Rain Trueax's Blog, page 37

small things

now and then sometimesthe worldturnsand I noticeor not
certaintyuncertainty
some of both and I decideor not
look closelyas small thingsdon't advertiseunless...you notice

Arizona Sunset

Titling a book is one of the interesting challenges to writing it. Once in awhile the title is obvious and comes easily. Twice I've titled one I had published and changed it after it had come out because of readers not liking the original, it proving to be misleading as to the story's essence, or my own decision that it wasn't going deep enough and I suddenly realized I knew what would.

One of those changes was minor tweaking, the other changed the whole feel of what the story was about to my original intent. I've had a few books that haven't sold particularly well, might do better with a different title, but I am glued to their titles because of what they say about the deeper meaning of the book. I am convinced (optimist that I am) that someday their titles will touch the right readers and they will be glad I kept them.

What I always want with a title is that in the fewest possible words it take a reader to the deepest level of the story. It's about the bones, the structure and has to hit that button with minimal words.

This is the case with the final title I oped for the historical romance coming out this month. Originally I wrote this book over twenty years ago. The plot has stayed consistent and likewise the characters even as I have improved my writing skills. Through the years it has had couple of working titles. None quite said what I wanted.

Yes, it's a love story, an historical, and a western; but the message is about how we can think we are at the end, where there seem to be no options and then something opens up and changes not only how we see that but what we can do. It is about not closing ourselves off to these changes. It is about how life can throw us surprises but it's how we deal with them that makes the difference. It is also about cycles.

Sunsets are apt metaphors for cycles as they appear to be the end each day. A sunset can be something that simply ends the day with nothing special or can be incredibly beautiful. They aren't the end even as they appear to be each day as what comes next is the darkness of night. Arizona is famous for their sunsets and with just cause.

Arizona in the title came because the story and characters are set in Southern Arizona.

Paperback as well as eBook?

It seems when you become an entrepreneur, which is what you are when you create a book and opt to bring it out yourself, the questions about what comes next never end.

What had been holding up bringing out Arizona Sunset, which has been finished for some time, had been the question of whether we should also do a paperback version. I went back and forth as to the value or not of doing this. Asking western romance authors at MOA , I got some good advice which decided me on the paper versions and maybe not just the historicals yet to be published but also my contemporaries already out as eBooks.

Farm Boss is my publisher with Seven Oaks Publishing, and he's the one who has been working on the process of creating a paperback through CreateSpace which has the advantage of being connected to Amazon as well as the writer's cost only being the books you yourself buy. There are rules that go along with it for instance the price you put on the book for Amazon has to be the price a bookstore is supposed to sell it. I am not sure how special, occasional sales work into this.


The cover above is what I originally intended for the eBook but it had to be reversed once we decided on the paperback for the spline to work with the cover and it being easier to combine with the sunset and rock rather than her skirt. Details but they are the kind of thing with which you will wrestle if you put out a paperback.

The drawback obviously is not money since there is no real cost involved if you can do your own work. CreateSpace does offer the service for those who want that for a fee but they then reserve some rights. Better to work it out myself. We also bought our own ISBN (ten of them as the package is cheaper which means we will have ten paperbacks sooner than later). After getting the prototype, there is no further cost unless I want to give some away or try to take them to some indie bookstores to see if they have interest in selling them on consignment. However,  I've gone through the hassle of that when I stepped in to help a group of women in my rural community with selling the cookbook they had self-published. It's a lot of work is what I learned. Even though I did get most of their books sold, I vowed I'd not do such a thing again. Never say never though.

The following is a good article on why eBook writers should also do a paperback.

Why you should do a paperback as well as eBook
Unfortunately it, and I've seen reference to this other places, brought up another question-- what about audio books...

to be or not to be that was the question

Since last summer I talked about the debate I was having with myself. Should I bring the historical novels out as eBooks? I've gone back and forth with differing answers. For any writer, there are options-- more than ever before. 

I could have submitted them to a publishing house and to see if I could find interest except why would I do that? I know a lot of writers want publishing contracts but these days, unless it's a huge house with a guaranteed number of sales for everything it brings out, what is the advantage for the writer other than ego? 

Well one advantage could be they would do the promotions-- except not likely a lot of it for a first time author. They also might get books into stores I cannot but those books stay a very short time before being replaced by new books; so sales that route aren't apt to be many unless I was out pushing the books. 

Some think books have to be better if they come out through a big publishing house. Those are not people paying much attention to what actually does come that way with less editing than ever and more expectation the author will do it or not get accepted.

From experience (years back), I know that the publishing houses expect a writer to hit certain buttons. They want the cookie cutter books and rarely take a risk on something different. 

Given the lengths of my historical romances-- from 115,000 to just over 130,000-- it would be rare to get any of them to even look at mine as they want 100,000 words or thereabouts. So, I'd have to slash the heck out of them and probably would still not fit the cookie cutter niche; so not going to happen.

There was all along the option of holding onto them while I built up a brand using my contemporary romances already out there. I have done some of that since I put out my last contemporary a year ago. During that time, I've put myself into a lot of the media where they say an independent writer must be, but it hasn't led to gang buster sales or even being sure the books are being seen by their potential readers.

They say you should figure out who your potential reader is. I know a few things about them. One they cannot be wanting a masterpiece but should be someone looking for a good read, some excitement in their stories but nothing depressing to the point it leaves them feeling more down than before they read the book. They save that for non-fiction!

They should enjoy reading for pleasure and not see it all having to be literary or something that they can brag about to their friend as being more intelligent than what their friend was reading. Let's face it, what one reads can be a status symbol. The only status one might claim for reading my books is they buy from indie authors to encourage independent writing. Hey, that's some status, isn't it? No?

My reader can't be prudish about sex in a book. On the other hand, they cannot want it to be the whole book. They have to not be afraid of romances but be open to those that are a little different. They have to be okay with the book not following a set formula that often is found in romances. They should like a story where the characters and situation carry the events to logical ends.

If they read a lot of other kinds of books, they should be someone open to one that is a mix of genres... And they cannot be embarrassed to be found reading a romance. 

What, you say that kind of reader doesn't exist? Oh maybe that's my problem ;)
Anyway I am bringing the historicals out-- more coming on that.

motivations for writing a book

Recently I heard a group discussing why they chose to write historicals instead of contemporary stories and their reasons were diverse but mostly it related to escapism. They wanted to move away from the world in which they lived, the problems they had to regularly deal with and instead be in a fantasy world for awhile-- the length of time the book lasted anyway.


I didn't say much in the conversation other than that I've gone between writing historicals and contemporaries. I like writing each for different reasons. I am always exploring a subject that I find fascinating. Whether people lived a hundred years ago or today, a lot of the problems are the same for what we want in life. I've written stories of the ramifications of abuse in pioneer times and modern. More options for treatment are available today but does it change what can happen and what must be overcome for a happy life?.

They also mentioned in that discussion that some of them felt they were their heroines. I don't think of myself as any of my heroines with only one exception, and it wasn't a contemporary. I am not sure from where my heroines come. I think though it relates to the situation they are facing. I have the dilemma and then I think of what kind of woman could get into that situation and how would she approach it. That's what begins a book like Moon Dust.

Moon Dust doesn't deal with a pleasant subject but something that does impact a lot of lives. It's about healing and the ramifications of abuse. It's about life but it is also a romance which means it's got a bit of the fairy tale quality to it-- modern setting or not.

So more discussion of it in the video--



Moon Dust discussion from Rain Trueax on Vimeo.

Using our dreams

If you are one of those people who dream vivid dreams, it can be useful in your writing of a book or short story. I've had it help me with more than one of mine. The issue is how exactly can our dream worlds be used?

To start it helps to have a dream journal alongside your bed. I cannot count the times I've had a dream that seemed likely to be book material but after breakfast I have no idea what it was about. Write it down even if you are sure you won't forget.

If you sleep with someone, telling them the dream is helpful also. I don't know why just remembering it isn't enough but for me it isn't. Once I have verbalized it, I hold it better.

Often dreams are filled with symbolisms which may not work for the plot of a book but might be useful to flesh out a character. I've used some of my dreams as a dream in the book when the symbolisms fit the storyline. I've also made up dreams that enriched the foreshadowing of what's coming.

It's interesting to wonder about what makes a dream happen especially movie dreams. I've had some where I know I can't use them as they aren't in my genre, but they are worth writing down for a possible future where that changes. If nothing else, they are as much fun as watching a movie but where I have some control over the outcome as I find I can do lucid dreaming to take a dream where I want it to go.

When dreams aren't about writing in a book or creating a character, they can have value for our personal lives based on what our subconscious might be trying to tell us. I go to a dream site for ideas on what a color might mean or perhaps an insect that is not normally found in my life.

My favorite site for that is Dream Moods. 
So for instance when I had the dream where you could tell when someone was a bad person by the translucent color red on their throat, which not all people could see, I looked it up. The color red represents, "an indication of raw energy, force, vigor, intense passion, aggression, power, courage, impulsiveness and passion." That makes it a logical color for the warning but what about it being on the throat?

Although the dream dictionary didn't give me the answer to that, my own interpretation is perhaps it relates to not trusting what others say or their words. It wasn't my throat but someone else's. We know we need to be wary of what we trust in the news or from leaders. That dream might not have related to any possible story (unless I get into writing horror which I don't see happening) but to my own life.

Her Dark Angel

Sometimes a book gets its start from a dream as I mention below here. I'll discuss more about how I think we can use dreams in the next blog.

Lammas and Sky Daughter

Lammas, August 1, is the Celtic festival of the harvest. It was an element in one of my books although in the video below I don't discuss that so much as other aspects of Sky Daughter. It so happens that I also just redid the cover for the book. I had never been happy with the woman on the cover but just hadn't found the right one.

Maggie needed to have strength but even more strength she hadn't yet tapped into. She needed to look like a woman dealing with a lot of difficult things as well as figuring out who she was-- not just who she had been but who she would become. I think this cover finally says what it needed to depict. Covers are tough that way.

The video is discussing some of the dominant energies behind the writing of Sky Daughter, the things the story is about beyond, of course, a love story.

romance novels and life

Romance novels and life-- contrary to how some might see it, they have a lot in common. The following video looks at how curiosity impacts a writer's life and how it is then used in books. It also though is about life and what is seen around us for how people react to what happens using both what I know of history and my personal experiences.

when we talk about love

When we talk about love--