Character Sketches…

It’s Friday! Yea! But I have some work to do. With two new series starting up this year, I have several things to do and one of those things is character sketches. If you’re asking what the heck is a character sketch, well, let me fill you in…

Alright, here goes… When you start a new book, there are several steps, but one of the most important during the writing process is the character information. Let me explain how I do my character information sheets.

1. I grab my notebook that will be for the series notes and I keep all my information in it. This notebook stays in my writing bag for quick retrieval. This is very important to have at your fingertips because if you’re halfway through book two and can’t remember what someone’s name is or what they do, you’ll need to be able to grab that without having to read book one to jog your memory.

2. First off, you need to name your characters, starting with the main ones. Then add the details. Let’s face it, when you’re writing that character, you know what they look like, but your reader doesn’t unless you show them. So, under the character sketch, you put every detail you can. I include A. Name

A. Name

B. Description: Hair color, eye color, height, build, disposition, age, birthdate, etc. You get the idea.

C. Family that might show up in the stories. Brothers, sisters, parents, etc.

D. Where are they from and where do they live now?

E. Now, this is where the fun starts, leave plenty of room for added notes. As a story unfolds, you’ll build the character sketch. If they get a new career, get married, have children. Add anything new to the character. This helps down the road and keeps you from having to keep looking back.

3. Make sure you have one for every character you add. Well, if they are only making a one time appearance, leave them out, but if it’s even just the store owner and your character occasionally goes to the store, then you need to add them.

So, do you prepare character sketches? I didn’t for a long time and it was so frustrating, but through writing studies, I’ve learned how to make life easier. Writing is a crazy world of names, places, plots, and so much more that you have to have a way to keep it straight.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

New year…New series…

With everything going on, I’ve not mentioned the fact that I have two new series coming out this year. Although one will spill over into 2018…

I’m excited about the possibilities of both series. The first one is Sky Ridge and it’s a three-book historical romance series. This series will take you back to the 1800’s old west. The covers are already completed and up on my website, so take a look if you get a chance. They’re gorgeous and give you the feeling of each one. I can’t wait for the first release which will happen in a short while…

The second series is a five book New England small town romance series. The series is called Wishful Harbor. It will be about a small New England town and the lives of five friends and the romance that they find. I’ll be working on these covers in the coming months, but for now, let’s just say, things are getting exciting…

Of course, I have a couple of stand-alone books coming too. Most of them are already featured on my website.

So, what are you working on this year? Any new series or finishing a series?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S. Here’s a peek at the first cover in the Sky Ridge series…

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Five Oaks Ranch…

Good Wednesday morning folk! I do hope all is well with you and yours. As for me, it’s the beginning of my busy season. Since I’m an accountant, and tax season is now up and running, well, that means I’m a busy lady. Not to mention I have a couple of book deadlines looming too…

Today I want to talk about my Five Oaks Ranch Series. Even though Ridge has been out for coming up on three years, it’s stayed in the top 100 Free books for almost a year. The rest of the series is doing well too…

A little back story into this series… When this series came to me, we were driving back from our Florida vacation. I’d been playing with ideas for a cowboy series, and I wanted it to be based around a family, but I didn’t have the exact specifics. As we drove into Georgia, I was sitting there, lost in thought when street signs started coming into my view. At once, I knew it would be based in Georgia. Then the names started flashing by, my mind whirling with ideas. At that moment, Five Oaks Ranch was born.

By the time we arrived home about one and a half hours later, I had the book names, the cover ideas and had started my character sketches. Of course, I can’t write and ride because I’d turn green, but I had my notepad beside me. I wrote on it without looking, as the words streamed in, almost at once.

When we arrived home, I had to unpack, but my mind was still on beginning Ridge. I have to say, Ridge’s popularity has surprised me. The outpouring of support for this book and the series has been humbling, to say the least. This series came straight from my heart and from the responses I’ve received by email and direct message, it’s touched others.

My writing style has changed a lot since I published Ridge. I’ve studied writing a lot, as most writers do. Some of the things I’ve learned have spilled out into my writing. The first book, Ridge and the second book, Oakley are different in the style of writing, but it still has my heart in it.

To say I’m excited about where the Five Oaks Ranch will go in the future is an understatement. I’ve received emails from readers that would love to see it on the big screen as one big movie or mini-series. Now wouldn’t that be awesome.

Ok, so with your writing, which work has made you a proud author?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

The Monday before Christmas…

It was the Monday before Christmas and all through my house… LOL, it’s too early to rhyme! There’s only 6 shopping days left and I’m so far behind. Wow! Normally I’m done by now, everything’s wrapped and life is good. Not this year! What happened to the month of December? I know something happened to at least a couple of days because it just started and now it’s almost Christmas. Oh well, if all else fells, gift cards 😉

Not sure if anyone noticed, but I released my Christmas book in the last four days! Falling Snow is now available, but only on Amazon. Yes, you heard me right, I’m doing a little experiment to see how Kindle Unlimited does. I used it when I first started to publish but decided to expand the distribution further. So far so good.

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This book is an interesting mix of heartwarming romance and suspense. This romance is based at a bed and breakfast called Gingerbread House in the north Virginia mountains. If you like this one, then you’ll love the book that will follow it. It’s not called a series, but I’ve planned several books that go along the same type of heartwarming mixed with suspense type theme.

So, have you grabbed your copy of Falling Snow? If not, here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NAK6V37. I want you to fall in love with Katie and Noah!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

My writer’s bag of goodies!

As I promised in yesterday’s post, here’s my writing bag. This bag goes with me everywhere, even the beach. Also, one thing, if you’d like a writer’s bag, I’ll set up one like mine for a fee. I love helping authors get started in this amazing business.

So, here’s the full package:

Ok, so I know you’re curious what everything is, so here we go:

1: Most important, the bag. It needs to be large enough to hold everything and have a padded section for your laptop. Also, pockets on the inside help keep everything separated. This bag was purchased at Walmart for only $20 and it is perfect and roomy as you can tell in the picture on the right.

2: I always keep a couple of notebooks handy for notes. The large black spiral book is for scene breakdowns and the cute smaller one with the leaves on it is for upcoming projects along with notes for characters. Of course, with notebooks, always have a couple of pens, sharpies, and pencils on hand!

3: The yellow binder holds my schedule, which I’ll share another day this week. It’s a special schedule that I’ve set up for myself which helps and I’ve changed it several times until it was just right for me. It also has pockets and extra pages for additional notes.

4: The large green accordion folder is labeled by month. Each month holds a folder for each individual book that is to be written that month. Inside the folder, I put notes, outlines, character sketches, and pictures that inspire things in the book.

5: My wrist brace is always with me. Yeah, I know, I’m getting older and need a little help every once in a while, but it’s always available for when my wrist gets stiff or painful.

6: Index cards are also included for quick notes and plotting. I like to number them and lay them out beside me as I write.

7: Of course my laptop is included along with a mouse and my trusty laptop lap desk, which of course doesn’t fit in my bag. But if you’ll notice, it has a handle so I can hold it along with the bag.

8: Headphones are essential for listening to inspiring music, which I’ll also post something on in the coming days. I always have a couple of pairs, just in case I misplace a set or one goes out.

9: Last but not least, my Kindle. It’s for research!!! Authors need to read a lot in their genre, to keep fresh. So, when I’m stumped, I read 😉

Ok, so you know some of my secrets! Shhhhh! Don’t tell anyone that I’m somewhat organized because it will totally throw off my reputation.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

No use crying over missed words…

Good Monday morning! I do hope everyone here in America had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And also my wonderful friends across the pond, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. As for me, well, I had a great one. But, with a holiday that’s busy, I missed my word count over the time off.

Word counts are important to a writer, right? The longer I write the more I realize that word counts can be pushed around a little. Yes, I know I’ve written about word counts being important and technically they are, but here’s my new philosophy.

Ok, I have deadlines, just as most writers do. I know what I need to get in every day, but when things happen, say life, for instance, stressing over a day or two of missed writing, well, it can make for a miserable time. So, I’ve devised a strategy. I have a writing journal where I keep up with my word count and where I need to be every day. Then I adjust as needed. Which of course means that I might need to double up on my word count for a couple of days.

If my book needs to be 30,000 words, then I’ll set my deadline to give me 35 days of writing. I try to write 2000 words a day usually, which means that I type 1000 words for two books a day. This way if I’m lagging behind a little, then I can add to one or more days to make up the lost time writing.

You may think that five extra days isn’t enough, but if you keep a journal and keep up with the words needed to get to the end and the daily count, then you’ll see that you actually could end up with days left, which is wonderful, you can start another book 😉

Now, back to the writing, as I said, I’m a couple of days behind… A little hint, I gave myself extra days for the holidays, so…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Just a little reminder, fall in love with Laird Ewan before the 2nd book comes out in just days from now! myBook.to/HighlandersHeart

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Seeing it clearly…

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Good morning! Hope all is well…

Have you ever looked at your work in process and your mind was more like the picture above? I’ve done this so much that sometimes I have to step away. But what can we do as writers to clear up the fog in our brain?

This weekend I spent most of the time laying around, trying to get over the cold that took over my body on Thursday. I’d planned on doing a major catch up on word counts, but every time I looked at my laptop, I groaned. My head was fuzzy, which is understandable with a cold, but the fuzziness I’m talking about is story line fuzzy…

As you know from my many posts, I try to outline all of my manuscripts, but even then, fuzziness can take over. Just this past week I had one of those, ‘where was I headed with this part of the story’ moments. I went back and forth between my outline and my manuscript, making notes and trying to regain the momentum. The best thing I did was to step back, take a breath, then go back to it.

Ok, so sometimes with deadlines we can’t do that, but I’m not talking about stepping back a week or more, just a couple of hours. Maybe take a long walk, going over the story in your head. And yes, the walk will help clear your head of the fuzzies. I’ve worked out more story problems while putting my tennis shoes on and walking up the road. Amazing how much it helps. If it is raining, then you can watch a movie, lay back and listen to music, or even plot out another story.

But what I’m getting at is when the story gets too much to handle, step back, clear your head and begin again. It helps. I actually scraped a whole manuscript doing this. Yes, it scared me to death, but I did it and was glad I did when I started over. For some reason, we go down a rabbit hole that there’s no way out of, and that can lead to a deeper hole, LOL!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Highlander’s Bride is coming soon… Keep watching for the cover reveal!

FlashBack Friday…

Tender Flames revised cover

This is my Flash Back Friday… Tender Flames! Only the second book I published, which was 26 books ago… Wow! This was also my first bestseller too!

I have to admit that this book took me on an emotional journey, one that I’ll never forget. Even with all the characters and stories I’ve written, Wes and Sara still fill my mind. Their love was an amazing adventure all the way from childhood, through broken hearts and a marriage that shouldn’t have happened.

In the 1st book in the ‘Flames of Love’ Series, Sara’s heart swells every time Wes is near. Can her childhood friend become more or just grow away from her? Will Zack turn her heart away from his brother? Love works in mysterious ways and a heart has a will of its own. Sometimes our futures change in a moment…

Get your copy today and fall in love with Wes and Sara… myBook.to/TenderFlames

Just a little exciting news, Highlander’s Heart made it to the bestseller status on Amazon yesterday! Thanks to my wonderful fans that keep me writing… I love you guys! It’s on sale for only .99 until after Halloween… myBook.to/HighlandersHeart

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Don’t put all your eggs…

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Good Monday morning! It’s chilly here in Georgia and great writing weather. Saturday I managed a little over 3600 words, even with cleaning the house and planting mums. It was a productive weekend, to say the least.

Ok, you’ve written your book, now it’s time to publish it. As a self published author, you have so many choices. I’ve talked to authors that only place their books on Amazon, which is alright if you just want to get in with the Kindle reader, but there are so many other places to put your book, so why not?

You may be new to the publishing world, so I’ll enlighten you on some places that are great for self published authors:

1: Amazon – without a doubt, most authors go here first.

2: Smashwords – This website offers a one stop shop. Your book can be placed with Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and a multitude of other places just through Smashwords.

3: All Romance Ebooks – They offer your book on their website and in many different formats.

4: Barnes and Noble – Through Nook press, but I usually just go through Smashwords to get here.

5: Kobo – Again, I use Smashwords to get here too.

6: Google Play – I have some of my books here, but I’ve never done well on their pages.

7: Createspace – You need to get your book into paperback form and here’s where you can do that.

8: Draft to Digital – This site will get you on a couple of different foreign site.

9: Apple iTunes – If you use a mac, then this option is available straight to the site, but again, I use Smashwords.

This is only 9 of the many sites, but it gets you on the road to discovery and if you spread out your wings, readers will find you.

I hope this helped. If you need help getting your book formatted or the word spread, let me know. Horseshoe Publishing helps authors get their books ready for these sites and Fresh From the Book helps you spread the word.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Just a little Monday promo – Highlander’s Heart will be only .99 for a short while! So fall in love with a Highlander… myBook.to/HighlandersHeart

Tuscany is a reality, today!

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Tuscany is up and running on Amazon. Here’s the link to the book preview. https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B01M0MIB72&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_H2M7xbPHRZJFN

Here’s a little snippet from Tuscany:

That night, after her soak in the tub, Lana stood in the French doors to Mama Leona’s old room, watching the moon rise over the fields. With all she’d learned over the last twenty-four hours her head was spinning. This place was beautiful and felt magical. Tomorrow, she’d bury her grandmother and start a new life. But what would that life hold? Leaning her head against the door she thought about Romeo and his change in attitude since their arrival. Maybe they could become friends. She pulled out the journal and opened it up, only to shut it quickly. Maybe after the funeral she’d be able to 13 • Tuscany grasp what this leather-bound book held, but not tonight. The past could wait another day. For now, she wanted to climb into the large four-poster bed, with cream sheer curtains and slip back into the dream from earlier. As she drifted off to sleep she wondered if she’d find true love in Tuscany or was that just her grandmother’s wishful, romantic way of thinking? Romeo stood under the tree just beyond the house, watching Lana. This woman was like nothing he’d ever seen. The moonlight glistened off her blond hair as she stood gazing out at the night sky. For some reason, his heart skipped a beat at just the sight. She made him feel out of sorts, and it wasn’t a feeling he liked. Growling in frustration, he turned and headed toward the stables. A moonlit ride was just what he needed.

As I said, just a little snippet. The link I’ve included above will give you more than this, but I can assure you, this story will pull you in and leave you wanting more!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…