Mark Dawson says "There's never ben a better time to be a writer." That is true as far as getting a book published. Indie publishing allows anyone to publish a book, good or bad and the good are mixed in with the bad books. 

One of my friends who does not write books, but is an avid reader told me he has purchased so many trashy books, he no longer orders books. He checks them out at the library. Another friend who is also an avid reader but not a writer, only acquires a book if it is free. He doesn't care whether or not it is a good book. If it's bad, he tosses it. 

Ninety-nine cent and free books, make it impossible for me as an author. I've been traditionally published, small press published, and indie published. Regardless of which way I've been published, promoting my book is up to me. Author Lori Corsentino, author of paranormal adventure books, agrees completely and it is expensive. I can spend a huge amount each month on Facebook Ads and Amazon Ads. True, it helps sell books, but in my case not enough to recoup the amount I spend. I need two jobs - one for living expenses and one for marketing. I can't afford to be an author. 

As Dawn Annis who writes an historical Scotch Highland series said, "I cannot afford to market. How do I market with 69 cents, my royalty last month? I'm tired of marketing and not getting a thing out of it."

I've taken workshops on marketing, newsletters, writing blurbs and learned along the way. No sooner do I learn one thing and it changes so I need to take another class. Some classes are free. Others are expensive - Email Marketing Unplugged- 
Class of 2021 - just $197. Mark Dawson offers several courses from writing a good book to selling that book - lots of output for my money. Book Launch $997, Blurb Deals - $12.95 per month, Newsletter -$10.00 per month and so it goes. Add to the expense of the workshops, money I spend to buy programs such as key words and categories. 

With all the workshop offerings and the time it takes to market, I no longer have time to write.

"I'm tired of comparing myself and coming up short. It has taken the fun out of writing a book," Dawn Annis said. I couldn't agree more.

It is true, some authors are doing well. I hear about them. I don't read about the ones who are struggling like me. I realize I will never sell many books so I should give up writing. Since I do not enjoy writing anymore, it should be easy but it isn't. Stories are in my mind before I finish a book and I can't wait to get started on a new one. Series are the in books right now. I don't like series. I get bored with them. Still, I'm giving it a try. Although I can't afford to be an author, it's hard to give up writing. Maybe I should write for the fun of seeing my characters come to life, how they solve and overcome their problems, the dark moment, and the glorious ending. But, I can't afford to be a published author.

•     When did you start writing? 

       I've been a writer since fifth grade and have never lost my enthusiasm for telling stories.  My interest in the craft led me to a career in nonprofits doing public and community relations and marketing. Simultaneous, I published news and features as a free-lancer.
       At the same time, I became involved in civic and grass-roots organizations, political campaigns, writers' and art's groups, and children's literacy. For years, I entered recipe contest and was a finalist once to the Pillsbury Cook Off.  A special love of mine is live theater. If I had been nine inches taller and thirty pounds lighter, I might have been an actress.
For reasons unknown (an unacknowledged optimism?), I believe I can make a difference in this world.
        
2.    Where do you live today? What are your favorite activities when not writing?
      I primarily grew up in Colorado where I continue to live. My stories take place in Colorado. When not writing, I read. Jogging, weight lifting (light ones) biking with my husband are frequent activities. Doing them with another person makes them more fun. We live near superb outdoor trails in natural areas. We've even seen deer and a wild coyote!    

3.    Tell us about your family. Did you have an occupation outside of writing.
       My family lives in Colorado, too, two kids and three grands. I've worked my whole life in public relations and communications for nonprofits. I took official retirement a few years ago to concentrate more on writing.

4.     Why and when did you start writing and in what genres?
        I decided to be a writer at age 10 and have never completely stopped. I write contemporary women's fiction along with literary.

5.    Who is your publisher or do you indie publish?
       I've been published by several small publishers, but when the last one closed shop, I contacted others and have just signed a contract for a reprint from the Totally Entwined Group in Britain. It should come out this fall.

6.    Do you write series or single title books? Where do your ideas come from? How do you create characters, decide on conflict and time period and do research?
       I write single-title fiction about women. Characters are a conglomeration of people I know, read about, meet, see in the media - contemporary for now. Lots of research. On of the reasons I write is because I love to research. 
       I've been at this activity for years. I'm always looking, and failing to find, shortcuts. Not of the actual writing, for marketing and promotion primarily. I once had a brilliant idea to create a pseudonym using the last name of a famous author. I thought a publisher or agent might think I was his illegitimate daughter. If I remember correctly, I chose William Faulkner or William Burrows. Not a soul was fooled.
       I don't believe in writer's block. Only the wealthy can pamper themselves with that excuse. I spent years doing freelancing, mostly news and features in small publications. I learned to sit down and crank out the work because upon occasion, part of my family's groceries came from that source.
       On the other hand, I do view writing as a kind of spiritual practice. Maybe not "spiritual" so much as cerebral exploration and learning. Writing's given me new subjects to research. Even more important to my mental well-being, writing enables me to figure out people and interpersonal relations. Maybe you can tell I majored in psychology in college, although a friend accused me of doing so because the case studies fascinate me.
       So what characteristics does a fiction writer demonstrate? An insatiable curiosity, a need to know. Another is a what-if mind.
      A big ego is possibly the least desirable attribute. A writer needs to be an observer, not a braggart. She should be a spectator, not a leader in the writing world where she lives most of the time. A writer certainly might be an egoist, i.e. self-centered, but not an egotist, a conceited, boastful person.

7.   How long does it take you to write a book? Do you have a writing schedule and a special place set aside for writing? Do you keep notes on what you're writing and do you make outlines?
      I try to write every day for 1 to 2 hours, but I don't always succeed, in a spare bedroom I've made into an office. I start with jotted notes, start inserting times and sequences, keep adding notes and ideas, clean up an outline, go back and rewrite, then do it again and again. I have thousands of scraps of paper, computer files, and filled tablets and don't always remember what a scribbled note means. No wonder it takes me years to write a book.

8.    Do you instill some of your own life experiences into your characters?
      The foundation of a writer's work is experience, but readers may not realize which parts are from her life. A fund exercise for your imagination is to try to figure this out. In Never Retreat all the sections dealing with a flash flood are NOT based on anything I've experienced. However, I lived through the media coverage of the 1976 Big Thompson River flood. I tapped that  information and my second-hand emotions watching the tragedy as it was revealed. On the other hand, the parts in which Raye twirls a lariat, are based on childhood adventures with my gig sister as we played cowboys. The singing scenes had their beginnings in one college job as a singing waitress.
      I often use major catastrophes in writing, replete with floods, fires, blizzards and disasters. Everyday life can sound boring and people often read fiction to escape. My work avoids rich or famous characters to favor everyday people. Calamities show there's no such thing as a "normal" human. Everyone as different strengths, weaknesses, loves, interests. A crisis allows me to parade the character in her strengths. 

9.    What do you hope readers will take away from your books?
       This is new fiction for you" unafraid to debate contemporary concerns. . .pulls no punches. . .provides a fresh look at age-old issues. This is your kind of writing if you think. . .People are smarter than an phone. . .Feminism is just starting to come alive. . .You'll always take a human over the most advanced app. . .You can laugh at yourself. . .Women use four-letter words, including love.


                                                                       NEVER RETREAT

    "I won!" Raye's handful of lottery scratch tickets, fanned out on the staff room table in front of her, glowed in a multitude of bright colors. She plucked the one nearest her. "Forty dollars!"
      Julia failed to respond. "He's gorgeous. Just gorgeous." Her unfocused eyes and neglect of the bear claw pastry in one limp hand showed how absorbed she was in telling Raye Soto about the new man striding around corporate headquarters in Denver.
     "Didn't you hear me? My winning ticket must be an omen I'll get a big prize. You know how much I need to cover Andy's college. No student loans! Whoo-ee."
      "Not necessarily. You'll have better odds at happiness if you notice a male hunk in front of your face. You haven't even had a date in years."
     "Wouldn't start with a good-looking guy. He'd be the most dangerous type. Anyway, you've never won awards for our taste in men," Raye teased back. Her quick survey of the modest dining area showed no other people on break, so she geared up her joking. "Wasn't your last crush the barista over at Java Hut? The one who drew your initial with cream on the top of your cappuccino, then pocketed the change you were due? And the one before rode a motorcycle and crashed at least once a month?"
     "You're one to talk!" Julia returned to consciousness, leaning back in her chair and tapping her index finger, this week manicured in turquoise blue with tiny spangles, on the veneer-topped table. "Your ex-, who hardly qualifies as an ex since he was only around for a few months, partied so hard and so often, he forgot to come home at night."
     "Let's not get into odious comparisons. I got Andy from the experience, and that's enough for me." Raye pushed back her chrome-wire chair, stood, and began wrapping the remains of her meal.
     "This guy, his name's Des Emmett, would be perfect for you. If you'd drop the attitude."
     "How old do you figure he is?" I can't possibly be considering Julia's suggestion, can I? Raye thought.
     "I'd say thirty-six, thirty-eight. He mentioned eight years in the service, and I know from his resume, which passed through my grubby paws when he transferred here, that he has a solid ten years in the corporate world. Most recently, at the highest levels."
     "And he's not married?" With her free hand, Raye stuffed the winning lottery ticket in her pocket, then grabbed the remainder in a fistful jumble.
      "No."
       "Why not? What's wrong with him? Is he gay? Abusive?"
       "Wait a minute," Julia said. "You're thirty-four and not married."
      "But I have been" She considered the super-sized fruit yogurt she now balanced. The treat wasn't finished yet, so she covered the container to tote to the staff refrigerator. "I admit he's good-looking. Those ice-blue eyes, the casual dark curls." In fact, he's too good-looking. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, she thought.
     "Those molded lips, the bottom one a little fuller than the upper. The brooding brow." Julia gathered her snack leavings, then walked to the refrigerator and leaned against the open door next to Raye to continue. "I think you're ticked off because he treats you like an employee, not a woman. He shouldn't be snubbed for that."
       "Absolutely wrong! I learned long ago not to trust charm and good looks. Anyway why are you pushing him on me?  Don't you want to try your luck?"
       Julia looked up at the ceiling tiles. "I haven't told you, but things are getting serious between me and Eric. We've been talking about marriage." 
     "Eeek!" Raye's shriek echoed from inside the refrigerator. She pulled her head out. "That's wonderful."
       "Nothing is definite yet, so don't mention it. I'm entertaining the idea because I hate to see a guy as nice as Eric go to waste. Or get picked off by a sneaky man-eater like Krystle."
        "I remember two years ago when Krystle got tipsy at the holiday party. She kept rubbing her hands all over Eric, then tried to pull him into the hall for a necking session."
         Julia sniggered. "Fortunately he refused to surrender. That's when I first guessed I could trust him."             
      "Yeah, and he's been hanging around you ever since," said Raye. "That's going somewhere permanent?"
        "I sure hope so. The huuuge barrier right now to any kind of development is that car loan my folks took out and now can't pay. Can't get married, can't even move in together because I have to help the family out. Anyway, a more cheerful subject. I first saw the new director of security this morning before he even got in the office. I was walking down the sidewalk past the entrance to the parking garage when he buzzed by on a motorcycle. tall and solid as a soldier. . ."
       "A motorcycle!" Raye slammed the refrigerator door closed. "You know how much I hate those. You're not building a case for my becoming besties with Mr. Desmond Emmett with that bit of information. Smelly, noisy, dangerous machines."
       A stricken look passed over Julia's face. "I'm so sorry. I totally spaced on what happened to your brother." Wrapping both arms around her friend, Julia hugged hard, and Raye let her. "You still miss him, don't you?" Julia whispered. 
      "Like the devil. Every day. Even though it's been years. Damn his infatuation with motorcycles! I hear about the Broncos winning, and I think 'boy, that'll make Carlos happy,' then I remember he's not here. Or the first snow, I want to run in and wake him up so we can walk in the park, until I remember there'll be no more times like that. He'll never know his nephew graduated at the top of  his class, or that Dad and Mom both have new romances going." Raye stepped back after a final squeeze. "Thanks for not hesitating to mention him. That helps." She wiped the dampness from her eyes. "Many people act like he never existed."
      "They're afraid of doing or saying something wrong or upsetting you."
      "Julia," Raye said, giving the name the Spanish pronunciation of whool-ya as she customarily did when they were alone. "I'm more upset to think he might be forgotten."
      "Not by me."
      "Let's change the subject," Raye said, as she blinked her eyes rapidly. "What's all this nonsense in today's bulletin about a new approach to the corporate retreat and that it has nothing to do with layoffs? Makes me panicky. You know as soon as management starts denying a rumor, you can be sure it's true."
      "Um, I'm not part of the gossip grapevine." Julia's busy fingers rewrapped her leftovers.  
     

      Bonnie is a member of the Denver Art Museum, Park Hill Community Bookstore, Stapleton Women's Book Group, Denver Woman's Press Club, History Colorado and the 2020 Women's Suffrage Centennial, Mansion Homes Homeowners' Association, etc. Interested in visual arts, writing, community activism.


       Contact Bonnie at:
             BonnieMcCune.com
             Bonnie@BonnieMcCune.com
             twitter.com/bonniemccune
             www.facebook.com/AuthorBonnieMcCune
             www.linkedin.com/in/BonnieMcCune 

           
         

​

Books by Bonnie

Last summer, I attended the RWA conference in Denver and attended several sessions on book covers. By the time the conference ended, I was convinced my book covers could be better even though I liked the covers I had. The question became, how do I improve them? I'm not an artist and I don't think visually so I went to Amazon and studied book covers. At the same time, my roommate at the conference, Carmen Crowley, decided her covers needed changing. Within weeks she had redesigned her book covers for her sweet romance series. I was surprised. I liked her covers. Her new covers highlight couples, and I think they do tell the reader more about the content of the books.

A good photo or picture is worth a thousand words is a cliché but so true. When we write our books, covers are usually far from our minds except for titles. We writers are usually good at giving word descriptions of scenes and people, but I don't think we have the visual images artists possess.

A cover sets moods and gives the reader an idea of what will come without being specific. We hope the potential reader will open our books and flip pages. How hard is that? Very.

We do think about titles, sweat over titles, often do not like our titles, but we don't do this with the actual covers regarding colors and scenes and tone of book.

Unfortunately, most cover artists do not read our books so don't get a feel for them. They don't know our voice, our theme, our plot, our characters.  Our covers end up "generic." I can't think of a better word and I know the artists can't read all our books.  What are we to do? I don't have an answer.  I hope, if you read this, you may have one. 

Titles are important, maybe as important as the cover. In a series, I think using one word throughout the series helps. Tina Newcomb writes a series about a place called Eden Falls. All of her titles carry the word Eden. CK Albers who also writes series, uses the word Promise. I can't think of a better way to tell the reader the book is part of a series. Irene Bennett Brown in her Nickel Hill Series has great covers. I especially like Miss Royal's Mules with a young woman riding a mule.  I write single titles and I try to use no more than two words and one if I can get away with it. For my next book, I know what I want to portray on the cover. So far, I haven't found a photo of what I have in mind for Footprints on the Wall. Note, the title has four words. I may need to change it.

When you read this, I would love to hear your ideas about covers and how you make a final decision.  Covers do sell books.

  

Personally, I think knowing what should be in the first chapter of my books is extremely difficult. I've mulled over the statement, "Start with the moment a person's life is going to change because of the decision she or he has made. How difficult is that? Very. Too many times as an author I think I need to lead into this with backstory, introduction of characters and their biographies, which have nothing to do with when the action precisely begins that will lead my character or characters in ways that will change them for life. Because I do this over and over again, I can say truthfully it is extremely difficult to admit I need to toss my first chapter. Sometimes I have to toss the first two chapters because I'm giving to much background and taking too long to get into the action. Why? Because I think everyone needs to know about the person or persons I'm writing about and what makes them tick.  Even though I know, sprinkling in little details about my characters is a much better way to write. In other words, I need to avoid information dumps at the beginning of the book. It is my belief, readers are more interested in the here and now, not the backgrounds of characters.  

Presently, I'm writing a mystery set in a small town. For once, I think I've started in the correct place, with a murder. When I read mysteries, I'm captured the minute the action starts not after I've been told about the characters and what makes them tick and why they live in a small town where nothing happens.  The book I'm currently reading, A STUDY IN DEATH,  by Anna Lee Huber, lets me know in the first chapter something sinister is about to happen. I know nothing about the lives of either character, and I don't care. I'll find out as I read, but in the first chapter, I'm interested in the characters because of the way the author foreshadows some kind of happening that will hurt one of the characters and take the other on a new and dangerous adventure.

When I write, I'm a punster, but I do have a good idea the beginning, the plot, the theme, and how the book will end. In my present book, I'm trying something new. I've started in the right place. I'm writing in the first person and I feel I have a good flow to the mystery.  My writing is faster and I'm two-thirds finished with it. The title is MURDER IN STOP OVER. 

​
​     Denver, Colorado native, Linda Wommack, lives ten block from her childhood home which may explain her interest in Colorado History. She has written eleven books about Colorado with some self-published and some traditionally published. Two books are in the works and under contract for publication in 2019.
     Linda is a board member of Women Writing the West and is the Downing Journalism Awards Chair.
​     When not writing, her favorite activities are camping, boating and fishing with her husband. 
​

1.  Do you have an occupation outside of writing?
     No. I left my full-time employment two years ago to write full-time. It is very hard work, but I manage to make a living        at it. I, also, write monthly for three national magazines and three local publications. 

2.  When did you start writing?
     My first published piece was in 1990 and my first published book was in 1992. 

3.  Do you write fiction or nonfiction?  
     I write nonfiction. My book subjects vary but are based on Colorado history. I do have an on-going theme with works          involving Landmark Preservation such as Colorado Landmark hotels, Colorado's Historic Mansions and Castles, Colorado's      Historic Churches and Colorado's Historic Schools coming out next year.

4.  How long does it take you to write a book and do you have a writing schedule?
     I write everyday and research for months, even years on any given subject. My writing is done in my home office and          my research wherever the subject may take me. I call it my "history treks."

5.  What is your latest book?
     My latest book is Haunted History of Cripple Creek and Teller County.  This is the first book that the publisher actually              came to me and asked me to write it.  It has been such fun to interview folks in Teller County, Colorado who have                actually had experiences with the paranormal. I have been in buildings and houses all over the county that are said to        be haunted. It is fascinating to research to the extent that one can. I can't say that I had a supernatural experience,            but there is that possibility.

Home to the last gold rush, Teller County attracted a slew of peculiar characters. Many never left. A Victor Hotel regular named Eddie met his untimely death wen he stumbled down the elevator shaft. A female apparition clad in Victorian clothing appears on the stairs of the Palace Hotel. A closed tunnel on Gold Camp Road is said to echo with the sounds of screaming children and lingering spirits are still prisoners at the old Teller County jail.

Linda willingly gives talks on the history of Colorado. To invite her, go to her web page:  LindaWommack.com 

 

1.  Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
     I grew up in Miami, Florida. My father was a musician who also taught junior high school. My mother was an abstract artist. I became a high school English teacher. As an only child, my life was about books, playing my flute and being a happy kid. Today, I call Arizona my home.

2.  Do you have a writing schedule? What genre do you write?
    I don't have a writing schedule even after writing seven novels. It seems ridiculous. I wait until summer and bury myself in some quiet place where I can hide from the Arizona summer heat. I hammer out a solid rough draft that I can bring home and polish throughout the year. I have written the only satirical series about Scottsdale; however my interest lies with Historical Fiction for now and the future.

3.  How important is research to you before starting a book?
    Research is where I have the most fun. I love finding my way through papers, archives, travel to find treasures that bring a story to life. HIDDEN ONES is based on a true story of a grandmother arrested during the Inquisition in the New World that I found in archives. It was shocking to me so I knew I had to explore further. I spend as long as a few months gathering materials, maps, personal accounts, recipes, paintings, academic papers and more.

4.  How long does it take you to write a book?
    The average is three years, although some move along faster if research is complete. PAPER CHILDREN - an Immigrants Legacy required translating letters from Polish and High German, finding ship manifests and interviewing relatives to tell a fictionalized story of my grandmother's life. It took five years.

5.  Do you incorporate some of your own life experiences into your characters?
    Of course! I'm the young girl, Ivy in PARIS LAMB. It's impossible to write characters without putting so much of ourselves in them. Most are based on composites of people I've known.

​

     Early on the morning of the third day a cavalry of Spaniards kicks up dust as they ride past us, the rhythm of hooves hitting the hard ground, alerting us to their authority. Where are they going with such haste?
     The soldiers' feet are shoved into wooden stirrups with leather casings as their heels urge horses to ride faster. They wear Kuerasi,  a leather vest to protect them from Indian arrows. 
      I shield myself behind a tree to view their wagons. A few soldiers wear jackets, buttons gleaming in the sun, hats with expansive plumes. Swords, lances and pistols bounce against their hips, an impressive display of force, I think.  I know they are looking for me, an accomplice to a crime. Cold shivers bristle up my spine. I thrust my guilt aside, but the jailor knows my face and Mariel's.

      Marsha Fine's books have won so many awards, it's hard to mention all of them. Her book, PAPER CHILDREN, has been a finalist for three national prizes. 
       HIDDEN ONES, has won first prizes in Historical Fiction and Multicultural as well as Honorable Mention from AZ authors. In 2018, at the Women Writing the West Conference, the book won the prestigious Willa Award over 2700 entries for five categories. The award is named after Willa Cather who won the Pulitzer Award in 1923.  To read more about Marsha, visit her website at www.marshafine.com. ​

1.  Where did you group up? Where do you live today? What are your favorite activities when not writing?
I was born in Topeka Kansas. When I was nine my family moved to Oregon's Willamette Valley where I grew up and live today. My favorite activities include curling up with a good book, taking long walks in the fresh air, and exploring historic Places.

2.  Tell us about your family. Do you have an occupation outside of writing?
I have a large, wonderful, close family.  We get together often, at the youngest teacher/daughter's art shows, our music teacher/grandson's concerts, holiday celebrations, picnics, reunions.  And the list goes on. I do not have an occupation outside of writing-no time for anything else.  

3.  When did you start writing? Why do you write? What genre or genres do you write? Who is your publisher?
I knew from a young age, reading HEIDI and LITTLE WOMEN, that I would be a writer. I began writing newspaper features, columns, children's and young adult books. Writing is hard, not writing is impossible. Most of my 20 books, for both young people and adult readers are historical or period novels. I have one small memoir, CHAFF 'N CHATTER. In the children's field I've been published by Atheneum, Scholastic, Viking Penguin, E.P. Dutton, and David McKay, Ballantine and Five Star/Cengage have published my novels for adults. I've indie published two contemporary mysteries, WHERE GABLE SLEPT and WHERE DANGER DANCED and a historical novel, THE BARGAIN.

4.  Do you write series or single title books?
I write both. My latest book, a historical western, MISS ROYAL'S MULES is the first in the Nickel Hill Series released from Five Star/Cengage in November, 2018. Second book in the series is with the publisher now. My earlier series, The Women of Paragon Springs, is about a group of women who decide to build there own town on the raw Kansas plains as a way to survive. This 4-book saga takes the women from the 1870's sod house days to their part in the birth of aviation in Kansas 40 years later. Single title books include my historical novel, THE PLAINSWOMAN, a Spur Award finalist, and an Oregon historical, HAVEN.

5. Where do your ideas come from?
Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere, often from fascinating tidbits discovered in nonfiction books, old diaries, and such.  Another example: a few years back I reread my award winning YA novel, BEFORE THE LARK, about a young girl, Jocelyn Belle Royal, who has a facial disfigurement. To escape from taunting in the city, ill grandmother in tow, she takes them to her father's abandoned farm in Kansas. Always real to me, I wondered what might have happened to her after the ending of BEFORE THE LARK? Ten years later and now a grown woman, I wrote about her in MISS ROYAL'S MULES.

6. How do you create your characters?
In creating a main character, I often make a character sketch with a strong goal rising out of time and place with monumental obstacles.  I create her fears, her flaws, her personality, and how she relates to others. Action and reactions to her problem(s) builds the plot. When writing MISS ROYAL'S MULES, I had much of this from the earlier YA novel. I knew Miss Jocey well. 

7. How do you research your books?
I have a huge collection of books about Kansas--the sate's flora and fauna, major events of the real West such as cattle drives from Texas to Dodge City and Abilene; Carrie Nation with her ax, beating up saloons in response to prohibition. Schoolmarms and not so gentle women. Books with information about what people did for pleasure, deprivations, idiosyncrasies, tall tales, and humor. I joke I have more books about Kansas than anyone else in Oregon.  Teamed with the internet, I can almost always find what I need. I find museums helpful. 

8. How long does it take you to write a book? Do you have a writing schedule , a place set aside for writing? 
A book takes as long as it takes, normally a year and a half to two years, from the germ of an idea through research, outlining, writing draft after draft, to polished manuscript. I don't need a schedule. I'm called to writing each morning. I have a writing room with book shelves, two desks, and a computer. I, also, have a computer in the laundry room. I keep notes all over the place and I outline.  A brief synopsis may grow to 10-pages or more as plot twists, new characters, and surprises occur to me. 

9. Do you instill some of your own life experiences into your characters?
I'm more apt to use family history. The town of Skiddy, Kansas is where my grandmother was born in l886. Skiddy is now a ghost town but I revived it in MISS ROYAL'S MULES.  An uncle was a rodeo contestant.  My father was an artist, my mother as a young woman farmed with mules.  All of that went into the new book.

10. What do you hope readers will take away from your books?     
I want them to be happier at the end of the book than when they chose it. Excited by Kansas history new to them. I hope they like what they've read so much they are anxious for the next book, the next, and the next. I want to please my readers in any way possible. Recently I came across an old letter from a young boy whose school I had visited. It began, "You'll probably remember me. I'm the one who almost broke my ribcage getting your autograph..." Can't beat that.

In 1900 a steadfast and feisty young woman, Jocelyn Belle Royal, joins a mule drive to earn back her Kansas, Flint Hills farm lost to the bank.  Entanglements over the mules, outlaws, a women's suffrage, and a disagreement over the governor's mansion, test her mettle to the limit. Jocelyn can't give up if 'home' will ever again be more than a few belongings in a shawl, all that she owns.

                                                                                       MISS ROYAL'S MULES
                                                                                                       by 
                                                                                        Irene Bennett Brown
 
     Dusk was descending as Jocelyn Royal slipped into the darker interior of the Emporia livery stable. Moving through patchy shadows on the ground floor, she held her breath, worried that the liveryman might wake from his doze in his corner office chair. She gripped the weathered wood of the ladder to the loft and, hanging onto to bundle of possessions, climbed slowly, quietly.  Below her, horses in their stalls snuffled and blew; some shifted restlessly, God willing covering any sounds she made.  She was not a child. How, in the name of old Hannah, had she plummeted into this predicament?
     Seconds later, nestled deep into the mounds of sweet smelling hay, hungry, tired, and exasperated beyond measure, tears burned behind her eyes. 

Heidi grew up on a ranch in eastern Montana where she rode horseback with her dad gathering cattle. When not on her horse, she worked haying and harvesting grain. Today she lives in Chino Valley in north-central Arizona which she says reminds her of Montana. Her favorite pastime is hiking the many trails through the Granite Dells of the Prescott area. 
Her occupation besides writing is doing freelance editing for other authors. She has been published with Twodot/Rowan-Littlefield, and has recently venture into self-publishing with Sun Catcher Publications. 

1.  When did you start writing?  I was born with ink in my veins and have written since I was a kid. After receiving a journalism degree from the University of Montana, I worked in the newspaper business and freelanced for magazines. When I started writing fiction, I wrote western histories with strong, independent women characters based on family history.

2.  Do you write series or single title books, fiction or non-fiction?  I write both. My grandmother rode bucking stock in rodeos during the 1920's in Montana. She was my inspiration for my first three novels in a series. COWGIRL DREAMS, FOLLOW THE DREAM and DARE TO DREAM and my non-fiction book, COWGIRL UP: A History of Rodeo Women.  My mother who emigrated from Germany after WWII was the basis for my last two novels, SEEKING THE AMERICAN DREAM and FINDING TRUE HOME.

3.  How long does it take you to write a book?  I'm a "panster" not an outliner, but I have an outline of sorts in my head based on the timeline and events of family history, and I keep notes as well.  It takes at least a year to write the first draft and then go through multiple revisions.  I belong to a critique group which is invaluable for feedback, support, and help in moving forward and making my stories better

4.  Do you instill some of your own life experiences into your characters?  Oh yes, most definitely.

5.  How do you research your books?  I research by reading books and history from the time period and also from stories that my dad told me about growing up with rodeo parents.

6.  What do you hope readers will take away from your books?  I hope they are entertained and inspired and realize they can have a dream and follow it too, no matter where in life they are.

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It's been ten years since Anna Moser immigrated to Montana from Germany for love and hopes of a better life in the "land of milk and honey."  Instead, she's found harsh winters and searing summers, sacrifice and back-breaking work. After all these years, she still perceives neighbors looking down their noses with distrust at this "foreign woman."  Did she make a mistake in following her heart to marry Neil and build a ranch and family with him?  Yet, after her first visit back to Germany, she finds she no longer belongs there either.

In spite of hardships, loss, and near-death illness, will the love of Neil and her children help Anna find her true home?
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                                                                                             Chapter One  

     The summer sun highlighted the clear blue sky and warmed Anna Moser's heart as she drove the mile and a half from their ranch to the Horse Creek Store for groceries.  She breathed in the fresh clean air and smiled.
     She'd been smiling a lot since she and the kids returned home from her first trip back to Germany after coming to America ten years ago when WWII ended.  Anna had come for a better life. . .and for love.
     She had missed her Mutti terribly not having seen her family for so long.  Finally, this past summer she'd gone back for a three-month visit.  Because life had been so difficult, trying to make a living farming and ranching in eastern Montana, she'd come to think perhaps she'd made a mistake by immigrating, that America wasn't the "land of milk and honey" she'd envisioned.  But Germany was no longer her home.  Her birthplace had changed, and so had she.
     Montana was her home---in spite of its harsh climate, sacrifice, and hardships in being accepted.  Neil was her home. She came back, once again for love.
     Humming, she went into the store with her list, eight-year-old Monica and two-year-old Kevin in tow.
     Mrs. Mitchell, one of  the neighbor, stepped from behind an aisle "There's the world travelers.  You sure were gone a long time.  My, you folks must've had a wonderful calf crop last fall to be able to afford a three-month vacation in Europe."
     Her words stung like a bullwhip lash.  Surely that wasn't what the neighbors thought, that she'd gone off on some expensive luxury vacation, just for the heck of it.  All these women had their mothers and sisters, their brothers and fathers within thirty miles.  She forced a smile.  "It has been ten years since I saw my family.  It was time to go."
     "Oh.  Well then.  Must be nice."
     Anna's neck and face burned.  She wanted so badly to march up to snooty Mrs. Mitchell and tell her to wake up, that there were other people in the world besides her.  She took a long breath and turned away.  Finishing her shopping, she left the store, her earlier euphoria deflated like a sad, week-old balloon.

                                                                             Facebook@authorHeidimthomas
                                                                                        Twitter@Heidiwriter
                                                                             http://www.heidiwriter.wordpress.com

people giving her a broad education.  She has battle-weary stories about catching the freezing bus at 6:30 in the morning to go to school. Her parents told her about "walk-to-school-five-miles-in-the-snow" tales. She used her stories on her "kid." Today she lives in the sticks outside of Portland, Oregon with a grade-school, general store and a bar with a full-sized stuffed buffalo.

1.  When and how do you write?
     Someday, somewhere someone will do a study and confirm that a full moon affects certain brains.  I'll proudly wear the button that says, "I wax and wane with the moon."  It is common to find me in the thin hours of the night at the keyboard under a bright moon. The house is quiet. The crows are quiet, and my surroundings are dark, so I can't see dust or laundry or the nagging chores I should be doing. I wear headphones and play instrumentals to match the scenes I'm working on. But NO LYRICS. I can't think while lyrics play in the background.  I'm trying something new. I have inspirational pictures taped around me: a hidden lair, an eagle talons-out, a face full of joy, reminders to go a little deeper, tap into more to get it on the page. 

2.  What do you write about?
     Change. Not because it's a personal creed, but because it's always stomping and kicking the slats out from under me.  I frequently bumble adapting to it. My first series was "The Stories of the Lutheran Ladies Circle."  The women argue their way through every event. I couch the traditions, change and getting along in humor.  Letters came to me from readers telling me they knew the women in my stories, worked with the women, and at times were these women. The books are written under Kris Knorr. For the Two Pan series, I used my name, B.K. Froman. The stories are set in ranches in eastern Oregon and are about developing vacation only homes and how the culture is changed with the mix of the community with lots of humor and my secret addiction - cusswords.  My dad had a lyrical quality and creative syntax in his cussing.  I hear it in my stories. It's a struggle because my mother scorched my brain saying intelligent people found more descriptive words. I don't use C-words, F-words, or use the Lord's name. Thankfully, my editor slashes my drafts and not to many curses make it to the final version.

3.  How long does it take you to write a book?
     Haha hahhahahaha!  This is the best question yet. I have two drafts in a drawer. They may NEVER see the desktop again. I've written to others during National Write a Novel in a Month. Wow, they were full of holes. It forces a person to write.  It broke that nasty witch-voice in my head that likes to visit at night and taunt, "Nobody wants to read about this" of "This is crap" or "There so many better writers out there. Why are you doing this?" I love research and spend quite while on it. Some books take longer than others. Like everyone else, I have crazy busy times and slower times.  The more I take care of myself, the more things I learn and the more I write. I'm often kinder and less critical of others than I am to myself. That, too, is changing.  

4.  What do you want readers to take away from your books.?
     HOPE.  That's it. That's all. I try to put readers in a situation to learn something new they didn't know before, but with every book that's been published, I send up a prayer. "May this find the person who needs it and give them what they need."  I think we're all on the same road--and we're all learning to deal with change. We're together in this. 

5.  What do you do when you're not writing?
      I stand around a lot, looking at things. That's the most accurate summary. I look at my garden and wonder what possessed me to plant so many tomatoes. And where are those boogery squirrels coming from to raid my spinach?  Are crows and jays cursing or laughing at the plastic snakes I've put in the berry patch? I look at my house and tell other people I have too much to do to go to another committee meeting. It doesn't seem to merit any sympathy from committee members.  My husband and I like to stand around an look at stuff in other countries. We hiked for 15 days from one side of England to the other, and walked 92 miles of the Cotswolds, looking into backyards, barns and pubs. We stayed longer in the pubs than the barns.

                                                                                   GOOD NIGHT OREGON
             GROWING-UP. MOVING AWAY. COMING BACK. A comical thought-provoking, head-banging journey.

In 1997, Rain, Oregon native Sophia Bolton wants to fulfill her lifelong goal of saving humanity. To do so, she knows she needs to escape Rain and its quirky collection of buried secrets, the convent, a jailbird, a buffalo, and crazy neighbors. Though her family---and their collective, perpetual messes---keep pulling her back, Sophia is certain she can overcome the obstacles in her way to finally finish a college degree.

One night, in order to vent her frustrations with the constant struggle she walks, Sophia makes a secret broadcast on the campus radio station. The secret becomes an obsession and the airwaves soon become her own verbal diary, offering unseen listeners advice on how to survive the crazy, comical trials in growing into a functioning adult. What does becoming an adult mean? Why can't she stop pirating the airwaves? And who is really listening?
 
                                                                                      GOOD NIGHT OREGON
                                                                                                 An excerpt

       Then on evening in 1981, my confidence changed again.
       My family entered my fourth-grade room. Dad stared, mumbling, "Ho-ly donkey crap!"
      Mama screwed her elbow into his ribs so hard he grabbed his side with an uff.  He'd been warned. Before we'd entered Montgomery Elementary School on open house night, Mama had set clear rules. "No cussing. No jokes. And don't raise your voice louder than a whisper.
      My classroom was filled with parents and kids, but still smelled of the typical school droppings: eraser rubbings, lunches left in desks, and art projects stowed in corners along with chalk dust. Usually, Dad didn't come to school conferences because he was at the mill or cutting site. And when he was at home, he'd declare, "Why would I spend time with a buncha eraser lickers? I've got the smartest girl in class right here."
        He'd pull me to his chest, his fingers circling the base of my ponytail, twitching it back and forth as I'd try to pry loose. If he hadn't had a chance to shower, I'd hold my breath against his musk of grease, sweat, and sawdust.
       Tonight, I smelled his Hai Karate cologne as he leaned his head next to mine. "Sweetie, you don't have to look at that ol' gal after lunch, do you?
       My eyes flitted from my teacher, Miss Gardner, to my black sneakers that looked like Keds, but weren't.
      Melinda Kutcher was staring at us. She had dark hair, dark eyes, and a pixie nose whose primary function was to make her look cute.    
       The biggest problem was--she was smart. And that was my realm. It was all I had going for me. Miss Gardner usually called on Melinda. I figured it had to do with her just-right-everything. 
      My parents and I stood in a loose line of people, waiting to talk to my teacher. "That is one ugly woman," Dad whispered. "And I've seen some biddies who could, honest to Pete, scare the bark off trees. But your teacher..."
       I laughed, my hand quickly covering my mouth. When I saw people looking at me, my attention flicked back to the floor tiles the custodian had polished to a gleam. 
        Ignoring Mama's scowl, Dad leaned closer, wearing a lop-sided grin. "You only see hair like that on a poodle-dog."
       "Tonk…" The tone of Mama's voice prickled with layers of past lectures. She didn't have to worry. I knew what Dad was doing. He was king of busting up solemn occasions and best behaviors. 
        Dad took Mama's arm, snugging it under his. "Hon, no wonder Stiks has stomach problems, if she has to watch this permed Bigfoot after lunch."
        Melinda's father turned and looked at my dad. He stood a head taller. His purple-collared shirt had a logo over his heart, Cumbria Investments. He wore real leather shoes with thin laces. He didn't say anything. Just looked at Dad.
         The corner of Dad's mouth kicked ever higher, but his smile didn't touch his eyes. He began telling Mama one of his stories, yet his focus stuck on Melinda's father. "Did I tell ya I recently met a woman who had an eyeball that spun like a merry-go-round?"

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Website  http://barbarakayfroman.com

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Anne Schroeder's love of California and the West was fueled by stories of bandits and hangings, of her great-great grandfather and his neighbors working together to blast the Norwegian Grade out of solid rock, of Indian caves and of women who made their own way.

A voracious reader from childhood, she credits an early library card with sparking a desire to write fiction. Her early influences were Zane Gray, James Michener, LaVyrle Spencer and a lifetime of people watching.

Anne has served as President of Women Writing the West, WILLA Award Chair and category judge for Western Writers of America SPUR Award. Her short stories and essays have appeared in print magazines, and are in a collection,  Gifts of Pottery.  She now lives in Southern Oregon with her husband, dogs, and several free-range chickens. Her interest include traveling in the West, museum hopping and hiking in the Oregon woods.

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In l870s California, young Virginia Nugent's privileged life ends with the death of her mother and her father's guilt-ridden descent into addiction. She is torn between her love of the ranch and her need to escape---until a Southerner friend of her late mother arrives with a plan that will change her destiny. But can she trust anyone to accept help?

If you like sweet romances than you will like this sweet romantic story of hardscrabble American settlers in remote California in an era of earthquakes, bandidos and landgrabs. Part of the Central California Series that follows a white and a Salinan (Mission) Indian family during the Spanish, Mexican and American conquest of California. 

http://anneschroederauthor.com
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