Rose- The Professional Homemaker

 

When beginning a new book, the idea of theme is important but also who will be the characters. Back when it was time to start this book, I wanted a senior romance for a novella. I also wanted at least one character from the first three books in the Arizona historical series. Turned out, I found two, along with other characters returning in secondary roles.

First came Rose, who I had loved for her caring qualities. She is referred to in the first book but is actively in the next two. As a woman who has dedicated her life to caring for another family, along with her husband James, she seemed interesting to me as well as a woman who deserved a happily ever after ending. 

She had been a homemaker, nanny and carer for Priscilla to the point she became a second mother to her. Priscilla had married and moved to a border ranch, Where Rose and James joined them until James grew ill. Priscilla helped them return to Tucson, got them a small cottage and continued to pay for their lives. When James died, Rose cared for her small home and the larger one still owned by Priscilla. She found a quiet life with friends to play cards and chat. It seemed all she would want until along came a disruption.

Ollie, a rather unlikely hero, was a secondary character in all three earlier books. An aging outlaw, mostly retired, he had admired Rose but did nothing about it while she was married and then went through a healing process. He didn't want to wait too long though, as he figured more men would see her as he did. In his late 50s, he wasn't too old to not want passion in a relationship. How would that work with Rose's stable life?

Hence begins Rose's Gifts, with a few surprises along the way. 

Rose's Gifts at Amazon

and through Universal Links

For anyone interested in finding Ollie and Rose in earlier books, along with their families, they can be found in the first three in what is now called the Winds of Change series. The links are alongside this blog to both Amazon and those other links.

There is a trailer along the original title before the book had to be withdrawn over a need for changes. The trailer tells a bit more about the story and it didn't change when it came back.

Rose's Gifts-- YouTube Trailer

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

Choices

This subject began with a dream. I saw three men vying for a post at the Air Force Academy (remember it's a dream and hence does not have to be historically accurate for names or anything). The obnoxious one, with a terrible smile, won the opportunity to get his education there. These were high school age guys btw. 

I woke up thinking how Ranch Boss had done that and lost out to another guy, though he'd gotten close before that happened. I hadn't actually thought of this before; but his choice to try for that school would have meant we'd have never met as we did in our reality. If he had gone elsewhere, both of our lives would have been so different without the same children we later had after marriage. So much would have been different for him especially with likely a career in the Air Force.

I'd have married someone else, as there had been someone else before him, who was still around in an off and on sense. My life though would have not been the same. There'd have been a different family, and it'd be unlikely I'd be typing at this house in Arizona right now. 

Choices are what life is about. Many are tiny. Others big. We often have no idea where a choice will land us. Turn down one road and we get where we're going. Turn the other and some idiot runs as red light. 

Often, we have no idea how choices will impact our future. Marry wrong person and divorce or worse. Marry right person and celebrate over 50 years of marriage. Do we totally know when we make that choice. We try to make it on facts and experience. Sometimes though, it's emotions or even limitations based on our culture.

Writing romances is a lot like that, other than we might have more control over the outcome, but not if the characters dictate the results. I've mentioned how themes play into what we write, followed by a plot to get our story there. Characters are a huge part of that. With that theme, what kind of characters will work with the plot. Will they feel right to us or the later (hopefully) readers.

I do generally have a theme in mind but choosing the right characters, especially the primary protagonists, that's where real thought comes into play. There are several ways the need for a certain type of characters emerge especially in romances. One of the popular tropes is enemies to lovers. I don't use that, but it could work for me when it's two different cultures or tribes-- something outside the couple. When it's though supposed to be between the two of them as enemies to lovers, I don't buy it for what I will read. I think it's a big mistake to write a romance where one person 'fixes' the other. It doesn't encourage healthy ideas for life as it doesn't tend to work out there. People fix themselves, or it doesn't happen from what I've seen.

For my books, sometimes it's friends to lovers. As in, couples who grew up together and then realize-- wow, it's more than friendship (Round the Bend). I have some where the couples broke up and come back together-- or not (Bannister's Way) Mostly, when it's a case of meeting for the first time, physical attraction is a factor. Let's be honest, that begins a lot of so-called real life relationships. It might not be what someone  else regards as good looking (happened in my Desert Inferno) but it's attractive to the smitten one. 

What attracts us in the beginning is not what makes a relationship work. Physical attraction only carries the relationship so far in real life or books. There has to be something else that cause a couple to make it work for a happily ever after. Books need that to satisfy readers. I read a lot of negative reviews for books and that's a big one to irritate a reader.

Ranch Boss and I are very different for how we see things. He's the scientist ,and I'm the artist. When the kids asked once what makes fog. He went into a scientific explanation. I said it's clouds stuck on trees. 

If we didn't respect each other for our differences, that could have been a big problem in our choices, but we did. Something else became important. We want the same things out of our life together, the same kind of life. We just came at our choices different ways. We had another advantage in that we came from similar backgrounds. Different backgrounds can make for interesting stories but also can make for a lot of complexity in what we call real life.

With romances, I think there has to be some similarities and differences for the two primary characters to be believable and interesting. How, as writer, does someone pick those people and then make what they go through work for them. Romances usually have difficulties from outside which could be the black swans of life, a villain, but also those differences between them where compromise has to happen or it's all over-- in fiction or life.

Next blog, I'll discuss some of my characters and how I decided on them as well as how it would make sense they would get a happily ever after, which romances require. I should add-- on only one of my 30 books did my hero and heroine not get that guaranteed happily ever after as I just saw too many problems for them in the future. That book was Sky Daughter. It ended well but with the understanding it might not be permanent due to major lifestyle differences for where they could live or do their life work.

From Here to There

 

For the holiday season we often put books on sale that relate to it. I added one this year that introduced some of those characters and explained from where they had come. It will stay on sale longer than the others (until January 3, 2023) as it has a different set of purposes. 

From Here to There is the story of two romances-- one told through an old journal and the other alive at the time. It's also the story of a romance for Montana and ranch living. Today, not many know about ranch living as our culture is so urban oriented. That is logical, but it means many have no idea from where their food even comes-- other than the grocery store.

We redid the cover for the book (for the umpteenth time) as it seemed to never quite catch the zeitgeist of the book. It's not easy to capture a book's deeper purpose when it's a romance and a novel (over 90,000+ words). So if you decide, give it a try for 99¢ for another week. It's not like a novella in that there is a LOT more story to it that depicts what that life is like as well as the relationships. Still, I think for those who enjoy love stories, it will satisfy. For a family, as well as two individuals, it teaches something for the characters and the reader!  

It's a fun read. Although it is tough, I "much love" that life, and have lived it many years.

 From Here to There

the day after Valentine's Day

by Rain Trueax

If I'd had a blog day for the 14th, I might've written about romantic love between people. What is it? Is it real? Does it last? etc. etc. But this is the day after the day devoted to romance (and buying cards, candy and flowers), and I don't have any specific subject in mind. 

Usually, I start thinking of blogs, sometimes weeks ahead of time, but this time, it was Tuesday and nothing had popped into my head. Then I saw this article. 

The Misconception of Romance Novels

It's a very real prejudice that some would never read a romance novel, but they have no idea what is even in them-- since they never read one. OR they read one from years back, when as that writer suggests men had more to do with what made it into the novels than what evolved once writers took charge through indie publishing.  

Romance novels today vary for what they have in them. Some are virtually novels with complex problems for the characters to work through. I prefer them for my own reading. I like to write and read a story where the main characters are working through something to which most of us can relate. Sure the romance is fun and at the heart of the story; but if that's all it is, it becomes boring to me.

Why can't a romance novel inspire us to deal with issues we also face, as well as entertain? Isn't it nice to have a story where we know the ending will be happy? When it's historical, it can reveal what life was like in a bygone era. When it's contemporary, it can have emotional issues where we can relate-- even if they are not ours. 

There are romance novels where the story is all about the romance for those who need that moment of escape. Fortunately, today, there is room for more complex stories where there are readers who like that too.

Ever as Before

by Rain Trueax

Looking for a new read that is a kind of magical realism just in time for Imbolc? How about throwing in a threat of the living dead? A particularly determined demon? Natural born witches, gnomes, warlocks, shamans-- this is, after all the 7th in the Mystic Shadows series of books that move beyond what we consider reality to something else. Might that something else be quantum physics? What if there is an alchemist aspect to how evil can be fought and contained? Imbolc is a good time for a story that is a mix of physical reality and romantic fantasy.

Love is such a medicine

by Rain Trueax

Image from the Ben Kern wagon train, a trip taken by those who want to relive 

what once was done out of necessity.

Once in a while we like to have a book sale. Recently, we've gotten busy and have not done it as often as we would like. We decided now was the right time for the first book I ever wrote-- when I was closer to the age of the heroine-- unlike now when I'd be more like her great grandmother ;). I related to this young woman then and now for her goals and then the interference of life that changes our path sometimes. 

Because Veterans Day is a time we honor heroes, those who have served our country in the military, it seemed an apropos time for a book about heroes. Not just the main protagonist but several others who totally fit the hero profile for bravery and self-sacrifice. The 99¢ price for the eBook will be until midnight November 11th. It is only on Amazon but most eReaders can use Amazon for their books. 

Round the Bend is about two young people, who are traveling to Oregon with one of the last of the big wagon trains. They are coming with their families. One of those families is the best of the best and the other is dangerously dysfunctional. The young people have been friends most of their lives. One of then wants to change things. The other wants to keep it as it's been. 

The book is about the trip West and what it took to make it given the distance, weather and sometimes harassment of those not too thrilled to see their homeland possibly being threatened. When I wrote it, I knew the basic story. Before I published it, I had a much better idea of what it took to make the trek, the risks and the wonders. It's the story of a journey of community, our bodies, and even our souls as it changes things in ways they did not expect. 

My personal story about writing the book began when my cousin and I would go for walks during family gatherings. I liked making up stories. Often, I'd tell part and then she would. With this story, which I originally named Taopi Tawote, she stopped wanting to tell her part and wanted me to finish it. It would be years later before I actually did that. I changed the title because I feared people would think it was about Native Americans. I wrote a poem for the book though and it remains at the beginning.

Wound medicine, the Lakota call it.

    Yarrow, the English call it.

    Strong of scent, herbal healer,

    born of the earth...

taopi tawote.

        Men's souls need wound medicine.

    Some hurts go so deep only the strongest

    of medicines can heal them.

    Love is such a medicine...

     This is the story of such a love  

Maybe you've never actually read a romance. This might be your chance and for 99¢ until November 12th.  https://www.amazon.com/Round-Bend-Oregon-Historicals-Book-ebook/dp/B00UZ59KQA

When I wrote this book, I had no idea that it would lead to a series that takes the family into Oregon and its settling with three more romances. When you start writing about families, it makes a writer curious about the rest of these people like two more sisters and one I never dreamed would end up a romance, which I won't describe here as that's part of reading for the joy of discovery. Following a few years, after the family arrives in Oregon, comes Where Dreams Go. Then there was the question of the oldest sister-- Going Home which is after the Civil War. That left one sister-- Love Waits. 

Fun to write a series and there might be some more as the children grow into adults... 

 

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.

Art Heals by Diane, DISTURBANCES IN THE FIELD, a novel by Lynn Sharon Schwartz

 

DISTURBANCES IN THE FIELD, a novel by Lynn Sharon Scwartz was well worth the difficult read. I was up to my chin in attempting to keep from drowning.  I was impatient in a "field" disturbed by vocabulary that I do not often use and by references to forgotten Greek philosophy. I did finally listened to Schubert's "Trout" which played a central part to the plot. I felt I had  to look everything up along the way but found for all of my toil, it was not necessary to understand the book. Every seemingly disparate part of the book did come to an uplifting conclusion for me as an artist.  It is a love story that confirms my belief that art is healing. 

 



Disturbances in the Field, acclaimed when it first appeared in 1983, has just been reissued in paperback by Counterpoint.

The plot: "When she was a girl, Lydia Rowe spent an idyllic month with her family in a house on Cape Cod. As with Proust and Combray, Lydia’s memories of the brown house by the sea became her talisman of the harmonious life. At college, she comes to feel the same way about studying Greek philosophy with her close friends—precise Nina, aristocratic Gaby, earthy Esther, and her first lover, George. The young women form a circle of intimacy and unity, a quasi family that will endure over the next twenty years.

Lydia becomes the pianist in a chamber music group, another kind of family. She marries Victor, an artist, and though their early years together are turbulent, they have four children and finally achieve something of the order and balance of the classical trios she loves to play, the coherence amid diversity that has been her goal since reading the pre-Socratic philosophers in college. Then a tragic event turns Lydia’s life into a field of dissonance and pain.

The stoic Epictetus wrote, "everything has two handles, one by which is may be borne, the other by which it may not." Lydia grasps the wrong handle and grows numb to herself and those she loves. Though she feels stripped and vacant, her inner voice remains, doing its implacable work of observing, remembering, connecting, persistently limning the shape of her sorrow. What is the right handle by which her loss and her broken faith may be borne? How can Lydia reach a place where "ordinary things... resume their rightful proportions and places in a university of ordinary things?"

I highly recommend the book and especially my friends who write, know music, literature, philosophy, psychology or like love stories with substance. 

 

The theme: Last night June 4, the theme that art is healing was aired on Public Broadcasting News hour's Canvas segment. Mothers of homicide victims went to the prison where they shared their story with the murders of their love one. The prisoners were moved and wanted to do something to express their remorse. The prisoners got together and decided to make paintings or drawings  which were sold so the money could go to families of victims to pay for the expenses of the grieving families to pay for example the head stones. The act of doing something that expressed true remorse gave them a good feeling they would pursue doing more good. Likewise the families of the victims were  on the road to forgiveness and healing.

 

In my experience when I had oral surgery, I was able to ease the pain without medication by painting very small tight illustrations for a story book.

 

What are other examples of how art heals?

 

Guest Author: Sheila Hollinghead

One nice feature of cutting back on how many blogs I post has been being able to invite other authors to post here. Some don't write anything like I do, which gives my readers a chance to see the diversity out there among romance authors. I consider that a win/win.

Sheila Hollinghead, an army brat, was born in Nuremberg, Germany. When she was ten, her father was stationed in Toul, France where she discovered a treasure trove of books hiding in the furnace room. The house was rumored to be the former headquarters of the Nazi Party with bullet holes decorating the foyer as evidence. The books she found, sci-fi, mysteries, fantasy, and the classics, opened her mind to the power of story.

Raised on army bases, she lived many places, none “home” until she returned to south Alabama. She lives with her husband, three dogs, and two cats near the farms where her ancestors struggled to scratch a living from the ground.

She agrees with Emily Dickinson who said, "I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it until it begins to shine."

Hollinghead is active in her community, heading up her local food bank with the help of her husband. She also participates in meals-on-wheels and WinGS (Women in God's Service) who visit the sick and shut-ins.

Her newest book, Abby and Joshua, will be out September 30th but is available for preorder now at Amazon.   Special Announcement: On the day of release, Sheila Hollinghead will be giving away six Down to the River swag packs. Items include six paperback copies of all three novellas in one book, Down to the River. Also included will be magnets with pictures of horses, cowboy hat chains, bracelets, and other great prizes. Two of the six winners will also receive coffee mugs. For more details, visit Sheila’s Facebook Author Page on September 30^th.

Amazon Link, Abby and Joshua:

https://www.amazon.com/Abby-Joshua-Romantic-Western-Novella-ebook/dp/B074JH26HN/

Description for Abby and Joshua:  

Sometimes the force of a tornado pulls us from the mire, but other times, the soft breath of a cowboy is all that is required.

 A good-looking, young cowboy keeps showing up at Abby Harrington's door ... even at the most inopportune times. Abby is older than he is, not to mention heavily pregnant and with a brood of children. Besides, she is still legally married and distrustful of men.

Why, then, does she slowly respond to the cowboy's friendship?

The return of her man from her past thrusts Abby into a life-threatening situation. Will she have the strength, knowledge, and faith needed to survive?

The soft breath of a cowboy gives her everything she needs.

Excerpt from Abby and Joshua:

Mrs. Franklin entered her room with a young lady. “I’d brought Miss Williams by to meet you.”

Abby’s heart sank. Miss Williams couldn’t have been more than twenty and had a vibrant beauty. Her aqua-colored eyes contrasted with her dark, glossy hair, mostly pulled sedately back in a bun. Sprigs of curly hair framed her perfect face. Rosy cheeks and naturally pink lips made her a picture of health and vitality. Abby touched her own lips, remembering how pale they’d appeared only a minute before when she’d seen herself in the mirror.

She became aware the two ladies awaited her response. “How do you do, Miss Williams? Please let me know if my children do not attend properly to their lessons.”

“Oh, I’ve met your children! They’ll do fine, I’m sure. And such beautiful children! Your daughter looks so much like you.”

“Thank you,” she said automatically. She wasn’t sure Miss Williams spoke the truth. Susie looked a lot like George as did Tait. Wade favored her the most.

“I’m so sorry you’re confined to bed. I’ll come back to visit when I can,” Miss Williams said.

Abby smiled and nodded. “Your company would be a pleasure.”

“I must hurry back to the children now. We begin our first lesson today. It was so nice to meet you, Mrs. Harrington.” Miss Williams gave a smile, revealing straight white teeth and hurried away.

Mrs. Franklin fetched the breakfast tray and set it across Abby’s knees. “Now, what would you like to talk about?”

“Are you from around here?” Abby asked.

“About ten miles south, as the crow flies. My husband and I had a small place, big enough for the two of us. God never blessed us with children. My husband passed last year, and I moved into town. When I saw this place needed a cook, I knew the Lord truly answers prayer. So, here I am!” She beamed at Abby and without prompting continued. “When I heard children lived here and a baby, with another on the way, my joy could not be contained. I love the wee ones so!”

A nod and smile was all that was needed for Mrs. Franklin to prattle on. Abby ate her breakfast, one of the best meals she’d ever tasted, and thought of Joshua. Miss Williams would be perfect for him. She was beautiful, and young, and most importantly, not encumbered with a bushel of children. Why would Abby even think for a moment he’d be interested in her?

Any attention he’d shown was simple pity. Her husband had run off with the housekeeper, and gossip was rampant on the ranch. He’d merely felt sorry for her and tried to be kind. Obviously, he was a God-fearing man.

Anyway, if she did like him, as she admitted she did, she’d only want his happiness at heart. Miss Williams would make him far happier than she ever could. And once he got a look at her, he’d never give Abby a second glance.

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