Tis the Season
From our house to yours, best wishes
Finally, here's some music, from old to new take, which I love and hope you will too. You do have to get past ads but once you do, I think you'll find it as powerful as I do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbHyghmxeeM
Sale on a new book that arrives tomorrow, and today is on preorder. It's part of the series of Arizona romances that was pulled a year ago for editing, new titles, and some extended endings. So, new, only by the rules. But it is kind of new. It came out first as Tucson Moon, then the Marshal's Lady. No tittle really worked for the theme of the book. I believe this one does and it will be permanent.
Does the flame that beckons to us burn or enlighten our lives?
Because it is new and this is the Christmas season, it's on sale for 6 days or so, depending on when we get around to changing it.
The main characters, romantic protagonists and villain, were in the first book, Beyond the Broken Road. Although it might seem Priscilla and Cord aren't on a broken road as were Sam and Abigail, in a way their roads were equally not right for their eventual goals. Throw in Christmas and an estranged daughter, later a movement of nature, and you have the essence of The Beckoning Flame.
My novels are longer than many, with twists and nuances, but they are what I enjoy writing and hope readers will equally enjoy.
Happy Holidays however you celebrate them, and hope you enjoy this book if you check it out and buy it before its price goes to $4.99. It is also wide and available for other senders, but no paperback yet. That is still to come. It's been a busy season here.
https://www.amazon.com/the%20beckoning%20flame-Winds-Change-ebook/dp/B0CQGR6N3B/
While I should be concentrating on the next book coming out, from a series of eight, my real thinking is how the culture in which my characters lived impacted them. That's not very romancey , but it is what has driven all of my books (30 so far) as I set them into a situation where romance is important, relationships matter a lot, but also into their cultural time frame. For some people, the culture in their world works fine for them. What about when it does not?
Book 1, which is already out, Beyond the Broken Road, is about the couple, but also what is the broken road for them. We are born into a time and often that culture either helps or damages our next choices as we reach the age for such options.
To me, the broken road is a broken culture for these lead characters. It's the the other side of what could be, but often is not, for those, growing up in the same time span. I could go into that for our time, but the book, and those to come, are not about our time-- though we do bring our own insights to it.
For Sam and Abigail in Beyond the Broken Road, both are much impacted by their culture but in very different ways, which does not make the road less broken.
This book begins with showing the difference between the two sides of one culture. Abigail is standing outside the office where she works. She is feeling stifled by the world in which she lives. She hears raucous laughter from the down the street where the freedom seems greater. Then a man rides out on a powerful horse, showing all the power she had never felt over her own life. To her shock, he stops to watch her for a long moment. She wonders what he sees but has no way to know. When he rides on, she is left with the lack of freedom she feels.
That's just the first chapter with two people with no clue what the other side of a current cultural set of norms means for their lives. The book is about what they find.
Each of my books and that means even the contemporary look at this cultural divide, which I think is still a big thing today.
If a book with more than a hot romance is of interest, it's the book for you to explore. It's not simple with how life outside of ourselves can impact us. But I believe it is reality and to get the life we want, we need to be aware of those outside influences.
Second book comes out the 19th, with different problems, but no less a cultural divide. I'll link to it here when it's live. These books are both wide but no paperbacks yet.
When I first wrote Sam and Abigail's Arizona story, i had no thought of it expanding to a series of so far eight books. I enjoy reading series books-- if the writers don't keep on them too long. By too long, I mean, with no new stories and purely a desire to keep the series going. It can end up boring.
With my first book in what did become a series, I liked the characters a lot and was attracted to a secondary character of the federal marshal, Cord O' Brian. But, if he was to be a hero, who was the heroine? It seemed obvious when I thought about it-- Abigail's friend, Priscilla. A marshal and a rich woman? Unlikely combination. Perfect for romances. They had a lot to overcome and the second book virtually wrote itself as a villain was already in it from that first book.
The second book in the Winds of Change series will be out ( 12/19) before the end of the month. That's even better as Christmas plays a big part in the story. The link will be here when it is.
One thing about series is, for me, they often don't appear with the first book. That was true with my Oregon series where it began with the trip west and a young couple. The fun for writers and readers is when we like secondary characters, why not want to know their stories also. That is how interesting series are born-- whether in a locale, friends, or with families.
Some who write books, have titles in mind from the start. I almost never do. I often change my mind on possible titles before the book comes out. Those are the lucky times. For my Oregon historical romances, their first published titles worked and continue to work for me. That happens sometimes but not always.
The Arizona historical romances have been less fortunate. I started out looking for a title for the first one after it was written. Keep in mind that marketing is in the essence of what titles and covers are about. Finding a title and yes cover that work for a trope is what helps to find readers.
What should a title say about the book? Something about the theme, maybe the characters, or the essence of the story. Location works for some books as it might be central to the rest of what happens. What about when it's not?
With the book that had its first title as Arizona Sunset. I thought not only did it give the location but also the possible dire end of a life through the plot. Of course, since it was a romance, not a love story, that dire end wasn't really possible. That book went through assorted other title possibilities and nothing really dealt with the story itself. Nothing worked for readers or even me. When we got to the last one, Impulse, it was the biggest failure. Yes, impulses were important to the impetus behind what happened, but what did that tell a reader?
I've written before about what we went through once we found out that we could not again change titles, due to rule changes. What it led to was pulling the series, and a full year of working on how to bring the books out again, as I still love the stories and their characters. These books were set in Arizona and related to each other, with some characters carrying through them. Sam, hero of the first book, was such a strong character that he ended up in most of them as a secondary character.
For me, as a writer, this year probably didn't look like much was happening, but it was. Not so much the plots or characters but editing to improve the writing (something most authors will have happen if they keep writing).
The question remained, what title would give these two protagonists a fair exposure to what their journey was about. Then we came with the concept, both were on broken roads, going where they did not want to go. What changes that trajectory was bringing their energies together. It's not just a broken road but what can come beyond it.
This title worked, at least for me. It better, as I will try never to change another title given all we went through with this one. Although, I have learned a lot about those books and what the titles meant for their journey.
Plus universal distribution at UBL: https://book2read.com/u/4jED5o
If you read the book, consider leaving a review, as it lost them all when being pulled and republished. Reviews mean a lot to other readers to help them decide on what to read next. They are also good for the writers *s*
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saguaro that dies on our property for no reason we know
One of the things that came to me, as I began thinking about what I'd learned through aging, was that for every positive, there is a negative. I guess that's not unique to figure out *what you sow you shall reap or yin and yang, but it has personal implications for me.
Think of the word gratitude. It's what we emphasize with the recent Thanksgiving celebration. What can we appreciate in our lives. Generally, it's what happened in our lives or today where we feel glad. But what about the other side. We look at the recent times where gangs to into stores and grab what they can. One side says-- it's reparations for past wrongs-- not to those people but others. The other side says that tears apart the fabric of society. Fix these wrongs legally. One side claims there is no legally. Except, if not, what is left.
I took this more personally for myself. From the time I was a child, I was told that I think too much. I have seen that as a positive as it's led to books and my own ability to look at what happens and see two sides. Sounds good up until I think about my anxiety attacks where in the middle of the night I think of what I should have done better with many old inter-reactions with many people. What good does it do to think about what I might have done better even when I know it's true. It's past and thinking about it gains nothing.
For every positive, I think there are negative aspects. What can we do about that? Wish I knew *s*. I would help with my anxiety attacks. I refuse to give up thinking, with the help of drugs. I'd rather put up with the yah and the nah.
It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States based on a supposed historic event. It's more important than that, however, as it's a day of food, family and friends, a day to be thankful and appreciate what we have (not fuss over what we wish we had). That can be celebrated everywhere.
Not just for this year, but the years past and those we have loved but have gone on. Happy thanksgiving day. Feelings of gratitude are important for all of life. Even for those with great losses, there are always some flickers of light that can be drawn up to enrich the current days. It just takes being aware.
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