Spring in my part of the world.

 

Part of the reason I have been reluctant to post my opinions regarding recent political action in my country, the US, is that people read here from around the world. Are they interested in political issues from other countries? Maybe they are, since the US often can influence problems for other nations. I don't really know, which is why I have looked for perspective on what readers like to read.

Personally, I read political blogs and sometimes get angry at what I read as I think the opinions are very biased. I don't generally comment there what I think as I feel-- well, it's their blog. Not everyone wants a conversation.

On the other hand, I do enjoy hearing what others think, even when it irks me. I do not believe we all need to agree. Sometimes when we see things differently, we just agree to disagree.

When we vote in a government election, we often don't particularly like the outcome, but respect for it is part of living in a Republic, which elects  representatives to make important decisions. If we don't like the outcome, work harder next time to see someone we would prefer.

Recently when I was watching a podcast interview, which was mostly liberal, I was surprised when the guest, a black rapper, said something I thought was very astute. He was being pressured to say he'd vote for the interviewer's choice. He refused and would not say for whom he would vote and instead said he votes policy over person. I really like that as I've often said I vote issues (sometimes believing what I should not have) and I have to balance the most important ones to me as I am not a "one issue" voter.

Calling myself an independent voter (unaffiliated in some states), I never agree with all of one side of the partisan divide completely. I have strong opinions but they just don't all totally fit into either political party. I try to read a variety of opinions on what I consider important as again reading only one side seems unlikely to know enough about what should be done. Some call that wishy-washy. but I see it as logical. Reading a differing viewpoint won't automatically change my mind but it at least lets me understand good people can see things differently based on many reasons.

Anyway, I hope I continue to have readers from around the world. I think that is healthy as we are not enemies or all friends. We are humans with often the same needs but different ways of getting there.

Seeking Perspective

  first sunset of spring

 

The perspective I am seeking is for this blog. When I began blogging, readers commented. I made friends that way. Currently whether the blog gets 500 readers or 50 and both can happen as well as thousand or more, few comments happen. 

There are possible reasons for that. Some have let me know that they tried to comment, and it was rejected. I also know that others come in from phones where making comments might be more difficult. Some may simply have no interest in commenting. Whatever the case, it has been hard for me to know what people want or do not want in this blog. 

If I wrote a mainly journal type blog, I would feel the negative should be along with the positive. I do not but enjoy reading those types of blogs, like online diaries (which I am sure leave out a lot). 

My blog is about ideas, which are my ideas, but I think about many things that are around the world for their impact. I have tried to keep that mostly positive. We have enough that depresses us without my adding it here.

When I do that, however, it leaves out a LOT of what I think, my ideas about what is happening in the world and in my own country. Might be that I am wrong,and others would like to hear my take on what I have read- even when it's depressing.

 

As a possible way to figure this out, Ranch Boss (who does all my techie stuff) learned how to put a like/dislike button on this blog. It has to be along side due to the way blogger works, and it is set at the top of the column.

What I would appreciate is if those who come here would read the current post and then go back up and click like or dislike. I will not know who you are as we kept this simple without email addresses, after all, why would I want that? I wouldn't email anyone whether they liked that I wrote or did not.

So, for those who don't like to comment would simply click on their preference for that day's blog, it would help me. It can be done again the next time a reader comes, and I will keep track of preferences as my way of seeking perspective as a writer. I might still write things that have proven unpopular, but at least I'll know *s*

More than you might think

Image we photographed at the Arizona State Museum

When I wrote the original eight Arizona historical romances, they came widely spread apart in years, some closer to one story or another, but not ever together even though they share characters.

Forced to re-edit them, I did it over a year, which meant I saw elements in them that fit together in a cohesive sense. There are, of course, the themes, but there were other aspects that were a key part of what made them work for me and hopefully for readers.

One of those big elements was how important family was in all the books. Now, that can be in a negative sense, with parenting fails, but also in a positive on where family helped everything to work for the characters. 

Looking then at my Oregon historical romances and I saw the same importance of family as key to the stories.

Some might think romances are all about a couple, but that's not the case with  the best stories out there where it's family, friends, couple, and yes, setting that make the stories work.

Maybe, I put that in those books because I've felt family is important in my life, that who my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even ancestors, which I might never have known, were part of how I became who I am.

But, that led me to look at my own contemporary romances. There I see less of the family element and more of strong friendships, which have also been important in my life. I think that with families so often apart over jobs or even personality elements, modern Americans may rely more on strong friendships, which can be as close as blood kin. 

What this led me to recognize in the books I have written, how much I consider community, in one form or another, as key to our satisfactory personal life. 

When I put something in my books, it's because I see it as important as something that goes beyond the romance, which is, of course, central, to the rest of what life is about. 

EMBRACING THE DREAM -- new release

 Based on my own experiences, one of the difficulties of writing any kind of promo for a coming book, comes down to what do you reveal that interests a future reader and what will give away secrets readers want to discover for themselves? This is multiplied when it is a series.

Embracing the Dream has a continuing cast of characters, including the hero and heroine; but stands alone if a reader doesn't care for series stories. Because it is a novel, it has a lot of complexity -- my favorite kinds to write. It, more than some others, presents challenges to not give way what should be discovered -- the real fun of reading.

 

Have you ever had a dream that seems beyond your reach? Well, that's Grace, who fell in love with Rafe when she was a girl. She could never have him as he was married and even after his marriage imploded, he still saw her as too young. Reluctantly, going off to the university, she took control of the wealth she inherited and tried to make a life for herself.

Still, she can't let go of that dream and when she learned he had returned from fighting as a Rough Rider in the Spanish American War, she put aside everything else to head back to Tucson. 

Rafe, a one time deputy to her father, had come to Tucson to bring Grace home to her family. Everything falls apart as Rafe’s ex-wife is murdered, his son kidnapped and Rafe accused. As a Yaqui, life isn’t easy for Rafe in Tucson. It’s about to get a lot harder. 

From then on, the story moves north out of Tucson as Rafe wants to find his son with Grace determined to help him-- whether he wants that or not.  The rugged Central Arizona country is filled with many dangers. Rafe’s dad had trained him in back country Indian trails. With action, romance and the love of family, the story moves to a violent conclusion back in Tucson.

You can find Embracing the Dream as an eBook at

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTHQNTGN/

and elsewhere at:  https://books2read.com/u/b6awxZ

Interesting Sale Coming

Readers might assume a lot of research goes into historical romances. Actually it does for most books, when the topics are important and may have various nuances to them. With historicals, this is multiplied. We can't really know how people spoke back then because all we have are books. So, some assumptions are made. We can research when certain expressions were first used, but that also is from books. 

Recently, as I edited another of the Arizona historicals, I had a scare when I read something about dime novels and Buffalo Bill Cody. Since a dime novel plays a big part in this story, I panicked, would those novels still have been there when it was set? It would have been bad had they not. Fortunately when I looked, my early research had been correct. They ran from 1860 to 1915, which had a comfortable window around when my story is set. That one is one of the last in that series; so, not out for a while.

There are readers who could not care but such details being right matters to others. It matters a lot to me too. Getting such elements right for their times is part of the joy of writing historicals.

I have mentioned before that when we had to pull all eight of my Arizona historicals, all the reviews were gone. Hoping to get some back, we opted to make the two books alongside here, first in the series, free for a week. Maybe it will draw in new readers and lead to more sales when the following six come out-- the third one around when the sale ends.

Beginning March 3rd to March 9, go to @Smashwords to get Beyond the Broken Road and The Beckoning Flame free, for their Happy Read an Ebook Week!  

Find these and many more books at https://www.smashwords.com/ebookweek      #ebookweek24 #Smashwords

More about Smashwords eBook Week

In keeping with springtime growth, Smashwords has a week long sale with special discounts to encourage readers to explore another set of authors.

Smashwords is easier to use than the Kindle Store and directly focused on simpler categories, 30 - 90 day, recent titles and specific themes without the constant scrolling or sponsored ads.  

If you have read Rain Trueax's Oregon Trail Romance series.  Check out her 1853 to 1906 Arizona based historical romances. After the first two here, the rest will be out gradually. All start in Tucson, the Ol' Pueblo, and the action extends across the vast landscapes of desert,  sky islands, ancient cliff dwellings, mining camps and lawless dying criminal hangouts. She loves these places having hiked and camped across the area for over 40 years. You will be pleased with the romantic interactions and the sense of place... the heat, the smell of desert rain and the critters.

You cannot find these books free at the cover link alongside here. You can though get to Smashwords through the Universal Link. If you haven't already joined there, it's free and easy to sign up where you will find my two free eBooks (from the 3rd through the 9th). After that they'll be there but at their regular price of $4.99.