Lily Graison's Blog, page 34
May 9, 2012
Writer Wednesday :: New Story, The Rancher
It's been a few weeks since I did a Writer Wednesday post. With the editing and pre-publication chaos that comes with every new book, it sort of fell into the abyss. For those following my blog and look forward to hearing about what I'm working on, I apologize!
The Gambler is now available, as most of you know, and for a story that gave me such a fit to write, the early reviews are great. Seems readers are in agreement with my test readers. Tristan was just as swoon worthy as everyone said he was. As a writer, I try to take a step back to see the whole picture so it's often hard to tell what readers will think. I know what I think about my characters but knowing how they come across on the page is never easy to guess and with this particular story, I spent many a day banging my head against the desk. No matter what I did, Tristan and Emmaline balked, dug in their heels, and refused to be led. They had their own story to tell and I was forced to tell it the way they wanted. Period. Apparently they were right. The readers have told me so and I guess I have no choice but to admit, maybe I was wrong.
Which is hard to do now that I've started writing The Rancher. Again, I have a set course these characters need to take and they're having none of it. They know their story and if I don't get it right, they're just going to stand there, looking at me funny, until I get with the program. I've already had to rewrite the beginning twice and after 15,000 words, I think the sequence is all wrong. I may have to pull the story apart, shift things around and play with my timeline a bit. I've done nothing for two days but stare at the word doc...watching the cursor blink. I can't move forward and from past experience, that means, something isn't right yet. It's not exactly writer's block. I know 'where' the story should go but I'm a linear writer, meaning everything has to be in perfect order, from scene one to the last and something, somewhere, isn't where it should be. I can tell by the way everyone in Willow Creek is just standing around, looking uncomfortably at each other and giving me sideways glances. I've done something wrong and I have to fix it. If only I knew what that was!
The story has been printed at this point and I'll be 'cutting' it apart so each scene is a separate part. I'll then play with the sequence, see what needs to go where and hopefully I'll be able to move on. I'm not worried about my deadline at this point as once I get going, I can be 'done' with the first draft in about 2 weeks time. I just have to get the pieces of my puzzle in order first and the rest will fall into place.
As far as a release date, I have this one penciled in for July 2nd...but as that's a Holiday week, I'll try for a week earlier...last week of June, to be precise. No guarantees but that's the plan. We'll see if it happens that way or not. With these stubborn characters, I never know what will happen.
Once The Rancher is completed, I'll jump on His Brother's Wife...a stand-alone novel that is also set in the town of Willow Creek that centers around Jesse Samuels (a young boy mentioned in The Gambler, also the son of Catherine Samuels, who died in The Lawman) and his brother Rafe. I'll leave you with the back-cover blurb for the story.
When Grace Kingston accepts a wedding proposal through a mail-order bride agency and travels across country to be married, she has no idea her bridegroom is a fourteen-year-old boy. There’s no way she can accept his offer but with depleted funds, and winter coming on, Grace has little choice but to stay. Things go from bad to worse when she meets Jesse’s older brother, Rafe. The attraction is immediate. He’s surly, rude and downright pig-headed but he makes her pulse race with a single glance.
Rafe Samuels thought to teach his brother a lesson by making him take responsibility for his rash behavior but one look at Grace and his plans go up in smoke. She isn’t the dowdy spinster he imagined and having her live in his house and not be able to have her is the worst kind of torment. But putting her out of his mind is impossible.
As winter drags on, Grace finds that living with the two brothers is more burden than pleasure. Jesse still thinks marriage is in the cards, and Rafe is a devilishly handsome distraction she doesn’t need. She can’t decide if he hates her or wants to kiss her. How can she avoid breaking Jess’s heart when it becomes clear that the attraction between her and Rafe is mutual?
Release Date: September 2012
All material ©2005-2012 to Lily Graison
May 7, 2012
New Release :: The Gambler, Western Historical Romance
Out Now! New historical western romance ebook by Lily Graison...
The Gambler
Willow Creek, Book 3
Emmaline Hunt only had one thing she could call her own. A piece of land that held a secret not even her drunken stepfather knew about. When he gambles it away in a high stakes poker game, Emmaline does the only thing she can. She tries to steal the land deed back.
Tristan Avery has seen his share of bloodshed while sitting at a gaming table and knows its time to lay low when he wins a wad of cash and a piece of land. Especially after his opponent ends up dead at his feet. High tailing it out of town is his only option but things take a drastic turn when he finds a woman in his hotel room trying to rob him blind.
The botched robbery attempt is only the start of his troubles when Tristan finds his new land occupied by the same girl who tried to rob him. When he realizes he’s left her homeless, and killed her stepfather, his conscience forces him to do the right thing. Taking her to his hometown and setting her up with a new life will make up for all he’s taken from her.
But Emmaline has other plans. She wants her land, and Tristan’s money, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get them. All she has to do is convince him she’s there to stay, outwit him, find a way back home and not let a single soul know she has a gold mine bursting at the seems with untapped wealth.
Price: $2.99
Buy Now or Read and Excerpt at LilyGraison.Com
Amazon.Com US | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES
Barnes and Noble.Com
Smashwords
All material ©2005-2012 to Lily Graison
The Gambler
Willow Creek, Book 3
Emmaline Hunt only had one thing she could call her own. A piece of land that held a secret not even her drunken stepfather knew about. When he gambles it away in a high stakes poker game, Emmaline does the only thing she can. She tries to steal the land deed back.
Tristan Avery has seen his share of bloodshed while sitting at a gaming table and knows its time to lay low when he wins a wad of cash and a piece of land. Especially after his opponent ends up dead at his feet. High tailing it out of town is his only option but things take a drastic turn when he finds a woman in his hotel room trying to rob him blind.
The botched robbery attempt is only the start of his troubles when Tristan finds his new land occupied by the same girl who tried to rob him. When he realizes he’s left her homeless, and killed her stepfather, his conscience forces him to do the right thing. Taking her to his hometown and setting her up with a new life will make up for all he’s taken from her.
But Emmaline has other plans. She wants her land, and Tristan’s money, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get them. All she has to do is convince him she’s there to stay, outwit him, find a way back home and not let a single soul know she has a gold mine bursting at the seems with untapped wealth.
Price: $2.99
Buy Now or Read and Excerpt at LilyGraison.Com
Amazon.Com US | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES
Barnes and Noble.Com
Smashwords
All material ©2005-2012 to Lily Graison
May 6, 2012
Six Sentence Sunday :: The Gambler - Historical Western Romance
This week's 6, again, comes from my upcoming Historical Western Romance, THE GAMBLER, book 3 in my
Willow Creek Series
, which is due for release in May!
The Gambler - Willow Creek, Book 3
Emmaline Hunt only had one thing she could call her own. A piece of land that held a secret not even her drunken stepfather knew about. When he gambles it away in a high stakes poker game, Emmaline does the only thing she can. She tries to steal the land deed back.
Tristan Avery has seen his share of bloodshed while sitting at a gaming table and knows its time to lay low when he wins a wad of cash and a piece of land. Especially after his opponent ends up dead at his feet. High tailing it out of town is his only option but things take a drastic turn when he finds a woman in his hotel room trying to rob him blind.
The botched robbery attempt is only the start of his troubles when Tristan finds his new land occupied by the same girl who tried to rob him. When he realizes he’s left her homeless, and killed her stepfather, his conscience forces him to do the right thing. Taking her to his hometown and setting her up with a new life will make up for all he’s taken from her.
But Emmaline has other plans. She wants her land, and Tristan’s money, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get them. All she has to do is convince him she’s there to stay, outwit him, find a way back home and not let a single soul know she has a gold mine bursting at the seems with untapped wealth.
Releasing May 7th 2012!
To be notified when this book is released, sign up for the Lily Graison Newsletter by filling in the form below!
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All material ©2005-2012 to Lily Graison
His gaze roamed her breasts before sliding to her waist and when she dropped the silk bloomers to the floor, he swallowed the sudden lump in his throat.
She glanced up at him and made a face. “Don’t look so scandalized. It isn’t as if you haven’t seen it all before.” She bent at the waist, untied the ribbon on her stockings and pulled them both off, crossing the room and grabbing his arm to steady herself before sinking into the tub with a sigh.
Tristan stared down at her, watched the water ripple over her breasts, and his entire body jolted.
The Gambler - Willow Creek, Book 3
Emmaline Hunt only had one thing she could call her own. A piece of land that held a secret not even her drunken stepfather knew about. When he gambles it away in a high stakes poker game, Emmaline does the only thing she can. She tries to steal the land deed back.
Tristan Avery has seen his share of bloodshed while sitting at a gaming table and knows its time to lay low when he wins a wad of cash and a piece of land. Especially after his opponent ends up dead at his feet. High tailing it out of town is his only option but things take a drastic turn when he finds a woman in his hotel room trying to rob him blind.
The botched robbery attempt is only the start of his troubles when Tristan finds his new land occupied by the same girl who tried to rob him. When he realizes he’s left her homeless, and killed her stepfather, his conscience forces him to do the right thing. Taking her to his hometown and setting her up with a new life will make up for all he’s taken from her.
But Emmaline has other plans. She wants her land, and Tristan’s money, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get them. All she has to do is convince him she’s there to stay, outwit him, find a way back home and not let a single soul know she has a gold mine bursting at the seems with untapped wealth.
Releasing May 7th 2012!
To be notified when this book is released, sign up for the Lily Graison Newsletter by filling in the form below!
#mc_embed_signup{background:#ffffff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
Subscribe to Lily's mailing list
Check out the other Six Sentence Sunday participants or follow the #sixsunday hashtag on Twitter.
All material ©2005-2012 to Lily Graison
