R.W. Richard's Blog, page 3

I've reached the end of the internet

 I may be changing direction in my writing. I have written award-winning romance novels and yet haven't sold that much. I don't care for the reasons why. It could be talent, marketing, whatever. I'm moving on.

My first novel Neanderthals and the Garden of Eden sold a ton (approx. 5000 copies) but the romances didn't get close. In spite of that the publisher The Wild Rose Press took me in and I wrote an important novel about racial hatred, Cinnamon & Sugar. It sold less than 500. BTW, there's only one race, the human race. The Nazis would like you to believe there are more than one. Don't buy into their propaganda.

I'm not giving up on writing. It's more like a hobby than a profession. But I have decided to write what I want no matter what it is instead of writing romance because I think it will sell.

So here's my projects that I have yet to pen or had abandoned:

The Girl With Seven Boyfriends (one for each day of the week). I'm on page 85. This one is too sexy for words. And I hesitate to put certain things my bad girl does into words. Perhaps I'll use a non de plume.

A children's book (my idea is top-secret). This should be fun and short. You know it takes way too long to write a novel.

I have an idea for a short story or novella. Anyway I'm not sure which project to do first.

.......................

On another subject, I believe we are near the end of the pandemic and I want to say one thing about the foundation of many religions. The golden rule. This means that one should treat everybody with the love you would hope they would show you. In short, those who refuse masks are saying I don't care about you. Those who don't get vaccinated, much the same.

I know priests that say the same but oddly some priests seem to promote the opposite. I just listen to what Jesus said and follow it.

The good news is we may all soon go back to a world in which masks are not needed in general and vaccines become a matter of personal choice (just like the flu vaccine).

I know when I write these thoughts s I may lose readers but I never had that many to start with, lol.

My new book

 I have been in a funk and not blogging because my new book, The Chess Master, has to date only sold 5 copies. One reason is that I don't like marketing, but at least I should blog about it.

Click below to go to Amazon The Chess Master

REVIEWS:

Cy Lakdawala, international master and at latest count author of 53 books on chess, wrote. “The Chess Master manages to capture the hearts, minds, and souls of chess players of all ratings. This is perhaps the best book of fiction on the subject of chess. I give it five stars. It should be in everybody’s library.”

Dr. Leroy Dubeck, former USCF President, and current USCF master, wrote. “The Chess Master reminds me of The Queen’s Gambit in that it follows the life of a genius girl, but that’s where it stops. It’s contemporary, more intense regarding chess (the author is a USCF master), and it doesn’t cut the story short. You will see how talent and inspired work lands the protagonist at the age of seventeen in a match for the world championship, and you will know who wins. This is a must-buy chess book.

The Story: Tayshia is turning six, but her daddy isn’t there to celebrate, and he never will be. At least she has her two sisters, brother, and mom. Yet, she’s not happy. Her daddy used to play chess with her, which she remembers for the many happy hours and his love. Like many six-year-olds, she enters a fantasy world with her daddy as her chess and life mentor. She’s brilliant and obsessed with making her daddy proud by becoming the best chess player she can be. Along the way, we see the family struggle without a father, husband. We also see Tayshia mature into a phenomenal chess player worthy of a match for the world chess championship. And you be with her when she plays that match.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORS

Sami Robinson, author of Broken Toy: “Bob, never having been a little black girl from a run-down neighborhood, needed my help. What we both didn’t count on was Tayshia’s genius being so overwhelming. But my friend had that down pat. You are going to love this girl.

Robert W Richard (Bob) also writes as RW Richard and won an award for the best romance of the year with Autumn Breeze. “Only chess players know how all-consuming the game is. In college, I spent most of my time at the chess club. Later in life and married, I sacrificed chess for my family life and a career as an engineer. No regrets, because now in semi-retirement, I get to live the life of a great player vicariously.”

The authors would appreciate your reviews. The authors rate this book good for general audiences PG.

Okay fans and friends. I feel better now...

1. Men nurtured by their moms

I wonder what constitutes a fatal flaw. We’re writing. We’re told to introduce a fatal flaw. Well, don’t take that too literally unless you’re writing a tragedy or some fatalistic or nihilistic fare. No room for a romance with a happily ever after, right?

A man not loved and nurtured by his mother is nearly ruined IMO. If you have a situation like that, you’ll walk a minefield with at least two deep arcs. One arc over his mom and the other over being able to love someone in a mature way.

This problem is a great excuse to read case histories and studies on this subject. When done, try a man without a father figure or a father who didn’t love or nurture. The same goes for heroines.

It’s a rare child who can see he or she isn’t loved and decides he or she is of value and will grow up normally and be able to love. Because without examples, how will they be able to figure it out? Maybe Sponge Bob has something to say. No seriously, kids could learn from some TV character or later from some book or some great teacher how love works. Somewhere along the line, they’ll need to experience it.

Men, nurtured and loved by their moms, make better heroes or at least ones who are a little easier to write. There are plenty of other demons lurking to give your hero ‘fatal flaws.’ Try to save mom, she'd appreciate it.
No more wire hangers.

Men nurtured by their moms

1.

I wonder what constitutes a fatal flaw. We’re writing. We’re told to introduce a fatal flaw. Well, don’t take that too literally unless you’re writing tragedy. Or some fatalistic or nihilistic fare. No room for a romance with a happily ever after.

A man not loved and nurtured by his mother is nearly ruined IMO. If you have a situation like that, you’ll walk a mind field with at least two deep arcs. One arc over his mom and the other over being able to love someone in a mature way.

It’s a great excuse to read case histories and studies on this subject. When done, try a man without a father figure or a father who didn’t love or nurture. The same goes for women.

It’s a rare child who can see he or she isn’t loved and decides he or she is of value and will grow up normally and be able to love. Because without examples, how will they be able to figure it out? Maybe Sponge Bob has something to say. No really, kids could learn from some TV character or later from some book or some great teacher how love works. Somewhere along the line, they’ll need to experience it.

I created a thirteen-year-old girl in one of my stories who has lost a father who had loved her. Then she lost her mother to drink (over the loss of a husband). Then her mother dies. Will she be able to cope? Yes, she remembers better times. Although she starts the story swearing off future love, she’ll come around.

Men, nurtured and loved by their moms, make better heroes or at least ones who are a little easier to write. There are plenty of other demons lurking to give your hero ‘fatal flaws.’ Try to save mom.

No more wire hangers.

Do men like Tomboys?

 All of us have attributes of both sexes in varying degrees. A Tomboy is often labeled as competitive, especially in sports. Or they might like to fix cars, lift weights, take to hammer and nails, etc.

I can only speak for myself this time because every man has a different opinion of who they are attracted, and why. I like women who are competitive in whatever they want to do. I don't find attractive heavy weight lifting by a woman because I find myself more attracted to the waif or athletic type.

I do want a woman to challenge and I firmly believe that men and women are equals.

This is why this season of The Bachelorette (ABC) intrigues me.

Michelle Young is the bachelorette and she's a Tomboy. In high school, she finished in second place all-state basketball. This is where her urge to excel manifests itself. She was a kindergarten teacher and now teaches fifth-grade. She, at first, refused ABC's gig, because she didn't want to abandon her 'kids.' ABC rearranged the schedule to accommodate her.

She's not the kind of Tomboy who always wants to top a male, is in Doris Day's portrayal in Annie Get Your Gun. No, Michelle understands that collaboration should lead to love but don't challenge her in basketball.

In the second episode, she had her men seated in small schoolroom desks and quizzed them. Some were god awful in arithmetic, lol, and her kid helpers weren't afraid to point it out.

Michelle's fear is not being seen [as a person or as a woman]. She grew up the only bi-racial girl and didn't get asked out on dates. [Sometimes missing a part of oneself can lead to excellence in another area as compensation, hence basketball.]

Michelle is lovely and loving and would make any man a good partner.

Nesting

 Often neglected as a technique in a romance novel is showing an adult male nesting. If he's excited to prepare a room for a new baby, a mother-in-law, lol, or more to the point the lady who is about to move in and needs an office, the writer has another opportunity to enrich the story and make the characters more real. One thing I see often is the male running around trying to straighten up. Not quite the same flavor, but he gets points and the reader will wonder if he'll just backslide back into slobbery.

Getting back to self-publishing

 I thought I had it made being picked up by The Wild Rose Press for my New Adult, Romance, Cinnamon & Sugar. I did do much better sales-wise than I did with my previous books which I self-published.

After enjoying The Queen's Gambit, both as a novel and limited Netflix series I decided to write a story with chess as the theme. Since I'm also a chess master it should be easy to show the real world of tournament and match chess. It was, but when I presented it to The Wild Rose Press they turned it down because they objected to me using real chess players' names in the body of the work and it the ms. also has a small period of time in which Covid influences the story.

So I sent out queries and so far not positive responses. I'm antsy to get this story about a young black girl in a poor neighborhood, who lost her daddy and remembers the chess they shared out to the public.

So back at square one, I bought ISBN's from Bowker, found suitable front and back cover shots, and got my copyright.

Next, I decided to submit to both Amazon and IngramSpark to do my print on Demand services. IngramSpark gets the book into bookstores and Libraries as well as everywhere else and Amazon has a strong hold on the online sales via Kindle. Of course, I'll reach out to Barnes & Noble via Nook as well.

I write all this to save you time if you are thinking about self-publishing. I have chosen the best paths. You can email me anytime if you want to discuss this. I'm at rwrichard@ymail.com.

p.s. Since I am having the story professionally edited (highly recommended) I will try a small number of literary agents before I self-publish. Yes, all that I wrote cost money but if you believe in your story and think it has merit to the readers then at the very least, satisfaction will come from knowing you didn't cut corners. Next stop marketing and more spending...

The new Bachelorette

ABC writes:

After joining Matt James' season as a [very] late arrival, Michelle [Young] immediately stole The Bachelor's attention, along with the hearts of millions of Americans who fell in love with her captivating smile and charming sense of humor. A former Division 1 basketball player from Minnesota, the 28-year-old kindergarten [4th & 5th now] teacher now focuses on preparing her students to be the next generation of community leaders.

Michelle has big dreams for the future and says she wants a man by her side that is supportive and driven to make the world a better place [and treats her as a complete equal]. She is looking for the Superman to her Superwoman and is ready to find a love with whom she can start a family of her own.

Bob writes: Yes, and Michelle finished as runner up in Matt’s season. The moment she arrived on Matt’s season I told everyone she was my favorite. Not because she was the most beautiful. No, maybe she’s a 7 or 8 out of 10 (although her eyes are amazing.] It was her big heart that blew me away. I guess I’m a sucker for an elementary school teacher. So I await the premiere of The Bachelorette on ABC Tuesday, the 19th, 2021. And I’ll go so far as to say she will be my favorite bachelorette. That’s saying a lot with the likes of Tayshia Adams, Ashley Hebert, and others as fond memories. I say others because I tend to forget particulars.

Call me a sap

I had a simple thought, and there are many where that came from. I walk with my wife everyday, and yesterday I observed the beauty of the trees and how they offer shelter to the birds. The birds in turn go about spreading seeds. Every living thing has a job(s) to do and all the jobs are about helping themselves and the other, be it animal, human, or vegetation.

And why? Imo, we are heading to perfection. We may never get there but things are evolving. We may fail but there are other planets. It is as if surely this experiment called life that the Creator started an infinite time ago must completely glorify and justify the purpose. It seems that on this planet only humans can consciously think these thoughts or alternative explanations. Why fight it? It sure beats nothingness. This striving toward perfection will, IMO, ceaselessly be strived to and in one form or another we will always witness and help. Call it heaven or reincarnation.

So do your part. Be a sap or sapling.

Oh, how to turn this into romance writing? It’s a job and a way of giving back the talents the Creator gave us. You are selected by yourself and currently powers beyond your full understanding to spread the seed. Love is the seed that helps all living things progress.

Erotica versus romance

A friend of mine sent a New York Times article on an Erotica (An Erotica Pioneer Goes from Hero to villain for dozens of authors)  author who was having legal trouble with her publisher. I wrote back:

Apparently, I have reached the limit of free articles and I haven't even started yet (of maybe a long time ago)... Anyway, I found the article under PressNewsAgency. Also NYT was there too but I dare not go there, lol. I read it, yay.
Now for my critique. First of all, thank you for this article. The reporter got most of it right. Naturally when you don't really know the industries a good reporter gathers disparate facts and at some point moves on because it's his/her job to continue onto another assignment. So, first off Erotica has a different purpose and shouldn't be lumped in with romance. Romance is about love. Erotica is about sex. They're separate genres. Also the reporter lumped all small, medium and independent presses into one category. A category of scammers. I got published through the Wild Rose Press a highly respected and 100% ethical publisher. They were attracted to my interracial story, which I mostly write.
Lately I have veered from romance. My latest, The Chess Master, is a story about a little girl who lost her daddy and struggles with reality, as she 'talks' to him every night. I might try a mystery, magical realism, or sci fi. I just don't know yet. How about you? what are you doing with the written word?
BTW, RWA (Romance Writers of America) is sort of imploding thanks to lingering Trumpists (IMO) who bring their virulent form of racism to the forums. They toasted me about Cinnamon & Sugar, really a sweet story. The RWA has tried to fix this problem but it struggles on. So I'm probably not going to renew in 2022, not necessarily because of their struggles but because I may be moving on to other genres as mentioned..
I hope all is well with you,Bob