Becky Wade's Blog, page 132

Heroes on Covers

With my new Hanger’s Horsemen series, I’ve enjoyed having covers that prominently feature heroes on the covers. The Heart’s Charge is coming this summer, and there are TWO heroes in play. Double the fun!

It’s been nice to switch things up with my covers this time around. One of the reasons I enjoy historicals so much is the fairy-tale feel of the period costumes, especially the dresses worn by the heroines. Therefore, I do love seeing the heroines with big, gorgeous dresses on the covers, and I wouldn’t want to permanently say goodbye to them. This series, though, just clamored for hunky hero cover love.

I’ve had a few heroes make appearances on other covers, but they were always the supporting cast to the heroine. I have three covers where the heroes get an arm and a leg in the picture. (Although you gotta admit that arm on Levi is pretty nice.)

My first hero only got his leg on the cover.

I did get nearly an entire hero on three of my covers, but the heroine remains the focal point.

Having my cowboy heroes front and center for the current series really heightens the rugged, western aspect of these stories centered around four former cavalry officers turned mercenaries for justice.

I love the model they chose to represent Matthew Hanger in At Love’s Command, as well as the addition of the horse as a supporting actor. However, when I asked my publisher if they had any cover mock-ups that failed to make the final cut, I was surprised to find an entirely different cowboy on the cover. One with a shy smile, rugged physique, and a lot more facial hair.

Here are a few of the first version mock-ups. Notice the different poses, the different backgrounds, even different hat colors.

If I had to pick one of these iterations, I think I would take the bottom middle. I like the hat tip, the smile, and the sunset in the background. Although, I strongly prefer the font and series designation of the one at the top left, which is most similar to the final copy.

Which of the runner-up covers for At Love’s Command is your favorite?What do you think of having a hero-centric cover? Is it less romantic without the heroine?

Going Gray

The more natural shade of my 30s.

I’ve always dreaded gray hair. Maybe that’s because my hairdresser found several gray strands on my head before I graduated from high school! From my late teens through my early 40s, I waged war against going gray, first with drug store color, then with highlights and lowlights. But somewhere in my mid-40s I made peace with gray hair. Not that I wanted it then, mind you. I was just okay with it “someday.”

Until gray hair decided to up the ante. As I inched over 50, I suddenly found the gray overtaking me in shorter periods of time. My expenses of time and money went up in my effort to hold gray at bay.

At that point, I knew one wedding was on the horizon. Not long after the first one, I knew there would be another. I decided when the weddings were finished, so was my hair color. It was earlier than I thought I’d reach that conclusion. My original thought had been to let it go when there were grandchildren. But I guess it was a good thing I’d made up my mind because shortly after the second wedding, the previously wed couple announced our first grand baby!

I had an awesome colorist in Austin who worked with me on this. We began using temporary color so that the gray could grow out beneath the color, which would fade over time. Then we began a temporary color that just washed over the gray, again letting it grow out beneath. And every 6-8 months, I did a pretty significant haircut, too.

I’m not fully gray yet, but I’m definitely getting there! And I haven’t minded it at all, even though I will likely be fully gray before my mother is—and she has never colored her hair! I thought gray hair would make me feel old. Instead, I feel empowered because I don’t have to hide part of the way God made me. And I can embrace that my gray hair shows I have some experience with life. Of course it also helps that I have friends who rock their gray!

So what is your feeling on this issue? To gray or not to gray? Of course I know a lot depends on your age, your coloring, the color and texture of the gray you get, and even your personality! Still, I’d like to hear your perspective.

Winners & more winners (is YOUR name in this blog post?)

If your name is in this post, then you’ve won something!

Today I’m announcing the four winners who each won an audiobook of Colors of Truth, a Carnton novel from my post two weeks ago.

But first . . .

I’ve got two past winners who have yet to claim their spoils. Are you one of those winners?

Here’s one last chance for these two gals to claim their prizes!

GALE you won Angie Hunt’s Sit. Stay. Forever. Please send me your snail mail address HERE, and I’ll get your book in the mail.

BROOKE T. , you won the Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe Cookbook, and I would still love to send it to you! Please send me your snail mail HERE so I can make that happen.

Before I announce the winners of the audiobooks, I have TWO quick bits of news for fans of THE CHOSEN . . .

News #1 for fans of The Chosen

I’m giving away two copies of What Does it Mean to Be Chosen: the interactive Bible Study that complements the TV series in my March 2021 giveaway.

ENTER the GIVEAWAY for THE CHOSEN’s first Bible study

News #2 for fans of The Chosen

Tonight via livestream Dallas Jenkins is announcing SEASON 2’s release date and time! Are you as excited to see Season 2 as I am?

CLICK HERE to set a reminder to
JOIN the LIVESTREAM TONIGHT 7PM Central

Dallas says—
“Save the date, assemble your family, clear your calendar, take your vitamins, do whatever you need to do to be sure you’re with us TONIGHT, March 16, 7:00 CT. Here’s what we’ll be sharing with you: • Our official Season 2 release date and time (and our entire release strategy) • Our new clothing item, along with very exciting news about ALL our products.”

By chance, if you’ve not heard of The Chosen yet, please check it out today—

THE CHOSEN—the first ever multi-season TV series about the life of Christ

And finally, CONGRATS to the following IBL&F friends who each won audiobooks of Colors of Truth!

Gals, please write me HERE and share your EMAIL ADDRESS where I can send your free code for your audiobook of Colors of Truth. And thanks to everyone who entered to win!

Are you looking forward to watching The Chosen Season 2? If you’re a fan of the show, how many times have you watched Season 1?

Much love from Nashville where spring has sprung even if it’s a little soggy today. Rain or shine, I’ll take it!

Tapping Into My Inner Math Genius

I was once the girl who couldn’t memorize multiplication tables (and to this day numbers do not stick in my head). I was once the girl who fell so far behind in 5th grade math that her teacher asked her to sit in the hallway filling out worksheets while she taught the other kids the math unit in the classroom. I was once the girl who failed math in middle school. I was once the girl who passed high school math by the skin of my teeth — understanding very little of the subject matter. Early on, I concluded that I was good at reading but bad at math.

A few years ago I saw this wonderful movie….

It’s based on a true story and one of the women, Katherine Johnson, is introduced when she’s a young girl. A young girl math genius. Genius is fascinating, isn’t it? Katherine went on to become a NASA mathematician and her work helped to ensure the success of the earliest spaceflights carrying astronauts.

After watching Hidden Figures, I thought, “What if I was to write about a math genius heroine?” The idea appealed to me more and more as time went by. And so, in my upcoming book, Let It Be Me, I followed through on that inspiration. Leah’s a former child math prodigy who graduated college at eighteen and, when it became imperative that she take custody of her young brother, became a teacher.

I began my research for Leah by reading Katherine Johnson’s book.

Then I combed YouTube for videos on female mathematicians. I found a few news stories. But then I found a gold mine of lectures given by mathematician Eugenia Cheng.

I was fascinated! She speaks to people who wouldn’t consider themselves mathematicians about math in a way I could understand. I watched video after video and took pages of notes.

A few of the things I learned from Eugenia….

~Math isn’t all about numbers. It’s about how to think. And thinking well has a good impact on the world.

~Math is the logical study of how logical things work.

~Math provides a way of looking at what things have in common. Math is about inter-connectedness. Math finds what is common and removes the other details.

~Understanding differences in logic can help us empathize. But we often let emotion drive out logic.

~Most people aren’t math phobic, they’re phobic of the way math is taught in school. Math can be creative and expressive and wonderful.  There are people who failed school math and became extraordinary mathematicians.

~Female mathematicians are in the minority.  In her college math classes, about one in ten students were female.  In Eugenia’s PhD program, there were even fewer.  She grew accustomed to being different from everyone in the room and figured she might as well make use of her difference and become memorable.

It was so empowering to listen to and learn from her! I realized I’m not “bad at math” and never was. I’m simply phobic of the way math was taught to me in school!

The opportunity to live vicariously through characters is one of the joys of writing. I rode Thoroughbred racehorses (in my imagination) when writing A Love Like Ours. And became a female body guard in Her One and Only. I’ve been a wealthy heiress, a model, a chocolatier, a famous Bible study teacher, and more.

Writing Leah’s book gave me a chance to think like a mathematician does… logically. And it turned out that, after my rocky introduction to math, it was incredibly satisfying to tap into my inner math genius while writing Let It Be Me.

Have you, like me, ever believed yourself “bad at math”? Which occupations have you enjoyed experiencing through the pages of a novel?

What I’m Reading and Excited About

Y’all there are so many great books out right now. It’s amazing! I’ve had such fun reading through a variety of great books. Here are a few that I’m enjoying with a few I can’t wait to dig into!

I adore Jen Turano’s books, and her Storing Up Trouble is one ebook deal right now for $1.99. If you haven’t read any of hers yet, then this one will give you a great feel for her Gilded Age, comedic romance. They are so fun! And I adored the characters in this one. Such a good read.

I adore Jen Turano’s books, and her Storing Up Trouble is one ebook deal right now for $1.99. If you haven’t read any of hers yet, then this one will give you a great feel for her Gilded Age, comedic romance. They are so fun! And I adored the characters in this one. Such a good read.

This collection of Katherine Reay’s books is $2.99 in ebook right now. Lizzy and Jane is one of my favorites, but all are so good. (Dear Mr. Knightley is literally sitting next to me as I type. Readers rave about it, but it’s next on my list.) Her books are inspired by different classics and have rich characters. If you haven’t tried her books, yet, this is a great way to start.

Flight Risk is one of my favorites. I adore this cover, and I love Savannah’s hunt for truth in a fake news world. It’s on ebook sale for a limited time…no idea how long, but if you love romantic suspense, I think you’ll like this one.

I’ve also gotten some amazing book mail this week. The first is Kim Duffy’s latest book, A Tapestry of Light. The cover is STUNNING. And I can’t wait to dive into this beauty of a book. I got to know Kim a bit at a writers brainstorming weekend I organized in December. Her passion for story and characters is amazing.

I also love this cover! It looks like a Gilded Age version of The Bachelor. I’m curious to see how the plot works and have heard it has amazing humor. Look at that endorsement on the cover. If Jen thinks it’s funny, I bet I will too.

What are you reading right now? Found anything fun you want to share with the rest of us? And be sure to enter the giveaway below! I’ve got more books to share!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Comparison Trap

Hi friends,

Happy to be back with you this week! Today I’m talking about an area that I’ve struggled with over the years and maybe you have too. As writers it’s so easy to fall into the comparison trap. I’m a sloooowww writer, and I have writer friends who can write a book in six weeks. Six weeks! It takes me that long just to get about a fourth of my raw draft done. And, when I say raw, I mean raw. I struggle with wanting to write faster, to be able to give my readers more books to read, but God hasn’t made me that way. He’s created me to write at a slower pace than many, and I need to trust Him. Trust His timing. Trust His plan for my writing and for my life. But that’s often easier said than done.

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There are a vast array of areas where writers can fall into that comparison trap—wanting more sales, wanting to hit a bestseller list, wanting to win an award…the list goes on.

Outside of writing, there are tons of ways we can start comparing too. The car our neighbor drives, how skinny someone else is, how in shape someone is, the size of the house someone else has. So many things we can compare, but should we be comparing?

What does Scripture say about us comparing? About us being disconnected with what we’ve been given? Or envying what someone else has? In the Ten Commandments, God says:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

~Exodus 20:17

When we compare our lot to others and yearn for more, we can sink into the trap of striving to win human approval.

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

~Galatians 1:10

Rather than comparing, we are to be content in Christ. It isn’t always easy. In fact, it can be downright hard to not look outside and compare what others have to what God has given us. But God knows and provides exactly what we need. 

“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”

~Psalm 23:1

Last but not least, God created and called us to specific work. His way is perfect. When I start to fall into that comparison trap, I have to remind myself over and over (I’m a slow learner as well) that He has a plan for me and it’s perfect.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

~ Ephesians 2:10

Question for you:

What good work has Christ called you to do? What is one area He’s gifted you in?

Blessings,

Dani

A Chance to Connect

Join Me Online March 9 & 13, 2021

I’m participating in the FREE, ONLINE Southwest Florida Reading Festival along with many other authors. It’s open to anyone from any state. My schedule is below. I’d love to see you!

Tuesday, March 9, 2021 6:00 pm CT (7:00 EST)

Inspirational Fiction Panel with Rachel Hauck, Julie Klassen, and Kim Vogel Sawyer: A moderated discussion about all-things-inspirational.

Tuesday, March 9, 2021 6:50 pm CT (7:50 EST)

LIVE Inspirational Authors Meet & Greet: Join Rachel Hauck, Kim Vogel Sawyer, and me for a casual time of Q & A and conversation.

Saturday, March 13, 2021 12 noon CT (1:00 EST)

Author “Booth” Chat: Just me, sitting online, hoping someone will say hello or ask me a question.  Pop in any time during this hour. I’ll look forward it.

How to Join Us

No need to download special software or create an account to participate. Simply visit ReadFest.org from your computer or mobile device to watch the author presentations and attend the live author meet and greets.

Hope to see you there!

Trippin’ again!

As some of you will remember, my husband, Ken, talked me into trying out the RV life. He won me over in our red Travato camper van and we were just about ready to head out on our second weeks-long trip when the pandemic hit a year ago.

When we realized it was going to be a very long time before we could travel again, we sold our camper van. We’ve done some traveling, staying in Airbnbs, which I love, but the bug has never left Ken, and he has been looking for the perfect next rig ever since. It looks like we found it, and this week we flew to Sacramento to check it out…and it turns out, to drive it home!

Spent our very first night in the Chinook at at Folsom Lake SRA Beals Point Campground near Sacramento.

We bought a 1998 Chinook Concourse with only 52,000 miles on it, and after spending almost a week in it on our way back to Missouri—via, Arizona, New Mexico, and soon through Texas (to visit our sons and family) and Arkansas—we have fallen in love with this rig!

This rig has a lot in common with our Travato, but now we have a much bigger bed that folds up to be a couch in the daytime. There’s room for both of us at the dinette to work, and a sweet little kitchen that’s really easy to cook in. There are several things we want to do to the inside to make it work best for us, but it’s in wonderful condition for such an old rig!Yes, the Chinook has a bathroom and shower (called a wet bath because everything—toilet, sink, medicine cabinet—is IN the shower and gets wet when you shower. It’s a pretty tight squeeze, but it works!

Since we flew to pick up the rig, we couldn’t bring any of our RV supplies with us, so we made some quick stops at Goodwill and Walmart and stocked the RV with just enough for the trip home. I’m pretty pleased with how it all came together and quite a few of the things we bought we’ll keep!

Even though this was a “business” trip to pick up the rig, and we’ve needed to work along the way, we’ve also enjoyed some great times seeing parts of the country we’ve never been before. The ocean is always fascinating to us, being Kansas/Missouri landlubbers!

Our views from near our campsite in Moss Landing in California.I’m always up for trying a new coffee shop!At Rockhound State Park in New Mexico.I have never been a fan of the desert, but wow it sure was beautiful last night at sunset!

I confess that following my husband into his dream of RVing across the country has been a lesson in submission and patience for me, but I have to admit, he’s won me over and I’m excited to see where our travels will take us next!

Do you like to travel? How do you prefer to go? Fly? Drive? Motorcycle? Take a train? What has been your favorite destination so far? (And it’s okay if, like me, you say “Home, sweet home!”

Blessings,

Deb~

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

Editing Until Your Brain Hurts!

Lately I’ve been in editing mode. I just completed rewrites on Never Leave Me, the second Waters of Time book, releasing early next year. (The first book in the series, Come Back to Me, releases in just a few months!)

After turning it in, I jumped into a line edit for my second Colorado Cowboy book, The Heart of a Cowboy, releasing in October of this year (which, by the way, you can pre-order for a really great deal through BakerBookHouse.com )

When I finish this particular book, I’ll be self-editing the third Colorado Cowboy book before turning it in to my publisher. (And here’s my working image of the hero of book three, Brody McQuaid. Nice, huh?)

My brain hurts from so much editing. In fact, some nights I wake up with dreams of editing!

For all those like me who get confused on the different types of editing, here’s the order a book usually goes through on the way to publication:

Self-editing: Making changes before turning the manuscript into a publisher or professional editor.

Rewrites: (aka Substantive or Macro edits): Focusing on big-picture changes in plot, character arcs, etc.

Line edits: Looking for medium issues, repetitions, accuracy, etc.

Copy edits: Checking for small details like consistency, punctuation, spelling, grammar

Proofing: Nit-picking for tiny mistakes (usually missed or additional words)

Some authors or publishers may combine two of the above. For example, one of my publishers does both line and copy edits at the same time. Other editors combine rewrites and line edits.

Overall, most books go through multiple levels of intense editing, and the author is involved in every stage, re-reading the entire book for each edit with the end goal of bringing it to a place of near perfection.

The bottom line is that every book needs multiple edits. While friends and family can certainly help along the way, nothing (and I do mean nothing) can help like a good editor.

You may be asking what goes into making a good editor?

I have worked with many, many different editors over the years, and I’ve experienced a wide spectrum of styles, temperaments, and abilities. Through the process, my skin has thickened immensely. I can take quite a bit of criticism. Even so, I don’t like when editors:

Make snarky comments or putdowns. There’s a kind way to say everything.   Brow-beat a certain “mistake” over and over. Pointing out the issue a few times early on is enough. Mentioning it all throughout is overkill (and getting frustrated is not helpful).Let personal beliefs/values ooze into the edit in such a way that it stifles the author’s voice. Or isn’t familiar with the author’s voice enough to respect it.Gloss over the book without changing enough wording or giving enough feedback.Micromanage the wording (especially without any rhyme or reason so that the author is always wondering why things were changed).

Obviously there’s no perfect editor the same way there’s no perfect author.

But over time, I’ve learned the qualities I value (and that will likely vary from author to author). For example, I love when an editor isn’t afraid to mark up my manuscript, but who does so with sound reasoning. I love when my editor takes the time to teach me the rules behind changes (so that I can make an effort to improve my skills). I love during rewrites when an editor offers suggestions and helps brainstorm new ideas. I love when an editor is able to highlight my repetitions and help me find ways to trim them.

In summary, I truly value the editing process, especially when I get to partner with a skilled editor. Even though editing is intense and takes a lot of work, it’s something I never skimp on because I want to offer readers the best book I possibly can.

How about you? Readers, how important do you think editing is? And writers, what advice do you have for anyone seeking an editor?