From the coming paranormal book

It's always challenging to find an excerpt that is interesting but doesn't tell too much of the story-- but without some of the story, the excerpt isn't doing its job. This one is from the first book in the Hemstreet Witches Series. It ended up the general length I had hoped (under 58,000 words) is a contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, western, suspense, romance... I probably need to get a few less tags there.

Here's a sneak peek at its probable cover. I say probable because sometimes there are subtle changes when we live with them awhile.

I am already starting to line up the next book in the series. They are a lot more western than I had expected but I should have expected it. They are set in Tucson but also out into the desert and at a ranch which has come down through their family. Some of the books may have more city in them, but the next one will have even less and travel north for some of its story to the Verde Valley. 

Here's a clip from The Enchantress' Secret which will likely go to beta readers within a week and if that goes well (this is out of their normal romance genre reading), I could see it out by the end of May... and me well into writing the next one. Nick is a painter and Denali a witch. John Cordova is a Yaqui who has drifted away from his family.

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   John took a big swallow of his wine. “Guess I did.” He looked at her. “You’re a witch too. I knew that first time I saw you but the real deal, a good witch, one born to it, ain’t you?”

   She nodded. “As was my grandmother and great grandmother. It is on both sides for my sister and me as the one side has the Yaqui shaman magic.”

   He smiled. “Powerful combination. Dangerous in the wrong hands.”

   “We understand that. Do you do magic, John?”

   He shook his head. “Not since… No.”

   “But you did once.”

   He looked uneasy. “Maybe but no more.”

   “But if there was a storm coming, you might again if the need arose.”

   The old man looked at her and then shook his head. “Don’t want to.”

   “I understand that. It’s a lot of responsibility but sometimes, it has to be done for good.”

   He sucked in a breath. “I’ll leave you two.” He looked back at Denali. “Glad he’s got you until he’s ready to understand all that he faces.” With that he was gone.

   Nick took another long draw on his cigarette. “Strange,” he said as he looked at her through the smoke.

   She smiled. “He’s a good witness as to the problem with Cynthia. I am afraid that if she kept photos of you, they will show up in her home. She may have talked to her girlfriends and who knows what she told them.”

   “I see the writing on the wall. I’m being set up.”

   “It seems that way.”

   “You think by someone who used the women or created their motivations?”

   That was pretty insightful but she supposed she should have expected it from someone who had been a SEAL and used to espionage and attacks. “It could have been either. I hope my family will know more tonight.”

   “Me too as I don’t relish being in a prison cell for things I didn’t do. I think I can safely say with the publicity my art career will be in the toilet.”

   “If the publicity gets out.”

   “It’s pretty salacious to not. Nothing about this is good.”

   “Well there is one thing.”

   “And?” He was looking in a bleak mood and she couldn’t blame him.

   “You have a good friend in John Cordova. He has adopted you it seems.”

   “And you. You adopted me too.”

   She smiled at that. “Oh no, my motives aren’t any purer than Cynthia’s.”

   He grinned. “You though have had encouragement. Do you need more?”

   “Oh no, I just am thinking you need to stop sleeping alone at night.” She laughed.

   “Ah, my alibi... the witch.”

   She laughed. “You might prefer to say the Hemstreet heiress.” With that, she moved across the room and sat back on his lap. “Shall we take off from where we were?”

what makes it a western romance?

Coming up with a genre is as dicey as the right title. The way readers find a book is-- ta da-- it being in the correct genre. Except many books fall between the slots. One popular genre is western romance-- what is it? My problem with an answer is there are requirements for a romance that differ from a straight western. 

Romances are stories of relationship. Often there are many relationships involving family, friends, enemies, but essential to being a romance is the primary one is between two lovers. If they are just friends-- no romance. There could be a third making a triangle, but only for awhile, and it should be obvious to the reader which is the desired winner. Romances today can be between two women or two men. What they will not end up is mènage á trois. There must be a primary couple-- hence, no polyamory. Save that for literature, memoirs and erotica.  

Romances also must have a happily ever after. The only known exceptions are in series writing where there will be one but, by the end of the series, not before. Romances are built around the complexities of finding 'the' one and then deciding if it can work. They usually end when the couple have decided they are in love and gotten past the barriers-- frankly, before the hard work of relationships begins. ;)

Romances need two main characters whom readers care about. One or both may have flaws in their character, but the reader has to want to see them get it right or else why keep reading! For me at least, a book with a hero who is a bastard until the last chapter, will not make for a satisfying read.

Even more so, it is a lousy life lesson for readers that such men (women too) can be redeemed through love-- which leads to a lot of divorces, abuse, and sometimes violence. Make them both likable with some flaws. A book that shows growth is a plus. In fact, a romance is all about growth in the relationship and in the pair.

Most romances today go between the hero and heroine for points of view. So sometimes the reader gets inside his head; sometimes inside hers. Rarely is a romance seen from outside the two-- as in the writer's perspective. The best romances do not have an omnipotent point of view, and the writer must work to be sure the changing views are clear and not confusing.

A believable barrier/barriers must keep these two from their happily ever and then it has to be believable that they worked it out. The barrier can be outside them-- as in a villain to be overcome, danger to surmount. Yes, a romance is a fantasy but it's grounded in real life. 

For romances, happily ever afters are de rigueur-- tragedies are for literary books where their readers dote on misery. Romance is a feel good read at least by the end. A roller coaster ride with ups and downs but security for the reader that their time spent with these characters will be rewarded. 

Romances can deal with social issues, have dangerous enemies, a host of complicating factors, but in the end it's about that mysterious thing-- love and why it works or doesn't.

A straight western has its own set of expectations.  It is usually told through one point of view, might be two but no jumping around. If it's historical, it must be accurate to the time period. Westerns are not primarily about romance, but there can be one; there often is but it won't be the main issue. The important plot element will be the battle the hero must face to fix what was broken, do the right thing often at a high cost.

A western has a hero, a powerful villain (else how can the hero show his mettle) and finally a reason the hero gets into the conflict which might be a protecting someone, revenge, getting money, saving a ranch, etc. 

In every western there is normally at least one and maybe several battles where the possibility of the hero being defeated is very real. He might appear to have been one or more times. No matter how dire or how great the odds, the hero will succeed but that won't happen before he is threatened, beaten or shot. He usually recovers fairly fast and faces the last challenge where he defeats the villain. A really complex western might even have him facing the villain, only to find the real villain is behind the scenes-- one last conflict that the reader and hero didn't expect.

To make a western the most exciting, the hero is facing a psychological and moral dilemma as well as a physical one. Westerns, like romances, are fairy tales to take the reader out of their daily life. They are dream fulfillment books.

So how do you define a western romance? I think it's a mix of the elements in each. There will be a conflict where the heroine might take an equal share in resolving. The hero and heroine will be important parts of the story and most often the point of view goes between them; so we know what each is thinking. They will face a conflict that involves real danger while they are also facing the problem of what to do about their relationship. Both may have ups and downs. A sweet western romance might just be set in the West, involving making a town or community right, but may not have a dastardly villain.

Western romances have the ethos of the western for the good against evil. I think most of them have alpha heroes but that does not mean brutal men. It means the kind of man others turn to in times of turmoil. The heroine will be his equal as she either stands at his side through the battle or fights her own to get to their happily ever after. Generally speaking western romances have action in the story.

Western and western romances end happily.

Rawhide 'n Roses-- a western romance anthology

Short stories are a bit of an art form all on their own. It is telling a story without all the frills found in longer books. It's a challenge to create a story without so many words and yet have it be complete.

With fifteen authors, each putting forth a story that they found interesting, the anthology 

 Rawhide 'n Roses 

has action, humor, danger, and, of course, romance.  The stories are set in both the old and modern West with heroines as strong and gutsy as their heroes.

The rules for a western are, I think, flexible. Sometimes they feature cowboys but it's as often to be a sheriff or horse trainer. To me, westerns are stories that carry forth the ethos of the Western philosophy which is most often the fight of good against evil. They usually are set west of the Mississippi, but I personally don't consider that a requirement. The more important thing is that they are stories of action, of a problem that must be resolved. If it's a romance, it will have a hero and heroine with a happily ever after.

Check out Rawhide 'n Roses-- and consider putting this romantic western anthology on your eReader for the times you find your hours for reading are not long enough, but you want to escape into an imaginary world for half an hour or so.

From Connie's Gift set in the mining camps of the California Sierras: 

Two hours later Sabine scurried to hide under the bed at the booted step on the porch. Connie felt no fear. She knew who it was and didn’t need psychic powers for that. 

“Why you sitting in the dark?” Del threw his jacket over the hook by the door unfastening his string tie, and opened the top buttons on his shirt.She gestured toward the window and heard him sigh. “Sorry, baby.” 

He found one of her quilts and secured it over the opening before lighting the kerosene lamp. Kneeling in front of her, he put his hands on her knees.

They had been married twenty-five years. She found it hard to believe it could have been so long. In all that time, she never tired of looking at his face, the proud cheekbones, the firm lips that were now set hard, sadness in his dark eyes. He worried about her. She understood. She worried about him too.

All they had was each other. Maybe their lack of children had been for the best. They had moved on so many times. Sometimes it was to find better places for Del to deal faro. Sometimes a town had enough of a gambler who won too often. Others it had been when someone heard of her gift; of course, they didn’t regard it as a gift but rather a curse. 

~~~~~~~

If you aren't quite sure what a western is, check out this trailer:

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Tucson Moon

Writing is a lifestyle that is constantly evolving and filled with so many things going on that it's hard to stop and think where am I in all of that?

Currently looking at the paperbacks, as they come in as proofs, to determine if they are ready is one aspect even though I have yet to figure out what I can really do with them next. I won't order as many in the future but since we plan to be back in Tucson in January, stores there might be interested-- or not. See how wise I am in all of this!

Then there is readying promos for the book coming out on November 29th-- Tucson Moon. I love that story as it's about not only the couple falling in love, but picks up the characters from Arizona Sunset and brings them to 1886. It's about communities, the desert, relationships, holidays, metaphysics, family, and the impact of our choices on ourselves and others. It's another adult romance but maybe not quite as spicy as Arizona Sunset. I try with my stories to put sex into them where the sex is part of the story and needed. I don't pressure characters to have sex but let it happen when I believe it would occur.

I enjoyed the historic research that went into learning more about Arizona Territory and Tucson in the mid-1880s. A lot was going on. Three cities were vying to be Arizona's capitol. Becoming a state was years in the future. Tucson was going through a transition from sleepy pueblo to a real city thanks to the arrival of the railroad. The broader political spectrum in the growing nation impacted my hero as a United States Deputy Marshal. These men were very much involved in not only keeping the law but politics as United States Marshals were appointed in Washington D.C. and changed when the party in power changed (although mostly the Deputy Marshals stayed the same but with a new boss). I found a great book on the jobs of these frontier marshals which helped a lot.

Tucson Moon will come out as both Kindle and paperback. They have gone to offering a matte finish for the books which improved the covers immensely-- too bad they didn't do it before we had ordered 10 Arizona Sunsets with the shinier cover...

moon from our Tucson home

Meanwhile, although I was supposed to be getting back into the fourth Oregon historical, I had a dream... and the dream has led to so far 10,000 words on what will either be a novella or novelette depending on how many it takes to tell the story of that dream. The dream was amazing, came from seemingly out of nowhere and yet had connections to my own experiences. I liked it so much that I wanted to expand it into a book. Fleshing it out has been what I've been writing this last week-- as even a short story takes more details than a dream offers. So far I've been enjoying this development a lot.

And if you read my other blog, you know I lost my beloved four-year old cat to a terminal illness. We began to look for a kitten as we wanted our remaining 8 year-old cat not to be alone. Until July he lived in a house where he was one of three cats. We found (Craigslist) the new addition after some adventures in that arena. Raven is 6 months old, coal black with golden eyes like Blackie and is settling in with the two of them adjusting to each other.

So promoting, writing, and living a life. That's about it for now.

Excerpt from the soon to be released Tucson Moon:

Priscilla came back through the door. “Ben said he’s innocent,” she said without preamble.

“Most men in a jail say that.”

“I believe him. It sounds like a misunderstanding.”

“Other than the broken arm, you mean?”

“A man has to defend himself.”

“Some people are more dangerous to defend yourself against than others.”

“And that would be Mr. Presley, who had him work for him and then denied him pay.”

“You know him?”

“A lawyer if I recall in Phoenix.”

“Exactly. And he had important friends in the court system. He didn’t take well to the injury.”

“Which he deserved for cheating.” He suppressed the smile. She was quite the spitfire herself when she got started. He well recalled her many times of putting him down. He supposed he was about to experience yet another one of them.

“Isn’t there anything I can do for him?” she asked.

“I suppose if Judge Emerson blocked his move to Prescott… denied federal court jurisdiction, and levied a fine, possibly it might be the end of it on the federal side.” He knew he could get in trouble for saying any of that but it wasn’t as though he wanted Ben put in the federal prison system for what likely was unfairness. Worse would be if they decided he needed to be put into one of the mental hospitals that were warehouses not treatment centers.

“You think he might do any of that?”

“He got burned recently on a federal case. It’s possible.”

“Well then I think I will find out about that,” Priscilla said with a wider smile. “So you won’t object if such a thing should come to pass.”

“Not me.”

If he hadn’t known better, he’d have taken those beautiful lips to have softened with a flirty smile and the look in her eyes saying things he knew weren’t meant for him other than possibly how she handled all men—wrapping them around her delicate little finger.

“Well what about another idea of mine. Will you object to that?”

“I am always cautious when I hear that kind of proposal without specifics. What kind of idea?”

“Grace and I were on our way to lunch at the Palace. Will you join us?”

He considered thoughtfully for a moment. “I wish I could but unfortunately I have processes and writs to serve.” And a warrant if Blake Johnson was home.

“Ah more abuses of the law?” she asked with at teasing smile.

“Depends on who is being served as to who gets abused.” With that teasing expression still on her face, he felt tempted to give her the kiss for which she seemed to be asking. Stupid thought as that’s one thing he knew he’d never be doing—kissing the beautiful Miss Wesley.

“I will forgive you for not joining us,” she said, if you will come to dinner Friday night.”

He knew part of having Grace at her home was to allow him gradual access to her life, but dinner at Priscilla’s home. That was a step beyond what he’d planned.

“There is a catch, of course,” she said.

He snorted. There usually was. He looked down at Grace who was looking from one of them to another. “You know what it is?” he asked his daughter. She shook her head.

“So what is the catch?” he asked wondering if it meant he’d have to put up with Martin Matthews company for an evening.

“James was supposed to go to the mountains and cut a Christmas tree but he’s got another bout of his lumbago. I hate to ask him to do it. Do you suppose you could? We’d decorate it then after dinner.”

He’d seen Christmas trees but hadn’t ever cut one, or even thought of decorating one. With the holiday so close, he supposed he should have expected this, but he had not. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it. It would take half a day but he knew areas where the right size pine could most likely be found. Finally he nodded. “How tall?” He felt as though his fate was sealed.

Historical romances

Historical romances have a number of pitfalls built into them which can ruin or make the book. There are many things the writer has to know about a period in history if they want to insert their characters into it.

One issue that comes up early would be how did the people get information and communicate with those not next door? If you think about say a Jane Austen romance, we have plenty of examples interspersed throughout her books of riders who brought letters sometimes even at night. The writer doesn't have to explain how communication happens if they illustrate it in events.

In the Old West, communication was a major part of what a community would be like. It changed fast enough that a writer better know whether a community had a stage line,  train tracks and regular schedule, or shipping route nearby.  How did people move around?

The pony express had a brief history (April 1861-October 1862) reducing the time to get a message from East coast to West Coast down to ten days. Before that any news required either going by ship around the Horn, traveling with someone, or an equally slow route by land. After the pony express came the telegraph where at least a message could be gotten through if not a whole letter. The trains changed all of that again when packages, letters and people could be transported more safely and faster.

So to write an historical story, the writer needs to know where their area was in terms of the communication methods. Even if it doesn't seem it would relate to their own story, it does. It lends a flavor within the community. Cut off from the rest of the world is different than up on the latest events, newspapers, and magazines.

If the historical romance writer is writing a story that occurs during some other big event, maybe not even one that was directly impacting them, it's important to know. It can set a mood within one side or another within a community especially if it was a big event like the Civil War.

And going along with that, what we call an event today, like say the Civil War, might not have been the same when it was happening. When I needed to know that, I learned there were multiple names for that war but Civil War was one. So it's less confusing to use that name for the reader than to pick up a less familiar name just to prove you knew it.

Colloquial expressions are another place that can trip up the writer as we are familiar with some that seem they've always been there; but were they? I had one I wanted to use in a book. It was so good and seemed self-evident as a potential expression. When I researched it, the closest I could come to its being in usage was much later than I wanted. I used a variation but might've been safe to use it anyway since it was descriptive. The fact something is commonly used in one decade doesn't mean it was never used before.

Knowing when authors of the past were first well known can help a lot as to how their work might influence characters even those who are not particularly literate. People had a lot more knowledge of the general works of writers like say Mark Twain (b. 1835- d. 1910) than we might expect today. His newspaper articles were popular in 1865 (depending on the communication in the community) and Tom Sawyer was published in 1876; but if you are writing a story set in 1883, you better not reference Huckleberry Finn which came out in 1885. A very literate person though of 1886 might've had access to the book.

All the research needn't to make it into the romance novel because the big issues are the couple's struggles. Such research though does furnish the underpinning, the energy, the flavor, and helps with deepening the characters and the writer's own understanding of these people. Throwing facts in to prove you knew them could just lose the reader interest. Sometimes a writer can put them in casually through usage but not in some list as that just shows unsophisticated writing.

It's easier to get the kind of cloth and garments that people wore than it is to get dialogue to work for a modern reader. Some writers get the idea that they knew exactly how the people back then would think or talk. Since our only way to know such is through their old letters, journals and books, we are guessing at how they talked. A writer like Jane Austen, who was a contemporary writer to her own time, used dialogue which could come closer but maybe she just liked how it sounded. And she was only writing about a certain group of people where another community might sound quite different.

The other thing is putting our emotional needs and interests into the heads of these people from way back is okay so long as the writer knows they are doing it as part of the fantasy, the fairy tale of the romance. To kid ourselves and assume that some Native American woman of several hundred years ago would be looking at man's body and fantasizing as a woman might today is naive. Human nature is as much made up of environment and community as it is DNA. Sure we have natural yearnings and desires but a lot of what we think is much influenced by what we read, hear and those around us.

Museums can be a rich source for not only photos but stories. I particularly like to go to museums put together by those from differing backgrounds. Between that and the many books, the info on the Internet, it's possible to put together a reasonable scenario for what happened. BUT you have to look at it all with some skepticism. A good example is the story of Geronimo and how important was he in the Apache wars? I can find info to tell you whatever you want to believe and it won't match. When you go to write an historical romance, that can be handy ;).

Emotional Adventures

photoshopping together two of my own photos

There is no genre of books that does not have some within that deserve a bad rap. Published or self-published, the fact is not all books are of good quality. Top sales don't guarantee quality writing.

Romances though get the bad rap partly because of some of the silly stuff that has been in them where the dialogue makes a person laugh unless maybe they are truly into the genre. It's a joke in Romancing the Stone where the romance writing heroine is concluding one of her stories and crying with how emotional it is while we, the viewers, are laughing

Recently, Farm Boss and I started to watch Gone with the Wind, and at the risk of offending aficionados of the film, I couldn't stand the dialogue and contrivances. Yes, it is a romance even if someone wants to think being a classic moves it out of that realm. It also has ridiculous and very unrealistic dialogue.

I think flowery language, unbelievable plots, and painting all romances with the same brush is part of why the books have been so disdained, but despite that, more of them are purchased than any other genre. there must be a reason for their popularity. Unfortunately though the rap leads many avid readers to not even give them a chance.

Some time back I began to look for a better descriptive title for romances as the name seems to suggest Valentine's Day, flowers and candy. I came up with emotional adventures because that is what the best romances are-- except then romance readers would never find them. The best romances are a roller coaster ride of ups and downs with the swish of speed but the knowledge that at the end you will be safely on the ground again. The best romances take their readers on an emotional journey where life and death, loss and gain are side by side-- as they so frequently are in life.

If someone dislikes reading about the love between two people of the sexual sort, then it makes sense they'd not favor romances. Even though there are diverse types within the genre, in the end, romances are about mated love. Used to be all of them were of the male female type but that's no longer true. Generally romances are not tragedies although Brokeback Mountain was. I would not say Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe was a tragedy even though one of the lovers died early. Some would say, oh those cannot be romances! Yes, they can because the dominant relationship was of mated love.

image purchased from CanStock

Most romances have sex-- either in them or implied for the future. Sex is, however, not their core or they are erotica. If sex is the most important part of the story, it isn't a romance. In my mind, romances should be about the emotional connection between two people and that often does involve sex. It's not all. It's about the challenge of relationship as much as love with how two people can get together -- or not. Phony reasons to keep them apart are lazy writing.

For the books I read or write, I want a hero and heroine I can like. There has to be a believable obstacle and a real way they can overcome it-- something that actually works in human relationships. Romances can teach and inspire-- like that's a bad thing?

To write about the romance which is really about a hero and heroine, I learned the most from Joseph Campbell books, like The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Mythologies can teach a lot about motivations, consequences, plots and characterizations.

wolf image purchased from CanStock and put into one of my photos

I tried to decide if my Christmas novella, A Montana Christmas was actually a romance; and although there is a couple who are married, and another who might become lovers, it's really more about ranch life and trying to bring a family together. It probably would disappoint a huge fan of romances but won't be found by someone who is not. Because it is an extension (although it stands alone) of From Here to There, which was a romance an emotional adventure, I think it still qualifies.

One of the problems a writer has, in terms of marketing, is not fitting a genre. There isn't much you can do about it because writers write what comes to them. What comes to me are stories of lovers which I then set into situations that interest me, and I really enjoy the process.

When I typed 'the end' to the one I wrote in January and February, it reminded me how much fun it is. I like creating these characters and knowing, despite what they will go through, a happy ending awaits. Reading and writing them is going on an emotional adventure-- whatever the books are called.

Finally, after I finished this blog, I came across a review of the film Argo, which said what I think is true for the good novel/movie and decided to include some of it.

Argo isn’t a documentary; it’s a historical drama. The opening sequence features a title card that reads “Based on a True Story” – which is entirely accurate – but the film makes no promises about having every little fact straight or being a perfect recreation of the events ...

Truth is not as important as good storytelling, and that’s what the feature film industry is about. ... What matters is that it respects the spirit of the reality while also being worth paying $10 to see.

Disregarding strict truth in sacrifice of entertainment doesn’t merit a Best Picture award, but what does is pulling it off so spectacularly well. Screenwriter Chris Terrio’s script works on all levels and brilliantly pairs with the actor cum director’s style and ability to balance both the comedic and deadly serious tones. Despite the fact that you know the story has a happy ending, the film takes the audience on one hell of ride to get there, filled with thrills, laughs, high tension and sex jokes.

What makes a romance novel great

Yes, I get it that a lot of people consider romance novels to be cheap trash. They want a book that they feel worthy for having read and romance novels don't cut it. There are a lot of delusions regarding these books where people think that someone reading them is living a lonely life, not out in the world, maybe leaving their husband in a vain hope of finding that illusive daring, handsome hero.

Romance novels actually are often (according to sociological research) favored by those who live very busy lives and have a lot of stress in their work. Ranching certainly qualifies for that with its ups and downs. Nurses, those with high pressure jobs, as well as someone in finance or anything where there are many demands, and they want a break from pressure.

Based on research, most readers of romance novels are in committed relationships with no intention of running off with anybody except their partner. They read them for the same kind of escape they get from movies-- as well as some spice that they wouldn't want to live but enjoy the break from reality. Some hide the fact they do read them for fear others will consider them inferior.

Whatever the reasons for reading romance novels, the following is for those who are writing them, do read them, or are open to finding out what the heck their appeal is since they sell better than any other genre. After doing some looking around for what others felt made for a great romance novel, I found some suggestions that sounded quite similar to a great book period.

Play to our common humanity

 Personal sacrifice as a powerful emotional act

 Book opens with a hook

 The story flows and there is sexual tension between hero and heroine

 Conflict and friction must be believable

 Characters are likeable and we care about them

 
All of those has been broken by some best selling romance novel that totally blew readers away despite having at least one of the leads unlikeable, no personal sacrifice, no opening hook, sexual tension only at the end, and/or totally unbelievable friction to the point that it seemed ridiculous those two people couldn't get it together sooner.

Because I think actually what makes a good book is more subjective than objective, I thought about the things that have made one great for me.  Most of my beloved romances were not written by best selling authors and were never bestsellers themselves. By now they have been mostly forgotten, certainly are not for sale in any new bookstore. But they still sit on my shelves for a reason-- they speak to me personally.

What I want are strong personalities in hero and heroine. If the blurb talks about a feisty heroine, I'm outta there. I don't want obnoxious hero or heroines but they should not be perfect either. The last straw for me would be some weak little flower of a woman who goes from one stupid mistake to another disaster, from which the hero, for reasons beyond logic, is willing to save her.  If he has to save her, it should be from a situation that even a strong woman could have fallen into. I like it where hero and heroine are capable of saving each other. I am not into Wonder Woman or Superman type hero and heroine.

Then there has to be a real problem to prevent these two lovers from making their relationship into the happily ever after sort. No way can that be some mickey mouse misunderstanding. My favorite books have two people who realize they are in love but they simply cannot find a way to make a life together. Will they overcome the obstacle? If it's too easy then it's not worth taking the time to read.

Personally I like to have danger as a strong element. I am not into romances where the people sit around and talk or work through the kinds of problems I could find in my own life. I don't need a book for that.

Generally speaking, the land and nature will be part of the story. It will be another character where I can feel the terrain, the problems it might present. It might be places I have been or simply have read about. It should register as real although I don't care that it's like a Louis L'Amour where I could go to that place and find the waterhole. I'm fine with some fantasy but it should feel it could have been there.

Back when I had the time to read romances, I enjoyed both contemporary and historical novels. For me, a really good romance I will want to read again. That means I want to own them if at all possible. I have quite a few really old books, those written in different time periods many of which I spent hours in used bookstores to find. I think the oldest publishing date for one of those old ones is 1899-- Janice Meredith, A Story of the Revolution by Paul Leicester Ford); that one I got as a child and still have my address written in the front (the farm where I grew up and our phone number in case it got lost apparently) No, I didn't buy it new ;)

In historical romance, I will mention two favorite authors both of whom wrote series. First is Roberta Gellis. I fell in love with her books Bond of Blood and Knight's Honor after checking them out of the Lake Oswego Library when my children were small. I wanted them so badly, but they already were not available in bookstores; so I found her address-- not as easy before the internet, wrote her and she sold me hardbound copies of both which had a slightly musty smell from being stacked in her garage, unsold. Not long after that her books started appearing as paperbacks in the bookstores and I bought most of them. Like so many authors, I can't say I love all of her romances but considering she's published 25, meticulously researched, set in various periods of English history, it would be too much to expect every one of them would meet my needs. Her stories do have sex in them.

When I looked, Patricia Veryan currently had only two of her books on Kindle but others are still available to purchase used. It's not easy to come by all her titles (30 historicals set in England). Likely those who buy her books keep them. She wrote quite a few series with characters who might've been in earlier books as secondary.  When possible, I bought them when they came out but she wasn't well-advertised and sometimes I had to find them used or through online searches. They are historical romances with suspense, adventure and sometimes mystery involved as different characters worked to save England from villainous plots.  Love, danger, dashing heroes, interesting heroines, often humor, and zero sex.

I could go on but it doesn't really matter what I have loved as the truth is we are all different. Some of the books I've liked best are no longer available anywhere. Some people talk about Kindle as a short-lived way to be published but in reality it could last longer than novels in paperback or hardbound which, unless by big name authors, are usually a store for a few months before you can only find them in used stores-- if there.  eBooks have the potential of allowing books to be available for as long as the internet keeps working (or places like Amazon, Nook and Kobo find it profitable). Finding the ones you don't yet know are great, now that is the trick especially with books which won't be in libraries or in bookstores-- generally.

Dreams mingled with reality

At this time of the year, I look for snow globes. We get very little snow where I live and on a practical level, I like it that way as snow gets in the way, means a need for more hay bales, frozen waterers, difficulty in getting to town, power outages, and potential floods when it melts.

That doesn't mean I don't see the romance of such a setting with the snow gently falling-- especially on a cabin where it's cozy inside. Some years back I found a site that would put the snow to your own image. Here are two digital paintings of my dream cabin, the one I have stored in my heart for a someday lifetime which isn't likely to happen in this one.

Make custom Glitter Graphics

It was thirteen years ago when I was reading one of those self-help books that used to appeal to me back then. It suggested a technique for getting what you want to become reality in your life. The idea was you write your ideal day from waking to sleeping. It could be one day on a perfect vacation, a dream home, whatever it took to make that day ideal. I did it. All these years later, it still sounds good to me.

Today, some of it is in my life, or has been, but that's not the important part for what I wrote as this is more about energy. It is recognizing the energy you want to be part of your life and when you do that, you can move on getting it. That might come in ways you didn't expect because often we get caught up in details and miss the bigger picture of what we are really seeking.

The following was the gist of what I wrote January 17, 2000. In January 2007, I expanded it a bit and created a lot of digital paintings to illustrate parts of it. So here it is (including one of those paintings) as maybe inspiration for how you might write about your own perfect day.

 *******************************

 I wake with the light and lie in bed a few moments as I remember my dream. It was vivid, full of color and life. I was loving a man, feeling his touch, his embrace, his kiss. The dream and reality blend together. Has my lover been with me before in a Western time when he was on the run, and we were having to stay apart because of the danger to both himself and me? Cannot know. I think of whether this could make a book and before I forget, jot down notes for later consideration.

 Rising, I dress in jeans and flannel shirt, thick socks and boots and pull on a winter coat to go outside for a few moments to embrace the morning. The air is crisp and clear. I see my breath in front of my face as I walk down to the barns. They are below the log home and there are two horses inside waiting for flakes of hay. I know the man has been here, but I like to go also.

Stretching my legs, I take off with a quick stride as I walk a couple of miles for exercise. My thoughts are full of plans but also enjoying the quiet of the morning. It feels good to walk along this dirt road, to hear the vast silence, see a little snow on the hills above me, a hawk soaring in the distance against a crystal blue sky.

Back in the house, I make fresh coffee, fix breakfast, click on the computer in the kitchen as I glance at the news, and decide on which of my projects to work. Possibilities are a sculpture, painting and book that is just being etched out. The painting or sculpture would head to a small gallery a few hundred miles away, and the book for a publisher. The work provides enough income to live simply.

This time, I choose the soul painting because my passion is high. I need time with color, light and motion. The dream is still restless within me. I am eager to see my painting take life, to watch it fill the canvas and become a statement about all I am experiencing as I learn more and more about Spirit and how it can fill my days and me with love.

The man returns. He is cold and fills the room with the smell of early morning, of juniper and grass. When he kisses me, I melt into him, feel the oneness I had never known until he came into my life. He sips his coffee, talking as I paint. He doesn’t need to see my work and is full of his own plans. We separate as he goes off for his day and I continue in mine.

A woman, who lives half a mile down the road, drops by and we drink tea and spend an hour discussing the latest problems in the gallery we both use and her own book. Later one of my kids calls and we talk about what is going on with their life. They are doing well and although we don’t live close, we exchange energy, and the love is always there as we give each other the freedom to live our own paths.

 By evening I am ready to start dinner. I cook light Italian, happy to think the man will be back to enjoy it. I pour a small glass of wine and sip as I chop vegetables and saute the chicken. I think how blessed I am to have this life, to be living the dream I only imagined for so many years.

When he returns, we have dinner by candlelight. The house is not large, only two bedrooms and the furniture not fancy but rustic, but the feeling is full of warmth and music. A fire is in the small fireplace and candles light the table. He tells me of what he did during the day, and we talk about the latest political situations. In the evening we sit and listen to music, cuddled in front of the fireplace. That doesn't last long as we stoke fires within ourselves and make love in front of the fire. This man is my soul mate.. He is the one I dreamed of and for this moment I have him with me... If only for the day... 

*******************

It's not hard to see how my writing is influenced by not only my life but my dreams. I don't dream big dreams; but small or large, dreams aren't always attainable other than in dreams.  And dreams really are what often give us the energy we need for our daily lives. Some of my dreams come from things I see, books I read. Some out of the ether of life and who knows their source. It is what I am satisfied to call the mystery of life.

innocence and the process

A year ago last December I put out my first book on Kindle.  I was beginning a process that I knew little about even though I'd been writing full length manuscripts nearly all of my life.  I had very few expectations for how ePublishing would go, but I had decided to do it. Now I'd say I was naive and really innocent about the marketing process, about what I'd be doing, about what was required. I can't say I know it all now. I keep learning.

When I watch the video at the bottom linked below, it makes me a little teary as I think of the covers that first depicted my stories. I still love them even though readers did not. They were mine and as mine I never saw them as they would seem to others.

My books and I have come a long way since then. The characters have stayed true to their stories. They still have that same energy that I think these first covers depicted. I am still proud of these stories, the ones that did well and the ones not so well. Each is all I can make them be. I've changed what I can to meet the needs of a buying public but I have held true to what I saw as my reason for writing.

They are stories of love, the kind of love that fights to make it work, that stays the distance. It's about new love and that which has been lost only to be rediscovered. The stories are about lovers, who against all odds, struggle to solve problems that stand in their way. Always there is adventure and danger as a part of the plot.

My original covers are still true to my heart even though they are all gone now to be followed by covers that are good too-- just less innocent perhaps-- as am I.

Covers from August 2011

The water is wide, I can't get oer

Neither have I wings to fly... 

Give me a boat that can carry two...

and both shall row, my love and I

It's what love is all about. It's why I think romances matter. Sometimes these kinds of feelings are pure fantasy for us but dreams that never become reality are not wrong. They become part of the energy that keeps us going.

Last week I watched The Magic of Belle Isle. At one point the hero, who is crippled, imagines in a dream that he is waltzing with the woman he knows he can never have in reality-- certainly not that way. Later the heroine speaks of that waltz that never really was. How did she feel it? It was the energy. I think that kind of waltz is what romance novels are about. 

photo is of one of my sculptures

sexuality and the romance novel

 purchased CanStock photo

Are romance novels pornographic? They don't have to but many do describe sexuality between a man and woman (romances today are sometimes between same sex couples). Whenever one describes sexuality does it become pornography?

 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

I sat under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feedeth among the lilies.

I could go on but won't. Obviously most know those words as from the Bible and no romance novel is any flowerier and most not much more sexual. Some have tried to desexualize those words by saying it's about humans and god... except clearly if you read them, there is no way that's a possible interpretation. It's a man and woman and makes very clear that sex is about pleasure. So are romance novels. Yes, some are more explicit than others but they all make the point that sexuality between a man and a woman is a good thing. They can even improve sexual relationships between couples as guilt is taken away and pleasure is left.

Romance novels are mythic stories set often in modern times. They are imaginary and meant to depict the powerful energy there can be between a male and a female. She looks at him across the room and the way he carries himself, the words he's saying maybe to a shopkeeper, they stir her juices. That is just the nature of romantic love. It inspires. It encourages. It dreams.

In the film Magic of Belle Isle, Morgan Freeman's character is crippled. His beautiful, much younger neighbor, a single mom,Virginia Madsen, isn't really possible for him to have nor could he possibly dance with her and yet one night he dreams of their dance to a waltz. It is so real that later she surprises him when she speaks of their dance-- it was all about the energy. That is what a romance novel does when it's at the top of its game.

Romance novels don't encourage people to run off in search of that dream. It gives them the energy to make the most of what they have right where they are. Energy is what we take within and use various ways to improve our lives. Romance novels can give us

inspiration

dreams

imagination

 play

smiles
laughter
tears

energy and

excitement

I won't claim they all do this but it's the goal of every romance author I know-- including me.

I love heroes

What can I say-- I love writing about heroes. Oh the heroines are okay too but the heroes, they make my writing a joy. It might even be one of the flaws that some might find with my books. They are not chick lit where it all revolves around her problems. They also aren't about weak women who need a man to save the day. The women in my stories are as likely to save the man's life as he is theirs. It's not that they are Amazons but more that they will do whatever is required to get the job done.

Recently it dawned on me that I probably do write about the same hero over and over-- and that includes the historicals as well as the contemporaries. Oh yes, the hero will come from different backgrounds, might speak differently, won't look the same, dresses differently; but in basics, he's the same stripe of man. If that doesn't work for readers, I don't quite know what I can do about it either as my stories, the book I just finished editing (the one I am still unsure of when I will publish), they all have the basic type of man as their hero.

They are set into different kinds of problems, careers, lifestyles; but their characteristics are strong men who will do whatever it takes to get the job done. They aren't mean. I don't want to write about the bully who is softened by the love of a good woman. My heroes might be curt or short on patience, but they aren't brutal and I don't want to spend months writing about any man who is, even if he redeems himself; nor do I want to write a story that will convince some vulnerable woman that all it takes is the love of a good woman.

I think of my father and maybe he, along with other men I've known, is the prototype for these heroes. He was a tall man, strong, rough featured, and probably had a good bit of arrogance in his strength. When he was young, before he met my mother, my father would leave whatever manual labor job he had had during the winter to travel around the Northwest with the carnival. He was what is called a carnie who put together the rides, a kind of roustabout, I suppose, who loved the travel, the life of what amounted then to almost a traveling circus without the big tent and animal acts.

It was one of those winters when he was working as a stage hand that he met my mother,  a singer in an orchestra who also played the bass and bass horn. Mom had also been a traveler herself as with various orchestras she had traveled around the country following the jobs.

They dated awhile; but in the spring, he stood her up for a date when he took off for the carnival. One of the stagehands told her he'd never amount to anything; so don't put her heart there.

Dad came back in the fall and when he did, he had decided he wanted something different. He courted her and convinced her he wanted a life with her. They were married the following May and he never went with the carnival again (though I think he still felt the tug of it).

Dad wasn't changed by her. He wanted a real life with a family, and he changed himself to get it. He was that rugged hero type though who was always a supportive man to his kids and his wife. If it needed to be done, I could know he'd be the one there doing it. In many ways he was a gentle man, emotionally vulnerable even, but he looked like a brutal one.

With my heroes, in a lot of ways, they are that kind of man. Oh, some speak smoothly and know how to turn a phrase while others find language not their gift but for them all, who they are shows through their actions. Still they are the same basic guy-- the hero.

They don't need a woman to fix them. They don't want a woman they have to fix. It might be the failings of my books where they come to romance readers. But in the end, we have to write what is true to our own truth. Writing just to sell a book to someone else, no thanks. I understand how some might, but it would not be worth it to me. I like my heroes to be heroes. I want my romances to have happy endings.

My parents got one and stayed married (with some turbulence off and on) until my father died at 70 of a heart attack while making love to my mother.

Outlaw Pleasures

Although over the last 50 some odd years, settings for my books have always gone between historic and contemporary periods, the books on Kindle up until now have all been contemporary. It seemed a good idea to submit books that fit a category. Now it's time to open a new category with ePublishing my historical romances.

When I wrote it, Outlaw's Lady had a different title, Outlaw Pleasures, which I still like very much but given the popularity of erotica these days and the fact that this book is not, I felt compelled to change the title to something a little more western. I didn't want to disappoint readers seeking erotica nor did I want to lose potential readers who might avoid erotica but are open to healthy sex.

As a title, outlaw pleasures suited what this story was really about which is that a culture can turn simple joys into forbidden fruits. My heroine was born into a time where women's options, even to how they dressed, were limited by the expectations of their social strata. If women enjoyed sex or even their own bodies, they were of the 'other' sort. Men were often as much stifled by the rules as the women. The story is about jumping over those boundaries and finding one's own way.

Given the realities of the publishing eBooks, what readers expect, it not only needed a different title but also a different cover. Below is the original digital painting for it and still my favorite. Alas, I am not trying to please me but the readers who might buy the book.

I also had to give up the mustache as if you aren't painting something digitally, putting a mustache on a stock photo is difficult. Models with mustaches on the sites where I look are rare to say the least.  (I personally LOVE mustaches on men-- on boys it's a bit more iffy).

So here is the only place the original cover will ever be seen. I like the new one too. This was, however, my first love, and you know how you feel about first loves...

Outlaw's Lady is the story of Abigail Spenser, trapped in her comfortable, but limited world until an opportunity comes along to escape. Once she leaves behind the rules, she begins to learn about life and that nothing is without cost. She learns of simple life pleasures she'd never experienced and tastes of the forbidden fruit.

It's also the story of Sam Ryker who had never found life easy and then along came a chance to change it all, to have what he'd thought was beyond him-- a 'good' woman. He'd had the reckless freedom but now what about living with the expectations of another person, of finding a life inside the rules? There's more to it than just getting 'the' woman, you have to then keep her.

What these two learn is there will always be expectations, can they put theirs together and make a relationship work?

I put together a video with images that inspired the book both from my time in Arizona and my imagination. The link to it will only be available to those who have read the book because it gives away too much of the plot which means best appreciated afterward as a way to savor it in a different way. In it, I wrote a prologue about how I see outlaw pleasures-- even today.

Outlaw Pleasures 
Take responsibility for your life
Dress as you want
Follow your own strong life code
Live in tune with the land
Love hard and honestly
Live your life to the hilt.
Step out and make your own way
even if others don't much like it.
Don't break laws--
unless those laws go against nature
and true wisdom.

If all goes well, Outlaw's Lady will be available on Kindle October 7th. It will have a marketing trailer on YouTube, but I'll be writing more about all of that in the days leading up to its availability. This is actually the first time I'll have done much in the way of 'promotions' leading to a new book, but I feel it's more essential since this is the first of something new-- my historical romances.

Incidentally, I now have my books on Good Reads. I am still not sure how to put an app here that leads readers to my site there. Navigating GoodReads hasn't proven easy for me, but it would be rewarding if I ever figure it out as it has many readers-- or so it says. It is a place to list the books we have read, are reading and our ratings for them; so it's fun even when it's not involving my own books.

A villain's motivation

As long as I've been writing about Craig Johnson's books, I should add I had some issues with them which didn't cause me to not enjoy them but likely came with the territory of writing myself. It is regarding his villains.

I have to add here that where he writes his stories from first person point of view (hereto-after to be known as POV), it can be complicated. All you can ever know, when the story is told from first person, is what the 'I' character knows and can observe. If that lead character is very astute, a good judge of human nature, then you can know quite a bit about the others in the story.

In the Longmire books, the sheriff, Walt Longmire, is a pretty good judge of character generally both of others and himself. That fact is what makes the books work. When he isn't, it makes sense to the reader that he likely would not be as it stays pretty consistent to his previous mistakes. We can all be fooled, but a first person book where the character was clueless about the world around him/her would be boring and fall apart quickly. It is believable that a sheriff, especially one with all of Walt's previous experiences, would be good at judging people-- it's what keeps him alive.

Except, I think, there is a flaw where it comes to the villains. Without knowing their motivations, things get thrown at the reader. Attacks come, villains have motivations that make no sense logically, and I felt they were mostly done to keep the books lively. If you want more than action, if you are looking for the villains to act in ways that suits their goals, or even to have reasonable goals, some of the violent attacks fell apart for me. Like all that villain had to do was sit tight and they wouldn't end up dead or found out. If they had a good reason to not do that, then fine; but if not, it felt like an author ploy.

In a book where the POV shifts and once in awhile you get the villain's, you can make it more understandable when a villain acts against his own best interests. You can even establish a villain who is a psychopath and that does not require any motivation as psychopaths don't operate with the same kind of reward system that most humans do.

Anyway in several of the books, I really didn't buy the villains' motivations to do what they did. Yes, they did it. Yes, it put Walt's life at risk, might've ended up killing him if somebody else (spirit or human) hadn't interfered. So it's kind of leave logic behind and enjoy the ride.

A place romances fall apart is when a hero and heroine simply don't seem they'd have really chosen each other. Or maybe when the obstacles standing between them seem more author created than real.

In an adventure story, which Johnson's books are, as much as mysteries, for me at least, the villain should have motivations that go beyond author contrivances; and it's the only real complaint I have had with his books.

In my own I have the advantage of using third person POV, sometimes sliding into someone either closer to the villain, or even into the villain's thinking. I realize that's a benefit of writing romances and not the literary type novels some prefer (which have more structural limitations). As long as it works smoothly, I can go where I want to tell the story-- although I avoid any omnipotent views-- everything in one of my books is coming from one character or another's perspective.

The closest I came to using only one POV was not a first person but Evening Star did use third person POV sticking with the heroine rather than going into what the hero was feeling. Marla, as a lawyer, was pretty good at assessing and noting people's motives (well other than her own). For that one though I also used the villain's POV as it helped make what was coming make sense. It also enabled another character's view of the hero since the reader never got his directly.

I really appreciate the skill that Craig Johnson has to make his stories come alive. I also get that it's not easy to use first person. I get that he has to keep action going and danger constantly happening unexpectedly. I just like books where I believe that the villain did what made sense, and that it wasn't all about an author giving Walt one more exciting obstacle to nearly not overcome. The reason for the original crime though is often very cleverly thought out-- just those attacks not so much as far as I could see...

Since reading mysteries is not my forte, maybe others will see where what bothered me was not a problem to them.

Recreating a creation

Well, we did it. It was a brand new learning experience regarding publishing eBooks. We took a book whose title wasn't working for readers, came up with a new title, a new cover, and then I looked at the story and realized I wanted to expand a few key characters which would take the book up to 100,000 words and give it a different sort of energy.

I asked my publisher (who happens to be my husband) what he thought the energy of the book is using one word. He had not read it previously; so he couldn't compare it to that, but he liked it a lot now. He said the one word that came to him was empowerment.

The story is set in Oregon and revolves around a small art community in a liberal arts college where a brutal murder had taken place a few months previously. It starts when Raven Lawrence and David Bannister meet for the first time after their divorce twelve years earlier. They were childhood sweethearts who were married two years before their differences became too great and after a bitter fight, he left.

Bannister is part of a shadowy investigative organization and has come with his partner to Oregon to find the murderer. He is also hoping to reconnect with his ex. He is not planning on posing nude for her life drawing class. David and Raven both have a lot to learn this time around.

What I think makes the story empowering is how it explores relationships between the estranged couple, between sisters (in this case of women in two different age groups), between parent and adult child, between friends, and even between student and teacher as well as those who work together and try to maintain a collegial environment. Maybe if using two words for this book's energy, they would be empowering relationships.

The new title came to me as I thought about how the hero was a determined man, the kind who did things his way. It was, however, the very thing that the heroine found objectionable.  With some adventure, spice and fun, I liked how the expansion changed its emphasis in a positive way.

Because it had been for sale previously and because it had been free, with others having the old version, I am going to set a time for two free days. I have to enroll it in Select first and then will let readers here know the dates for the free version. I am not sure but it's also possible owners don't even need a free day as I think when a writer puts up a new version of the same book, the readers are able to request it from Amazon. This free day would be simpler though.

To keep your Kindle uncluttered, previous readers can clear out the old version by going to Golden Chains then to the 'go to' page, looking down the list and hitting remove book from device. To also remove it from your online Kindle storage, go to manage Kindle and you will find all the books you have bought. Find it, say to delete it and it will leave it free for the free one to come on board. I am not sure what would happen if you left it as this new one has the same number; but it might work anyway. I don't lose my reviews for Golden Chains or its ranking (lowly though it was). For now, the author page still has the old cover but it will change and if you click inside for the sample, the new cover shows up.

Bannister's Way 

I am happy with the story, the characters, and as part of recreating it, I wanted it to have its own trailer on YouTube: