Evening Star

 

My contemporary novels are not as linked together as have been my historical novels. When I wrote them, that was only off and on in my mind. Some characters know each other, but my priority was the issues that interested me as is the case with this one. When I made the decision to bring these books out as an independent writer, I looked at whether I could change any of that. I felt not without losing credibility for these characters.

One example of where I did know is the hero of Evening Star, Randy O'Brian, I knew his ancestors had come up from Arizona and were related to Cordell O'Brian, the marshal in my earlier historical series. 

I think for writers, it's good to have people the readers will enjoy following from hero/heroine to secondary characters. Readers like that. I like it, but you have to think ahead to make that work. Considering the first of these contemporaries were written in the 1990s, when the plots came to me, to have a couple of them related is fortunate.

In terms of timing for when these contemporaries took place, Moon Dust and Evening Star are closest though the people don't know each other. Well, in Portland, Oregon, it's a big city with a lot of people, who live there, who we will never know unless we come together via jobs.

Back to the story at hand and why it interested me. First issue that came up
for me, as a writer, was I generally have a point of view of the hero and heroine. I like to write that way, but I didn't do it this time. There are two points of view but none for the hero. I wanted others to see him through others eyes, given what he was doing. 

Would the reader wonder also what was up with him, who was he really, who knows? Other than novellas, I like writing what the hero is thinking (always have the heroine), but this book, a full length novel, I preferred to see it all through her eyes-- other than that one other point of view, who was not Randy's. I have thought of rewriting this book in first person, and tried out a chapter or two, but don't know that it would improve the story. It would be easy to do despite I have never written one that way.

Marla Jamison thinks she has her life as she wants it. She's experienced tragic losses and wants nothing like that to happen again. She has a successful career, a boyfriend to date but not care too much where it came to either of them. Convenient describes it.

Except meeting a man, determined to teach her another way, puts all her plans at risk. The heart knows what it wants and maybe that's what is best. Difficult though it might be to get there.

Just for fun, this is the first paragraph in the book, if I did change it to first person: 

Hearing my heels click as I made my way across the terrazzo flooring, I barely made it to the elevator before the doors closed. To be polite, I smiled for the quick thinking young man who had held them for me. Unfortunately, that led to a protracted view of his week. I managed another smile as I thought—whose week isn’t overloaded. Before we reached his floor, I politely fended off an invitation to dinner. I held onto my smile.

 Below is the link to the book in third person. Currently all contemporaries are only at Amazon. That could change since they are finding no readers, but not sure it'd be better if they were wide like the historicals.

Evening Star 

 

 

 

Melding Three books... or were they three?

Novellas, that is my novellas, aren't exactly sweet, but they don't have spice, as there isn't room to have character and plot development, without sticking to the closed door. 

Below are the three novellas in a paranormal series, Mystic Shadows. They are connected by secondary characters, mysticism and an eventual common goal as they look to the unknown. As romances, each has a different couple dealing with not only finding love, but what else is going on out there?

The first of these novellas was When Fates Conspire. It came out of a dream, with needed additions as I decided what would it take to make a satisfying story. Two star-crossed couples, spirit guides, and the mystery of what life might be. It would appear at first to be a tragedy but is it? Can't be if it's a romance. Can the power of the Divine fix what has gone wrong-- and even more, why would it get involved? 

All three novellas are set in the ranching country of Montana, one of my favorite places and where I have spent time when I can.

The idea for the second novella came out of the tragedy that left a mother to run a big ranch and deal with her loss. The story also carries on the earlier couple, some Native American history, and delves into how when someone is reincarnated (in a rather unusual way), what memories might they carry with them. That led to: The Dark of the Moon.  

Although these books are all contemporary fantasy, they are set with real people except-- something extra. The romance in this one gives the mother a chance for her own happy ending with a cowboy, who has rather unusual gifts-- but they are beneficial if he is also a detective.

Would that be the last novella? It turned out another story came to me that encompassed the reason for the rest. Besides magical, was it also science? There were a mix of things I have been told by those who see more of the other side than I do. For much of my life, I have read about mystical experiences. Some have been related to traditional religions. Others, not so much. 

Exploring that led to the third novella with the mysteries of earth and spirit. Storm in the Canyon had a most unusual hero and heroine. That is another plus for a writer. Could it actually happen? Does it matter for a fantasy romance, a paranormal? It is about what can the imagination create. With my own thinking of possibilities, and my luck of being married to a science guy, it came together. 

Three novellas was how it stayed for a month or so, until I began to think I'd like these characters to experience full physical relationships. It took a few months to make the stories into one book, with chapters and those three romances. 

One of the fun things for a writer is the ability to do something like this. An independent writer only has to please themselves and their editors. It has bothered me some that these end up being three novellas and one novel, but with the same basic stories. I enjoyed creating a new cover for that novel, using one couple, but none I'd used before.

So, next blog will have more about how that novel came into being and what that took.

 Couple images were purchased from Romance Novel Covers and Deposit Photos. Backgrounds were our photos and Stencil.

From Where Does it Come?

 

Image from Stencil

 

Before starting to write this blog, I tried to think what was needed. Should I go into what I, myself, have experienced from the other side, leading to deciding to write paranormal stories? Does any reader really care about that but instead just want a good story? If people are interested in mysticism, does it have to be of a religion, for which they are comfortable? Keep in mind that the religions, I know anything about, all have mystical aspects to them. Some probably more than others. But, it's a mysticism that people have grown up thinking is okay.

My mystical books have elements of 'magic' that some might be comfortable with-- if it is in their religion, under authority that makes them comfortable.

So, where did I get the mysticism about which I have written? Some is what I have experienced or been told about from others. In Mystic Shadows, my characters are from the earth or spirit. 

In these books, it is all imaginary for their stories. The first time I wrote a book, that had a spirit connection, was Sky Daughter and likely in the early 90s for its first draft. I had a monster. When I got to where I had to decide if it was to be someone's delusion or was it real, I spent some time deciding?

Because I do a lot of research for my books (all of them), I found books from those who had experienced scary experiences of what they believed had been monsters. They claimed what they saw and had impacted them were real experiences. If someone goes to YouTube today, you can find more such, claimed experiences..

Is what we see, or think we see, all there is out there? You know there are plenty saying even aliens have been and are being impacting human life. No aliens in my books though. 

What Diablo Canyon ends up being is one long book with three romantic couples dealing with a world beyond their expectations. They were each in their own novellas, then secondary characters in the next books.

It was a couple of months later, when I decided I wanted these couples to have the spice, for which the novellas did not have room. Can I complicate my writer life any more? Likely not, but you write what comes to you.

How though do I put one couple on the cover? I think to have all three there would be complicated. How about if I used the couple from the last story? I would say it has one of the more complicated stories, but actually, the first qualifies as that also, given it began with one of my dreams, a very significant dream. More on that later maybe *s* 

The first image from Stencil is the peaceful side of what might be. It is not the only possibility though, as those who delve into the dark side know (from Deposit Photos)..

 

 

 

Choices

 by Rain Trueax

 

From the time Covid-19 hit American shores, we've been bombarded by information-- often contradictory. People have had to make choices whether to isolate, wear masks, wash hands, stay out of crowds, etc. etc. Some have gone one way. Some another. Those in care centers didn't get to make choices as they were made for them-- and not always to their benefit.

Then after the election was over, we were told the vaccines were going to be ready before the end of the year. We watched our leaders get the shot, like President Biden, and knew eventually we'd have to decide for ourselves. Yes or no for a shot that had only recently come out of testing.

To begin, I wasn't sure. We can isolate being retired, but still would the vaccination be a good idea? To begin, Moderna or Pfizer were our main options. We began to read all we could get our hands on. Because Ranch Boss is a chemist, he went to professional journals. We basically decided if we chose to be vaccinated, it would be Moderna. 

At a certain point, we decided we wanted to do it and then got an opportunity almost immediately with the early part of February. It was perfect with a "drive-through". I think I wrote about it here. We, neither one, had a reaction and were eager to get our second. Ranch Boss his got second on schedule, but I had been sick with the nightshade intolerance and depressingly had to cancel, then hoped I could get it later. That worked out at 6 weeks after the first one, I also got the second-- again with no reaction other than some redness at the vaccination site. My arm wasn't even sore as had been Ranch Boss'. 

Since then, we have been learning more . Like that the morphing of the virus has about 25% of the current cases in Arizona being that California variant. Will the vaccine protect from the dire results of getting Covid when it's a variant? So few answers for now. 

Another thing we read is it might be better to wait up to 3 months to get the second dose, to be more effective. Also that it might be better to have it be Moderna for one and Pfizer for two. Those aren't easy options to take given you usually get it through the same source.

I felt it was important that people who could, would get the vaccinations. The disease morphs in animal bodies. The less opportunity(cases) it has , the less chance it'll become a bigger and bigger problem.

Some believe the vaccine isn't helpful. Well, it does not necessarily promise you won't get it. It promises you have less chance (94%) of it being serious if you do. Still, everyone has to decide and for some, it might be too risky based on other things they already have.

For Covid and the vaccine, I have a personal story and it's why you saw that picture at the top of this blog.

My husband made a friend when he went to the Oro Valley Library writer group. He and Helmut Seifert met a few times at restaurants and then began regularly talking on the phone often for Paul to help Helmut with his book, which he had published and which was very important to his life, but they had a lot of other things in common, interest in each other's lives. They could talk hours but usually once a week.

March 2021 came along and Ranch Boss realized Helmut hadn't replied to his last text and hadn't called in longer than usual. When he went off to get his second shot (me ... stuck at home), I looked in the paper for obituaries and there was Helmut's. It was a shock as he wasn't yet 65. I had never met him due to the virus but I cried. Later that day when my husband talked to his wife, he learned the cause of death had been Covid-19. 

The story goes like this. They had had Helmut's parents living with them. His mother had fallen, could no longer do things by herself, and it was decided she needed more care than they could provide. The idea was getting his parents both into a good assisted living place. That ended up with health aides coming into their home-- quite a few. Before that, since the whole virus thing hit us, Helmut had been very careful to isolate but there no isolating from this.

Helmut's wife said when their family showed symptoms, three tested positive but she did not as she had had the vaccine (she was in the health care profession). She had tried to get the shots for Helmut but protocol denied him because he was a few months shy of turning 65. As his illness worsened, he and his dad were hospitalized. His mother had tested positive also but with a light case. Helmut and his father, hospitalized on the same floor of the hospital, passed within 2 weeks of being tested positive. His wife, even though vaccinated, was not allowed to be with him.

Was there a logical reason his wife didn't get sick other than she had had the vaccine? 

While it's true that for some getting the vaccination could be risky, for most it's not. Will it prove effective enough? Time will tell. We all need to think it through-- what will be our choice? I read that 30% of Republican men say they will not get the shot. I hope they don't find themselves exposed to the disease as Helmut did. He had more books to write...

The book Helmut had published was his dream. It encompassed a story but also what he had learned about life and wished to pass on to others. If you have ever had such a story inside you, you can understand what it meant to him when he finally saw it in print, his desire he perfect and make it all he could. It is not a romance but more allegorical science fiction. It was a book difficult to put into genres. He was working on a second when he died. One was all there was to be and here is its link. Check it out. (be sure, if you go there, to read not just the Blurb but the reviews. They help to tell more what this unusual book is about.)

Nobody's Coming

 

Not part of the plan

by Rain Trueax

Well, that last hero was pretty normal-- if being a billionaire is normal. How about a hero who has some unusual habits-- like shifting into an animal? A rock star who wants out of that life? A man with a love that he left due to his frightening secrets? What if his deceased mother was Navajo and that land is still in his blood? What if he has an enemy out to destroy him? Hey, why not!

It takes a hero

by Rain Trueax

For my books about the Hemstreet sisters and their mother, the first attractions to their characters were location, the family, and then that they were professional witches. 

In terms of witch, I am using that word loosely as we have a concept for what qualifies someone to be a witch? Why are they labeled such? These are ordinary looking women with ordinary jobs. Two ran a boutique. One was a detective. One helped her widowed mother run the Black Cat Bookstore. All but one had their own homes-- the youngest, still at home, wanted to move out.

I referred to these women as natural born witches but fully human with skills that make them different. At the same time, they have all the usual human problems. I liked them having an added problem of supernatural powers, since that meant they had to lead a double life, where you have to hide part of who you are. What did that mean for their romantic life? 

What many people, those who don't read romances, don't know is that the male protagonists are central to the stories. Romances are thought of as stories for women. Of course, women are their main buyers but unlike chick lit, men also read them for a variety of reasons. The thing I want to explore here are those heroes in the books. What about the men!

how it begins

by Rain Trueax

If you are wanting to become an author, the first thing you will hear is write to the market. It makes sense. See what is out there and find your own version of it. There is nothing wrong with that for painters or writers. It's not though how I've done it and hence-- here's how it works for me, the process I use, which varies with the book, of course.

Often, I start with location, a situation, and then who might be involved in it. Once in a while, the situation and the who might be reversed. Most of the time though location is the initial inspiration.

Catalyst

by Rain Trueax 
 

Sometimes I wake up in the morning with a word. When catalyst flashed into my mind, I knew exactly why. I also knew what it meant. Here are two dictionary definitions.

1.  a substance that enables a chemical reaction to proceed at a usually faster rate or under different conditions (as at a lower temperature) than otherwise possible
2. a person or thing that precipitates an event.

In life, there are catalysts that sometimes we don't recognize and sometimes we do.

They don't quite fit-- or something?

by Rain Trueax 

Why books find acceptance-- or not-- is a mystery to writers-- most of us. I mean we love everything we put out-- most of us. That is not always the case with readers-- most of them. So, this is about my failed contemporary romances, the ones without the paranormal elements, the ones that are all full-length novels-- all with suspense in the plot. 

Only one of these contemporaries was submitted to a publishing house. In the '90s, when I had sent a query on Moon Dust, one editor liked it enough to request the manuscript. This is a big deal as most queries don't end up going that far. Back then, it required printing it off, double-spaced, putting it in a box and mailing it with hope... It was rejected, but I did get a handwritten note with it (again not all do this). The editor said good things about the writing and suggested if I softened the plot, I could resubmit it. I understood the editor's concerns, as the book, while a romance, is also about divorce, consequences of abuse, and the militia movement. How do you soften any of that? 

After my extensive research, I especially saw no way to soften the emotional consequences of childhood abuse.  Some think molestation is only about women, but statistics say 10% of men have been abused. It's underestimated for its impact, given men are supposed to enjoy sex. Abuse is not about sex but control. It is as bad for males as females. I didn't resubmit the book and waited to bring it out-- un-softened-- when indie publishing became an option. 

It turned out to get very few readers; so that editor was probably right that romance readers want their books softer. You know most romance readers have complicated lives and often demanding careers. It's easy to see why they don't want to face difficult issues in their reading for pleasure.

I get that, but writers have to stay true to their muse, to their vision. Each of my books always has elements that interest me about the cycles of life-- not always enjoyable ones. I think this is because those are the books I prefer to read. 

So below are my contemporaries and why they were written-- what interested me in their themes as well as the characters. 

Transitions

by Rain Trueax

Rain Rock Casino-- Yreka, California

Holy Mackerel, what is going on with time? It seems we just got home with a blog to share but now, time to write another one. Ack. 

Mostly the days after we got home have been about unpacking (a lot goes between homes) and then rearranging the house. When we are gone (with current agreement), our son lives here sometimes with his boys. He takes care of the livestock; and although in town, he has a duplex, he tends to be out here the most due to the needs of the animals. He then, of course, arranges things to suit himself. We come home and have to arrange it to suit ourselves. This business of sharing a home may not work long term for him or us. We are all feeling our way through it. One way or another, change has to come.