Technically, it’s my Monday…

Good morning! I do hope everyone had a safe and Happy 4th of July! It’s always rough the first day back to the real life after a three day weekend. So, as the title suggests, today is my Monday. And of course I’ll have to wrap up two days in one.

As for my writing, well… Yep, got another chapter finished and I’m on the final stretch to the finish line. This book is pulling me from every direction. It’s been a wild ride into a new realm. I’ve written western romance as well as historical, but never about a wagon train. The things I’ve learned have been eye opening.

Television can romanticize the old west and the wagon train experience. But the facts are staggering and sad. Life on a wagon train was hard. The struggle to get to a new life was tough, but many made the trip.

I’ve tried to keep it as close to real as possible, but at the end of the day, it is fiction. And that brings me to another subject. Why do reviewers continue to say, ‘this book doesn’t fit into real life or real life scenarios’? Think about it. If you write fiction, it’s just that, fiction. In the world of fiction, anything can happen. If not, we wouldn’t have some of the best books out there. And if you think some of that really happens, then I need to enlighten you. It can’t.

Writers open up themselves to scrutiny every time they hit publish. Whether it’s a blog or book. But it’s part of it. And as a fiction writer, there will always be something that doesn’t really happen in real life. The reader wants to be taken to another place or time. They need that out of this world experience, if only for a moment.

So, take this from my post. Yes, most writers try to keep close to real life, but in fiction, the rules go out the door.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

The name game…

Good morning! The name game… As writers we all do it. The book idea comes into our head and then we have to give the characters a name. It may seem easy enough, but after publishing over 50 books, it gets hard.

A character in one of the first books I published had the name ‘figure it out’ for almost half the writing process. But I knew that I could search that phrase and insert the name once I figured it out. Why is it so hard? Well, let me enlighten you…

When naming a character, you want it to fit the character. If it’s a strong male lead, you want the name to be strong. And don’t forget the time period. A name can make or break how you see the character. Imagine some of the most popular characters you’ve read about or seen on screen. Then imagine them with a different name. It has to fit.

And I mentioned the time period. If your book is set in 1500’s England, well, you need to know the names of that period. Maybe it doesn’t seem important, but believe me when I say there are fans that see it as very important. Oh, and country of birth is also a factor.

So you might be asking yourself, how do you figure it out? I have a couple of methods. One is Scrivener. They have a great name generator that has many variables. And it works for me. But I also from time to time check out baby name generator apps. They work as well. But with Scrivener they help with the last name.

I made the mistake of using the same name for two main characters in two of my books. It did not sit well with some of my fans. They let me know that I’d made that goof. But it was two of my favorite character names, Wes and Sara. So, I try not to do that again.

If I hear a name in conversation, or meet someone with a unique name, I make a mental note about it. So, don’t worry if you see your name in one of my books, remember, it’s only fiction…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S. Keep watching for Jenny to release soon…

Timelines… Yay or Nay?

Good Sunday morning! Hope everyone is getting some great writing time in on the long weekend. Me, a little.

So, let’s talk timelines and writing. Do you do them? I mostly do them with my historical romances. But, I’ve been known to do one for my contemporary series. Why? Well, let’s dive into why you’d need a timeline.

There are different types of timelines. Maybe you need on to keep up with what happened in history during the time period your book is written in. If it’s based during the Civil War, then you don’t want to speak of the war being over in the middle of the Revolutionary war. Face palm, yes, I did that. Thank goodness I caught my date mix up.

Then you have a timeline to keep up with births, marriages and deaths. This is especially helpful when writing a series that all of the books surround the same people or town. There’s nothing more frustrating then being elbow deep in book three of your WIP and forgetting the birthday of a character or when the character got married in book one.

So, timelines can be important in many ways. All it takes is pen and paper.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Friday writing and other ramblings…

Good Friday morning! We’ve almost made it to the weekend. Only a little bit longer… You can do it, I know you can.

So, it’s Friday morning and I’m getting in my word count before I get ready for my day job. I’m working on the 2nd book of the Sky Ridge Series. Since I just sent the last of Breakwater Lane to my editor for the last edits, I’m geared up to work on Promises Forgotten.

As I work on Promises Forgotten, I have to remember that this one is historical, not in current time. LOL! And with that said, I have to remember that they can’t just flip the light switch on. Yes, I did that again. I let my character walk in the room and turn the lights on. So, how do I keep from doing this…

Yes, that’s a sticky note (the ultimate author hack), on the side of my laptop to remind me what my characters don’t have. And yes, I’ve had to go back and delete a couple of times.

While I’m on the subject of reminding, don’t forget to go to this link for a chance to win a Kindle. It’s so easy and all you have to do is share, share, share! http://lovekissedbookbargains.com/category/giveaways/preorder-giveaway/

I know, I’m rambling, but it’s Friday! So, as I finish my second cup of coffee and work toward my word count for the morning, I send my hope that you have a fantastic Friday!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

It’s raining outlines…

Here in Georgia we’ve had a years worth of rain in just weeks. When we walk in our yard we have to slosh through puddles. The grass is spongy. A little sun would be a nice reprieve. I know I saw the animals pairing up this morning 🙂 (Just a little Noah humor). Yep, I need to see some sunshine and soon…

As I sit on the couch with the recliner out and my laptop in my lap, I watch the rain. The lightning moves in and out daily. It’s good writing weather as we can’t go out and lounge in the pool or sit in the sun. Even working the garden is a chore due to the Georgia red clay.

But the blog is about outlines and writing. I know I’ve talked about them before but this is a little different. As I hinted before I’m working on a historical romance and it’s based around the Civil War. Well, I had to do a outline of the timeline of the Civil War. But that’s just the start.

To keep up with the family tree which is going to get tricky, I’ve started a type of family tree outline. As this is going to be a Saga and go through to today’s time I’ve got to make sure to keep the mamas and papas and kids straight. Now as a writer this can get crazy if you’re writing and forget who belongs to who.

Well, then there’s the outline for the story itself. I definitely need this to keep me straight. I don’t need to kill anyone off that’s important for future parts to the Saga.

By the way, it will be named the “Women of Magnolia Hill Saga” and the first book is “Victoria”. I’m already almost 20,000 words in and only part of the way. This is going to be a long one, so get ready.

So far I’m up to 3 outlines for this story. Usually I only have one, so this is a record breaker for me. Do you use outlines? If so, have you ever had multiple outlines for one book?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…