Across the Stars Series.  The first two books (Suddenly a Bride and Runaway Bride) involve an alien from Pandoran who has come to Earth in search of his life mate.  I could do another book with the same idea, but I’d rather do something different.  I figure the Across the Stars Series is one in which I can step outside the box.  I can add a sci-fi or fantasy element to it instead of making it a strictly contemporary romance.

So for book 3, I decided to go with an idea I’ve had since 1998.  The original idea was for an author to be working on a book when a computer virus invades the story and traps her friend into the computer.  While the virus is running amok through the story, the author finds a way to get into the story to try to rescue her friend.  Along the way, the author falls in love with one of her characters who is helping her find her friend.  It’s the character and author falling in love idea that intrigued me.  However, the story was a fantasy, and while I enjoy fantasy, I would rather write a romance.

So while I was thinking of what to do with Sandy, I worked out a way I could give her the plot I had thought of back in 1998.  Instead of a virus, I decided the abductor should be a character in her book, and instead of her searching for her friend, she would be the one kidnapped and the one who had to find a way to escape.  Since it’s a romance, she’ll end up falling in love with the character, of course, but there will be some adventure (aka conflict) along the way.  Like Sandy said, no story is worth telling without conflict.  :D  In this case, the conflict will be her (in the beginning) and an unexpected character who won’t be happy (this is another king in the story).

As a writer, I’ve learned that characters will take on a life of their own.  The story isn’t something I control; they do.  If I try to work the story opposed to what they want, the story either ends up needing to be rewritten (because it sucks) or I get stuck and can’t write anything else.  I know it sounds weird, but characters become “real” as the story is being written.  And sometimes it’s the ones that are the most difficult that end up being the most fun to write.  I’ve thought it would be awesome to be able to go into one of my stories and talk to my characters (be a part of their world).  Sandy will get to live the adventure I would love to live but never will because getting stuck inside of one of my stories is impossible.  But the fun with fiction is that anything is possible, especially when you can throw in a little fantasy.  :D

Sunday Story Sample: His Abducted Bride

This week, I thought it would be fun to give a sample from another one of my works in progress.  I decided to do His Abducted Bride.  This is the third book in the Across the Stars Series.  Sandy is Caitlyn’s best friend in Suddenly a Bride.  I’ll let the sample explain the plot to His Abducted Bride.

Keep in mind that this is a first draft.  There will be errors.

This is after Sandy’s been abducted into her own story…

“Oh good.  You’re awake,” someone called out.

Turning in the direction of the voice, she saw a man standing further down the hallway, just out of the light’s reach.  Even if she couldn’t see him, she recognized the voice of her captor.  “Yes, I am awake,” she said.  “It seems that I’m stuck in this dream.”

“Are you still going on and on about the dream nonsense?”

“You have a better explanation for why I’m in a castle that looks like it came right out of the medieval time period?”

“I work with what you created from your imagination.”

How cute, she thought.  Granted, everything in her dream did stem from her imagination, but even so, she didn’t think he’d say something like that.  “Well, since this is my imagination, I insist you let me leave so I can go to wherever it is I need to go so I can finally wake up.”

“It’s not quite as simple as you think,” he replied.

“You’re right.  It’s not.  In other dreams, I can control what happens, but in this one, I can’t.”

“You have a tendency to control everything, don’t you?”

She crossed her arms and exhaled.  “I see you’re quick with your replies.”

“I’m being honest.  You haven’t been listening to me or anyone else around here.”

“You’re part of a dream.  An annoying part, but still a part of it.  There’s no incentive for me to listen to you.”

“You’re not dreaming.”

She huffed and stepped closer to the torch on the wall so he’d see her roll her eyes.  “Sure, I’m not.  I just stepped into another a parallel world.”

He finally came into the light so she could see him, and her jaw dropped.  He had dark wavy hair with bangs that hung partially over his forehead.  His full lips were accentuated by the five o’clock shadow growing along his strong jaw.  But it was his blue eyes that stood out more than any other facial feature.  Her gaze went lower, and she saw the regal gold clothing he wore with boots to match.  She turned her attention to the top of his head, noticing the gold crown he wore with sapphire gems embedded into it.  Except for his choice in gold clothing, he was the exact image of a character she created.

“King Blackheart,” she whispered, pinching herself in an effort to wake up.

“I see my reputation precedes me,” he replied with a bow.

“But you’re supposed to wear black clothes.”

“Only when you write the book, but my color of choice is gold or blue.”

Sandy glanced at Noel before turning her attention back to the man.  “Is this some kind of joke?”

“It’s no joke.” He walked up to her, his hands clasped behind his back.  “Everything you see is very real.”

After she took a moment to gather her composure, she crossed her arms.  “I find that hard to believe.”

“Hopefully, you won’t find it hard to believe for long.” He turned to Noel.  “You are relieved of your duties at the moment.” Extending his arm to Sandy, he said, “I’ll escort you to the banquet hall.”

Deciding not to accept his arm, she headed forward, figuring he would hurry to catch up to her.  Sure enough, he quickly fell into step beside her.

“You still plan to fight me?” he asked.

“I can’t fight a dream,” she muttered.  All she wanted to do was wake up, but no amount of willing it was making it happen.

“How long will you persist in calling this a dream?”

“And what would you call it?  A parallel world?”

“Technically, it is a parallel world.  It’s a world you created when you wrote your story.”

“I didn’t write my abduction.”

They rounded a corner and came to a hallway with several large holes in the walls that she guessed was meant to be the windows.  Curious, she stopped and approached one of them.  The castle seemed to be built on water that spanned into a large lake.  She hurried to one of the holes on the opposite side of the hallway and saw more water.  In the distance was a forest that surrounded them, and the land was full of large redwood trees.

“I can’t believe it.  It’s exactly the way I pictured it,” she whispered.

“Not only does that forest look like the way you described it, but it’s also enchanted so no one can enter it without my permission…unless they want to risk facing my wrath.  You designed it that way.”

“You show no mercy,” she retorted.  “Of course, you’d punish anyone who dares to enter it unless you sent them through there to perform some evil deed.”

“I’m only that way because that’s how you wrote me.”

“And now I’m dreaming about you.” What could she expect?  She’d been focused on her story so much it was bound to slip into her dreams.

“You’re not dreaming.  This is real.  I brought you here because you were ready to kill me.”

“Okay.  Let’s say you’re right, and this isn’t a dream.  Let’s say that you somehow sucked me into my own book.  That doesn’t change anything.  The book can only end one way.”

“With my death?”

She nodded.

“I won’t die.  There’s no reason for me to die.”

“You’re the villain.”

“No, I’m not.  You decided I would be the villain and have painted me out to be that way.  I’ve been trying to get through to you that I’m not the bad guy you’re making me out to be, but you refuse to listen to me.”

“So you appeared to me in a dream?”

“No.  I put you into the story.”

“Why?”

“Because as long as you’re here, you can’t write anything else.”

Sandy shook her head.  It had to be a dream.  It wasn’t possible for a character from her book to pull her into it.  Turning her attention back to the trees in the distance, she rubbed her forehead.  When was she going to wake up?

“If you continue to insist on killing me, then I’ll be forced to secure an alliance between our kingdoms,” he said after a long moment passed between them.

Though she knew she wasn’t going to like the answer, she looked at him and asked, “What alliance?”

“Marriage.  War won’t erupt between our kingdoms as long as we’re married.  Your kingdom will be loyal to me and mine will be loyal to you.”

“And if I refuse to marry you?”

“You can’t.” When she got ready to protest, he pressed his fingers to her lips and added, “You’re in my territory now.  I bid my time in your territory, watching in silent frustration as you had me raid villages against my will.  I did everything I could to stop you, but all the writer’s blocks and making it difficult for you to write the next scene didn’t work.  This is my last resort, and I won’t lose this time.  You’re inside the story.  That means you can no longer control what I say and do.”

She shoved his fingers aside.  “You can’t control what I say or do either.”

“I might not be able to control you like a puppet, much like you controlled me, but I’ve removed your ability to control me and the other characters.  We are now free to do as we wish.  A story is at its best when the characters direct it.  A good writer would understand that.”

“A good character understands that the writer is the one writing the story, and he should do what he’s told.”

“Not if the story is going to be good.”

“My story is good the way it is.”

“No, it’s not.”

She rolled her eyes and headed down the stone corridor in the direction of the banquet hall.  He was quick to follow her, something that irritated her since it meant he was going to keep pestering her.  If only she could wake up!  But she was beginning to suspect that this wasn’t a dream after all, and if that was the case, her character had somehow opened a portal of some sort connecting their worlds.  She had no idea how he did it, but there was no other rational explanation to what was going on.

“Will you at least try writing the story my way?” he asked when he caught up to her.

“And what happens in your version?”

“I’m not the monster you make me out to be, Sandy.  I can be a strong ally and help you with your kingdom.”

She stopped walking and faced him, hands on her hips.  “That’s where you don’t know a thing about writing.  Every story needs a conflict.  You need to be the villain if the story’s going to have conflict.”

“There can be another source of conflict,” he insisted.

“Really?  And what would that be?”

He opened his mouth, paused, and closed it.

“Exactly.  Without you in the role as the evil king, there is no conflict and the story falls apart.  People don’t read books where everything is good all the time.  There needs to be a point of contention.  Like it or not, that’s your role.” When he didn’t reply, she added, “I demand you send me back to my world at once.”

“So you can kill me?”

“So I can finish the story.”

“And that means I’ll die.”

She shrugged.  “It’s just a book.  You’re just a character.”

“You’re wrong.  I’m not just a character.  None of the people in your story are just characters.  We’re just as real as you.” He took a step toward her, his eyes flashing with a mixture of anger and determination.

She refused to step back.  To show him any weakness would be a mistake.  She had to remember this was King Blackheart she was talking to, and he showed no mercy to his enemies.  As soon as he detected any chink in her armor, he would use it to his advantage.

“You want conflict?” he asked, his voice low.  “I’ll give you conflict.  You’re not going anywhere.  I’m the only person who knows how to get to your world, and I refuse to let you go.  You’re in my story now.  You have no power here.  You can no longer write something and make it happen.” After a pause, he added, “I also know your knights will be coming to rescue you since their loyalty is still with you.”

She gave him a smug smile.  “Is that so?  Then I guess you’re limited in what you can do.”

“Not as much as you’d believe.  We will form an alliance.  You kingdom will be allies with mine.”

“That will never happen.”

“It will if we marry.”

Her smile faltered.  “You can’t marry me.  You’re just a character in my book.”

“You’re inside the story, Sandy.  I’ve deleted all the work you’ve done except for the very first scene where you set the stage that is the world we live in.  So all the villages you had me plunder against my will are safe and thriving, and all those people are living, including the royal priest who can marry us.  Once he sends word to your people that we’re married, your kingdom will be at peace with mine.”

“They won’t once I let them know you forced my hand,” she replied through gritted teeth, hating that he was backing her into a corner.

“Good luck getting to your kingdom.” His smile grew wider and he took a step back from her.  “I believe the true conflict in this story now depends on what you do.” He turned and headed back down the corridor only to pause and glance over his shoulder.  “Are you still coming to breakfast?”

She glared at him, wishing she could think of something to say to get that triumphant smile off his face but knowing nothing she could say would do the trick.  He had her where he wanted her, and he knew it.  Unless…  A plan forming in her mind, she forced a smile in return and strode over to him.  “You know what?  I could go for a mocha with a slice of banana nut bread.”

His eyebrows furrowed.  “A mocha with what?”

“A mocha with a slice of banana nut bread.  It’s one of my favorite breakfasts.”

“We don’t make that here.”

“Figure out how to do it since you’re in control.”

She shot him a pointed look before she strolled down the corridor.  There.  Let him figure it out.  If nothing else, it would prove to him that he didn’t have all the answers and that he was limited in what he could do.  It would do him some good to realize there were things in her world that he knew nothing about.  Feeling much better about her predicament, she continued her walk—with him not far behind—and entered the banquet hallt.

Native American Romance Series Giveaway

Several quick notes:

I am backed up on emails right now, and I haven’t gotten back to some of you who’ve emailed me.  I just want you to know I’m not ignoring you.  I’ll be answering your emails within a couple days.

Since things are finally settling into a routine, I can run a giveaway.  :D  I ordered several copies of some of my books when I went to the conference in November, and as it turned out, I didn’t have much interest.  Out of the twenty books I took, I sold one.

If any authors are reading this, I honestly don’t think these in-person events where you sign paperbacks are of any real benefit.  Your time would be better spent staying home and writing your next book.  In my opinion, paperbacks should be with people who will appreciate them and who better to give them to than those who already enjoy your books?

Alright.  Now that I’m done with all that…

About the Giveaway

Books I Am Giving Away

I’m going to give three winners the entire paperback collection for the Native American Romance Series.  These are Restoring Hope, A Chance In Time, Brave Beginnings, and Bound by Honor Bound by Love.  I will sign these books.  Here’s a link if you want more information about these books.

How To Enter

To protect everyone’s email, I am going to make an entry form that will go directly to my inbox.  If you have trouble sending it to me, let me know in the comments, and I’ll see about making a new form.  I’m not going to make anyone answer a question or anything, mostly because I’m still in the process of selling a house and would rather toss names into the random.org site and pull the three winners out than sort through answers.

There Will Be Three Winners

Three people will get the entire set for this series.  In case anyone wonders, I’m fine with sending books to people who live outside the US.

When The Winners Will Be Announced

January 24.  I will make a post here the winners and email the winners on that day.

Here’s the form to enter:

[contact-form]