99¢ SALE--AND AN ANECDOTE!

 By Caroline Clemmons

When we purchased our first home, we threw ourselves into landscaping. Hero planted a large garden that included a row of Thompson seedless grape vines. The trees we planted were silver maple and sycamore. We’d been there about two years when Hero received a lucrative job offer from a firm in California. A coworker in Hero’s office bought the house. We moved to Cupertino, near San Francisco and San Jose. We only stayed in CA a year, but that’s another story.

Several months went by and Hero called the man who’d bought the house. “Hey, Lynn, how are you liking the house?”

“We love the house really well, but not the yard. Those trees you sold us died.”

Hero was incredulous. “How could they have died? They were in really good condition when we left.”

“Well, you might have thought so, but all the leaves fell off and the branches are bare as skeletons. I’ll have to dig them up and replant.”

Hero said, “Lynn, it’s winter. That’s why the leaves fell off. They’ll leaf back out this spring.”

Lynn sounded petulant. “That’s what your neighbor said when I roto-tilled the grapevines. She came over and took some of the roots home with her.”

One of the most common trees in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is the live oak. If you’re familiar with this tree, you know that, although it is deciduous, it grows new leaves all year so the branches are never bare. I think Lynn must have lived around live oaks all his life—or maybe he never paid attention to the trees until he had a mortgage.

If you’re in the mood for a bargain read, MURDOCH’S BRIDE, book 3 of my Loving a Rancher Series, is on sale for 99¢ through Thursday. Most of the book takes place in a couple of snowstorms and freezing cold. Isn’t that what you need to cool off during this hot weather? Here’s the url in case you haven’t read this book yet https://www.amazon.com/Murdochs-Bride-Loving-Rancher-Book-ebook/dp/B07G2JY77F/

 

WESTERN ROMANCE EXTRAVAGANZA!

So much is going on in my book world right now. First, Amelia Adams organized a Western Romance Extravaganza. You can choose from 50+ books from 29 authors  at only 99 cents each. Those I have offered are WINTER BRIDE and JOSEPHINE.  This offer is good now through September 4 so don’t delay!

I have an exciting surprise for you! I formed a Facebook group so you can chat with me and your fellow readers. I am calling it Caroline’s Cuties. Please join the group to keep up with my releases, books, contests, and comments in response to your questions. You can find Caroline’s Cuties at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/277082053015947/   

I love writing and love my readers! Your comments and opinions are important to me. This Facebook group is a way we can keep in touch. In Caroline’s Cuties, I’ll post book excerpts, puzzles, and general chit chat about my writing and life. The first 200 who join will be entered in a giveaway to win one of 5 gifts. The first prize is a Kindle Fire 7. Second is a $25 gift card. The other 3 are $10 gift cards.

Another note: Perhaps you’ve heard that Walmart is now carrying books online. They have nine of my books, which are sold in cooperation with Kobo.  The link is https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=Caroline%20Clemmons&cat_id=0

BLESSING, book 2 of the Widows of Wildcat Ridge, is on preorder and releases October 1.  http://Getbook.at/blessingWOWR

I've just re-released MURDOCH'S BRIDE, Loving a Rancher Series book 3, a book that was originally part of Debra Holland's Montana Sky Series for Kindle World. This was a fun book to write because a train wreck sends three women to stay with a rancher, The characters are marooned in his snug home an hour from town due to a blizzard. The man hasn't let a woman into his home in twenty years, his two handsome sons, the finicky woman never stops complaining, her niece and traveling companion tries to mediate, and a shy young widow just wants to get to Oregon to check on her brother. The buy link is http://mybook.to/Murdochbook3

  

When Amazon deleted Kindle Worlds, the rights reverted to me. All of Debra's characters have been renamed but the book is the same. If you read this book previously, would you please go to Amazon and leave a review. When Amazon deleted the series, they also deleted all the reviews. 

If you got this far, thank you for reading. I apologize for so much promotion, but this is a busy time for me. I love when that happens, even though it stretches my stamina.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Can you believe it’s August? We've had an unusually hot summer here in North Central Texas so I’ve been hibernating under the fan in my air-conditioned pink cave and happily writing. The months are flying by way too fast. So many projects, so little time.

I’m in the midst of a special treat for me. In the past couple of years I was fortunate to have six books included in Debra Holland’s Montana Sky Series of Kindle Worlds, and these six comprise the Loving A Rancher series. Now that Amazon has deleted all Kindle Worlds from their inventory, Debra has returned the rights to me provided I remove all of her character and place names. She is gracious to do this because she could have kept them.

I’d like to tell readers a bit about writing in someone else’s world. The originating author sets all the parameters. She names as many characters, each person’s occupation, and each person’s physical and personality traits as she wishes. Those joining in the world must truthfully portray all the things the originator has labeled while contributing her characters and her plot line.

This doesn’t mean I had to use all of Debra’s characters in each book I wrote. Instead it means that if I mentioned one of Debra’s characters, I had to depict the character precisely as she did. In addition, the town layout had to be related as she had indicated on the map provided in her Montana Sky Series Facebook group.

Since I had read Debra Holland’s books, I believed I knew her characters. Still, I had to go back and make lists to be certain I was faithful to her creation. This makes writing in someone else’s world more time consuming, but Kindle Worlds were good to me and for me. Each of us has to try something new occasionally to stretch our mental muscles. Plus, being associated with Debra Holland was a great honor.

All the same, I can’t tell you how excited I am to have the rights to these books returned to me! The locales are now Cottonwood Springs and Randall Crossing, both still in Montana. My characters remain the same. These six books are all available for pre-order now (not so gentle hint!). Each will also be available in Kindle Unlimited.

I’m happy to announce that the first of these is being re-published on Friday, August 3, AMANDA’S RANCHER, http://a.co/jddh1g7. Please pardon the lack of modesty but this is one of my favorite of the books I’ve written in the past few years. This was an Amazon experiment and is longer than the usual Kindle World book. It involves stolen identity, mystery, murder, adventure, and romance. 

On August 17, THE RANCHER AND THE SHEPHERDESS will be re-published, http://a.co/4mFnOaL. This is about a young Irish widow who comes west to marry a rancher. He expects someone used to the hard life of ranching. She thought she qualified because she’d helped her Da raise sheep on their tiny holding in Ireland. Imagine her surprise when she sees the vastness of Montana ranches.

On August 30, MURDOCH’S BRIDE releases, http://a.co/9CwbAUk. This was the most popular of the books I wrote for this world. I enjoyed writing it, as I have all of my books. This one involves people being snowed in for a couple of weeks. They are in a large house, but is any house large enough to peacefully accommodate three men (one of whom dislikes women), the housekeeper, three stranded women (one of whom is a complainer), and at times the ranch hands?

On September 13, BRIDE’S ADVENTURE releases, http://a.co/4MtQIZm. Amelia sets off on an adventure to Oregon that sends her back to Cottonwood Springs. Sometime next year, I’ll be doing two spin-off books set in Texas because so many readers requested books about Amelia’s brother and his best friend.

On September 27, SNARE HIS HEART, will be released, http://a.co/2wXXekY. This is my version of the Beauty and the Beast. The hero was badly scarred trying unsuccessfully to rescue his wife from the fire in which she died. The heroine arrives prepared to love him and his children.

On October 13, CAPTURE HER HEART, will release, http://a.co/0SHNEtj. How does a woman who’s been mistreated by every man in her life learn to trust? Read this to learn how.

I have a giant favor to ask. If do read or have read these, would you please leave a review? When Amazon removed the Kindle World version, they also removed all the reviews. Each worthwhile place to advertise books requires a set number of good reviews before they'll accept the ad. So, without reviews, I can't get ads. Without ads, I can't sell enough to get reviews. It's a vicious cycle. But that's another story. If you are one of the readers who leaves reviews, bless you!

See you next month. Stay safe and cool.

WHETHER WEATHER WORKS

By Caroline Clemmons

April is the month when showers bring May flowers. I apologize to those who are still surrounded by snow. Spring has arrived in North Central Texas.

My mom's favorite flower, iris

Iris and daffodils are in bloom. Our hyacinths have finished. This is the time of year I vow to plant more bulbs in the fall as well as a couple of forsythia bushes.

However, this post is about weather and whether it works as one of the characters in a book. I say it does—for some books. For instance, in several of my romances the weather plays a major part of the plot.

In my first published romance, BE MY GUEST, the heroine was trapped with the hero in a flood. In THE MOST UNSUITABLE COURTSHIP, a dust storm isolated the main characters, one of whom was an asthmatic child. (Thanks to Beth Trissel for her help with the herbal treatments in that book.) In LORRAINE, a tornado had the hero and heroine seeking protection in the kneehole of a desk. Cozy, right?

In my latest release, TEXAS LIGHTNING, you can guess that lightning plays a part. In MURDOCH’S BRIDE, snow isolated the human characters. In fact, I’ve used snow in several books.

My theory is that a character doesn’t have to be human. Authors use whatever they need to develop the story and make it as entertaining as possible. Sometimes that includes using the weather to move the story forward.    

DO YOU PREFER HEAT OR COLD?

By Caroline Clemmons

Don’t get me wrong, I love my home state, but in the summer I forget why. My favorite times are spring and fall and I enjoy winter unless we have ice. But this heat—no thank you!

Not for me though, unfortunately, that's
how my hair looks today.

I know there are droves of you who live for summer. I see you in your shorts and cute tank tops and sparkly flip flops. I envy you, but I’m hanging close to the A/C.

There was a time when I was a lover of summer, too. I remember the days when I’d beg my parents to let me play in the lawn sprinkler. We wanted to get cooler, so my brother and I would run through the spray. (My parents didn’t have central air-conditioning until after I was married.) On good days, friends and I could go to the public swimming pool. The poor moms had to sit in the heat and watch. Well, they could have joined us, but I don’t think that ever occurred to anyone.

How crazy were you as a teen? My friends and I would help one another print a boy’s initials on each other’s back using adhesive tape. Then we’d sunbathe, hoping our effort would result in the initials of our crush showing whenever we wore a swimsuit. Mine never did because I didn’t tan easily. Okay, so we didn’t do drugs or sex or shoplift—or any of the other things our parents had warned us from doing. We were, in a word, nerds, but also nice girls who had fun doing our nerdy stuff.

Now during summer I usually write books set in winter. When the heat is scorching outside, I love being inside writing about snow. Actually, I love writing about anything at anytime, but times like writing snow in summer are especially therapeutic.

This year, I goofed. I’m writing all summer books until I switch to my Christmas story.

I just released LORRAINE, Bride Brigade book 6, which is set in late spring and summer. In case you missed getting your copy, it’s available from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0725WQ6XG. Yes, this IS a hint! An invitation. A plea. ☺

Now I’m working on SNARE HIS HEART for Debra Holland's Montana Sky Series of Kindle Worlds, and this book is set in late spring and summer. Worse, it begins with a house fire. That makes me uncomfortably warm simply thinking about it. Thank goodness that scene is short before we switch to the heroine’s embarrassing dilemma. I think the above cover turned out well, don’t you? Release date is July 15.

This is my fifth book for the Montana Sky Series of Kindle Worlds. The others are AMANDA’S RANCHER, THE RANCHER AND THE SHEPHERDESS, MURDOCH'S BRIDE, and BRIDE'S ADVENTURE. They're all stand alone but are loosely linked in locale and having ranchers as heroes. In each, there's interaction with characters from Debra's books and my other Montana Sky Series books. We're linking mine by calling them the Loving A Rancher Series.  Do you think that's a good series name?

During June, there’s a 99 cent sale on THE RANCHER AND THE SHEPHERDESS and BRIDE’S ADVENTURE. You can learn what other books from the Montana Sky Series are on sale this month at Debra Holland's website:

http://debraholland.com/kindle-worlds.html

Back to writing in my little pink cave while keeping cool under my ceiling fan in my lovely air-conditioning. Ahhhhh. Thank goodness for modern conveniences while I write about the Old West.

What’s your favorite activity in summer? 

WHAT IS A KINDLE WORLD?

Filling in for Mary Adair, who is ill

When I promote my books and novellas in Kindle World, people often ask what is a Kindle World and how is that different from any other e-book for Kindle. So, here's the explanation:

There are numerous Kindle Worlds. The one in which I write is Debra Holland's Montana Sky Series. What this means is that I use my hero and heroine for a story, but it is set in Debra's locale of either Morgan Crossing or Sweetwater Springs in eastern Montana. In addition, my hero and heroine interact with characters Debra has established.

My usual setting for a book is Texas, so I had to learn about Montana. I've never been to the state, but I'd love to visit the state sometime. A view of the mountains sounds lovely.

There are advantages to being in a Kindle World. One is the chance to acquire new readers. I'm all for that! Another advantage is that Amazon helps promote. Promotion is a mill stone around the neck of every author. The time we spend promoting our work is time we aren't writing. Besides, I want to write, not deal with all the other things necessary to sell my books.

The disadvantages are that the author loses rights to the book or novella. This was the hardest point for me to wrap my head around. No one wants to give up rights to their work.

The author still receives royalty payments but cannot turn the book into print or place the story with any other vendor. In addition, the royalty payments are split between the author and the owner of the world--in my case that's Debra Holland.

Amazon controls pricing and sales. For instance, Amazon placed MURDOCH'S BRIDE on sale this month for 99 cents. I can't complain, because the sale has made the book a bestseller. Seeing that little orange banner on my Amazon page is always nice.

I've been very pleased with the results of my foray into Kindle World. So far, I've written four stories for Debra Holland's Montana Sky Series. The latest is BRIDE'S ADVENTURE. Another will be released in July.

AMANDA'S RANCHER is the first one I wrote and the longest and my favorite. I love the hero and heroine and the struggle they overcome. For AMANDA'S RANCHER, I spent a lot of time researching. Although I'd read and enjoyed Debra Holland's books, I had to reread them and take notes. THE RANCHER AND THE SHEPHERDESS includes the least of Debra's characters of the four I've written. BRIDE'S ADVENTURE was fun to write because of the predicaments she causes for herself.

Now you know what a Kindle World is. I hope you'll read and enjoy mine!