Diablo Canyon excerpt

In writing Diablo Canyon, I enjoyed the discussions between those in the spirit world as much as the human characters. Naturally, this is purely imagination for what that spirit world might be like... Of course, it is :)

    A disturbance around them settled in. They looked toward the female form that had joined them—Aretha. “What are you doing here?” Justus asked using an officious tone.

   “Exclusive territory is it?” Her smile was sly.

   “Not saying that but there are protocols and assignments.”

   “And oversight,” Aretha retorted.

   “Oversight?” they repeated simultaneously.

   “You two have let this become too personal. You aren’t paying attention to the bigger picture as you argue with each other. I am here to moderate.”

   “He assigned you?” Remus asked.

   “She did.” Aretha grinned as the other two sighed with resignation. “Do either of you remember the purpose of being a guide?” she asked.

   “Of course,” Justus snapped. “It’s to encourage our person to reach their fullest life potential.

   “And who decides that,” she asked. Even though he had said much the same thing, Remus resented her smug tone. He then was angry with himself for revealing an inferior human response to correction.

   “They do before they are reborn.”

   “And that still holds even when it’s not the choice of your charge?” Aretha obviously knew she had them by her confident smile.

   “Even then,” Justus said unwilling give up.

   “So no free will?”

   “I am not trying to limit Clayton’s will,” he argued even as his expression indicated he knew he’d lost the debate.

   “Except you have been guiding, really since birth, a man particularly attuned to going within. You now want to block his free will because it doesn’t suit your perceived plan for the proper path. It’s all because you’ve made up your mind what his current life plan should be.”

   “It was the agreement.” Justus thrust his thumb toward Remus. “You’re on his side.”

   “No, I’m on the side of guides doing their jobs, which doesn’t mean making up their minds what it must be. Life isn’t set that rigidly is it?”

   “They are not supposed to be together this go round. You know how it works when they come together,” he argued. “You remember all the times they came together and look at what happened.”

   “Fate can also play a part.”

   Justus gave a disgusted snort. “Well the idea this time was they stay apart to develop self-control.”

  “Worked great, didn’t it?” Aretha asked laughing as they watched the subtle byplay with the couple.

   Remus wondered what made her in such a good mood about this. He might disagree with Justus in trying to brainwash his charge; still, this was not how it had been laid out—at least he didn’t think it was. Was there more here than he had been told?

Excerpt

Excerpt from Her Dark Angel, a contemporary romantic suspense set in Reno, Portland and Tahoe.

       “Is there something there you don’t want me to see? Are you the reason my uncle’s business is failing?" 

       He didn’t flinch nor turn away from her appraising gaze. “You never know, do you.” His smile was lazy, self confident. She knew now for sure-- her first impulse had been right. She didn’t like him. His features were nearly perfect, but there was a sneer under the surface that could turn them almost ugly. Was she seeing his soul? There would be no middle ground with how someone saw Dill Delaney—angel or devil.

      God, she almost hated him as he coldly met her gaze with that harsh, masculine toughness, those cold eyes, but something was worse about him. Under it all she saw vulnerability. Damn. She hated seeing that. There was a quality of boyishness that called out to be nurtured.

      She turned away, not wanting to find anything good in that face. She was sure of it. He couldn't be trusted. He was the type who would use whatever weakness he found in others.

     "You’re right, he said, “don’t trust me.”

    That was infuriating. He was reading her mind. “I won’t.”

     "Good. Don't trust anybody down here."

     "Except Uncle John," she corrected. She looked back and saw the muscle twitch in his jaw.

    "Love your uncle," he said, "don't trust him either."

    She glared at him. "I've known Uncle John all my life. If I can't trust him, who can I trust?"

    He shook his head, his hands spread. "Don't ask me. I've never found trust gained me much."

Available for eBook and paperback:  http://romanceswithanedge.blogspot.com/2014/10/her-dark-angel-links.html

wise use of time

Lately, I have been reevaluating my use of time. With a new book out, hours went into getting it seen-- which meant networking in the places readers and writers gather. While that was happening, I was writing for two blogs (once a month for a third), editing what will be the second in the Oregon historical series, and began writing the fifth in the Arizona historicals.

I am sure there are exceptions, but professional writers, those who take writing as their job/career) must network or someone else must for them. The simple truth is to sell, work must be seen by someone who buys their genre. Writers who are particularly good at this have teams set up ready to buy their newest work, which will guarantee it to show up well in Amazon's rankings, as soon as it comes out. Once it shows up, who knows whether it will stay selling, but it has a chance.

So writing the books and doing what will get them seen are important uses of a writer's time. Thinking about this has led me to look critically at blogging. I began 'Rain Trueax' in December 2011 when I put out my first indie book, Desert Inferno. My intention was for it to be a place to write about creativity, my books, other people's books, process, and promotion. I invited guest bloggers and mostly considered I could put anything here that fit with my writing philosophy. 

All very well, except that the blogs I write take time to get them to where I want them. Mostly neither this one nor Thoughts are written stream of consciousness. I like to find a theme or topic and it takes writing and rewriting before I am satisfied. In looking at how I use my time, one of the blogs has to go. Logically, based on seniority alone, it should be this one. So here is what I plan-

1) No more regular posts here, but I will continue, on no set schedule, to post excerpts from books or related images. That kind of thing takes much less time. I have had blogs just for the books-- Rainy Day Romances (something about each book and links) and Romances with an Edge (using an alternate cover and links). They only take work when a new book arrives-- and even then the work can be used multiple places.
2) My regular blog writing will now all be in Rainy Day Thought, mixed into the usual subjects like the ranch, animals, nature, creativity, spirituality, aging, history, photography, art, travel, culture, or whatever comes to mind. If you have never been there, come on by. I will always have a new blog on Saturdays and maybe more often but that's undecided.

Whether I continue with Thoughts, I'll see as I go. I like to write in blogs, but it's not something I must do to fulfill myself-- as is writing fiction. It is something I have done since 2005, but it has to benefit me and readers for me to put into it the time it requires.

Some people make up their mind what they want, and they stick to it for a lifetime. I tend to try this or that and see how it goes. When I began the current year, I reevaluated a lot of places in my life. Times of reevaluation seem healthy for me. Is something worth the time it takes? If it's not, change it. 

So for 'Rain Trueax,' this is the last scheduled post-- although if you are interested in snippets from books, check back once in awhile.