He may not do dishes, but he's learning to cook by Paty Jager

My hubby of 37 years has never been a house husband. He's all about the outdoors. As a farmer/rancher, he doesn't feel housework is something he should do when he comes in from working outside. And over the years, I haven't pushed it because I felt that was my job- to keep him fed and clothed.

This past weekend, I caught the bug that's going around. I slept for nearly two days straight and when I did wake up didn't even want to stand up. Hubby made me tea, brought me crackers, and kept me company. He even watched hour after hour of Hallmark movies even though I was sleeping mostly. I guess he figured I needed company.

The first day, he had cereal for breakfast, scrounged together a banana and sandwich for lunch and I'm not sure what he heated up in the microwave for dinner. I didn't get out of the recliner to find out. ;)

The second day, he made oatmeal and toast for breakfast.  Lunch he made a sandwich and even cooked an egg. Guess he was getting tired of cold food. ;) For dinner He made a grilled cheese sandwich. If I hadn't been feeling so under the weather I would have giggled. This is a man who swore off cooking when he tried to cook for the kids when I was gone and they refused to eat. I'm proud that he is learning to cook. Before we moved out to the boonies, if I wasn't home to make him a meal, he'd go to the neighborhood restaurant or his mom's. But now that we live far from anywhere, he's having to learn new skills, which is good for him.

I've always envied my sisters-in-law, because my brothers both cook. A lot. At our house I'm the cook- Always. I even to do the barbecuing, hubby doesn't even to that.

Does your significant other cook or is it all up to you?


Now that I'm feeling semi-normal, I need to the dishes!

Changes in Reading and Writing

I don’t know about everyone else, but self-publishing and self-published authors promoting their books have drastically changed reading for me.

It used to be that I had a set of authors whose writing I consistently enjoyed, thus I always bought or borrowed their books and was perfectly happy reading in my comfort zone.

Now, every time I turn around, some author is touting a *free* book. And because many of my faves write only one book per year and because I’m cheap, like every other human on the planet, I download a lot of those free books onto my Kindle. So now I have such a mish-mash, I can’t decide what to try to read next. I’ve never had so many books I've started, but will never finish.

This experience has been a journey of discovery for me.….. Of the plethora of books I’ve downloaded, I’ve discovered a couple of authors whose free book I enjoyed, so I bought the second in a series or another book by the same author. Nine times out of ten, that has been a mistake because a lot of the time, the story falls apart in Book #2 and I'm disappointed.

I can see that it's a challenge to carry on an interesting story involving only two 2 characters (hero & heroine) throughout a three or even five-book series. I’m in the process of writing a trilogy myself and I am glad I didn’t choose to make it only about 2 characters. I’m glad I have a story arc that begins in Book #1 and ends in Book #3 because I don’t think I could pull it off if I just had the hero and heroine to work with.

Another vehicle I’ve discovered self-pubs using is to publish books that amount to short stories and end them with cliff hangers so that I’ll have to go on and buy the next book if I want to read the whole story. All I can say is that makes me feel cheated. And after disrespecting my intelligence as a reader in that way, an author would have to be telling a heck of story to make me buy Book #2.

And speaking of shorts, I’m close to finishing up a novella. But I’m clearly labeling it as a "novella" so that nobody will be expecting a 100,000-word book if they buy it. In the beginning, it was going to be an erotic novella, but after reading at least two, maybe three dozen erotic books, I’m not sure it’s erotic. It’s hot, with explicit steamy sex, but it’s not kinky. So I’m still undecided if I’m going to try to market it as “erotica.” 

Let me know what you think of the cover:

It does have a cliff-hanger ending, but it’s also a stand-alone story. A reader shouldn’t be disappointed if he or she doesn't read the next book. ….. Oh, and I might change the title. ..... Can anyone say “make up your mind?”

Happy Valentine's Day

Today is a perfect day to read a romance novel. Or two.


I now have 2 books in Amazon’s new subscription service, Kindle Unlimited.

For those of you who have not subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, it’s a service on the order of Oyster or ScribD, or Netflix for books as some have described it. For a flat monthly fee, you can join and read an unlimited number of books every month.

THE CALLISTER BOOKS is a 3-book bundle with stories set in a small fictitious town in Idaho. I emphasize the word “fictitious” because though there is no such town as Callister, readers have told me they know right where it is. The stories in the bundle are THE LOVE OF A COWBOY, THE LOVE OF A STRANGER and THE LOVE OF A LAWMAN.

A recent Amazon reviewer who gave it a 5-star review said this: "Each one [of these stories] was filled with so much heart that I couldn't put them down."

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SWEET WATER is an award-winning book I wrote for the West Texas Series. It’s classified a “western,” but why I don’t know, other than the fact that it’s set in far West Texas. Neither the heroine nor the hero is a cowgirl or cowboy. 

Here’s a short blurb:

“Terry Ledger, wealthy developer of upscale sub-divisions and builder of high-end homes, is used to his projects changing peoples’ lives. Little did he know that his purchase of the tiny West Texas town of Agua Dulce and his association with its quirky citizens would be a life-changing event for himself. ….. Marisa Rutherford, the ostensible mayor of Agua Dulce, manager of the only cafe, flea market and tourist trap and nurturer of her dying mother, never expected to have to protect the town’s odd population from an outsider like Terry and his plans. Nor did she expect to find the man of her dreams in the instigator of so much trouble. Can she reconcile her heartfelt feelings for him with the loyalty she feels for Agua Dulce’s citizens?”

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So if you’re a subscriber to KU, you can take advantage of these 2 reads. If you aren’t and want to read them, the regular price of THE CALLISTER BOOKS bundle is $6.99 at Amazon and SWEET WATER is $2.99. 

Have a love-filled day, everyone. 

THE FLAWED HERO AND WHY WE LOVE HIM

We women are suckers for the wounded hero. It's in our nature to believe we can "fix" the brooding hero and live happily ever after. This idea is nothing new. Beauty and the Beast is a very old French fairy tale with a hero with a physical flaw and the mother of all attitude problems.  Enter Belle. A little love, patience and persistence and we have a transformed prince.

I enjoy writing characters who have quirks and flaws. They are so much more interesting than the perfect hero who always has the answer and never takes a wrong step. Can you imagine James Bond being attracted to plain little Jane Eyre? Mr. Rochester tried harder. Well, he did lie and manipulate, but it was all for love. She managed to change him for the better. Wait, that's Beauty and the Beast again.

The perfect hero would be difficult to live with. St. George slayed the dragon and saved the girl. Then what? Did he go out dragon hunting for the rest of his life or settle down and raise little princes? Imagine him sitting around polishing his armor and reminiscing about the good old days. The alpha male needs constant action.

As a writer, we want interesting characters with problems we can relate to. The hero's journey is much more interesting when life isn't simple or easy. Maybe it's because, in reality, we have so many wounded warriors returning home. We love these men and women who did their job to protect us and paid the price. They return with baggage we all want them to have a happily ever after.

A Case for Audio Books.....

I love audio books. I listen to them while I’m driving. In fact, if I’m really interested in a story, I sometimes hate to stop driving.

I also listen to them if I’m waiting and waiting and waiting in a doctor or dentist’s office. Much more interesting than reading one of the table magazines that’s full of nothing and covered with germs. I used to take my Kindle to medical appointments, but now I take my MP3 player.

I listen anywhere I am where I’m going to be sitting and waiting.

These days, you can buy an MP3 player as cheap as $15 and a pair of headphones for under $10. That makes it easy and affordable to listen. (I remember when my sister bought a used MP3 player on eBay for more than $100.)

Or if you have a newer model car, it might have a place to plug in a listening device and you can listen through the radio.

Or I could listen on my smartphone if I wanted to. I have the audible.com app that I downloaded from Google Play and all I have to do is download a book through it. If you have an iPhone, you can go through the iTunes store.

These days, I don’t have much time for reading. The only time I’m able to do it is at night before I go to sleep, but unfortunately, I’m often too tired to stay awake very long. So listening to audio books enables me to keep “reading”.

Audio books used to be a rarity restricted to only the bestselling or old favorite authors, but thanks to Amazon, they are becoming more readily available from all authors. If an author is lucky enough to get a great narrator who sounds as if she/he understands the story, gets the dialogue right and has a dramatic flair, all the better. It’s sort of like watching a TV show or a movie without the picture.

Currently, I’m listening to a Suzanne Brockman book that has both a male and female narrator. This is interesting. First time I’ve run across one with two narrators.

And that brings me to the fact that I’m in the process of making THE LOVE OF A COWBOY into an audio book. I hope to see it released in July. It will be available on Amazon, iTunes and Audible.com. 

This book won a big contest that enabled me to sell it to a publisher. It was written and originally published some years ago, but it's still one of my best-selling books. If you like alpha heroes and heroines and a dramatic story, you might enjoy listening to it. I was lucky to get a narrator who does an excellent job. So if you like audio books yourself or if you’ve never tried one, give it a shot. Or check to see if your favorite author's books are available in audio.

ON WRITING

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a writing workshop conducted by the writing guru, Donald Maass. Most people who write know who he is. It was such a treat, sort of like sitting down with a whole box of chocolate-covered strawberries.

Besides everything else he filled my head with, toward the end of the session, he touched on the subject of "beautiful writing."   .....  Beautiful writing is something I adore. I have been known to read a story I didn't particularly like because I simply enjoyed the written words. Example: “Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway. Most books by Nicholas Evans (not Nicholas Sparks). Except for “The Horse Whisperer,” Evans’ stories aren’t always great, but his writing is beautiful.

Reading a book is not always about liking the plot or the adventure or the action.

Writing beautifully is something I strive for with every book, though I don't always get there. While I try to write tight, as they say, and I use frank language in my books, I also try to fill my prose with creative writing techniques such as parallels and reversals and rhythms. Sometimes I imagine music in my head and try to write a scene to that rhythm.

When I write a love/sex scene, if it’s supposed to be romantic, I try to imagine the most romantic music I can think of and write the scene to that rhythm. Something like Rachmaninov’s 2^nd Concerto or the music from “Romeo and Juliet.” Sometimes a parallel will fit into the rhythm. Simple example: He was tall, he was solid and strong, he was beautiful.  …..Written as they are, those phrases fit into a musical rhythm.

Sometimes I’ve written love scenes that were fun. They call for different music in my head and less dramatic presentation. They call for short sentences and cutesy dialogue. Think “Pink Panther.”

At the same time I try to write pretty prose, I also try to make my books page-turners. I have a sign on my desk I took from some writing guru: “ABOVE ALL, DON’T BE BORING” …. So I try not to be boring. And that’s a challenge when you write character-driven stories where the relationship between two people is the plot.

By now, you probably think I'm crazy, but I’m just trying to show that many elements go into the making of a coherent novel. With this little post, I’ve only scratched the surface.

Change of subject, but not entirely. Here’s a picture of the cover of my current WIP. A sequel to THE TYCOON, this is Book #2 of my Sons of Texas Trilogy.

I’m down to the last two chapters. In this book, my heroine is going along with her life, stuck in a rut. Then something totally unexpected happens that has the potential to change her life forever. It hurls her into indecision and new territory. This is a reversal. 

In this same WIP, I’m trying something I’ve never tried before with a love/sex scene. The hero is eager and expecting sex. He is also expecting the heroine to be in the same frame of mind that he is. However, she’s preoccupied with a life-changing decision. Sex is the last thing on her mind, but she doesn’t want to put him off. I’ve tried to *show* her attitude in their lovemaking. Only at the end of it does he figure out something is bothering her.   .....   Now that was a challenge and I still don’t know if I’ve pulled it off.

Need I say that I’ve worked for weeks on that one scene. And now, I’m at the black moment, on which I’ve also worked for weeks.

Never let anyone tell you that writing a book is easy.

God willing, I'll be able to release this book in June.

Life is Hard...Especially if You Write Books

When I first started writing years ago, I gave up once a week. I wrote a page and enrolled in another writing class. Or read a book. I threw away more material than I saved. Someone posted a picture on my FB page of a desk, a typewriter and crushed and discarded paper half-way to the ceiling. That was me. 

That is still me. Only now, I'm not discarding paper. I simply have a worn-out "Delete" key on my keyboard. Writing a novel is a hard task. Perhaps the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And there are many slings and arrows in the writing game. As many negatives as positives.Yet, for all of its challenges, I love writing. I'm passionate about the written word. Very little gives me more pleasure than reading a good story well written by an author with a powerful voice. It inspires me to try to do the same thing.

Somewhere along the way, I finally overcame that urge to give up until the past year or so. Now, seventeen books later, writing a book is still hard and I wonder if what I'm putting out now is any better than my very first book. For sure, my passion for it is waning. I’ve had to ask myself many times if it’s worth it. 

Some part of me must think it is because I continue to take classes and read books on the craft. In the writing biz, you can never let yourself stop learning. Toward that end, I’ve even broken down and bought a new laptop.

And as further proof that I haven't totally given up, I’ve gone ahead and had the cover designed for THE CATTLEMAN, Book #2 of my SONS  OF TEXAS trilogy and sequel to THE TYCOON. Knowing myself, I won’t spend the money on cover design, then not finish the dang book. God willing, I'll have it out by June.

The setting is North Central Texas. The characters are complex and flawed, but I’ve tried to make them heroic at the same time.

I’ve managed to get the blurb written, although this is probably not the final iteration.

“Ever since a disastrous marriage at a young age, Pickett Lockhart has kept his emotions under tight control. These days, he’s preoccupied anyway with learning to be the general manager of the vast Double-Barrel Ranch in Drinkwell, Texas. Still, his older brother’s marriage and looming fatherhood has aroused a distant envy within him to have a wife, kids and home of his own and he has a willing woman who’s in love with him. But he can’t get married, even to someone he loves. His divorce cost him and his wealthy family a bundle, leaving him with a paralyzing fear of getting into another financial trap.

Amanda Breckenridge has been in love with Pic for as long as she can remember. They were high school sweethearts until he eloped with someone he met in college. After that, Amanda left Drinkwell. Her father’s illness brought her back to town and a revived relationship with Pic. But Pic’s mother has never thought Amanda good enough for him. Knowing Pic is drawn to beautiful women, she tries to destroy their relationship by sending a friend’s stunning daughter to the ranch to tempt Pic. Can Amanda and Pic’s bond survive his mother’s plotting? Or the unexpected career opportunity that falls into Amanda’s lap?”

So, there it is. Except for being sexy and steamy and having a happy ending, it isn’t your typical romance. Most of my books aren’t. Let me know what you think of this one.