A Rocky Path.....

Every author has a story of seeing his work published  and on a book store shelf. I've often said if I had known how hard it is (was), I doubt I would have pursued it.

When indie publishing was just getting off the ground, I had no trouble embracing this new and exciting thing in writing and publishing. Consequently, when I wrote my 9th book, THE TYCOON, I didn't even think about pursuing a traditional publisher. I went straight for indie publishing. Little did I know the quagmire I was stepping into. 

After many obstacles and 2 years of work and learning, I got THE TYCOON on the market. This was Book #1 in a trilogy I planned with a story arc that spanned 3 books and came to a conclusion in Book #3. ..... In THE TYCOON, I introduced the dysfunctional Lockhart family, a hundred-year-old Texas dynasty uber-rich in land, cattle and oil and gas. Drake, the oldest son, had dreams of escaping the ranch and making his own fortune in real estate investing. He did not have a plan to meet a sexy redhead and fall head-over-heels in love, but there she was at a charity Christmas ball.

THE CATTLEMAN is the story of the middle son who stayed at home and assumed the responsibility of managing the huge Double-Barrel ranch. He has an uncertain relationship with a woman he has known his whole life.

Book #3, THE HORSEMAN, is the story of Troy Rattigan, the patriarch's bastard son, who has a mystical connection to the healing of abused horses and unintentionally, abused people. He meets a beautiful woman who started life as a homeless waif and product of the welfare system and instantly falls in love.

The story arching over the 3 books is that a mysterious person is harassing the Lockhart family, but nobody knows who it is until the end of Book #3.

I'm happy to say I'm finished with THE HORSEMAN. Yay!!! .....The list of distractions I've had since I started this trilogy is long. Sometimes life just gets in the way. I'm now in the editing process and hope to have this book on the market in another month. .....

Those of you who have read my books know that my heroes are always heroic alpha males and my heroines are always beautiful and desirable. I try to make my stories dramatic and interesting. Hope you'll read THE HORSEMAN and enjoy it and find the end of the trilogy satisfying.

Here's a brief description:

Troy Rattigan devotes most of his time and energy to horses— rescuing them, training them, understanding them. He seems to have a spiritual connection to the equine species. But because of his brutal schedule and an escalating series of attacks on his family, his connections with the opposite sex haven’t gone beyond meaningless hookups. …. Then he comes across Rudy in his current workshop. There’s something about the fractious, blood-bay horse that lures him. And something about the unassuming beauty on the other end of Rudy’s lead rope that ignites his instinct to fix what’s broken—in both horse and woman.

Single mom Brittany Karol is barely back on her feet after almost losing her life and her leg to a rattlesnake bite. The worst step she could make? Accepting the too-rich, too-handsome, too-sweet-talking trainer’s offer to teach her horse-crazy young son to work with her best friend’s problem horse, Rudy. ..... Having seen the worst of life, Brittany is too old and too jaded for her years. Yet, she can’t resist giving her son his wildest dream. But is the deep, instant fit she feels with Troy simply a mutual understanding of loss and grief? Or is it a solid foundation upon which to build a lifetime of happiness? Is becoming connected to the wealthy and dynamic Lockhart family another risk to her own life and happiness as well as her young son’s?

FINDING A HERO ...

When you read, are you able to envision the characters? Do you like reading a book where the author has clearly defined a character's appearance. Does it distract you if characters, especially main characters, are left out there sort of dangling so that you have to make them up yourself?

 I can tell you that for me, a character's appearance and mannerisms just might be the hardest part of the whole book. It isn't rocket science, but it's tedious and my OCD kicks in and makes it harder than it needs to be. No doubt every author has his or her own method for constructing a character.  I've tried holding a character in my head as I write, but then after about 50 pages, I start to forget the eye color, the hair color, the height, body type, etc, etc.

The hero's appearance is especially important in romance novels. A long time ago, in one of the early conversations I had with one of my editors, she said to me, "Don't forget that romance novels are fantasies." ..... I've never forgotten her telling me that. I added it to the lore I collect for building a successful romance "hero."

So in an effort to make the whole process easier and more efficient, I started searching for heroes in celebrities of which there are copious pictures. Once I found the images of the hero and heroine in pictures of real people, my job became a lot easier.  .....  As a side note, I should add that *all* of my heroes are good-looking, alpha and heroic. All of my heroines are beautiful. After all, if I'm creating a fantasy, isn't that how it should be?

Adam Rodriguez.

The process is not always instant. For example, I searched for days for an image I wanted to imagine as Troy Rattigan in THE HORSEMAN. Troy's mother is half Hispanic with thick black hair and deep brown eyes. His father is blond, tall and lean and Scots-Irish. I started looking for a celebrity whose appearance might be the result of that mix.

Then I started thinking about the personality I was creating for this character. He's a friendly, fun-loving guy, so that attitude had to reflect in his appearance. Believe it or not, it wasn't that easy to find. I ended up with the actor, Adam Rodriguez. What do you think? Is he a hero you can envision in a romance novel?

The heroine, Samantha Karol, was almost impossible. I ended up buying a picture of her. She's small, with a bushel of thick black hair that hangs past her waist (of which, she's very proud). She has intriguing blue-green eyes that look at you directly and full, cherry-red lips. I have a friend who has blue-green eyes and as long as I've known her, the color of her eyes is so riveting, they're distracting when we talk. I can never tell what she's thinking.

I thought that intense characteristic would be fitting for a woman who had grown up an orphan with a no-nonsense toughness about her. She's a survivor. I don't know this model's name, but she came the closest. Can you picture Troy being so attracted to her he can't keep from falling in love?

These are the stars in THE HORSEMAN. Does their appearance make you want to read the book? Let me know what you think.

That's Entertainment.....

Most people who read or write books also like plays and movies. I've even had the notion I should write a screenplay. 

I've been a movie fan for as long as I can remember. It started at an early age. When I was a small child, I lived with my grandparents. Their home was in a rural West Texas town that wasn't much more than a village really. We had scant outside entertainment, but we always had books, magazines and newspapers around the house. This is where I learned to read and love and sometimes watch fiction.

A movie was a rare treat. Two or three times a year, "tent movies" would come to town and stay for a week or so. They would set up a big tent in what passed for the town square, line up metal chairs for the audience to sit on and show a repertoire that included everything from silent movies accompanied by piano music to the "talkies." Sometimes we even had music where you could sing along, following the bouncing ball on screen. I think the price of admission might have been a quarter or less.

I found this picture on a site called "Old Magazine Articles," which tells about the traveling tent movies. It hauntingly reminds me so much of my childhood. If you want to read more about this slice of Americana and see more pictures, here's a link: http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/Traveling-Movie-Theaters-pdf

I and my great-grandpa were enthralled by those old movies. He walked to town every night to watch whatever was shown on the screen, good or bad. He was past 80 and practically deaf, so he had to sit on the very front row. I sometimes went with him, though I didn't get to go every night. 

What was even more fantastical was they had buttered popcorn and cotton candy. I was fascinated by cotton candy. As I recall, it cost a nickel. 

I'm still a movie fan and that's what my post is about. My husband is a movie fan, too. Or at least, he used to be. Last week, we decided to watch a 5-star movie on Netflix called "The Place beyond the Pines." I don't think we got half-way through it. Can you say dark and depressing?

We moved on from there to Amazon and another 5-star movie called "Winter's Bone." Didn't finish that one either. More dark and depressing. Then we chose "Hello, My Name is Doris," also well reviewed.  Didn't even get a quarter of the way through that one and I used to be a fan of Sally Fields. 

We ended up watching "50 First Dates" with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, a movie that had terrible reviews. It did have good reviews on Amazon from people who bought it and watched it. Believe it or not, we actually finished that one and furthermore, we liked it. It presented an interesting situation, I liked the premise and the performances of the actors and it was upbeat.

I guess, bottom line, whether it's books or movies, I don't want to be depressed while I'm trying to be entertained. Movies, as well as good books, were a happy part of my childhood and that's what I still want to see. I don't want to be broken-hearted, preached at or  shamed by social issues I can't remedy. I just want to be entertained.

Every movie they make these days, if it isn't car crashing and giant robots fighting, it's dark, Dystopian themes telling me how grim the future is going to be. I don't want to think about that. Dark and depressing isn't where I park my imagination. I see enough of it on the news.

NEW DIRECTIONS.....

I’ve finally done it. I’ve quit my day job. I worked only 3 days a week, but it felt like 9. It took sooo much “thinking” time away from my writing. Beyond that, when I thought about the stress level compared to the pay, I just couldn’t find a reason to do it anymore.

Now I’ll be able to concentrate more of my time and energy on writing. I have several projects underway or on the back burner.

#1 is THE HORSEMAN, Book #3 of my Sons of Texas trilogy. I’ve blogged here about it before. It will present a romance for Troy Rattigan, horse whisperer and youngest son of the Lockhart family. It will also complete the arc that began in Book #1, THE TYCOON and solve the riddle of who is threatening and harassing the Lockhart family and the Double-Barrel Ranch. My books usually are between 25 and 30 chapters. I’m up to 15 chapters now, so I don’t have too far to go.

#2 is MAN OF THE WEST, Book #2 of the Strayhorn trilogy. This book was traditionally published as a mass market paperback and I FINALLY have the rights back. I’m going to revise it a little and re-lease it with a slightly new story and a new cover.

 

 #3 is CLAIMED, the 2^nd book of Miranda’s Chronicles. The first book, DESIRED, is a 40,000-word erotic novella. CLAIMED will be a full novel. I want to complete this duet because I really liked writing in first person and I liked the 2 main characters in this story. When I wrote DESIRED, I believed I had created one of my strongest, therefore best, heroines in Miranda.

#5 is to write Book #3 of The Strayhorn trilogy. This will be Cable Strayhorn’s story. I haven’t settled on a title yet, but I’m toying with MAN OF THE HIGH PLAINS. I’m also thinking about THE PRODIGAL because it will be the story of a Strayhorn heir who leaves the fold for a different life, then returns after personal tragedy. I know—soap opera. 😊 I don't yet have a cover. I have to settle on a title before I can choose a cover. ..... What do you think about the 2 titles?

Woven between all of these is a new Dixie Cash zany adventure for the Domestic Equalizers. I’ve got the title: WHEN I SAID YOU'RE THE BOMB, I DIDN'T DREAM IT WAS TRUE. I've also got the basic plot idea formed in my head and am doing research, but so far, I have on 3 chapters on paper. The title is a clue to the story. 😉 ..... This will be the biggest challenge of all of all my writing projects because I no longer have my sister as a partner and she is the funny one. I don’t have that “Saturday Night Live” sense of humor that she does.

Also woven among and in between all of this is an attempt to narrate my own audio books. The fees for narrators makes them too expensive to do very many. If I can do a decent job on my own narration, I'll be releasing more audio books.

As you can see, just because I've quit my day job doesn't mean I won't be busy. 😟 I only hope to live long enough to complete all of these projects. Wish me luck!

Snakebit!.....Yikes!

I always try to create interesting situations and circumstances for the characters in my stories. In my newest endeavor, THE HORSEMAN, Book #3 of The Sons of Texas trilogy, I’ve created a situation where a character has been crippled by multiple surgeries after a rattlesnake bite.

Not just any old snake, but a RATTLESNAKE. Thus, I’ve been researching rattlesnake bites. And after researching them, I’m even more scared of them than before. Rattlesnake bites are different from other snake bites.

On the Internet, there are personal stories from victims. One of the most hair-raising is from a 13-year-old boy who was bitten on the hand. http://rattlesnakebite.org/ Another is by a 50-year-old female backpacker in an area where she hikes several times a week. http://www.backpacker.com/survival/out-alive-bitten-by-a-rattlesnake/#bp=0/img1.

Both of these accounts will get your attention and put you on the lookout for venomous creatures.

So what happens if one strikes you? Here is a web site with good information about what to do. http://www.desertusa.com/reptiles/rattlesnake-bites.html.

Rattlesnake venom contains toxins that damage tissue, destroy blood cells, skin tissues and cause internal hemorrhaging. It can also immobilize the nervous system which can affect and even stop breathing. In reality, a snake bite kit isn’t really a good solution. You need to get to an emergency room fast.

The experts tell you that rattlesnakes are solitary creatures. They strike when startled or when they feel threatened. That’s good information, but if one is resting under a bush and you don’t know it and walk past it—as was the case with the 50-year-old woman—I guess that’s enough for it to feel threatened. 

The experts also say rattlesnake bites are rare. I grew up in West Texas, have

lived in Texas most of my life and I’ve never known anyone personally who was bitten. I’ve run across a couple of people who’ve been bitten by copperheads, but apparently those bites aren’t the same as rattlesnake bites.

Those same experts also say that there are very few deaths in the USA from snakebites. But me? If one bit me, I would probably die from a heart attack.

It’s the time of year when everyone wants to be outside working in the yard or the garden. Just be careful out there.

Meanwhile,  I'm  working  away  coming  up  with  a  way  my   heroine  in  THE HORSEMAN, the beautiful Dallas Ann Carol, is going to go on with her life after this trauma. And how our hero, handsome and rich  Troy Rattigan,  is  going  to find her courageous and irresistible.