It seems ironic that today, May 12th, my 40th wedding anniversary to my hubby, I am coming out about something I've been contemplating for over a year.Anyone who has heard my writing story knows my first love or reading and writing was mystery. In 2015 I launched my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series. It received accolades from my critique partners, my editor, and my proof reader. With a knot in my stomach, I send the first three books out into the reading world one...two...three.
The reviews had me over the moon. People loved Shandra and the twists I love to put in my mystery books!
The readers want more. The sales keep climbing.
This year, January 20th to be exact, I released the first book of a new mystery series. Gabriel Hawke Novels. This is not a cozy series. It is a police procedural with the small community feel of a cozy. It's set in the county where I grew up. Again, I released the first three books, January, February, and March/April (I fell behind).
They are a hit! Even more than the Shandra books. The sales keep going up, the rankings keep going up and my head is swimming with more plots for both series.
But I haven't finished the Silver Dollar Saloon historical western romance series or the Tumbling Creek Ranch contemporary western romance series. I slogged through another Silver Dollar Saloon book. It should come out next month. That will make three in that series to date. I have plots figured out for four more. But my heart isn't in writing western romance and the sales have been next to nothing. Even my ads, that I do for both the mystery and romance...the romance tank.
Knowing I want to write mystery more than romance, and my mind is constantly finding new plots and story ideas for both Shandra and Hawke, as of this day and this month, I'm publicly letting readers know that until I get excited about writing westerns or the steamier western romance books start to pick up in sales, I am sticking to writing the mysteries.
It has been a tough decision to make. Historical western romance is what made me a published author, but it had been my fallback when I couldn't find help writing mysteries. I am writing what I've always wanted to write. I'm enjoying every minute of the research, writing, and making sure the stories are engaging and believable.
I feel as if I am finally "home" with my writing and doing what I was always meant to do- write mysteries.
If you are a western romance reader and haven't read my books, I have 22 novels you can choose from and over a dozen short stories. If you have read all of my romance, you might want to give my mysteries a try. There is romance in the Shandra Higheagle series and poor Hawke while he doesn't want to be tied down, is feeling a pull from two different women and discovering that, just maybe, he doesn't want to be alone.The Creator knows his mother wants him to marry!
Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 40 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.
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Paty, you have to write where your heart lies. Your mysteries are wonderful and I can understand why you enjoy writing them and readers enjoy reading them. I'll be doing one cozy mystery later this year. It's half-finished but I've pushed it aside to keep up with my western historical romance schedule. Best wishes!
ReplyDeleteThank Caroline. I hate to disappoint readers looking for another western but my heart has always been with the mysteries.
ReplyDeleteᎪwesome post.
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