What Next?
Mostwriters have moments when they suffer from writer’s block. It isvery frustrating, but equally frustrating is having so many storiesto tell you don’t know which one to write first.
That’smy dilemma. Sometimes I feel like writing all the ideas on separatecards and then tossing them into the air. Whichever card fallsclosest to me is the story I will have to write next. I have had mymoments of thinking about quitting completely, but that is usuallynot from writer’s block. It’s from discouraging sales or fromhurtful comments from an editor who just doesn’t “get” mywriting. One editor’s comments about BLAZE OF GLORY were so bitingthat I decided her real problem was that she hated men. Really. Shedidn’t “get” Jake at all, while 99% of my readers love the manto death. I just ignored her inability to understand men and theaffects of a tortured childhood. So be it. I paid no attention.
Nothingtruly discourages me other than time to write everything I would liketo write. And sometimes I wonder if I should try to write a differentgenre. However, I can’t get away from my love for American historyand the Old West and Native Americans. So, as I explained not longago, I think my next book will be IF I LOVED YOU, an Indian/whitehistorical romance, something people tell me is their favoritestoryline from me.
Meantime,I am re-reading THIS TIME FOREVER to see if it would work for anAmazon reissue. It was published back in 1989 by Warner Books(Popular Library). Wow, that was a long time ago. The story is basedloosely on the true tale of a woman who traveled west with theMormons but was not herself a Mormon. She became a well-known singerand my husband and I visited her mansion years ago in Wyoming. Mycharacter’s name is Lilly Brannigan, from Scotland. The hero isCharles (Chase) Mitchell. Time and circumstances bring them togetherand then apart, and Lilly vows that if she ever finds Chase again,this time it will be forever. I would be interested to know how manyof you remember the book. Ifeel blessed that so many of my back issues have been reissued morethan once and with new covers. That has kept me on the virtual“shelves” for years, with many of my very first books stillselling, including SavageDestiny. I expectmost of them will keep selling long after I am gone, which willbenefit my children and grandchildren. That warms my heart, and is away of being with all of you for as long as you keep reading mybooks.
SHADOWTRAIL is doing well, and I can’t help wanting to write more aboutEvie and Brian, since I have never gone deeply into their marriageother than everyone knows what happened to Evie and how Brian handledit. He is such a kind, understanding, patient man – such a contrastto Jake in so many ways. But he has always understood Evie’sadoration of her father, even though Jake is so drastically differentfrom Brian. I love that “We are nothing alike, but I respect you”relationship between Jake and Brian. I have never explored Briandeeply, other than when he had a heart-to-heart with Jake when Jakethought Miranda might die from breast cancer. And, of course, theyhad another talk when Evie was kidnapped by outlaws who so brutallyabused her. It just seems like so much had to happened in all theOutlaw Heartsbooks that I never got the chance to explore that Jake and Brianrelationship. Iguess I am rambling a bit. Just letting you, my very importantreaders, know what writers go through, especially ones like me whoget deeply involved in their characters. I make mine so real that itis important to be sure they remain true to theircharacter/personality through the years that are covered in my seriesbooks. It’s not always easy, but I get inside the head of everysingle character, even many of the cowhands. I would even like towrite more about some of them.
IfI could live another 30 years I would probably write 30 more books. Iam up to 76, so 24 more would make 100, but that will never happen.Still, it’s a nice idea and something to aim for if God allows methe health to do so.
Blessings.
Rosanne
