Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 94

Deleted Scene #2: The Cold Wife

This Sunday, I thought I’d do another deleted scene from The Cold Wife.  In this one, Justin agrees to dress up as a clown and entertain the children at the orphanage.   Yeah, I know the language is very modern (I wouldn’t write it this way today), but it is what it is so I am posting it as it was in the original version.

          After work, Justin took Carrie out to eat before they went to the orphanage.  He did feel ridiculous wearing the clown outfit, which he was sure was Carrie’s intention, but he was determined to act like he was happy to do it.  If he let her know that this disturbed him, then she would most likely find something else for him to put on that he didn’t want to be caught dead in.  He sat in a chair in the boy’s room while he got ready for the performance.  Mrs. Tobias helped him put on the makeup while Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Walker got the place set up for the kids.  Carrie and Mary were busy running back and forth to get the supplies to whoever needed it.

Helen sat in the chair a few feet from him and shook her head.  “You’ve got it bad.”

He shifted uncomfortably in the chair.  He realized that his feelings for Carrie were evident to anyone who cared to notice.  “Do you think this will do any good?”

“I think you get deeper under her skin every day, though she’s too stubborn to admit it.  Don’t get me wrong.  I think the world of that girl but she’s being downright senseless.  I just pray to God that she’ll see the light before the month is up.  She’s going to regret losing you if she’s going to go through with the annulment.”

Mrs. Tobias left for a few moments to get the wig and fake nose.

“If it doesn’t work out between us, then it’ll be my fault.  I spent the day with Mr. Davidson,” he informed her.

“Only because Harrison Grant Jr. told you that you would be back at two.”

“Does everyone know the details of that day?”

“I’m in gossip central.  People talk all day long at the nursing home, and they forget some of the old people there, like me, can understand and remember what they say.”

He was beginning to get a headache.  It seemed that being rich meant one’s life had to be put on display for the entire world to watch.

She leaned forward so she could lower her voice.  “I told her to go ahead and consummate the marriage last week but she thought the fact that she was menstruating would be too gross so she said she’d have to wait until Friday when she was done for the month.  If God had timed her flow to come a week earlier or later, she’d have no choice but to be with you now.  Anyway, now you know that she’s wanted to stay in the marriage since last week.  I think being left to fend for herself while Mrs. Davidson and Julie Grant ran off to shop for the day was too much for her to handle.”

“Mrs. Davidson left Carrie by herself in that house?”

Mrs. Tobias returned and put the red curly wig on his head.

The woman nodded.  “That woman didn’t give her anything to eat at breakfast, and she went to go shopping.  It seems that Carrie accidentally broke a lamp and got blood on the rug and Mrs. Davidson went into a tizzy over it and took Julie shopping with her.  It had something to do with her cats.  Mary tried to explain it to me but Mary had trouble remembering all of the details.”

He sighed.  It’s no wonder that Carrie was upset.  She must be afraid that this will keep happening to her.  He had the sudden urge to take her in his arms and promise her that the incident with Mrs. Davidson wouldn’t ever happen to her again.

Mrs. Tobias put his red nose on and made sure it was in place before she announced that he was ready.

“How do I look?” he asked the two women.

“Perfect for making the children happy,” Mrs. Tobias replied.

He didn’t have a mirror to look at but if his bulky white outfit that was covered in large yellow, red and blue polka dots was an indicator of how his makeup looked, then he was assured that he was a comical sight.

“I better get to the front room so I can see the performance.” Helen smiled as walked out of the room.

“Oh!  I forgot the shoes.” Mrs. Tobias snapped her fingers and ran to get them.

Carrie entered the room.  “I’m going to be your assistant,” she told him.  She stopped in the middle of the room when she saw him.  She chuckled.  “You look so different from the professional businessman I’m used to seeing.”

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“You’re cute.  The kids will love it.” She walked to the table next to him.

“Do you like it?”

“I said that you’re cute, and that’s all you’ll get out of me.  I do appreciate you doing this.  I think the kids will enjoy it.”

Mrs. Tobias returned with the large red shoes.  “Carrie, you thought of everything.  Mrs. Clark is here to see Ryan, and I believe they are getting along well, though I think he still likes you a little more.”

Carrie smiled.  “He just needs to get used to Mrs. Clark.  She’s a nice woman.” She turned to him.  “Are you ready?”

He put on the shoes and nodded.  “You’ll have to walk me through this.”

“Just follow my lead.  I have the whole thing planned out.”

They walked to the front room where ten orphans sat on the floor with a couple of women.  When the show first started, he felt awkward.  He was surprised that Carrie seemed so at ease in front of the group.  She was shy at the dinner parties.  Perhaps she could open up easily in front of the women and children because she knew them well.  While she went through the performance smoothly, he made a couple of errors, but since the audience laughed, he played along as if he meant to goof up.

He noticed that Ryan didn’t laugh, even though he gave a slight smile once in awhile.  He suddenly wondered what the boy’s life had been like before he came to this place.  He had to wonder if he had been the same way after his parents died.  Unlike him, Ryan would never know where he came from or who his parents were.

Suddenly, Carrie threw a pumpkin pie in his face.  He hadn’t been paying attention to what was going on since his focus had been on the young boy, but he quickly redirected his attention and saw Carrie laughing along with everyone else.

“You were supposed to run from me,” she said between fits of giggles.

“Why would I run from you?” he asked.  “You’re my beautiful and lovely assistant.” He grinned and leaned forward to kiss her.

An eruption of giggles came from the audience and he noticed that Ryan had finally laughed.  Deciding the moment was too good to pass up, he took her in his arms, dipped her back and gave her a long kiss.  When he let her go, he was pleased to see that Ryan was still laughing.

“Yuck!” Carrie reached for a towel to wipe her face.  “You got pie all over me.”

“Gross.  You kissed a girl,” a boy called out.

“When you grow up, you’ll like it,” he assured the boy who obviously didn’t believe him.  Turning to Carrie, he asked, “Is that it or is there more?”

“You’d better say there’s more…but wait until you get home before you do the rest,” Helen called out to her.

He ignored Carrie’s stunned expression and started cleaning up with the other women.  He hid his grin.  He liked Helen.  The woman didn’t hold anything back, and he could only hope the woman’s words would sink in and motivate Carrie to action.

That night after he bathed, he noticed that Carrie had already gone to bed.  He sighed.  What was it going to take to get back into bed with her?

On The Timing of a New Release (Why I Can’t Give a Specific Release Date on a Current Work in Progress)

Once in a while, I’ll get a question on when my next book will come out.  Unless I have finished the first draft, I can’t pinpoint exactly when it’ll be available.  Take Runaway Bride and His Abducted Bride as examples.  I’m only on chapter 4 for both of them.  That is under 10,000 words.  My average book is between 65,000 to 70,000 words.  That means I have about 55,000 to 60,000 words to go if I am going to hit that 65,000 or 70,000 target.

Now, throw in real life.  I’m a wife, mother, and friend.  I have to juggle keeping my romance with my husband going (even after 12 years of marriage, we still date).  I have to help the kids with schoolwork, keep in communication with their teachers, spend time with my kids before they get to be “too cool” to be seen with me, and I have one who is deaf who requires more assistance with learning how to write and read so the world can communicate with him.  (Yes, we’re learning sign language, but the general population doesn’t know signs, so my focus is on helping him learn to read and write.)  And I like spending time with my friends, whether it’s talking on the phone, eating out, or going to conferences with them.

Then there’s stressors that pop up here and there.  Currently, we’re in the process of getting our old house ready for the next owners.  Moving is a huge creativity drain.  I haven’t been writing lately because I’m too busy getting things organized with painting and carpeting the house.  Cleaning up the place comes after that.  And, to boot, I have to find a way to occupy four very energetic boys while this is going on.   Lately, all I’ve been doing is reading because when I’ve tried to write, my mind goes blank.  I might get in 50 or 100 words, but that is barely making a mark in the word count goals.  In November, my kids and I all got so sick we spent two weeks doing nothing, and I did no writing during that time either.  It’s stuff like that which pops up and sets all the writing projects on the back burner.

So I can’t tell anyone when Runaway Bride or His Abducted Bride will be out.  I have estimated late winter/early spring (which is March through May).  But I can’t narrow it down from there.  What I can do is say that A Most Unsuitable Earl will be on Barnes and Noble and Amazon around the first of January, but I already have that one finished up.  When I have a book finished up, the only stuff I have left on it is surface work.  I’m done writing or rewriting.  All I’m doing is polishing it up with the help of my editing team.

On a good day, I can write 2500 words a day.  On average, I end up doing 1500 to 2000 words a day.  On a bad day, I barely get anything written.  So if everything is going extremely well, I can have the first draft of a book done in 1.5 months.  If not, then it can take 3-4 months to get the first draft done.  Then there’s another month for editing, and I have to work with other people’s schedules, so it can be two months.  There are many unknowns that I can’t control.

When I’m moving or on vacation, I put a hold on writing.  I understand it seems like writing doesn’t require much work, but it is (at least if you want to write a book that reflects your best effort).   I strive to make every book I write better than the one I wrote before.  I don’t want my next book to end up being a “Whatever happened to Ruth’s writing?  It’s like someone else came in and wrote the book for her.” I’ve seen those reviews on popular books (by authors who are big names in the business).  I self-publish to keep my voice fresh and my stories engaging.

The worst thing that can happen to an author (in my opinion) is to write a “blah” kind of book.  I want every book I write to be one in which I need to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.  If I can stay focused on my story, then I know it’s worth writing.  If I stall out and things drag, I quit writing it.  I hate sagging middles when I read, and I refuse to have them when I write.  So if I need to take more time because the creativity is not flowing, I’ll halt the writing until the creative spark is back.

So anyway, that’s a long way of explaining why I can’t pinpoint when I’ll publish my next book if it’s a book I’m currently writing.  I do, however, have a widget to the right side on this blog where you can sign up to be notified when I have a new release out.  I have to wait until the book is live on Amazon and Barnes and Noble before I send it out, but when the book is up on those sites, I will let you know.  And I will only email you when the book is released.  :D

 

Inspiration For the Book: The Cold Wife

For the next couple weeks, I’ll be using Sunday to feature deleted scenes from The Cold Wife.

I cut about 40,000 words out of the original book to get the revised version.   Early on I got several complaints about Carrie, the heroine in this book.  Only one person (that I know of) liked her. This was before most people knew I wrote books, so it was like ten people total who gave me feedback, and I figured 9 people out of 10 hating my heroine was bad.

The reason most people didn’t like her was because she continued to give Justin (the hero) a hard time.   In the revised version, she gave him a hard time, but then she relented after they returned from Mr. and Mrs. Davidson (the Davidsons were the couple with a lot of cats and the husband was big into hunting).  Anyway, in the original version, Carrie didn’t understand why Justin was detained with Mr. Davidson who insisted he and Harrison Jr. hunt with him all day.  Carrie intentionally did things to upset Justin in hopes he would annul the marriage.  One such incident was the scene I posted yesterday.

In the years that followed since I revised The Cold Wife, I’ve come to learn two things:

1. If a story is meant to be shorter, then it needs to be shorter.

My initial inclination when I was writing The Cold Wife was to make the story shorter, but since An Unlikely Place for Love and An Inconvenient Marriage (which I wrote before The Cold Wife) were in the 90,000-word range, I thought The Cold Wife had to be that many words, too.  I prolonged The Cold Wife in order to make it about 90,000+ words.  To do that, I had to prolong the conflict.

2.  Heroines who don’t fall head over heels for the hero right away are not as “likable” as those who do.

This has been proven over and over again with my books.  People are a lot more forgiving of the hard-headed hero than they are of the hard-headed heroine.  If the heroine resists the hero, she is often seen as immature or jerky.  I guess that stems from the whole notion that a a guy who sleeps around is a stud but a girl who sleeps around is a slut.  The culture is often more forgiving of men pulling stunts that women couldn’t as easily get away with.

Does that mean I make all of my heroines the type who immediately fall in love with the hero?  Nope.  I let the heroines decide who they are and take it from there.  I can tell what type of star rating I’ll get from a book as I’m writing it based on the heroine’s response to the hero or based on the level of humor in my books.  Comedy tends to be unpopular in the star ratings, too.

Since I have written over 40 books (some of those not being romances and some short), I’ve also learned that if the characters don’t guide the book, it won’t be any good (at least good to me).  Then I’ll have to go back and rewrite it.  So these days, I’m inclined to put writing on hold if the story is veering off course of where it should be.  If the ideas suddenly stop coming, it’s usually a sign that I’m not listening to the characters or the characters need some time to figure out what they want to do next.  And even if the characters want to go in a direction that is “unrealistic” or “immature” or “mean” to some, I do it anyway.  Having written as many books as I have at this point, I understand that no book will please everyone, and I’m okay with that.  As long as the characters are happy, the book is as it should be.

That all being said, I am happier with The Cold Wife as it is now because the book should never have been 90,000+ words long.  :D

Deleted Scene #1: The Cold Wife

I have a couple deleted scenes from The Cold Wife I plan to share over the next couple weeks.  These come from the original version of the story.  I have since revised the book, so the current version doesn’t have them.

This is the first one (and I’ll give the inspiration behind this scene in tomorrow’s post).

Look for Jake Mitchell (hero in An Inconvenient Marriage) and Chad Walker (hero in An Unlikely Place for Love) in this scene.  At this point, Chad (Mr. Walker) is married but Jake (Mr. Mitchell) isn’t.  Also, Justin Monroe wasn’t working at the bank yet, so his friendship with Jake hasn’t developed yet.  Also, Carrie and Justin hadn’t adopted Ryan yet.  Ryan was still living in the orphanage.

This is one of Carrie’s attempts of trying to convince Justin to annul their marriage.  (They hadn’t consummated the marriage at this point, though they came close.)

***

            Mrs. Henderson reluctantly agreed to go with Carrie to the convention.  “I hate to intrude on men when they are doing business.  If it were anyone but you, I would refuse.”

“This is the only time I have to take his measurements,” Carrie easily lied.  “This will mean the world to Ryan.”

At the mention of the orphan’s name, the older woman relaxed.  “The poor boy has been through so much.  It would be nice to hear that he actually laughed.”

Carrie silently agreed.  It seemed that he managed to smile at her, but she had yet to hear him laugh.

Franklin drove them to the Edwards’ Hotel and helped them out of the stagecoach.  “I will wait for you, Mrs. Monroe,” he said.

“Thank you.” And if this works, you can go back to being Justin’s driver.

The two women walked through the entrance of the large hotel.  She noticed that they were the only women there.  This was definitely a male dominated event.  It’s probably boring too.  She couldn’t imagine that business meetings could be interesting.  She was secretly relieved that women and men separated at dinner parties when men wanted to discuss their work.  When the men and women were together, they either ate or danced.  It suddenly dawned on her that she and Justin hadn’t danced since their wedding day.  She frowned.  Though she wasn’t good at it, she did enjoy dancing with him.  She pushed aside the thought.  She had a goal.

She straightened her shoulders back and ignored her brother who looked shocked to see her as she marched across the room.  She stopped behind Justin who was standing in front of a table and talking to Mr. Martin.  Mr. Walker was at the table to his right and Mr. Mitchell was at the table to his left.

“Oh good.  You are here,” she loudly said so the people around them would notice her…if the fact that she and Mrs. Henderson weren’t the only two women in the room wouldn’t be enough to draw attention to them.

Justin turned around, obviously surprised.  Then he smiled.  “Carrie!  Did you miss me?”

“I’m going to take your measurements,” she ordered, her tone firm.  “Stand up straight and take off your suit jacket.”

She expected him to refuse but he shrugged and obeyed her.  He set the jacket on the table.  “What do you want to measure first?”

She was momentarily taken aback but quickly regained her equilibrium.  She glanced at the other woman.  “Where do we start?”

“Let’s measure around his head for the hat,” the overwhelmed woman slowly stated.

Justin leaned forward so that their noses were almost touching.  “You smell nice,” he whispered as she took the tape measure and wrapped it around the top of his head.  “Your perfume reminds me of the dream I had about you last night.  I dreamt that we finished what we started at the Davidson’s.”

She shook off the thrill of his statement and told the woman the number on the tape measure so that she could record it on her paper.  Turning back to him, she said, “Stand up straight.  I need to measure your neck.”

He did as she wished.  “Do you mind telling me what this is about?”

“Mrs. Henderson needs to make you a clown outfit.” She reported the number to the seamstress.  She measured his shoulders.  She hadn’t realized they were so broad.  She recalled the way they felt under her hands when they were in bed together.  She shook her head in aggravation.  This convention had to be the most unromantic place on the planet, and here she was recalling romantic moments in her mind.  “Now hold your hands straight out.  I need to measure your arms.”

“Why am I going to be a clown?” he wondered.

“Mrs. Tobias thought it would be fun to throw a party for Ryan and the other children at the orphanage.  I volunteered you to be the clown.  You have to be there at seven tomorrow night.”

“But we have tickets to the symphony for that time,” he argued.  “They were your birthday gift to me.”

Which was why she purposely picked that time for the clown show.  She continued to measure his upper body and reported the numbers to Mrs. Henderson.  She was acutely aware that most of the men in the room were staring at them.  Even her brother was too stunned to stop her.  He simply sat at his table in silence.  Good.  It’s working.  After this, Justin will be begging for an annulment.

“It doesn’t matter what you want, Mr. Monroe.  I am ordering you to be there at seven tomorrow night, whether you like it or not.” She hoped she sounded bossy.  “Since Ryan is going to go home with Mr. and Mrs. Clark this Sunday, we thought it would be nice to throw him a party.  We’re hoping you can get him to laugh.  Most children can’t resist laughing when there’s a clown in the room.”

“And you wonder why I don’t want to get married?” Mr. Mitchell asked Justin.

“Well, I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Justin replied.  “I’m very pleased she thought of me to perform this task.”

The other man shook his head in amazement.

That wasn’t exactly the response she was hoping for.  Justin should have had the same reaction that Mr. Mitchell did.  Perhaps her next statement would catch him off guard.  “Yes.  I think it’s a good idea too.  You’re so laughable.”

“I’m glad to find that you enjoy my company.”

What was wrong with him?  Didn’t he recognize a put down when he heard it?  She wrapped the tape measure around his waist, aware of how narrow it was.  His body was so different from hers.  Broad shoulders, strong arms, narrow waist…She recalled how he looked in the moonlight as he got dressed to go hunting with Mr. Davidson.  She blinked several times to ward off the sudden feeling of dizziness that threatened to take over her and quickly told Mrs. Henderson what to write down.

“What’s next?” she asked the other woman.  She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that most of the men had returned to their conversations.  Her heart was pounding anxiously in her chest, and she had a nagging suspicion it had more to do with being close to Justin and touching him than it did with her intent to embarrass him in front of his peers.

“I need you to measure his hips,” the woman cautiously replied.

For a woman to be this forward with a man in public was inappropriate, even if they were husband and wife.  Carrie considered asking Mr. Mitchell to take the measurement for her but he looked so appalled that she knew he wouldn’t be a part of her plan.  Mr. Martin and Mr. Walker simply grinned, so they weren’t going to be any help either.  She took a deep breath and nodded.  She would have to do it herself.

“This is for Ryan,” she loudly stated.  “He’s been abandoned by his guardian and has been very sad.  He needs a clown to cheer him up.” There.  Hopefully, that would make what she was about to do next a noble cause.  She braced herself and wrapped the tape measure around his hips.

Justin widely smiled.  “I don’t know about Ryan, but it’s cheering me up.”

Her face grew bright red as several men chuckled.  She quickly gave the measurement and took the tape measure away.  She couldn’t keep doing this with him smiling at her as if he was ready to throw her over his shoulder and take her to his bedroom.  It was the same smile he had given her when he suggested a night of lovemaking before he went hunting.  Recalling the horrible day she had endured, she forcibly turned him around so he was facing Mr. Martin and shoved him against the table.

“I love it when you get rough,” he commented.

She anxiously looked at Mrs. Henderson.  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all, but she had to finish it.

“Now we need to measure his legs,” the woman informed her.

Her hands shook as she rushed to perform the rest of the task at hand.  He had his legs spread apart in front of her while she was on her knees to measure the length of his right leg.  As she told Mrs. Henderson the number on the tape measure, she happened to catch a glimpse of Harrison and his father.  Without thinking, she crawled under Justin’s legs so she could get a clear view of the two men.

“If you’re that eager for him, just take him home,” Mr. Walker joked.

She ignored the laughter around her and focused on the scene in front of her.  While Harrison talked to Mr. Parker, his father put his hand in the man’s pocket.  She gritted her teeth, quickly stood up and ran over to them.  “Mr. Parker, do you know where your wallet is?” she asked.

“In my back pocket,” the man stated, surprised to see her there.

“No, it isn’t.  I just saw Harrison Grant Sr. take your wallet.  If you inspect his suit jacket, you’ll find it there.”

The man checked his back pocket and pulled his wallet out.

“That’s impossible,” she said.  “I saw it in his hand!”

“Carrie, what’s going on?” Justin asked as he ran up to her.

Mr. Walker, Mr. Mitchell and a few other men followed to see what was going on.

“While I was measuring your leg, I saw Mr. Grant Sr. take Mr. Parker’s wallet while Mr. Grant Jr. talked to him.”

“But I have the wallet right here,” Mr. Parker argued.

“I know what I saw!  He must have taken something from it and replaced it.  Maybe he was putting your wallet back when I saw him.”

The man opened his wallet and inspected his money and keys.  “Nothing is missing.”

“I didn’t imagine it!”

“Mrs. Monroe, are you feeling alright?” Harrison Jr. asked her.  “You look flushed.”

“I would feel much better about this whole thing if someone searched both of them.” She motioned to the two Grants.

“I don’t need to be insulted this way,” Harrison Sr. huffed.  “I came here to do business, not to be accused by a senseless woman.”

Justin frowned.  “I’ll thank you to avoid talking about my wife that way.”

“Everything is here,” Mr. Parker told her.

“He must have taken something,” she insisted.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Monroe, but everything is in its proper place.”

Realizing she couldn’t prove it, especially when Mr. Parker argued with her, she didn’t say anything else.

The men slowly dispersed.

Justin rubbed her back.  “I believe you, Carrie.”

Surprisingly, that made her feel better.

“Mrs. Monroe,” Mrs. Henderson began as she walked over to her, “I need to get back to work.  Will you take the final measurement?”

Carrie nodded and did so.  She handed the tape measure back to the woman who thanked her and left.

“Do you want me to take you home or somewhere else?” Justin offered.

“No.  I’ll be fine.  I need to be alone for awhile.”

He nodded and walked back to Mr. Martin.

She sighed and went toward the hotel entrance.  To her surprise, Mr. Mitchell stopped her as she reached the two doors.

“Which Grant took the wallet?” he asked her in a voice that was low enough so no one would overhear them.

She blinked.  “You believe me?”

“I have no reason not to.”

“It was the father.”

“Did you see him do anything with the wallet?”

“He had his hand in Mr. Parker’s back pocket.  I assume he was putting the wallet back where it belonged.”

He nodded.  “I’ll look into it.” He glanced at Harrison Jr. who was walking to them.  “Forgive me for what I am about to say next.” In a louder voice, he stated, “Mrs. Monroe, in the future, it would be best if you didn’t disrupt these conventions.” He turned to Harrison.  “I’ll see you at the bank.” Then he left.

She didn’t care to talk to Harrison, so she proceeded to walk outside.

“Carrie, is it really a good idea to dwell on the past?” Harrison called after her.

Determined that she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of responding, she ignored him.

“Are you still upset that I didn’t accept your marriage proposal?”

She paused and closed her eyes in irritation.  She knew that he was trying to humiliate her.  As if she wasn’t humiliated enough already!  She knew if she didn’t talk to him, he would make the situation worse, so she turned around.

“I thought that might get your attention,” he stated.

“You make me sick.”

His eyes grew wide in surprise.  “Julie said that you might be jealous.  It’s too bad you can’t take the time to be happy for your friend.  She cries about it sometimes.”

“You will make her miserable.”

“No, I won’t,” he snapped.  “I love her.”

“Really?  Then why were you pretending to be interested in me when you were secretly courting her?”

He didn’t respond.

“I know why.  You wanted to destroy my father.  You used me to gain access to his business records.”

“No, I didn’t.  My father insisted that I court you.”

“Why?”

“How should I know?  I’m just glad he finally listened to reason and let me be with Julie.”

“If what you’re saying is true, then you’re nothing more than your father’s pawn.”

He frowned.  “From what I hear, you have the sexual interest of an arctic chill.  It’s too bad I wasn’t willing to warm you up since poor Justin can’t seem to do the job.”

Her face grew hot with anger.  “Justin is a better man than you’ll ever be!”

He remained unaffected by her words and actions.  “Then why did you try to marry me a day before your marriage to him?”

“Because I was stupid.”

“Not as stupid as your husband is since he’s remarkably devoted to you regardless of the things you put him through.”

            She walked away from him and sighed with relief when she was back in Franklin’s stagecoach.

My Book List

A quick note: I can’t log into Facebook right now because I’m in Minnesota to move our things into places where they belong.  My husband and kids are back in Nebraska.  I’ll log into Facebook when I get back there, which won’t be until after Monday.  I’m not ignoring those of you on Facebook.  It’s just a pain to get in when you’re not connected to your current home zip code area.  (A friend of mine was locked out of her account when she tried it, and I don’t want to take the risk.)

Okay.  Now for the post…

Sometimes I get questions about the chronological order of my books or what books I plan to write in which series.  So I thought I’d take the time to map out both.  The books in black are already completed.  The books in red are works currently in progress.  Books in blue are those I haven’t started yet but want to write.

I wish I could say when I’ll finish and have each book done, but except for Runaway Bride and His Abducted Bride, I don’t know yet.  What I can say for sure is that I won’t be able to write all of the books I have planned in 2013.  I don’t have that much time in each given day.  :D  I average six to seven books each year.  Runaway Bride and His Abducted Bride are the priority books right now, and those should be out around late winter to early spring.

Historical Romances…..

Regency Collection

The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife

Her Counterfeit Husband

A Most Unsuitable Earl (due out January)

His Reluctant Lady (Mister Christopher Robinson’s romance; also Agatha-Lord Edon’s friend in A Most Unsuitable Earl-romance)

The Earl’s Hasty Marriage (this will be Perry’s, aka Lord Clement’s, book)

more to come…

Nebraska Romance Collection

Wagon Trail Bride (Richard Larson’s romance)

Her Heart’s Desire

A Bride for Tom

A Husband for Margaret

Eye of the Beholder

The Wrong Husband

Shotgun Groom

To Have and To Hold

His Redeeming Bride

Forever Yours (Dave and Mary Larson’s third romance)

Isaac’s Decision

Title to be Determined (this will be Boaz’s romance; Boaz is from the Montana Romance Collection; he will leave Montana to settle in Omaha and marry one of Dave and Mary’s daughters)

more to come…

South Dakota Romance Collection

Loving Eliza

Bid for a Bride

Bride of Second Chances

Montana Romance Collection

Mitch’s Win

Patty’s Gamble

more to come…

Virginia Romance Collection

An Unlikely Place for Love

The Cold Wife

An Inconvenient Marriage

Romancing Adrienne

Native American Romance Series

Restoring Hope

A Chance In Time

Brave Beginnings

Bound by Honor Bound by Love

Other Historical Romances

Meant To Be

Falling In Love With Her Husband

Now for the Contemporaries….

Omaha Romance Collection

With This Ring, I Thee Dread

What Nathan Wants

Just Good Friends (Tyler, Nathan’s friend in What Nathan Wants, will be featured in this book)

Florida Romance Collection

Substitute Bride

The Mismatched Couple (Tammy and Trent’s romance;  both are in Substitute Bride)

more to come….

Across the Stars Series

Suddenly a Bride

Runaway Bride

His Abducted Bride

Inspiration for the Book: Falling In Love With Her Husband

Falling In Love With Her Husband was the very first romance book I wrote, and it was my first book that was historical.  It was started back in 1998 but finished in 2007.  So yes, I was rough around the edges back then when it came to “authenticity”, and to be honest, I still haven’t reached the level of authenticity that some would like for me to be at.  I strive for a better authentic voice every time I write historical romances, but I’m aware that I still have further to go.  All I can say is that I’m a work in progress.  And as I keep telling my kids when they get bummed because they aren’t getting the best grades in class, “As long as you’re doing your best and making progress, that’s all that matters.” So I don’t stress out over the stuff when I write like I used to.

I figure people can read my books or not.  It’s up to them.  I’m just glad God has blessed me with the resources to be able to write and publish books I have in my heart to write.   This is why I still self-publish–to keep my work true to my vision.  After much prayer and soul searching over the past month (because as you know, I’ve been thinking of taking Mitch’s Win to a publisher), I’ve decided it’s best to keep self-publishing.  I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

But anyway, back to Falling In Love With Her Husband.  This was the one book that went through more changes, rewrites, and revisions more than any other book I wrote.  Romancing Adrienne is the second that went through the most work, and With This Ring, I Thee Dread is the third.

Originally, I published Falling In Love With Her Husband as Todd’s Bride.

I published it with iUniverse (a vanity press, which means I paid them to format it, get the cover, and upload it for me).  It’s still out there in its original form.  But I wasn’t satisfied with it.  A month after I paid the vanity press, I felt that the story needed Todd’s point of view to be complete.

So I wrote Ann’s Groom.

And after I paid to have that published with the same vanity press, I still wasn’t satisfied.  I spent the next six months agonizing over this book, and then I realized the book should be one book (instead of the same story divided into two books: Todd’s Bride and Ann’s Groom).  Then I wanted to change a few minor things and add more to flesh it out.

So in the end, I came up with Falling In Love With Her Husband, and by this time, I had learned about publishing books myself on Amazon and Smashwords, so I opted to go through these venues to get my new version out there.

This was the original cover (which came from a template off of CreateSpace’s easy cover creator because back then I didn’t know how to make a cover):

And this is the cover I ended up going with once I learned how to start making my own covers:

What I’ve Learned Since I Started Writing Romances back in 2007:

All I can say is that I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way.  (And not just with Falling In Love With Her Husband.)  I still make mistakes today.  You could call them failures.  But I like to think of them as learning opportunities.   Mrs. Harner, my eighth grade teacher, who was the first person who told me I had potential with my writing also told the entire class, “We learn more from giving the wrong answer than from giving the right one.” At the time, I thought she was nuts, but now I can see where she was coming from.  I learn a lot more from my mistakes than I do when I get things right the first time.

I know how hard it is to not get everything perfect the first time.  You want it to be right immediately because if you aren’t, there are people who will criticize you.  But you know what?  Those are the same kinds of people who will criticize anyone for anything that isn’t “perfect” (according to their standards).  Who needs them?  Why fret over the people who can’t be pleased?  Are they entitled to their opinion?  Sure.  Why not?

But you are also entitled to do things your way, and if you end up making a few mistakes (aka creating a learning opportunity for yourself), then so what?  The world will keep spinning.  The sun will keep shining.  And at the end of the day, if you can take that learning opportunity and do better next time, then that’s what matters.  We’re only human.  Grace and mercy are wonderful attributes to not only show others but also to show ourselves.  Next time when you do something, you will do it better because this time, you’ll know what you shouldn’t do.  It’s just like I tell my kids, “As long as you’re doing your best and improving, that’s all that matters.”  :D

 

 

Some Questions I’ve Been Getting

I’ve been getting a couple of questions that I will answer for anyone reading this post.  I thought if one person has a question they ask me in an email or on Facebook, then others probably have the same questions but aren’t asking them.  So I figured I’d answer them now.  :D

1.  When will Runaway Bride and His Abducted Bride be available?

I’m only on chapter 2 of both books.   I’m writing them at the same time since I want to have both out around late winter/early spring of next year.  At the moment I’m not working on anything else.

2.  Will there be a sequel to Substitute Bride?

I’m planning on writing one, but I don’t know when.  Believe it or not, I plan to pair Tammy and Trent up.  It’s why I spent so much time on Trent in the book.  I know, they’re a very unlikely couple, but that’s what makes the chemistry work.  ;)

3.  Will there be more Larson books, when and which ones?

There will definitely be more Larson books.  Would you believe there are now nine books in the Nebraska Romance Collection?  I have plans to do at least twenty more.  I’m not going to write them in chronological order, which is why I no longer call the Nebraska books a “series” since series implies they should be read in order.  Instead, I chose to reclassify it as the Nebraska Romance Collection.  A collection, to me, says you can pick any book and read it, regardless of the order.  I’m sure there are some people who will disagree with my definition of collection, but you can’t please everyone all the time.

At the moment, I am working on getting A Most Unsuitable Earl polished up and will then work on Runaway Bride and His Abducted Bride.  So I am not working on any Larson books at the moment.  I do plan to write at least one next year, but it’s too early to tell which one.

4.  Where you can find my books.

I have a link on this site that will lead you to a list of all of my books on Amazon, B&N, Sony, Kobo, Apple, Diesel, and Smashwords.  I can’t guarantee they are all up on all of those sites since some of them are slower to get my books up than others.  Worse comes to worse, I suggest going to Smashwords since that will have all the ebook formats available, and all of my books are there (usually before they’re up anywhere else).

4.  Will Dave Larson be featured in another book?

Yes.  It’ll be Forever Yours.  I’m not sure if there will be more than that.  There’s only so much I can do with the same characters playing the main role in a book.  :D

5.  Where can I find all of your books for free?

I hesitated to bring this one up in this post, but since I’ve gotten this question three times in the past month, I better answer it.  Writing books is my business.  I pay taxes on the income I receive.  By legal standards, I am a sole proprietorship.  I am also the sole provider for my family.   When my husband retired from the military, I asked him to be the stay-at-home dad.  Why?  There were a couple of reason. For one, I wanted to focus on writing more books.  I also wanted to be freed up to do something that I wasn’t able to do while he was working.  I wanted to start speaking at writing conferences to help other authors.  While I love writing my books, I also loved giving the speech with my friend Janet Syas Nitsick to help other authors with their marketing efforts.  Since my husband is now home all the time, I can sign up for writing conferences and offer to be a speaker.  Even if I’m not a speaker, I still want to attend conferences because I also learn a wealth of information on being a better writer, which I then use to make my books even better.  I also participate in writers groups.  All of this is because I am able to make an income off of my books.

I do have some free books.  I also have books at $0.99 and $2.99.  Part of making that living off my work enables me to keep the prices of my books low.  I understand that economically, we’re facing some hard times, and from what I see, these economic hardships aren’t going away.  I support authors who price their books at a higher price.  They have that right, but I decided I’d like to keep my new full-length novels at $2.99 for the upcoming year.  I’m trying to make it easy for everyone to afford my books.  At the same time, I also need to provide food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities for me, my husband, and our four children.  So it’s a balancing act.

Sometimes I run giveaways.  I don’t have the time to do one right now since I’m in the process of moving, but once things settle down early next year, I have plans to run a couple giveaways.  I run them on this blog so that those who have been with me through all these years have the chance to get the free books.  I would much rather give free paperbacks and ebooks to those of you who have always been there to offer a word of encouragement than a stranger on another site.  This is why I don’t participate in blog hops and such.  I see giveaways (free books) as a way to thank you for everything you’ve done for me.  And I really do appreciate everything you have done for me.  :D

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That’s all I can think of for now.  If anyone has any other questions, feel free to comment below, and I’ll address those in the next post.  :D

Deleted Scenes: Falling In Love With Her Husband

Falling In Love With Her Husband went through many revisions, and I deleted parts of scenes and revised others.

This is part of a scene I deleted.  It takes place shortly after Alex and Agnes got married and came to visit Todd and Ann.   They’re eating supper, and Ann learns that it was Todd (not Alex) who played all those pranks on her while they were growing up.  They are talking about the first chapter of the book where Ann ran after Alex for throwing bugs at Abigail and Lucy (Todd’s sisters).  (The revised version of this scene takes place in Chapter 27.)

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Original (Deleted) Version: The original version was in Ann’s point of view, and this is given in the first person point of view.

“And it’s also nice to find out you weren’t going to shoot me after all,” Alex said.

I blinked.  “Why would I shoot you?”

“You threw ants on me and hit me with a broom.  I didn’t know what to expect.”

I could tell he was joking, so I decided to play along.  “I only did that because you were pulling your silly stunts.”

“I always thought the broom incident was too much, Ann” Agnes replied with a grin.  “What lengths you wouldn’t go to so Alex would leave your friends alone.”

“I didn’t even throw those bugs on Abigail and Lucy.  Confess, Todd.  It was you.”

“Yes, it was.” Todd looked at me.  “It’s too late for you to get rid of me now.  We’re married and you’re carrying my child.  Since you’re stuck with me, I can admit the truth.”

I shook my head.  “I wondered about that when you told me about the squirrel.”

Alex wiggled his eyebrows.  “So if you want to grab a broom, I’ll hold him down.  We can make up for the grievous injustice.”

I grinned.  “Really?”

“Wait a minute.” Todd held his hands up.  “It’s all in the past.  There’s no use in worrying about it now.”

“I don’t think so, Todd,” Alex argued.  “Ann, did you know that Todd actually told me if I did another prank when you were around, he wouldn’t talk to me anymore?  He would have done it too.  But I didn’t instigate the pebble incident or that time with the bugs at his house.  I was unfairly accused.  And,” he turned to Todd, “you would have been to blame for my losing a friend.  Why would you keep doing that stuff when Ann was opposed to that kind of thing?”

“Because she fought back,” Todd replied.  “It was fun to watch her go after you.”

“That was mean, Todd,” Agnes spoke up.

He rolled his eyes.  “All you and my other sisters could do was scream and cry to Mother and Father.  What fun was that?  At least Ann had the courage to go after us.  Or rather, Alex.”

“So what you’re saying is that Alex wasn’t annoying after all.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Don’t you see, Ann?  That’s why I fell in love with you.  You stood your ground.”

Agnes stood up.  “You framed my husband and you have the audacity to act proud about it?”

Alex stood up.  “What kind of friend were you anyway?”

“Do I really know you?” I asked, joining them.

He glanced at us.  “You’re kidding right?  I mean, we’re talking about something that happened a long time ago.”

“I’ll hold him down,” Alex said and lunged for him.

Todd easily dodged him and ran out of the kitchen.  Alex quickly darted out of the room, and Agnes followed him.  I ran to the closet and grabbed the broom and ran after them.  I saw that Alex and Agnes had Todd pinned to the floor.

“Ann, don’t do anything rash,” Todd protested as he struggled to stand up.  “Remember that I was willing to give up Alex for you.”

“That makes it even worse, you traitor,” Alex protested, though he grinned.

I calmly walked over to Todd, holding the broom in my hands.

Todd stopped struggling.  “Do your worst.  Alex is right.  I brought this on myself.  You just looked so beautiful when you were upset.  I loved you so much.”

“Really?” I was pleased.

“Ann, don’t you know he’s manipulating you?” Alex asked.

“But he did do it out of love.” I set the broom down and kissed him.  “Isn’t he wonderful?”

Alex grunted.  “You never liked it when I did pranks but he does them and you think he’s wonderful?”

“Well, he always was better looking than you.”

“That’s your opinion,” Agnes said.

“I love my wife.  Isn’t she great?” Todd smiled at me.

“I can tell when I lost.” Alex reluctantly let Todd go.

“But I do owe you an apology,” I told Alex.  “I’m sorry for throwing ants on you and hitting you with a broom.”

“That helps,” he replied as Todd leapt off the floor.  “But this makes me feel better.” He picked up the broom and chased Todd out of the house.

Agnes giggled as they ran to the barn.  “Who do you think is going to win?”

“Todd, of course.  He’s always been one step ahead of Alex.”

Sick So Will Take a Week Off Posting

Well, I had the intention of making a blog post today on covers, but with the kids (and now me) getting sick, I figure I’ll just take the week off from posting.  I didn’t have anything so important to say that would change the world anyway.  :D  Hope everyone else is doing better than we are.

My Favorite Paperback Book Covers

I’ve been doing a sample from one of my books on Sundays, but since the kids have been sick, I’ve been editing A Most Unsuitable Earl (and handing it off to my excellent team to polish up), and have been getting ready to paint/carpet the house, I figure I’d take the easy way out and post up my favorite book covers.  I usually use GIMP for the ebook cover and BookCoverPro for the paperback.

Just to note: I have had some of my covers made by others.  But I’m featuring the ones I made that I like the most, especially since I finally learned how to use more than one picture to make a cover.  :D  In my opinion, that was my biggest accomplishment this year.

These are my favorite paperback covers because I was able to put something on the back cover that enhanced the book (at least it enhanced the book for me).  :D

I really like seeing Carrie (the heroine) on the back of this cover.  Sometimes I think of changing the front cover and putting her on it, now that I know how to put more than once picture onto a front cover.  This was made before I knew how to do that.

 

Again, I like this cover a lot because Ted and Megan are on the back.  I also like the front because it has the black and white bride and groom with the colored flowers.  And I also like the color scheme.  Peach and black worked well together.

 

Stephannie Beman designs covers for other authors in her spare time, and she gave me an idea of putting a full cover image on the back cover.  The method involves less text on the back to make room for the cover, and depending on the picture, there should be some transparency.  I thought it sounded neat and have been doing a couple of my latest paperbacks that way.  Substitute Bride is one of them.  I might end up making the back cover image more transparent if the text isn’t easy to read.  I will need to see the paperback proof from CreateSpace to see how it looks.

Okay.  I used more text on the back of this cover than I probably should have (will see how it looks when I get the paperback proof), but I figured it had enough white space to work with more text.  What I like most about it is that you get to see Catherine (and how she looks on the back is pretty much how she is in the book with red being another hint to her personality), but mostly, I love the color red.  I don’t know if anyone noticed how much red I tend to use, but it’s one of my favorite colors to put on a book cover.

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Tomorrow, I’ll post my favorite ebook covers.