Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 97

Works in Progress: Part 1

I am working on and off with five (okay six) stories at the moment.  Now, it’s not as impressive as it sounds.  I hit some patches where I’m not sure where to go next in the story, so I’ll try to wade through with a hundred or two words to see if I can get “jump started” to keep going.  A hundred words only takes 5-10 minutes, so we’re not talking a huge amount of time.  Meanwhile, the stories that are easier to work through, I devote more time and attention to until I hit rough patches in one or two of those.  Then I do the same hundred word thing for those stories.  Sooner or later, the rough patch passes and I’m able to get more words in for the day.  Having more than two stories (I like 3-5) at a time to choose from helps me.  And you know, even a hundred or two words a day adds up nicely.  :D

However, when I’m editing, I might work on one other story (two tops) during that period.  At the moment, I’m free of editing and can devote all my time to creative endeavors.

I’m now over halfway through A Most Unsuitable Earl.  If all goes well, I’ll have this done before November 8 when I am due to head out to the conference in Kansas City.  So I think I can have this out around Christmas.  *fingers crossed*  If I do, this will be my 28 romance!  My current goal is to reach 30.  After that, 40.

Anyway, everything is going along great with this book.  I’m really enjoying this one.  The hero and heroine are so funny together.  :D  And it helps when the father-in-law keeps giving the hero grief…in a funny way, of course.

I hope to have a couple samples up pretty soon, an “inspiration for the book” post, and (if all goes well) a character interview or two.  But first, I’ll discuss Loving Eliza which is already scheduled for this Sunday and Monday.

I’m also halfway through Mitch’s Win, but I’ve hit a rough patch and have had to cut back to 100 words a day on it until I get the rough patch resolved.   I also need to write a book proposal for it that will be critiqued at the conference in November by someone in the publishing industry.  I haven’t done a book proposal since 2009, so I had to do some research and dust off the cobwebs in my brain that used to do the query and synopsis thing.  Two things I love about self-publishing (besides full control of the story) is making my own covers and crossing over characters from one series into another.  I’m not sure I can go through and put Mitch’s Win with a publisher because I’d lose that control I’ve enjoyed up to this point.  Something in the back of my mind tells me I need to pair Boaz (Mitch’s brother) with one of Dave and Mary’s children.  That’s what is making me think I need to self-publish it.

But I still feel compelled to get feedback from those in the industry to get a feel for how things have changed since 2009.  I do like to keep abreast on trends in publishing.   I didn’t go into self-publishing because I had no other option.  I went into it because it seemed to be the best way I could keep the story I wanted to tell the way it was meant to be told.

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Since this post got too long, I’ll have to add Part 2 tomorrow.  I have a lot of other things going on I’d like to share.  :D

Announcing the Soul of a Vampire Giveaway!

Lauralynn Elliott is having a giveaway to celebrate the release of her latest book, Soul of a Vampire.  I beta read this, and I really enjoyed it!  What I most enjoyed was the unique twist on the vampire angle.  In this book, the vampire is looking to get his soul back before his vampire side takes over completely.  I loved the struggle between good and evil.  There is a romance in the book as well, but it’s not the kind of romance where the woman wants to with a vampire (like in Twilight).  Anyway, I don’t want to give the whole thing away.  I thought the book was a fresh new take on the vampire scenario and wanted to pass it along to anyone interested.  :D

Below I have copy Lauralynn’s post.

Remember to go to her blog and enter your favorite gem in the comment section to enter her giveaway!  

Here’s what she posted:

Now that Soul of a Vampire is up on Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, it’s time to announce what I’m giving away to celebrate the release. At first, I was going to just give away swag, which is basically items with the book cover images or some other promo type items. I’m still going to send bookmarks to the winner, but I wanted to find something special. I searched and searched for the perfect thing I was looking for, and I finally found it. Everyone who comments on this post and tells me their favorite gem through October 23 will have their name entered into the drawing, which will be done by using random.org. The winner will receive a Smashwords coupon code for a free copy of Soul of a Vampire, some bookmarks with the cover picture, and……THIS:

Garnet Jewelry Mentioned in Book

This picture doesn’t do this necklace and earring set justice..it’s much prettier when you actually see it. There is a garnet jewelry set (sorry, there was no bracelet with the one I bought) in Soul of a Vampire. I know these aren’t real garnets, or I wouldn’t have been able to afford the necklace, but they LOOK like garnets. LOL. Anyway, good luck everyone. Please tell your friends how they can win this necklace and earring set. Remember, the only thing you have to do is comment and tell me your favorite gem. There is no obligation to review the book or Tweet or mention on Facebook or…. See, I’m easy to get along with.

Remember to go to her blog to comment and good luck!  :D

Inspiration for the Book: Return of the Aliens

Return of the Aliens is not a romance novel, though it has a romantic subplot between the two main characters, Autumn Daniels and Devon Patrick.  The story revolves around Autumn’s quest to find her sister who was one of millions of people who vanished in one moment.  This rabbit trail leads her into an awareness of the spiritual world where a war is going on around us–a world that’s invisible to us but coincides with our dimension.  It’s a theoretical look at Bible prophecy from the book of Revelation and how it might align with different conspiracy theories.  I label it a Christian Sci-Fi Thriller.

But what inspired the book?  How did the journey begin?

It all started back in October 2009 when I was browsing through You Tube videos and saw a conspiracy theory that claimed that US President Obama was going to announce the presence of aliens in November 2009.  I remember thinking, “Did I just step into the Twilight Zone?”  We all know this “official discloser” didn’t happen.  But from there, I looked up other You Tube videos and these branched out into other conspiracy theories.

At the same time, a friend was looking into the possibility of starting a publishing business specializing in science fiction and fantasy, and she was thinking of accepting submissions but wanted something short.  For fun, I decided to take the idea of the You Tube video about alien disclosure and make a 15,000 word story off of it to submit to her.  This was “The Vanishing” and in it, I gave the identity of the aliens, which was supposed to be the whole point.  The aliens were really demons, not beings from another planet.  That was all the story was supposed to be.  I finished it in a couple weeks.  It was just under 15,000 words, and 15,000 words is easy to do in two or three weeks.

Anyway, in that time, my friend decided not to pursue a publishing business, and I wondered if I should publish “The Vanishing” or let it sit in my hard drive.  I decided to publish it.  It was supposed to be it, but then I listened to podcasts (PID Radio and Coast to Coast, esp with shows featuring LA Marzulli, Tom Horn of Raiders News Network, Patrick Heron, Steve Quayle) and watched more You Tube videos (Chuck Missler, Russ Dizdar, Tom Horn and Steve Quayle, Prophecy in the News with Tom Horn and LA Marzulli).  Well, one thing led to another and I got more ideas which inspired the rest of the book.    The total time of research that went into the book was 15 months.

I never expected it to end up as long as it turned out to be, but I knew that if I didn’t see the whole story through, I wouldn’t feel complete.  What was supposed to be 15,000 words turned out to be a little over 100,000 words.  Even writing as much as I did, there was more stuff I could have included but didn’t because as a reader, I am reluctant to read even 100,000 words.  LOL  So I decided to keep it around the 100,000 word mark, and I feel it’s complete as is.

As for an epilogue, there really isn’t one.  Devon and Autumn have many children, and Autumn and her sister finally get to be reconnected.  :D

So that is an overview for the reason I wrote Return of the Aliens.

Sunday Story Sample: Return of the Aliens

Due to a request I had, I’m going to feature Return of the Aliens this week.

I’ll post a sample from the book that is my favorite scene.  As you probably guessed, it’s taken from the romantic subplot that involves the two main characters: Autumn and Devon.  This scene takes place right after a bomb went off in the mall where she works.  She recognized Devon (who is a bad guy at this point in the book) and followed him so she could confront him.

Tomorrow, I’ll give an overview of what inspired the book.  :D

Devon hung up on his current call and started to dial another number when he noticed Autumn.  He jerked and quickly shut the phone.  “What are you doing here?”

She couldn’t tell if he was alarmed or angry but finally decided he was probably both.  Crossing her arms to hide her slight trembling, she said, “You’re behind this explosion, aren’t you?  There is no terrorist attack.  You set this up.”

He stared at her for a moment, his face unreadable.

The only thing that held her in place was her anger over the needless destruction and suffering that he caused.  “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” Stupid.  What was she thinking by confronting him like this?  He obviously had important connections, and here she was invoking his wrath.  But something in her had snapped, making her unable to stop.  “Well?  What else have been false terror attacks?”

He calmly placed the phone into the breast pocket of his suit jacket.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb.” Her pulse raced with adrenaline.  Stupid.  She was stupid!  This man was dangerous.  She just knew it.  That was the only reason why a demon lurked around him.  And yet, losing her sister and having her entire world tossed upside down was taking its toll on her nerves.  She couldn’t stop.  Even if he pulled out a gun right now and threatened to kill her, she couldn’t stop.  “Do you know where those people disappeared to?  Was that another ploy to get the people to unite for this coming one world government?”

He took a step toward her and she instinctively backed up.  He grabbed her arm and shot her a warning look.  “I advise you to tread carefully.  You think you know what you’re dealing with but you don’t.  This goes much deeper than you can imagine.”

“You bastards took my sister from me.  I have nothing to lose.” And she didn’t.  She had nothing to live for.  Nothing to give up.  No reason to exist.

“No.  We didn’t.  We don’t know what caused that.”

She shook her head as her eyes filled with tears.  She’d wanted him to admit it.  But he didn’t.  “You’re lying,” she insisted, even though it was ridiculous.  She wanted him to be lying.  She wanted to be able to get to her sister and bring her home.

He shook his head.  “That wasn’t part of the plan, but it doesn’t matter because it’s done.  Look, do you want to live or not?”

She hesitated to answer.  After how close she came to dying just now…  If that bomb had been further down the mall…  Was she really prepared for death?

He sighed.  “This isn’t a game.  If you want to survive, you have to play by their rules.”

Shooting him a sharp look, she asked, “Whose rules?”

Before she knew what was happening, he pressed her up against the side of the mall and kissed her.  Stunned, she didn’t push him away.  How could she?  She didn’t have time to think.

He wasn’t demanding in the kiss, though he was insistent that the kiss happen.  His hands settled on her hips, and that was when she thought to push him away.  His mouth left hers and traveled the length of her jaw and to her neck.  Her heart raced, even as she figured that she would be able to push him away once she caught her breath.

He brought his lips to her ear.  “We’re being watched.  There are cameras everywhere.  Listening devices.  You’re being monitored.  You have to be careful.”

Her eyes flew open and a chill raced up her spine.  A warning.  She turned her head and saw that a security guard was watching.

Devon let go of her and stepped away and coughed.  Giving the older man a sheepish grin, he said, “Sorry.  Didn’t see you there.”

Stuff On My Mind

This is a post of random stuff on my mind.  I feel like posting, but I have no set theme in mind.  So I figure, why not just ramble and see what happens?  LOL

1.  National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

I’m NOT doing this this year.  In its place, I’m taking the 60 Days Writing Challenge created by Stephannie Beman.  My goal for that is 70,000 words.   So far I’m at 22,620 words.  :D  I’m happy with my progress.  Some of that is writing 100-200 words in stories like Runaway Bride, His Abducted Bride, and The Write Husband.  I focus most of my writing efforts on A Most Unsuitable Earl and Mitch’s Win.

2.  Taking a break on Wagon Trail Bride

I had started Wagon Trail Bride (only two chapters in), but I had to stop because I didn’t like the direction it was going in.  It was going way too dark.  I’ve done serious and all, but this is not what I want for Richard Larson and Amanda.  I don’t mind it being in similar to Eye of the Beholder or His Redeeming Bride (in terms of the tender overtone to the book and how serious those were), but there’s a fine line between serious and dark.  That book is on hold until I decide how to get Richard to marry Amanda when he’s in love with someone else.  There has to be a good reason.  I know something bad happened to her and that he took her out of New York to save her, but the key is the “what”.  In the meantime, I have five other books I’m working on, so don’t worry.  I won’t get bored while I wait for inspiration to strike on that story.  :D

3.  What would you like to see for the Sunday Sample this week?

My mind is somewhat blank on what to post for the Sunday Sample.  Anyone got any books I’ve published that you’ve always wondered where I got the inspiration of it from?  Any scenes that have stuck with you that made you wonder, “Where did she get that idea?” If not, then I’ll see what I can come up with on Sunday.

Runaway Bride (Sequel to Suddenly a Bride) and the Book I Had Planned After That

 

(I plan to update the cover to the one you see above when I publish Runaway Bride.)

After looking at the results of my poll, I’ve decided to write the sequel to Suddenly a Bride.  Now, there’s no promises on when it’ll be finished.  I can’t predict when inspiration will strike.  I can only write books as the urge to write them comes to me.

That being said, I will add it to my “To Write” list.

I’m calling this series “Across the Stars” because there’s either a sci-fi or fantasy type of theme to them, but in each case, the sci-fi and fantasy will be lightly placed in the books.  The focus on the books is the romance between the main characters, which is where I want the focus to be.

I have already made the cover.  I wanted something that compliments the cover to Suddenly a Bride so people know it’s in a series.

 

I do plan to do a third book, which is going to be Sandy’s romance (Sandy was Caitlyn’s best friend).  I was going to title it The Write Husband, but since I gave that title to a Regency I’m working on, I decided to make the title His Abducted Bride.

You see, the storyline isn’t about Sandy marrying a man who came from Pandoran where Chris and Mark came from.  Her hero comes from a book she’s writing.  She’s working on a fantasy and is nearing the end of the book where she (the queen of one kingdom) is at the final battle of the villain (the evil king who is trying to take over her kingdom).  Well, to make a long story short, before she can finish the book and kill him off, he pulls her into the book and sets out to rewrite her book his way.   So it’ll be a fun battle of wills as the author of the book gets to argue firsthand with her character.

Anyway, while I was sorting through pictures to make the cover, I decided the best background wasn’t the earth like with Suddenly a Bride or the moon and stars like Runaway Bride since the story takes place in the fantasy world in a castle.  So I decided to go with that background instead.  Then I found a picture of a man dressed up as a warrior holding a sword and thought he fit better than just using a picture of a man’s face like I did with the other two books.  So the format is a little different, but I think it still works as connecting the book to the trilogy.

 

Be Notified of New Releases

Thanks to Stephannie Beman, I got the code to put into my blog so you can sign up to be notified by email when I have a new release out.  I will not use your email for anything else, and I won’t give your email addresses to anyone else.  I don’t appreciate it when people share my email address without my permission, so I wouldn’t do that to someone else.  I also hate spam, so I won’t spam anyone either.

So go to the right side of this blog (toward the top) and you’ll find the “New Release Email Sign Up” where you can put in your name and email address.  That makes it easy for you and I get notified in my email when you sign up so I can add you to the list.

 

Inspiration for the Book: Behind Restoring Hope and Bound by Honor Bound by Love (Mandan Weddings)

Mandan Weddings

There was the informal way.  The man could bring the woman gifts, and if she accepted them, she could go with him to his lodge or he could go with her to hers.  There weren’t many gifts, and there wasn’t a ceremony involved.

In Restoring Hope, the reason why Woape thought Gary had proposed was because he bought her clothes, a brush, and other items.   He didn’t understand that by buying her things, he was proposing to her in her culture.  This was why she went to his bedroom and went in his bed.  He had proposed with gifts, and she accepted his proposal by going to his bed.  All they needed to do was have sex to make the marriage official.

The downside to this is that it was typically frowned upon by the Mandan culture because they liked it when there were many gifts given over a period of time with a fancy ceremony.   That’s why I decided to show the “proper” way a Mandan was supposed to get married in Bound by Honor Bound by Love.

Ideally, marriage would happen only after the man brought many gifts to the woman and her family, and the more gifts he brought, the better.  He didn’t just propose to her; he essentially proposed to her family.  To have an honorable wedding, the couple would get the permission from her family.  It wasn’t the norm, but some marriages were arranged (as was in the case of Bound by Honor Bound by Love) and it was understood that the man could marry the woman’s younger sisters once they came of marriageable age.  In fact, they had a saying that went something like, “One good son-in-law is worth more than many bad ones.” If the son-in-law was a good one (provided food for the lodge, didn’t bring them disgrace, etc), he was highly respected and given the best (and largest) room in the lodge.

A quick note about arranged marriages.  They were arranged if sacred bundles were involved.  It was a good way for a lodge to acquire a sacred bundle, which then typically ended up in the woman’s family since the man would move into her lodge.  If the man’s family didn’t have brothers or uncles to provide for his family, the woman could agree to move into his lodge.  In Bound by Honor Bound by Love, the marriage between Onawa and Citlali was arranged for the sacred bundle her family owned.  Though I didn’t really get into it in the book, Citlali’s brother was just learning to hunt so he couldn’t be the sole provider for the tribe yet.  So that is why Citlali’s family was glad Onawa agreed to move into their lodge.  Because the original agreement was for Woape to marry Citlali and she ran off (breaking the marriage contract), she lost her possession of the sacred bundle.  This sacred bundle passed down to Onawa, and her father agreed to let Citlali’s lodge own it.

Regarding the proposal, gifts could be anything of value, and the more gifts (and more valuable the gifts) the man brought to the woman and her family, the more impressive the proposal was to the tribe. He could bring horses, dogs, clothing, weapons, food, jewelry…  Anything the lodge could use, he could bring it.  He would give a formal proposal, and if she agreed, they would talk to her family.  When the family agreed, they would have the wedding ceremony.

The wedding ceremony would begin with a meal where the father of the woman would drape a buffalo robe over the groom and bride.  After the meal, they would go out of the woman’s lodge to a lodge dedicated to social functions.  Like the proposal, the more gifts the couple accumulated from guests, the more impressive the ceremony was.  And the couple did not keep these gifts.  They gave them away to the guests.  So in the book, people brought Citlali and Onawa gifts which were put on display for everyone to appreciate and pray over.  Then the couple would select a gift to give to each guest.    The white buffalo robe I used in the story was considered especially important, and if the couple dedicated that robe to the Lone Man, then it was even better.  After this was all done, the man would either go to her lodge or she would go to his and they’d consummate the marriage.

Divorce was very easy to attain except when sacred bundles were involved.  If the husband lived in the woman’s lodge, she would throw his clothes and hunting gear out the door of the lodge and that was it.  If she was in his lodge, she’d take her things and leave.  If she wanted to leave him and marry another man, he was supposed to bless their decision and move out of her lodge.  Under no circumstances was he to get angry or protest her decision for a divorce.  I’m not sure how many men divorced their wives.  From what I read, it seemed that the woman had most of the control in this area.  This was why Citlali felt as vulnerable as he did.  In divorce, the woman kept the children.  In Bound by Honor Bound by Love, Onawa left Citlali’s lodge but she didn’t divorce him.  She thought about it, though.

Sample Scene Sunday: Restoring Hope

This scene in Restoring Hope has to do with the Mandan culture and their views of getting married.  In Bound by Honor, Bound by Love, there was one way of getting married which I shared in this post.  However, there was another way, and this scene goes into it.  Tomorrow, I’ll share their views on getting married.

That night Gary went to sleep, not expecting anything unusual to happen.  For sure, he didn’t expect someone to slip into his bed.  When a warm naked body pressed against him, he initially assumed he was dreaming.  Unlike his other dreams though, this one seemed particularly vivid.  Part of him struggled to wake up, to find out if it was really happening.  The woman snuggled in his arms and began kissing his face.  She started at his cheeks and before he knew it, she was kissing him on the lips.  He finally stirred enough so he could kiss her back.  The problem was, unlike his other dreams, he could actually feel everything.  Her lips were soft, as was her flesh.  By the time he realized that he was not dreaming after all, he was caressing her breasts.

Startled, he bolted up in the bed and tried to get out of it.  Since he was tangled in the sheets, his attempt to distance himself from the situation resulted in him falling onto the hardwood floor with a loud thud.  He tried to stand up but tripped and fell again, this time landing on his stomach.

The door to his room flung open and his aunt and sister gasped.

“What is going on in my home?” Aunt Erin demanded, holding the kerosene lamp up.

Once he was able to successfully stand up, he saw Woape frantically wrapping the robe around herself.  Then it dawned on him that he’d been doing things with Woape that he’d never done with a woman before.  Well, of course it had to be her.  No one but her would even think to come to his bed.  But why?  He glanced at his sister who stared at him and Woape in shock, her hand over her mouth.

“Gary, what is the meaning of this?” his aunt asked, her eyes a steely gray.

“Wh-…I…” He shrugged.  “I don’t know what she’s doing here.”

His sister finally took her hand down and clucked her tongue.  “A likely story.”

“It’s true.  I was asleep and…” Oh, for goodness’ sakes!  The last thing he wanted to do was give them any details!  “I didn’t know she was in my bed.”

His aunt didn’t look convinced.  “You aren’t stupid.”

“I was sleeping!  When I woke up, she was next to me.” And no, he wasn’t about to say any more than that!

“Something was happening,” Julia insisted.  “A woman doesn’t get caught naked in a man’s bed unless she’s planning on something she ought not to do until she’s married to him.”

“Really, Gary.  I thought I raised you better than this,” Erin scolded.

“We didn’t do anything,” he said.

They rolled their eyes.

He looked at Woape who didn’t look as ashamed as he thought she should for pulling such a stunt.  Didn’t she realize how weak a man’s will was when confronted with a naked woman in his sleep?  She was lucky he had the sense to wake up and put a stop to this nonsense!  He waited until Woape looked at him before he asked, “What were you thinking?”

“Wife,” she replied.  She pointed to Julia who still stood there with her eyes wide in disbelief.  “Sister.”

It took him a good thirty seconds before he realized what she was saying.  “Wife?”

She nodded.  “Wife.  Gary ibero.”

“You think we’re married?”

A Poll Regarding a Sequel to Suddenly a Bride

I don’t currently have plans to write Runaway Bride (which would be the sequel to Suddenly a Bride).  While it’s taboo to discuss finances on a blog, a big part of my decision to write or not write a book has to do with whether or not people will buy it.  The reason this matters is because I am now the sole provider for my household.  I have a husband and four children to support.  I once had the luxury of writing without thought to making a profit, but I don’t have that choice anymore.  And if I couldn’t make a living, I’d have to work outside the home which means I wouldn’t be able to write like I do now.  So you see how I’m pretty much in a corner.

So here’s the thing.  If I wrote a sequel, I would ask $3.99 for it. (I would not offer it for free.)  I’m asking $3.99 for all books published from this point on.  I might run a giveaway for the paperback version, but I have no plans to run a giveaway for the ebook version of the sequel.

I will run this poll for a week.  Spread the word to anyone you know who has read Suddenly a Bride and ask them to vote on here.  I will not accept repeat voting (I had someone admit to doing that on another poll I did), and this skewed the results.  And please vote ONLY IF you would actually read it.

Take Our Poll