Writing and Emotions

 

While the world has gone on with many issues impacting many lives, mine stays much the same. It's one of the advantages of being old maybe. Some panic regarding that too, of course. Will Social Security continue, Medicare, investments, pensions, how about bank accounts? And the always reliable thing to fret over-- will crime hit my street or my family? 

For a writer, it's not hard to escape into other worlds, ones we created, and have some control over. If a black swan hits my characters, I am there to deal with it. Of course, there is the nervousness that always goes with-- what will be the next sentence or did that make sense for the characters to do? At least though it's something I have some control over... kind of. It takes me into an imaginary world and out of the one so many people are flipping out over.

With the books I have written (30 at this point), most are novel length with a few exceptions that were novellas. With one series, eight Arizona western historicals, set between 1883 and 1905, I ran into trouble with changing their titles one too many times. I have earlier written how that happened due to not reading Amazon's emails with new rules regarding title changing. Oops.

What I hadn't realized then was that when Amazon pulled my books or I did, they would also disappear from readers' devices. Ack!  I have notified those who had earlier purchased these books, that I'd send them the new versions, when they came out, at no cost to them. 

Except for it doing that to readers, there was an advantage for me. I could edit and improve the stories, adding more scenes that I saw would be beneficial. I was in no hurry to bring them back out after having all eight to do. I still didn't know better ways to promote them. Another drawback was I lost all their reviews. Nothing I could do about that. Getting new reviews has been difficult to impossible as they came out. Many readers don't like to do reviews. 

Today, with the five I now have out, with their new series name, Winds of Change, I still have had no idea how to promote. Marketing is not something I am good at. With the new versions, their titles were either totally changed or tweaked to satisfy Amazon rules. Never again not reading emails from Amazon.

I actually enjoyed the editing and had them also edited by Ranch Boss, who is good at looking to the masculine side of what happens. Men are an important part of my stories and usually have a point of view. Ranch Boss also does the technical side of publishing and running the few ads we run for books, some of which have never had an ad, hence the Amazon black hole is their fate. 

The historical novels ran 80,000+ to 100,000+ words. They have improved covers to fit their new titles. I had esited five of them last spring. Because of our being in no hurry to bring them back out, I was in no hurry to edit the next three. 

The two novellas, which I had originally seen as being better if shorter, because so many readers today like fast reads. Except, as I edited them, I was dissatisfied with the length of their stories, felt there was more to tell. I had the same feeling regarding their covers. They were pretty enough, but I wanted the lovers on the covers. 

That presented a problem, in the main sites I have been using, there are very few images of middle-aged or older people. The sites mostly go for younger models. Fortunately, several sites, which I had first bought into, did have older faces possible to use. I won't go into details here, as that's not what the blog about, but I got my couples, the first one below here. It's now a book long enough to be a novel, but not as long as the other novels in this series. I though was able to bring to the book the additions that added to my interest in writing it-- and hope it will for readers, whenever we figure out how to let them know. *s*

The images on the cover came from one of ours and others I had purchased. On the title page, credit is always given as to from where the pieces have come.

When enlarging a book, I had earlier published as a novella, I ran into an aspect of writing, that readers might also experience. How the scenes, the chapters and their emotions can impact our own lives. I don't always have that happen when I create characters, but maybe because these were older, I related more to their issues.

For me, the hardest emotionally can be when I need to have a very nice, even beloved, character die. i might know it would happen, even should, to feel right for the story, but it's still hard. The most satisfying, emotionally, is when love works out, maybe a wedding, but more important is when the couple commit themselves to each other. 

One thing I never do is kill off a pet or a horse/donkey/mule. I don't even like to read books or watch films that do that. Yes, it also happens in life, but emotionally, I don't want to live with the pathos. If I have to accept a beloved animal has died of old age, it will happen between books. I'm not saying it makes for superior writing. It's just how the emotions work for me-- positive and negative.

Next blog, I'll write about the second enlarged, novella. These two couples do know each other but their romances are five years apart. There are important differences despite similar ages. The cultural times are similar, but the four characters have different economic levels and pasts. 

For this one, Rose's Gifts, both hero and heroine had been in the three books ahead of theirs. They were not, at least in my thinking, a couple that others might expect to fall in love. That's the fun of being a writer, who is open to such possibilities. I've written before about the enjoyment for me of writing a series and that all came to play with this book, more a "relationship novel' probably than a generic romance for the issues that arose.

For more about Rose's Gifts, check out the link for the blurb and the free sample. I especially like the cover now, as bringing an older couple to a story was a challenge but also fun. Their experiences and expectations, through lifetimes, were woven into the plot.

This link is to Amazon, but alongside here are the Universal Links, for those who prefer to buy from other sites.

Rose's Gifts for Kindle 

 

 

 

THE PILING-ON PHENOMENA

  Cairns can be seen across the American SW to mark the way of a path. Most not are not piled as elaborately as this one, acquired through my Stencil membership

Two things before I pile on... as in, discuss what piling-on is. These aren't one more important than the other, but one has to go first. 

I have no interest in changing reader's minds. I want to lay out what I think and why, but if someone disagrees, sees it the opposite, I will not fight to the last round to convince them they are wrong. I have a philosophy of not only live and let live, but also that while I do believe in what I do, I could be wrong. Many people do not share that view. They are convinced not only they are right, but I am wrong. I am not one of those people. 

I go by what I have lived, what I have read and heard, and finally what to me seems like commonsense. I don't have to convince other people that, for instance, "I am not a racist". I don't really care what they believe as few of them know me at all. I know me. I know racial prejudice is not in my DNA based on experience. I have known too many people of various races and beliefs for me to think they were inferior/superior based on anything but their actions and the things they say. 

So, when I've written a blog, it's not to convince you to think like I do. It's to tell you why I think as I do; then let the chips fall where they may. I can agree to disagree and do it without insulting others. That is also in my DNA.

Let's see, where was I, oh yeah, the second point or perhaps secondteenth by now. I am not by nature a follower. It might be why I am not into sports. Who would I root for or bet on? It's just not my thing as a non-follower. Same is true of celebrities whether of movies or music. 

These days I would be lucky to even know their names, but back in my younger years, I had one crush on a celebrity, except he was not a real person. He was a character. (I do not btw get crushes on my book characters either.) Actually there were two crushes as a kid and I mean early teens or before. Cheyenne and Spin. Look them up if you want, but the crushes didn't last, as I got old enough to have crushes on real guys. lol

Finally, I am to my point for this blog. Piling-on is one of those things that (forget its dictionary meaning) can go positive or negative. People tend to follow what others think. Now, that's not everybody, but a certain group of people.

Where it comes to me, at my age, I sometimes have a general understanding of what is being talked about but mostly I know little about sports or the celebrity world of today. I know a bit more about political leaders, like where'd they accumulate that wealth on their salaries? I only know about their personal lives what I read, which means media is determining it, whether news or social. 

What I've seen recently for the piling-on has all been negative whether movie, music, or sports stars. Lose a game and the world turns against you as it's 'the' thing to do and a way to be part of the group. To not pile-on is to be suspect. You must be one of 'them.' These can lead to riots or big demonstrations to depict power. Piling-on is about being part of power.

Politically speaking, I've read (often they can be from anonymous or false sources) to make every day January 6, 2021 in terms of disrupting government working. Earlier it was claimed those piling-on should interrupt those, who work for the 'wrong' person/party, should go where they go out to dinner, to movies, and at their homes and yell insults or carefully worded threats (don't wanta get arrested do ya). 

It has also meant trying to kill and sometimes succeeding. With those who didn't do it, piling-on by saying they wish that person had succeeded or were glad for what they did. Piling-on can mean trying to disrupt the economy as punishment; thus, so many phone calls that the one they hate cannot function. Destroying businesses by fires or breaking in (businesses unrelated to the current piling-on cause). And on it goes right up to and including violent protests that block roads for those on the way to work, when they again had nothing to do with what the piling-on person is angry about.

Of course, there can be a seemingly positive side to piling-on. You then become part of fandom. You follow someone and accept whatever they do must be right. This works fairly well for politicians and entertainers until they do something to upset those piling-on, then watch out. It can encourage people to support causes, music or movies because it's popular, not because they even like them or know much about what they mean.

The power of piling-in is how one sports figure just said that the whole experience can 'shoot you to the moon.'  Well, it can also bury you in darkness when it turns if the person depended on it. Here is how it can work: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/10/v-fluence-pesticide-critics

Obviously, I am no fan of piling-on negatively or positively. Decide what you think or like based on what you believe and have experienced yourself. I see there is energy there, but it can turn on you just as fast. 

I don't generally use cartoons, but I thought a humorous approach to this subject, considering how angry things can be right now, could be fun to put together. The three images were found and purchased from Deposit Photos. The images represent the two ways of piling-on and the energy behind it all.

 

Images... ?

 Image from my Stencil membership

Over my lifetime, whether on the television or theater, I think I've seen most John Wayne films. On DVD, we own quite a few, my favorites being Hondo and Red River. They have all the important ingredients for me-- love, discussions of the importance of honesty, courage, a clear depiction of the need sometimes to change, stirring soundtracks, big sky, desert landscapes, often humor; and of course, John Wayne as a powerful figure for right-- at least eventually.

 

Also, as did a lot of his films, there were strong female counter punchers to him (love that in the books I write also). Although today, there are some counter punchers to claim these were not good films, and he was not a good hero. 

 

The thing was in those films, you never had to worry if the good guy will win. Mostly when they are over, they leave the viewer a satisfied feeling. Did we think they really happened? Not likely. It's the emotional uplift that they provided versus too often a world without any feel good about what has happened-- no happily ever after or it all working out as we might wish.

There are also some problems with them if you look deeper. One is that we can mistake image for reality. John Wayne walked or rode onto the screen and instantly you knew he could not only be trusted to be who he said he was but that he could take care of whatever had gone wrong. Might take him some time, but he'd get you there. This is great for entertainment but what happens when you take it into real life?

Politically you can end up with the need for politicians to have an image that people vote for more than the actual person. Some is due to the need for instant sound bites and, at least these days, people's lack of patience with serious messages. We want to feel good and a lengthy discussion of policy isn't going to cut it. 

 

So, we can get a guy, who looks good in a tuxedo, can deliver a rousing speech, maybe written for him, but who cares. Maybe it's a woman in a designer suit, with a big smile, good makeup, and a promise of joy without much discussion of issues for either.

 

Or maybe the image wears a Stetson,  cowboy boots, buys himself a ranch, rides around in a pickup, cuts brush (never mind if it would've been better off not being cut), and you got a cowboy. It doesn't matter if he doesn't have a cow, has no idea which side of the horse to mount from. He presents the image, and what does cowboy mean to Americans?  To a lot of us, especially elders, it can mean John Wayne.

 

The John Wayne image worked, with his stories set in the West, righting wrongs, a code of ethics, a man of his word. Did the candidate with the image have any of those qualities? Most likely they don't have to have them. It's the illusion, male or female. Voters don't go deep enough in past records to find out if what is being presented is all image, that they may never have lived up to. Research and policy papers take too long and aren't fun. People, including reporters, get carried away with image. It satisfies something in us.

 

Images have long been with us, but are more easily portrayed with social media, which spreads those images. This one is ugly and fat. Even if they are not, the insults travel with them. That one is lovely and slickly dressed. Does that relate to anything but image?

Some politicians try to create an image that they don't really fit. They're a war hero, though maybe never in a war. That approach doesn't always lead to success with Americans if the real life doesn't fit it. But sometimes, connecting with these politicians seems to matter more with Americans than their actual policies. Would you like a beer with him or her, is the key and usually about an image.

This goes beyond politics to who we trust in our personal lives. A young woman goes to a bar, a guy has a square jaw, is cute, seems nice and she trusts him. What he truly is she has no idea as she barely knows him. It's all about image, and Ted Bundy projected a good looking guy until he got the girl in his power when what he truly was became obvious, and it was too late.

 

Another problem with images is when we get caught up in them for ourselves. Do we have to fit an image, created by the culture, that is not who we truly are? That can mean how we dress, wear our hair, jobs, hobbies, friends we choose, books we read, etc. Images might seem like a short cut, but are they to a real life?

Another problem with some of the John Wayne films (much as I love 'em) is that they too often present a simplistic solution to problems-- either a fistfight or guns (if it's an uppity lady, spanking will do). It is fun to watch those films, and I wait for the action like everybody else; but if we buy into that as a real solution, we will not only damage our personal lives (could end up in jail) but also get talked into wars that have no real purpose beyond looking like we are at least doing something.

 

As a writer, I come up against the image problem in writing my books. Did I buy into an image for the hero or heroine, which doesn't match real life? Most readers are looking for some escapism in the choices for books, but if a character comes across as cardboard, that doesn't satisfy the rest of their need in reading, which is inspiration.

What's the answer to the image thing where it comes to our lives, voting, choosing of partners? I think mainly it's recognizing image when we see it and understanding it is superficial and an illusion which may or may not have substance behind it. Real heroes and villains don't come so conveniently packaged.