Rick Jantz's Blog, page 9
September 28, 2014
Alone At The Window
I see people,
Many of them I know.
How do they see me,
Sitting
Over here by the window,
As usual
By myself.
There is much noise,
From these people I know.
But none
From me,
Unless you can hear a thought cry.
It’s time
To escape
And get away from those I know,
Because I don’t
And they don’t.
I leave.
September 25, 2014
Free Western Books: You Don’t Want To Miss This One!
Colson’s Law is available FREE on Kindle October 1st to 5th! Written in the style of Louis L’Amour and some of the other great Western writers, this book is about a gunfighter who must overcome odds and help a young heiress claim her ranch. You can read a complete review here.
If you’re looking for free Western books you don’t want to miss the FREE Kindle release of my first book, Colson’s Law. This will be available for a limited time only: October 1st to 5th, 2014!
Please Leave Me A Review
When you download and read the book from Amazon you have the opportunity to write a review. While, as with all writers, I would prefer a positive review with star rankings what I really want to know is this…DID YOU LIKE IT?
I’m working on my second novel, “Six-Gun Twins” and I really want to know if you enjoy my writing, if I’m off-track, and even if you have any criticisms. Having written and produced stage plays I can handle criticism but what I always want to know is: “What did you think?”
It’s by knowing how well received, or not, my book is that I will learn to improve and hopefully my next book will meet your expectations. This is a genre I really enjoy (I read it all the time as my “escape literature”) and I have plans to begin a series as well. So you could really help me out by letting me know what you think.
Do You Like Gunfighters?
If you do then I want to be a writer you read. I enjoy writing about the whole mysterious and dangerous character. There’s something noble I find I like; and it’s typically because they stay true to their independence and surety of what’s right and wrong…and willingly do something about it.
These are also characters that guys can relate to and emulate; OK, not necessarily the gunfighter skills but certainly everything else that makes them human.
October 1st – 5th: Free Copies
Don’t let these dates slip away because after that the price will go back up (and yes, I will earn a commission, which is not all bad). But I do want you to get a FREE copy and enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
You can go directly here to download your copy now.
You can also leave me a comment below if you would like. I respond to all comments, the good, the bad, and the …(Western fans know how that ends:)
September 23, 2014
Colson’s Law Western Book Review
Colson’s Law tells the story about the infamous gunfighter, Rad Colson, who is hired to escort a preacher and his daughter to the West. Two years previous, Rad had been gunned down and left for dead. Now he dreams about that battle every night in his dreams and now hides in New York, nursing an ever present bottle of whiskey.
Only the attraction of an emerald-eyed heiress persuades Rad to return to the land that had witnessed his defeat. With mounting opposition against her, the heiress attempts to settle her affairs and pleads with the drunken gunfighter to reform himself and strap his twin six-guns on to help her. The conflicts of both can only be settled by Colson’s Law.
Setting
In 1890, Wyoming Territory was to become a State within the Union with the city of Cheyenne serving as its capital. This was through the energetic work of such prominent men as Joseph Carrey and Francis Warren. Rumors, however, flow freely where men mix and thus there were those willing to arrange events to their advantage, using whatever means necessary to achieve their ends.
The story begins in New York but, upon hearing word of Victoria Carpenter’s death, her estranged husband and daughter must now travel to Wyoming and assert their claim on the ranch she left behind, The Vic.
Characters
Rad Colson: The main character was a well-known gunfighter and had the fame and notoriety that came with that. When he is defeated at what he does best, the ghost of that gun battle haunts his dreams. He turns to whiskey to forget but the dream never goes away. Recognized for the Western man that he is, he’s asked to help the Carpenter’s go West and claim their inheritance. In helping the heiress, he learns that strength is not just who you can beat in a gun battle but the importance of right and wrong and how being a strong man in a strong country is about standing up for what you believe in.
Wynn Gruber: Is the Director of the local Stock Association and with Wyoming soon to become a State and the National Stock Association looking for a new Director, he will do whatever he has to do in order to get control. He’s a big man and is used to getting his way by brute force and violence. However, he finds out that there is someone even more cunning and vengeful than he ever could be.
Mary Carpenter: The young heiress who must return to the West to take possession of the ranch her dead mother left her. Mary has been helping her father out East with his tent-meeting church and is responsible for hiring and feeding the men who set up and take down the tent. When she goes West she finds that she is now responsible for the people who work for her and she questions her ability to do so. She convinces Rad that she needs his guns to establish law and order the only way the West understands: with faster guns and a willingness to stand for what’s right.
Jomack: A gunfighter in his own right, Jomack works for Wynn Gruber but it quickly becomes evident that his loyalties lie elsewhere. He is a man driven to kill and who is willing to do so whether he is paid or not. Insolent and malicious, Jomack’s one redeeming quality seems to be that he won’t shoot women…unless they shoot first.
Ira Carpenter: Mary’s father is a preacher who speaks with a stern voice but who believes everyone can be redeemed. Recognizing that his current life is not the best for his daughter, he returns to the West to help her settle her mother’s affairs. He quickly recognizes that Colson is the man that can ensure their success.
Corky: Hired in New York to help the Carpenter’s trip to the West, Corky is a fun-loving young man who is awed and shocked by the sudden violence and death that the frontier can bring. But he proves he’s up to the task and quickly devotes himself to protecting the young heiress.
Some Tidbits About Colson’s Law
The book speaks to good versus evil: when evil-minded men and women attempt to take by force something that is not theirs to have someone must be willing to stand up and say, “No!”
Rad Colson must forgo his alcohol addiction to help a young heiress claim the ranch that many others believe should be theirs. Using his skills as a gunfighter and watching her determination grow in the face of adversity they must try and defeat the aggressive plans of others; sometimes good people have to use violence in turn to ensure justice is honored.
In addition to the gun battles that are brewing in Wyoming, Colson’s Law is also a love story of a strong man turned weak who then must reform himself and become an even stronger man. It is also the story of a young, naive woman who becomes strong as she learns how to make decisions that affect others, especially the men who now work for her. It takes strong people to live in a wild, untamed country and Rad and Mary must prove that they are up to the task.
The title speaks to one man’s independence and willingness to use his battle experience to make right what others have done wrong. His law is, in fact, the law of society at a time when society appears lawless.
Who Should Read This Book
The book is written in a style similar to Louis L’Amour who enjoyed longevity and success as a Western writer. If you like fiction that includes gunfighters, action, mystery, and even love then this book is for you.
Also, the story is engaging and about real people facing real problems and shows how they solve these problems by finding and remaining true to their strengths and character.
Click here to buy your copy.
September 22, 2014
Hi From A Western Writer
I enjoy reading Western fiction, action, and spy novels. Because I grew up reading Westerns I chose that genre to write for. It's truly a unique experience putting together scenes, characters, adding conflict, and even finding out what happens when I pit these things against each other.
I am currently writing my second Western and plan to have it self-published by Christmas of 2014. I'm also working on placing my poetry and stage plays on my website which I think you will enjoy.
Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave me a message and certainly do check out my first book.
September 5, 2014
How Important Is The Opening Line In Your Book?
BOOM! How was that? Or does BAMB work better? What about, “Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you!” Did any to these grab your attention? Were they eye-catching or annoying? These are just examples of the importance of the opening line in your book…or even a blog post such as this.
Now, for blog posts you have maybe five seconds to grab your visitors attention. And if you don’t do it that quickly they click away to the next website. You probably have the same amount of time to convince a reader to buy your book. Sure, maybe they’ve read the back cover for a quick book synopsis but then they may crack open the cover to see how your book starts (how many of us have done the same?)
If you haven’t reached out and grabbed your perspective reader’s attention with a great first line then they aren’t likely to reach for their wallet!
Look At These Examples
“It was a dark and stormy night”
Do you know who started this classic? It was the English author, Edward Bulwer-Lytton from his book, “Paul Clifford”, published in 1830. But it’s memorable and used still today, especially to create a scary or dangerous night when we’re telling ghost stories around a campfire.
“Once upon a time”
Yes, I know, this one is obvious, overused, and intended for children. But, you recognize it, right? It had it’s origins in the oral narratives of the 1600’s and it ends with the traditional line, “and they all lived happily ever after.” Any one of us would have gone down in history if we were the originator though, right?
“It was the best of times”
In “A Tale Of Two Cities”, Charles Dickens speaks to events leading up to the French Revolution. And because of that we are led into the next part of the opening line, “it was the worst of times”. Very classic and certainly evokes the right kind of imagery for this story.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
And with that opening line in “Pride and Prejudice”, Jane Austen grabs us our interest and imagination and hurtles us into her story. Who knew that humor existed like this in 1813.
“Time stood still…but not the gun clearing it’s holster”
Does this opening line grab you and make you want to know if someone is about to get shot? And that time stands still when you see your death is imminent? OK, that’s a line from my first Western novel, “Colson’s Law”. But the intent is that, while it may not go down in the annals of literary greats, its still intended to grab the reader’s interest and make them want to read more.
How Do You Craft A Great Opening Line?
Write it once…twice…thrice…or however many times you need to. And it needs to be relevant to your book’s theme. It needs to tell the reader fairly quickly what the book is about and/or provide some insight about your main character, possibly how they think or how they view life. These are examples only but this one line needs to grab your reader and tell them that reading the entire book is worth their time…and money!
Think of it as your tag line or your “elevator speech”. You have a few seconds to tell what your story is about by using words as pictures. You want to appeal to the reader’s emotions, to what they’re wanting to read. You want them to read your first sentence and think to themselves, “This looks really good”.
Take another look at the opening lines from the books referenced above. These were likely not easy to come up with and required a lot of revision and tweaking to give the book the opening feel the author was shooting for (OK, maybe not “once upon a time”). But study them and you begin to see that these short lines opened great novels.
Don’t Make It All Downhill From There
The importance of a great opening line cannot be ignored and you can’t fill in the pages to your punch line or climax with “just words”. Everything between the opening line and the end must be there for a reason and not be filling up space.
As you write your first draft and then begin editing, each sentence after your opening one must belong…it must make sense and continue to build on the anticipation of the one before it.
This may sound difficult – how do you keep up the pace of a great opening line? But really, it’s not that difficult. You just continue to write naturally and with passion, if that is appropriate to your book (I’m assuming you’re writing a fiction). This becomes relatively easy to maintain if you have a good outline that you have taken the time to create. This will help your book flow and allow you to build from one sentence to the next.
Take The Time To Sound “Grreeaaaattt!”
OK, I took that line from the Tony the Tiger cereal box. But that’s the intent of this post, to have you stop and take the time to write that great opening, that one line that hooks your readers into your story right from the get-go. Because what happens next? They then read the next line, maybe the next few paragraphs, and then go, “yup, gotta have it”.
Your opening is your introduction to your story…and first impressions do make a difference!
