Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 99
September 19, 2012
Going to Start Looking Into Publishers (For Mitch’s Win)
I wanted to give everyone a heads up about Mitch’s Win (which I renamed again from Clayton’s Win). I’ll have to delete Clayton from the timeline on the Nebraska books to reflect this change.
There is a lot going on behind the scenes with the self-publishing situation (for all authors). I won’t go into it here because I try to keep the more business side of what I do for the Self-Published Author’s Lounge (SPAL). There’s so much new stuff cropping up that I haven’t been able to fully grasp it, which is why I haven’t made a post about it on SPAL yet. I know some of you read both this blog and SPAL, so you’re probably wondering what I’m talking about. I plan to write a post over there soon.
So anyway, for this blog post, this is what I finally decided to write…
It’s obvious that it will be to my advantage to find a publisher for some of my new books. Therefore, I plan to convert Clayton’s Win back to Mitch’s Win and make Mitch’s Win a Montana book. I have three more ideas that have stemmed from Mitch’s Win, so I can have a series to present to a publisher if they would like a series.
If it turns out I can’t find a publisher for Mitch’s Win, I don’t know what I’ll do with it. I can’t go with a publisher who won’t let me keep my vision for my book. Depending on the publisher, authors are asked to change quite a bit or can keep content as it is. Each publisher is different, but given the nature of my books, I seriously doubt I can find a big publisher. Big publishers (the ones who put books in bookstores and grocery stores, etc) can afford to do more than a small publisher with promotion. I occasionally get questions about paperbacks, but I don’t think a small publisher will make a paperback possible and I can’t make a paperback once I hand over my book to them. I also won’t control price. There are always pros and cons to every situation, but with things going as they are, I believe the smart move is to find a publisher for some of my future books.
After talking with authors who have gone with big publishers and small publishers, I think the best chance I have in keeping my books the way I want them to be will be the smaller ones. There are some things I just can’t compromise on. That is why I went into self-publishing to begin with. My aim is to go with a small publisher.
We’ll see how it all plays out. I won’t even have anything to submit until next year.
September 14, 2012
Bound by Honor Bound by Love Is Being Moved Back To October
I have two people currently looking at this book. One is proofing it, and the other is editing it. The one who is editing has a lot of obligations going on this week and will be on vacation next week, so for the next two weeks, she won’t be looking over the book at all. I don’t her to feel rushed when she’s going through my book because when people are rushed, they don’t do as well on a project.
So let’s aim for mid-October for publishing Bound by Honor, Bound by Love. If it gets pushed further back, I’ll let you know. :D
September 12, 2012
Books I Read and Why I Don’t Like To Review Books Anymore
Some of you will be surprised (and others not) about my reading preferences. Over the summer, I read a lot of Young Adult thrillers and a couple of marketing books by Seth Godin. I often mix some business with pleasure when I read, and most of the time, I read nonfiction. That’s why it’s hard to recommend romance books I haven’t already mentioned, and I do get some emails asking for recommendations.
Anyway, most of the time, I read nonfiction. I enjoy researching publishing and marketing trends to share on the Self-Published Author’s Lounge (which is where I make posts that I hope will help other authors). I also enjoy reading Christian nonfiction books, especially with topics involving aliens (which I believe are demons), the study of the end-times, and exploring the days of Noah (because I think there was more to the flood than the Sethite view I grew up being taught in private school). For those of you who read my book Return of the Aliens, then you understand what I mean.
I’ve been thinking of writing another sci-fi Christian thriller that leads up to the flood in Noah’s day, so you could call what I’m reading research. I don’t know if I’ll write it, but the story has already begun forming in my mind. (I have a lot of stories in my head, and only 25% of them get written.) I do read romances and other genres, but proportionally I’d say for every 5 nonfiction books I read, I read one fiction. Also, I’m a slow reader. I always have been. Like it takes me one week to finish a book while the majority of people I talk to finish a book in 1 or 2 days. So I’m not a super reader.
As for reviews, I don’t like writing them anymore. I did rate a book I enjoyed on Goodreads the other day, but I didn’t say why I liked the book. And I only did this with a nonfiction book. The reason I don’t like to write reviews is because the whole review process has become one of those no-win scenarios for authors. This means that as an author, it’s too “political” (don’t know a better word for it) for me to review books. I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have even rated the nonfiction book I read but just marked that I had read it on Goodreads.
So for those of you wondering why I’m at the point where I hate to review books anymore, I’ll explain. If authors only want to leave good reviews, then they’re told they are shilling. But some authors only want to leave good reviews so they only review books they enjoyed, which means they don’t review books they didn’t like. Some people say that authors who do that can’t be trusted since there’s no balance in their reviews. ”Oh, they will give a glowing review to anything,” they argue, which isn’t true. It’s just that they would rather support other authors (and if you can’t say anything nice, why say anything at all?). Plus, they realize there are vindictive authors out there who will create sock puppet accounts to attack someone who leaves a bad review on their book. If you’re not an author, you have a lot more freedom to state whether or not you like a book. If you’re an author, it’s too easy to be a target.
So instead of reviewing books, I’d rather pass along a book I’ve enjoyed in a giveaway. I figure that is probably better than putting up a review anyway because at least this way, the winners of the giveaway get a chance to check out a new books (if they wish).
So what about you guys? What kind of books do you like to read? Are there any that you think others you know wouldn’t expect?
September 10, 2012
Having To Rethink How I’m Doing Things On This Blog
I’m thinking I need to change the way I do things on this blog. I’ve been posting up works in progress and word counts, and for a while, that worked. But I’m starting to think it’s not working anymore.
For example, I’ve already posted up works in progress over the past year that I ended up ditching later on. I can think of a couple off the top of my head, and right now I’m wondering, “Why don’t I feel like writing Clayton’s Win when it was finally getting back on track?” I don’t know the answer to that.
I think it boils down to stress. I think by putting up these books and saying I’m going to work on them, it somehow creates pressure to get them done and published. It used to motivate me, but now it seems to have trapped me. Maybe that’s the thing that happens to everyone at some point. You start out doing something, and it works great for some time. Then along the way, you realize it’s not working so well, but you press through it anyway because it used to work and you wonder, “What’s wrong with me? I used to do this all the time.”
The longer you push through it, the harder it gets, and then you find you’ve stalled. You realize there’s no way you can keep doing it. The system did work great, and it’s worked great for about a year. I loved it, but it’s looking like it’s time to move onto something different. I’m not sure what different will look like. I still like character interviews and the scenes that never made it into the book. But I don’t think I should post up works in progress until after I finish the first draft.
So I’m going to remove the widgets on the side that list my works in progress. Works that are being edited or have just been released, I can see putting up there because once the first draft is done, I know I can say the book will be published.
I’m also going to stop talking about my works in progress. I know I’ve disappointed some people by mentioning books I’m going to do or have started and then I stop writing them because I stall out or realize the idea isn’t going to work like I thought it would. I’m tired of disappointing people. I’d rather post up a “I finished the first draft of this book…” announcement than say, “I don’t think this story is going to work after all.” I feel like a jerk when I say, “I won’t be doing this book like I thought I would.” 
I don’t know if this new system will work, and maybe it won’t. But I need to try something else. If it doesn’t work, I can always go back to the old way or try something different.
September 9, 2012
Interview With Three Irate Characters and One Who’s Happy (Based off A Most Unsuitable Earl)
I am at the part in my first draft where Ethan marries Catherine and–
Duke of Rumsey (aka His Grace): Now stop it right there.
Gentleman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
His Grace: Good news for whom?
Ruth: For the main characters, of course.
His Grace: That’s preposterous! This isn’t good news. My daughter is crying.
Ethan’s Mother (aka Matchmaking Mother or MM for short): Those are tears of joy.
His Grace: They aren’t tears of joy. And I blame this dastardly deed on you.
MM: On me?
His Grace: Yes. You’re a meddlesome creature. You made your grand display of “they’re in love” in front of everyone, knowing full well what the consequences would be.
MM: I had no idea. I had hopes, but I couldn’t tell for sure what would happen.
His Grace: You knew. You’re a wicked and deceitful lady.
Ethan: Might I remind you that you’re talking to my mother, the very lady who gave birth to me?
His Grace: I admit that error wasn’t her fault, but she should know better than behave so ruthlessly.
Queen of Butting In Where She’s Not Wanted
MM: Ethan wasn’t an error. He just needs to be steered down the right path.
His Grace: At the expense of my daughter?
MM: Your daughter will be fine. It’s you I’m worried about. You like to control everything. In modern times, the term would be “control freak.”
His Grace: I’m not the control freak. You’re the one who manipulated your son’s marriage.
MM: You’re only upset because I was smart enough to make it happen. Besides, if you’d done an adequate job, your daughter wouldn’t have had to go in for a third Season. She would have been married sooner. You should be thanking me. Now she won’t live out a lonely life as a spinster.
Catherine: Thank you so much! As if being a spinster is the worst thing that can happen to a lady.
MM: He won’t be allowed to live his debased life anymore, Your Grace. At least not to the extent we find out about it. From now on, he will be discrete.
His Grace: You plan to follow him around to make sure this happens?
What he wouldn’t give to escape off into the country and leave this mess behind!
Ethan: This is absurd. I’m a grown man, not a child.
His Grace: Then when will you act like it?
Ethan: I have been. Grown men go to gentleman’s clubs to gamble. They tell and listen to raunchy jokes as long as no ladies are present. They find ways to satisfy their needs, whether it be with a mistress or prostitute–
Catherine: Ewe. Stop it!
His Grace: You are harming delicate ears. Do so again, and I’ll challenge you to fencing.
MM: Ethan, that kind of talk will not be tolerated here.
Ethan: That kind of talk is why I should never have been allowed to get married.
His Grace: Finally, you said something I heartily agree with.
MM: That’s silly. There are plenty of rakes, and yet there are tons of romance novels where they find that one special lady who turns them around for the better.
His Grace: But those rakes aren’t with my daughter.
MM: If your daughter had been with one of those rakes, she wouldn’t be in this book.
Catherine: Mind if I say something?
Ethan: I don’t even want to get married. This arrangement isn’t of my own doing.
MM: Stop complaining. Marriage is good for a gentleman. It’s Biblical. God said it’s not good for man to be alone.
Frustrated lady who goes mostly ignored…for now
Ethan: I wasn’t alone. I had you bothering me all those years, Mother.
Catherine: Isn’t anyone interested in what I have to say?
MM: How have I been bothering you, Ethan?
Ethan: You’re constantly hounding me about getting married.
MM: And now I won’t have to. See? There’s the happy ending to this book, and we’re only six chapters in.
Ethan: No, it’s not a happy ending. This whole catastrophe is your doing.
Catherine: I have some opinions I’d like to share.
MM: It’s not a catastrophe. If this was a horror novel, then yes. But it’s a romance. Romances are full of fun and love and sex–
His Grace: My pure daughter in bed with… with… I can’t even say it.
MM: She has to give my son an heir. What will happen in their bed is strictly for duty to the crown.
Ethan: *rolls eyes* Can my life get any more embarrassing?
Ruth: I guess we’ll just have to find out the answer to that one. :D
Ethan: You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?
Ruth: Maybe a little too much.
Ethan: I’ve had enough. I’m out of here. *leaves*
MM: To do what? Ethan, what are you going to do? *follows him*
His Grace: Whatever it is he plans to do, I hope I don’t find out about it from the Tittletattle. *also leaves*
Catherine: Doesn’t anyone care about what I think? *crosses her arms, huffs, and leaves*
Interview With Three Irate Characters and One Who’s Happy (Based off A Most Unsuitable Husband)
I am at the part in my first draft where Ethan marries Catherine and–
Duke of Rumsey (aka His Grace): Now stop it right there.
Gentleman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
His Grace: Good news for whom?
Ruth: For the main characters, of course.
His Grace: That’s preposterous! This isn’t good news. My daughter is crying.
Ethan’s Mother (aka Matchmaking Mother or MM for short): Those are tears of joy.
His Grace: They aren’t tears of joy. And I blame this dastardly deed on you.
MM: On me?
His Grace: Yes. You’re a meddlesome creature. You made your grand display of “they’re in love” in front of everyone, knowing full well what the consequences would be.
MM: I had no idea. I had hopes, but I couldn’t tell for sure what would happen.
His Grace: You knew. You’re a wicked and deceitful lady.
Ethan: Might I remind you that you’re talking to my mother, the very lady who gave birth to me?
His Grace: I admit that error wasn’t her fault, but she should know better than behave so ruthlessly.
Queen of Butting In Where She’s Not Wanted
MM: Ethan wasn’t an error. He just needs to be steered down the right path.
His Grace: At the expense of my daughter?
MM: Your daughter will be fine. It’s you I’m worried about. You like to control everything. In modern times, the term would be “control freak.”
His Grace: I’m not the control freak. You’re the one who manipulated your son’s marriage.
MM: You’re only upset because I was smart enough to make it happen. Besides, if you’d done an adequate job, your daughter wouldn’t have had to go in for a third Season. She would have been married sooner. You should be thanking me. Now she won’t live out a lonely life as a spinster.
Catherine: Thank you so much! As if being a spinster is the worst thing that can happen to a lady.
MM: He won’t be allowed to live his debased life anymore, Your Grace. At least not to the extent we find out about it. From now on, he will be discrete.
His Grace: You plan to follow him around to make sure this happens?
What he wouldn’t give to escape off into the country and leave this mess behind!
Ethan: This is absurd. I’m a grown man, not a child.
His Grace: Then when will you act like it?
Ethan: I have been. Grown men go to gentleman’s clubs to gamble. They tell and listen to raunchy jokes as long as no ladies are present. They find ways to satisfy their needs, whether it be with a mistress or prostitute–
Catherine: Ewe. Stop it!
His Grace: You are harming delicate ears. Do so again, and I’ll challenge you to fencing.
MM: Ethan, that kind of talk will not be tolerated here.
Ethan: That kind of talk is why I should never have been allowed to get married.
His Grace: Finally, you said something I heartily agree with.
MM: That’s silly. There are plenty of rakes, and yet there are tons of romance novels where they find that one special lady who turns them around for the better.
His Grace: But those rakes aren’t with my daughter.
MM: If your daughter had been with one of those rakes, she wouldn’t be in this book.
Catherine: Mind if I say something?
Ethan: I don’t even want to get married. This arrangement isn’t of my own doing.
MM: Stop complaining. Marriage is good for a gentleman. It’s Biblical. God said it’s not good for man to be alone.
Frustrated lady who goes mostly ignored…for now
Ethan: I wasn’t alone. I had you bothering me all those years, Mother.
Catherine: Isn’t anyone interested in what I have to say?
MM: How have I been bothering you, Ethan?
Ethan: You’re constantly hounding me about getting married.
MM: And now I won’t have to. See? There’s the happy ending to this book, and we’re only six chapters in.
Ethan: No, it’s not a happy ending. This whole catastrophe is your doing.
Catherine: I have some opinions I’d like to share.
MM: It’s not a catastrophe. If this was a horror novel, then yes. But it’s a romance. Romances are full of fun and love and sex–
His Grace: My pure daughter in bed with… with… I can’t even say it.
MM: She has to give my son an heir. What will happen in their bed is strictly for duty to the crown.
Ethan: *rolls eyes* Can my life get any more embarrassing?
Ruth: I guess we’ll just have to find out the answer to that one. :D
Ethan: You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?
Ruth: Maybe a little too much.
Ethan: I’ve had enough. I’m out of here. *leaves*
MM: To do what? Ethan, what are you going to do? *follows him*
His Grace: Whatever it is he plans to do, I hope I don’t find out about it from the Tittletattle. *also leaves*
Catherine: Doesn’t anyone care about what I think? *crosses her arms, huffs, and leaves*
September 8, 2012
I Was Featured on a Blog, Update on Bound by Honor Bound by Love, Update on Works in Progress, and 60 Days Writing Challenge
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.
September 6, 2012
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...
September 5, 2012
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.
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.
