Rain Trueax's Blog, page 35

snippet from Arizona Sunset

In Arizona Sunset , when Sam and Abby first actually meet, it's not love at first sight on either side. Here's a snippet from the book. For anyone thinking of reading this book, the eBook goes up to $4.99 in October; so save a dollar and get it now.

The setting is Arizona Territory 1883. Abigail Spencer has ridden with a coworker out of Tucson to retrieve a stolen shipment, she hopes, which is meant to be an adventure. She finds more than she expected. Her life is about to change in ways she never imagined possible and this is the beginning.




          She went to where Martin lay curled on his side, his eyes closed. There was blood on his hair. She felt for his pulse and determined it to be strong. She put her gun into the pocket of her jacket, threw it over her saddle, and took her canteen to where Martin lay. When she started to kneel at his side, she realized they were no longer alone in the clearing. How could she have forgotten that other man?       She ran toward her horse and gun, but before she could reach them, a horseman had raced to her, swooping her up in a long, hard arm. Although she couldn't see the face of the one who'd captured her, there were six men on horses now ringing her--hard, rough looking men.          She kicked out at the man, his horse, anything to force him to drop her. She heard a deep masculine laugh and it increased her efforts to free herself. She bent and bit the hand that held her, her teeth sinking deep into the soft flesh between thumb and finger. In another moment she landed on her knees, like a cat she leaped to her feet. Again she ran for her horse, but the man who had held her was quicker as he flung himself from his horse and put his hard muscled body in front of her. He was a solid wall, stopping her so abruptly that only his strong hand kept her from bouncing back so hard that she would have landed on her posterior.          "Looking for something?" he asked, white teeth flashing in a swarthy, bearded face as he turned and delved into her coat for the gun.          She reached for it, desperate beyond clear thinking. A tall man, he easily held it above her grasp and laughed again. "Don't think I'm that much of a fool, lady. I saw what you did to that one." He gestured with his thumb toward the body.          She didn't know if it was the cool grin on the rugged face or his words that infuriated her more. She only knew she was too angry to be frightened. "Give me my gun," she demanded.          He shook his head. The other men, who hadn't dismounted, laughed. One of them yelled, "I'd be glad to help iff'n you want." Another added, "She too much for you, boss?" "          The tall man laughed. "Maybe so. We'll see." He eyed her a little warily, then glanced down at his hand which was bleeding from her bite. "Hope you ain't been foaming at the mouth, Ma'am." He chuckled at her thinly suppressed rage.         She knew, not knowing at what moment she'd recognized the truth, that she'd seen him before, that he'd filled her dreams for nights since. He was the man in black, who was no longer a dream but now a living nightmare. She chastised herself for having romanticized an outlaw. Had a wish gotten through at the shrine despite her skepticism?

mysteries in the eBook world

If you are a writer of eBooks, you are familiar with Amazon's policy of allowing someone to keep an eBook one day short of a week and return it for full credit with no reasons needed other than you were dissatisfied. So basically the reader can read it, decide it wasn't one they'd want on their device and return it. Writer will then not get the money which doesn't cost writer anything as writer didn't have it anyway; but Amazon is out some money for those transactions.

Most of the time I haven't had that happen except in the UK system where I am pretty sure there are those who regularly buy the books, read and return them as a way of economizing. From what I had heard, they cannot do it forever as Amazon will cut them off if they begin to see a pattern. Not sure though how many they can get away with before that happens-- or do they just open a new account? I hope they aren't also the ones who have taken some of my books, copied them and then put them on a site that gives them away for free.

Obviously, some returns are just accidents where someone clicked a button, didn't mean to and immediately retracts it. That one makes the most sense as reading a book, then deciding you didn't like it, is cheating and the equivalent of going into a clothing store, buying a nice dress, tucking in the labels and wearing it to an affair, returning it the next day to get your money back. It's stealing whether someone wants to call it that or not. I've read a lot of books I hated or at least the part before I quit reading. I delete them from my device or throw them in the garbage. I wouldn't even think I had the right to ask for a refund since I did read it (most of it) and had chosen it.

There is another kind of return, which might reflect a deeper level of disdain. It's where someone buys a book, and then just before a week later, they return it. I had one of those last week and it's the kind where I wish writers were given the information on the reason given for the return-- not who but why. It could turn up on a vicious review but often in my experience, it hasn't. It just disappears from the list of sales leaving a mystery.

Were they gaming the system? Or did they get some kind of misleading feeling from the blurb, sample chapters and cover that led them to purchase it and then be actually angry at what it really was about. I can see how the recent book might've been the latter. It wasn't a book I had been promoting; so its sale had been a surprise when I saw it. Remember one thing about the author lists (if you aren't one) that refund shows up. Maybe the returner wants it that way as the ultimate insult.

Hidden Pearl is a story about cults. It involves a mystery of sorts but it's not a real fast moving, filled with adventure story-- more of a building to recognize what happened and then what can be done about it. It involves our own inner search. I suppose where it could mislead is using a term that is in the Bible because Jesus was giving a parable about how we should look for things of great value and not be duped by those of lesser. Saving me writing the essence behind it here, below is one of my dialogues on it.



I could imagine a fundamentalist or even someone in a cult might be offended by that book except it seems they'd have recognized what it was about before they ever bought it, let alone had it for days. Maybe it was just a scam that cost Amazon some money and left me scratching my head.

romance heroines are

So if bad boys have a lot of appeal in romances, who are the heroines? That can be pretty diverse; so all I can say is who mine are. They are always strong women. I just can't get interested in spending months working on a book with a heroine who constantly and stupidly gets herself into messes that a strong man has to fix. I know that has a lot of appeal from romance readers. It must as there are a lot of such books out there. Not gonna find it in mine.

image purchased from CanStockWhat I like in a heroine, besides her strength, is her willingness to look at a situation with a clear head and deal with it. If she can't figure it out from the first, she will. She might have things to learn and as in one of my books, have a little paranoia based on past experiences, but she recognizes it and sets out to correct it. My heroines are all able to change their minds when the situation requires it.

I have never written a book with a bimbo or stupid heroine. I have had them be a mix of professions-- artists, lawyers, teachers, decorators, office managers, photojournalists, singers, gas pump jockeys, wantabe journalists, and only one homemaker. Pretty much they are young women from their 20s to their mid 30s who might be virgins or have been in previous relationships. They are never promiscuous.

The woman has to be someone I'd like because once I start a book with her, I am going to be with her a lot of time. She has to be someone I could find as a friend. To spend a book with a dingbat would have me wanting to kill her off by the last chapter!

My heroines are all pretty but mostly its their character that draws to them the kind of hero who is worthy of a book. Beauty is good but interesting people are better.

On Pinterest, I have a board for romance heroines, the images I found that I felt best captured the essence of the women whose stories I am telling:

romance heroines   
Interestingly it does help to visualize these characters and buying images has proven to be one way I do that. Mine generally have come from CanStock with a few exceptions. When I need to put them into an historical period, I get creative with my photo-paint tools. The main thing always is that they have faces that to me reflect strength-- modern or historical women.

I should add that my heroine for the fourth Oregon historical, she's a warrior herself. First one I've ever written like that although I've written plenty who can become warriors when required.

bad boys-- oh yeah you know who I mean...

This is a biggie involving romance books in particular. If you make the 'bad boy' attractive, the desirable hero for the heroine to want (and hopefully remake), what are your books teaching? Is it leading women to make poor choices in their own life or does what someone reads even relate?

According to this video, there are reasons women in real life do choose bad boys. Maybe it helps to explain their popularity in romance novels also.

the appeal of bad boys
What I try to write is books where the heroes are rough boys but not bad boys. I do not write nor want to read the kind of book, that was so popular when romance novels first went sexual, with a hero who treats the heroine abominably (for assorted reasons including misjudging her) then changes when he finally falls in love with her. I still hold my nose when I come across the rare one of those. Sorry, but I don't buy the thesis in a book or reality.

But now, the rough guy who has a good center, who doesn't mistreat her but also won't let her pull him around by her apron strings, that is a great hero for real life as well as fictionally.

This isn't new. In his films, Humphrey Bogart was a good example of a bad boy who has a good heart. What he was in real life, who knows but he looked rough enough (think Casablanca) and yet he was vulnerable and open to love. Another actor  who can pull it off is Robert De Niro. The younger generation it's harder to say about as it takes a little seasoning to really look rough or tough. Acting mean, that's a lot easier and youth can handle that one but it doesn't make them the hero type.

Except today when so many films do have heroes that are mean and actually despicable. Where is that redeeming quality of nobleness that films used to have? Without it, what is the film or book teaching?

Writers write the story they have in them. I've said that a lot of times. But I believe there is a responsibility in what we turn out. There should be a message that enriches life-- not tears it apart. That may not always work out, but it's the goal or what is the purpose of writing?

I had experience with that rough man with the heart of gold with my father who was a mean looking man. Having a hero with a bit of a mean streak but who has had to work to suppress and overcome it, that makes for a good hero. He's the man who knows he wants a good woman and won't be hitting her around or browbeating her. I want a hero who can win the battles and not destroy everything as he does it.

The true bad boy, he's one to leave behind in literature or life. Okay, he can be the villain and maybe even redeem himself in the end, but he doesn't get the girl-- not in my books.

creativity and food

Although I haven't written about it before, this was the summer I had to go gluten free. I had been having abdominal pain, figured it was just one of those things and tried all the natural things I knew before I resorted to the doctor who immediately said that with my symptoms, it sounded like food allergy. I had kind of been thinking that way and had cut out the gluten for about a week but what I have learned regarding gluten is taking it away for a week isn't enough because of what it's been doing.

So I went through some other tests to be sure there was nothing else wrong as I began to get an education regarding gluten and how to live without it. It's not easy and most of the time I find it's easier to just eliminate the bread type products than try to find something you can cook or buy that is a substitute.

Making it more difficult for me was needing to also avoid dairy. This is something I had known for sometime as it leads to eczema type breakouts for me. I've cheated and eaten the cheese or used real butter because it seemed worth a few breakouts. What wasn't worth it was if it was also impacting my abdomen.

What i learned about these abdominal problems is that pain isn't from gas. It's inflammation. You really cannot ignore it because it can lead to worse. So I've gotten an introduction to more and more gluten free flours, products, and found that if cooking regularly is a creative challenge, going gluten-free is even more so.

Anyway in the midst of this, I came across this by someone's posting it on Facebook. It's not only funny but lovely. If you've ever tried to go gluten-free, it's even funnier.

why it might have gotten boring

I was scanning over someone's blog, someone I don't regularly read and at the moment, can't recall how to get back to her, she asked her readers to find a favorite quote on writing. It could be their own or someone else's. Now I have said a lot of great things on writing-- too bad I can't at the moment recall any-- but her saying that made me go looking for something someone else said that I particularly liked because I can so relate to it.


"In many cases when a reader puts a story aside because it 'got boring,' the boredom arose because the writer grew enchanted with his powers of description and lost sight of his priority, which is to keep the ball rolling.”  
Stephen King in On Writing

our choices...

? guess who broke the electric lineare they supposed to be heredo they care
As a writer of a certain type of book, a writer who writes the stories I want to write, I am always interested in why others choose to write or read the books they do. The latest book to tweak my interest arose from an article in the Daily Beast.

An Intellectual Whodunit
The question I have often asked others-- why read a book about unpleasant people and events (unless it's non-fiction). Why be wrapped up in a writer's story aimed purely at disillusioning you about life with fiction as the tool to do it? Isn't the newspaper enough to do that?

One possible reason could be what is suggested in the article:

 “It’s a novel, and once you’ve finished a novel, what happened in it is of little importance and soon forgotten. What matters are the possibilities and ideas that the novel’s imaginary plot communicates to us and infuses us with.”    from The Infatuations by Javier Marias

The thing is-- what will those ideas leave us with when the story is about horrible happenings and worse people? Can't we get positive ideas from far more enjoyable reads? Is this some kind of torture bearing test? You know, even a lowly romance can leave the reader with thoughts and ideas that don't leave when the plot ties up the ends. So what is the benefit in reading all these books that tear the reader up?
 
I get it that some are prestigious books to read and that alone will draw readers. They then have something to talk about with a literary group of friends as they possibly debate how valuable are the writer's endless ponderings and whether he/she was too graphic or not graphic enough regarding life.

The review in Daily Beast suggests that the appeal of Marias' books are because they offer a possibly lurid adventure in a literary setting which means the literati can read them and not feel guilty at lowering their standards-- particularly since it was a Spanish writer.

The last time I read books because they were 'the' books to read I was in college and I wanted to read a lot of what was at that time considered the greatest writings. I read everything by some writers like Steinbeck or Hemingway and a lot of others on the list of 'supposed to have read'. The project ended when I was pregnant and about to have a baby. Baby books, like Dr. Spock took over and I rarely ever again felt a need to get back to reading something because I should.

I felt a bit tempted by this one. It's on Kindle and even though the sample had run together paragraphs and already seemed ponderous, still it's an example of what some consider the thing to read-- which might mean that I, as a writer, should find out what that means. I'm still trying to decide if that's enough reason to put myself through it. I have a feeling it won't be.

As a writer you do have to wonder what is doing well. You ask yourself if there are aspects to these NY Times bestsellers that you could adopt. It would be easy for me to write pages and pages of endlessly philosophizing.  I think that way myself. But... maybe readers only tolerate that when they think it came from a literary genius.

Inspiration for a book-- Joyce Maynard

There are some writers whose work I follow even if I don't read all of their books. One such has been Joyce Maynard where I got my start with her years back when she wrote a weekly newspaper column about her life (forerunner to blogs). She evidently revealed more than was comfortable to her family; and when her marriage broke up, she ended the column.

She again appeared in the news for her book regarding her relationship with J.D Salinger when she had been in college and they became lovers for a time. Some condemned her for the book feeling she invaded the famous recluse's privacy. Sorry but it was her life also, and I think she had every right to tell her story. Now that he has died, there are more such stories out there as people try to piece together who this man was-- more than who the women were.

Maynard is still writing best selling fiction, living a creative life, recently got married, has a blog, as well as does writing workshops. In the link below, she wrote about her most recent book, due out in August, and the inspiration behind it. I thought prospective writers here might find the story interesting.

After Her by Joyce Maynard
Ideas for books come from so many things and if you are wanting to be a writer but have yet to find the inspiration, definitely newspaper stories are one possibility. It naturally takes more than one story to get a book but it can be a start along with research.

She also discusses the importance of sales even to a writer who has been out a long while. Sales gets her books onto the NY Times lists. Sales get an indie writer onto Amazon's lists of books. It's all about sales as sales lead to sales. With her book, Labor Day, having a film coming out this year starring Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet, you wouldn't think it'd be an issue for her but it obviously is.

In this article there is a link to her video discussing her book

Support and networking

In Saturday's blog at Rainy Day Thought, I wrote about the lack of support often seen in our country for all indie arts (painting, writing, sculpture, music). One of the commenters said something I thought was so true. "I do find that fellow artists ... are more supportive than folks who don't produce art. We know the creative experience, and the joy of selling our work."

In Amazon's Meet Our Authors forum, I have seen so much support for other authors that it's heartening. They take joy in someone's winning a contest or getting a good review from a top reviewer. They write about the works they have bought and enjoyed or what other authors are doing. What these writers understand and in which I've written here and totally believe-- we don't lose when we encourage others in what we are also doing. The pie isn't a certain size; and if they win, we lose. We all win by building positive energy.

In that vein, I thought I'd share a few of their blog URLs here for anyone who is interested in learning what's going on with other writers, what their latest project is, and who they are. These are just the ones I regularly peek in to see what they are doing. There are many more out there like them and if you have such places and would like to tell others, share them in the comments.

Peggy L. Henderson  Paty Jager Lyn Horner Charlene Raddon Keta Diablo Susan Horsnell Ellen O'Connell MK McClintock Carol A. Spradling
There are a few others I read when I come across them, not to mention some group blogs which you can find if you click on the authors' names above.

Marketing is my weakest point; and when I got into this in December 2011, I knew without a corporation behind a writer, marketing would be key. I understood that it would take going beyond Amazon to even get books seen.

To figure out how to market your work, you can buy a lot of books or go to many websites. Some of their ideas I have tried like Twitter (which I still don't really understand how it works to get your work seen), Pinterest, Facebook, and blogs just for the books.

In my opinion, after almost two years, it is the networks that help the most; and when it is made up of writers who support each other, that's the best of the best. Even if it didn't sell a book, it's the support that makes a writer not feel so alone.

For me, when I see the writers encouraging each other, it puts out a positive energy. So much of being a writer is solitary that it's good to go somewhere and see that kind of support which I've seen time and time at Meet Our Authors Forum and its 'Western Romance Authors Post Here' link.

August sunset in the Oregon Coast Range from our place

when everything isn't perfect

For about a month I've had a bout of sinusitis. I even resorted to the doctor and antibiotics when I got a fever. That took care of fever but the allergy situation remains which means I have to take antihistamines and sometimes decongestants. There is very little that drags me out more than that. Oh one thing does-- a bout of sinusitis. Anyway it makes it hard to stay enthusiastic about books or really any kind of thinking. Thinking? what's that? Just something I used to do.

So I've been editing, working on revamping trailers, and generally trying to get my body to remember what it's supposed to be doing-- contrary to what it is doing.

Oh was this supposed to be upbeat as a post? Not like the news is going to do that either... So about all I can put together for the blog here is a piece out of one of my books-- Desert Inferno .

Hey, it's a romance-- gotta be some of that once in awhile in a snippet, right? I created an image for the back of the paperback and the trailer because Jake is not supposed to be the typical handsome type guy. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a a model image of someone who can both look ugly and handsome? It might appear in Google images but not in the sites that sell images royalty free. Let me tell you nearly impossible-- hence I created my own.



“Babe, it’s all biology.”“I don’t think it is. I think with you and me there was something there that first day and we both could have walked away from it. You would have.”“And why didn’t you?”“Because I hadn’t felt it before, that magnetic pull to get close to a man, to learn who they were, to follow the trail where it went with them. I wasn’t sure I ever would again if I walked away from what was possible.”“What is possible is a dead-end.”“I won’t deny that could be, but don’t you want to know—for sure? Some things aren’t logical. Feelings don’t always fit facts. Sometimes though they are strong enough to surmount what might seem insurmountable.”“You think that’s what this is?” “Jake, ours is a story that hasn’t yet been written. It could be by us.” Her smile was confident and so sexy that he felt as though the wind had been knocked from his lungs. "How would you write our story? If I am the princess, who are you?”“I wouldn’t write a story about us because there isn’t an us.”“No imagination,” she teased. “Want to hear mine?” He shook his head. “The princess looked over the men in her father’s kingdom and everyone was found wanting for one reason or another. One was handsome, but so boring. Another was pretty but nothing behind his eyes. She had decided she would have no prince at all, no marriage if these wereall her choices.”“Poor little princess,” he teased.“She was very strong-willed. Then one day she heard of a dragon. Several of the princes suggested they would slay him to win her favor. She felt that was very unfair and went out to meet him for herself.”“She does sound like you.”“Be still. Do you want to hear this story or not?”“If I said no, would you stop?”“Well, she met him and saw he was indeed fearsome, big, strong, but oh so beautiful in her eyes. She went back to her father and told him that she would have none but the wild dragon.”“I’m sure her father was thrilled.”“Well, what could he do—as we have established, she was very stubborn and so he agreed.”“And then he turned into a handsome prince as soon as they married.”She laughed, the sound went deep into his soul. It was both joyous and so precious that he wanted to find a way to hold onto the memory of it for when it was gone from him.She leaned against him, her lips inches from his. "What a terrible ending that would have been when it was the dragon she wanted. A dragon who hadn't ever learned how to love, who was powerful but didn’t realize how powerful. Who was beautiful but thought he was ugly. He stayed a dragon, but her dragon."