Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 92

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]

Finally Got My List of Works In Progress

I got back into a writing routine today.  It took a good month and a half, but it’s finally back.  I am going to admit that I tend to panic when I get out of the routine and after I finish a book (unless I’m in the middle of another book at the time).  From time to time, I worry that I’ll lose my creativity and that I’ll never be able to write another book again.  Even after publishing 29 romances, I worry about it.  You’d think I’d understand that creativity is an infinite resource, but I don’t.  :D

As I sat down to sort through the stuff I had started last year, I realized that I’ve already completed 40,000 words of Mitch’s Win.  I halted writing on the book because I wasn’t sure which direction to go with the plot.  I decided to skim through it, and as I did, I knew what I should do to finish it.  So I decided to get back to it.  I’d like to finally finish it and publish it.  I really do enjoy the story, but it’s important I get it exactly right.  It’s time I went ahead and finished it.  I figure I have 10,000 to 25,000 words left to go.  That puts me at roughly the end of February for finishing the first draft.

I’m now 20,000 words in Runaway Bride, and as unbelievable as it sounds, Lexie’s mom isn’t so bad after all.  :D  However, it’ll take some time before the likable side of her fully emerges.  While the evolving romance between Lexie and Mark is fun to write, I’m also having fun watching Lexie’s mom from Lexie’s point of view.  She has no real redeeming qualities in Suddenly a Bride.  She was meddlesome, bossy, and snobbish.  In this book, she is these things, but it turns out there are other traits she has buried beneath the surface, and it’ll be exciting to see how that other side of her will emerge.  Mark is going to be the one to bring that side out, too, which will be even more fun to explore.  One thing about writing romances is that the stories are always more than just romances; there are many layers involved with relationships between the hero and heroine, the family members, the friends, and even those who don’t get along.  Those layers in dealing with the relationships is why I love writing romances as much as I do.  In my opinion, the other genres don’t give that level of depth into who the people are.

I am close to 16,000 words in this one.  Sandy has been trapped in her book with one of the characters pretty much hijacking the story because she’s not writing it to suit his will. Needless to say, she’s not happy, so this is one of those heroines that will be giving our hero grief.  Those heroines tend to be on the more unpopular side, but it’s the only way she can be given her past.  I plan to bring Sandy into Runaway Bride, so I’ll offer a little more background to help set the stage for this book.  Sometimes in a series I will throw in a scene or two that doesn’t do much to enhance the plot of that particular book, but if you read the series, then it makes another book more interesting.

The way I see it, a series is like a tapestry.  Each book (even if it’s complete in itself) lends itself to a larger picture, and when you read the books in the series, you see that picture.  One thing I love to do is cross series for an even bigger picture.  I like connecting characters from one series into another.  I have plans to merge the Nebraska books with the Montana books.  (Mitch’s Win starts the Montana Historical Romances), and the secondary character, Boaz, will end up marrying one of Dave and Mary’s daughter.  I just haven’t decided if Boaz will go to Nebraska or if Dave and Mary’s daughter will go to Montana.  I’m looking for a way to slip in a Larson into a Regency somewhere, but I don’t know if that will work or not.  It’d be fun if I could get it to work somehow, though.  But that is what I love about not focusing on one series.  There are more possibilities when I can work with more than one time period and more than one group of characters in their “world.”

I am not sure how fast I’ll go with this one, but since I started it, I want to see if I can go somewhere with it.  I’m almost at 8,000 words.  I’d like to make it a novella, something to explain what happens to Christopher (Perry’s ward in The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife).  I’d like to write it before getting into Perry’s book because I want to bring Perry into the plot as a single gentlemen.   I’d like to give the poor guy one more “lost chance” at love so we can appreciate it all the more when he finally finds his true love.  I know, it’s probably cruel to watch a character suffer since Perry wants so badly to be married, but in other ways, the wait makes the reward all the better.  :D  My plan is to make it 30,000 words, but if it becomes a longer book, then it’ll be a longer book.

***

So that is my current list.  This is why I can’t go with a publisher.  I have way too much freedom that I enjoy in publishing these books on my own.  I can do whatever I want with the characters and mix them up in different series.  The world is a lot more open and the possibilities endless.  I’ve also learned I need the word count goals and widgets to stay motivated.  I’ve tried writing without those word count widgets on this blog, and it hasn’t worked.  So I put them back.  You can see them on the right.  I haven’t added His Reluctant Lady to the list but probably will soon.  My main focus will be on Mitch’s Win, Runaway Bride, and His Abducted Bride.  I also learned that I need to work on more than one book at a time.  I just can’t work on one book at a time.

I guess the lack of writing wasn’t a total waste.  In writing this blog post, I realized I learned a lot about what works best for me.  :D

Inspiration Behind the Book: Runaway Bride (Mark Tanner’s Past)

While writing the scene I post yesterday, I discovered Mark’s past.  One of the best things about writing a book is finding out about the characters.  When I start a story, I have an idea of what the first chapter is going to be.  I really don’t know much about the character until I start writing them, and there is no better way to learn about a character than to write in that character’s point of view.  While I was writing Suddenly a Bride, all I knew about Mark was that he was more outgoing and wiser to the ways of the world than Chris.      Chris was very naive, and honestly, he’s one of my favorite heroes because of it.

But Mark couldn’t be like Chris because as friends they had to balance each other out.  I’ve noticed in my life (and you might have noticed it, too) that I tend to be friends with people who are opposite of me.  I’m quiet and shy, and I tend to be attracted to people who are more outgoing and social.  There’s something about their personality that draws me out.  And I also tend to be highly motivated to get out and do something, and I notice those closest to me tend to be more mellow.  This is a nice balance for me, and in addition to having friends this way, my husband is also the same way.  I believe certain personalities work best together.

So if I have a certain character who is one way, there is usually a different type of character who’ll come into the story who is the one to balance that character.  With Chris, he was all trusting and believed that everything would work out when he left his planet.  He went to Earth with a life mate picked out for him.  Mark, however, couldn’t leave that kind of decision to someone else.  He had to be the one to pick her out and pursue her.  Most importantly, he had to know that she chose to be with him.  That was why he continued to take his sex inhibitor.   Sex for men on Pandoran came with a lifelong commitment, and Mark wanted his decision to be based on emotion and logic, not sexual desire.  He wanted to make sure he married the right woman.

Mark’s job on Pandoran was to create simulations that would allow men to live out their fantasies.  If you’ve seen Star Trek: The Next Generation, then you know what the holodeck is.  It’s a program that allows you to enter any world you want to with characters that seem like real people.  Mark’s job was to program the worlds and characters the men wanted.  The job came with a lot perks and high pay, and he was one of the best programmers they’d ever had.  Because of him, they were able to incorporate females into the simulations.  Mark’s motivation for creating females came from a desire to have a wife.  Since there were no women on their world, he thought it would be enough to have one in the program.

And he created many different women where men could program the personality of the one they wanted.  His simulations were so good that it was hard to tell fiction from reality.  He ended up falling in love with the woman he had selected in his simulation, but one day he realized that the love was empty because she wasn’t real.  This moment was a painful for one for him, but it was also when he made his decision to go to Earth so he could love a real woman who could love him back.  He doesn’t want just any woman.  He wants a woman who will be his other half–one who will complete him and balance him.  There is only one woman who will do that: Lexie.  So while we all know they’ll end up together, the fun of the story will be in how they find they’re happy ending.  :D

Sunday Story Sample: Mark and Lexie Share a Walk at the Beach in Runaway Bride

This week, I wanted to feature a sample from Runaway Bride.  I’ll explain more about the conversation Mark and Lexie share in tomorrow’s post because while writing the scene, I found out something interesting about Mark’s past that I didn’t know before.  :D

This takes place when Lexie is still engaged to Nick.

Please note that I have not done any editing to this scene.  It’s in first draft form.

An hour later, Lexie found a parking spot along the beach.  She hadn’t planned on coming here today since she spent time at the caterer’s house, but she knew her mother would be teaching her everything she knew about art and etiquette the next three days.

She got out of the car, flung her beach bag over her shoulder and headed for her favorite spot.  She set down her bag and pulled out her towel.  As she spread it out across the sand, someone called her name.  She turned in time to see Mark jogging over to her.

“Hi, Mark.” She scanned him, noting the way his white t-shirt and blue shorts made his tan stand out.  “You look like you’ve been getting some sun.”

“Well, I remember you mentioned coming here during our dinner the other night, and I thought I’d check it out.  It turns out you’re right.  It’s very peaceful here.”

“I like it.  The restaurants might be further down from here, but you can get a better place to relax in the sun.” She glanced at the sky.  “It’s a shame I didn’t get here sooner.  I probably only have a half hour before it gets too cool.”

“Did you have a bad day?”

“No, not bad.  Just trying.” After a moment’s hesitation, she asked, “Does it show?”

“A little.  You look like you’re under some stress, but I think that’s normal when you’re about to get married.”

“Yeah.  I guess.” Maybe every bride felt as if she was so busy she was ready to pull her hair out.  She almost said she’d be glad when the wedding was over but stopped herself because she wasn’t sure if she would.  Up to now, she hadn’t thought much about what being married to Nick would be like, and at the moment, she didn’t want to spend her energy on it.  With a shrug, she continued, “I like coming here because even at my busiest moments, I like to relax.”

“I like the beach, too, though I haven’t been to this one until you mentioned it.” He turned his attention to the beach and smiled.  “You have excellent taste.”

“I don’t know if it’s taste as much as the fact that I lived closest to this one.”

“Hey, if it works, why not go with it?”

“True.”

“You want to take a walk?” Before she could answer, he added, “Or if you don’t mind the company, mind if I sit with you?”

“If you want to talk to me, why don’t you just say so?”

“I thought I did, in a roundabout way.”

She grinned.  “I wouldn’t mind going for a walk.” She slipped off her sandals and put them in her bag then took out her wallet and keys.  “Would you mind putting these in your pocket?  I’m afraid I don’t have any pockets on my skirt.”

“I don’t mind.” He took them from her and put them in his pocket.  “Which way would you like to go?”

Since she wanted to be away from people, she motioned to the section of the beach that clear.  “That looks like a good strip to go for a walk.”

He nodded, and they headed for the shoreline.  “So, you’re keeping busy?”

“I haven’t had much time to do anything.  I feel like all I do is run back and forth to get ready for the wedding, and the next three days are going to be torture.”

“Really?  How so?”

“Well, Nick got invited to go some art exhibit where his supervisor’s wife’s painting will be on display.  For the next three days, my mother is going to give me lessons in proper etiquette.”

“I didn’t realize there was a proper way to look at paintings.”

She chuckled.  “Me neither, but apparently, there is.  Nick said he was going to give me book to read, but I think my mother knows more about etiquette than even he does.  She plans to look at the book and see if there’s anything she doesn’t know, but I doubt it.” They reached the shoreline, and the water lapped at her feet as they continued their walk.  “So I’ll be spending all of my non-working hours with her.”

“Sounds like you’re dreading it.”

“I’m a horrible daughter, aren’t I?  My mother has always been good about taking care of me, and all I want to do is get away from her.”

“I don’t think you’re a horrible daughter.  It seems to me like you want your own space.”

He was right.  Deep down, she knew he was, and deep down, she knew it was perfectly alright for her to get that space.  But she didn’t know how.  Caitlyn had no trouble telling their mother to back off, but then, Caitlyn and her mother weren’t close.  With a sigh, she said, “I love my mother.  She wants what’s best for me.  I guess I just envisioned my life would be different than what it is.”

“And what did you think it’d be?”

She smiled and glanced at him before turning her gaze back to the shoreline in front of them.  “You don’t ask easy questions.”

“Maybe not.  But my life isn’t what I expected when I was growing up.”

“It’s not?”

“No.  When I was younger, I was satisfied with everything.  I had a ton of cool gadgets to play with, and I thought I would have a job creating more gadgets to make life easier and more fun.”

“Are you talking about video games and computers?” she asked, trying to figure out what he meant by ‘gadgets.’

“Something like that but not quite.  Think of it as virtual reality that could give a man the ability to live out any fantasy he wanted.”

“Oh, so it’s like being inside a movie or a book, except you make up the story?”

“Kind of.  Most fantasies involved women.”

She laughed.  “Really?  I’d think the fantasies would be something sci-fi, fantasy, or adventure.  You know, typical guy stuff.”

“There could be those elements, but the men preferred to add romance to the mix.”

“No kidding?”

“Nope.”

“So do you read romance novels?”

“No.”

Unable to avoid teasing him, she nudged him in the side.  “You wanted to program virtual reality games where men could experience a romance in unusual settings, but you don’t want to read romance books?”

He chuckled and shrugged.  “As I was developing these games, as you call them, I realized even in a virtual reality setting, a fake woman wasn’t as good as a real one.”

“Even if the fantasy woman is perfect?”

“There’s no way a fantasy woman can be perfect because she’s not real.  Everything she does or says is programmed.”

Her grin grew wider.  “I thought men would prefer a woman that way,” she teased.

His eyes twinkling, he shook his head.  “You’d be surprised at how boring that gets.”

She rolled her eyes.  “I’m sure.”

“Well, you write romance novels, right?”

“When I get the time.”

“Do you prefer your world of perfect men when you write them?”

“I try not to write about perfect men or women.”

“Why not?”

“Of course not.  If I did, then there’d be no conflict,” she replied.  “If everyone was perfect all the time, the story would be boring.” After a moment of silence, she added, “Okay.  I get your point.  Fantasy virtual reality women would get boring.”

“And there would be no love.  The man might fall in love with her, but she couldn’t respond in kind and that’s an empty feeling.”

“I guess it would be.”

They continued their walk in silence for a couple minutes, and to her surprise, she didn’t mind the quiet.  Usually, the lack of conversation would have bothered her.  She hated awkward silences.  In general, she wasn’t a fan of silence anyway.  That was one of the reasons she came to the beach.  It was the one place she could go to where she could close her eyes and enjoy the pounding of the surf.  It was one of the most relaxing sounds she’d ever heard.  But at the moment, she didn’t notice the waves so much.

“So this art thing you’re going to,” Mark began.  “Is it something you’re looking forward to?  I mean, I know you’re not looking forward to learning the etiquette involved, but what about the actual event itself?”

“No, I’m not looking forward to it.  I have to go.”

“Was this one of the things you signed in the prenup?”

“Yes, but it’s very important that I go.  Even if I didn’t sign a prenup, I’d go.  You see, in Nick’s line of work, it’s important he looks good, and part of looking good is having a wife who’ll be involved in charities and go to events his coworkers partake in.”

“Sounds like you’ll be busy.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Maybe she was about to be busier than she was already.  She wasn’t sure what her life would be like once she was married.  “Maybe I’ll always be busy.”

He waited a moment before asking, “What do you want to do after you get married?”

“To be honest, I haven’t thought about it.  I assumed I’d quit my job and do whatever Nick needed me to do.  His job requires him to be on call.  He could go in to work any time of the day or night.  I might have to do something for him, like attend a charity event.” Realizing she was rambling, she offered an apologetic smile.  “Sorry.  I don’t want to bore you.”

“You’re not boring me.  I enjoy listening to you.”

“Well, I enjoy listening to you, too.” She quickly averted his gaze, wondering why the way he looked at her made her nervous.  She wasn’t on a date with him.  There was no reason why her face should flush with pleasure.  Clearing her throat, she asked, “Did you ever find out what was wrong with your car?”

“Yes.  It was out of gas.”

She laughed.  “Out of gas?”

“I told you I was having an off day.  I hadn’t looked at the gas tank and realized it was empty.”

“At least it was easy to take care of.”

“That’s true, and it was very nice of you to help me out.  I haven’t forgotten that I owe you a favor.  If you ever need me to bail you out of a bad situation, give me a call.  You still have my business card?”

“Yep.”

“Too bad.  I was hoping to get rid of another one.  I told you I have too many, right?”

Her grin widened.  “I believe you mentioned it.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever go through all of them.”

“I’m sure you will eventually.” They turned around and headed back to where they started from, and she asked, “What do you do for fun?”

“Walking on the beach with you is fun.”

Detecting the teasing tone in his voice, she gave him a ‘be serious’ look.  “I mean, what interests do you have?”

“Okay.  Besides talking to you, I like to research everything I can about Earth.”

“What kind of research?”

He shrugged.  “I like finding out about different cultures, find out about different countries.  What makes each one unique.  Stuff like that.”

“What about the virtual reality thing?  Do you still do that?”

“No, not anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Because I like living real life instead of a fantasy one.”

“So you quit that job so you could be an engineer like Chris is?”

“You could say that.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, curious.  “What else could I say?”

“That I wanted to experience the most life has to offer.”

She didn’t know why his answer should strike a cord in her, but it did.  As much as she kept telling herself she was living the dream every woman had, she wondered if it was true.  She was going to marry a handsome man who had a good job, and she would never lack for anything.  On the surface, it seemed like a fairy tale come true.  And yet, she felt empty.

“Lexie, are you alright?”

She pushed aside her apprehension about the future and smiled.  “Yes, I’m fine.” Brushing back several strands of her hair, she continued, “Do you like being an engineer?”

“I do, especially when I get to work on a group project.  You can learn a lot about people when you’re working toward the same goal.”

“People fascinate you.”

“They do, but I also like working with numbers.  Doing what I do is the best of both worlds,” he said.  “Do you enjoy your job?”

“It pays the bills.”

“The first time I met you, you said you liked to write romances.  Would you rather do that?”

“I guess I hadn’t thought about it.  I don’t write often.  I have so many other things going on.”

“Maybe after you get married, you can write more.”

Somehow she doubted it.  Neither her mother nor Nick thought much of her hobby.  For sure, her mother thought it was a waste of time.  As for Nick, she didn’t know what he thought.  Maybe she should ask him next time she saw him.

“I notice we do a lot of talking about me,” she finally told Mark.

“We talked about me.  I told you about my car and my job.”

“Well, that’s true,” she admitted.

“I guess I have been talking a lot about you, but that’s because I want to learn more about who you are.  I like finding out what you like, what you don’t like, how you envision your future, what will make you happy.”

“I guess I’m not used to someone taking such an interest in me.”

“I’m sure your fiancé does.”

She wanted to assure him that Nick did, but the words didn’t come.  But she was sure he did.  Why else would he want to marry her?

“If I’m making you uncomfortable,” Mark continued, “we can talk about something else.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you wanting to know more about someone.  Besides, it’s what you do, isn’t it?  You like working with people and discovering who they are.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you enjoy being in large social gatherings?”

“It’s okay.  I find it’s not so much how many people are around me as it is who I’m with.  If I’m with someone I like, I can be anywhere with many people.”

“I see what you mean.  Having the right person with you can make anything bearable.”

They reached her spot, and he checked his watch.  “I should get going.  I’m glad I ran into you.”

“Yeah, it was fun.” The most fun she had in a long time, but she didn’t dare admit that aloud.  She told herself it was because she didn’t have to plan for the wedding for the first time in three months, but she wondered if it was more than that.  If it was, she didn’t dare dwell on it.

He shot her a charming smile.  “Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”

Her heart gave an unexpected flutter, but she quickly pushed the sensation aside.  “That’d be great.”

She watched him as he jogged a few yards down the beach before he went to his car.  There was something about him that seemed different from other people she’d known.  She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, except that when she talked with him, it was easy to relax and be herself.  He had the type of personality that made others around him feel comfortable.

Turning back to her towel, she spread it out and settled on it.  She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the surf as it rolled in, but she kept thinking over her conversation with Mark.  She couldn’t recall the last time she’d enjoyed talking to someone so much.  She opened her eyes and examined the beach.  For some reason, it didn’t seem the same.  It was a shame Mark couldn’t have stuck around longer.  With a sigh, she stood up, gathered her things and left.  Maybe next time she came here, she wouldn’t be preoccupied with thoughts of Mark.  Then she could truly enjoy resting on the beach.

Cover Idea for Perry’s Book

After debating the plot for Perry’s (Lord Clement) book, I finally got it.  Inspiration came while I was driving through town.  It’s weird how I can be bouncing around ideas for months and suddenly find the right idea at the most unexpected time.  Anyway, I’m going to have a heroine (probably a widow) who purposely creates a scandal to marry Perry.  I still haven’t figured out why she creates the scandal, but there’s going to be a good reason for it.

So what I’m doing right now is trying to figure out a suitable cover to go with the book.  I made three mock ups tonight and would like your opinion on them.

Before I get to the covers, I want to quickly add I had a great “aha!” moment with Runaway Bride while I was at my critique group today.  I’m really excited with the direction the book is taking and want to feature one of the scene in this Sunday’s sample scene.  :D

Now for the possible covers:

#1

#2

#3

Any thoughts?

A Most Unsuitable Earl is Now Up Everywhere

It’s finally up on Barnes and Noble so I can make the announcement.  :D

I sent out an email to everyone who signed up for my New Release list, and I asked everyone on it who has Nook to let me know they have a Nook so next time I have a new release, I can make the announcement sooner.  I appreciate how understanding everyone’s been about this.  I know waiting isn’t easy.

Here are a list of links where you can find A Most Unsuitable Earl.

Amazon

Smashwords

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Sony

Diesel

iTunes

Updates

The good news is that I’m writing again.  I wasn’t writing for the longest time because of all the work we had to do to get the house in good ship for selling.  I stayed behind for a couple of days to give the whole place a thorough cleaning.  It was hard to get back into the process of writing after taking such a long break, but that is true no matter why I go on “vacation.”

The bad news?  I came down with the nasty cold my kids brought home at the very end of the school year, so my word count has slowed.  Not that I was writing as much as before, but now that the ideas are finally coming back, it’s frustrating the energy to write them isn’t there.

But even more frustrating than that is the ordeal with Barnes and Noble.  I don’t know what to do about everyone on my “New Release” list.  A Most Unsuitable Earl is already available everywhere but B&N.  That means it was up on Sony, Diesel, and Kobo before B&N this time, and in the past Sony, Diesel, and Kobo have been notoriously slow.

Now, I did put Smashwords down as the distributor to go to B&N.  I don’t want to go into detail in a public forum, but I felt this was the best decision given everything else that is going on.  I’m sorry I can’t be more specific than that, but I have a good reason.  It wasn’t an easy one to make.  In Smashwords’ defense, they sent A Most Unsuitable Earl out to B&N before they shipped the book to any of the other venues I go to through them.  That means that even though A Most Unsuitable Earl was shipped to B&N first, it still isn’t up even though it’s on the other sites.  I’m not the only author who’s been having this problem, which makes me feel better since I’m not the only one out there going through this.

Unfortunately, this does impact the timeliness of my New Release email.

So here’s my question.  I was waiting until the book was up on B&N before emailing those of you on my New Release list.  Now I’m wondering if I need to make a separate list for Nook owners.  That way those of you who buy my books through Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Diesel, Sony, and Apple can be notified when the book is live on the site where you like to shop.  Then when it’s on B&N, I’d send out a list for the Nook owners.  Does that sound like a good plan?

I have about 80 people on the list, and I don’t know who owns a Nook and who doesn’t.  That’s one of my problems.  I was wondering if those of you with a Nook would be willing to send me an email?  I can create a form to make it easy to send me.

Let me know what you think.  Otherwise, I can wait until the book is live on all the sites before sending the email out.