Rosanne Bittner's Blog, page 49
March 6, 2012
Winner of the Leap into Books Giveaway Hop!
Congratulations to Kim Reid for winning a copy of my book, WILDEST DREAMS in the Leap into Books Giveaway Hop - Thank you to everyone who participated!!!
February 28, 2012
Leap into Books Giveaway Hop
From February 29th through March 5th, I'm participating in the Leap into Books Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Jinky is Reading. I'll be giving away a copy of my book WILDEST DREAMS, which has just been re-published by Sourcebooks Casablanca.
[image error]
Details:
1 Book to the winner of the Giveaway
Open to US only.
Drawing for the Giveaway will be held on
March 5, 2012, and the winner will be announced on March 6, 2012.
To be eligible to enter the Giveaway, you must "Follow" this site then enter with this FORM. One entry per person please. Follow me on Twitter, Like me on Facebook or Friend me on Goodreads for an extra chances to win. Leave a comment and your URL and we'll follow you back!
Here's a list of all the stops on the Hop!
[image error]
Details:
1 Book to the winner of the Giveaway
Open to US only.
Drawing for the Giveaway will be held on
March 5, 2012, and the winner will be announced on March 6, 2012.
To be eligible to enter the Giveaway, you must "Follow" this site then enter with this FORM. One entry per person please. Follow me on Twitter, Like me on Facebook or Friend me on Goodreads for an extra chances to win. Leave a comment and your URL and we'll follow you back!
Here's a list of all the stops on the Hop!
February 6, 2012
Hello To All My Fellow Bloggers!
Keep watch here for news about my Virtual Valentine's Day Party beginning February 7th and how you can win some prizes! It's all to celebrate the publication of my novel
WILDEST DREAMS
, both in print and as an e-book, from Sourcebooks. You can also find the book at Amazon.com. It's a true "Bittner" western romance, set in the wilds of 1800's Montana – a great love story filled with real history, lots of action and adventure. This is a love story that spans a generation, one you will not soon forget!
I want to talk a little more about TV and big-screen westerns. In my comments about some of the best western movies I realize I failed to mention DANCES WITH WOLVES. Don't know how I managed to leave that one out! And then there is THE BIG COUNTRY, a magnificent western. And although I mentioned some of the best TV westerns, I failed to mention a couple of western movies made for TV. Yes, the new AMC series, HELL ON WHEELS, is great; but yesterday I watched (for probably the fourth time) BROKEN TRAIL, a full TV movie with Robert Duvall (who needs to be added to my list of some of the most authentic-looking grizzly old cowboys I've ever seen). BROKEN TRAIL is one of the most realistic westerns I have ever watched, actually difficult to watch at times because it makes us face the pitiful, shameful way the Chinese were treated in the Old West, especially young girls kidnapped from China and brought to this country to be sold into slavery as prostitutes. In BROKEN TRAIL Robert Duvall and the men with him end up helping some of these girls, a bit by accident at first, and then because they realize they need to protect them from evil forces who want them back for slavery. This is such an incredibly touching movie that it makes you cry, and the best part about it is how Robert Duvall's character and his partner depict (perfectly) the role of the true cowboy spirit, and the cowboy way of respecting and protecting women. They come through as true, yet humble, heroes.
Robert Duvall does this yet again in OPEN RANGE, with Kevin Costner. Again, the true cowboy spirit shines through in this story of rugged ranching life, as well as the quintessential good vs. bad plot line that is so important in all good westerns. Both these TV movies are some of the most realistic I've ever seen as far as what life was really like for cowboys/ranchers and their women in the Old West. And realism is what I love to write. I try hard to put myself in the shoes of my characters and imagine what it would be like to live with no electricity, no doctors, no conveniences, in a time when women did all the cooking and baking, all the sewing, scrubbing everything by hand, made the butter and the soap and the candles and helped with all the chores. It was a hard life, and I have tremendous respect for America's pioneers, especially the women. We have no idea how good we have it today.
I know all I seem to talk about is westerns and pioneers and Native Americans, but that's the genre I love and the only one about which I write. I believe that to do a good job writing a story, you have to totally love the subject matter and then immerse yourself in the story to the point that you believe the characters really did exist. I've had many readers who have written me to ask just that – were these people real?
Thanks for your continued support of my writing, and be sure to visiti my comments on other blogs who participated in my blog tour for WILDEST DREAMS!
I want to talk a little more about TV and big-screen westerns. In my comments about some of the best western movies I realize I failed to mention DANCES WITH WOLVES. Don't know how I managed to leave that one out! And then there is THE BIG COUNTRY, a magnificent western. And although I mentioned some of the best TV westerns, I failed to mention a couple of western movies made for TV. Yes, the new AMC series, HELL ON WHEELS, is great; but yesterday I watched (for probably the fourth time) BROKEN TRAIL, a full TV movie with Robert Duvall (who needs to be added to my list of some of the most authentic-looking grizzly old cowboys I've ever seen). BROKEN TRAIL is one of the most realistic westerns I have ever watched, actually difficult to watch at times because it makes us face the pitiful, shameful way the Chinese were treated in the Old West, especially young girls kidnapped from China and brought to this country to be sold into slavery as prostitutes. In BROKEN TRAIL Robert Duvall and the men with him end up helping some of these girls, a bit by accident at first, and then because they realize they need to protect them from evil forces who want them back for slavery. This is such an incredibly touching movie that it makes you cry, and the best part about it is how Robert Duvall's character and his partner depict (perfectly) the role of the true cowboy spirit, and the cowboy way of respecting and protecting women. They come through as true, yet humble, heroes.
Robert Duvall does this yet again in OPEN RANGE, with Kevin Costner. Again, the true cowboy spirit shines through in this story of rugged ranching life, as well as the quintessential good vs. bad plot line that is so important in all good westerns. Both these TV movies are some of the most realistic I've ever seen as far as what life was really like for cowboys/ranchers and their women in the Old West. And realism is what I love to write. I try hard to put myself in the shoes of my characters and imagine what it would be like to live with no electricity, no doctors, no conveniences, in a time when women did all the cooking and baking, all the sewing, scrubbing everything by hand, made the butter and the soap and the candles and helped with all the chores. It was a hard life, and I have tremendous respect for America's pioneers, especially the women. We have no idea how good we have it today.
I know all I seem to talk about is westerns and pioneers and Native Americans, but that's the genre I love and the only one about which I write. I believe that to do a good job writing a story, you have to totally love the subject matter and then immerse yourself in the story to the point that you believe the characters really did exist. I've had many readers who have written me to ask just that – were these people real?
Thanks for your continued support of my writing, and be sure to visiti my comments on other blogs who participated in my blog tour for WILDEST DREAMS!
January 23, 2012
Men Like This Never Die
I just recently watched (for at least the 10th time) THE SHOOTIST, starring John Wayne. What a perfect way for an iconic star like him to end his career, going down in a shootout and (in the movie) at the turn of the century, a time when the era of the "wild west" was coming to a close and civilization and the telephone and electricity and automobiles began to take over the "Old West." It was as though John Wayne himself was walking into history in that movie, leaving us a lasting legacy of the western hero. In the movie he is a gunman dying of cancer, and not long after that movie was made, John Wayne really did die of cancer. I'm sure he knew he had it even when he was making the movie. Even more touching and ironic is the fact that the movie also starred James Stewart and Lauren Bacall, two more of the biggest movie stars of all time who were also being ushered out of their prime movie-making careers when they made THE SHOOTIST. And then there is Ron Howard, the other major star in THE SHOOTIST. He represented the future of movie making, a young man who grew up during the best years of making western movies and then moved on into the future of new genres and into producing and directing his own movies.
THE SHOOTIST represents all that is John Wayne, all that represents the closing era of big westerns, and is a fitting farewell to one of movie-making's greatest stars. I always cry at the end of that movie, because to me it represented an honorable and touching "good-bye" to a great man and the biggest star of westerns we have ever had – or ever will again. What I like most about the westerns of the 1950's through the 70's is the way producers and directors of the time used real western landscapes as a backdrop for those movies – the "real' west, usually Monument Valley or the Rockies and other beautiful landscapes of America's West. It's a land I love with all my heart, and the one thing that modern western movie-makes forget to include. It's those grand western landscapes that made so many of the old westerns so great and gave movie-goers the "feel" of the West. Anyone today who films a western should remember that the scenery behind the story is vital to making a good western.
I try to get the same thing across in my books, and apparently I do a decent job of it because I get so many comments about how the readers can picture the landscape and feel as though they are right there with the story characters. That's because I have traveled the West for a good 30 years now and have visited just about every location I have written into my stories. To say it's a " big country" is an understatement. I wish everyone who has never been "west" could go and see just how huge it really is out there. It's so grand that it makes your heart swell with pride in America. To me the Old West represents the spirit of individualism, pride and independence our forefathers instilled in us as Americans. May such things always live on in our hearts and the hearts of our children and grand-children. Being American is uniquely wonderful and a privilege, and we need to preserve the freedom of the individual spirit this country represents.
Someone like John Wayne represented that "big country" and that American pride and individualism. I think he is still out there riding the prairies, plains and through the mountains. Men like that never really die.
January 1, 2012
It’s 2012 already. Seems like about a month ago I ...
[image error]It’s 2012 already. Seems like about a month ago I was sponsoring a class reunion for our Coloma Class of ’63. That was last July! Somehow between then and now my grandsons started school, we celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! I shopped, decorated, wrapped and boom! It was all over and all the decorations are down and packed away. Soon my husband and I will vacation in Vegas and before you know it spring will be here again (which sounds great because we are hunkering down here in southwest Michigan for our first blizzard!).
It always astounds me how fast time goes by – and it’s a little frightening when you’re getting older. In two weeks I’ll be 67, but who cares? I feel 40 and thank God for my good health and the fact that I don’t look my age, thanks to good genes from my 90 year old mother who has always looked 15 to 20 years younger than her age – and who remains in good health! I hope I continue to take after her.
Speaking of spring coming faster than we think, I want to remind everybody to watch my Blog, Facebook, Twitter and my website for news about an on-line Valentine’s Party to celebrate the reissue of my novel, Wildest Dreams, from Sourcebooks and through Amazon. You can pre-order a print copy now, and soon you can order the book as a download to your Kindles! It’s so nice to be “on the shelves” again, and I hope to soon sell something brand new. In July Thunder On The Plains will also be available in print and as an e-book – and before long Amazon will offer my entire Savage Destiny series as e-books!
There has been a renewed interest in westerns in books and on TV, which pleases me greatly. The Old West is absolutely my favorite genre, and I’ve written 57 books, nearly all of them set in America’s Old West. Now many of them will be reissued as e-books. I hope to see resurgence of the genuine, good old historical romance, wherein there was a dark and handsome (macho-man) hero and a strong-willed beautiful heroine with the kind of courage and determination it took to “match” the hero and know how to handle him – and to face the challenges presented to women in the 1800’s Western pioneer era. Oh, how I love writing those stories!
I hope all of you have a successful and healthy New Year, and I look forward to corresponding with many of you through e-mail and Facebook and Twitter, and through continued blogging! Be sure to watch for some blog “tours” coming up! I look forward to “meeting” a lot of you on-line, and maybe I’ll get to meet some of you in April at the huge author book signing at the Romantic Times conference in Chicago! Drive safely in this winter weather!
It always astounds me how fast time goes by – and it’s a little frightening when you’re getting older. In two weeks I’ll be 67, but who cares? I feel 40 and thank God for my good health and the fact that I don’t look my age, thanks to good genes from my 90 year old mother who has always looked 15 to 20 years younger than her age – and who remains in good health! I hope I continue to take after her.
Speaking of spring coming faster than we think, I want to remind everybody to watch my Blog, Facebook, Twitter and my website for news about an on-line Valentine’s Party to celebrate the reissue of my novel, Wildest Dreams, from Sourcebooks and through Amazon. You can pre-order a print copy now, and soon you can order the book as a download to your Kindles! It’s so nice to be “on the shelves” again, and I hope to soon sell something brand new. In July Thunder On The Plains will also be available in print and as an e-book – and before long Amazon will offer my entire Savage Destiny series as e-books!
There has been a renewed interest in westerns in books and on TV, which pleases me greatly. The Old West is absolutely my favorite genre, and I’ve written 57 books, nearly all of them set in America’s Old West. Now many of them will be reissued as e-books. I hope to see resurgence of the genuine, good old historical romance, wherein there was a dark and handsome (macho-man) hero and a strong-willed beautiful heroine with the kind of courage and determination it took to “match” the hero and know how to handle him – and to face the challenges presented to women in the 1800’s Western pioneer era. Oh, how I love writing those stories!
I hope all of you have a successful and healthy New Year, and I look forward to corresponding with many of you through e-mail and Facebook and Twitter, and through continued blogging! Be sure to watch for some blog “tours” coming up! I look forward to “meeting” a lot of you on-line, and maybe I’ll get to meet some of you in April at the huge author book signing at the Romantic Times conference in Chicago! Drive safely in this winter weather!
It's 2012 already. Seems like about a month ago I ...
[image error]It's 2012 already. Seems like about a month ago I was sponsoring a class reunion for our Coloma Class of '63. That was last July! Somehow between then and now my grandsons started school, we celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! I shopped, decorated, wrapped and boom! It was all over and all the decorations are down and packed away. Soon my husband and I will vacation in Vegas and before you know it spring will be here again (which sounds great because we are hunkering down here in southwest Michigan for our first blizzard!).
It always astounds me how fast time goes by – and it's a little frightening when you're getting older. In two weeks I'll be 67, but who cares? I feel 40 and thank God for my good health and the fact that I don't look my age, thanks to good genes from my 90 year old mother who has always looked 15 to 20 years younger than her age – and who remains in good health! I hope I continue to take after her.
Speaking of spring coming faster than we think, I want to remind everybody to watch my Blog, Facebook, Twitter and my website for news about an on-line Valentine's Party to celebrate the reissue of my novel, Wildest Dreams, from Sourcebooks and through Amazon. You can pre-order a print copy now, and soon you can order the book as a download to your Kindles! It's so nice to be "on the shelves" again, and I hope to soon sell something brand new. In July Thunder On The Plains will also be available in print and as an e-book – and before long Amazon will offer my entire Savage Destiny series as e-books!
There has been a renewed interest in westerns in books and on TV, which pleases me greatly. The Old West is absolutely my favorite genre, and I've written 57 books, nearly all of them set in America's Old West. Now many of them will be reissued as e-books. I hope to see resurgence of the genuine, good old historical romance, wherein there was a dark and handsome (macho-man) hero and a strong-willed beautiful heroine with the kind of courage and determination it took to "match" the hero and know how to handle him – and to face the challenges presented to women in the 1800's Western pioneer era. Oh, how I love writing those stories!
I hope all of you have a successful and healthy New Year, and I look forward to corresponding with many of you through e-mail and Facebook and Twitter, and through continued blogging! Be sure to watch for some blog "tours" coming up! I look forward to "meeting" a lot of you on-line, and maybe I'll get to meet some of you in April at the huge author book signing at the Romantic Times conference in Chicago! Drive safely in this winter weather!
It always astounds me how fast time goes by – and it's a little frightening when you're getting older. In two weeks I'll be 67, but who cares? I feel 40 and thank God for my good health and the fact that I don't look my age, thanks to good genes from my 90 year old mother who has always looked 15 to 20 years younger than her age – and who remains in good health! I hope I continue to take after her.
Speaking of spring coming faster than we think, I want to remind everybody to watch my Blog, Facebook, Twitter and my website for news about an on-line Valentine's Party to celebrate the reissue of my novel, Wildest Dreams, from Sourcebooks and through Amazon. You can pre-order a print copy now, and soon you can order the book as a download to your Kindles! It's so nice to be "on the shelves" again, and I hope to soon sell something brand new. In July Thunder On The Plains will also be available in print and as an e-book – and before long Amazon will offer my entire Savage Destiny series as e-books!
There has been a renewed interest in westerns in books and on TV, which pleases me greatly. The Old West is absolutely my favorite genre, and I've written 57 books, nearly all of them set in America's Old West. Now many of them will be reissued as e-books. I hope to see resurgence of the genuine, good old historical romance, wherein there was a dark and handsome (macho-man) hero and a strong-willed beautiful heroine with the kind of courage and determination it took to "match" the hero and know how to handle him – and to face the challenges presented to women in the 1800's Western pioneer era. Oh, how I love writing those stories!
I hope all of you have a successful and healthy New Year, and I look forward to corresponding with many of you through e-mail and Facebook and Twitter, and through continued blogging! Be sure to watch for some blog "tours" coming up! I look forward to "meeting" a lot of you on-line, and maybe I'll get to meet some of you in April at the huge author book signing at the Romantic Times conference in Chicago! Drive safely in this winter weather!
December 15, 2011
Christmas is Almost Here!
Christmas is on the way and I'm all shopped, wrapped and decorated! Woke up to snow yesterday – a nice surprise for the holidays, but I don't mind if it goes away after New Year's. (wishful thinking for a Michigander!) Meantime, I remembered something about the blog I posted about how I love westerns and cowboys and realized I left out Tom Selleck and the movie QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER. I cannot get enough of that movie or the man. He personifies the perfect hero/cowboy in that movie, and I love the now-famous comment – "this ain't Dodge City, and you ain't Wyatt Earp." The other actor I left out is Sam Elliot. What a voice! Just hearing that low drawl makes you think "cowboy."
Hey, if you want to watch a good TV western, don't miss HELL ON WHEELS Sunday nights on AMC. This is my kind of western! I like it so much that I have every episode down-loaded to my Kindle Fire so I never miss one and so I can watch them over and over! And with westerns coming back to TV, this couldn't be a better time to re-introduce readers to Rosanne Bittner western historical novels, so I'm happy to see WILDEST DREAMS already available at Amazon.com for pre-orders! Watch for THUNDER ON THE PLAINS in July … and a little birdie told me you will soon be able to order all my SAVAGE DESTINY books as e-books through Amazon. Keep checking!
I will soon be holding a Virtual Valentine's Day party! Watch this blog and my website for news about how you can join me and win a dozen roses and a free print copy of WILDEST DREAMS!
And speaking of WILDEST DREAMS, please click the cover below to read the FIRST CHAPTER of WILDEST DREAMS:
Here's to Happy Holidays to all my readers!
Hey, if you want to watch a good TV western, don't miss HELL ON WHEELS Sunday nights on AMC. This is my kind of western! I like it so much that I have every episode down-loaded to my Kindle Fire so I never miss one and so I can watch them over and over! And with westerns coming back to TV, this couldn't be a better time to re-introduce readers to Rosanne Bittner western historical novels, so I'm happy to see WILDEST DREAMS already available at Amazon.com for pre-orders! Watch for THUNDER ON THE PLAINS in July … and a little birdie told me you will soon be able to order all my SAVAGE DESTINY books as e-books through Amazon. Keep checking!
I will soon be holding a Virtual Valentine's Day party! Watch this blog and my website for news about how you can join me and win a dozen roses and a free print copy of WILDEST DREAMS!
And speaking of WILDEST DREAMS, please click the cover below to read the FIRST CHAPTER of WILDEST DREAMS:
Here's to Happy Holidays to all my readers!
December 1, 2011
Getting Up-To-Speed
There was a time when I moaned and groaned about the changes in publishing to e-books. I hated the internet (sorry, but I still don't like "visiting" on-line – I don't often post to Facebook or Twitter) – hated the idea of reading a book on a screen rather than holding it in my hand – didn't understand blogging and all that "stuff."
Well, here I am with a Facebook Personal and Fan page – a Blog – I'm on Twitter – I have a web site – and of course e-mail. My last hold-out … e-books and a Kindle reader. Well, I got to liking Facebook – great way to advertise my books to the entire world. I learned to like blogging for the same reason, and it's a good way to help other writers with my (sage??) advice. After all, I've been writing for 30 years and have 57 published novels, so I must know something about this business!
Now comes e-books. I broke down and purchased the new Kindle Fire. WOW!! I'm a "downloading" freak! Who knew there were so many FREE books??? Let alone the convenience of reading other books whenever I want without having to haul them around with me – and of course I get to download my own books just for the fun of it! Two of my older books will be reissued through Sourcebooks.com (and can also be purchased through Amazon.com) in 2012 as e-books and will also be available in print. WILDEST DREAMS in February 2012 and THUNDER ON THE PLAINS in July 2012. I am, of course, advertising these all over the place, thanks to the Internet, so I hope those of you who are just discovering Rosanne Bittner will purchase these reprints – great new covers, and you can put them on your Kindle!
Back to e-books – I am learning to really enjoy my Kindle! I have also ordered the new AMC western, HELL ON WHEELS, so that each episode is automatically downloaded to my Kindle! How cool is that? I can watch each episode when it's convenient for me. This is one of the features of owning the Kindle Fire that I really like, because I often miss some of my favorite TV programs. I either forget, or I fall asleep before they come on, or something else is on at the same time. We do have DISH but we don't have one of those fancy DISH receivers that automatically stores stuff – and besides, this way I can watch my favorite TV shows in another room or while on vacation in Vegas. I don't have to be home retrieving it from my DISH receiver.
All in all, I am slowly but surely breaking down and learning to like the new technology. I have an I-4 cell phone and now the Kindle – and I will probably purchase a Nook because it looks like some of my older books will also be reissued through Barnes & Noble. Be sure to watch my web site for news about that, and I will also post something on this blog if and when that happens.
Keep your fingers crossed that one or two of my books will catch the eye of someone in La-La Land and will become a new TV western series!! Wouldn't that be great? If that happens, I'll be able to download the episodes to my Kindle Fire and watch them whenever I want! What a world we live in!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!
Well, here I am with a Facebook Personal and Fan page – a Blog – I'm on Twitter – I have a web site – and of course e-mail. My last hold-out … e-books and a Kindle reader. Well, I got to liking Facebook – great way to advertise my books to the entire world. I learned to like blogging for the same reason, and it's a good way to help other writers with my (sage??) advice. After all, I've been writing for 30 years and have 57 published novels, so I must know something about this business!
Now comes e-books. I broke down and purchased the new Kindle Fire. WOW!! I'm a "downloading" freak! Who knew there were so many FREE books??? Let alone the convenience of reading other books whenever I want without having to haul them around with me – and of course I get to download my own books just for the fun of it! Two of my older books will be reissued through Sourcebooks.com (and can also be purchased through Amazon.com) in 2012 as e-books and will also be available in print. WILDEST DREAMS in February 2012 and THUNDER ON THE PLAINS in July 2012. I am, of course, advertising these all over the place, thanks to the Internet, so I hope those of you who are just discovering Rosanne Bittner will purchase these reprints – great new covers, and you can put them on your Kindle!
Back to e-books – I am learning to really enjoy my Kindle! I have also ordered the new AMC western, HELL ON WHEELS, so that each episode is automatically downloaded to my Kindle! How cool is that? I can watch each episode when it's convenient for me. This is one of the features of owning the Kindle Fire that I really like, because I often miss some of my favorite TV programs. I either forget, or I fall asleep before they come on, or something else is on at the same time. We do have DISH but we don't have one of those fancy DISH receivers that automatically stores stuff – and besides, this way I can watch my favorite TV shows in another room or while on vacation in Vegas. I don't have to be home retrieving it from my DISH receiver.
All in all, I am slowly but surely breaking down and learning to like the new technology. I have an I-4 cell phone and now the Kindle – and I will probably purchase a Nook because it looks like some of my older books will also be reissued through Barnes & Noble. Be sure to watch my web site for news about that, and I will also post something on this blog if and when that happens.
Keep your fingers crossed that one or two of my books will catch the eye of someone in La-La Land and will become a new TV western series!! Wouldn't that be great? If that happens, I'll be able to download the episodes to my Kindle Fire and watch them whenever I want! What a world we live in!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!
November 3, 2011
A Western "Gold Rush!"
I am busting with excitement! According to an article in the Denver Post this month, TV Westerns will see a big come-back over the next two years, thanks in part to the popularity of HBO's
DEADWOOD
series and the remake of
TRUE GRIT
. I would like to think that the remake of
3:10 TO YUMA
a couple of years ago (starring Russell Crow) also had an effect on this resurgence. I loved the 1950's version of that movie and loved the re-make as well. However, I just don't think anyone can out-do John Wayne in the original TRUE GRIT. What a man!
Reading the Denver Post article made me want to shout out with joy! They always say – what goes around, comes around (or is it the other way around?) !! Either way, that is so true, and I believe that romance in general is coming back around. I am talking about the good old-fashioned '80's bodice-rippers but with better writing and better plotting and more realism. The comments in the Post article reflected what I have been saying all along – deep in the hearts of most of us there is always a soft spot for westerns. They actually warm our hearts, revisiting a time when men were men and women didn't worry about wrinkles and perfect fingernails. Yes, the men were, in general, more chauvinistic, but they were MEN – who for the most part would have died before they even thought about waxing their chests or getting manicures. They didn't have to go to a gym for six-pack abs. All they had to do was walk behind a plow and toss hay into a loft or cut down trees with an axe. Few wore fancy suits, and none had spiked, gelled hair.
Women stayed in shape scrubbing and sewing and baking and cooking and hauling wood and usually running after a brood of kids. (They needed big families back then to help with farm work, and of course, birth control was a whole different and more difficult matter "back then.") For the most part men highly respected women and there were such things as manners and honor and dating protocol.
Of course life in the Old West was hard and people didn't live as long; but neighbors knew and depended on each other. Something as simple as a picnic or a barn building was considered an exciting event, and obeying the law meant something. That can be comforting compared to today's "anything goes" attitude and the stress of the insecurities we have today. As the Post article points out, stories set in the Old West provide a kind of solace to today's viewers. In the reading and/or viewing of Westerns, we know that there will be the "good guys" who represent law and order and on whom we can depend to be honest and strong and a nice shoulder to lean on - and there will be the "bad guys" who get their due. However, as in most of my books and other really good westerns, like the stories of Louis L'Amour, no character is written as all good or all bad. As in real life, our characters have to be mostly gray. We have to give some reason for the bad guy to do what he does – and the good guy (and I'm talking about women, too) will usually be presented with a challenge to their honor or might carry a secret that "shades" their perfection and brings them to a life-changing decision.
America's history is complex and driven by contradictions and change as the west turned from raw, unsettled land to a growth in cities and manufacturing and a surge of "Eastern" civility into the West's wild and unruly ways. Back then an outlaw could end up a lawman, and visa-versa. There are outlaws like Billy the Kid who actually were protected and respected – and there were lawmen whose lives truly bordered on lawlessness, like Wyatt Earp and his brothers.
Some of the new shows coming so reflect a lot of my books that I was lathering at the bit with hope that maybe these programs will bring attention to my older books all over again, especially since a lot of them are so similar to books I have already written. One of the new shows is called " Hell on Wheels " which is set against the building of the Transcontinental Railroad – just like my book THUNDER ON THE PLAINS . That program is already going to start airing Sunday November 6th at 10:00 p.m. on AMC. I can't wait! Another program in the works is called " Longmire " and is set in Montana's Big Sky country, just like my book WILDEST DREAMS . Both of my books mentioned here will be reissued next year in print and as e-books from Sourcebooks! Another new program coming will be set post-Civil War and reflect how that war changed so many lives and changed the West, just like the book I am currently writing, DESPERATE HEARTS .
Another program, " The Frontier " is about a group of people heading west in the 1840's. I can't count the number of times I've written that theme – my entire SAVAGE DESTINY series began with a wagon train headed west. The Post article claims many of these programs will be written from a woman's point of view – as are nearly all my books!
As the article claims, and I've been saying for years – THE APPARENT REVIVAL OF THE WESTERN HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING! They are calling this a "western gold rush" for TV. Maybe it will also turn into a gold rush for writers who made a name for themselves in the genre, and for new writers who want to get in on something that's going to be BIG!! My own agent is already talking to a Hollywood rep about giving some of my stories consideration because of the new popularity of westerns. Maybe one of my stories will finally hit the screen – at least a TV screen!
I'm ready, folks! I'm ready!
Reading the Denver Post article made me want to shout out with joy! They always say – what goes around, comes around (or is it the other way around?) !! Either way, that is so true, and I believe that romance in general is coming back around. I am talking about the good old-fashioned '80's bodice-rippers but with better writing and better plotting and more realism. The comments in the Post article reflected what I have been saying all along – deep in the hearts of most of us there is always a soft spot for westerns. They actually warm our hearts, revisiting a time when men were men and women didn't worry about wrinkles and perfect fingernails. Yes, the men were, in general, more chauvinistic, but they were MEN – who for the most part would have died before they even thought about waxing their chests or getting manicures. They didn't have to go to a gym for six-pack abs. All they had to do was walk behind a plow and toss hay into a loft or cut down trees with an axe. Few wore fancy suits, and none had spiked, gelled hair.
Women stayed in shape scrubbing and sewing and baking and cooking and hauling wood and usually running after a brood of kids. (They needed big families back then to help with farm work, and of course, birth control was a whole different and more difficult matter "back then.") For the most part men highly respected women and there were such things as manners and honor and dating protocol.
Of course life in the Old West was hard and people didn't live as long; but neighbors knew and depended on each other. Something as simple as a picnic or a barn building was considered an exciting event, and obeying the law meant something. That can be comforting compared to today's "anything goes" attitude and the stress of the insecurities we have today. As the Post article points out, stories set in the Old West provide a kind of solace to today's viewers. In the reading and/or viewing of Westerns, we know that there will be the "good guys" who represent law and order and on whom we can depend to be honest and strong and a nice shoulder to lean on - and there will be the "bad guys" who get their due. However, as in most of my books and other really good westerns, like the stories of Louis L'Amour, no character is written as all good or all bad. As in real life, our characters have to be mostly gray. We have to give some reason for the bad guy to do what he does – and the good guy (and I'm talking about women, too) will usually be presented with a challenge to their honor or might carry a secret that "shades" their perfection and brings them to a life-changing decision.
America's history is complex and driven by contradictions and change as the west turned from raw, unsettled land to a growth in cities and manufacturing and a surge of "Eastern" civility into the West's wild and unruly ways. Back then an outlaw could end up a lawman, and visa-versa. There are outlaws like Billy the Kid who actually were protected and respected – and there were lawmen whose lives truly bordered on lawlessness, like Wyatt Earp and his brothers.
Some of the new shows coming so reflect a lot of my books that I was lathering at the bit with hope that maybe these programs will bring attention to my older books all over again, especially since a lot of them are so similar to books I have already written. One of the new shows is called " Hell on Wheels " which is set against the building of the Transcontinental Railroad – just like my book THUNDER ON THE PLAINS . That program is already going to start airing Sunday November 6th at 10:00 p.m. on AMC. I can't wait! Another program in the works is called " Longmire " and is set in Montana's Big Sky country, just like my book WILDEST DREAMS . Both of my books mentioned here will be reissued next year in print and as e-books from Sourcebooks! Another new program coming will be set post-Civil War and reflect how that war changed so many lives and changed the West, just like the book I am currently writing, DESPERATE HEARTS .
Another program, " The Frontier " is about a group of people heading west in the 1840's. I can't count the number of times I've written that theme – my entire SAVAGE DESTINY series began with a wagon train headed west. The Post article claims many of these programs will be written from a woman's point of view – as are nearly all my books!
As the article claims, and I've been saying for years – THE APPARENT REVIVAL OF THE WESTERN HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING! They are calling this a "western gold rush" for TV. Maybe it will also turn into a gold rush for writers who made a name for themselves in the genre, and for new writers who want to get in on something that's going to be BIG!! My own agent is already talking to a Hollywood rep about giving some of my stories consideration because of the new popularity of westerns. Maybe one of my stories will finally hit the screen – at least a TV screen!
I'm ready, folks! I'm ready!
October 25, 2011
Musings on My Writing
I am sitting here thinking about all my years of writing, what I've been through during all of it, and wondering how in God's name I managed to write and sell 57 books amid all that was going on in my life. When I started writing I was 34 years old, and we had bought some property that needed a tremendous amount of work. Our sons were only 8 and 9 years old and very active in school and sports. I worked full time and drove 30 minutes each way to work. I did all the grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, most of the mowing, ran errands, ran a son to the doctor every week (he had allergies and needed shots) – all the things most women are expected to do in spite of having jobs. My husband was (and still is) great, a big supporter of my writing, but he was busy with his own full-time work as well as the tremendous amount of work it took to fix up the property we had purchased. He was constantly cutting down trees, hauling brush, helping paint and fix up two cottages we rented, clearing the property, plowing a half-mile driveway in winter, and so on. Both of us were maxed out … yet I found time to write.
I did what I call "sneak" writing at work. I wrote after dinner at home, amid wrestling boys and a tv only about 5 feet away from me (very small house and no office). I often fell asleep at the typewriter long after hubby and kids were asleep (yes – I used a typewriter the first 4 years before I got a computer). I wrote through my father's death from cancer, a sister's death from cancer, the stressful teenage years of my sons, one son's two failed marriages (third one has stuck), another son's 10-year battle with cocaine (the darkest, darkest, most dreadful period of my life about which I still can't talk much) – brain surgery for a non-malignant tumor – another serious surgery for yet another non-malignant tumor near my heart – two broken wrists (at the same time!) – and helping run a family business.
Through all that I attended conferences, did some charity work, have gone through four dogs, now have three very active grandsons and try to keep up with all of them. I have two full file cabinets stuffed with folders labeled "Cattle" – "Ranchers" – "Gold Mining" – "Mountain Men" – "Women of the West" – "The railroad" - and on and on and on. I would read anything and everything I could about the American West, and I took notes – reams and reams of notes. I cut out magazine articles from publications like "Old West" magazine and I would file them according to their subject matter – articles I might be able to use for another story. (I did all this before the internet made research so much easier.) I collected hundreds of research books for my own personal library, and nearly all of them have dog-eared pages and lots of underlining.
I was a writing demon, totally in love with my subject, and half the time when I would arrive at work I couldn't remember how I got there because in my mind I was out west somewhere writing the next chapter to whatever book I was working on. How I managed to avoid killing myself on the highway, I will never know.
I think back on it all and wonder who that person was. I look at those files and wonder when I managed to find the time to do all that. I look at all those published books and wonder how I ever managed to sit and type approximately 6,000,000 words – actually at least twice that because every book usually ends up getting written twice after proofreading. Add to that edits – and the books I wrote that did not get published – and all the articles I have written for magazines and on and on – and I've probably penned a good 10,000,000 words.
I can actually remember just about every hero and heroine I ever wrote about. They were all very real for me, which I think is the #1 key to a good book. I lived with them, I WAS them. I truly think that in another life I was a pioneer, maybe an Indian woman. Something has drawn me to the West and the mountains almost my whole life, yet I've spent these 66 years right here in Michigan. Thank God I have been privileged to travel west for the past 30 years or so. My husband and I go there every year – at first just as vacations – now we own a condo in Las Vegas where we live for a couple of months every winter, and we still often take summer trips west.
It has been a long journey. I think it actually began in my teens, when I watched so many westerns on TV and most movies were westerns. I loved them. The first book I read that really got me going on the subject was A LANTERN IN HER HAND by Bess Streeter Aldrich. I cannot even think about that book without crying. What a fabulous story, depicting the loneliness of a woman going with her husband to live on the western plains back when there were no neighbors to visit with, no doctors to help deliver babies – when winters were long and dark and lonely – when women gave up their own personal dreams to support their husbands and children.
The book that truly made me want to write was THE PROUD BREED by Celeste deBlasis. What a love story! It's a generational saga about the settling of California. The heroine was a high-born Spanish woman – the hero a white American citizen. Fabulous story – great historical story-telling. I recommend both books for anyone who wants to read the "real west." Then along came Louis L'Amour, and I knew his men were the kind I wanted for my heroes. Usually when turned into movies his men were played by Tom Sellek, Robert DuVall, Sam Elliot and the like. Then there was that famous Clint Eastwood "squint," and the big, blustery John Wayne. I guess I like writing the Old West because men could be men without worrying about going to jail and being sued for a quick punch to the jaw. There is something about a rugged cowboy standing there tall and lean with a gun on his hip and a cigarette in his mouth that just turns me on. Remember those old Marlborough commercials with Tom Sellek? That's what started his career.
Well, this turned into quite an article, when all I meant to do was a little musing for a short Facebook entry or a short blog. I've never been able to keep it short. I tried short stories once for magazines. Couldn't do it. Every idea turned into a full novel. I've written a couple of anthologies, but every time I finished one I thought about how that could have become a full book. And no matter who my characters were, I hated leaving them at the end of a story, which is why I wrote a 7-book series and have written several trilogies.
I don't know where it all came from, but the stories poured out of my brain almost faster than I could type. Whenever I would finish a book I would feel beaten up and stomped on. I would literally ache. And then I would turn right around and start another story. For a while I was selling 2 – 5 books a year and making great money. Those days are gone now. Writers don't earn anywhere near what they are worth, but that's food for a different "musing."
For all you other writers out there, don't give yourselves excuses for not being able to sit down and write at least a little bit every day. There ARE no excuses if you are born to write. You won't need college or other special training. You just need to love your subject and to be a natural-born story-teller. If you do both those things and make time to write, you will succeed. I wish the best of luck to all of you.
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