R.L. Anderson's Blog, page 6

A MAIN CHARACTER IS BORN

Will Nickerson backed the John Deere slowly up to the wagon parked on the gravel next to the
road that ran along the side of the Horse Arena. He throttled back and worked the clutch with
practiced ease, lining up the hole on the hitch with the one on the wagon’s long steel tongue which
was resting on the ground. Perfect. He shifted into PARK and shut down the engine.
It would be hard to find anyone who looked less like a rancher than Will. At thirty-nine, he was
five feet ten and much too skinny to look the rugged outdoorsy type–or the slightest bit athletic for
that matter. Meticulously clean-shaven, he had brown hair, most of it hidden under that darn cowboy
hat that kept wanting to blow away. His hazel eyes, framed by wire-rimmed glasses, and refined
Anglo-Saxon features all combined to give him the look of a true city boy. A banker, perhaps, or
maybe an accountant–or perhaps he looked like exactly what he was in real life–the proprietor of
Nickerson Office Supplies, the family business in downtown New Oslo that he had reluctantly taken
over when his father passed away four years earlier. But looks can be deceiving as is often the case.
There was nothing that Will Nickerson wanted more than his own ranch. He longed to be riding the
ranges on his own land, on horseback or in his pickup, with his own brand displayed proudly on his
own prize herd of Black Angus. It was nice to dream, but how frustrating it could be for someone
who did not come from a landowning family to aspire to be a rancher. He had come close–and
would have been ranching by now had it not been for Harlan Plachkow who had almost
singlehandedly prolonged his career in office supplies. It was just a setback, he kept telling himself.
Gotta regroup and make it happen. But for now he was stuck where he was in life, and volunteering
at the Ranch Park gave him an outlet for his need to be around animals and farm machinery and rub
elbows with others of similar interests. Yes, the Ranch Park was the place for wannabe ranchers.
Those who lacked the wherewithal to make it happen and those who had the determination to make
it happen at all costs. The Ranch Park offered the hands-on training; so volunteering there was the
next best thing to attending ag college–or growing up on a ranch. Will volunteered regularly one
afternoon a week. He picked Wednesdays because that was the day he was usually the least busy
at the office supply store–but now and then, when needed, he would sneak out another day–and often
helped out on weekends, too, for special events and programs. Tractor driving was his favorite
volunteer job, and he liked the Ranch Camp hayrides the best of all. He’d done them for the past
five years and couldn’t wait for the new season to begin. In addition, he hauled and stacked hay, fed
the animals in the Critter Corral–and his skills as a photographer were becoming renowned
throughout the Ranch Park. Several of his photographs had been published in the Ranch Park
Roundup, the small monthly magazine the park distributed to its members.

From Ranch Park, Chapter 2, ‘The Tractor Driver’, as we meet Will Nickerson for the very first time.

They say most authors’ first novels are autobiographical–so I thought why fight it? I designed my main character based more or less on myself. Sometimes like I am in real life. Sometimes like I’d like to be. In searching for a name for this character, I dug into the roots of our family tree. My first ancestor to come to America was a William Nickerson, who immigrated to Cape Cod from England in 1637. His son and grandson were also named William Nickerson. And so, as a tribute to a proud heritage on my mother’s side, I chose the name Will Nickerson. This is a character I can relate to. He’s basically me–so it’s easy to put myself in his shoes. Admittedly I do, at times, put him into more dangerous situations than I would attempt, as in the truck chase scene in Ranch Park, or the breakneck downhill mountain bike ride in It’s A Place For Trees, but for the most part he does what I would do in most situations and interacts with the other characters as I would do, were I to meet them in my daily life. We both share the same likes and dislikes (for example, we both like our coffee lukewarm), the same goals in life, drive the same make of pickup and have similar family backgrounds. We aren’t in exactly the same business–but closely related fields. My business is actually repairing typewriters (yes, there are those who still use them), but I put him in the office supplies business instead, since I think it’s something today’s readers would relate to more readily than fixing ‘office dinosaurs’. Since it is a related field, I am very familiar with office supplies as well; so it is easy to portray Will as being in that business, with all the trials and tribulations of battling the big box stores and selling products that nobody really WANTS–just utilitarian things that go with work. We both would rather be ranching. In the series, Will has an inquisitive mind that takes him far away from the humdrum of the office world, and somehow he always manages to find himself in situations that call for his services as an amateur detective. And, of course, he needs a few partners in crime–crime solving, that is–and so how about a leading lady or two? Stay tuned!

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries.

Available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon.com. Also on Nook and Kobo.

WAKEUP CALL

Tough luck, like many of life’s clouds that drift our way, can have its own special silver lining. In my case, tough luck turned out to be just the kick that I needed to awaken the sleeping author in me. It’s the trying times in one’s life that can breed creativity as one copes with the less pleasant things that come our way. Forced to sell out in ND and return to Ohio for the time being, I volunteered for awhile at a small farm-related theme park, to further my hands-on agricultural training. I did lots of cool stuff like driving hayrides, stacking hay, feeding the animals in the little petting zoo, and I did lots of photography for their special events. That sparked an interest in agritourism–and so I made up my mind that when I do eventually get back into ranching, it will be an agritourism operation, as well as a working ranch. Raising cattle is great–but taking paying tourists on scenic and educational tours is even better. I learned that I am a ‘people person’ after all–not someone who craves isolation and solitude. I thought about a kind of ‘Ranch Park’ as my goal. I started making notes on how it will be laid out, what kinds of tours, etc. will be offered, and even special events that I’d like to have.
The theme park where I volunteered, unfortunately, like many organizations, was plagued by petty rivalries and hostilities between volunteers and staff, and I ended up leaving there on less-than-friendly terms. And that’s when I started writing again in earnest. Suddenly the ideas began to flow. They popped like fireworks in my brain. Characters, settings and a story began to unfold. I challenged myself: I bet I can write a novel! An agritourism theme park, located in ND, near where my ranch had been. The kind of place I’d like to own someday, filled with cool stuff for visitors to do, to experience the great American west, with wagon rides, animal exhibits, summer camps for kids, special event festivals and much more. What an awesome setting! A fictional place, of course, and to make it a novel, it needed characters and a plot. I chose to go with the ‘whodunit’ genre, as I had been reading lots of mysteries and crime thrillers, such as Les Roberts, John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, William F. Buckley, and lots more in related genres, including a vintage South African mystery in the Afrikaans language that a friend in that country had sent me, called Moord op Alles Verloren (Murder on Alles Verloren). (Alles Verloren, the name of a fictional farm in the story, translates roughly as All is Lost, in German, Dutch or Afrikaans). I thought, I bet I can write one of these, too! So I sat down at my computer and my own whodunit, Ranch Park took shape right before my very eyes. It almost seemed to write itself. The characters are the best part in any story–so stay tuned as my next post will delve into how ‘Will and the Gang’, as a friend calls them, came to be.

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries.

In paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.com. Also on Nook and Kobo.

WELCOME TO NORTH DAKOTA

A long held dream of mine is to own a cattle ranch–and a few years ago, before a bout of tough luck came my way and the economy went sour I was almost there. I knew I didn’t want to stay in northeast Ohio–where, unfortunately, I have found myself stuck again after a series of economic setbacks. But oh well–it’s not forever.

Anyway–I researched cattle ranching opportunities in Montana and Wyoming, which everybody told me were the best places to go. But I found nothing affordable that was to my liking. On one trip to eastern Montana I found myself close to the ND border. So–I thought why not drive over into ND and add another state to the list of the ones I’ve been in. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. I basically expected Illinois or Indiana or maybe even Ohio. But when I saw the Badlands and the town of Medora, I thought WOW! This is GREAT country!! I’m really missing the boat by not considering ND.

So I got in touch with real estate agents, and one in Williston found me a nice 1200 acre spread overlooking Lake Sakakawea. The photo on the cover of my first novel Ranch Park, was taken there. Of all the hundreds of photos I took when I had the ranch, that was my favorite. That view seemed to embody the spirit of the great American West. It was a great place and seemed to have everything going for it–till personal disaster struck. My father became ill with some kind of neurological problems that the doctors never figured out–but I am of the opinion that it was all brought on by years of poisoning from the use of carbon tet and other toxic cleaners that he used in the office machines business. He was sick for two years before he passed away, and my mother and I were drafted as full time caregivers during that long and tough convalescence. I was forced to sell my ND ranch and return to Ohio and take over Dad’s office machine repair business. Tough luck. Just one of those unexpected setbacks that life throws at you. Nothing you can do about it. Just grit your teeth and tough it out. But, there are other cattle ranches out there, and somewhere there’s one waiting for me with my name on it. I know it’s there. And my experiences with the one I had were big influences in the eventual reawakening of that sleeping author deep inside me.

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries

Available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon.com, and also on Nook and Kobo.

IT TAKES A LIAR

To be a good fiction writer, you’ve gotta be a good liar. That’s a must. After all nearly everything we write is untrue, except for a few facts now and then that we stick in for some background color. For the most part, though, we write about people and places that don’t exist and events that are entirely made up. Unlike the well known liars in other fields, however, we don’t do it to deceive or cheat–but rather to entertain. And whether you prefer a novel or a movie or a TV show or a play–if it’s fiction you’re being entertained by lies. That’s what the art of making up stories is all about. Tell some real whoppers for the purpose of entertainment.

Making up stories seemed to come naturally to me, from early childhood on. I guess, growing up an only child, I spent more time either by myself or with adults that with other kids–so I never saw much point in playing organized games–following somebody else’s rules. I wasn’t much good at ball-related games anyway, as I was always very nearsighted and wore rather thick glasses, and so couldn’t see the ball properly. My natural instinct kicked in–when I saw a ball coming at me, I just wanted to run and get out of the way! So–instead–I much preferred being by myself and making up adventure stories–stories that took me to faraway places, and as a kid I was especially into science fiction. Being by myself developed the art of creativity. So what if I couldn’t play football? And so what if I was lousy in math? I could do something else that most other kids couldn’t. I began to write my stories down on paper and in high school I got extra credit in English class for them. Later I took a course in writing children’s books and for awhile I dabbled in writing sci fi for kids. That was all pre-Internet. No Amazon.com, no Kindle, no Nook or Kobo. Getting something published meant sending manuscripts in to publishers–and the odds of an unknown author getting anything accepted by that means are comparable to winning the lottery. Many millions to one odds against it. That realization dampened my interest in a writing career, and so I went on to other pursuits. I also got tired of sci fi–and did not like the direction that genre has taken, as it has morphed more into horror and graphic violence. My reading habits drifted away from sci fi, and I found myself reading just about everything else. Adventure stories, westerns, historical fiction, spy thrillers–and lots of whodunits, too. My mother encouraged me to do more writing–but what to write? She had in mind that I should stick to children’s books–maybe write something about cutesy anthropomorphic animals–but no inspiration for that came my way. I wouldn’t rule out writing a children’s book at some point–but being a single adult with little or no contact with kids, the inspiration isn’t there at the moment. I didn’t have any ideas. The author inside me simply fell into a long and deep sleep.

Stay tuned...

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries.

Available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon.com, and also on Nook and Kobo.

WHAT THE HECK IS A HUSEY?

To be an author of any kind, it takes a love of language. That’s a must. Writing is an art, with the paper and pencil or typewriter–or the word processing program on the computer–being the canvas and brush–and words are the paint. Then, it depends on what type of author you want to be, how you put the art of language to use. If you want to write nonfiction, it takes tons of patience to do all the research needed. You need to learn all the facts and be truly passionate about research. I admire the patience and perseverance of those who are skilled in that regard, and I enjoy reading their works, particularly on non-political historical, geographical and nature and science related subjects. To write fiction, however, takes a very different skill. True, there may be some research needed, to get in some background facts–but overall, writing fiction demands a good liar. Let’s face it. We fiction writers are the biggest liars of all. We write about people and places that don’t exist–and all of our stories are made up and have little or no basis in fact. We have to tell fibs in a way that makes them believable, for the purpose of entertaining our readers. That’s what fiction is all about. I’ve always enjoyed making up stories, which I’ll get into in a later post.

First, however, we’ll get back to Rule Number 1, an affinity for language. Now, my family tree is, overall, very mathematical, with lots of brilliant experts in the financial and tech fields. My mother is an accountant and served as Fiscal Officer for our township. We’ve got the math in our family–but none of that rubbed off on me. I typically got C’s and now and then a D in math, in spite of taking the easiest level of math that the school offered. Yes, I was the oddball in our extended family tree. I much preferred words over numbers. I seem to have taken after both of my grandmothers, who were also oddballs in the family, being linguists rather than mathematicians. On my dad’s side, my Swedish American grandmother picked me out at an early age as the one of her grandchildren who “should” learn the Swedish language. She apparently taught me a few words of it when I was too young to know what was going on. My dad and his brothers never learned Swedish, as they were of the generation when it wasn’t cool to be ethnic. You’re an American–so you speak English–period. But things had changed by the time my generation came along–and as it became cool indeed to be ethnic, my grandmother taught me a few words of svenska. Enough that it appeared to have activated the language learning center in my brain. My parents didn’t know why I used the nonsensical word “husey” for “house”. And I didn’t know why either–but much later, when I studied Swedish in earnest (I now speak it semi-fluently), we found a most curious similarity between “huset” (“the house”) in the Scandinavian languages and my “made up” word “husey”. Other words came back, too, such as “bil” (car), “tåg” (train) and “stuga” (cottage).

My grandmother on my mother’s side was a Latin, French and English teacher and a school librarian, and being of German descent, she could say a few things in German, as well. She was a powerful influence on my childhood and adolescence and gave me a huge boost in the language field. We played word games, such as making up our own crossword puzzles and writing deliberately misspelled letters, which we called “Rong-Speld Leterz” to each other. That actually helped my spelling, as it made me more aware of the importance of spelling, and in the sixth grade I won our school spelling contest. Then, when I took Latin and French in high school, we wrote each other letters in those languages. And unlike math, I usually aced my Latin and French classes. So–I was not cut out to be an accountant, but rather, a writer.

Stay tuned as the dialogue continues...

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries

Available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon.com and also in Nook and Kobo e-book editions.

WELCOME 2014!

A new year represents a new beginning, and as I mentioned on my previous post, it’s good riddance to old ‘Unlucky 13' for me. And so, in the spirit of beginnings, I thought in my next few posts, for what it’s worth, I’d share with you a few thoughts on the beginning of my writing. That is, what, in my opinion, it takes to be an author and how the Will Nickerson Mysteries series came to be. How did a guy from Ohio come to write about North Dakota? How could someone from the most typical suburban community you can imagine come to write about rural America? How could someone from a family of accountants and office workers come to write about cattle and horses, tractors and barns, prairies and Badlands? Well–guess that sounds like FAQ’s, which are all those canned questions you see on websites, that nobody really asks, which answer everything BUT what you want to know. But–for what it’s worth–we’ll get into all that and see how it all came together to build my series of country ‘whodunits’ whose home base is the fictional town of New Oslo, North Dakota. Stay tuned...

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries

A SILVER LINING TO UNLUCKY 13

Well–2013 is rapidly leaving us, and for me, in most ways, it’s GOOD RIDDANCE! True to the year’s name, 2013 has been “Unlucky 13" for me, as my small business continues to be hard hit by the economy. Worst of all, it’s been a year of devastating loss due to a disastrous real estate investment venture, a rental property that’s worth only a fraction of what I paid for it 7 years ago, just before the housing market crash. For me–and for many others I’ve talked to, it’s hard to find much to like about 2013.

But–to look for that proverbial silver lining to the dark cloud that this year has been, I look to my emerging writing career. 2013 has been a year of great advances in that area of my life. To start with, in the opening months of the year, the Will Nickerson Mysteries became available in print for the first time. Previously, Ranch Park, It’s A Place For Trees and Viking It Is were available only as Kindle and Nook e-books. So many people told me, “I’d like to read your books–IF ONLY I could get them in print. I like to read a REAL book.” I listened–and to be honest, I agree. I much prefer to read a real book, myself. But how? I’m a self publishing author and can’t afford to gamble, paying a printer thousands for books that may or may not sell. Then I found out about CreateSpace, a company owned by Amazon, that offers self-publishing authors an alternative. Printing On Demand publishing. No money changes hands till someone orders a book. When they do, it’s printed and shipped to them, and the author is paid a royalty. As long as you have some basic computer savvy, and can do the formatting and cover design yourself, there’s no up front investment. It works–and the quality of the books is great. And I must admit, I feel sooooo much more like a real author when I have a real paperback with my name on it that I can hold in my hands and flip through the pages and see that YES–it is my writing. The printed versions of my novels can be ordered either from Amazon.com or CreateSpace.com. Although I get a somewhat higher royalty when they’re ordered from the CreateSpace online store, Amazon.com is more of a household name for most folks, so it’s Amazon.com that I usually direct potential buyers to. Either way, you’ll get the same great quality 6x9 paperback. I’ll tell you more details about CreateSpace publishing in a future post.

Then, during the past summer I also put my books on a third e-book market, the Toronto-based Kobo publishing platform, which a Canadian friend told me about. Kobo is available worldwide and is BIG in Canada, and therefore, it seemed a great way to expand my sales north of the border. And it’s paying off, too, as I am now getting more Canadian e-book sales through Kobo. Since Canada is right next door to North Dakota, where most of my stories are based, it’s natural to weave Canadian characters and now and then a Canadian setting into the stories. For a possible future story, I might consider sending Will on a road trip to Canada to work on solving a mystery in that great northern land. I’ve made many trips to Canada, having at least set foot in nine of its ten provinces and I have great friends in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Alberta–so yes, a Canadian based story is a possibility.

And getting back to Amazon, this year brought me my first sales in Great Britain, Germany and Australia, some paperback, some Kindle, all on the Amazon site. It’s great to be going international with my writing.

Finally, in the fall, the newest member of the Will Nickerson Mysteries family, Let’s Make It Merry Christmas, made its debut simultaneously in print and on all three competing e-book platforms, Kindle, Nook and Kobo, that my first three books are on.

I’ve also begun work on the next installment in the series, which I hope to have in print and e-book form by the end of 2014. I won’t go into much detail for now, but look for Will to visit a working guest ranch in Wyoming.

So, yes, if we dig deep enough it is possible to find that silver lining to 2013, and let’s bid it goodbye and look ahead to a great 2014.

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries

BOXING DAY: IT'S NOT FISTICUFFS

Boxing Day greetings to all of my friends in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and to everyone throughout the Commonwealth. And for those who aren’t familiar with this very British Christmastime tradition, Boxing Day, the day after Christmas has nothing to do with fisticuffs. Rather, it comes from the tradition in England in centuries past of giving gifts in small boxes to servants, tradesmen and public workers such as mailmen, chimney sweeps, lamplighters, street cleaners, etc. All those folks of modest means whose work held together the fabric of English society. Boxing Day recognizes the Christian spirit of giving and it remains today as an integral part of the Christmas celebration in the former British Empire. So if you live in the Commonwealth or if you’re an Anglophile like me, have a great Boxing Day!

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

GLEDELIG JUL GOD JUL GLÆDELIG JUL FROHE WEIHNACHT JOYEUX NOËL FELIZ NAVIDAD BUON NATALE GESEËNDE KERSFEES

Whatever your language and wherever you call home, have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries

A FRIENDLY INVASION

Got a customer, Will thought as he caught sight of the red Chevy Trail Blazer parked directly in front of Nickerson Office Supplies. But Rose can handle it... He started across the street, toward Norske Knickknacks. No traffic was coming. About halfway across he paused and glanced back at the red SUV. Saskatchewan license. Bumper sticker that read FOLLOW ME TO THE TRUCKERS’ PARADISE. Truckers’ Paradise? Uff da. His mind raced back to that summer day when he had stopped in there for lunch on a brief jaunt north of the border. Danielle. In his mind’s eye he could see her face. Truck stop waitress extraordinaire. They had hit off instantly. When it came time to pay the bill they exchanged email addresses. They kept in touch now and then. He always intended to drive the hour and a half north to the little Canadian bordertown and see her again. But somehow or other Jenine had always managed to talk him out of it. That in spite of his insistence that it was just a platonic friendship and nothing more. Gotta check this out. He made an about face and headed toward his own store. If it’s someone who frequents the Truckers’ Paradise, chances are it’s someone who would know Danielle.
Once inside the store he was in for a shock. No, not a bad kind of shock. This was a shock of the pleasant kind.
“Will!” She rushed up to him and gave him a positively smothering hug.
“Danielle! It’s you!” For several seconds he held her close to him. “You’re here!”
“Yes. I...”
“What’re you doing here?”
“I brought you a Christmas present...” Her voice carried a certain playful lilt as she let loose a wry smile.

From Let’s Make It Merry Christmas, Chapter 14, “Gnome Invasion”. Hmmmmm... What’s this all about? Does Jenine have some competition here? Check it out in Let’s Make It Merry Christmas, and you’ll meet this alluring young lady in Ranch Park and Viking It Is, too. They’re all in paperback and Kindle from Amazon.com and also in Nook and Kobo editions.

R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries.