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…

Do you like it long or short?

Well, do you like it long or short? You may be scratching your head and saying, well that’s it, she’s finally lost what’s left of her brain. What I mean is reading. Do you like a long novel or a short easy read?

I was reading a post yesterday about a study done on how many actually finish a long novel. It intrigued me. I started thinking about all the books that I’ve started and they were good up to a point, then about 100 or so pages in I lost track of where the book was going. But then later I pick it up and finish it on a rainy day.

I’ve written long and short books, but I get the better response from the short ones. Amazingly enough a lot of people prefer a short, easy read that get’s to the heart of the story quickly and keeps them enthralled for a couple of hours. Several publishing sites actually have a special segment of publishing call short reads or lunch time reads.

When I was younger the craze was the long novel and now it seems the shorter the better. I was going through some new books on Smashwords.com the other day and over half of them were less than 10000 words. Amazing.

I guess that’s why my shorter novels sell better. Funny isn’t it. We’ve gotten to such a busy way of life that we’ve even shortened our reading time. Oh, we still make time for reading, but we want to do it in record time so we can go out and get busy again. Oh well, I’ll just write what I feel like I need to get my stories across and hope it passes the test.

So, let me ask again, Do you like it long or short? See I told you it wasn’t a crazy question…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Romance the genre

Have you noticed the number of genre’s in the romance field. It’s amazing how many sub genre’s there are. When setting up for your book to be published they ask what genre. You have to make sure you hit it right.

One of the first publishers I looked for in a romance was Avon. They always had a great selection. I remember years ago you had historical, contemporary or series. The historical covered anything not contemporary. Now you have the different time periods. You have so many sub genres. What’s funny is some of them are so new that I have to google them to see what they include.

When publishing you have to make sure you put your work in the correct genre. Then let’s don’t forget tagging. That’s for a whole new blog post.

But for me romance is romance. Everyone needs a little romance no matter how you get it. I’ve been reading romance since I was a teenager and it’s still the same. Now you just have a lot more to choose from. I used to sit and wait for the next book to come out, but now you just go to your favorite book site and choose from thousands and thousands in every subject you want. If you tried to read everyone of them, you’d never make it.

If you want to check out some great romance and reviews go over to avonromance.com. They offer a great selection of romance and commentary that keeps you intrigued. I’ve enjoyed being a contributor on their site. I know you won’t be disappointed.

As always, great writing and May God Bless YOU…

Sometimes I wonder…

Have you ever wondered what would have been if… Sometimes I sit and wonder what things would have been like if I’d have followed my original life plan. I would be playing in an orchestra and probably in another country. Funny how things change, for the better.

As I was sitting last night working on my historical romance I got to thinking back to two years ago. My manuscripts were in a drawer in my desk. They were hidden from the world for only my eyes. Then my neice which is also my assistant and now my editor and business partner, she found them and read them. Oh my! It felt odd having my work read. I felt suddenly vulnerable.

It’s the same way I felt when she persuaded me to published the books. Of course we had to polish them up and make them ready. I felt open to let down. But amazingly enough I gained some faithful fans and many new friends.I’m so glad she gave me that gentle nudge, well it wasn’t real gentle, it was more of a push. Now I’ve embraced the experience instead of wanting to run and hide my head. I still don’t tell a lot of people I write.

But sometimes I wonder what would have happened if she’d never found them. Would I have eventually followed my dreams and published them? Would they have collected dust until I passed away and my son found them. Would he have published them or thrown them away? Hard to tell, but sometimes I wonder what if…

What do you wonder about? Is it something from the past or someone? Do you have a manuscript hid in a desk desperately wanting recognition? What do you wonder about…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Friday morning Post – 2nd cup

As I start my second cup of coffee I smile. The day after the 4th of July celebration is always sad to me. It means summer is almost over. School will start in a little over four weeks and I need to start thinking about Christmas shopping. Wow time flies when you’re having fun 🙂

I spent my 4th of July at my mom’s lake house which was fun. Although it rained we had a great time with a fish fry and lots of conversation with friends and family. It was the first morning in a while that I didn’t get up and blog. No WiFi at the lake 😦

As for writing I’m busy working on two novels that are taking over my brain. The first one is a historical novel based on the time surrounding the Civil War called “Magnolia Hill” and the other is the 2nd book in the “Lean On Him” Christian series called “Faith Through the Tears”. Also just sent in a guest blog post to the Southern Writer’s Magazine and hope to hear soon when it will be posted. I’m still on a smiling high from being in that wonderful magazine this week.

I think I may need a 3rd cup of coffee before I head across the driveway to the office. Hope everyone had a great holiday.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Where would you write?

It’s an easy question when you’re daydreaming. If you had the choice, where on this wonderful earth would you go to write your novel?

Here’s my list of places I’d love to go to write and it can’t be local:

1. A small mountain town in the Swiss Alps.

2. Montana ranch

3. London

4. Paris

5. The Caribbean

6. Greece

7. Bavaria

8. Salzburg

9. Scotland

10. French Countryside

What’s your writing location wish list? Have you ever thought about it? Sometimes the place you are inspires you. Maybe you’re happy in your comfy chair located at home, or you dream of a tropical oasis or maybe a villa in France, but where do you dream of?

As always, good writing and may God Bless You…

Sneek Peek Friday…

I’m super excited that my 2nd book in the “Lean On Him” series is almost completed. The cover is almost completely ready. I’ll do a cover reveal on Monday, which I can’t wait to do. It’s so simple but yet says it all.

This series is my Christian Romance series and it covers emotions and life changing experiences. The difference is every experience is handled with Faith in God. It shows how faith can waver and give you pause. The books are meant to inspire and hopefully raise you to a new level of spiritual awakening.

Here is an excerpt from “Faith Through The Tears”, Hope you like it 🙂

The first night she was admitted into the hospital this time she told him to tell Amanda to come see her. She needed stationary and a pen. He was a little confused because they had a will. But he called Amanda and she came in fifteen minutes later.

She grabbed Rachel’s hand and smiled. “Hello my friend. How are you tonight?” It tore Amanda’s heart just watching her friend suffering. Rachel had become a great friend since her marriage to Luke. Since Randy and Luke worked the same shift, Amanda spent a lot of time with Rachel and the girls.

“I’m not good Amanda. I know the Lord is getting ready to call me home.” A tear slipped from her eye as she tried to be strong. This was so hard, not the dying but the knowledge that her little girls would not have a mommy.

Amanda put her hand to her mouth to stifle the sob that surged forward. “Rachel, don’t talk like that. You’re strong and I know you’re going to beat this again.” Rachel closed her eyes and squeezed her hand.

“Not this time. He came to me in a dream and told me to get things prepared. I’m not afraid. I’ve been ready since the day I gave my heart to Him.” She got quiet for a moment and then took a deep breath. “I need you to help me do something special for the girls.”

“Anything, I will do anything you need me to do.” She pulled the chair up to the side of the bed.

“Did you bring the items I asked for?”

Pulling them from her purse, she handed them to Rachel. “I had some really pretty stationary with roses on it. It made me think of your rose garden at the back of the house.”

“Will you help me write letters to the girls? I need you to write them as my hand shakes too badly. I would’ve asked Randy, but you know his handwriting. The girls would have never figured it out.” She tried to laugh, but she wound up coughing instead.

“Just tell me what to write.” Her heart was so heavy. To think this poor mother was having to compose a goodbye letter to her two precious girls. This was almost too much to bear. She had asked Luke last night why God was taking such a precious person when she had so much to live for. He’d held her as she’d cried and he told her something that she knew but refused to admit. The Lord has His reasons and it’s not for us to ask why.

Slowly Rachel recited the letters to Amanda. She stopped several times to get her composure. Amanda wiped at her eyes constantly. The letters were so sweet. She’d written three for each of the girls. One letter was for after the funeral, one was for the day they graduated from school and the third was for the day they got married. She’d thought of everything.

When she was done, she smiled and seemed to relax. “Now I can be there with my girls for their big days. One more thing I need to ask of you. Will you make sure that they know about girlie things like dance class and dolls. I know Randy will do his best, but you’ve seen how their hair looks after he gets through with it.” She managed a good hearty laugh then. It was good to hear that laugh. Amanda held it locked inside for future daydreams.

“The girls will carry you in their hearts as long as they live. I will definitely be a part of their lives and make sure they have matching clothes and ballerina classes. Don’t worry. They will be well taken care of.” She reached over and hugged her close. This was hard losing a close friend.

Well, that’s just a snippet. I can tell you this, I’ve gone through a lot of tissues while writing this one. It’s been emotionally draining, but it’s also satisfying. The words have flowed as quickly as the tears, but most of the tears are of joy.

I’ll keep everyone updated on the release and Monday will be the cover release…

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

How do you take it?

Take what? Well as I fixed my first cup of coffee this morning I had a thought. We’re all different. Some like their coffee high octane, completely black with no cream or sugar just straight coffee. Some like artificial sweetners and cream. Some like real sugar and no cream. As for me, I take it with one pack of Splenda and a little french vanilla creamer. That’s what it takes to get me going…

It’s the same with reading. As a writer I’ve come to know so many different types of writing. It’s amazing how many genres of writing there is. In romance you can find so many genres. I sat and tried to figure them all out. What’s hard is to figure out which one your work fits in.

I’ve had to learn what heat levels meant. That was fun. I’ve had to learn what tags were and how they relate to your work. Some readers only read certain heat levels or from certain tags. It’s always interesting to look at the percentages.

I had a reviewer tell me one of my books would have been better if it would have been given some tequila and heated up. She gave me a great review, but thought it needed more heated scenes. As you know, I write my books on a lower heat level.

My editor laughs when I see a new genre come out and I have to go what’s that. Especially if it’s a abreviation. Sometimes I’m sorry I ask the meaning 🙂 But my opinion is this. Everyone needs something different and that’s what makes the writing world go round. If we all wrote in the same genre and heat level, it would get really boring and we’d be out of business really quick.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Monday night writing…

Monday is always crazy in my office. Today was no exception. I worked a little later than usual and then did my 4-1/2 mile walk. Now I’m sitting down finally and getting ready to work on the last part of my latest manuscript.

It’s funny how you need more than 24 hours in a day. Especially if you’re a writer. Sometimes I’m just getting into my good writing mode when everyone else is heading to bed. When I was younger I could easily pull an all nighter, but the older I get that doesn’t seem as apealing.

Since I have a couple of deadlines regarding my writing, I guess I’ll be put in some midnight oil. It’s going to be a great writing evening. My hubby and son went fishing and left me alone for a couple of hours. I can usually write through anything going on around me. It’s as though I get into a world of my own.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Here’s to good writing and May God Bless You…

Agent or not?

I read this really interesting article in my latest issue of “Poets & Writers”. It was about hiring an agent for your writing. I’ve played with this issue for quite a while. I had a great conversation with an agent no too long ago that enlightened me.

For one thing the agent said, some of the things that they would do for me I already do. Am I ready to give up some of my rights as a writer? Would it be a good thing to have an agent that took care of all the things I’ve done for myself. At this point I think not.

I do think at some time or another I might play with the prospect. Now if an agent comes to me with a deal I can’t refuse don’t think I won’t jump. I just don’t want to jump into something and then regret it later.

The article also discussed talking to new agents in the business. They said it would probably be beneficial and quicker than going with someone that’s already bogged down with other writers.

Let me know your experiences with agents. Were they good or bad? Would you recommend it or not?

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…