Jacqueline Hopkins's Blog, page 5
June 5, 2011
4-Star Review by Mia of The Romance Reviews
WILDERNESS HEART ended up being a satisfying and charming story where readers will gain insight to what it is like being a woman in a "man's world.".
Set in the late 1970s, in the Idaho wilderness, Lyn Taylor runs Taylor's Outfitters and Guides. Struggling with being a woman in a man's world where many men don't want a woman on their hunting trip, let alone having one guide them, Lyn works hard everyday to gain the respect she feels she deserves. All the men in her life, even her father, want to change her into someone more ladylike. Will she ever find love with a man who will accept her for who she is?
Nic Randall works hard to gain his father's approval. His father is ready to retire and Nic hopes to inherit Randall Lumber of Montana from him instead of his older brother who doesn't seem to like the work as much as he does. Scouting for new locations to cut timber sends him to Idaho. Posing as a hunter, Nic decides to employ Taylor Outfitters to get close to the potential job site before the lot goes up for bid. But when Lyn shows up claiming that she is the guide he hired, Nic doesn't know whether to fight for his job or for his heart.
Jacqueline Hopkins writes WILDERNESS HEART in such a way that you can feel, smell, breathe the places Lyn lives and works. This is a wonderful book, set in an interesting location. Vivid descriptions give the reader a sense of being right there. The dialogue is believable and moves the story along. Many plot twists kept this reader reading long into the night. The main characters were relatable, and I really enjoyed the witty dialog. The secondary characters were great addition to the story and were quite likable as well.
WILDERNESS HEART is a story that makes you want to keep reading to see what happens to the main characters--you think you know what is going to happen, but then, situations change and you begin to wonder if the story is taking a different turn. If you enjoy strong, independent women in rugged settings, you'll enjoy WILDERNESS HEART.
4-Start Review by Mia of The Romance Reviews
WILDERNESS HEART ended up being a satisfying and charming story where readers will gain insight to what it is like being a woman in a "man's world.".
Set in the late 1970s, in the Idaho wilderness, Lyn Taylor runs Taylor's Outfitters and Guides. Struggling with being a woman in a man's world where many men don't want a woman on their hunting trip, let alone having one guide them, Lyn works hard everyday to gain the respect she feels she deserves. All the men in her life, even her father, want to change her into someone more ladylike. Will she ever find love with a man who will accept her for who she is?
Nic Randall works hard to gain his father's approval. His father is ready to retire and Nic hopes to inherit Randall Lumber of Montana from him instead of his older brother who doesn't seem to like the work as much as he does. Scouting for new locations to cut timber sends him to Idaho. Posing as a hunter, Nic decides to employ Taylor Outfitters to get close to the potential job site before the lot goes up for bid. But when Lyn shows up claiming that she is the guide he hired, Nic doesn't know whether to fight for his job or for his heart.
Jacqueline Hopkins writes WILDERNESS HEART in such a way that you can feel, smell, breathe the places Lyn lives and works. This is a wonderful book, set in an interesting location. Vivid descriptions give the reader a sense of being right there. The dialogue is believable and moves the story along. Many plot twists kept this reader reading long into the night. The main characters were relatable, and I really enjoyed the witty dialog. The secondary characters were great addition to the story and were quite likable as well.
WILDERNESS HEART is a story that makes you want to keep reading to see what happens to the main characters--you think you know what is going to happen, but then, situations change and you begin to wonder if the story is taking a different turn. If you enjoy strong, independent women in rugged settings, you'll enjoy WILDERNESS HEART.
May 28, 2011
6 Sentence Sunday
For Sunday, May 29, 2011.
Here are six sentences from my current book, Wilderness Heart.
But then she realized thoughts such as these would have been so much better if they had been alone. She switched her train of thought on him straddling the log directly in front of her. The view of him sitting that way was very intoxicating in itself. Lyn wondered how much longer she could hold out before she kissed him again, or him her. "What did you want to talk about?" she asked, as she stuck out her tongue and raised her face to the sky of falling snow, trying to catch the large flakes as they fell.
Add the hashtag #sixsunday to your tweets about Six Sentence Sunday. You can follow the official Six Sentence Sunday twitter at: https://twitter.com/6_Sunday
Here are six sentences from my current book, Wilderness Heart.
But then she realized thoughts such as these would have been so much better if they had been alone. She switched her train of thought on him straddling the log directly in front of her. The view of him sitting that way was very intoxicating in itself. Lyn wondered how much longer she could hold out before she kissed him again, or him her. "What did you want to talk about?" she asked, as she stuck out her tongue and raised her face to the sky of falling snow, trying to catch the large flakes as they fell.
Add the hashtag #sixsunday to your tweets about Six Sentence Sunday. You can follow the official Six Sentence Sunday twitter at: https://twitter.com/6_Sunday
April 24, 2011
Sample Sunday Cookoff! New Chili Recipe
I'm doing a fun Sample Sunday Cookoff. Below you get to read a sample from my Contemporary Romance, Wilderness Heart, and also get my mother's great chili recipe at the end. My book is about a woman hunting guide in the Idaho wilderness and she is constantly having to prove to the men she guides that she is capable of doing the job she was hired to do. In this scene, they have just arrived at the camp they will be hunting from and its dinner time. Lyn is serving them her mother's chili.
Nic didn't help with the unloading except of his gear. He was here to hunt and it was the responsibility of the guides to get the camp situated. He walked over to the large white Army canvas tent to stow his clothes and hunting gear inside. Once inside, he saw that the tent was large enough for six canvas cots. He figured all the men slept in this one including Carl. But where was Lyn going to sleep, he wondered? After placing his gear on a cot close to the door, he walked the short distance to the cook tent.
The temperature was steadily dropping and snow threatened to fall. Nic brought the collar of his Carhart coat up around his neck as he walked the short distance to the cook tent. Quickly, he opened the tent flap and stepped inside. He adjusted his eyes to the light and noticed a small pot-bellied stove in the center of the area. Quickly, he walked over to it to warm his hands. A large metal pot sat on top emitting a wonderful smell. Lyn was doing the cooking and he wondered if her cooking was better than her attitude toward men?
"What's for dinner?" He rubbed his hands together closer to the stove. Was he that cold because of the weather or was it from the frigid air he felt emanating from Lyn because her response was just as frigid.
"It's chili. Sit down and I'll get you some. Where are the rest of the men?" She picked up a metal bowl, filled it and placed it on the table. "Sit!"
Was she still upset about what happened to the mules this afternoon or still upset with him and their first meeting this morning? Didn't really matter, she was still in a place she didn't belong, he figured, and she had yet to prove to him she could do the job they hired her to do.
"Ahhh, they are putting their gear away and probably arguing with Adam over who gets what cot to sleep on. Adam loves to argue just for the sake of it." Nic sat down at the wooden table in front of the bowl of chili.
Lyn seemed to be agitated over the days events, but suddenly she let out a big sigh and Nic saw her look directly at him.
"Look, I'm sorry about yelling at you today. But we can't afford to lose one of our pack mules. And I thought everyone understood when I explained to them about the horses getting too close to the mules carrying hay what could happen."
Lyn was trying to make amends and it was probably really hard for her, Nic thought. "You did and thank you. I guess I was daydreaming. I'm the one who should apologize." He couldn't tell her it was because he was checking out the timber. He wasn't ready to get into a confrontation with her about why they were really there.
They held each other's gaze for a few moments. Lyn was the first to look away from him. He cleared his throat and looked at the bowl of chili real close before he took a bite and noticed there were no beans in it. Hesitantly, he took a bite and was surprised at how good it tasted, although it was a bit hot. Not fire hot, but pepper hot and he wondered what kind and how much she had put into the pot. "The chili's real good. I must say I'm surprised. Not only at the taste but the fact there isn't any beans in it."
"Thanks, I think. That's the way we make it around here. True chili doesn't have beans in it." Lyn went back to giving the chili a couple more stirs and then set about getting more bowls out and the cornbread out of the stove.
"I beg to differ with you. . . " Nic stared to say, but Lyn interrupted him.
"I'd rather not get into another argument with you, Mr. Randall. Especially over whether true chili has beans in it or not, if you don't mind."
"Sure, no problem." Nic had ruffled her feathers yet again and for some strange reason he was sorry. Her voice was soothing to hear after a long day of riding horses over terrain he wasn't familiar with and she seemed genuinely sorry about yelling at him today. What was the matter with him? Yes, he had bad experiences when he took women out hunting and swore he would never do it again, but she wasn't hunting with him, per se. She was their guide and they had yet to get out to the areas she would take them to.
Perhaps he should give her a chance. Let her show him she knew what she was doing. See if she could keep her mouth shut and not scare the game away. It was definitely clear from their meeting this morning that she was not the kind of woman who worried about her make up because she wasn't wearing any. She was beautiful without it. Most women he knew caked the stuff on their faces and some turned out to look like a witch. He stole a glance at her as she began cutting the cornbread up into squares.
Looking away before she noticed he was staring at her, Nic continued to eat in silence and looked around the tent. The wood cook stove, he noticed, had a double insulated chimney reaching through a hole at the top. The hole, for the flue to go through, was large enough and far enough away from the chimney that he could see there wasn't much of chance of a chimney fire igniting it from the creosote in the wood she burned in the stove. He had experience with chimney fires and if not caught early or watched carefully once a fire started, it could burn the whole building down.
Two medium-sized picnic-like tables used for the meals sat on each side of the cook stove. They were made of pine and worn from a lot of use, Nic noticed. A new coat of stain and they'd look good as new, he thought. In a corner, close enough to the stove for warmth, but not too close to catch on fire, was a cot. He saw Lyn's saddle bags lying on the floor nearby and figured this is where she slept. Probably to keep the firing going in the stove so it would be warm in the morning during breakfast. He didn't like the thought of her sleeping alone in here by herself and the other men in the tent away from her. Too far away, in his mind, if an animal came into camp, like a bear. Would any of them be quick enough to help her if a bear wandered inside, looking for food?
Now, why was he so concerned for her? If she had been guiding for six years, she was used to sleeping in a tent by herself. He knew the only protection she needed was protection from him, as she had said earlier. Hmmm, the thought intrigued him. How would she handle herself if he came too close to her again?
Nic thought about making small talk with Lyn while the other men were still out of the tent, but it was too late. The others just came inside and from the looks on their faces, it must have gotten colder and started to snow. They all shook the snow off their coats and starting jostling for a seat closer to the heat of the stove.
Kirk, being bigger than the others, managed to take a seat across from Nic, close to the stove. The others seemed to just fall into a place at the table wherever they could find one. Nic noticed Adam was the last to sit, probably wondering where Lyn would sit down so he could sit next to or near her. But she was dishing up the chili and placing the bowls in front of the others, which left Adam to sit down quickly if he wanted to eat. Lyn then placed a platter of cornbread in the center of the table. She dished up Nic a second bowl, dished one up for Carl and then dished one up for herself. Carl and Lyn sat down at the other table on the other side of the stove, and Nic was sorry he wouldn't get to sit across from her to watch her beautiful face and her eyes dance as she ate.
"Hey, this chili doesn't have any beans in it!" Adam exclaimed.
"We've already discussed its lack of beans," Nic interjected. "I have a feeling that if we piss off the cook, we won't get anything to eat for seven days. So I suggest you keep quiet, Adam." He gave him a level stare and dared him to say anything else. Nic knew Adam understood his hidden meaning.
Lyn didn't finish her dinner. She got up from the table and started heating up some water. She got out a large metal bowl and sat it on the table. "Morning comes pretty early around here if you want to go hunting. I suggest you finish eating and get some sleep," she said, knowing she spoke too harshly. She was getting very annoyed with the men. Why couldn't they just learn to keep their mouth shut?
She started preparing the breakfast for the next day. Morning came quickly in the wilderness. It was still dark outside when the morning meal was eaten and it always made her feel as if she were eating dinner twice a day.
"I think she's right, boys. We better get some sleep." Nic finished his last bite and stood up. He walked over to Lyn where she began washing the metal bowls. "Sorry," he said softly for her ears only. "Adam usually doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Good night."
As he handed her his bowl, his hand touched hers for the first time and he felt the warmth radiating from within her. She didn't pull her hand from his right away and locked eyes with him yet again. Was she feeling it too, Nic wondered? The attraction he had for her? Did she feel attracted to him? He rather sensed she felt something or she wouldn't have looked at him the way she did this morning when they first met.
Again, she was the first to look away and pulled her hand from his. All too quickly, the electrified touch he felt from her was over. He cleared his throat. "Come on. Let's get some sleep so we can get that trophy bull elk we came for, guys."
Nic turned and walked out of the tent. Lyn was rather sorry to see him go for some reason. Slowly, the others got up from the table, handed their empty bowls to her and followed Nic out of the tent. "Good night," a few of them said over their shoulder.
"Good night," she managed to reply, stunned, really to say anything at all. Where did that gentleman come from she asked herself? And why did he apologize for his friends? He had known them longer. It didn't make sense. He didn't like women in the woods, made it quite clear, so why was he being nice to her? Apologizing for his friends, bringing her his bowl to wash, saying good night. . . . things she didn't expect him to do. His manners from earlier in the day told her he couldn't or wouldn't know how to be a gentleman. And that touch. What was that all about? Why couldn't she pull away from him?
Well, it was getting late, it was getting colder outside and she was dog-ass tired. She quickly finished washing the bowls, stoked the fire in the stove so it would be nice and warm in the morning for breakfast, and made out the cot in the corner for her to sleep on. Lyn opened up her sleeping bag, sat down and began removing her boots. "Good night, Carl. See you bright and early in the morning."
"Good night, Lyn. Sleep tight," Carl said as he turned down the wick in the kerosine lantern and left the tent.
Copyright 2010 Jacqueline Hopkins
Wilderness Heart is available in paperback: http://www.createspace.com/3565575
in ebook format from amazon.com as well as http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... for all other kinds of electronic readers.
Here is the recipe for my mother's Chili
3 lbs of hamburger
3 lbs of beef stew meat, pre cut
Brown meat lightly. Chop 2 to 3 medium size onions and saute in oil before browning meat. Chuck in 1 quart of water with the meat and onion in a large stew pot. Toss in 1 doz cloves of chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 4 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon marjoram, 1 teaspoon cumin. Add paprika and chili powder until the seething mass looks like the color of an old inner tube (red).
Add 2 cans of tomato sauce and plenty of red pepper (cayenne), if desired for hot, spicy chili. Cook for 2 to 3 hours or until meat is really tender. Taste frequently to see if its hot enough. Thicken with cornmeal, if desired.
Enjoy on a very cold, snowy or rainy day.
Jacqueline
Nic didn't help with the unloading except of his gear. He was here to hunt and it was the responsibility of the guides to get the camp situated. He walked over to the large white Army canvas tent to stow his clothes and hunting gear inside. Once inside, he saw that the tent was large enough for six canvas cots. He figured all the men slept in this one including Carl. But where was Lyn going to sleep, he wondered? After placing his gear on a cot close to the door, he walked the short distance to the cook tent.
The temperature was steadily dropping and snow threatened to fall. Nic brought the collar of his Carhart coat up around his neck as he walked the short distance to the cook tent. Quickly, he opened the tent flap and stepped inside. He adjusted his eyes to the light and noticed a small pot-bellied stove in the center of the area. Quickly, he walked over to it to warm his hands. A large metal pot sat on top emitting a wonderful smell. Lyn was doing the cooking and he wondered if her cooking was better than her attitude toward men?
"What's for dinner?" He rubbed his hands together closer to the stove. Was he that cold because of the weather or was it from the frigid air he felt emanating from Lyn because her response was just as frigid.
"It's chili. Sit down and I'll get you some. Where are the rest of the men?" She picked up a metal bowl, filled it and placed it on the table. "Sit!"
Was she still upset about what happened to the mules this afternoon or still upset with him and their first meeting this morning? Didn't really matter, she was still in a place she didn't belong, he figured, and she had yet to prove to him she could do the job they hired her to do.
"Ahhh, they are putting their gear away and probably arguing with Adam over who gets what cot to sleep on. Adam loves to argue just for the sake of it." Nic sat down at the wooden table in front of the bowl of chili.
Lyn seemed to be agitated over the days events, but suddenly she let out a big sigh and Nic saw her look directly at him.
"Look, I'm sorry about yelling at you today. But we can't afford to lose one of our pack mules. And I thought everyone understood when I explained to them about the horses getting too close to the mules carrying hay what could happen."
Lyn was trying to make amends and it was probably really hard for her, Nic thought. "You did and thank you. I guess I was daydreaming. I'm the one who should apologize." He couldn't tell her it was because he was checking out the timber. He wasn't ready to get into a confrontation with her about why they were really there.
They held each other's gaze for a few moments. Lyn was the first to look away from him. He cleared his throat and looked at the bowl of chili real close before he took a bite and noticed there were no beans in it. Hesitantly, he took a bite and was surprised at how good it tasted, although it was a bit hot. Not fire hot, but pepper hot and he wondered what kind and how much she had put into the pot. "The chili's real good. I must say I'm surprised. Not only at the taste but the fact there isn't any beans in it."
"Thanks, I think. That's the way we make it around here. True chili doesn't have beans in it." Lyn went back to giving the chili a couple more stirs and then set about getting more bowls out and the cornbread out of the stove.
"I beg to differ with you. . . " Nic stared to say, but Lyn interrupted him.
"I'd rather not get into another argument with you, Mr. Randall. Especially over whether true chili has beans in it or not, if you don't mind."
"Sure, no problem." Nic had ruffled her feathers yet again and for some strange reason he was sorry. Her voice was soothing to hear after a long day of riding horses over terrain he wasn't familiar with and she seemed genuinely sorry about yelling at him today. What was the matter with him? Yes, he had bad experiences when he took women out hunting and swore he would never do it again, but she wasn't hunting with him, per se. She was their guide and they had yet to get out to the areas she would take them to.
Perhaps he should give her a chance. Let her show him she knew what she was doing. See if she could keep her mouth shut and not scare the game away. It was definitely clear from their meeting this morning that she was not the kind of woman who worried about her make up because she wasn't wearing any. She was beautiful without it. Most women he knew caked the stuff on their faces and some turned out to look like a witch. He stole a glance at her as she began cutting the cornbread up into squares.
Looking away before she noticed he was staring at her, Nic continued to eat in silence and looked around the tent. The wood cook stove, he noticed, had a double insulated chimney reaching through a hole at the top. The hole, for the flue to go through, was large enough and far enough away from the chimney that he could see there wasn't much of chance of a chimney fire igniting it from the creosote in the wood she burned in the stove. He had experience with chimney fires and if not caught early or watched carefully once a fire started, it could burn the whole building down.
Two medium-sized picnic-like tables used for the meals sat on each side of the cook stove. They were made of pine and worn from a lot of use, Nic noticed. A new coat of stain and they'd look good as new, he thought. In a corner, close enough to the stove for warmth, but not too close to catch on fire, was a cot. He saw Lyn's saddle bags lying on the floor nearby and figured this is where she slept. Probably to keep the firing going in the stove so it would be warm in the morning during breakfast. He didn't like the thought of her sleeping alone in here by herself and the other men in the tent away from her. Too far away, in his mind, if an animal came into camp, like a bear. Would any of them be quick enough to help her if a bear wandered inside, looking for food?
Now, why was he so concerned for her? If she had been guiding for six years, she was used to sleeping in a tent by herself. He knew the only protection she needed was protection from him, as she had said earlier. Hmmm, the thought intrigued him. How would she handle herself if he came too close to her again?
Nic thought about making small talk with Lyn while the other men were still out of the tent, but it was too late. The others just came inside and from the looks on their faces, it must have gotten colder and started to snow. They all shook the snow off their coats and starting jostling for a seat closer to the heat of the stove.
Kirk, being bigger than the others, managed to take a seat across from Nic, close to the stove. The others seemed to just fall into a place at the table wherever they could find one. Nic noticed Adam was the last to sit, probably wondering where Lyn would sit down so he could sit next to or near her. But she was dishing up the chili and placing the bowls in front of the others, which left Adam to sit down quickly if he wanted to eat. Lyn then placed a platter of cornbread in the center of the table. She dished up Nic a second bowl, dished one up for Carl and then dished one up for herself. Carl and Lyn sat down at the other table on the other side of the stove, and Nic was sorry he wouldn't get to sit across from her to watch her beautiful face and her eyes dance as she ate.
"Hey, this chili doesn't have any beans in it!" Adam exclaimed.
"We've already discussed its lack of beans," Nic interjected. "I have a feeling that if we piss off the cook, we won't get anything to eat for seven days. So I suggest you keep quiet, Adam." He gave him a level stare and dared him to say anything else. Nic knew Adam understood his hidden meaning.
Lyn didn't finish her dinner. She got up from the table and started heating up some water. She got out a large metal bowl and sat it on the table. "Morning comes pretty early around here if you want to go hunting. I suggest you finish eating and get some sleep," she said, knowing she spoke too harshly. She was getting very annoyed with the men. Why couldn't they just learn to keep their mouth shut?
She started preparing the breakfast for the next day. Morning came quickly in the wilderness. It was still dark outside when the morning meal was eaten and it always made her feel as if she were eating dinner twice a day.
"I think she's right, boys. We better get some sleep." Nic finished his last bite and stood up. He walked over to Lyn where she began washing the metal bowls. "Sorry," he said softly for her ears only. "Adam usually doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Good night."
As he handed her his bowl, his hand touched hers for the first time and he felt the warmth radiating from within her. She didn't pull her hand from his right away and locked eyes with him yet again. Was she feeling it too, Nic wondered? The attraction he had for her? Did she feel attracted to him? He rather sensed she felt something or she wouldn't have looked at him the way she did this morning when they first met.
Again, she was the first to look away and pulled her hand from his. All too quickly, the electrified touch he felt from her was over. He cleared his throat. "Come on. Let's get some sleep so we can get that trophy bull elk we came for, guys."
Nic turned and walked out of the tent. Lyn was rather sorry to see him go for some reason. Slowly, the others got up from the table, handed their empty bowls to her and followed Nic out of the tent. "Good night," a few of them said over their shoulder.
"Good night," she managed to reply, stunned, really to say anything at all. Where did that gentleman come from she asked herself? And why did he apologize for his friends? He had known them longer. It didn't make sense. He didn't like women in the woods, made it quite clear, so why was he being nice to her? Apologizing for his friends, bringing her his bowl to wash, saying good night. . . . things she didn't expect him to do. His manners from earlier in the day told her he couldn't or wouldn't know how to be a gentleman. And that touch. What was that all about? Why couldn't she pull away from him?
Well, it was getting late, it was getting colder outside and she was dog-ass tired. She quickly finished washing the bowls, stoked the fire in the stove so it would be nice and warm in the morning for breakfast, and made out the cot in the corner for her to sleep on. Lyn opened up her sleeping bag, sat down and began removing her boots. "Good night, Carl. See you bright and early in the morning."
"Good night, Lyn. Sleep tight," Carl said as he turned down the wick in the kerosine lantern and left the tent.
Copyright 2010 Jacqueline Hopkins
Wilderness Heart is available in paperback: http://www.createspace.com/3565575
in ebook format from amazon.com as well as http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... for all other kinds of electronic readers.
Here is the recipe for my mother's Chili
3 lbs of hamburger
3 lbs of beef stew meat, pre cut
Brown meat lightly. Chop 2 to 3 medium size onions and saute in oil before browning meat. Chuck in 1 quart of water with the meat and onion in a large stew pot. Toss in 1 doz cloves of chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 4 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon marjoram, 1 teaspoon cumin. Add paprika and chili powder until the seething mass looks like the color of an old inner tube (red).
Add 2 cans of tomato sauce and plenty of red pepper (cayenne), if desired for hot, spicy chili. Cook for 2 to 3 hours or until meat is really tender. Taste frequently to see if its hot enough. Thicken with cornmeal, if desired.
Enjoy on a very cold, snowy or rainy day.
Jacqueline
March 24, 2011
An Interview with Linda Sandifer
Linda Sandifer is the author of thirteen novels of various genres, but mostly western romance. She is a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, and Idaho's Blue Sage Writers.
I used to be a member of the Idaho writer's group when it wasn't the Blue Sage Writers and when I used to live there back in the 1990s. Since moving to Alaska, I had lost touch with a lot of my writing friends, in Idaho and Hawaii, but recently got back in touch with Linda and she agreed to do an interview with me. She talks about her new novel, "The Last Rodeo", her feelings about self-publishing, who her writing influences were, her writing regime and what she is currently working on.
- What drove you to write The Last Rodeo, your latest book?
I guess you could call The Last Rodeo a "book of the heart." It's one of the first ideas I ever had for a book, back when I was in my early 20s. It started off being a coming-of-age story with the main character and his brother as teen-agers. The only other character in that early version that was also in the final version was the brothers' father. Over the years, the idea grew and matured, as did the characters. I tried writing it several times, but never got it where I wanted it. I was writing all my other contracted books and so I kept putting it on the shelf because I knew there wouldn't be a ready, or an easy, market for it. Finally I did write it, and by then, the brothers were in their 30s and it was more of a family relationship story with a love story. It spans four generations of people (all in one family) so I think it helped that I was older, too, in order to write all those characters at different stages of their lives.
- Is the book in any one particular genre? Is it a genre that's familiar to you?
I would label the book as contemporary mainstream women's fiction. I hadn't written contemporary before, but I had written a historical saga that was mainstream.
- Who are your greatest writing influences?
That's a hard one because I've always read a wide variety of writers. Very early on, I liked William Faulkner and Jack London.
- What's your writing regimen? Any tips for keeping focused?
I try to do something every day for a few hours, depending on the stage of a book. It might be research, or it might be a final edit. Just depends. If I'm writing, I'll spend 4-6 hours a day at the computer. I usually don't write on weekends. I don't have trouble keeping focused. It's like any job. You just get up in the morning and you go do it.
- How do you feel about the direction of the publishing industry and the trend toward ebooks?
Well, it seems to be catching fire. I have a Kindle myself and two of my books are available as ebooks. I find reading from it handy at times. I like that you can pump up the font. I still prefer paper books. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but it's hard to get a "connection" to an ebook. It's just words on a screen. Whereas, with a book, you can hold it in your hand and get a sense of the work as a whole. It has substance. It really distresses me to see bookstores and libraries closing. I think it would be a mistake if we didn't maintain paper copies of books in some sort of depository.
- How do you feel about the pricing for ebooks, from free to .99 to 2.99 and higher?
I think people prefer to spend less on ebooks simply because they aren't getting anything but words on a screen. Like I said, it's nothing they can hold onto and later display on a shelf or trade at a used bookstore. The Kindle now has a loaning program, which I'm not in favor of. It's just another way to cut in author profits. Publishers, however, are asking as much for ebooks (sometimes more) than they are paper books. Former agent-turned-author, Nathan Bransford attempts to explain the reasoning behind the publishers' pricing of ebooks on his wonderful blog. I would suggest people read his article to get a better understanding.
- What are you working on now?
I just completed a romantic suspense set in Idaho. It's a new direction for me and I'll probably use a pseudonym. I'll see how it goes. That doesn't mean I'm giving up writing western romances and other novels of the West. I still have a number of those types of stories I'd like to tell, but the market is really soft right now for westerns.
For audio versions of Linda's previous books they can be ordered through Amazon. If you want to know more about her books, you can go to her website.
March 5, 2011
Kim Barnes "In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country"
This book brought out so many memories of my childhood growing up in Lewiston since moving there in 1965. Kim was a year older than myself, but I graduated with her cousin, Les, she mentions in her book and we hung out a few times. The rebelliousness, the drugs we all tried during the 70s, but unfortunately, because I was not brought up in a religious household, it was hard for me to understand what all Kim had gone through, other than the taste of freedom was all so desired. For anyone wanting to know what it was like to grow up in Northern Idaho in the 1970s, this the book to read.
I so miss being in Lewiston, having left there in 1980 to go to college in California, then back again for a brief time until I went into the Navy in 1981 and have moved around since then. I still have family living in Lewiston and Orofino area and go back to visit when I can. But I plan to go back one day to live, perhaps along the Clearwater River where we swam, boated and floated or in Orofino where the Dworshak Dam Kim talks about in her book brings back so many wonderful memories as well. We used to swim in the river before the dam was built that my father had worked on as a computer programmer and my sister currently works there.
Truly a wonderful book, especially for those of who lived there, to bring back memories of our childhood, good or bad.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/..." View all my reviews
I so miss being in Lewiston, having left there in 1980 to go to college in California, then back again for a brief time until I went into the Navy in 1981 and have moved around since then. I still have family living in Lewiston and Orofino area and go back to visit when I can. But I plan to go back one day to live, perhaps along the Clearwater River where we swam, boated and floated or in Orofino where the Dworshak Dam Kim talks about in her book brings back so many wonderful memories as well. We used to swim in the river before the dam was built that my father had worked on as a computer programmer and my sister currently works there.
Truly a wonderful book, especially for those of who lived there, to bring back memories of our childhood, good or bad.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/..." View all my reviews
March 3, 2011
Hemlock Lake by Carolyn J Rose
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86... Lake
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... of 5 stars
I rather liked this book of a man who goes back to his home town as a police officer to make sure nothing happens on a new construction site, where a lot of bad things keep happening. Is it the local towns people who don't want the new subdivision there or someone else. When he comes back home to his old home, he has to face that some of the people who still live there don't like him because he left in the first place. He also has to fight his own demons: that of the death of his wife and brother and what really happened the night they died.
I like this book although it is written in the first person singular, which is sometimes hard for me to follow, but this was well written. As an author myself, I have considered writing a book in the first person singular, but have not done it yet.
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/... all my reviews</a>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... of 5 stars
I rather liked this book of a man who goes back to his home town as a police officer to make sure nothing happens on a new construction site, where a lot of bad things keep happening. Is it the local towns people who don't want the new subdivision there or someone else. When he comes back home to his old home, he has to face that some of the people who still live there don't like him because he left in the first place. He also has to fight his own demons: that of the death of his wife and brother and what really happened the night they died.
I like this book although it is written in the first person singular, which is sometimes hard for me to follow, but this was well written. As an author myself, I have considered writing a book in the first person singular, but have not done it yet.
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/... all my reviews</a>
Exciting Interviews Coming up
Look for some exciting author interviews I have coming up in the future. If you are an author and would like to be interviewed on my blog, please let me know (and if you have some preferred questions you would like to answer).
February 11, 2011
Self-Publishing and Promotion
Boy, once you get a book published by self-publishing it on Amazon, you really need to do a lot of self-promotion.
I have been really busy since my book, Wilderness Heart, has come out on Amazon.com's kindle book list on February 8, 2011. I have been researching how I can market it on other ereaders and have joined some author forums as well as some book review web sites, such as http://www.goodreads.com, joined http://www.mobileread.com author forum, working on this blog, and researching and downloading all sorts of programs for the writer to use to help me publish the next book....if and when I get started/finished with it. I have to say there are a lot of great people/authors out there willing to help new authors such as myself with formatting, cover suggestions, how the kindle process works, etc.
I had really great news when I woke up this morning and logged onto facebook. One of my father's twin sisters left me a message that she purchased my book that morning. I asked her if she had purchased a Kindle to read it and she said no, she downloaded the Kindle for PC program so she could read my book. I had forgotten about that. So if people want to read books and don't have a kindle reader, they can do what my aunt did. I also reminded a friend who said she had a Nookbook that she too could download the Kindle for PC and read my book on her computer that way. I told my aunt she could be the first one to review my book if she liked it on Amazon. Totally awesome.
This is actually an exciting process and fun.
I have been really busy since my book, Wilderness Heart, has come out on Amazon.com's kindle book list on February 8, 2011. I have been researching how I can market it on other ereaders and have joined some author forums as well as some book review web sites, such as http://www.goodreads.com, joined http://www.mobileread.com author forum, working on this blog, and researching and downloading all sorts of programs for the writer to use to help me publish the next book....if and when I get started/finished with it. I have to say there are a lot of great people/authors out there willing to help new authors such as myself with formatting, cover suggestions, how the kindle process works, etc.
I had really great news when I woke up this morning and logged onto facebook. One of my father's twin sisters left me a message that she purchased my book that morning. I asked her if she had purchased a Kindle to read it and she said no, she downloaded the Kindle for PC program so she could read my book. I had forgotten about that. So if people want to read books and don't have a kindle reader, they can do what my aunt did. I also reminded a friend who said she had a Nookbook that she too could download the Kindle for PC and read my book on her computer that way. I told my aunt she could be the first one to review my book if she liked it on Amazon. Totally awesome.
This is actually an exciting process and fun.
February 5, 2011
Formatting and cover problems for my book
Still working on getting my book published to Amazon.com so it can be sold/downloaded to a Kindle reader or any other kind of electronic reader one might have.
There is now the formatting part of the book and there are so many programs and advice on what or how to do it. I found someone willing to help me for free to format it correctly for uploading to Amazon.com after, of course, I have a cover and description of the book.
So that is the big problem I am facing now. The cover. I am not an artist. Don't have an artistic bone in my body when it comes to drawing, painting or even scribbling, lol. So, I am hoping to get a friend, who is better at Paint Shop Pro than myself, to help me put a few photos together to show what the book is about. We are hoping tonight we can put something together.
But what was really cool about yesterday, was that the person I found to format the book for me, sent back a copy that I was able to download to my Kindle and low and behold there is my entire book with a Table of Contents, Title and acknowledgements. It was really cool to see it on there. So after it is completely formatted and sent back to me, I can down load it to mom's Kindle I bought for her birthday and surprise her with a dozen books to read as well as MINE!!!
I am excited.
There is now the formatting part of the book and there are so many programs and advice on what or how to do it. I found someone willing to help me for free to format it correctly for uploading to Amazon.com after, of course, I have a cover and description of the book.
So that is the big problem I am facing now. The cover. I am not an artist. Don't have an artistic bone in my body when it comes to drawing, painting or even scribbling, lol. So, I am hoping to get a friend, who is better at Paint Shop Pro than myself, to help me put a few photos together to show what the book is about. We are hoping tonight we can put something together.
But what was really cool about yesterday, was that the person I found to format the book for me, sent back a copy that I was able to download to my Kindle and low and behold there is my entire book with a Table of Contents, Title and acknowledgements. It was really cool to see it on there. So after it is completely formatted and sent back to me, I can down load it to mom's Kindle I bought for her birthday and surprise her with a dozen books to read as well as MINE!!!
I am excited.
