Rosanne Bittner's Blog, page 36
September 14, 2017
What Makes Your Hero and Heroine Real and Memorable?
I have written articles and blogs on creating “real” characters for years, but I’ve never been able to pinpoint the answer to an often-asked question: “What is the secret to creating characters that to you and your readers are so real and memorable that you and they both feel these people really lived?”
I generally get so deeply involved with my characters that when I am writing them, the hero truly feels like my husband and I walk right into the heroine’s shoes. I’ve often commented that I feel Jake Harkner from my Outlaw series standing or sitting right beside me. Certain of my characters are so real to me that I sometimes think I will meet some of them when I die. I feel them with me all the time. Readers and other writers ask me how I reach that point. Soon after I start a book I don’t feel like the author “creating” a story any more. I feel like the spirits of people from the past are telling their stories through me. I don’t see them as author and character. I see them as me and some people I used to know.
And no matter all the ways I’ve tried to explain how I manage to create such characters, I’ve never been able to pinpoint it.
Well … of all things … recently I found the answer in SOAP OPERA DIGEST . I was reading the August 21 edition and came across an article on Eric Braeden, who plays the legendary and very rich Victor Newman (I’ve watched this soap whenever I can for a good 35 years, maybe longer). The article is about a book Mr. Braeden wrote about his life, called I’LL BE DAMNED (which I intend to buy because I really like and respect this man’s personal life and his acting). As the article continues, Mr. Braeden and the interviewer start talking about soaps and what it takes to create iconic soap characters that become “super couples” or in some other way long-term, memorable characters that the show can hardly do without. Victor Newman is one of them, and although he can be ruthless and mean, he has had a long, long relationship with his lovely wife Nikki (a stripper when he met her!) and they became a super couple. Even as they have aged over the years, they remain a favorite couple on the show and even still share romance (much like my Jake and Randy in my Outlaw books). And in spite of Victor’s ruthlessness (again, Jake Harkner can be an extremely ruthless man when someone harms someone he loves), there is something about Victor that fans love – and that Nikki loves – and in return something about Nikki that fans love – and that Victor loves.
Well, after all my searching for the right word that describes WHY these characters are so loveable and memorable and why viewers can’t quite let go of them is … VULNERABILITY. Thank you, Mr. Braeden, for your description of what makes fans empathize and fall in love with certain characters over others. For some reason, I never nailed that word as the one primary necessity in creating memorable characters. The answer came from Mr. Braeden himself. In his words, “Essentially what people react to, I think, is vulnerability in the characters they watch. I don’t care how mean they are, how ruthless they can be or whatever, but there is a vulnerability, and there’s a vulnerability in Victor’s relationship to Nikki and vice versa. I think that is what people respond to. Some actors protect their vulnerability enormously and don’t allow you to get in, and others do.” (I think here Mr. Braeden is saying it’s those actors who expose their characters’ vulnerabilities in a real, empathetic way, who make memorable characters the viewers fall in love with. Thus, some become soap icons, and some don’t.)
As most people know, it’s the actors who seem to BE the character they play who create the biggest icons. Some soap actors get hate mail because the character they play is so mean and devious, while other actors are loved because fans love the character they play. Fans identify the actors with the character they play, forgetting that it’s just acting. And most people empathize with the vulnerability of the characters they love or don’t love. They will put up with and even root for a mean and nasty character if they understand what happened to make that person the way he or she is. In the case of Victor Newman, he was abandoned at an orphanage at a young age and never knew real love growing up. He soon learned he could depend only on himself if he wanted to survive and succeed, and becoming rich helps him feel safe and protected from that world that hurts so much. When you’re rich, no one can get to you.
I have sometimes mentioned that deep down inside my character, Jake Harkner, desperately wants to be loved, and needing that love is his vulnerability. Miranda loves him beyond measure, in spite of his ruthless past and mean nature – because she understands the deep-seeded reasons for his behavior. He experienced a terribly brutal childhood, to the extent that he ended up killing his own father. Seeing his mother and little brother murdered by the man (when Jake was too little to stop him) left Jake with a desperate need to protect those he loves later in life – the family that his beloved Miranda has given him. In return, Miranda’s vulnerability is needing the wonderful feeling of safety she realizes when Jake is by her side. She was afraid and alone when she met him and he helped her go west to find a brother. On the way, Miranda grew to depend on Jake’s strength and his ability with fists in guns to protect her. Jake in turn found a woman with a big heart who was willing to forgive his past and love him in spite of it … and the longer he helped her on her journey, the more that need to protect grew in his soul, as did Miranda’s need to FEEL that safety and protection.
So yes, I have referred to vulnerability as a necessary tool to memorable characters, but something about the way Mr. Braeden put it seemed to make it even more clear. I never thought of vulnerability as possibly the one and only characteristic that brings our characters to life to the point of falling in love with them, caring about them, and in the long run hating to ever leave them (which is why I’ve written several series stories and trilogies).
When I think about it, some of my characters are far more vulnerable to loving and needing to be loved than others; and it’s those who were the most vulnerable and with the most tragic (and believably so) pasts that became the most real to me and to my readers – and the ones of whom I had the hardest time letting go.
The biggest clue to creating genuine empathy on the part of your readers is to make whatever tragedy your characters have experienced real and believable; and the characters’ words and actions and decisions throughout the story should relate to whatever it is that happened to them. And think about what that character’s vulnerability would be due to his or her past.
We are talking psychology here, and I don’t think you need a PhD to understand natural human nature and what makes our characters tick. Ask yourself what YOU would do and think and say if you’d experienced something like what your character(s) experienced. Human nature is human nature, so don’t be intimidated by not having a college degree in psychology. Most people have a pretty basic understanding of tragedy and disappointment and what that can do to a person.
This takes me to my own additional clue to creating real characters. Besides vulnerability, you need (as the author) to BE THAT CHARACTER in your heart. You are not TELLING the story. You are letting it happen through the CHARACTERS and they are using you to reveal their story. You must REMOVE YOURSELF from the story as the omniscient author. Readers should not “see” the author telling the story. They should see and hear only the characters, much like you would in a movie. You must tell your story totally through your characters’ words and actions and thoughts. The story belongs to the CHARACTERS, not to you, the author. You are simply the vessel through which your characters open themselves to your readers.
I try for total reality in my books, and in doing so, in my first 7-book series I ended up deciding the hero had to die toward the end. By then I and my readers were so attached, that the hero’s death was incredibly traumatic and tragic. I almost chickened out, but I knew this was the only way a man like Zeke Monroe should die – in battle. He had crippling arthritis by the last book and I was not going to let him die that way. I sobbed when I wrote his death, and balled for the next couple of chapters when Abbie learned about his death. I felt like I’d lost my own husband. I still cry every time I re-read that part of the series. But in the end, I have a beautiful, dreamy scene wherein the heroine also dies and she walks through the light to find Zeke, young and strong and handsome again, as she is young and beautiful again. It’s a lovely ending that helped me and my readers accept what had to be.
Still, I now have readers so attached to outlaw/lawman Jake Harkner in my Outlaw books that they are begging me not to kill the man off. He has become as real to them as someone living next door – or perhaps their own husband – and they can’t stand the thought of losing him to death. That’s when you know you have created a memorable character who has become totally real to your readers. I can’t promise Jake won’t die, because he ages with each book and he, too, is a man who definitely cannot be allowed to just die in bed from old age. No way. Jake Harkner needs to go down with guns blazing! I want to write a fifth book, and I know what will happen, but I haven’t decided if it will go as far as a final gunfight. I will make up my mind as I write the story. I never plan that far ahead.
At any rate, that comment from Eric Braeden about what makes a memorable character just nailed it for me. As I said, I have used the word vulnerability, but always with other explanations for memorable characters. I never thought of it as the one, primary necessity for memorable characters. For some reason, the way he put it just made it so clear to me.
So in my estimation, if you want to create a character or characters your readers will attach to and remember for years after they finish your book, think about that character’s vulnerability … and come up with a strong, believable reason for it. Human kind understands that and will empathize with it.
Happy writing!
I generally get so deeply involved with my characters that when I am writing them, the hero truly feels like my husband and I walk right into the heroine’s shoes. I’ve often commented that I feel Jake Harkner from my Outlaw series standing or sitting right beside me. Certain of my characters are so real to me that I sometimes think I will meet some of them when I die. I feel them with me all the time. Readers and other writers ask me how I reach that point. Soon after I start a book I don’t feel like the author “creating” a story any more. I feel like the spirits of people from the past are telling their stories through me. I don’t see them as author and character. I see them as me and some people I used to know.
And no matter all the ways I’ve tried to explain how I manage to create such characters, I’ve never been able to pinpoint it.
Well … of all things … recently I found the answer in SOAP OPERA DIGEST . I was reading the August 21 edition and came across an article on Eric Braeden, who plays the legendary and very rich Victor Newman (I’ve watched this soap whenever I can for a good 35 years, maybe longer). The article is about a book Mr. Braeden wrote about his life, called I’LL BE DAMNED (which I intend to buy because I really like and respect this man’s personal life and his acting). As the article continues, Mr. Braeden and the interviewer start talking about soaps and what it takes to create iconic soap characters that become “super couples” or in some other way long-term, memorable characters that the show can hardly do without. Victor Newman is one of them, and although he can be ruthless and mean, he has had a long, long relationship with his lovely wife Nikki (a stripper when he met her!) and they became a super couple. Even as they have aged over the years, they remain a favorite couple on the show and even still share romance (much like my Jake and Randy in my Outlaw books). And in spite of Victor’s ruthlessness (again, Jake Harkner can be an extremely ruthless man when someone harms someone he loves), there is something about Victor that fans love – and that Nikki loves – and in return something about Nikki that fans love – and that Victor loves.
Well, after all my searching for the right word that describes WHY these characters are so loveable and memorable and why viewers can’t quite let go of them is … VULNERABILITY. Thank you, Mr. Braeden, for your description of what makes fans empathize and fall in love with certain characters over others. For some reason, I never nailed that word as the one primary necessity in creating memorable characters. The answer came from Mr. Braeden himself. In his words, “Essentially what people react to, I think, is vulnerability in the characters they watch. I don’t care how mean they are, how ruthless they can be or whatever, but there is a vulnerability, and there’s a vulnerability in Victor’s relationship to Nikki and vice versa. I think that is what people respond to. Some actors protect their vulnerability enormously and don’t allow you to get in, and others do.” (I think here Mr. Braeden is saying it’s those actors who expose their characters’ vulnerabilities in a real, empathetic way, who make memorable characters the viewers fall in love with. Thus, some become soap icons, and some don’t.)
As most people know, it’s the actors who seem to BE the character they play who create the biggest icons. Some soap actors get hate mail because the character they play is so mean and devious, while other actors are loved because fans love the character they play. Fans identify the actors with the character they play, forgetting that it’s just acting. And most people empathize with the vulnerability of the characters they love or don’t love. They will put up with and even root for a mean and nasty character if they understand what happened to make that person the way he or she is. In the case of Victor Newman, he was abandoned at an orphanage at a young age and never knew real love growing up. He soon learned he could depend only on himself if he wanted to survive and succeed, and becoming rich helps him feel safe and protected from that world that hurts so much. When you’re rich, no one can get to you.
I have sometimes mentioned that deep down inside my character, Jake Harkner, desperately wants to be loved, and needing that love is his vulnerability. Miranda loves him beyond measure, in spite of his ruthless past and mean nature – because she understands the deep-seeded reasons for his behavior. He experienced a terribly brutal childhood, to the extent that he ended up killing his own father. Seeing his mother and little brother murdered by the man (when Jake was too little to stop him) left Jake with a desperate need to protect those he loves later in life – the family that his beloved Miranda has given him. In return, Miranda’s vulnerability is needing the wonderful feeling of safety she realizes when Jake is by her side. She was afraid and alone when she met him and he helped her go west to find a brother. On the way, Miranda grew to depend on Jake’s strength and his ability with fists in guns to protect her. Jake in turn found a woman with a big heart who was willing to forgive his past and love him in spite of it … and the longer he helped her on her journey, the more that need to protect grew in his soul, as did Miranda’s need to FEEL that safety and protection.
So yes, I have referred to vulnerability as a necessary tool to memorable characters, but something about the way Mr. Braeden put it seemed to make it even more clear. I never thought of vulnerability as possibly the one and only characteristic that brings our characters to life to the point of falling in love with them, caring about them, and in the long run hating to ever leave them (which is why I’ve written several series stories and trilogies).
When I think about it, some of my characters are far more vulnerable to loving and needing to be loved than others; and it’s those who were the most vulnerable and with the most tragic (and believably so) pasts that became the most real to me and to my readers – and the ones of whom I had the hardest time letting go.
The biggest clue to creating genuine empathy on the part of your readers is to make whatever tragedy your characters have experienced real and believable; and the characters’ words and actions and decisions throughout the story should relate to whatever it is that happened to them. And think about what that character’s vulnerability would be due to his or her past.
We are talking psychology here, and I don’t think you need a PhD to understand natural human nature and what makes our characters tick. Ask yourself what YOU would do and think and say if you’d experienced something like what your character(s) experienced. Human nature is human nature, so don’t be intimidated by not having a college degree in psychology. Most people have a pretty basic understanding of tragedy and disappointment and what that can do to a person.
This takes me to my own additional clue to creating real characters. Besides vulnerability, you need (as the author) to BE THAT CHARACTER in your heart. You are not TELLING the story. You are letting it happen through the CHARACTERS and they are using you to reveal their story. You must REMOVE YOURSELF from the story as the omniscient author. Readers should not “see” the author telling the story. They should see and hear only the characters, much like you would in a movie. You must tell your story totally through your characters’ words and actions and thoughts. The story belongs to the CHARACTERS, not to you, the author. You are simply the vessel through which your characters open themselves to your readers.
I try for total reality in my books, and in doing so, in my first 7-book series I ended up deciding the hero had to die toward the end. By then I and my readers were so attached, that the hero’s death was incredibly traumatic and tragic. I almost chickened out, but I knew this was the only way a man like Zeke Monroe should die – in battle. He had crippling arthritis by the last book and I was not going to let him die that way. I sobbed when I wrote his death, and balled for the next couple of chapters when Abbie learned about his death. I felt like I’d lost my own husband. I still cry every time I re-read that part of the series. But in the end, I have a beautiful, dreamy scene wherein the heroine also dies and she walks through the light to find Zeke, young and strong and handsome again, as she is young and beautiful again. It’s a lovely ending that helped me and my readers accept what had to be.
Still, I now have readers so attached to outlaw/lawman Jake Harkner in my Outlaw books that they are begging me not to kill the man off. He has become as real to them as someone living next door – or perhaps their own husband – and they can’t stand the thought of losing him to death. That’s when you know you have created a memorable character who has become totally real to your readers. I can’t promise Jake won’t die, because he ages with each book and he, too, is a man who definitely cannot be allowed to just die in bed from old age. No way. Jake Harkner needs to go down with guns blazing! I want to write a fifth book, and I know what will happen, but I haven’t decided if it will go as far as a final gunfight. I will make up my mind as I write the story. I never plan that far ahead.
At any rate, that comment from Eric Braeden about what makes a memorable character just nailed it for me. As I said, I have used the word vulnerability, but always with other explanations for memorable characters. I never thought of it as the one, primary necessity for memorable characters. For some reason, the way he put it just made it so clear to me.
So in my estimation, if you want to create a character or characters your readers will attach to and remember for years after they finish your book, think about that character’s vulnerability … and come up with a strong, believable reason for it. Human kind understands that and will empathize with it.
Happy writing!
August 31, 2017
The Long Journey
I have been writing books since 1979, when I penned my first novel - a 3,000 page disaster called
WINDS FROM OREGON!
I took a couple west on a wagon train, and anything and everything that could happen to people heading west in the 1850’s happened in that book. Those two should never have survived! And I didn’t know how to skip time, so it was practically a day-by-day blow all the way to Oregon. Hence, 3,000 pages! I never sold it, but it was a real learning experience, and I know now that I’ve used bits and pieces from that story in my later books.
If you count the books I wrote after that but never sold, that first book was 72 books ago. I just kept going, and the first book I sold for publication was actually the 9th book I wrote. Now, my 65th published book is coming September 5th (THE LAST OUTLAW) and #66 in October ( A CHICK-A-DEE CHRISTMAS in an anthology called CHRISTMAS IN A COWBOY’S ARMS ).
It’s been a long, long journey. I could write another book about all the things I’ve been through in all these years of writing. When I started, my sons were only 10 and 9 years old. Now they are grown and have their own teenage boys, and one of my sons is even a grandfather!
Where do all the years go? I scan through some of my older books and have no memory of when I wrote them – or even how I found the time not only to write them but to do all the research involved. I worked full time, was raising two active boys, helped develop some property we bought that needed a lot of work, and I would stay up at night and write until about 2:00 am – get up at 5:00 am and do it all over again. I was lucky to get 5 hours of sleep some nights, usually 3 the other nights. I even put off needed brain surgery once because I told the doctor I had a book to finish first. That’s how devoted I was to my writing and my stories … and yes, to my CHARACTERS, who always came alive for me and seemed so real. I’ve even had readers write me and want to know if those people really existed. Yes, they did, as far as I’m concerned, but in reality, only in my mind.
And speaking of “real” characters, two heroes became incredibly real to me – so real that it took me years to get over them – no – actually I will never get over them. Through all the other heroes I write, these two (and their counterpart heroines) will live in my mind and heart as the most special.
The first hero would have to be Zeke Monroe (Lone Eagle), a half-breed man who walked into my heart one day (and into the life of his beloved Abigail) and stayed there through nearly 50 story-years and seven books. I loved him like my own husband. I was Abbie, and their children and grandchildren were mine. These books, first published by Kensington Publishing (Zebra Books) are 35 years old and have been reissued several times. And after all these years they remain my best sellers!
The other hero that will never leave my heart is Jake Harkner from my Outlaw series. I like to say that Zeke is my favorite Native American hero – and Jake is my favorite outlaw. Again, I feel that he’s my husband. I am his beloved Miranda, who is Jake’s “center” – his strength - his breath – his only reason for living. Miranda took an angry man who lived with the blackness of a horribly abusive childhood and brought him into the light, taught him how to love and how to accept love in return – and she gave him a big, beautiful family and grandchildren who all worship him. All his life Jake has wrestled with the fact that he killed his own father – a man who deserved to die, I might add – but it simply isn’t natural for a son to kill his father. That fact, and black memories of childhood abuse, are the key factor in every decision Jake makes in his life – and watching his mother die when he was too little to stop it is the root of Jake’s almost maniacal defense of his own wife and family. They have given him love he feels he does not deserve, and he adores all of them.
This series started back in 1993 with the publication of OUTLAW HEARTS (Bantam Books). OMG – I fell so in love with Jake when I wrote that book. For various reasons, I could not get a publisher to let me write the sequel, so I lived with the continuing story in my head and heart for many years until I came across an editor at Sourcebooks who had read OUTLAW HEARTS and loved it. Sourcebooks reissued OUTLAW HEARTS with a new cover and then published the se quel, DO NOT FORSAKE ME , the title I’d had in mind all those years. That second book flew out of my brain and through my fingers in only about two months – over 500 manuscript pages. When I finished, I knew I had to write a third book. My editor loved the second book so much that she agreed, so I went on to write LOVE’S SWEET REVENGE . Now #4 is coming September 5th. It’s called THE LAST OUTLAW , and although this entire series is packed with passion and romance, action and adventure, and heart-rending emotions, I think THE LAST OUTLAW is the most emotional of all four books.
The Outlaw Hearts Series
National magazine Romantic Times has called me an “emotional powerhouse,” and I guess I am. I tend to write big, fat family sagas that bring the readers into the lives and homes (and bedrooms!) of the heroes and heroines. Readers fall in love with them and get wrapped up in their lives, just as I do when I write the books. And the more “in love” I am with the hero – the more emotional my story will be.
I thought THE LAST OUTLAW would be the last book of the Outlaw series. But now I want to write #5, which I will call NEVER SAY GOOD-BYE. If Sourcebooks does not take a fifth book, I will write it anyway – and I will publish it myself through Amazon, because I KNOW my readers will want it.
THE LAST OUTLAW really isn’t the last book for now because in October you can read a short Christmas story about the Harkners that takes place the very next Christmas after book #4 ends. It’s called A CHICK-A-DEE CHRISTMAS and will be in an anthology titled CHRISTMAS IN A COWBOY’S ARMS. It’s a wonderful, sweet story that shows how much Jake has grown and changed over the years – and mellowed – at least to the extent a man like Jake can mellow. There will always be that fierce, protective nature about him, but in A CHICK-A-DEE CHRISTMAS, it’s one of Jake’s granddaughters who helps tone down the man’s temper and defensive nature. You will love the story.
For now, I will have a very hard time leaving Jake and going on to other books with new heroes and heroines. I do have others in mind – three “for sure” stories already in my head and they already have titles. Want a teaser? The titles are: DANCING BENEATH YOU (my first Native American CONTEMPORARY story!), LOGAN’S LADY and A WARRIOR’S PROMISE (a sequel to CAPTURE MY HEART , my very successful Indian romance published in March 2017 through Amazon.
Yes, it’s been a long journey – 66 books published, 72 in all written, and more still to write. I’ve traveled through history in all my books, have been all over the country, from the east coast and the revolutionary war, to Texas and the Alamo, to the Mexican war, to the Oregon Trail, the building of the Union Pacific, the Indian Wars, the Civil War – the list is long and exciting. I LOVE AMERICAN HISTORY! And I try to bring it alive in my stories.
I hope you will order THE LAST OUTLAW and I hope you do enjoy it. I love the story and, of course, its characters. Watch for a big celebration of the book’s release through a Facebook party I am holding August 31st. Lots of prizes – and a fun Q&A contest! You won’t want to miss it. The top prize is really lovely but a “surprise,” so you won’t know what it is until it arrives. Whoever wins just has to promise to share a picture of it on Facebook. Another prize is a $50 Amazon gift certificate, and I’ll also be giving away autographed books. So will the three other authors who are “joining” the party – E.E. Burke, Linda Broday and Nancy Gideon.
Be sure to “visit” my Facebook author page August 31st and take a chance on winning some nice prizes! I look forward to “chatting” with you! Until then, KEEP READING – and I will KEEP WRITING – as long as the Good Lord allows me to use my brain and my fingers.
If you count the books I wrote after that but never sold, that first book was 72 books ago. I just kept going, and the first book I sold for publication was actually the 9th book I wrote. Now, my 65th published book is coming September 5th (THE LAST OUTLAW) and #66 in October ( A CHICK-A-DEE CHRISTMAS in an anthology called CHRISTMAS IN A COWBOY’S ARMS ).
It’s been a long, long journey. I could write another book about all the things I’ve been through in all these years of writing. When I started, my sons were only 10 and 9 years old. Now they are grown and have their own teenage boys, and one of my sons is even a grandfather!
Where do all the years go? I scan through some of my older books and have no memory of when I wrote them – or even how I found the time not only to write them but to do all the research involved. I worked full time, was raising two active boys, helped develop some property we bought that needed a lot of work, and I would stay up at night and write until about 2:00 am – get up at 5:00 am and do it all over again. I was lucky to get 5 hours of sleep some nights, usually 3 the other nights. I even put off needed brain surgery once because I told the doctor I had a book to finish first. That’s how devoted I was to my writing and my stories … and yes, to my CHARACTERS, who always came alive for me and seemed so real. I’ve even had readers write me and want to know if those people really existed. Yes, they did, as far as I’m concerned, but in reality, only in my mind.
And speaking of “real” characters, two heroes became incredibly real to me – so real that it took me years to get over them – no – actually I will never get over them. Through all the other heroes I write, these two (and their counterpart heroines) will live in my mind and heart as the most special.
The first hero would have to be Zeke Monroe (Lone Eagle), a half-breed man who walked into my heart one day (and into the life of his beloved Abigail) and stayed there through nearly 50 story-years and seven books. I loved him like my own husband. I was Abbie, and their children and grandchildren were mine. These books, first published by Kensington Publishing (Zebra Books) are 35 years old and have been reissued several times. And after all these years they remain my best sellers!
The other hero that will never leave my heart is Jake Harkner from my Outlaw series. I like to say that Zeke is my favorite Native American hero – and Jake is my favorite outlaw. Again, I feel that he’s my husband. I am his beloved Miranda, who is Jake’s “center” – his strength - his breath – his only reason for living. Miranda took an angry man who lived with the blackness of a horribly abusive childhood and brought him into the light, taught him how to love and how to accept love in return – and she gave him a big, beautiful family and grandchildren who all worship him. All his life Jake has wrestled with the fact that he killed his own father – a man who deserved to die, I might add – but it simply isn’t natural for a son to kill his father. That fact, and black memories of childhood abuse, are the key factor in every decision Jake makes in his life – and watching his mother die when he was too little to stop it is the root of Jake’s almost maniacal defense of his own wife and family. They have given him love he feels he does not deserve, and he adores all of them.
This series started back in 1993 with the publication of OUTLAW HEARTS (Bantam Books). OMG – I fell so in love with Jake when I wrote that book. For various reasons, I could not get a publisher to let me write the sequel, so I lived with the continuing story in my head and heart for many years until I came across an editor at Sourcebooks who had read OUTLAW HEARTS and loved it. Sourcebooks reissued OUTLAW HEARTS with a new cover and then published the se quel, DO NOT FORSAKE ME , the title I’d had in mind all those years. That second book flew out of my brain and through my fingers in only about two months – over 500 manuscript pages. When I finished, I knew I had to write a third book. My editor loved the second book so much that she agreed, so I went on to write LOVE’S SWEET REVENGE . Now #4 is coming September 5th. It’s called THE LAST OUTLAW , and although this entire series is packed with passion and romance, action and adventure, and heart-rending emotions, I think THE LAST OUTLAW is the most emotional of all four books.
The Outlaw Hearts Series
National magazine Romantic Times has called me an “emotional powerhouse,” and I guess I am. I tend to write big, fat family sagas that bring the readers into the lives and homes (and bedrooms!) of the heroes and heroines. Readers fall in love with them and get wrapped up in their lives, just as I do when I write the books. And the more “in love” I am with the hero – the more emotional my story will be.
I thought THE LAST OUTLAW would be the last book of the Outlaw series. But now I want to write #5, which I will call NEVER SAY GOOD-BYE. If Sourcebooks does not take a fifth book, I will write it anyway – and I will publish it myself through Amazon, because I KNOW my readers will want it.
THE LAST OUTLAW really isn’t the last book for now because in October you can read a short Christmas story about the Harkners that takes place the very next Christmas after book #4 ends. It’s called A CHICK-A-DEE CHRISTMAS and will be in an anthology titled CHRISTMAS IN A COWBOY’S ARMS. It’s a wonderful, sweet story that shows how much Jake has grown and changed over the years – and mellowed – at least to the extent a man like Jake can mellow. There will always be that fierce, protective nature about him, but in A CHICK-A-DEE CHRISTMAS, it’s one of Jake’s granddaughters who helps tone down the man’s temper and defensive nature. You will love the story.
For now, I will have a very hard time leaving Jake and going on to other books with new heroes and heroines. I do have others in mind – three “for sure” stories already in my head and they already have titles. Want a teaser? The titles are: DANCING BENEATH YOU (my first Native American CONTEMPORARY story!), LOGAN’S LADY and A WARRIOR’S PROMISE (a sequel to CAPTURE MY HEART , my very successful Indian romance published in March 2017 through Amazon.
Yes, it’s been a long journey – 66 books published, 72 in all written, and more still to write. I’ve traveled through history in all my books, have been all over the country, from the east coast and the revolutionary war, to Texas and the Alamo, to the Mexican war, to the Oregon Trail, the building of the Union Pacific, the Indian Wars, the Civil War – the list is long and exciting. I LOVE AMERICAN HISTORY! And I try to bring it alive in my stories.
I hope you will order THE LAST OUTLAW and I hope you do enjoy it. I love the story and, of course, its characters. Watch for a big celebration of the book’s release through a Facebook party I am holding August 31st. Lots of prizes – and a fun Q&A contest! You won’t want to miss it. The top prize is really lovely but a “surprise,” so you won’t know what it is until it arrives. Whoever wins just has to promise to share a picture of it on Facebook. Another prize is a $50 Amazon gift certificate, and I’ll also be giving away autographed books. So will the three other authors who are “joining” the party – E.E. Burke, Linda Broday and Nancy Gideon.
Be sure to “visit” my Facebook author page August 31st and take a chance on winning some nice prizes! I look forward to “chatting” with you! Until then, KEEP READING – and I will KEEP WRITING – as long as the Good Lord allows me to use my brain and my fingers.
August 28, 2017
The Benefits of Blogging, Social Media and Facebook Parties!
I remember when, probably at least fifteen or twenty years ago, a former agent told me I should create a blog.
BLOG? What a weird word. I wonder who invented it. I had no idea what she was talking about and I never did anything with the idea – was still new to just using a computer and the programs for writing books. I had just registered an e-mail account, knew nothing about web sites and blogging, and things like Facebook weren’t even born yet. I knew nothing about the internet and figured e-mail was handy but I’d never go any farther than that.
Then a friend I met through her husband, who helped fix my computer glitches, offered to develop a web site for me. I fought the idea for a while. I finally agreed, and my Website is now HUGE! I get so many visitors from all over the world. It’s a wonderful way to inform readers about my books without me spending money mailing out newsletters, which in turn could never reach as many people as my web site does. My web site designer is Michelle Crean at mecrean@crean.com. At any rate, I thought e-mail and a web site were all I needed. I was off and running in the internet world.
When eBooks were talked about and still nothing big, that was another internet baby I thought would never go anywhere. I wanted nothing to do with books you couldn’t hold in your hand. I never dreamed readers would actually go for something like that. I felt I wasn’t a "real" writer if I was published in eBook form. While I was contemplating the value of eBooks, along came Facebook, and again, I wasn’t sure something like that could help my career. I thought it was invasive, too personal, a bit like inviting the whole world into your house. I was actually a little afraid of it.
Well, gradually I saw the advantages of Facebook over e-mail. You can post pictures and ads and reach complete strangers you don’t reach with e-mail. I saw that it could be a great way to find readers who had never heard of me. Then I found someone who could help me with Facebook - (my wonderful publicity pro, Florence Price, who is a member of my local RWA Chapter, Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America). She’s great at publicity, so if you need help in that respect, you can contact Florence at The Novel Difference. Florence set up my Facebook page, and it took me a while to learn how to use it, but it wasn’t long before I saw the value of being on Facebook.
In the meantime, my agent (also great at her job – Maura Kye Casella at the Don Congdon Agency in NYC) found a publisher – Diversion Books – that was interested in reissuing a slew of my older titles in eBook form, while my print publisher was doing the same with my newer books. Low and behold, my eBooks began selling like hotcakes on Amazon, and things just took off from there. The internet has revived my entire writing career!
That brings me back to blogging, the last thing I became involved with – that strange word I thought was kind of silly. Florence helped me develop this blog – and I started to learn how much blogging can also help spread the word about my writing. I continue to be surprised and a bit overwhelmed at how many blog sites there are now – personal ones, professional ones, blogs for writers, blogs for readers, blogs for cooks, blogs for shoppers … the list is endless. It’s blogging that spread the word about my writing probably more than any other avenue I’ve used. And on blogs you can get even more personal – answer specific questions – and you can share new publications on other author’s blogs and open the door to reaching their readers while they in turn reach mine.
So, here I am "blogging," something I once never dreamed I would do. This 72-year-old writer still remembers writing her first book on a manual typewriter and remembers the only way to contact others was with a phone or a hand-written letter, which could take days to be delivered compared to the split second it takes for an e-mail or a Facebook message or a blog to reach the whole world!
I know there are even more avenues, like Instagram and Twitter and many more, but I need time to WRITE! So it’s impossible to keep up with all of it. I do use Twitter, but not much, and I don’t understand Instagram. I have just touched the surface of this internet world, but it’s been enough to see a huge upswing in my sales compared to only five or six years ago. My publisher now sends me questions to answer for numerous bloggers I don’t even know about, whom they contact when I have a new book coming out. Florence does the same and helps me with my Facebook parties for new publications, which leads me to the second topic of this blog.
August 31st we will celebrate the publication of my 66th novel, which is the fourth book in my Outlaw Hearts Series, by throwing a Facebook Party! The book is called THE LAST OUTLAW and will be published by Sourcebooks September 5, 2017. The book received a great review and a star from Publisher’s Weekly (a great accomplishment) - and national magazine Romantic Times made the book a top-pick for September. I absolutely love the story. This one could very well be the most emotional story of all four, and believe me, all the stories are packed with emotion. Romantic Times calls me an "emotional powerhouse." This particular story shows the personal inner growth of the hero, Jake Harkner, whose cruel childhood has haunted him his whole life and is the source of just about every decision Jake makes, and the source of the way he reacts to any kind of threat to his family. In THE LAST OUTLAW , Jake finally faces his past in a literal way. It’s a truly beautiful story I know readers will love.
So, come join me August 31st on Facebook! I’m giving away lots of prizes, including free books and a $50 Amazon gift certificate, as well as a "surprise" gift to the top winner of a contest I am sponsoring that day. You will have to answer questions about characters and events from the first three Outlaw books (OUTLAW HEARTS, DO NOT FORSAKE ME and LOVE’S SWEET REVENGE.) You will want to go back through and review those books before the 31st. You might find the answers to some of my questions, and you will refresh yourselves on all that has happened leading up to #4, THE LAST OUTLAW. I’ll "visit" with all of you August 31st on Facebook! Happy reading!
Pre-Order and Save!Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks
True Love Never Dies
Times have changed, and the old Wild West is a thing of the past. Nestled in his beautiful Colorado ranch, surrounded by family, infamous former outlaw Jake Harkner's hung up his guns for good and finally found a measure of peace—but dark memories haunt the woman who has always been his strength, and not even Jake is certain he can save his beloved Miranda this time.
All he can do is swear to remain by her side. But it takes more than a hope for peace to outrun a past defined by violence, and it isn't long before Jake is embroiled in a rescue mission he simply can't refuse. Life has brought him back full circle as he rides into Mexico to save a young girl from a dreadful fate...leaving Miranda behind one final time, fearing that the man she loves more than anything is destined to die the way he's always lived—by the gun.
The Outlaw Hearts Series
BLOG? What a weird word. I wonder who invented it. I had no idea what she was talking about and I never did anything with the idea – was still new to just using a computer and the programs for writing books. I had just registered an e-mail account, knew nothing about web sites and blogging, and things like Facebook weren’t even born yet. I knew nothing about the internet and figured e-mail was handy but I’d never go any farther than that.
Then a friend I met through her husband, who helped fix my computer glitches, offered to develop a web site for me. I fought the idea for a while. I finally agreed, and my Website is now HUGE! I get so many visitors from all over the world. It’s a wonderful way to inform readers about my books without me spending money mailing out newsletters, which in turn could never reach as many people as my web site does. My web site designer is Michelle Crean at mecrean@crean.com. At any rate, I thought e-mail and a web site were all I needed. I was off and running in the internet world.
When eBooks were talked about and still nothing big, that was another internet baby I thought would never go anywhere. I wanted nothing to do with books you couldn’t hold in your hand. I never dreamed readers would actually go for something like that. I felt I wasn’t a "real" writer if I was published in eBook form. While I was contemplating the value of eBooks, along came Facebook, and again, I wasn’t sure something like that could help my career. I thought it was invasive, too personal, a bit like inviting the whole world into your house. I was actually a little afraid of it.
Well, gradually I saw the advantages of Facebook over e-mail. You can post pictures and ads and reach complete strangers you don’t reach with e-mail. I saw that it could be a great way to find readers who had never heard of me. Then I found someone who could help me with Facebook - (my wonderful publicity pro, Florence Price, who is a member of my local RWA Chapter, Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America). She’s great at publicity, so if you need help in that respect, you can contact Florence at The Novel Difference. Florence set up my Facebook page, and it took me a while to learn how to use it, but it wasn’t long before I saw the value of being on Facebook.
In the meantime, my agent (also great at her job – Maura Kye Casella at the Don Congdon Agency in NYC) found a publisher – Diversion Books – that was interested in reissuing a slew of my older titles in eBook form, while my print publisher was doing the same with my newer books. Low and behold, my eBooks began selling like hotcakes on Amazon, and things just took off from there. The internet has revived my entire writing career!
That brings me back to blogging, the last thing I became involved with – that strange word I thought was kind of silly. Florence helped me develop this blog – and I started to learn how much blogging can also help spread the word about my writing. I continue to be surprised and a bit overwhelmed at how many blog sites there are now – personal ones, professional ones, blogs for writers, blogs for readers, blogs for cooks, blogs for shoppers … the list is endless. It’s blogging that spread the word about my writing probably more than any other avenue I’ve used. And on blogs you can get even more personal – answer specific questions – and you can share new publications on other author’s blogs and open the door to reaching their readers while they in turn reach mine.
So, here I am "blogging," something I once never dreamed I would do. This 72-year-old writer still remembers writing her first book on a manual typewriter and remembers the only way to contact others was with a phone or a hand-written letter, which could take days to be delivered compared to the split second it takes for an e-mail or a Facebook message or a blog to reach the whole world!
I know there are even more avenues, like Instagram and Twitter and many more, but I need time to WRITE! So it’s impossible to keep up with all of it. I do use Twitter, but not much, and I don’t understand Instagram. I have just touched the surface of this internet world, but it’s been enough to see a huge upswing in my sales compared to only five or six years ago. My publisher now sends me questions to answer for numerous bloggers I don’t even know about, whom they contact when I have a new book coming out. Florence does the same and helps me with my Facebook parties for new publications, which leads me to the second topic of this blog.
August 31st we will celebrate the publication of my 66th novel, which is the fourth book in my Outlaw Hearts Series, by throwing a Facebook Party! The book is called THE LAST OUTLAW and will be published by Sourcebooks September 5, 2017. The book received a great review and a star from Publisher’s Weekly (a great accomplishment) - and national magazine Romantic Times made the book a top-pick for September. I absolutely love the story. This one could very well be the most emotional story of all four, and believe me, all the stories are packed with emotion. Romantic Times calls me an "emotional powerhouse." This particular story shows the personal inner growth of the hero, Jake Harkner, whose cruel childhood has haunted him his whole life and is the source of just about every decision Jake makes, and the source of the way he reacts to any kind of threat to his family. In THE LAST OUTLAW , Jake finally faces his past in a literal way. It’s a truly beautiful story I know readers will love.
So, come join me August 31st on Facebook! I’m giving away lots of prizes, including free books and a $50 Amazon gift certificate, as well as a "surprise" gift to the top winner of a contest I am sponsoring that day. You will have to answer questions about characters and events from the first three Outlaw books (OUTLAW HEARTS, DO NOT FORSAKE ME and LOVE’S SWEET REVENGE.) You will want to go back through and review those books before the 31st. You might find the answers to some of my questions, and you will refresh yourselves on all that has happened leading up to #4, THE LAST OUTLAW. I’ll "visit" with all of you August 31st on Facebook! Happy reading!
Pre-Order and Save!Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks
True Love Never Dies
Times have changed, and the old Wild West is a thing of the past. Nestled in his beautiful Colorado ranch, surrounded by family, infamous former outlaw Jake Harkner's hung up his guns for good and finally found a measure of peace—but dark memories haunt the woman who has always been his strength, and not even Jake is certain he can save his beloved Miranda this time.
All he can do is swear to remain by her side. But it takes more than a hope for peace to outrun a past defined by violence, and it isn't long before Jake is embroiled in a rescue mission he simply can't refuse. Life has brought him back full circle as he rides into Mexico to save a young girl from a dreadful fate...leaving Miranda behind one final time, fearing that the man she loves more than anything is destined to die the way he's always lived—by the gun.
The Outlaw Hearts Series
August 3, 2017
400 Years Of Publishing and Hardly Anything has Changed for Authors!
We live in a world of progress, from the Pony Express to Skype; from covered wagons to planes and drones; from long hand-written scrolls to today’s instant messaging through texts and e-mails. I’m sure our ancestors would faint from shock at traveling down the highway at 80 MPH, or being able to talk to a loved one through cell-phone face time, or share pictures and news through Facebook. I used to wonder at all the progress my own grandmother witnessed in her lifetime, and now I realize how much I’ve seen in my own lifetime. My grandsons actually ask me what it was like before TV or computers – (and yes, TV was in its infancy when I was born – and I wrote my first few books by hand and then with an old-fashioned typewriter). Things happen so fast nowadays that two days after you buy a new computer it’s already out-dated. There is a reason most appliances come with just a one or two-year warranty. It’s because they are considered “old” anyway after that length of time.
Then, of course, even certain ways of life have greatly changed – dress codes – the words we use – the rules of dating – how we cook/eat – how intimate and explicit we get with movies and writing – the list is long.
Recently I was looking through some of my hundreds of resource books, and I came across one I have had for years but have hardly ever used. It’s called the FAMILY ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HISTORY and was published by Reader’s Digest in 1975. As I fanned through the book, I saw that it listed everything from famous people (like Samuel Adams), themes (like Agriculture), and events (like the birth of AA) … to Frank Lloyd Wright, Working Man’s Party and World War II. Then I came across a subject that surprised me regarding how we, as writers, have made little progress in how we are treated/paid for our unique talent.
(I should note here that the following facts came from the above encyclopedia, so in a few places I have used these facts word-for-word.)
As an author, one of the headings in this encyclopedia - Book Publishing - attracted my eye. It covered the history of publishing, and I was amazed at how little has changed for authors when it comes to publishing and payment, even though the first book published on the continent of America was a Spanish catechism issued in Mexico in 1539 on a press brought overseas from Spain. For years most books published involved religion, and gradually, as publishing came to the Colonies, Philadelphia became a center for publishing (circa Benjamin Franklin and his 1700’s print shop that put out books like POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC ).
By 1762 books were being published in all thirteen Colonies, and although still mostly about religion and law, genres were moving into the “delicate” and (for some) “forbidden” topics of things like MEMOIRS OF A WOMAN OF PLEASURE (also known as FANNY HILL ) by John Cleland. (And they claim romance and erotica are something new!) In 1817 James Harper opened a print shop in NYC, and in 1840 George Palmer Putnam also opened a publishing house there. Today, as we all know, NYC is the primary center for publishing houses. The Book-Of-The-Month Club was founded in 1926 and the Literary Guild in 1927.
Putnam was one of the first publishers to offer a royalty to writers, at that time 10% of the price of the book. Just that one piece of information should be a clue to where I am going with this blog … In the 1840’s authors were being paid 10% royalties, while today the average royalty is 8%, and for some, only 6%. Little to no progress!
In the mid-1800’s books were mostly printed according to number of actual orders rather than printing however many a publisher “thought” they might sell. (Sound familiar? Think “print on demand” from Amazon as opposed to print runs based on “hopeful” sales). Again, little progress.
Until the mid-nineteenth century most American authors published at their own expense. (Sound familiar? Think independent authors writing for Amazon and spending their own money on promotion.) Yet again, little progress.
When American publishers finally began to publish books at their own risk (expense), they were generally paid no royalties until they first sold enough books to recover their initial investment. (Sound familiar? Today, many authors get no advance at all, and if a writer is lucky enough to get one, they must earn out that advance before they are paid any additional royalties.) Thus, most writers for traditional publishers wait anywhere from six months to two years or more to see any more money for their book other than that initial advance, which is why – if you are offered an advance - you should get as much money as possible “up front.” That’s where a good agent can be a big help. Still, little has changed in that department.
In the 1970’s the trend toward “bigness” took hold and smaller publishers sold out to bigger ones, while smaller, more local distributors sold out to much bigger distributors. (Sound familiar? There was a time when most authors knew their local distributors and established a relationship with them.) I remember when I could go to a distributorship and sign 300 – 400 books so they could advertise them as “signed copies;” and days when I would set up signings at numerous book stores through a local distributor. Try finding a distributor anywhere near where you live today. I have no idea where, how and through whom my books are distributed any more. And sometimes if I can find that info, it’s a distributor I’ve never heard of and they are too far away to go there and meet anyone. In this case, we have gone backward rather than forward.
I found it interesting that in over 400 years of publishing, royalty percentages have actually gone down, or in the best case, stayed the same; and that 200 years after most American authors published at their own expense, a good many of them are doing so again today! Amazon has it right – print a book BASED ON ACTUAL (PAID FOR) ORDERS. No guessing. And authors are better off writing independently. The big difference between today and 200 years ago is that we have a magnificent venue for promoting our books … THE INTERNET!! We have Goodreads, Facebook, web sites, Twitter, Snap Chat, Instagram, blogs (including bookstore blogs and fan blogs), on-line newsletters – the list is very, very long. So although little has changed in how publishers choose to pay us, or even in turning to self-publishing, we enjoy one thing that is the result of all this tremendous progress … Cyber World, Amazon, e-books, e-readers, and a hundred different ways to reach readers all over the world!
I can’t even allow myself to dwell on where my sales would be today if I’d had all this free “world-wide” advertising back in the 80’s and 90’s! It’s too depressing to think about. But at least today I find my numbers through Amazon far exceed my sales through traditional publishers. Some things never change; but thank God, because of progress, it’s simple circumstances and opportunities that change.
Yes, there are many, many more books “out there” now, making it harder to be “discovered,” but then again, “back in the day” our promotional options were next to zero, and what options we did have (like magazine advertising or the media) were horribly expensive and/or time-consuming. Some of us who have been around for many, many years remember constantly staying in touch with book stores and distributors in an effort to set up book signings as a way to reach the public. For the most part, signings are pretty worthless today as far as promotion. If you aren’t Nora Roberts, your signing will do little in promoting your sales. On top of that, the number of book stores has dwindled, so your choices of venue have also dwindled.
We are in the age of the internet, and although I remember once thinking e-books would go nowhere, and thinking a web site was not necessary, today I am one hundred per cent in favor of using every internet option possible to promote my books. Who cares if traditional publishers haven’t changed in all these years? Our publishing OPPORTUNITIES have changed. Today’s new authors have opportunities we “old gals” never had. And apparently the publishing industry itself hasn’t changed in hundreds of years and probably won’t change much in the future. So, TAKE ADVANTAGE of all the new avenues out there for getting published and being successful at it. GO FOR IT! And good luck!
July 24, 2017
Are You a “Writer-Holic?”
I’ve always had a somewhat addictive personality, which is part of the reason I don’t drink. I quit smoking about 50 years ago (boy, that’s a hard one!). If I have surgery or some other reason for pain pills, I stop taking them as soon as I can. I once took pills for depression but didn’t like what they did to me (no feelings at all!), so I weaned myself off of those too. I’ve never EVER tried street drugs because I’m terrified what they would do to me. I’ve never even smoked pot, and I come from the 60’s generation. I also tend to be a “shop-a-holic,” and I actually turned to shopping once when life handed me a big blow that was hard to deal with. Shopping helped me forget my troubles and new clothes and jewelry made me feel good … but the shopping got me into credit card trouble, so I’ve stopped that too … well … at least not the big stuff. It’s still hard for me to turn down a great deal!
When life hands us some unexpected events that are hard to deal with, it’s so easy to turn to whatever makes us feel great and forget our troubles. I can most certainly attest to that. But there is one habit that comforts me that I’ll never give up, and that’s WRITING! I recently posted a blog about how writing can be a catharsis, a form of meditation and medication. I guess this blog runs along those same lines, but it’s because writing is something I could NEVER give up, I’ve realized that it’s another one of my “addictions.”
And what a wonderful, pleasant, soothing addiction it is!! Something recently gave me another blow to my emotions – such a blow that for the last two months I haven’t written a word. But things are better, and time is a BIG healer. I am treading lightly as far as feeling confident our troubles are over and taking one day at a time, rejoicing in each good day. For a while I thought I might never write again … but how can I stay away from the most wonderfully healing habit I have? WRITING!
I’ve been posting weekly excerpts from THE LAST OUTLAW , my fourth Outlaw book coming in September, and that has been a big help in making me want to get back into writing. I’m having fun reading through the MS and looking for some good excerpts to share with my readers. As I do so, I find that revisiting one of my stories has reawakened that need to write. I am planning the first chapter to a new book I proposed to my publisher (still waiting to hear from them) and I’m ready to work on some books I want to write strictly for Amazon. My Amazon book CAPTURE MY HEART sold in really great numbers, so now I’m excited to write more books strictly through Amazon rather than a publisher. I hope to continue with Sourcebooks and that eventually they will take a fifth Outlaw book, but whatever happens, I will KEEP WRITING as long as my body and brain allow it. Of all the addictions a person can have, I can’t imagine any as wonderful and fulfilling and comforting as WRITING.
Are you addicted to writing? More power to you! Don’t break the habit!
June 25, 2017
Writing Can Be Your Meditation
At first I was going to call this blog Writing Can Be Your Medication, but I realized that meditation is a better word. I can’t count the number of letters and e-mails I have received from grateful readers who have told me that reading my books helped them through bad times, whether emotional upheaval or surgery or an illness. I am always grateful in return to hear their comments. It makes sitting for hours at a time in front of the computer and pulling ideas and plots from my often-tired brain worth the effort.
Lately, though, I have realized that writing has also helped me through some bad times … family problems, brain surgery, the loss of loved ones … the list is long. Writing takes me away from reality, and sometimes we need that. A friend of mine teaches yoga and is “into” meditation and how it can soothe the body and the soul. I’ve never done much of that, or at least I didn’t think so. But I am beginning to realize that writing IS my meditation.
Just as closing your eyes and humming or thinking about a quiet garden or whatever helps you relax is a form of meditation, closing my eyes and thinking about the expansive landscape of the American West, the cool, quiet mountains, a soaring eagle, the relaxing sound of rippling waters through a deep canyon … all are a form of meditation for me. And when I write certain characters who are real to me, it’s like being there with them, away from the “here and now” and spending time in “long ago.”
Sometimes writing just seems like work to some. It has never felt that way for me, even when frantically struggling to meet a deadline. It is always a joy, an escape, a form of relaxation. In life we often try to control the lives of our loved ones, wanting them to behave and succeed and be happy and thinking we can make all of that happen for them. It has taken me 72 years to finally realize I can’t do that, and trying has only brought heartache. The only thing I can control is my characters and what kind of story I write. Maybe I’ve spent too many years doing that – creating characters I can control and characters who react just the way I want them to in everything they encounter. Maybe that has led me to believe I can do that in real life. Maybe I have spent so many years in the world of fiction that the world of reality is sometimes hard to take.
I only know that my escape … my meditation … my relaxation … is my writing. I have recently allowed personal problems to shut down my writing. And the longer I go without writing, the sadder I become. Last night I forced myself to get to work on a new story for Sourcebooks, and doing so helped me see that not writing is probably the worst thing I can do when things go haywire in my life. It only feeds the sorrow. Getting back into the lives of my characters and into my beloved western landscape lifts my spirits. We should never allow others’ actions to so deeply affect us that it steals our writing spirit.
Yes, there is a true spirit there, something in our souls that will not allow us to stay too long away from what we love, away from our characters, away from that need to create. It’s only a form of Satan trying to steal your soul and bring strife into your life. Let your writing spirit rise above all of that and banish the Satan who loves to destroy your creativity. Life is too short to waste it mourning the fact that things didn’t turn out quite like you planned. They turn out the way God plans, and we can’t control that. We can only trust that He knows what He’s doing, and leave Him in charge … and go on with our own lives and continue doing what brings us the most joy. For me, it’s writing.
June 16, 2017
The Dangers of Writing a Series
Anyone who has been reading Rosanne Bittner for the past 30 (+) years knows how much I like to write series-type stories … family sagas that take you through 30-45 years with the same hero and heroine and their family. My first series was SAVAGE DESTINY , seven books about the settling of Colorado and how white settlement affected the Southern Cheyenne. Through writing those books I fell in love with the hero, Zeke Monroe, and he has lived in my heart ever since.
I went on to write several trilogies – my Blue Hawk trilogy, my Wilderness trilogy, a Bride trilogy and my Mystic Indian trilogy. The last four years I have worked on my Outlaw series, the fourth book coming in September and a fifth book planned. And I have many single titles for which I wrote a sequel because I just couldn’t get away from the characters. I end up wanting to continue their story, and whenever the publisher says yes, that’s what I do.
However, there are some drawbacks for the writer when writing a series. For me, the NUMBER ONE PROBLEM is that I get so involved with the characters that it is very, very hard for me to go on to something entirely new. Often, the series continues because I simply cannot bring myself to think about new characters. I am too much in love with the ones I have “lived with” for months or even years.
Zeke Monroe was one of those characters. I was totally, hopelessly in love with the man, and it took me a long, long time to truly “care” about new characters once I knew I could go no farther with SAVAGE DESTINY. The characters become so very real to me that leaving them is like burying a loved one. I actually cry when I finish that “last book,” and I think about those characters for weeks and even months and years afterward.
I realize how dangerous this problem can be as a writer when (lately) I’ve told myself I MUST take a break from my “Outlaw” books. After years of loving and mourning Zeke Monroe, I went on to totally love Caleb Sax in my Blue Hawk books and again mourned leaving him – then Rising Eagle in my Mystic Indian trilogy. I managed to write new books after that, but almost always (and it will happen to you, too, as a writer) a special, special character comes to mind that consumes your thoughts, dreams, emotions, energy, and your heart. After 30 years I still am not over Zeke Monroe – but then along came Jake Harkner from my Outlaw books.
OMG, I am so madly in love with this man. He came to me in an idea a good 25 years ago while I was curling my hair. I quickly wrote the idea down with an eyebrow pencil on the back of a check book because that’s all I had at the moment. That first book, OUTLAW HEARTS, was published in 1993 by Bantam Books, and I NEVER FORGOT JAKE. I tried for years to sell a publisher on a sequel, but for some reason I didn’t get anywhere.
Then along came Sourcebooks, and an editor who’d read OUTLAW HEARTS and loved the idea of a sequel. I literally cried when I learned I could finally write that book, which I titled DO NOT FORSAKE ME , a title I’d had in mind all those years. I immediately started the book and the story just poured out of me almost faster than my fingers could keep up. No outline. I knew every single thing that would happen. Once I finished, Jake had me completely hooked and I went on to LOVE’S SWEET REVENGE and (coming in September) THE LAST OUTLAW. A short Christmas story about the Harkner family follows in October (A CHICK-A-DEE CHRISTMAS) in an anthology titled CHRISTMAS IN A COWBOY’S ARMS.
Sourcebooks wants me to stop here and go on to other things. In fact, they even suggested a topic they’d like me to write about. I intend to write the story they suggested, and I am actually getting excited about the idea. But the thought of leaving Jake, even if just for a little while, breaks my heart. I promise readers that there WILL BE a fifth book. If not through my publisher, I will write it on my own through Amazon, and I won’t make readers wait too awfully long. However, Sourcebooks is, after all, my publisher, and they have helped me realize it’s time to try something different. I was tempted to start that fifth Outlaw book right away, whether my publisher wanted it or not; but now I realize I have to set it aside and get my thoughts on this new story, which will be fun to write. It’s about a high-born English woman who ends up kidnapped and stranded in the wilds of Wyoming and is rescued by a rough-and-tumble, rather uncouth bounty hunter. These two will both be strong-willed and opinionated and won’t get along at all, but of course they begin to see each other through the eyes of desire and the princess and the cowboy will realize they had better learn to overcome their differences because try as the might, the can’t ignore the feelings they begin to have for each other. I just know my readers will love the story.
The other danger of writing series-type books is the affect on your sales. Too many times a reader who has never heard of me will pick up Book #4 to a series and think, “I don’t want to buy this if I can’t find #1, 2, and 3,” or – “I don’t want to spend the money on #1, 2 and 3. What if I don’t like the story?” Almost always the second book in a series will sell a little fewer copies than #1. Then #3 sells even fewer and #4 even less … because no one wants to get #4 if they can’t find the first 3. This problem is even worse if you don’t have an established name. Even when you do have a name most readers recognize, you can still fall into that trap of writing #4 and #5 and so on and finding out they didn’t do well.
Part of the problem is that you might win over a certain number of readers with Book #1, and those readers will go on to #2 and #3 and more because they already read the first book and want more. You end up with the same readers buying the continued series books, but it’s hard to find new readers who will go back and start with #1.
So … I am going to try hard to get my heart and mind on Logan Best and Elizabeth Bennett in THE BOUNTY HUNTER’S PRINCESS. The title might change, but I need a working title in order to write the book. It’s just a “me” thing. It’s going to be a great story filled with adventure and romance, and a heavy sprinkling of humor because of how these two will clash while at the same time fighting their feelings for each other. Once they give in to those feelings the sex will be “HOT!”
Overall, I will always, always love series writing and sequels … but sometimes as a writer you have to get away from all of that and learn to say good-bye to your favorite, favorite characters … not always forever … but just for a while. I will write that fifth Outlaw book, and I even have ideas for an eighth SAVAGE DESTINY book, after over 30 years of being away from them! The story would be about one of Zeke’s descendants and the family history would come into the story when something very unusual is discovered that teaches the hero about his famous ancestor, Zeke Monroe.
If you want to write a series or one or two sequels to your story, remember that you can’t stay with the characters forever, and that, if you are new, you could be hurting your ability to build your numbers. I think it’s best to never start your career with a series. It’s best to have an established name first. Then you have a better chance of selling a decent number of copies of the succeeding books.
Good luck with your writing, and as always, number one on my list for becoming a successful writer is to ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR HEART. I think you will discover that there is always that inner instinct that speaks to you as a writer and says, “This is what you should write next.”
June 5, 2017
Retaining Your Inspiration
The Free Dictionary describes inspiration as “the excitement of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity.” Nothing could better describe the feeling a writer has when a new idea hits, or he or she comes across a specific subject or character they just know they should write about. I have always said to “write from the heart,” because it is in our hearts we harvest the inspiration for the stories we want to write. And the more “inspired” you are about your story, the better it will be. However, sometimes our inspiration is suffocated by other emotions that take over or by physical or outside circumstances. Sickness, pain, every-day “business,” strife in the family – many things can come along and try to destroy your inspiration.
When listening to a preacher, we often hear about how Satan will come along and make things happen that could destroy our faith. And mental and/or physical problems will come along that can destroy your inspiration. This has happened to me, more than once. But always, deep in my mind and heart, are my stories, fighting that “Satan” of destruction who wants to keep me from writing.
All writers can come up with excuses as to why “I can’t write today.” There are the ordinary ones, like being too tired or too busy. But sometimes the excuse is not an ordinary problem. Sometimes we truly cannot write because our hearts are bleeding for a loved one or over family unhappiness. It’s the “deep inside” reasons we can’t write that are the most difficult to conquer. But conquer them we must, because God gave us the gift of writing, and we are obligated to use that gift. The Bible teaches that most of us are born with unique talents, talents God Himself birthed into our spirits, hearts and minds. Somehow those talents will make their way into the open, fighting through the dark times, through the turmoil, through the heavy emotions that set up barriers to the joy of practicing our talents.
Life can sometimes take some pretty heavy turns. It happens to most of us, and when it does, inspiration to write simply dies … or so it seems at first. But always it is there, like the little gas flame at the bottom of a hot water tank, keeping the water warm even when it’s not being used. It sits there, waiting for us to turn on the faucet and use it. Don’t let that flame go out. Keep the water warm for when you will need it.
Don’t let people or internal problems or that “Satan” who wants to steal your talent, keep you from what you love most. And in the end, if you write in spite of it all, you will find that the writing is what conquers the darkness. It is your catharsis, your strength, your joy in the midst of sadness.
March 6, 2017
PTSD – Yes, Even Writers Get It
Fellow Mid-Michigan RWA member and good friend Lucy Kubash recently e-mailed me a copy of an article by author Jeanne Kisacky, who writes non-fiction and teaches college. The article was called “Writer Unboxed: Post-Project Depression and Recovery.” She posted it on her blog February 21, 2017.
Never have I read something that so perfectly fits how I feel after finishing a big book that required a lot of research and months of sleeping perhaps 3-4 hours a night. Her blog is something with which only another writer could understand and identify. It was about crashing and suffering depression after finishing a big writing project, including the rush of squeezing in the writing amid a regular job, taking care of family, trying to give your spouse some attention, the euphoria and energizing feeling of working on a project that you want to be beautiful and perfect, the inspiration that keeps you going … and overload.
Overload is the key word. I won’t post any of her exact words. It’s her blog, and I hope all who read this will look it up and read it, especially other writers. The purpose of mentioning Ms. Kisacky’s blog is because it brought up something so many writers go through after finishing a big project. Often, we crash. I know I do.
Most who will read this know I write really big books, and I get so immersed in the story and characters that often I’m living between two worlds – the real world and that of my characters. Someone asked me once how I get so deeply involved in my stories and how it is I can feel as though my characters really lived. I used to say that sometimes I felt the hero from my “Outlaw” books was sitting right beside me. Crazy? Maybe. But that’s how alive my characters become for me, and when I’m writing their story, nothing else is more important. My poor husband lives like a widower, my house needs cleaning, I get a little grouchy (though I try not to), and sometimes I feel like I’m out of fuel and running on fumes.
I will work for hours, sometimes almost all night for weeks and months at a time on a big book. During the day I help out with bookkeeping for a family business, and I cram, cram, cram, both my regular life, writing conferences, church, grandkids, husband and … well, I don’t need to explain all this to most writers. We all know what it’s like to try to write amid life’s daily demands. But even when I am going on about daily life, my story is “with” me. I can be carrying on a conversation and thinking about my next scene or my next chapter.
The point of this blog is to verify that yes, indeed, writers can crash into deep depression after finishing a book that took months to write. We all strive for perfection – write – proof – edit – re-write – proof – edit – then go through a series of more edits after we turn in the book. All the hard work and extra hours catch up to us physically. Often, after months of hardly any sleep, I suddenly find myself sleeping overtime for days, or most of the first couple of weekends once a project is finished.
But for me the biggest crash is emotional. I get so involved with my characters that leaving them is actually depressing. At my age I can’t help thinking, “Is this my last book about these people I love?” Worse … “Is this the last book I’ll ever write?” I stand in the room where copies of every book I’ve written (65 of them) are stacked, and I look at all those books and think about all those characters. They all were important to me, some more than others, especially the ones from series stories. By the time I finish a series I am totally immersed in hero and heroine and their children and grandchildren. I am the heroine saying good-bye to my husband … forever. I totally identify with all my heroines, especially Abbie in Savage Destiny and Miranda in my Outlaw books.
There is no describing to a non-writer what it’s like crashing after finishing a big writing project. We writers have to find ways to lift ourselves out of the “funk” that suddenly hits us. I start watching TV for the first time in months, but I usually have a hard time getting truly interested in anything TV has to offer. I spend a little more time with my grandsons, and I read. At first I read stupid things like entertainment magazines. I work on crossword puzzles – anything to give my brain a rest. I sleep more, work on advertising, Facebook, blogs and other writing projects not related to actually working on a book. I also read one or two regular novels – usually something unrelated to what I write. I need to get away from my own genre.
But all the while … no matter what I am doing or reading … I am always, always planning my “next” book, because in spite of all the grueling hours and loss of sleep and loss of a personal life and knowing I’m going to crash again afterward, I am only happy when I’m writing. I feed on the adrenaline of America’s Old West and the adventure and drama and romance that comes with my genre. I have so many books I still want to write, and I have only so many years left to write them … so yes, even though I recently finished proofing the edits to three books that are all coming out thisyear, it won’t be long before I start another story. I wrote all three books in 2016 – my Native American romance CAPTURE MY HEART (Amazon this month), my fourth Outlaw book THE LAST OUTLAW (Sourcebooks), and a short story titled A CHICK-A-DEE CHRISTMAS (in an anthology called CHRISTMAS IN A COWBOY’S ARMS (Sourcebooks). I was literally constantly writing in 2016. I am now taking a short break, letting myself re-enter the “real” world, coming down from my writing “high” and battling the depression that comes with it. The best antidote? Start another book!
February 3, 2017
Oh, Mighty Mountains!
High! Rise high, you mighty mountains!Reach for the heavens, you bastions of the West!Undefeatable are you! Magnificent! Stalwart!Your granite rocks and shale walls live on!Through war and pestilence, through famine and flood, Through crime and hate, through bloodshed and death, You live on!
You never change, just as God never changes.Your magnificence and your breathtaking heights Defy man's creativity.Never could man build something like you!And never will man destroy you!
I look upon your peaks with awe.Tears fill my eyes at the realization of the Millions of years it took to form your great peaks,Your deep valleys, your vast canyons.I look at you and I feel so small.
All the education in the world could not equip manWith the ability to create such a thing as you!You are beyond man. You defeat man!You are the mountains!And there is nothing to match you!
Nothing!
