G.C. Riley's Blog, page 2

Update for 11-29-2023

Hello friends. Just letting you know what I’ve been up to the last week or so. I mentioned in a previous post that I was planning on working on a new series, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Have no fear, Bullets & Doves is not finished yet. As a matter of fact, it’s far from finished, but before I write another book in that one, I’d like to get this new series going.

This last week, I’ve sort of been fleshing out the next few books I want to write. I want to model the new series after Bullets & Doves, but to get it off the ground, I need to put a bit more planning into it. Each book will be a standalone, like B&D, but it will all take place in the same town with recurring characters.

For that reason, I’ve been putting some work into developing the characters and town itself. The more details I take care of now, the faster I can get you these books when I actually start writing. So when will that be, I’m sure you’re asking just about now. Well, I have most of it planned out already, and I figure I’ll get down to writing the first draft by this coming Monday.

Today is Wednesday. Tomorrow, I’ll write a detailed plot. I already know what most of the first story is going to be about, and I have a couple of pages of notes I need to put together into a formal plot, so I’ll take most of the day to get it all in order.

On Friday, I will go and shop for groceries and fill the fridge and pantry with most of the things I need so I won’t have to do major grocery shopping for a couple of weeks. It helps when you don’t have to worry about an empty refrigerator. This has become a kind of tradition with me before I start a new book. I really don’t like to waste time going to the grocery store when I’m writing a book. Honestly, shopping for food is one of my least favorite chores. Don’t laugh. We all have our quirks.

Laundry, computer backups, other household chores, and football take up most of the weekend. And then, like I said, I’ll start the first draft Monday. With marketing responsibilities on autopilot for now, I think I can get this first book ready and out for sale in four to six weeks. (I’ll probably do a bit of writing on the weekend just to get a jump on the deadline I set, but officially, I’m starting Monday)

There you have it, folks. That’s where I’m at right now. I’ll let you know how it’s progressing in a week or so. I’ll also have a tentative date for the release. Until next time.

G.C. Riley

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers, friends, and family. Health and happiness to you all. Eat lots of turkey, watch lots of football, and enjoy your holiday weekend.

G.C. Riley

Eagle Rock Canyon Now on Sale

Hello friends. I’m glad to announce my latest book in the Bullets & Doves series titled Eagle Rock Canyon is now on sale. I know I’m way behind schedule with this one, but I’ve been busy with marketing responsibilities which has been taking up a good amount of my time in the last month or two.

Anyhow, I’m glad I finished this book and it’s now out there for you to enjoy. Eagle Rock Canyon is the fifth book in the Bullets & Doves series, and like I said in a post earlier on in the year, I still have many, many more ideas for westerns I’d like to bring to you. I know that might not be what my romance readers want to hear, but fear not. I’m working on a new romance series that should be out by Christmas time. (…and another western soon after that.)

As for this latest release, if you loved Hellfire Trail, you’re sure to love Eagle Rock Canyon. You can buy it here on Amazon, or read it for free if you have KindleUnlimited. Have a wonderful day, my friends. Until next time…

G.C. Riley

Did You Know… (Legend of El Dorado)

Did you know: The Legend of El Dorado is a real legend. One of my books in the Bullets & Doves series titled Ryder’s Gold is loosely based on this legend.

El Dorado, also know as The Lost City of Gold, was a myth perpetuated by European explorers during the 1600s. It was based on an ancient tribe in the Andes mountains, known as the Muisca tribe. The area in South America where the Muisca lived is known today as Colombia.

As far as anyone knows, El Dorado has never been found. Explorers and treasure hunters in the past have attempted to locate it unsuccessfully. As a matter of fact, over the hundreds of years since this legend surfaced, there have been many expeditions that have searched for El Dorado, including some mounted by well-known Spanish conquistadors. Unfortunately, many also perished in search of this legend, never to be heard from again.

Update for 09-28-2023

Hello friends. I just wanted to let you know that everything is proceeding on schedule for the fifth book in Bullets & Doves. I originally said the book would be ready to go on sale by late September or early October.

The last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on marketing quite a bit like many other independent authors this time of year. The summer is over and it’s time to ramp up advertising campaigns for the fall season.

Unfortunately because of this, I haven’t been able to put in the writing time I would have liked. Fear not. I was ahead of schedule anyway, and my next book will be coming out on time. Early October is still very doable. Thanks, and until next time.

G.C. Riley

Did You Know… (Mayday Distress Call)

Did you know: the mayday distress call, used by aircraft and ships in trouble, is usually said three times in quick succession. (mayday…mayday…mayday) This is so that it is not confused with some other similar sounding phrase.

The person who came up with the idea to use mayday was a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. His name was Frederick Mockford. He thought the word was especially fitting because it sounded like the French word m’aidez, which means help me. The mayday distress call has been in use since the early 1920s.

In my romantic suspense, The Flygirl’s Cowboy, Vanessa sends out a mayday distress call when her aircraft is going down in a snowstorm over the mountains of Colorado. Being the calm, cool, professional pilot she is, she follows procedure and says it three times. Read it for yourself. Flygirl is the first book in the Pinewood Valley series.

The Rise of gcriley.net

Yes friends, I finally did it. I registered the domain name gcriley.net so from now on that’s what you’ll type into your URL bar at the top of your browsers when you want to visit this site. If you have this sight bookmarked, either edit the bookmark to the new domain name or delete the old bookmark completely and create a new one that contains the new domain name.

It was about time I did this, and honestly, I’m not sure why I was putting it off. I have to admit, gcriley.net is much easier to remember than what it was before. I also finally paid for the site too. I had a free account with WordPress, my website hosting company, but now I paid for a premium account with them. If you’ll notice, the distracting ads that were previously stuck between my posts are gone, and I’m happy to say, will stay gone.

I plan on revamping this site in the coming weeks. Nothing too drastic. Maybe just move a few things around and reorganize certain pages. The books page is in dire need of a good reorganization. Since I am a multi-genre writer, I plan on separating the books in order of series, and perhaps writing a small intro for each series and what it’s about.

I hope you’re all enjoying your weekends. I’m just catching up on some odds and ends right now, but I plan on calling it quits soon. There are a few good college football games on this afternoon and evening, and I’ll be watching. Have a good weekend, my friends, and I’ll catch you all next time.

G.C. Riley

Flygirl’s Cowboy on Sale for This Weekend Only

Hello friends. Just a quick note to let you know I’m running a Countdown Deal on Amazon this weekend only. (Sept.16-17) The Flygirl’s Cowboy is book 1 in one of my first series called Pinewood Valley Series. It’s normally on sale for $2.99 but for this weekend only, the price has been reduced to $0.99.

A word of warning for my western fans who are reading the Bullets & Doves series. Although there is a certain amount of romance in my western books as well, the Pinewood Valley Series leans more towards romance, but there is a healthy dose of Action/Adventure too. Read the Description here.

If you’d like to give it a try, what better time than this weekend when it’ll cost you less than the price of a cup of coffee. Have a great weekend, people. Catch you soon. Ciao.

G.C. Riley

Update for 09-15-2023

Hello friends. Sorry for the long silence, but you know how things are during the summer. Nevertheless, just because I haven’t been posting too often does not mean I haven’t been hard at work.

I hope you’re all enjoying Ryder’s Gold, the fourth book in Bullets & Doves. I’m more than halfway through the fifth book in that series, and it should be ready by the first or second week of October. Again, don’t hold me to that, but as of today, the app I use to track my work says I’m 72% of the way through the first draft.

Of course that depends on my estimates of the book when I started to write it a couple of weeks ago. However, I think it’s going to run a bit over what I’d originally planned. I know I told you all I was going to plan things much better, but you know how stories sometimes take on a life of their own. Personally, I think if I were to revise my estimates, it would be something like 60%.

In any case, fear not, I’m in the home-stretch as they say, and the release is coming very, very soon. I hope you all had a wonderful summer. I know I did, with friends and family coming down here to South Florida for visits. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and with the coming of fall, we all have to get down to some serious work. The good news—Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. Until next time…

G.C. Riley

Ryder’s Gold on Sale Now

Okay friends, I’m happy to announce the fourth book in Bullets & Doves is finally finished and on sale now. This one took twice as long as I anticipated for a number of reasons. If you’ve been following my posts since April, you all know I ran into a number of problems. From flying up to the Northeast to attend a number of graduations to my personal health problems. (Don’t worry, I’m fine now, although it was a bit scary there for a while.)

Anyway, that wasn’t all of it. Just recently, the A/C unit in my condo crapped out on me, and as you might guess, that is not a fun thing to happen in the summertime when you live in South Florida. I had to deal with calling in a crew to install a brand new unit—quite an expensive prospect. These things cost a small fortune, and it was not an easy installation, so it took a bit of time and effort on my part.

The amount of disruptions during the writing of this book was phenomenal. Add to that the important fact that this book ran a lot longer than I’d ever dreamed. I know it’s been a long wait for you all, but believe me, I think the effort was well worth it. I have a feeling you’re going to like this one…a lot.

Let me know what you think. Have a wonderful summer, friends. Hopefully, I’ll have another book for you by sometime in September. In the meantime, I’ll keep posting to let you know of my progress.

Ciao. Until next time…

G.C. Riley