I’m almost finished with the first draft of The Wilderness Bride
I am aiming for a January release for this book. I figure I am I don’t have a title or a cover for Book 2 of this series, but I do have a plot and the main characters in place.
I’m going to be sorry when this book ends because I’ve really enjoyed working with Ashley and Lisa, the hero and heroine of this story. They have such strong personalities. The personalities seem to leap right off the page. (I love stories like this the most because the stronger the character’s personality, the deeper the connection I feel to them.) This has been one of the books that lead me along, rather than me leading it. So it’s like I’m just writing down “a movie” as it’s playing out in my mind. Not all stories are like this. Some of them require revisions and taking breaks to figure out where to go.
I am halfway into The Hero Least Likely
Books in the Love Under Desert Skies Series
I am happy to say that I’m finally happy with the book cover for this story. I swear, sometimes it’s just a pain in the butt to get the right cover. Historical western romances most be mostly “no sex” in nature because it is hard to find a sexier type of couple for the covers. That’s why I’ve been using characters that have clothes on that aren’t “westernish”.
I get 1-star reviews and comments from time to time about how appalled someone is that I have sex in my stories. They assume that since the cover is “squeaky clean” that the content will be that way, too. It’s why I’ve been choosing the kind of models from stock photo sites that I do. But I give up. I realize Tagalong Bride and The Wilderness Bride don’t scream “this is a historical western romance”, and it’s probably confusing people. So basically, I can’t win. So in the future, I’ll just go with covers that let people know what the genre is. I’ll mention it’s a steamy romance in the description. If people don’t take the time to read the description, that is on them. But I do love the couple in The Wilderness Bride, so I’m going to keep. Plus, I love how the clothes on the couple matches the background.
Anyway, this story is progressing nicely. I finally introduced a character who will play a pivotal role in Book 3, which I don’t have a title or cover for yet, though I do have a plot in mind. I just need something “extra” to make the main characters work together so I can get them to agree to be on their way toward a happily ever after as a couple. Saying too much will spoil this specific book. 🙂
I hope to have this out in March. So far, things are on track.
I am in Chapter Seven on The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride
This is Book 6 in the Marriage by Obligation Series
This one is a cute and funny romance. I find myself chuckling at quite a few times while I’m writing it. So this one will definitely be a comedy.
This is one I’d like to have out in May, and I am going to let this series go on until it’s done. I have the love potion angle I started in Anyone But the Marquess, and that has led me to continue with the series. Otherwise, I like to wrap them up by Book 5. I haven’t decided if I will make the love potion work or not, but we will get the first attempt to use it in this story, so that will be fun.
***
For those of you who use BookFunnel….
I have two books in this November’s Free Historical Romance Promotion. One is a historical western, and the other is a Regency. If anyone has a request for a book to submit to a future BookFunnel promotion, please let me know. Here is a list of all of my books.
I featuring these two books in this month’s promotion:
The day is finally here! Thank you for being patient with me as I worked through my burnout phase. I really do appreciate the fact that you didn’t give up on me. I’m happy to say my excitement for writing is now back.
Without further ado, here’s the book info:
This is Book 5 in the Marriage by Obligation Series
Here is the description:
A chaste lady. An impulsive marquess. Will a chance ballroom meeting spark spite or light the way toward forever?
Lady Elizabeth Clearly loathes idle chatter. Yet her reputation is in tatters after a drunken lie convinces the Ton she’s a woman of loose morals. Worse, she’s stunned when the gossipers begin whispering that she’s a witch as well. When her guardian reveals she’s due to marry the gentleman behind her problems, she vows she’ll never forgive her future husband.
Felix Hamilton, the Marquess of Roland, is swimming in regret. His alcohol-fueled lie started a rumor that wrecked an innocent lady’s world. He is bound by honor to do whatever he can to make things right. But he worries he’s permanently ruined both of their lives when Elizabeth promptly locks herself in her chamber after the wedding.
Lord Roland isn’t afraid to make personal sacrifices in his quest for atonement, but how can he turn their rocky relationship into a love match when the odds are stacked against him?
Anyone But the Marquess is Book 5 in the Marriage by Obligation Series. This romance features a virgin hero and virgin heroine, an enemies-to-lovers angle, and a steamy scene. Its tone is tender and sweet with a dash of humor.
If this sounds like your cup of tea, here is where you can find the book:
I’m happy to say that I got Book 5 in the Marriage by Obligation Series. It was a long time in coming, but at least it’s finally here.
I’ll make another blog post when this book is live because there are a few links that aren’t ready yet. And at that time, I’ll post the description. Suffice it to say that this is Felix’s romance. Remember Felix from Midnight Wedding? He was the one who ended up lying about a lady because she refused to dance with him at a ball. Then her angry brother came out to kill him. Well, in this book, Felix is going to make things right by arranging a marriage with the lady whose reputation he destroyed.
Right now, this is available on pre-order at these places:
The Wilderness Bride (Oregon Series: Book 1) is about halfway done.
I am hoping to have this out in January. Things are progressing along nicely, and I’m excited about where things are heading. This book has the same tone and feel as The Fugitive’s Bride and His Redeeming Bride.
I finally got the hero and heroine married, so now the real plot can develop. At this point, I can’t really say a whole lot about it without spoiling the book. All I’m going to say is that it’s fun when I can do a “compare and contrast” element in my work. One such example that comes to mind is Eye of the Beholder where I compared and contrasted the definition of beauty by inserting two characters (Mary and Cassie) who were opposites. In this case, I am looking at the perspective of alienation vs protection (or being thrown out in disgrace vs being taken in despite a fall from grace). I have found that the most meaningful books to me have been those with messages that dive deeper than the surface of the story. This one has many layers, and I love layers. They are fun to play with.
Alright, that probably doesn’t make any sense, but I promise it does play a part in the romance between the hero and the heroine.
***
I think I’m 1/3 of the way into this book
This is Book 2 in the Love Under Desert Skies Series:
If you’re wondering if this is a different cover (yet again), you are right. I believe this is my 4th attempt at coming up with a cover I can be happy with. It might be the 3rd I posted online. I hate being this way about covers. I wish all covers were simple to create.
But I am happy with the progress of the story. Our characters are chasing two outlaws who are worse than the ones we saw in Tagalong Bride. Bernadette (our heroine) has her choice between two men, one our dashing Blaze who is larger than life and Zeke who comes off as…well, he’s just not Blaze. I don’t know if everyone will be happy with the one she chooses. I already have one person who is rooting for Blaze and the other is rooting for Zeke. But the story is still young (19,000 words), and there’s another element I’m going to throw into the book that will change things quite a bit.
Meanwhile, Lucas has finally learned to take advantage of every moment he gets alone with Gail, and after the way he was acting at the beginning of Tagalong Bride, it’s nice to see that he appreciates what he has. 😉
***
I am at Chapter 4 in this one
My goal for this series is 10 books, but we’ll see how far we get into it before it’s ready to be wrapped up. It’d be fun to hit 10 books for one of my Regency series, and this one involves quite a few characters who overlap. I believe this will be the one.
The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride is turning out to be a lot of fun. Essentially, the hero is secretly a new but highly valued actor. At the beginning of the story, he takes one read through a play and says he will not endorse it. In fact, he insults the work. To make this story interesting, you know I have to make the playwright the heroine. If I didn’t do that, it wouldn’t be any fun. And to add more fun to the mix, I am disguising her real identity, too. And she is the playwright he has insulted. I can’t let the two know it right away. This one is going to take some time before the “big reveal”, and when the big reveal happens, this book is going to really take off.
Right now, the two just met as Lord Dayton and Miss Emma Ludlow, and they are falling in love. I figure by the halfway point, they will discover their secret identities.
***
I did not have time to enter a BookFunnel giveaway this month. I’m swamped with real life and trying to get writing in. I’m not sure if I can get something for November, either. We’ll just have to see. But I do hope everyone has a great October, and I’ll let you know when Anyone But the Marquess is out! 😀
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on October 2024 Newsletter
Since I have been announcing my other past BookFunnel Promos on this blog, I figure I should do this one here, even though I forgot to add it in with the monthly newsletter feature. Sorry about that. Too much has been happening around here. I keep hoping things will calm down, but it doesn’t seem likely. All I can promise is that I’ll do my best to stay on top of things.
If anyone has a request for a book they’d like to see me put in a future BookFunnel Promo, I’d love to hear it. Someone requested a book from the Virginia Series, so I figured I’d start with Book 1. 😀
Kate Tanner is getting more than she bargained for in this “woman disguised as a man” romance. Fleeing from her parents’ killers, she disguises herself as Billy Ingram and leaves the big city Virginia life to work on a remote farm out in the middle of nowhere, North Dakota where the handsome, but aloof, Chad Walker hires her as a farmhand. Between trying to prove that she can handle the more demanding farm chores and trying to fit in with the other farmhands, she has her work cut out for her.
Then, one morning, Chad discovers she’s a woman, so she quickly makes up the excuse that “Billy’s” sister, Kate, decided to come by for a visit. That’s when things really get interesting. Lacy Montgomery is in love with “Billy” and nothing disgusts the woman. The farmhands are in love with Kate. She’s in love with Chad who may or may not love her back. Her brother, the real Billy, shows up and she’s forced to don on another female disguise to ward off Lacy altogether.
Among the laughter and constant costume changes, Kate might discover that the most unlikely place for love is the perfect place after all.
I finally have a new historical western romance that’s out! I can’t believe how long it’s been. I had to check, and the last one came out in July 2022. So it’s about time we traveled back to the US in the old west. This time, we’re going to Arizona.
Tagalong Bride (Love Under Desert Skies Series: Book 1)
Here is the description:
Lucas Reid is desperate. He needs money, and he needs it fast. Wealthy heiress Gail Patterson isn’t the most attractive lady in Pennsylvania, but she is available. Putting on a pretense of loving her, Lucas proposes marriage, and she says yes.
Now it is his wedding day, and Lucas realizes that the hardest obstacle of his life has begun. He is going to have to make it seem like this marriage of convenience is one that will be full of passion–a passion he does not feel for his new wife.
As he is struggling to decide how he is going to consummate the union, word comes from Arizona that his sister has been abducted by a group of bandits. At first, he thinks this is the perfect excuse to delay things with his wife, but Gail is not the quiet and timid wallflower he thought he married. She is going to Arizona with him. And this is going to change everything about their marriage.
This is a historical, sexy western romantic comedy that features a virgin hero and heroine who’ve never traveled out West before. They will come across an inept deputy who wishes he was a hero, a group of bandits, and a scorpion that knows when to show up at just the right moment.
If this sounds like your kind of book, you can find it here:
I’m happy to announce that Anyone But the Marquess is ready for edits!
Here are the books so far in the Marriage by Obligation Series:
I just finished the first draft and am working on the second draft to send out for the final round of edits. This is the book that settles things between Felix and Elizabeth, which I set up in Midnight Wedding. Thank you for everyone who has been patient with me. I went through burnout for some time, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to finish it. I’m happy to say that the burnout phase is over.
This book should be out in the middle of October, so I’ll give more information about this one then.
***
I’m about 25% of the way into The Wilderness Bride
(Oregon Series: Book 1)
This is going along very well. Our heroine has finally come to realize our hero isn’t going to kill her. (She was never in any danger, but the hero found her unconscious and on the verge of death and brought her to his cabin. She woke up and naturally assumed the worst. But then, who wouldn’t, right?)
Anyway, she has just come around to realizing that she’s safe, but a preacher is about to come by. This is going to set forth a series of events that will lead me where I want the story to go. This preacher is going to see them at this remote cabin and assume the two are being intimate. (This preacher is the hero of Book 2 in this series, so we’ll be seeing him again.)
Neither the hero nor the heroine want to be marriage. They each want to be alone. But this is a romance, so there’s no way I’m letting them off the hook. The preacher is going to force them to marry. Then I expect the story to really get interesting.
***
I just figured out The Hero Least Likely
(Love Under Desert Skies Series: Book 2)
I had a rough time figuring out what to do with the main characters. The plot is your basic “which man will she choose?” themes. I introduce Bernadette, Blaze, and Zeke in Tagalong Bride. But I was having trouble figuring out who Blaze and Zeke were. It took some time away from the story and a strong revision, but I finally got things figured out. I am very relieved. 😀
***
I’ll make a post when my next BookFunnel Promo runs in September.
I’ll be featuring An Unlikely Place for Love in that promo. This is an older book. It goes all the way back to 2010. (I can’t believe it’s been that long. Where does time go?) More information will be announced on this blog (and my regular author blog and my email list) on September 10.
I’m thrilled to announce that Tagalong Bride is done!
(This is Book 1 in the Love Under Desert Skies Series.)
This will be out in August. I don’t have a date yet, but I will put it on pre-order. I’ll delay making August’s post over here so I have the links (or at least most of them) in place. I prefer pre-orders because they give me time to get all of my ducks in a row. I botched things up with my last book since I forgot to hit the “pre-order” option. I spent a few days scrambling around to get the links to share. I don’t want to do that this time.
Right now, this is with my wonderful editing team. I will also add that I had a super nice reader help with the initial proofing during the first draft since my eyes aren’t the best anymore. My eyes have been doing better ever since I adjusted my diet, but I am still going to be mindful of taking breaks and days off from the computer to keep them in good shape.
I’ll go more into what the book is actually about in the next post when I share the links to the book. 🙂
I am about 3/4 of the way into Anyone by the Marquess.
This is Book 5 in the Marriage by Obligation Series.
I don’t recall if I mentioned this on this blog, but I changed the name of this book from Anyone But You to Anyone But the Marquess. At the moment, I am not sure if this will be the last book in the Marriage by Obligation Series or if I’ll add more to it. It depends how the subplot goes. Remember Guy from Midnight Wedding? Well, he has upset a couple of people, and Lydia is having trouble reconciling this. I do have a subplot involving Oscar (Lydia’s and Felix’s brother in Midnight Wedding. That subplot is meant to be the backdrop to some more Regencies I’m going to write. Right now, Oscar is trying to create a love potion with his chemistry experiments. While that is not the main plot in Anyone But the Marquess, it’s been a fun angle to this story.
The tension with Guy, however, does play a role in this book. His superstitious nature had helped me get the hero and heroine to talk to each other. They have not gained common ground. But I can’t let the tension continue forever. Somehow, I have to resolve it. I just haven’t figured out how.
I started a brand new historical western series!
This is going to be Book 1 in the Oregon Series.
Anyone remember reading Suitable for Marriage (Erin Larson’s romance in the Husbands for the Larson Sisters Series)? I’ll post a cover below to help jog your memory. (Covers help me remember books.)
During the wedding scene in Suitable for Marriage, Amanda and Ben have an infant daughter. Amanda tells Erin that the mother left her with Amanda and Ben. Amanda adds that the mother is heading out west. I always wondered how the mother got pregnant, why she gave up her baby, and what happened to her. This is the book I am writing to answer those questions.
I am into Chapter 4 now, and I can tell it’s going to be a tender but address some serious issues like suicide and how love can give someone the will to live. I expect it to have the same tone as The Fugitive’s Bride, Loving Eliza, His Redeeming Bride, and The Bargain Mail Order Bride.
I just started The Hero Least Likely
This is Book 2 in the Love Under Desert Skies Series.
I’m still in Chapter 1 of this one. I laid down the foundation for this book at the end of Tagalong Bride. I enjoyed Tagalong Bride so much that I really didn’t want it to end. I did wrap up the romance in Tagalong Bride, and I did save the sister. But I wanted to keep the characters together. So I gave them a new adventure to go on for Book 2.
This book starts with Bernadette, her intended Blaze, Deputy Zeke who is secretly in love with her, and Lucas & Gail who were main characters in Tagalong Bride (so I can keep on with their happy ending). They are on their way after outlaws who are searching for hidden treasure. I wanted some adventure to go with my romance, so I threw the hidden treasure in.
***
Anyway, it feels good to be back on board with writing three books at a time. I missed it, but I also figure I needed the extended break to get out of my burnout phase. Thanks for sticking with me!
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on July 2024 Newsletter
This is Book 4 in the Marriage by Obligation Series.
This story is a steamy historical romance featuring a virgin hero and a virgin heroine. It features a sickly hero. (Don’t worry. No one dies.) This hero has to decide whether he will pursue love or spend his life trapped by fear. The tone of the story is sweet and tender. There is also an aspect of forbidden romance involved since the hero’s brother doesn’t want him to get married.
I was hoping to be near the end point by the first of May, but I didn’t get as much done in April as I wanted.
The same is true for Tagalong Bride…
…though I am a little closer to finishing that one than I am Anyone But You. It’s a little discouraging. I’m hoping that I’ll have better news to report on these two books come June 1.
***
I’m Going to Try a Third Book
Title and Cover To Be Announced
I need a little break from the Regencies. I enjoy them a lot, but I have this desire to write a gritty type of western romance. I want the happy ending, of course, but I want to dive into something with a serious feel to it. Tagalong Bride is fun because it’s got some comedy, and Book 2 in that series will be funny, too. So I guess I need to write something more serious to balance things out. But over the years, I’ve been doing Regencies back-to-back, so I want to work on two historical westerns this time.
***
This month, I am promoting two books on BookFunnel
One book I have in this promo is a historical western:
This book features a scarred virgin hero who prefers to stay out of sight so no one can see his face. It also features a beautiful virgin heroine who was originally supposed to marry someone else. The two agree to marry, but he does everything possible to make sure she never sees him.
This is loosely based off the Beauty and the Beast trope. The tone is heartwarming and tender. The heat level is spicy.
The other book is a Regency:
This book features an unattractive virgin hero who is a bit on the nerdy/goofy side. It also features a virgin heroine who is comes up with all sorts of schemes to discourage the hero from falling in love with her.
The tone is comical and fun. The heat level is spicy.
I’m happy to report that I made good progress in March, so I have plenty of stuff to report in this month’s post. 🙂
Worth the Risk in the final round of edits
This puts me on track to have this book out at the end of May. I don’t have an official release date yet.
A quick reminder, below are the books in the Marriage by Obligation Series so far. I’m not sure if I’ll add more books to this or start a new series. It depends on how things in Anyone But You go. I prefer shorter series as a reader, so I try to stick to 4-5 books in a series as a writer.
I am now over halfway into Tagalong Bride
And I am very happy with the way things are going. I’m at the point where the hero and heroine have been separated from the deputy who is helping them find the hero’s sister. That means I can finally get to the spicier portion of the book. But don’t think it’s going to that easy for our hero. He had some misgivings about our heroine earlier in the story. You see, this is more of a “marriage of convenience” sort of tale. So I can’t make it easy on him at this juncture. Something will have to get in his way. It won’t be her. She’s very much in love with him. But there are some things out in a desert that I can use to torment the hero. Maybe it’s wrong for a writer to enjoy messing with their characters, but I get a chuckle out of stuff like this.
Anyway, I just reached the 35,000 word mark this week. On average, my books hover around 60,000 words. So that gives you an idea of where I am in this one.
I will soon be halfway into Anyone But You
I am now at the 28,000-word mark in this one, and finally–after all of this time–the hero and heroine are speaking to each other. Things are taking a turn for the better. I was beginning to wonder if this moment would ever come. Now that it has, I can shift forward to the next part of the story, which is getting the two to fall in love.
This month, I am participating in only one BookFunnel Promo.
This time put in The Rancher’s Bride, which is the second book in the Wyoming Series. Here are the books in that series:
If you haven’t read The Rancher’s Bride yet, this will be a good chance to get it, but you have to have a BookFunnel account to get it for free in this promotion. The Outlaw’s Bride is available for free across all retailers. The Rancher’s Bride follows up with a subtle plot point that was left hanging at the end of The Outlaw’s Bride. (This had nothing to do with the romance. The hero and heroine end up with their happily-ever-after ending at the end of The Outlaw’s Bride.) But anyway…overall, The Rancher’s Bride is a cute and funny story because of the ten-year-old matchmaker who is determined the hero and heroine will end up together. It puts a lighter spin on the otherwise more serious series.
But my book isn’t the only one in the promo. There are others as well, and you might find your next favorite author over there. 😀
I’m currently dusting off this newsletter. 😀 I got the swift kick in the pants I needed to get back into gear with writing. I thought it was going to be rough going to get back into the writing routine, but it’s been surprisingly easy. Maybe the break I took was enough to get rid of the burnout I was under.
I made some adjustments to my routine that look like they will work. One, I am now going to type my stories with my eyes closed (most of the time anyway) to ease the symptoms of dry eye. Two, a couple of wonderful ladies offered to help me clean up my writing as I go along in the story, so I don’t have to strain my eyes on the editing side of things. (I always used an editor, but these ladies are helping me as I write the first draft, and that will make things easier for my editor in the long run. I can’t edit with my eyes closed, so these ladies are really helping me out, and I appreciate it more than they will ever know.) Three, I have cut back my word count goals for my writing days. Instead of aiming for 3,000 words, I am now doing 1,500 words. That is 750 words per story. I also went from writing three stories to writing two at a time. I believe these changes will help me avoid burnout in the future.
Now for the content that matters…
The Earl’s Jilted Bride (Marriage by Obligation: Book 3) is now out!
Below are the books in the Marriage by Obligation Series.
I don’t know if I’ll write more than these books in this series. There’s a possibility one might pop up, but I have to write more of Anyone But You to figure it out.
Here is my unofficial description of this book:
Anyway, The Earl’s Jilted Bride is available. It features a hero whose first wife had an affair that resulted in a child. He is raising the girl as if she was his own, and he never tells anyone the truth of the girl’s conception so the girl never has to face scandal. In his need to give the girl a mother, he marries the heroine of this story.
He thinks it’ll be easy to set aside his feelings of betrayal from his first marriage, but past events are going to haunt him during the course of this story. Meanwhile, the heroine feels like a wallflower, so she seeks out the help of a duchess to teach her how to be desirable to the hero. The heroine doesn’t tell the hero this, and, as you’d expect, this only adds to his doubts.
If this sounds like your cup of tea, here is where you can find this book:
*I am getting it set up as a digitally narrated audiobook on Apple, but that may take a couple of weeks to go live.
Worth the Risk (Marriage by Obligation Series: Book 4) is in edits
I would love to have this one out in May. *fingers crossed*
This is Reuben’s story. He is Corin St. George (Lord Durrant)’s younger brother in If It Takes a Scandal. (At that time, he was still a kid.)
Reuben is now grown up and wants to find a wife. (Can you believe that much time passed since If It Takes a Scandal?)
Anyway, Reuben was sickly back then, and he’s still sickly now. I did bring him in when I wrote Secret Admirer (Book 1 in the Marriage by Obligation Series) and The Earl’s Jilted Bride (Book 3 of same series), but this is where we get his romance. Things are going well with Amelia when Corin comes in and puts a stop to the courtship by talking Reuben into leaving London to do what’s best for Amelia. Reuben believes Amelia will be better off with a gentleman who is in better health, so he does leave for her sake. But Amelia disagrees, and that is how we get the plot of Worth the Risk. 😀
I am currently on Chapter 6 in Anyone But You
This is Book 5 in the Marriage by Obligation Series. I am hoping to have this out later this year, probably around October or so.
I am really happy with the progress of this book. Felix Hamilton (Lord Roland from Midnight Wedding) has asked for Lady Elizabeth’s hand in marriage to make things right, and her guardian has agreed. Felix is sweating bullets at the wedding ceremony. Elizabeth is angry with him for ruining her reputation. And Guy (Lord Quinton) has given the two doves to hold for good luck. The scene doesn’t go in Felix’s favor, taking the new marriage into a worse turn than it already was. At the moment, Elizabeth refuses to go to dinner, and Felix is fighting the urge to drink in order to appease his nerves. Oscar, however, has no trouble eating dinner, but then, very little bothers him. The other characters in this book are adding a really nice layer to the story. I’m sure they will somehow be instrumental in helping Felix and Elizabeth find their way to each other.
I am in Chapter 9 of Tagalong Bride
This is Book 1 of the Love Under Desert Skies Series. I am hoping to get this out in August or September. It depends on how quickly I can write the book.
I thought it’d be fun to go somewhere “new” in my historical westerns, and I figured Arizona would be a lot of fun. This is a “fish out of water” type of story. The hero and heroine are from a wealthy community in Pennsylvania. They have no idea what they’re in for when they go to Arizona to rescue the hero’s sister who has been kidnapped by a group of bandits. I haven’t figured out which secondary characters will have their own romance in this series. I am just learning who these characters are. I will figure that out as the story progresses.
The hero and heroine, however, are the basis for the story, which they are in romances. I love these two characters. The hero is secretly bankrupt and pretends to be in love with the heroine so she’ll marry him. The heroine is head over heels in love with him and believes he does love her. Now, don’t get the wrong idea. The hero isn’t cold toward her. He does care about her. He just isn’t romantically drawn to her. If he started out that way in the book, I’d have no plot. I am excited to find out how he develops a real and lasting love with her.
I see that most of these books are Regencies, but I had a reader ask for me to put up The Outlaw’s Bride and The Rancher’s Bride. (These are Books 1 and 2 in the Wyoming Series.) It looks like The Rancher’s Bride (Book 2) didn’t get added, so I will look to do that in a future promo on BookFunnel.
But this one does include The Outlaw’s Bride (Book 1). This is a nitty gritty kind of western series. In case you haven’t read it yet, The Outlaw’s Bride is about a mail-order bride whose stagecoach gets stopped by a group of outlaws who want to rescue her from her intended, because her intended isn’t the honorable man he pretends to be.
Again, this one looks heavy in Regencies. I am finding it difficult to find a BookFunnel Promo that has steamy historical westerns. It seems like most of these are geared toward Regency readers. I might have to run a promo myself to be a better fit for what most of the people joining these particular promos are looking for.
I had someone contact me wanting a mail-order bride romance in the old west, so I decided to put in Eye of the Beholder because it’s my favorite one, and I think she will enjoy it.
In case you haven’t read this one yet, it’s about a homely woman who answers a mail-order bride ad. But upon arriving in Nebraska, the man takes one look at her and rejects her. There is another man nearby who overhears them and offers her his name instead. She agrees, not believing the union will lead to love. Love, after all, is only for beautiful women.
***
That’s it for this month! Thanks to everyone who didn’t give up on me. I am happy to say my burnout is gone, and I’m excited to get back to writing in full force again. 😀
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The issue with my eyes and how it will impact mypublishing schedule
Some of you probably read my other author blog. If that’s the case, feel free to skip this part because I am going to talk about the issue I have been having with my eyes. I have been to the optometrist and ophthalmologist, and while they find nothing structurally wrong with my eyes (like a cataract or glaucoma), I do have dry eye. The eye drops don’t work for me as well as they do for other people with this condition. The things that works best for me are the warm compresses and spending time off of computer screens, iPhones, magazines, and books. Essentially, anything that requires me to read, hurts my eyes. They strain them to the point where my eyes water up to the point where I feel like ripping them out because I’m so uncomfortable. When I keep my reading time, brief, I feel normal. So far, if I limit my computer time to two days a week, I am OK. So this is my new goal. I only write stories on the computer. That means I have two days a week that I can do anything with my books. But I don’t always get to write when I’m on the computer. There are times when I have to update my website or blog. There are times when I have to do book related stuff when I’m on the computer, such as uploading a book to Book Funnel (which is something that I’ve recently been asked to do), setting up a book ad for promotion, or keeping track of my income and expenses so I can report it to the accountant at tax time. Then there are other tasks I need to do that have nothing to do with books, like stuff to do with the school for my deaf son or emailing people. I have not been able to write anything for a couple of months now.
I can no longer write books as fast as I used to. Even writing this post requires me to use the microphone function on my computer so I am able to dictate instead of type the words out. (I am going over it to clean out the errors so this post.) The technology on dictation has gotten better than it was a few years ago. The fact that my computer has the microphone option on the F5 key makes it even easier. It is harder for me to dictate a story than it is to type it, but I am slowly adjusting to the new way I am going to have to write stories. Dictating blog posts and emails are helping me adjust in this area.
Anyway, what this means is that I have slow down the writing, editing, and publishing process of my books. I also need the help of some trusted people in order to get my books done. Work I used to be able to do by myself is work I now have to hand over to others. Thankfully, a few people have volunteered to help me as I transition from being able to type my stories to dictating them. Anyone who has had to clean up a dictation project knows that it takes considerable time to figure out what the speaker meant while dictating the story, and they will find more errors in a dictated story than in one that was typed out. I am very fortunate these people offered to help me. Their task will not be an easy one. My goal for next year is to get two books out. These are the books I have already finished, but these books need to go through the editing process. I used to use my eyes to edit the books myself (in addition to using an editor), but now I am going to have to hand over the entire process to them. These are people who have busy lives. I will work with their schedules, and I will wait for their timelines on when they can work on my stuff. So my release dates will take into account the things they have going on in their lives.
At this point in time, I have two books finished. I also have two books in the works. In one book, I only have one scene done, and three chapters done in another book. My estimate is that I will have two books out next year. I know for sure that I can’t have anything out for the rest of this year. I’ll talk about this below.
The Earl’s Jilted Bride (Marriage by Obligation Series: Book 3)
I am hoping to get this out in January. I was originally hoping for this month, but with my eyes being the way they are, it just wasn’t feasible. It hasn’t helped that this book required multiple rewrites. Because of those rewrites, I have not even been able to get this book over to my editor yet.
Worth the Risk (Marriage by Obligation Series: Book 4)
This is the one I’m tentatively scheduling for June of next year. It’s finished, but it’s in first draft. I haven’t been able to look over it. I don’t know when I will be able to look at it. I am hoping that setting the release date in June will give me and the other people helping me sufficient time to polish this up so it can be the best book possible.
Anyone But You (Marriage by Obligation Series: Book 5)
I have only gotten one scene done in this book. I have no idea how long this one will take to finish. I will have to dictate this book (and all other books from now on). After I dictate each scene, I will hand them to somebody to clean up. This will be a lengthy and time-consuming process. After the first draft is done, I will have about three other people, maybe four, go over it to clean it up as much as it can be. In the past, I have done a more thorough edit, but from now on, I will have to do a brief look over before I publish the book.
Tagalong Bride
At the moment, I have a series designation (Love Under Desert Skies) on this cover. I am planning to remove it. I am not sure if I can start a new series. I do not know how much longer I will be able to write books. It is getting physically harder to do it because my eyes don’t cooperate with me anymore. While a few people have volunteered to help me with these books, I am not sure if this situation can work for the long term. As of now, I am not making any plans beyond this book and Anyone But You. I am thinking, due to the slow nature of my writing, that this book, and Anyone But You, will be out in 2025. I will have to see how things go.
I’ll be posting here less frequently.
It makes no sense to make monthly posts, since my production has gotten to be less. So I will write as I have updates to share. There’s no sense in wasting your time by repeating myself over and over again.
Ruth Ann Nordin's Monthly Newsletter 