Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 99

I Was Featured on a Blog, Update on Bound by Honor Bound by Love, Update on Works in Progress, and 60 Days Writing Challenge

Bridgett’s Blog

I want to thank Bridgett for featuring me on her blog!  I discussed how I became a romance writer and why we don’t have to let our past define who we are today.  If you check out some of the other posts on her blog, I think you’ll find that the other people she’s featured are very creative.  I’m amazed by how much talent is out there!

If you’re on Facebook, you can also check out her page.

Bound by Honor, Bound by Love

We’re halfway through the final edits.  :D  I’m hoping to have it out in two weeks. *fingers crossed*  We’ll see how it goes.

Works in Progress

I’m working on three books, as most of you already know.

Clayton’s Win: The good news is that progress has finally picked up for Clayton’s Win.  That story stalled out a couple of times so far this year, so who knows if it will happen again or not.  I guess the lesson here is that some books are easier to write than others.  We’ll see how things go, but for now, it’s smooth sailing.  Currently, I’m at 32,000 words (which is about the halfway point).  Fortunately, I know where I want to go, but there are a couple of connecting scenes that I need to figure out first.

A Most Unsuitable Husband has started off without a glitch, and I’m already at 16,000 words.  The hero and heroine are engaged and the hero has received his “if you aren’t a perfect gentlemen, you’ll regret it” threat from the soon-to-be father-in-law.  The wedding will take place soon, and I already know the bride will be crying.  Don’t worry.  It’s a comedy, and the two will end up happy together.  :D

The Write Husband is starting to evolve.  I’m only 3300 words into it, so I have a long stretch ahead of me, but I love the fact that the heroine (Agatha) is good friends with Ethan (hero in A Most Unsuitable Husband) and that parts of this book will overlap with the later parts of A Most Unsuitable Husband.  I haven’t overlapped books before, so it’s an interesting experiment.  I have decided that A Most Unsuitable Husband starts in April 1815 and The Write Husband begins in June 1815.  So I need to watch how the two books line up when I get a month into Ethan’s marriage.  Currently, I’m near May in A Most Unsuitable Husband, and some of this is helping me to build up to The Write Husband, if that makes sense.  Anyway, this is fun stuff!

Oh, I did make a Regency Timeline if anyone wants to check it out.

The 60 Day Writing Challenge

My friend, Stephannie Beman, has created a 60 Day Writing Challenge.   I don’t know if any other writers reading this want to join, but it’s 60 days to write, edit, or do something else writing-related.  Here’s her post on it, so you can get a better idea of what it’s about.  It’s something new, and I thought it would be fun and doable.  The problem with National Novel Writing Month is that 30 days to write 50,000 words (with Thanksgiving holiday in the mix) is hard to do.  This way, I get to make my own goal and let it span for two months.  So my goal will be to write 70,000 words in any of my three works in progress.  That way I don’t box myself into one book (in case one story stalls out) and I won’t stress over not writing a certain number of words a day.

If anyone wants to check it out, here’s her post.

Her Counterfeit Husband is now up on Barnes and Noble!

I checked B&N this morning and found the book was up there.  :D

I had one more person to gift the book to from the giveaway, so I did that before coming here to make the post.  So I believe I got everyone.  If anyone who won the giveaway didn’t receive their gifted book, let me know and I’ll try gifting it again.

My next giveaway is going to be when Bound by Honor, Bound by Love is out.  More details will be coming on that soon.

In the meantime, here’s the link to Her Counterfeit Husband on B&N, or if you prefer the url, here it is: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-c...

Her Counterfeit Husband is now on Smashwords!

I just got Her Counterfeit Husband up on Smashwords, and I gifted it to those who won my last giveaway, so if you won the giveaway and requested a Smashwords copy, it should be arriving soon in your inbox.

Here’s the link on Smashwords for those who are interested.

Here’s the url if you want to copy and paste it into your browser: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

The B&N link will be coming soon.

I’ll answer comments later.  I got to head out for a walk with a friend.  :D

 

Her Counterfeit Husband is now up on Amazon!

I am waiting for it to go live on B&N and Smashwords.  I’ll let everyone know when it goes up on B&N and Smashwords.  From there, it’ll go through Smashwords distribution to get to Kobo, Sony, Diesel, iTunes, and a few libraries.

Check it out on Kindle

And here’s the direct link if you want to copy and paste it: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Counterfeit...

For those of you who won the giveaway and requested your free copy on your Kindle, I’ll be sending those out this morning.

How To Get Your Resistant Son to Marry: Excerpt from A Most Unsuitable Husband

This excerpt is a little longer than what I usually post, but I thought to get the full appreciation of the entire scenario, it was necessary.

Lady Catherine (our heroine) was waiting to be introduced to Lord Clement (Perry) from The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife.  So that is the gentlemen Catherine is referring to, and Ethan doesn’t believe her.  I knew I was going to pair Catherine and Ethan up when I wrote the scene where Nate (Lord Roderick) was waiting to dance with her.  ;)   So most of the time, people get paired up in my books without me planning on it.

Perry will be getting his own book, but he has to wait for Lord Hedwrett’s widow to be out of mourning before that can happen.  That puts us around 1816.  A Most Unsuitable Husband takes place in 1815.  So Perry will have to wait a while longer.

Okay.  Enough rambling.  Here’s how Ethan’s mother finally trapped her son into marriage…

***

Ethan glanced over his shoulder and cringed.  Good heavens but Mrs. Duffy and her daughter were a persistent pair!  Ever since he walked into the ballroom, the two had sought him out like two hounds hunting a fox.  It left him feeling horribly vulnerable.  He hurried around a group of gentlemen who were talking and almost ran into the Duke of Rumsey.

“Pardon me, Your Grace,” he quickly said.

The duke stiffened but offered him a polite smile.  “It’s fine, Lord Edon.”

“Oh, there you are, you sneaky devil you!” the ghastly mother called out from behind him.

Ethan’s grimace wasn’t lost on the duke whose lips twitched in amusement.  “Mrs. and Miss Duffy,” he began, peering around Ethan, “I see you are acquainted with Lord Edon?”

“Only an acquaintance at the moment,” Mrs. Duffy replied and gave Ethan a wink.  “Though we hope to change that soon.”

The duke chuckled.  “I’ll leave you three to talk then.”

Ethan scowled at the duke as he left him alone with the two hounds who circled about him.  During the two Seasons he’d been polite to Lady Catherine and never once made a lewd comment in her presence, he thought the duke might be more appreciative than to leave him when he needed intercession the most.  Well, that only went to prove how little he could count on someone when he needed help.

“Lord Edon, we happened to see you earlier today while we were shopping,” the mother said.

“Oh, did you?” Ethan stepped back, not paying attention to where he was going, but knowing he had to back up since the mother and daughter were making it a point to close in on him.

“Yes,” the daughter replied, fluffing her blonde curls and batting her eyelashes at him.  “You were riding your horse in Hyde Park.”

“I thought you said you were shopping,” he said.

The mother took another step toward him.  “We were, but we thought we’d go to the park to see if you were there.”

He stepped back again.  “You were looking for me?”

“Well, we were there to see which notable gentlemen were there, and we happened to see you among them.  As soon as we saw you here, I told my daughter that we must come over.  She’s been bred to be a lady for a gentleman such as yourself.”

He inwardly cringed as he continued to back up.  “There are many gentlemen here, and besides, I’ve been in the gossip papers.  I’m not exactly suitable for a lady with delicate sensibilities.”

“We know better than to believe everything in those papers.”

Her daughter let out a high-pitch laugh that caused him to inwardly shudder.  Goodness but there was no way he could bear to listen to that irritating sound for the rest of his life!

“Besides,” the mother continued, still creeping toward him, “you’re a titled gentleman.  You’re entitled to a few indiscretions.”

Oh great.  Just his luck.  His title was very much his undoing.  Without it, he could slip quietly away from the ambitious mothers who sought to marry their daughters off.  If only he could give the blasted thing to his cousin and be done with it!

“Perhaps you and my daughter might partake in a dance?” the mother suggested, still creeping ever closer like the Grim Reaper who was out to escort gentlemen to their eternal abodes before their time.

“Um…well…” He took another step back and bumped into someone.  Surprised, he turned around and saw Lady Catherine who was sitting in a chair.  Inspired, he helped her to her feet and pulled her toward him.  “Mrs. and Miss Duffy, I want you to meet Lady Catherine.” He lifted her hand and kissed it.  “Did you miss me, dearest?”

Lady Catherine stood as still as a statue for a moment before she tried pulling her hand out of his.

He chuckled and squeezed her hand so she couldn’t get away from him.  “I’m sorry I was gone for so long.  I had to discuss the latest happenings,” or whatever it was called, “with the Parliament.  But I’m back now and can dance with you.” Glancing at the mother and daughter, he added, “My intended gets lonely if I leave her for too long.  I trust you understand.”

“Intended?” The mother’s eyes widened as she glanced from Ethan to Lady Catherine.  “Forgive me, my lady.  If my daughter and I had known…”

“Think nothing of it.  We’ve been keeping it a secret until her father approves,” Ethan lied.

Before Catherine could protest and give his ploy away, he steered her away from the two ladies and ushered her to where couples were dancing.  Knowing her sense of duty would compel her to dance with him, he waited for the music to start and bowed.  She glanced around, let out a frustrated sigh, and curtsied.  Good.  As he expected, she accepted a dance with him.

“What are you doing?” she muttered under her breath as they began the dance.

“I had to escape from the meddlesome mother and daughter somehow, and you were the only lady I could find who wasn’t doing anything.” As soon as he said those words, he realized he could have worded it better.

“For your information, I was waiting for someone to return,” she replied, a bitter edge underlying her polite tone.

“I apologize, my lady.  I didn’t mean to imply you don’t have any friends.”

“Who said I was waiting for a friend?  I could’ve been waiting for a gentleman.”

He resisted the urge to laugh.  It wasn’t that he intended to even think something so rude about her, but it was no secret that Lady Catherine was destined to be a spinster.  Sure, she was nice, but no one really knew anything about her, and ladies like that tended to be uninteresting, though he realized it was better than being a lady who was known for questionable activities.

When he didn’t reply, she added, “I was waiting for a gentleman, in case you were wondering.”

“I’m sure your father will wait for you to return,” he replied, mindful to keep his movements in time with the music.

She gasped.  “It wasn’t my father.”

He glanced at her to see if she was joking, but her face remained as serious as could be.  “Really?”

“You needn’t act surprised,” she replied through gritted teeth.

He shrugged.  “Actually, I am surprised.  I mean, I know you’ve danced with gentlemen besides me, but even so—”

“One can hardly call you a gentleman,” she muttered.

Ignoring her, he continued in a pleasant tone, “I know you’ve danced with gentlemen.  Your father does a good job of scouting them out for you.”

“He didn’t scout you out.”

“Oh, he wouldn’t.  I’m not your type.  He has the sense to realize it.”

“Thanks…I think.”

“I assure you that it’s a compliment.  I am a rake.  Ladies with fine upbringing such as yourself know better than to marry me.”

She rolled her eyes.  “You sound proud of that.”

“I am.  Do you know how hard it is to cultivate the rumor?  It’s not as easy as it seems.”

“Somehow I doubt it.”

“Well, it’s true, and it makes you safe.  I know there’s no danger of your father trying to talk you into pursuing me.”

“Nor would I choose you, of all gentlemen, to pursue.”

“And that is also a relief.  Your being alone when I needed you most was wonderful timing.”

“I was waiting for a gentleman.”

He chuckled.

“I have a mind to go right over to that mother and daughter and tell them the truth.”

She started to leave, so he reached for her arm and stopped her.  “I apologize.  You were waiting for someone.” Maybe there was an uncle or cousin she meant to talk to.  That was probably the case.  “We should at least finish the dance before we avoid each other for the rest of the night.”

Her jaw clenched, she settled down and followed his lead as they turned.

“I must admit I’m shocked,” he continued.  “Usually, you’re so docile.  You smile, say yes or no, and listen to whatever I blab on about.”

“Perhaps if you said something of interest, I’d be more entertaining.”

His eyebrows rose in interest.  Who knew Lady Catherine could be so witty?  He glanced across the room and saw her father frown at him.  Simply for amusement, he grinned at him, knowing it would irk the gentleman to no end.  Her father would never come out and tell him to get away from his daughter while they were at a ball, but the older man’s glowering stares never went unnoticed.  And that made Lady Catherine the safest lady he could dance with.  Marriage was an impossibility with her.

The music ended, and both breathed a sigh of relief.  He bowed, she curtsied, and they bolted off in opposite directions, glad to have the horrible dance over with.

Ethan made it ten steps away from Lady Catherine when his mother ran up to him with a huge smile on her face.  “I just heard the good news!” She gave him a hug.

“Mother!” He pushed her away, wondering what she was doing.

“I’m sorry, Ethan, but I was so overcome with joy, I couldn’t help myself.” Then raising her voice so everyone in the immediate vicinity could hear, she continued, “I can’t believe you and Lady Catherine—the Duke of Rumsey’s daughter—have been secretly engaged this entire time!”

Her words stopped conversations all around them, and Ethan could swear he heard a pin drop somewhere in the room.  Refusing to look to the right or left, he focused on his mother and swallowed the lump in his throat.  “If you’ll join me outside, I’ll explain everything.”

“What’s there to explain?” she asked, again using a high pitch that would wake the dead.  “You just told Mrs. and Miss Duffy that Lady Catherine’s your intended.” She clasped her hands together and sighed.  “It’s so romantic.  Just like Romeo and Juliet, except your mother heartily approves of the match.  It’s time to tell her father, so you can Lady Catherine can finally be together.  Even he can’t deny true love.”

“I wouldn’t call it true love, Mother,” he protested, heat rising up in his face.  Everyone—and that meant every single person in that room— was watching them!  Didn’t they have anything better to do?

His mother giggled and slipped her arm around his.  “Let’s talk to her father.  Perhaps he and I can work something out.  After all, your little secret is out.  Everyone knows.” She motioned to the stunned expressions on the onlookers’ faces.

He felt sick to his stomach.  He prayed for the floor to open up and swallow him, but no such relief was going to come.  She led him forward, but halfway to the Duke of Rumsey, he dug his heels into the floor and shook his head.  “I’m sorry, Mother, but I can’t do it.  It would break her dear father’s heart.  The gentleman is insistent she find someone more deserving of her.”

“You will be deserving of her.  From this moment forward, you will stop doing the dastardly things mentioned in the Tittletattle.  You will be a respectable gentleman.”

She pushed him forward, so now they were within a few feet of the duke.  Panicked, he whispered, “I was lying to Mrs. and Miss Duffy to get away from them.  Lady Catherine and I hardly know each other.”

“Well, we’ll resolve that soon enough.”

She shoved him again, and he was so stunned that she was still insistent on talking to the duke that he lunged forward and ended up tripping.  The world went spinning around him as he toppled to the floor.  He was barely aware of the giggles and snickers around him as his mother hovered over him.

“Oh, my poor son,” she said in a loud voice, glancing at everyone who turned to look at them.  “I keep telling him the Duke of Rumsey is a reasonable gentleman.  He’ll understand that true love must flourish.  His daughter and my son are in love.  What could be nobler than that?”

To Ethan’s horror, the duke stopped talking to Lord Roderick and looked at Ethan’s mother.

“Mother, please,” Ethan hissed through his teeth.  “You’re embarrassing yourself.”

She raised an eyebrow in a silent challenge, and with a wide smile, she swirled around to face the duke and curtsied.  “Your grace, I hate to bother you in a middle of such an exquisite ball—one of your finest, might I add—but I just learned of a secret engagement between my son and your daughter.” Glancing at Ethan, she motioned for him to stand up.

Ethan shook his head.  No way was he going to face the wrath of the Duke of Rumsey!

With an exaggerated sigh, she returned her attention to the duke.  “It’s a simple thing, Your Grace.  Everyone knows about the engagement, so it seems proper to allow the two to finally marry.”

The duke’s face paled.  “Uh…” He scanned the large room where most of the people had stopped talking and dancing to watch them.  “Where’s my daughter?”

From among the crowd, someone pushed Lady Catherine toward Ethan.  She looked horrified.  Absolutely and completely horrified.  Ethan couldn’t blame her.  He felt the exact same way.  And worse, he was the reason this was happening right now.  Who was to know one simple lie could result in such a catastrophe?

“What’s going on here?” her father demanded, looking from Ethan to her.

Lady Catherine gulped.  “Nothing.”

“Now, now, my lady,” his mother began in a soothing voice, “there’s no need to worry.  My son is one of the wealthiest earls around.  He will provide very well for you.” Glancing at the Duke of Rumsey, she added, “He can even buy her a separate house if she desires.  But—” she wrapped her arm around Lady Catherine’s shoulders and urged her over to Ethan—“I don’t think it’ll come to that.  They are deeply in love.  Can’t you tell just by looking at them?”

The room was tilting around Ethan.  He was aware that a few people were chuckling, and he thought he heard Lady Catherine mumbling something about not knowing what any of this was about.  But everything was starting to grow dim around him, except for the grave disapproval on the duke’s face.  He knew the duke was trapped.  His mother was going on and on about the beauty of love, going so far as to quote William Shakespeare.  It was too much to take.  The room was whirling around him, and the next thing he knew, everything went black.

Figured Out What I’m Writing Next

It wasn’t an easy decision because I had to choose between six books (not including A Most Unsuitable Husband which was already on the list.  Finally, I sat down today to figure out what books were itching at me to write the most.

Before I get into them, I just want everyone to know that Her Counterfeit Husband and Bound by Honor, Bound by Love are being looked over by another editor.  She doesn’t work as fast as the other one I have, but that is due to the fact that she has a couple of grown autistic sons she has to tend to.  She used to be an English teacher, which is why I think it’s beneficial to wait for her.  I’ve been working with her on and off for over a year.  It depends on how much she has going on in her personal life.  (Or to put it another way, I  write books too fast for her.  :D)

Anyway, it looks like the soonest I might get Her Counterfeit Husband back is Monday.  At the very least, it’ll be halfway done.  Then she’ll look at Bound by Honor, Bound by Love.

So with that quick update aside, here’s what I’ve decided to work on next:

A Most Unsuitable Husband

Yep, we all knew about this one, so there’s no surprise.  :D  I managed to pick up where I left off in the story after scanning through it for a “refresher” and to my surprise, our hero (Lord Edon) fainted in front of everyone when he realized his mother managed to corner him into marrying Lady Catherine.  Lady Catherine held up better and didn’t faint, though she felt like slapping Lord Edon for coming up with the lie that got them into the pickle they’re now in.  Who knew Lady Catherine had such passion?  In The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife, she barely said anything.  It just goes to show that you can’t assume anything about a character until you’re in her story.  ;)

Clayton’s Win

This doesn’t come as a total surprise either, but this one is very iffy.  I’m not sure if I can pull it off.  The story stalled before, and I had to put it on hold since I didn’t know where to go with it once I reached a certain point.  I think I figured out the missing link to connect where I am with where I want to be because I know what Heather’s (the heroine’s) brother is going to do.  He plays an important part of the book.

In the meantime, I have given an update on Emily and Isaac, but the main focus has been on Lizzie (Emily’s younger sister) who will be the heroine in Lizzie’s Gamble.  In other words, I’m setting the stage for that book while also writing this one.  I love to connect characters between books, and Lizzie is turning out to be a lot of fun and a great friend of Heather’s.  I’m also setting the stage for Boaz’s book.  Boaz is Clayton’s brother who lost his wife in childbirth and hasn’t recovered from her death yet.  He’ll end up with one of Dave and Mary’s daughters (not sure which one yet).  Usually, I know which character will end up with someone else before I come up with a suitable plot.  I don’t know why it works that way; it just does.  :D

The Write Husband

This was the hardest one to decide on, and I admit part of me wanted to write it because I really like the cover.  The color red has always appealed to me at first glance.  That’s why Bid for a Bride is one of my favorite covers, even though it’s simple.

But the other reason I chose this one was because it happens the same time A Most Unsuitable Husband does, and there will be some overlapping between the two books.  It’s easier to do that overlapping if I can work on both at the same time.  While Lord Edon is trying to get his marriage figured out, Agatha (the woman who writes under a man’s name for the Tittletattle on Lord Edon’s behalf) will find herself in her own dilemma when her sister thinks she’s been secretly corresponding with a suitor.  I’ve decided Agatha will be a 21-year-old widow (her husband died the day after their wedding because-to put it bluntly-he was an idiot).

Now Agatha is enjoying her freedom of being on her own to write her books under a man’s name which Lord Edon (Ethan) takes to a publisher on her behalf.  She can’t do this if she’s married, or so she thinks.  So she doesn’t want to be married.  But she will be and who better than Mister Robinson (the mischievous ward who was 17 in The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife) who will be 19 in this book?  Lord Clement will be more than happy to let him marry Agatha even though he’s under 21.  I’m not sure of the details yet, but I expect a lot of humor will be involved.

So while Ethan is getting adjusted to being married to Catherine, Agatha will be finding herself married (despite her big plans not to) to Christopher Robinson.  Since Ethan and Agatha have been working back and forth with the Tittletattle and her books in secret, the two books work pretty much as a set, but both stories would be too long to put into one book and I don’t want to share the spotlight between the two couples.  So each one gets their own book.  :D

Scenes That Never Made It Into The Book: Citlali and Onawa’s Marriage is Arranged (in Restoring Hope)

Please note: I did not proofread this scene.

This is a scene that never made it into Restoring Hope.  It takes place right after Woape realized Gary was alive, so her engagement to Citlali was broken (for a second time).  At the time I wrote Restoring Hope, I didn’t want to give away what Citlali thought of the situation because I wanted him to remain a mystery.  Now that Bound by Honor, Bound by Love is done and will be published next month, I figure it’s safe to let everyone know what he was thinking.  :D

***

News that Gary was alive had spread through tribe, and with it came Citlali’s broken engagement.   Citlali wasn’t sure how he felt about the situation.  He understood Woape had no interest in him.  If she had, she wouldn’t have run away to avoid marrying him.  And to make matters worse, everyone in the tribe knew happened.  In fact, he had to admit that was the hardest part of the whole ordeal.  Wherever he went, he noticed the way people snickered or shot him pitying glances.  The only thing he could do was what he always did: pretend it didn’t bother him.

He was relieved when the chief let him go to his lodge so he could get away from everyone.  Ignoring the stares from his aunts and mother, he sat down in the spot reserved for men who didn’t want to be disturbed.  He already knew what they’d say.  They sympathized with him but thought he could have put forth some effort into talking to Woape.  But he did try talking to her in the past, and it seemed that she was either avoiding him so he had to chase her down.  And when he finally caught up to her, he got the impression she didn’t want him around.  How was he supposed to talk to someone like that?

Frustrated because no one appreciated the fact that he had tried to make things work with Woape, he picked up the knife and one of the tree branches his father made it a habit of leaving there.  His father said carving wood helped to clear his mind, but Citlali thought it would help him forget the past year.  It wasn’t that he loved Woape, but he thought she was pleasant enough and would be a good wife.  Her opinion of him, however, had been disappointing.  He cut into the wood, willing his emotions to slide off of him with the same ease he was able to remove the bark.  Despite what she thought, he could feel.  Despite what everyone thought, he could feel.  But as the chief said, it was better if they didn’t know their words or actions could affect him.  After a few minutes, he began to feel better.

To his surprise, his father and the chief walked into the lodge and asked the women to leave.  His father motioned for Citlali to join him and the chief.  Setting the knife and wood down, he nodded and joined them at the fire pit.

His father smiled at him.  ”We have talked to Woape’s father, and he said Woape is willing to let Onawa possess their lodge’s sacred bundle.”

Citlali glanced at the chief who said, “It is good that her father has two daughters.  We can still arrange for your clan to take possession of their lodge’s bundle if you marry Onawa.  You will be pleased to know her father has agreed to the arrangement.”

“Has she agreed as well?” Citlali asked.

“We did not ask her.  We asked her father,” his father replied.

Citlali hesitated to say anything in case he displeased his father or the chief, but after a moment, he decided to might as well say what was on his mind.  ”What if Onawa doesn’t want to marry me?”

“It doesn’t matter what she wants,” the chief replied.

“But Woape ran away from the tribe because she didn’t want to marry me.  We should at least see if Onawa’s willing to marry me.”

“Woape doesn’t appreciate our traditions,” the chief said.  ”She didn’t run away from you.  She ran away from her heritage.  She ran away from all of us.”

No, she didn’t.  She ran away from him.  Citlali could insist on it, but the chief wouldn’t agree.  Citlali took a deep breath and ventured,  ”Perhaps we should talk to Onawa.”

“The marriage is already arranged,” the chief argued.

“You have nothing to worry about,” his father assured him with a pat on his shoulder.  ”Her father assured us that Onawa isn’t like Woape.  Onawa values the way we live.  She understands how important it is to marry within our tribe.”

The two had made up their minds, and the marriage was arranged.  Time would tell if Onawa would find a way to avoid marrying him like Woape did.

3rd Generation Larsons (and their friends)

I’m getting the page started for the 3rd generation timeline for the Larsons and their friends.  I have included some notes for easy reference for when I check through Clayton’s Win.  It looks like I can make the transition from Mitch’s Win to Clayton’s Win.  This timeline page is incomplete.  I just needed to get it started in order to get my thoughts organized for when I look through Clayton’s Win this week and see what I can do with it.

Clayton is Isaac Larson’s good friend, so it also leads into Heather (Clayton’s wife) meeting and befriending Lizzie (aka Elizabeth) Craftsman (Emily’s younger sister).  Lizzie will be the heroine who likes Greg Wilson (for the rewrite of The Keeping of Greg Wilson which I renamed Lizzie’s Gamble).

Wiley is Isaac’s other friend who had a crush on Emily.  I made a brief mention of Mrs. Ritter whose husband fell off the roof and died, leaving her pregnant and working in a factory.  I plan to pair the two of them up for a marriage of convenience plot.

Isaac Larson – Emily (Craftsman) Larson

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Esther                                Lisa                          Jerry                                 Amos

(Nov. 5 1893)                        (1895)                       (1898)                               (1901)

Clayton Grady – Heather

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Leroy (1898)          Hannah (1899)

Notes: Clayton Grady was born in the fall of 1875, so he’s 25 at the beginning of Clayton’s Win; His younger brother Boaz had two children (Leroy and Hannah), and his wife died in childbirth with the second child.  Boaz drowned the loss of his wife with alcohol and became unable to take care of his kids.  At that time, Clayton took over the farm and quit working at the newspaper so he could take care of his ailing mother and take care of Boaz’s kids.

Wiley Greene – Lilly (Mrs. Ritter)

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       Philip (1893)                            Aaron (1899)

Updates

Her Counterfeit Husband and Bound by Honor, Bound by Love

These are still being edited.  This puts me behind where I wanted to be, but it’ll be better for it so I chose not to rush things.  I will have Her Counterfeit Husband out around September 15 for sure.  Bound by Honor, Bound by Love is probably doing to be late September.  So it’s not too much of a delay.

I did get a trailer up that works as a prelude to Her Counterfeit Husband.  I’ve never done a trailer like this.  It’s in Anna’s point of view, and she explains her past.  It serves as a lead-in to the book.  I didn’t want to get too dark, but parts of her past are very dark.  In the book, I didn’t go heavily into it because I didn’t want it to get too serious.  Plus, I wanted to focus on her romance with the guy she found in the forest, and he was the opposite of her–while she was serious, he was light-hearted.  So my aim was to reach a balance between the two personalities.  :)

Anyway, here’s what I came up with:

Still Deciding What to Write Next

Well, I already know A Most Unsuitable Husband is on the list, but there’s some debate on what the other two books will be.  I started looking at Mitch’s Win today, wondering if I could make Mitch “Clayton”.  In Isaac’s Decision, Clayton was working at the newspaper, but if I have his father die so he has to go back to the farm to take over and if I date it around the time when Elizabeth (Lizzie) Craftsman is 18 or so (because Lizzie ends up with Greg Wilson in another book), then it could be doable.  So I’m thinking of what I need to adjust to make it happen.  I’d like to get back to this book because I’m already almost halfway into it.  We’ll see how things progress as I keep looking it over.

I’m still undecided on what books I’ll work on in addition to A Most Unsuitable Husband.   I’ve spent most of my time editing, working on covers for my paperbacks (Her Heart’s Desire, Bound by Honor, Bound by Love, and Her Counterfeit Husband), and cleaning up my house now that the kids are back in school.  I haven’t written anything new in a month, and when it’s been that long, it’s hard to write anything.  I told myself if I grant myself a vacation from writing so I could read, watch TV, and do other things to relax, I’d be refreshed when it came time to write again.

But the sad reality is that I don’t feel relaxed.  I actually feel like a part of me is caged in and getting restless.  It’s the writer in me that wants to create, and since I haven’t allowed for anything creative in a month, it’s been draining.  I know.  Weird.  I thought I needed a break from writing, but I’m starting to suspect what I need is to get back to writing.  I’ll make that my mission this week.  I know it’s going to be slow going.  It always is when it’s been a long time since I last wrote anything.

 

Updates

Her Counterfeit Husband is coming along on schedule!

I’ll be going through it this weekend and sending it back to her for another look.  In the meantime, I also have a proofreader looking it over.  Then I’ll be correcting whatever they find before handing it off to another proofreader.   I expect the book to be published around the end of August to early September. 

Bound by Honor, Bound by Love is still in the second draft stage. 

I’m now at the end of chapter 11 (out of 17 chapters).   I expect to be done with the second draft some time next week, and then it’ll be going to the editor and proofreaders again.  I expect it to be published around the first or second week of September. 

Extra Scenes of Already Published Books

What I’d like to try out is a series of very short stories that are scenes that never made it into my books.  I was telling Mary in a comment that I came across an idea book of scenes that I’d like to write on my blog.  These would be 500 to 1000 word scenes like Tom telling Dave to get himself a wife (which would take place right before Eye of the Beholder) and a scene where Mary gives birth to Isaac.  I know I can come up with other scenes involving other characters from other books, but those were the two I had written down.  Oh, and I had an idea for the day Eliza and John found Brian (this would take place after Loving Eliza ended).  I think these could be a lot of fun scenes similar to deleted scenes you see on DVDs.    I plan to write the scenes from time to time, like I do with character interviews and posting excerpts from works in progress.  So this will be an ongoing thing.

New Idea and Cover Idea for Another Book

While I was reading Bound by Honor, Bound by Love, I got an idea for Mister Robinson who is Lord Clement (Perry)’s mischievous ward in The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife.  I started A Most Unsuitable Husband (am 7000 words in right now but not working on at the moment), and in this book, I introduce Lord Edon’s partner in crime (of sorts).  This partner in crime is not Lord Edon’s love interest.  She’s a writer, and she writes under a male pen name for the Tittletattle.  In exchange for reporting scandals on Lord Edon’s behalf, he takes her stories to a publisher.  So no one knows her secret, except for him.

Anyway, her sister happens to stumble upon a part of her book, and in fear of exposing her secret, she says a gentleman wrote it.  The sister, eager to see her married then spreads it around that she has a suitor.  So one lie tumbles into another (after all, she can’t risk her family knowing the truth), and before she knows it, everyone wants to meet this gentleman.  In comes Mister Robinson who (somehow) learns of the ordeal (probably from Lord Edon who is trying to help her out), and Mister Robinson (the happy mischievous sort he is) happily plays along as the doting suitor. 

I don’t have any more than that at the moment, and I can’t remember the heroine’s name (my husband has the computer with A Most Unsuitable Husband on it).  However, I do have a title, and I decided to morph the contemporary story I decided not to write and call the book The Write Husband because she pretty much writes him into existence with her lies.

I realized the Regencies I’ve been doing have either “husband” or “wife” in the title, so I decided to keep the trend going.  I’m also trying to keep the covers similar enough so that anyone browsing my books can tell right away it’s a Regency.  Without further ado, here’s what I came up with for the cover:

I decided to use the red background that I had thought about using for The Reluctant Wife.  I don’t have a plot for The Reluctant Wife yet, and I might change the title at a later date.  But I think the cover for The Write Husband works, so I expect it to stick around.  *fingers crossed*