Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 95

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

***

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.)

***

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.

***

Tomorrow, I’ll post my favorite ebook covers.

 

Updates: Some Personal, Some About Writing

1. Back from the Writer’s Conference

The workshop Janet Syas Nitsick and I gave at the writer’s conference went really well. I messed up a couple of times, but we all laughed it off and had a great time.  I wasn’t sure if I would want to do another public speaking event again or not, but after this weekend, I realized I enjoyed it so much I would.  So Janet and I are looking at future topics we can pitch to writer’s conferences in the future.

And in case anyone thinks this was easy for me to do, I was so nervous, I actually got sick to my stomach for two days and had trouble sleeping.  So it took a lot for me to get out of my comfort zone and try something new.  So yeah, I really loved it, but I was also very nervous.  :D

2.  Getting The House Ready to Sell

I started removing wallpaper today to get ready to paint the house next week.  It’s only bearable because a good friend is helping me out.  My idea of a good time is NOT removing wallpaper.  LOL  Who knows?  Maybe someday my characters will end up doing it since I now have the experience.  

My husband is up at the new place getting it ready so that the movers will have a place to put our things.  We haven’t moved our things out of our current place yet.  That will happen Monday.  Then he’ll take the kids to Minnesota while my friend, her adult son, and I will do the painting and carpeting.

3.  The first draft to A Most Unsuitable Earl should be done this week!

Before I  go heavily into the painting next week, I want to finish the first draft of A Most Unsuitable Earl.  I have one more chapter left, so this is very doable.  I’m going to have to make the publishing dates on Amazon and B&N in January.  Those of you on my email list for new release information will get the email when the book is up on Amazon and B&N.  I hope it might also be up on Apple, Kobo, Sony, and Diesel, but it all depends on how things are working with Smashwords.  Sometimes the upload time is faster than at other times, and I’m sure the number of books being published at the time has something to do with it.  And of course, I’ll post the links when A Most Unsuitable Earl is available on this blog, too.

4.  Changing the name of The Write Husband to His Reluctant Lady.

I know I keep changing my mind on titles.  Yesterday on my Newsletter blog, I put the name at His Reluctant Bride, but then I thought, “I already have His Abducted Bride coming out in late winter next year” *fingers crossed*.  Having two similar titles like can be confusing, but if I change Bride to Lady on His Reluctant Bride, then it’s easier to keep track of which book is which.  The reason why I decided to not do The Write Husband is because her writing isn’t turning out to be the focal point I thought it was.

When you read A Most Unsuitable Earl, you will come across Agatha (Lady Richfield) and  Mister Christopher Robinson (Perry’s ward in The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife).  I set up the beginning of Christopher’s pursuit of Agatha in A Most Unsuitable Earl because doing so plays a key point in the conflict between Ethan (hero in A Most Unsuitable Earl) and his father-in-law.  So it needs to be there, but the scope of the book doesn’t depend on resolving the conflict between Agatha and Christopher.  I am working on Agatha and Christopher’s story right now, and I hope that will be the next Regency I have out after I publish A Most Unsuitable Earl.

5.  However, before I publish His Reluctant Lady, I expect to have Runaway Bride and His Abducted Bride out.  

At the moment, I’m not working on them since all of my focus is on finishing up A Most Unsuitable Earl so I can have it ready next week for the people who will be helping me polish it up.

and

But I’m hoping once I finish painting and carpeting the house, I can get back to working on these two books.  I want to have both of these out in late winter/early spring.  *fingers crossed*  When I started these two books, I was surprised to find out I’m looking forward to taking a break from writing historicals.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love writing historicals.  But sometimes it’s nice to do something different.

Inspiration for the Book: Catherine As She Is Featured in The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife

Yesterday, I posted the scene where Lord Roderick (aka Nate) met Lady Catherine, the Duke of Rumsey’s daughter.  The impression I hoped you received of her was that she wasn’t overly attractive and she didn’t have much of a personality.  This is how Nate (and others) had a tendency to see her.  What I love doing is presenting a character in one book who seems to be one way but is truly another.

In real life, I think people have a tendency to see us a certain way.  Now, this is most likely that different people see us differently.  And that reason for that is because we wear different hats.  For example, I am a wife, a mother, a sister, a writer, a neighbor, a friend, etc.   We are not the same person to all people.

Catherine (heroine from A Most Unsuitable Earl)

In this way, Catherine is not the same person to all people either.   Even at the beginning of A Most Unsuitable Earl, Ethan sees Catherine as a wallflower who is boring and has no chance of finding a husband.  So Catherine (to me) was one of the most fascinating characters I’ve ever had to explore, and to be honest, I didn’t know who she truly was until I got into the second chapter of A Most Unsuitable Earl.  She developed on her own. It was a lot of fun to watch her bloom.  :D

But anyway, why did I set Catherine up to be uninteresting in The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife?  I wanted a character much like Mary Peters when she married Dave Larson in Eye of the Beholder.  I wanted a character similar but not the same.  When I say “similar”, I mean that I wanted a character who was much more than what she appeared to be on the surface.  I wanted someone who wasn’t beautiful but I wanted one who had adorable qualities (in a girlishly cute kind of way). Unlike Mary Larson, she’s not plain, but she’s easily overlooked because she’s incredibly shy.  And it’s up to the hero to take the time to see that cute and adorable qualities lying just beneath the surface.  While Mary was more serious in her personality, Catherine was more playful.  The picture of her in this post best reflects who she really is.  I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to ruin A Most Unsuitable Earl.  What I’ll close with is that Catherine has been a very fun character to write.  I love her passion and spark for life.  Ethan’s character would not have been as funny had it not been for her.  :D

Sunday Story Sample: The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife (Introducing Lady Catherine)

Today, I thought it’d be fun to step back to the first book in the Regency Collection when I decided to introduce Lady Catherine.  I knew right away that I’d be writing her book.  I also knew–right away–that I’d be marrying her to Lord Edon because the two were complete opposites of each other, at least from Claire and Nate’s points of view.  ;)

Tomorrow, I’ll explain the inspiration behind Catherine’s character.

Without further ado, here’s the scene in the book where Catherine is introduced….

***

When they reached her, Rumsey motioned to him.  “Catherine, this is Lord Roderick.”

Nate bowed and she curtsied, and though she wasn’t exactly the prettiest lady he’d ever seen, she greeted him in a manner that indicated she’d been brought up to be a proper lady of her future estate.  That meant she would ensure her duty in giving him an heir and run the home smoothly.  Given that her father was a duke spoke even more in her favor, so he dismissed her homely appearance.  Despite what Perry thought, this decision was too important for him to be concerned about a lady’s looks.

“I was wondering if I might have this dance?” Nate asked as the music began.

“It would be my pleasure, my lord,” she replied in a pleasant tone she most likely employed in all situations.

“I’ll leave you two to the waltz,” Rumsey said before he left them.

Nate offered his hand to her, and they began the dance.  She was light on her feet, proving she was familiar with the dance.  “Do you know all the dances?”

“Yes, my lord,” she replied.

He couldn’t be sure, but he thought she was looking at him the same way she’d been looking at Lord Edon.  Not sure how to take that, he cleared his throat and smiled.  “Your father tells me this is your first Season.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“I suppose this must be overwhelming then.”

“No, my lord.”

He waited for her to continue, but she kept looking at him with the same polite smile that she’d had when she danced with Lord Edon, and it was beginning to make him uneasy.  When she didn’t explain further, he ventured, “Have you seen the sights in London?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Again, he waited, but she didn’t volunteer any information nor did she ask him anything.  “So what is your favorite sight in London?”

She bit her lower lip as if she was thinking of an appropriate answer before she finally said, “I like them all, my lord.”

He sighed.  It was apparent Lady Catherine wasn’t one for words, but maybe that was a good thing.  He could marry her, enjoy a quiet life, and have an heir.  Most likely, he’d continue in his political circles while she… While she…  He turned his gaze back to her.  “What do you enjoy doing?”

She shrugged.  “I suppose I enjoy the same things all ladies do, my lord.”

“What kind of things would those be?”

“I’ve been taught to paint, play the piano, sing, dance, be a gracious hostess…”

As she rambled off the list of things she could do, he wondered if any of it truly appealed to her.  Her polite smile didn’t waver a bit, but he didn’t detect the slightest bit of enthusiasm in any of the things she mentioned.  He debated whether to ask her anything else, but he figured he already knew how life with her would be.  She’d do whatever things proper ladies did with their time.  Whether she truly enjoyed those things or not was up to her.  As long as she fulfilled her role in running the house, he figured that was all he could expect.

Moving, A Most Unsuitable Earl, and The Conference

Moving

Well, it turns out I’ll be painting the house and setting down new carpet to help sell it (which probably isn’t a huge surprise), though I hate to see some of the colors go to bland tan walls.  Not that I think dark green and maroon walls or bright red ones are totally awesome (they were like that when we moved here), but it’s sad to see all the personality totally depleted from the house.  And the color recommended?  Beige or tan.  All I can think of is, “Kids will have that looking awful in under two months.” But hey, it’s not my call at this point.  If I want to sell the place, I’ll have to jump through some hoops.

So for this Thanksgiving while my husband takes the kids up to Minnesota, I’ll be staying around here to paint and do the carpet with a friend and her son who knows how to do this stuff.  I know how to paint, but the carpet thing and removing wallpaper is something I’ll be learning.   And maybe some day I’ll write a character who is doing it.  :D

A Most Unsuitable Earl

This is not bumped back to January as an official release month.  I hate to do it, but some things have popped up (in addition to the craziness of moving) and it’s best to delay everything for a month.

This is the weekend for the conference!

On Thursday, I go to Kansas City for the HACWN conference (I think that stands for Heart of America Christian Writers Network, but I could be wrong).   Janet Syas Nitsick and I have rehearsed our presentation twice and probably will one more time before Friday.  Friday we’ll be giving it to a room full of authors (maybe 20 or so).  Yeah, I know that isn’t a huge number, but considering how much effort it takes for me to talk in front of a group of people, this is outside my comfort zone.  I just hope I manage to talk clearly and be able to effectively communicate what I know.  It’s easy to do that in writing.  I do that all the time.  But verbal communication is a whole different ballgame.  (And I even took speech in college, which I’m now grateful for since I would be a whole lot worse off without it.  LOL)

I’m looking forward to the conference.  It runs three days total, starting Thursday night and going on until Saturday.  I won’t be returning until Sunday, though.  I plan to attend a lot of workshops and even sell some autographed books.  I don’t make money off selling autographed books, but even as much as I love ebooks, I still like the personal touch of a paperback copy signed by an author.  I don’t know how much interest I’ll get, but I figured I can always offer giveaways on here with whatever I don’t sell.  :D  So either way, it was worth buying some copies.

(Quick side note: I’m hoping to do a giveaway for all four paperbacks in the Native American Romance Series in January.  I’m waiting for things to settle down before I do another giveaway.)