Horses and a Free Book

One of my current WIPs, THE HORSEMAN, is a romance in which the hero is a horse trainer extraordinaire. Some even think he's a horse whisperer. This is the same book I wrote about a while back where the heroine has suffered a rattlesnake bite.

The rattlesnake bite caused me to have to do a lot of research, but horse whispering is causing me to have to do even more.

A few real live horse whisperers are around. One of them is Buck Brannaman on whose personality and occupation the character of Tom Booker in the book and movie, "The Horse Whisperer," was based.

In the book I wrote a few years ago, THE LOVE OF A LAWMAN, the heroine is a horse whisperer.  I did quite a bit of research about this phenomenon back then, but since then, I've done more. One of the things I've done is watch the movie about Buck Brannaman and I've read his book. I've also watched several documentaries about wild horses and why they behave as they do. Horse society and herd hierarchy is interesting information and you can't keep from being drawn to it.


Nor can you keep from being drawn to horses. It appears that the most important element is earning a horse's trust, which is no small feat. Since they are prey animals, they instinctively know that human beings are predators and and they have an innate fear of them. As a matter of survival, they want to get along with people. Basically, they already know how to do the things that people want them to do, but they have to be taught when to do it and that it's okay for them to do it. Those who are successful horse trainers and whisperers have the patience and interest in establishing the trust that is necessary for a good outcome. Some of them believe that problem horses are an extension of problem owners or owners with problems.

People who know horses claim they are just as smart as dogs and just as loyal, up to giving their lives for a human being they trust.

I've never had a horse of my own, but from the research I've done, I wish I did. I wish I had been involved with horses all of my life. I wish I were a person that a horse could trust. 

By the way, THE LOVE OF A LAWMAN is currently free at Amazon and will be for 4 more days.

What's in a Name?

It's fairly common knowledge in the writing world that characterization is the most important part of a story, especially if you write romances where a relationship between the hero and heroine is the plot.

In the stories I write, I mostly fit a story around a character rather than fitting a character into a story.  Sometimes a character of a particular stripe calls for a certain story.(Does this make sense?)

So naming a character or characters is of the utmost importance. Sometimes I start with one name, but by the time I'm a quarter of the way into the story, I've switched to another name. I'm always on the lookout for the name that "fits" my guy or gal.

I take into consideration ancestry, ethnic background if it applies. For sure, that information affects a hero or heroine's last name. I want his or her last name to hint of family's history. In THE LOVE OF A LAWMAN, the heroine's parents were French Canadian, so I used the French spelling of her name, Isabelle. ..... In SWEET RETURN, the hero is part Comanche and distantly related to Quannah Parker, so it seemed fitting to give him the last name of Parker.

In the book I'm writing now, THE HORSEMAN,  I have a particular challenge in that the hero is part Hispanic, but his last name is Rattigan. Confusing. I would change it, but the book is #3 of a trilogy and his name is already well established in the previous 2 books. So I still have to figure out how to deal with that situation.

I've written several chapters and I still haven't settled on the heroine's name, which is distracting and annoying. In one chapter, I'm calling her Chloe. In another, I'm calling her Shiloh and in yet another I'm calling her Skye. 

Here's the cover, by the way. Designed by Kim Killion. What do you think?

 
All of my heroes are tall and handsome and alpha. I've named them all sorts of names, but the ones I like most are names that sound strong, pronounced with a hard C or K or T. For example, Luke, Cable, Tack, Jake, Parker, etc,.....You get the idea.

For heroines, I like feminine-sounding names. My heroines are quietly strong. They are alpha women, but also beautiful and feminine. Think Scarlett O'Hara who was tougher than a boiled owl, but an incredibly feminine woman. For heroines, I like soft-sounding names, i.e., Amanda, Dahlia, Joanna, Isabelle. ..... In the Dixie Cash book I'm working on, I've name the heroine after someone I know. This is the first time I've ever done that.  

To say that I spend a lot of times on naming by story people is an understatement. I'm always open to suggestions.

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.