Lands of Fire book trailer

From the time I learned book trailers were possible, I've made one for all my books. I am not convinced they are a sale's device, but they are fun to make, require me to think about the essence of the story, and are a challenge. I think I have mentioned I am also an amateur photographer, painter and sculptor. It's not hard to see how images are something I enjoy bringing to my books. 

Below is the one for Lands of Fire, which should be out November 5th although with Amazon, when you don't do a pre-release, exact times are iffy. 

In 1902, Jesse Taggert was considered to be slow-witted which is the word I use for him in the trailer. That does not mean stupid. He had abilities and ways of seeing things that someone who 'thinks faster' might not have. The movie Forrest Gump, which I saw for the first time after I'd written Lands of Fire, illustrated how someone can be slow in one way but in other ways, see more deeply than someone who maybe thinks too fast. Jesse is not the usual hero for romance novels, but he's every bit the hero in all the ways that count. 

The music for this trailer is something I found on JewelBeat. For me, it perfectly suits this story, which is western and set in Arizona's Sonoran Desert. This is a land that is beautiful, rugged and never simple.

Heat level: ♥♥♥♥ with some mild profanity and strong language

Buy links:

Amazon

D2D with all other buy sites as they become live

CreateSpace for paperback

Sale $2.99 from launch now through November 12th 

before it goes to regular price of $3.99

condiments

One of the challenges when trying to describe a complicated story like Round the Bend is to tell the potential reader enough to get them interested but not go into aspects that might ruin the unfolding of it. There is much, in any book, where the reader should discover it as they go-- right along with the characters.

One of the things I like to do in my writing is put in what might be called red herrings. Real life is full of them. We meet someone. They are very interesting to us. They could be a potential friend. We never meet them again. That's what life is all about. Readers, however, get to expecting that anything interesting in a story must be a clue to what is coming. I don't write that way. I prefer the reader to learn along with the characters what is going to happen.

I do though always want the characters' actions to come out of their personalities. It should be believable even if it was not predictable. This is a goal with all my books whether they are epic or not. I don't think there is a way to tell the story of the westward migration without it becoming epic-- but I didn't want it to overpower the human side of the story.

Round the Bend has always been a tough book for me to categorize. It is definitely a romance but also the story of the Oregon Trail, healing, growing into adulthood, dysfunctional families, and what love is really about. 

There are a core group of characters, some of whom go on to appear in the next three books. But when I am describing this one, I can't get caught up in the next three. I've thought about putting together a character list and might when I get to the next book.

The secondary characters in Round the Bend were (as they usually are) fun to write. Four proceed to their own romances. Yep, even though there are only three more books in the series, there are four characters in Round the Bend who do end up with a romance. 

To me, one of the powerful parts of the story West, well actually of any of my books, has to be nature. What these people saw was a critical part of their experiences. 

They faced a lot of problems as they went west, and it wasn't so much Indians. They traveled generally 14 to 15 miles a day. Some of the way was boring. Some of it miserable. 

"Dreary times, wet and muddy, and crowded into the tent, cold and wet and uncomfortable in the wagon no place for the poor children. I have been busy cooking, roasting coffe & c today, and have came into the wagon to write this and make our bed--"    Amelia Stewart Knight

Knowing that the pioneers kept these journals, reading so many of them, gave me an idea for sharing transitional information through my heroine keeping a journal. One thing you don't really want to do as a writer is throw information at the reader, but some of it is an important part of what this journey really meant to those making it.

There were a lot of books I used as references; but for anyone interested in the personal side of the story, I recommend Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail by Susan G. Butruille. It gives a very personal look at what the women experienced and how they felt even once they got to Oregon. Remember, their work was not done once they reached Oregon Territory. In some ways, it had just begun.

Where I was setting all of that into a romance, the story of my young couple was paramount. I chose secondary characters for how they enriched understanding of the hero and heroine. A writer cannot fill their story with grace notes or they lose the melody. They do, however, serve a valuable purpose as the main characters bounce off them.

Although this book has a long history with me, when I edited it for the last time the first of March, I had more faith in it than I ever had. I don't think it's exactly a traditional romance but for those who enjoy character driven dramas that end up making them feel good, I think it will be a good read. I know I enjoyed my time with this hero and heroine-- and have for the 57 or so years since I first came across them. Maybe letting them go is why it's been so hard to actually publish the book. 

When I do a book, I like to create a discussion that kind of gets into aspects I won't put into a blurb. Finally, this week, I got that together for Round the Bend. It's really a discussion about writing an historical romance set in something that has become almost mythic for my part of the United States-- if not other places. It is about three and a half minutes-- stop it when it's finished, as I don't know why that play all is there-- but I am suspicious about Youtube!

discussing Rose's Gift

Don't do a video to sell something. I am not that convinced they work for that. Do it because you like multiple ways to communicate. Do it because it's fun-- if it's not, don't do it. For me, creating a video is interesting-- even when it does not work so well. Sometimes it just doesn't fly, and I leave it to come back another day. It does require being in the right or should that be 'write' mood. 

For reasons of sound control, I mostly have used the webcam above my computer. I keep thinking I'll do one outside with a camera but so far have not. My preparation is pretty much to look at what is behind me. I prefer it to not be cluttered, pillows where they belong, etc. For this one I already had the maps up for the fifth Arizona historical; so they weren't going down. I don't write a script or create an outline, which means sometimes I blow it. I don't write anything down because I want it to feel like a conversation, not a lecture. Ideally it should feel as if you and I were sitting across a table from each other, and I was telling you about something of interest to me. Of course, you don't get a word in-- until it's over anyway.

I generally have music on for background. I've noticed that with it, the log truck that might pass by, is not noticed. It appears to modulate sound.

For awhile I did more of these, because as much as I love books, I am a visual person who loves talking-- yes, introverts can love talking ;). It though has been quite awhile since I created one (October when I looked).  

The topic for this one is Rose's Gift, my first eBook about a senior citizen-- some say elder... others the elderly. Rose is sixty; so you decide. I liked writing a story about a woman who wasn't young and yet-- she wasn't done either. I could say more here but why not watch the video. 

Incidentally, if you have a slow system, one way to watch these is hit the arrow to start; then put it on pause for a minute or so, while you go off to get a cup of coffee or tea and it buffers. My granddaughter taught me that one.

video discussing The Dark of the Moon

The Dark of the Moon began in my mind some time back. I work through a lot of any story before I ever sit down at the keyboard. Since it followed When Fates Conspire, there were certain aspects already decided. There were other facets that I wanted to see. I needed a great heroine and hero and from then on, the story took off.

Below is a discussion of some of how I see this book, what I hoped for in writing it. I kind of like making these. It takes doing it a time or two as I begin to see what is needed to get across my view. Talking about a book helps remind me of some of my own thinking. I enjoy seeing videos of other artists and writers as they discuss their work and the philosophy underlying it. It is one more way to communicate.

 

Anne Rice gives advice on writing

This video discussion by the well-known author might inspire someone who is wanting to write but hasn't started yet. Lots of great advice! There are some authors who really do try to encourage others. I have a couple videos like this, by successful authors, who do their part to help others with the things they have learned. One of the things about writers that I've seen-- they encourage each other and a dog eat dog world of competition is not how it is.

Charlene Raddon and from where books come

First let me thank Rain for hosting me. I am thrilled to be here.  Every author is asked enumerable times where they get their ideas for their stories. My entire writing career began with a dream. Not the dream of becoming a writer. I didn’t seriously consider doing that until sometime after I began my first novel. No, it was a dream that started me writing, a dream so vivid and compelling that I dragged out a portable typewriter (pre-computer days) and began to type.
 

            That first book, a time travel when no one was buying them, has sat in a box on a shelf for over twenty years. An editor told me that story was too unusual to sell as a first book and suggested I write a simpler romance, get it published, and after a few more books I might be able to sell the complex stories I love most. 

So I wrote about a woman who faked her own murder to escape an abusive marriage. She joined a wagon train for Oregon and hired a guide to pose as her brother. Naturally she and the guide fell in love. That book became a Golden Heart Finalist published by Kensington Books as Tender Touch.

My most successful paperback, Forever Mine, came from a visit to an Oregon lighthouse and saw a bridal photo of a keeper and his wife who were married there. Neither looked happy, but she appeared absolutely forlorn. I

thought about what that area of the country would have been like in the waning days of the nineteenth century, what a chore it would have been simply to get to the lighthouse from the nearest town, nine miles away, when there were no roads. And Forever Mine was born.

 

            Taming Jenna is another story. My critique group and I were having lunch after a meeting and I said to one of the members I knew had a quirky sense of humor, to give me an idea for a new story. Without hesitation, she said, “Write about a woman who has to find a man and the only way she can identify him is by a scar on his bottom.” The result? —a lady Pinkerton who finds herself at odds with a bounty hunter after she pulls a gun on him and makes him drop his drawers. That was a fun story to write.

            Ideas for novels come from many sources and what they are doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the writer is inspired by an idea that carries her through to the end of the tale and creates a vivid, compelling read. I like to believe this is what I’ve done in my books.

            Please leave a comment and your contact information for a chance to win a copy of one of my back issue eBooks, winner’s choice.

 Charlene's latest release (don't miss trailer at the end of the blog) sounds like an interesting and fun read.

Taming Jenna

Blurb:

THE WRONG MAN  

Deserted by her father at the tender age of seven, Jenna Leigh-Whittington had taught herself to ride, shoot, brawl…and steer clear of the opposite sex. But now, in a lonely Utah canyon, the Pinkerton agent has drawn her gun on a rugged stranger—only to discover that, far from the dangerous outlaw she’d been tracking, he is Branch McCauley, hired gun…and the most irresistible rascal ever to tempt and torment a woman!

THE RIGHT WOMAN          

If there’s one thing McCauley trusts less than a female, it’s a female who packs a six-gun. But what a woman! Vowing to bring the sensuous hellcat to heel, McCauley has no inkling that their passionate battle of wills has just begun. Taming Jenna will be the most seductive—and satisfying—job he’s ever taken on.

Excerpt:

Being in the last, and therefore the closest tub to the door, Branch shivered as cold air blowing down from the canyons rushed inside, along with the missing towel boy.

A man shaving at the far end of the room, a towel wrapped around his loins, called for clean rinse water. The boy, wearing overalls and a mixed expression of fear and excitement, hurried to comply, leaving the door ajar. An older youth edged inside, wearing baggy trousers, an oversized coat, and a hat pulled low on his head. Branch's eyes narrowed. He detected something vaguely familiar about the youngster. Branch watched out of the side of his eye as the kid pushed the coat aside to reveal a gunbelt. Trembling fingers drew the pistol from its holster, and Branch nearly choked. A single-action .44 Starr.

Branch's hands plunged below-water to cover himself. "Dammit, Eugenia, what in blue blazes are you doing in here?"

Her eyes darted to him and her cheeks turned a healthy shade of pink, but her voice remained calm. "I'm doing what I came to Utah to do."

The boy in overalls jogged to her side. "You gotta hurry, ma'am. I'll get fired, sure, if they figure out you're a woman."

Too late; the eyes of every man in the room had zeroed in on her.

"What'd you call that boy? Eugenia?"

"That’s a girl's name."

"By God, it is a girl!"

Eugenia didn't bother to disguise her voice. She lifted the Starr so they could all see it. "Keep calm, gentlemen. And do, please, remain seated." Turning to the boy, she said, "Which one, Billy?"

With eyes as round as donuts, Billy stared at the pistol in her hand. "Are you going to shoot him?"

"Not if he cooperates. Which one?"

Branch stared as the boy pointed to the tub next to his. The Spaniard shrugged. "Ah, the Senoritas, they always manage to find me, no?"

"Turn around and stand up," Jenna ordered, the Starr aimed at the man's chest.

He spoke in a low, smooth baritone. "Always happy to oblige a lady."

The Spaniard rose out of the water like a golden sea god, water sluicing off his broad back and down over firm, round buttocks marred by a three-inch long scar.

"Sweet Jesus," Branch muttered.

Black Jack Mendoza. Sloan's murderer!

Branch surged to his feet, sloshing water over the sides of the tub. He ignored Eugenia's voice rising above the fury roaring in his brain. He couldn't ignore the shot she fired into the ceiling.

"Sit down, McCauley." Her fingernails raked his arm as she yanked him back from Mendoza. Hands raised as if to circle Mendoza's throat, Branch whirled to look at her. She jerked back in shock and fear at the rage contorting his face. Then she aimed the Starr at his chest and hollered again: "Sit down!"

"No, dammit, this bastard—"

"I'll put a hole in your best shooting arm, McCauley." He knew she could do it. She'd demonstrated her ability with the Starr well enough back in Echo Canyon. For one full minute they glared at each other: McCauley, his large hands fisted, his green eyes cold enough to freeze the hot water in which he stood; Eugenia, her stubborn chin thrust toward him, fire smoldering in her smoky blue eyes. Around them the silence became so intense that the hiss of the wood burning in the stove several feet away sounded like a geyser.

Tersely, she asked Mendoza where he'd left his horse. Then she sent the boy after the animal. "Get dressed, Mendoza. You're coming with me."

"With pleasure, Chiquita." He bowed. "Never have I known a woman more eager for my attention."

Her apparent calm as her eyes slid back and forth between the two men, seemingly well accustomed to watching naked men dress, added fuel to the anger already roiling inside Branch.

"Listen to me, Eugenia—"

"You'll have to forgive me, McCauley Maybe we can have dinner another time...if you'll shave off that hideous beard. It makes you look like you ought to be on a wanted poster of your own."

He took a deep breath, struggling for control. He had to make her understand. "You don't know what you're doing. I—"

"I know exactly what I'm doing and if you don't stop interfering, I'll have the boy tie you up and gag you. Now shut up. And sit down."

"Eugenia—"

"Down!" Her bullet plowed through the water of his tub and drilled a hole in the side.

McCauley dropped like a rock, soaking her with spray. A small fountain of water poured out through the bullet hole in the tub. McCauley had spent a lifetime learning to control his temper. He watched the water recede, exposing more and more of his nudity as it went, but he saw only his chance to see Mendoza pay for murdering Sloan going down the drain.

Taming Jenna available at Amazon

Trailer

 

Charlene Raddon likes to say that she began her fiction career in the third grade when she announced in Show & Tell that a baby sister she never had was killed by a black widow spider. She often penned stories featuring mistreated young girls whose mother accused of crimes her sister had actually committed. Those were mostly therapeutic exercises. 

Her first serious attempt at writing fiction came in 1980 when she woke from a vivid dream that compelled her to drag out a typewriter and begin writing. An early love for romance novels and the Wild West led her to choose the historical romance genre but she also writes contemporary romance. 

At present, she has five books published in paperback by Kensington Books (one under the pseudonym Rachel Summers), and the same five digitally published by Tirgearr Publishing.

 

Charlene Raddon is the award-winning author of five historical romance novels set in the American West and has been writing for over thirty years. Her books were published in paperback by Zebra Books, and are now being released as e-books by Tirgearr Publishing.

Find Charlene at:

http://www.charleneraddon.com

http//www.charleneraddon.blogspot.com

http://www.twitter.com/CRaddon

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1232154.Charlene_Raddon

http://www.facebook.com/CharleneRaddon

Discussing 'Tucson Moon'

When you write a book, pretty much any book, there are a lot of elements that go into deciding what is being included. Romances like 'Tucson Moon' are, of course, about falling in love and then working out what is possible for two people. A novel is about a lot more than that, especially an historic novel with a geographic setting. There will always be a lot of decisions as to what elements belong in the story.

To add to what goes into it, writing a book is not just about getting to a certain number of words but instead how many words and events are needed to truly tell this story and to get to where writer and reader feel it has come to a good conclusion.

Last week for Tucson Moon I did a video discussion, something for assorted reasons, that I hadn't been doing as much of recently. It goes into some of the elements that I felt belonged in this particular  book. It was a fun story to write and came together very rapidly beginning as soon as I got home from a trip to Tucson with writing beginning in January 2013 and a rough draft finished in about a month.

Then came editing. Editing and editing again to be sure my story was consistent. Writing isn't just about telling a story but about telling it well. That's where I hope I got with Tucson Moon available as eBook and paperback November 29th.

So what really happened-- give or take a lie or two

There is historical truth. Something really did happen a certain way. The question is how do we find it when we are not living in the era in which the event happened (often even when we are)? This is especially true of something with a lot of emotional energy attached.

Well, we can rely on eyewitness accounts which were written down not long after the event occurred. The problem with that is that people don't always see the same things nor do they always tell the truth. Excitement, mythology, hearing the stories of others, all if it can impact what comes out with diverse versions. When you hear someone else say what they saw pretty soon it can seem like you saw it.

Where it comes to George Armstrong Custer, I've looked at a wide variety of sources to try and discern what I think happened at The Little Bighorn as well as what led up to it. My original motive to understand the cavalry of that time morphed into trying to understand this complicated man and the time in which he was operating.

Pretty soon I went to documentaries. The one below at 45 minutes explains a logical approach to Custer's motives that day and how he ended on what is called Last Stand Hill. It uses commentary, reenactments and maps that trace the actions and routes of the various participants.



Didn't like that or consider it to be your idea of what you were told happened? Not politically correct for your time? Okay, give archaeologists a try as they went in with modern equipment and tools to find what was left over a hundred years later regarding where soldiers died, how the event went down (not that archaeology can determine timing). They also used the stories the Indians told because they were the only ones who survived Last Stand Hill which the archaeologists in this documentary (also 45 minutes) decided was misnamed.

After all the books I've read on this, having been to The Little Bighorn the first time when it was called Custer Battlefield NM (politically correctedness impacts history if you didn't already know that), I think the archaeologists made one big goof in their analysis, but they had some very interesting results. Just remember, archaeology can dig up inanimate objects (including human bones) it will always be a human assessing the story behind them.

My disagreement with them comes from their ignoring something that intervened between the battle and their collecting specimen. Because they found very few cartridges from the soldiers in the area Custer and those closest to him fell, they decided they hadn't fired many shots up there.

They did know more or less who fired the bullets as the Indians, who were very well armed thanks to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (for hunting buffalo dontchaknow), with repeating rifles-- Henrys as well as assorted other weapons. Henrys are not as accurate at a far distance but close up they are deadly for how fast they can be shot. The cavalrymen were shooting Springfield carbines where you had to load each bullet. Deadly at a distance (for those who had time to practice and most agree these green troopers had not) but way disadvantaged close up.

Another point they ignored -- Custer, his brothers and probably other officers, had purchased their own weapons as they felt what the military offered was inferior. Did they factor that in? Didn't sound like it.

So when the archaeologists found few spent cartridges of the military type expected on the hill but lots more down in the gulch where they assessed the soldiers had run after the hill was taken (based on Indian oral stories), they decided little firing was done on the hill.

That ignored souvenir scavengers which everyone knew had been combing that hill for years from right after the massacre. Not many casings from a Springfield found up there makes total sense in that situation. That more would be below also makes sense since human scavengers wouldn't know about the fighting below or go where they'd expect less to be found. Heck even reloaders back then might have wanted those spent cartridges.

Those archaeologists apparently used oral histories only that suited their agenda. You think they didn't have an agenda. Everyone who has been intrigued by the Custer/Crazy Horse story has an agenda!

It appears I've used up my space here but I will relate what I think happened based on reading a lot of biographies, Custer's own words from his book, and a lot of analysis from experts.

It might seem I spent a lot of time on Custer, but I learned so much about the problems and psyche of military men of that time about the fighting that was going on. I think I better understand who my hero was based on the things I read about Custer-- but I'm not done with him. Custer is the mythological hero but he was a real, flesh and blood man. How we see him might impact how we see many other things including the Civil War and the Indian Wars across not only the Plains but the whole nation.

Music and the video

This is about background music and what I have been learning in doing a discussion video with a bit from the Elizabeth Custer book. What I like to do is have music in the background that inspires me toward the subject I am discussing. Naturally this doesn't work for all topics; but when it does, I think it's helpful to creator and viewer. I was going at it the hard way-- not unusual for me.

Following a star

With this goal I have of doing some talking videos to discuss my books, it seemed apropos, after writing about Invictus, to discuss one of my books where the woman had to learn to do this-- take charge of her life.

Marla is a woman who one might think already had everything anyone could want. She had a successful, ambitious career, but that was hiding the emotional fears she had let dictate too much of her life. She needs an evening star to guide her. She, as with us, cannot let it be a person. We have to find direction within ourselves but how do we do that? This book explores one possible path.

Predictability or manipulation?

In the midst of the ranch's fox chronicles, I've been trying to think about my books-- the ones already out and those yet to be published. My thought right now is that the first Arizona historical will come out the end of July. It's mostly then because we have a trip planned for the middle of July; and I want to be around when the book is published. I also hope to bring this one out as a paperback which takes more advance planning.

This week I came across an interesting article for writers. Ginger Simpson mentioned it in the MOA, and I thought it was worthy of linking here.

Is your plot predictable? by Rita Karnopp 

What she writes about is an issue which I think most writers debate with themselves. My exploration of predictability and unpredictability in writing follows:

What have I learned?

For one thing--

you never stop learning. You'd think at some point you'd get it all but you never do. It's the one thing about life. Unless you purpose to shut yourself off from new information, refuse to assimilate anything you didn't learn at 13, you will never learn it all-- and that not even for those people who go out of their way to be perpetual school students.

never try to outguess a fox. I swear the fox family has literally driven me nuts not to mention at times depressed as I try to do what will be good for them but us also. Never works. Where that story is heading is beyond me and this is why I never liked Disney animal movies. An animal always died to work up the teary audience. Caring for wild animals is asking for a Disney movie in your own backyard.

trying to outguess readers is about the same. I had some time between starting the new book, research, and having a kind of health issue, so I tried reading other people's romances. This is something I don't do very often for obvious reasons-- not wanting to be influenced. What I read was top of the line. Why do readers want the same plots regurgitated with new settings and characters over and over? They want 'surprises' but predictable and often manipulated surprises? I've decided the secret to this knowing is beyond me like with the foxes and I should just understand people read what they need. I write what I need and maybe that isn't going to be the same but it is what it is. So maybe I've learned something there... maybe not.

doing videos has a big drawback if information can change. Back up to the fox story. For my other blog I did a two several videos intended to tell the story of the foxes as it was to date. Before I could ever use the videos, the story changed and (see above) in a not good way. When you write something, you just change the words before the due date. when you video tape it, there is only one thing to do-- delete. A major drawback to videos. Maybe I should stick to making them for the books.

Finally I thought this was interesting as this lady (who has quite a few videos on YouTube) took viewers through her home and studio to show her work. Neat-- a studio tour

Sky Daughter discussion

Working on learning to use the webcam or a camera to discuss the energy behind a book has been an experience to say the least. What I am working to get across is not the plot, but more why the book was written. There always is something that goes beyond they fell in love.

So with Sky Daughter, a contemporary romance, I discussed a few of those energies in this video.

From Here to There

With the promotion for Charlene Raddon's new book Saturday and my eBook set for a give away to one commenter, I thought I'd repost From Here to There's trailer.

A giveaway

This week I am participating in a blog hop with a guest writer, Charlene Raddon, who on Saturday here, the 22nd, will be promoting her newest book, Scent of Roses. Be sure and come back Saturday to read what her newest book is about; then go to her site where my book, From Here to There, will be featured. Comment either here or at Charlene Raddon (where she is also sponsoring a giveaway) and one random commenter will win From Here to There in a PDF or an eBook format--their choice.

Does that sound confusing enough? Well since I am new to blog hops, that won't be surprising to me. I am doing the best I can to get it across how it works... I think... The point that matters is one eBook copy of From Here to There will be free to someone selected randomly from the commenters-- leave contact info in your comment. I think I got that right.

The following video discusses the energy behind From Here to There.

Solitude and the Writer

Lately my creative life appears to be revolving around the camera in one way or another. I have put off starting the next book. This was not so much because I don't know where it's going-- as it's evolving in my head quite nicely. It's more because I am not sure I have a big enough block of time to do more than get the first chapter laid out. Sometimes that works and sometimes it creates a mixed energy that can be avoided by just waiting until the time is here.

Long time friends were here on Sunday. Diane Widler Wenzel was beginning the largest plein air painting she's done in ten years. She took on even more of a challenge when she chose to videotape the process to share how such a painting evolves. She set herself up down by the creek.

The reflections in a summer creek are fantastic with so many colorful places where you can hardly tell the reflection from reality. A polarizing lens helps to capture it with the camera. I am thinking sometime I will put together a slideshow of the reflections I've taken through the years and seasons.

As Diane got her painting laid out. I relaxed out in the new yard area and contemplated life and art. No, I didn't. I petted the cats and more or less took a day off-- other than fixing everyone a lunch-- as the guys worked on a (broken-- don't ask how that happened) ATV, cleaned out a barn, and stuffed a wool bag. Me, I just enjoyed listening to the birds and staring up at a beautiful blue sky as some clouds floated past. That cats approved my choice.

On the week-end, I bought a new Logitech webcam. It has wide angle as an option. They all take adjusting the color, contrast, gain, exposure, etc. as light changes. I am hopeful with it I will get less obvious pixilation and sharper images as I continue to learn to talk about my books, the writing process, or whatever comes to mind. It's still a challenge but rewarding too.

Besides discussing each of my books, I also have recorded a few on topics like sexuality in the novel, techniques in doing a video, video potential as another communication medium, etc etc.

My weeks ahead will grow increasing chaotic which may break my posting rhythm here and on Rainy Day Thoughts. We are loading the first of our winter supply of hay. Farm Boss does that work as when bales weigh 800 lbs., I sure am not going to be out helping stack them. It is purely a job for a tractor.

The busy times over the next few weeks will all be enjoyable with more grandkid time as well as Farm Boss's 70th birthday. I am enjoying the season, the family activities that are sandwiched into the ranch jobs, and the wonders of living on a creek during the summer. It's wonderful right now as a deer wandered through and Farm Boss scared the fox as he surprised him hunting by the old harness shed.

I made this video to play with the webcam and discuss something I think  does matter to the writer. Thinking more on those kinds of topics is on my mind--

It is or is not of value?

Instead of working on the new book, weeding the garden, going for another walk, what am I doing??? Working on the business of creating videos that might sell ideas. Like what the .....!  It's funny in a way as at one time I thought of such videos as a waste of people's time-- to watch or make. Never say never fits today.

When I saw the first book trailers where writers discussed their work, I liked them a lot. Especially this was true if they were sharing their working environment or the energy of a place that inspired their work. Along with that I have watched TED talks where various topics were discussed by experts from a podium, and I began to think more about the possible value of learning to do discussion videos for my ideas and work.

As I started, I had no idea where I would be taking it. I've been learning as I go and sharing that process here. Just as I think I have one angle figured out, another crops up.

What I still do not know is if this media, for ordinary people, is a way to interest or inspire others. I do know one thing. When you are almost 70, it's kind of neat to find a new challenge, a new direction that challenges you. I like it that something I didn't see as mattering begins to tweak my mind with the question-- does it?

Of course, in the meantime the weeds are taking over the garden which is not going to get any photographs or video time-- unless it gets a whole lot more photogenic. I think I need a fairy godmother who has an interest in gardening ;)

the video discussion downside

Creating discussion videos has been teaching me a lot.-- some of which I have not much liked. For instance one side of my face looks like a whole different woman than the other side. When I talk, it changes everything for the dimensions of my features. Watching myself talk is something I have always disliked-- so that's not new. I don't mind the sound of my voice on the video as much as expected. If I could just pose and have an audio say the words, that'd be the ticket.

When doing these videos, I have been surprised how easily I can goof up the words. I don't work from a script. I have several ideas that I decide are the crux, but it's amazing how many ways I can goof that up. Do one. Goof it up. Delete. Do another. Watch it for a bit and decide it's not working. Delete. That means I am looking at me a LOT of times before I finally get it right. I can begin to understand why people decide a goof doesn't matter and just keep on talking.

The big deals for me have turned out to be dialogue and lighting. Lighting matters more at almost 70 than it might've ten or twenty years ago. But you work with what you have and ten years ago I wasn't even thinking of publishing my books or doing a blog of any sort.

Why would I do videos if basically I don't like how it makes me feel about me?

I think it's one more way to communicate particularly to a culture that has gone very visual with television and computers. People learn many different ways and not all will get something through reading. For those who are visual and verbal, these kind of videos could be better ways to communicate a truth of any sort.

For me it's a truth about my writing and creativity but for others it could be the environment, love of animals or even politics. Whether this will really work to sell books or anything else, I have no idea. I am though going to give it a try... if I can stand myself long enough.

sorting, sorting and more sorting

 It's been stormy in the Pacific Northwest with squalls coming through combined with breaks with a bit of sunshine. Nothing that inspires a person to be outside for more than quick walks. I got into sorting 'stuff' and that's pretty well been encompassing my week. This is a little late for spring cleaning and it's not that. It's trying to discard and organize. Some of this came because I found a cool deal online for four sundresses, which I love when it's warm enough, and when they came, that led to organizing my closet, putting out summery clothes (if warm weather gets here)... and somewhere in there I decided I also needed to go through our old VHS tapes.

In the cleaning out the anteroom to the garage, Farm boss came across two boxes of romance novels which I hadn't seen for years, barely remembered I had ever bought, have no idea why they were there or for how many years. That led to sorting them. These are books from late 1980s into 1990s when I was reading a lot of this to try and get a feel for what the romance genre required.

Which means, I've been scanning through a LOT of books all at once, all from authors who were popular then but some don't still have books out there while a few do. I am keeping a few and more will be set up to hopefully sell as boxes maybe on eBay. That was what I was going to do with others I'd gone through over a year ago and have yet to try to sell. It takes photographing their covers and offering them in groups of say 20. No bookstore will take books from that far back unless they are by authors who are still publishing (learned that years ago when I thought I could read the books and resell them when done).

Anyway it's been interesting to see an affirmation of what I had written before-- the plots get circulated and recirculated. Yes, readers of romances today do want fresh approaches (but not too fresh). The plots are used again and again by new writers. I do not think original plots are particularly desired which is a bit of a bummer if you like to write original stories.

What I have wondered, as I've been skimming through them, is do my plots fit any of these categories? I do feel they are hybrids between a true romance and say a Mary Alice Monroe. Is there a market for that?

It was interesting to see some of the names of writers that don't appear to still be selling books and yet had published over 40. They were doing something right in terms of drawing readers. Can I fit any of that while still telling my own story? That's my issue to think about for now.

Between fence problems involving the sheep, the fox wars (more on that continuing saga for my Saturday blog on Rainy Day Thoughts), trying to learn how to do discussion videos, watching our granddaughter run in an end of the season meet, I've been sorting, sorting and re-sorting and my house is a mess-- full of boxes of this or that. The farmhouse doesn't have enough storage space or maybe it has too much!

On creating my own videos, I updated my YouTube site (actually they said do it now or they'd be doing it soon) as they suggested offering a less than one minute video to explain what my channel there is about-- creating and nature. I also spent more time (when emotionally I had the energy) working on what it will take to do one for a specific book keeping the video to around 2 minutes.

What I am beginning to think is I won't be able to interest people to check these out unless I come up with something more to intrigue which might mean combining scenery (if we ever get dried out up here) or even images from the books. I am not remotely sure how to do any of that and this gets old fast trying to figure it out especially since I am still not sure it'll sell my 'hybrid' romances.

Anyway here's the video I did for my book Desert Inferno. I am thinking the book videos should start with the location, the setting, the motivation behind the story, and have limited about the plots and characters as that's all available at Amazon. The video is really about interesting someone enough to look at the sample and the blurb.

The photo at the top is a teaser regarding the chronicles of us and the fox family-- come back Saturday to Rainy Day Thoughts for more.

A video as something more

Now I cannot begin to say that I am going to go all arty on creating videos that promote writing. Although my husband/publisher/Farm Boss might if he finds it a rewarding hobby with the few hours he has available for such. I won't be holding my breath on that.

What I began to see was the potential for videos beyond selling my own books. They can promote an idea or emotional goal which is what I always want from my books but a video can do that apart from them. Too cool.

What began to inspire me for where this can go was watching the following video about Southern artists in particular based around Charleston, South Carolina. They are a mix of poets and writers as they discuss the place they live, how it's different from other places, and how it impacts their work. It was so cool and I hope that readers here will take the time to watch it. It was very inspiring regarding creativity and place.

Writers of Charleston

What I was thinking was about the potential for taking a geographic area like say where I live that does have its unique imprint. Let the land around you, the historic energy, the people who are unique to this place, let it all impact what you create. I think I do this with my books based always in places I know and love, places I have spent a lot of time. I have not, however, sat down and put that process to words as well as I felt that video did for Charleston and that part of the South.

Through the years, particularly when we belonged to Netflix, I really enjoyed documentaries but most were the length of a movie. The link above was more a tidbit, a taste to get people probably to appreciate their area but also to think more about their own and what it contributes to their work.