Anyway, I decided to give them a try.  They’re brand new, opening spring of ’10, and I thought well, maybe now’s the time to get in good with them and expand my audience, not to mention my resume.   Who knows how many westerns they do or do not have, right?  RIGHT?  Heh.

Okay, okay, so you’ve pulled my arm, here’s the blurb for RtL:

Rumors of a ghost cowboy didn’t stop Jillian Brady from buying a rundown ranch in Cold Creek, Texas.  When a mysterious horseman appears in a flash of lightning, she thinks it’s the locals playing a prank.  But once she confronts him, she soon finds out the chilling truth.

Unless Jillian can intercede and save Mitch’s life, he’ll be doomed to ride the lightning forever…

~*~*~

Sucky thing is…after I submitted this book, I realized the formatting was a tad janky.  I don’t know what happened.  I wrote the book in Mac Pages, then had to convert it to a .doc so I could open MS Word for the Mac and convert it into a .rtf file.  If I convert a file from Pages directly to a .rtf, the formatting is WAY off.  I didn’t write the book in Word, because I didn’t have Word for the Mac until about a week ago.  So, I had to do the round-a-bout convert then convert again wanky wankness.

Fortunately, the “janky” formatting isn’t as horrible as it could have been.  The final sentence on each of the 15 chapters is centered on the page.

Seriously?  What a random problem, eh?  Only thing I could think of is when I do my page breaks, I do it on the same line as the last sentence.  Therefore, I’ll be going down to the next blank line for the page break to the next chapter in future books.

Let’s just hope the Powers That Be at Carina Press will judge the story by the story and not by my ghetto way of getting the dang file into .rtf.  (Seriously, what’s with the .rtf, ppl?  Doesn’t ANY ONE ELSE ON THE PLANET have a Mac?  I can’t be the only person who has these ginormo problems getting Mac Pages to read .rtf.  My edits on HEAVEN SENT were more like SENT FROM HELL.  lol  **Good news, tho, Leanne, I’ve got MS Word for the Mac now!!!**)

Let’s hope that solves my problems…

Okay, in other news….

Champagne Books has offered me a contract for MARK OF THE B*E*A*S*T*!!!    Once the ink has dried on that contract, it shall be slated for a SEPTEMBER 2010 release.  WOOOHOOO!  I’m so excited for it, you don’t even know!  I know, it’s 10 months, folks, but who knows, by then I should have a LOT more good news to share (I’m hoping) followed by a bunch of other release dates **crossing fingers**

I’ve got…FIVE books out for submission right now.

Question is, what should I write next?  Time for that magical desert sheikh? Hmm…

Any suggestions on some awesome Middle-Eastern flavored music?

~~Becka

Not too long ago, I’d lost my groove.  Not too long ago, I’d gone through a LONG drought, a drought so long I wondered if I had any new stories within me to write at all.  I won’t regale you with boring, rehashed stories, as I’ve already blogged about that.

But I realized I’ve written seven books this year.  SEVEN.

That’s a lot!

KINDRED – Finished it.  Hey, that counts, man!

THE FALL OF JERICHO - Still pending publication at Harlequin

RENEGADE – Still pending publication at Harlequin

HEAVEN SENT – Bought by Cobblestone – got my cover (YAY!) but can’t share it yet until it’s approved (BOO!) lol

IT’S NOT LUCK! The Instruction Manual for Raising Kids – Still pending publication at Champagne

BLACK ANGEL – still pending publication at Champagne

MARK OF THE B*E*A*S*T* – Almost finished! 2K away from 2/3rds of the way through.  WILL be at Champagne

Wow.  It’s like…once I sat down just to see what I could plunk out, my muse hasn’t shut up!  I have another cowboy poking me after my fourth BEAST book, as well as an otherworldly sheikh idea that’s been plaguing me for ages.

Cowboy Idea:

Woman in present day inherits a run-down ranch that has some history.  A cowboy back in the 1800′s was killed on the property for a crime long believed he didn’t commit.

Woman sees a mysterious cowboy on the range whenever thunder and lightning flash.  She meets the man, only to discover he’s a ghost, who only appears during a storm.

His soul isn’t at rest, for he’s the very same cowboy the legend is about!  Through the power of the storm, she’s somehow transported back in time, when he was alive, and it’s up to her to stop his unjust murder.

Sheikh idea:

Okay, admittedly, this one is “otherworldly” because I want to write my sheikh like I want to write him, without restrictions of history and real life.  I want it to be magical, not just the setting, but actual magic, with flying carpets and potions and scrying and the like.  Therefore, this book is going to be a mixture of Arabia meets Persia, of a desert prince, fluent in magic, who’s leading a caravan that trades with other caravans and cities, a man who’s quite rich and about to marry.

Unfortunately for him, his path is about to cross with a fair-skinned blonde beauty with lavender eyes, a novelty he’s never seen before.  As he protects her under the harsh desert sun, she begins to trust him, and tells him she’s not from his world.  She tells strange stories and he humors her, because he enjoys being in her company.

She’s never known a man like him, and soon, she’s swept up in his arms, making love to him near a desert oasis paradise, yet his intended finds out his affections has now changed.  She arranges for the blonde woman to be sold – at a hefty price – to another caravan prince, one who’s known for mistreating and killing his slaves.

Can the handsome prince save his golden-haired beauty?

Both are rough ideas, but they’ve both been poke-poke-poking me to get them done as well.  When I decide on the cowboy, the desert prince whispers in my ear.  When I think on the sheikh, my cowboy bares his chest.  LOL  What do I do?!? 

Anyhow, that’s what I’ve been up to lately.  As always, when I can share my cover for HEAVEN SENT I’ll post it here.  When I find out any word from Harlequin or Champagne Books, I’ll let you know too.  And I’ll definitely let you know when I’m done with BEAST #4.  I’m trying to get it out the door by the end of November for NaNoWriMo.  I didn’t sign up, but it’s still a good goal to have, right? 

~~Becka

Here’s the short blurb for those interested:

When God gives you an angel, you don’t turn your back.

For years, Pryce Daniels has mourned his wife’s passing.  He’s lived alone in the Montana wilderness, yearning to feel the warmth of a woman once more.  This Christmas, God has heard his cry.

A consuming passion overtakes them, but Pryce’s doubt threatens their delicate bond.  Before he can accept his gift, he must let the memory of his wife go.  But his hesitation might cost his angel her life.

YAY!!! 

~~Becka

(FYI, for those who’ve read my old skool Inspies back in the day… Yeah.  This one isn’t an Inpsie.  Although it does mention God and His angels.  Who knows, maybe it is inspirational after all.  I’m hoping I’ve meshed the erotic and the Inspie romance together in this one.  Fascinating pairing, don’t you think? )

After a time, I tried my hand at mainstream romances.  Found not only was that more lucrative, but it was more fun (for me, anyway.)  I enjoyed writing sexual tension and the full culmination of a romance.

Lemme tell ya, that confused more than one reviewer.  Heheh

So I decided to write mainstream full time and drop the Inspies all together.  Now, all my Inspies are out of print since By Grace Publishing went under.  They’ll probably stay tucked away and those of you “lucky” enough to read them can say, “I remember when…”

Then came the Harlequin Desire.  I read them by the truckload.  Thought hey, I can write one of those!  Tried my hand, but ultimately got rejected.  Plot line wasn’t what they were looking for.  But after I wrote a few contemporaries, I realized that is not my genre of choice.  Becoming a Desire author might not be where I want to go.

But paranormals are great!  Fantasies can be fun too.  And Westerns are a rootin’ tootin’ good time!  I actually decided awhile ago my historical novels would be Westerns.  Why?  Well, I enjoy Regency/Victorian England as much as the next author/reader.  But, I believe enough authors are covering the genre.  And aside from a random pirate novel that might be fun, maybe even a Medieval, my desire to write in historical England isn’t that great.  Besides, when’s the last time you went to the romance section and saw Westerns all over the place?

You don’t, really.  I want to change that.  I want to help my friends, like Beth Williamson, and other authors, like Cheryl St. John and Kate Bridges bring them back.  They’re my favorite genre to read AND write.

I was talking to another author friend of mine about how much more prolific eAuthors are than print authors.  Sure, we get a lot  more in royalties, but our audience is a niche.  We have to write many more books to “pay the bills” than a big-timey successful NY author might.  Writing one book a year would be stifling to my muse!  LOL

Therefore, while I’m looking for bigger and better pastures to publish in, I am in no way turning my back on the small ePresses.  I know I’m very prolific.  I don’t think any agent or big name publisher I get is going to want to release a story by me every couple of months, assuming I don’t have a multi-book deal (hey, one can always dream!)  Anyhow, there’s just some stories I have that might not jive with more traditional publishers.

But you never know, right?  My plans for today might not be my plans for tomorrow.  If I’m picked up by an agent or a well-known publisher, obviously my writing will gravitate toward that, writing more books for them, perhaps pitching a series, etc.  You never know.  If I’m not, then I’ll continue to do what I’m doing.

But like I said before, sometimes where you plan to go isn’t always where you end up.  We’ll see which way I go at the end of the day. 

~~Becka

That was just a few days ago.  I knew I didn’t have much time, but the minimum was only 10K.  I didn’t want to write a WICKED submission, which could be shorter, so I knew I’d have to at least write 10K.  With 146 pages and close to 30K written on  RENEGADE, I decided to take a break from it yesterday to see if I could muster up some kind of holiday short story.

And by golly, that’s what I did.

It took me all day, but 11,282 words later, I’d written myself a brand new book!  It’s not long at all, however, it is just over the minimum word count.  I’ve read through it twice, polished it to a shine and sent it off to the Powers That Be over at Cobblestone.

The book itself is entitled HEAVEN SENT and I love it.  Here’s the blurb and logline.  I’ll keep you updated as to what happens with this one.  You might just get to read it by Christmas! 

~*~*~

When God gives you an angel, you don’t turn your back.

Montana Territory, Christmas, 1881

For five years, Pryce Daniels has mourned the passing of his wife.  He’s
lived alone in the Montana wilderness, yearning to feel the warmth of a
woman wrapped around him once more.  This Christmas, God has heard his cry.

In a bright streak light, an angel has come down to Earth, intent on healing
his heart.  But her memories of Heaven are fading, and soon, she doesn’t
remember who she is.

A swift, consuming passion overtakes them both, but Pryce’s doubt threatens
their delicate bond.  Before he can accept his gift from God, he must first
let the memory of his wife go.  But his hesitation might just cost his
glorious angel her life.

~*~*~

I’m just so impressed I got it done in a DAY and that it’s finished and submitted.  Where are all these stories coming from?  Dang!  Muse came back from vacation with a VENGEANCE!  LOL

~~Becka

Submitting and actually getting into the biz can be a sobering experience.  What you thought was a perfect manuscript is returned to you with thousands of red marks from your editor.  You finally get your first honest feedback about your story that isn’t endless praise from friends and family.  And sometimes, those reviewers, especially the snarky ones, can really hurt a blossoming author.  Well, her feelings, anyway.  It’s a hard lesson to learn, to disconnect your personal feelings about your creation from the review.

But once you get accepted at a publishing house, you again feel invincible, and you write more and more.

Until, that is, writing begins to feel like a chore.

At some point, after a few years of promotion and chats and public appearances, your writing feels more like a job and less like a hobby.  You do a lot of work that doesn’t necessarily involve WRITING.  Promotion is a necessary evil to sell books, and no one is going to do it for you (unless you throw money at a publicist).

But there’s the rub.  Unless you’ve got goo-gobs of books and a massive following, you aren’t going to make much money in ePublishing.  But those popular authors did much more than promote their asses off, they wrote kick-ass stories.

Endless promotion, minimal $$ for maximum effort, and tiring appearances where nobody shows is quite wearing on an author.  Believe me, I know.  After I had my baby Sophie, I seriously asked myself The Question.

Do I want to continue to be an author?

I had one more book contracted (KINDRED).  I’d promised my fans a fourth book to the BEAST series.  But after that?  Was it worth it anymore?  I couldn’t find time to write.  One of my daughters is struggling in school, so I had to rethink how to teach her.  On top of it all was a newborn baby.  A messy house.  Endless ironing.  Writing was just another “chore”.

But where had that spark gone?  Where was the excitement?  The almost “It’s Christmas Morning!” mentality?  When did I lose that along the way and become a jaded, cynical author?

When I examined my true feelings behind my writing, I realized that must be why I couldn’t write a word for MONTHS.  I was tired of promotion.  Tired of piddly royalty checks.  Tired of booksignings where I’m signing books for fellow authors at the signing with me.  Where were these elusive “readers”?  Sure, authors are avid readers too, I should have been thankful.  But I wasn’t.

My pride had gotten in the way, you see.  I felt I “deserved” more.

Once I had that epiphany, I realized why I wasn’t writing.  Why I no longer had the passion.  I’d allowed my pride to get in the way of my imagination, thus blocking my muse from writing anything more than a blog post, a text, or a tweet.  THIS is the reason certain authors turn into Divas.  The mentality that the world owes them for writing their stories.

Oh my Gawd, was I turning into a DIVA?!?  Not exactly, but I guess I was on that path.  So I knocked some sense into myself.

For my entire life, I’ve written stories for my own entertainment.  They were my means of escape, of traveling to exotic locales, of meeting new, exciting people.  Being in control of what happens to my characters was thrilling for me, because I knew no matter what I threw at them, they’d eventually have a happily ever after.  The emotion and the angst, THAT’S what I loved the most, not the promotion, not the appearances, not even the royalties.  If you’re good enough, your story can transcend all that material bullshit (pardon my French).

When I realized that wisdom, I let go of my pride and allowed my muse to go where she would, without inhibitions, without expectations.  Since I’ve “released” her, I’ve written two stories, finished one that had been eluding me for two years, and started another, of which I’m already fast on my way to page 100, and this all within a SIX WEEK timeframe.  For those keeping score, that’s two novellas, one short story, and one full-length novel.  I’ve scheduled in my writing time during the day, after chores and school, between 3pm and dinnertime.  Nowadays, I get frustrated when I’ve got to stop my train of thought to feed the family.  I’m constantly plotting, bouncing ideas off my crit partner (Donica Covey) and finally getting into that groove I used to be in when the “world” was new.

Writing is fun again.  Why?  Because it isn’t about the hype, the fame, the money, or the entitlement.  It’s about the STORY, something Samhain Publishing* knew all along. 

~~Becka

*”It’s All About The Story” is Samhain’s company motto. 

Vampire Oracle: TOMB

My contribution to Cobblestone Press’s Vampire Oracle series, entitled TOMB, is now in print!    Go find your copy at:

http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/vampireoracle4.html

I’m excited to see this one finally in print with a few of the other stories in the series.  The entire series is 25 novellas long, with a total of FIVE print books all together to tell the entire thing, of which my story is #20.  By all means, you do NOT have to read the entire series to understand what’s going on, but just be aware each book is connected with the same story hook, a “tarot” card of sorts that helps the vampires find their true loves.

You can find out more information such as blurb and an excerpt on this page:

http://www.rebeccagoings.com/2008/10/tomb/

YAY!

~~Becka

Katherine Krieg has been friends with Jason Shepherd for years.  He was her late husband’s best friend, and became the one person she could lean on after her husband’s untimely death.

Jason has loved Kathy ever since the first moment he laid eyes on her.  He’s bided his time, waiting until she was ready for another relationship before telling her exactly what he wants and exactly how he wants it.

He’s shocked her with his bawdy talk, but Kathy cannot deny her own desires.  It isn’t long before lust overtakes propriety and they both go up in flames.

http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/whatiwant.htm – Buy the eBook!

I first heard of Twilight when DH found the movie trailer on Apple.com.  He called me over to his computer and told me to watch, saying it sounded like something I’d be into.  It was romance + vampires.  Sounded right up my alley.

Well, I never actually saw the movie in theaters.  I kind of wanted to, but the throngs of teenage girls turned me off.  Then, I learned it was a book series.  For Christmas, DH put the first book, Twilight, into my stocking.  I must admit, I think I actually rolled my eyes when I saw it.  LOL  I think I was turned off by the fact it was written or geared toward young adults.  I do have a few friends in the writing industry who avidly read young adult, but I haven’t read them since I was… well, a young adult.

The book went on my shelf and sat there.  I even stuffed it into my hospital bag when I checked in to give birth to my daughter.  But it still sat untouched.  One day, after we’d come home with a new baby, my hubby asked me if I’d read it yet.  Since he’d given it to me as a gift, I knew he’d keep asking every few days until he became so annoying that I’d read it just to shut him up.  Before things escalated to that point (lol), I decided to pick up the book, if only to give me something to do while breastfeeding.

Twilight and the other books in the series, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn are all written in first person.  I find first person point of view to be tedious most of the time, and the only author to really pull it off in my opinion is Jim Butcher of Harry Dresden fame.  However, I found myself not hating the writing style.  Actually, the writing style is probably the best part about this saga.  I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Meyer’s prose.

You see, as an author myself, I rarely read a story just for the “story” these days.  I pay attention to how an author tells a story, how they set up their characters, and where they lead them.  I must say, parts of these books were painfully obvious, plot-wise.  In order to have any kind of suspense in a saga where each book is a tome, there has to come a time when the hero and heroine are separated.  In romance especially, there comes a time when the heroine puts herself in a stupid or dangerous situation, whether intentional or not.  With a teen story, you have to have the disapproving parent.  And with a beautiful girl, every dude in the neighborhood wants to hook up.

These books had all of the above.

The heroine, Bella Swan, suffers from an affliction we like to call in romance the “TSTL syndrome”, or “Too Stupid To Live”.  While I understood Bella’s angst, her recklessness was taken a bit too far at times.  Jumping off a cliff into the ocean by YOURSELF comes to mind.  Riding a motorcycle for the first time by yourself without a helmet is up there as well.  How about walking alone through a dark, ominous part of town (which is also up there in the predictable section with the unsavory ne’er-do-wells she needs to be saved from)?  Not to mention Bella’s kinda whiny.  I have to admit, I didn’t like her character much, until the last book when everything comes together.

The Jacob storyline throughout bothered me.  At times, he reminded me of a creepy stalker who won’t take no for an answer.  He was determined to convince Bella she was in love with him, at the expense of forcing her to her feelings.  That rubbed me the wrong way.  What man will force a woman to kiss him except the insensitive ones?  I didn’t like Jacob much.  At first, I felt for him pining over a woman who would never love him.  I think we’ve all been there at one point or another in our lives.  But once he became a wolf, his “alpha-ness” took over.  Didn’t like his version of alpha.  And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE me some alpha males in my stories.

What bothered me is when Edward left town in book two, New Moon, Bella begins doing reckless things just to hear his voice in her head.  His voice isn’t a memory, it talks in her head as if he’s there with her, prompting her to do the disastrous things just to hear it again (which is supposed to make us understand why she risks her life…  Uh, no, she’s still TSTL.  LOL).  Anyhow, this was never explained as the story went on.  I fully expected Edward to be secretly spying on her and inserting his voice in her head as a part of his mind-reading powers.  But when he eventually does come back to town and learns of Bella’s recklessness, he’s genuinely shocked and horrified at the things she did.  So his voice in her head really was her own psyche?  I didn’t like that much.

However, book two also has one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in a book, with regards to artistic expression as a writer.  And that is the passage of time while Edward is gone.  I absolutely ADORED what Ms. Meyer did, and praise her editors for letting her do it.  I think I literally exclaimed, “Awesome!” when I saw that.  It probably doesn’t mean much to you readers, but for me, it made me sit up and take notice of this series  moreso than I would have otherwise.  To put it simply, instead of chapters, six (I think it’s six) consecutive pages simply has one word centered on it in capital letters.  The names of the months passing.  Totally original in my opinion.

Toward the end of the series, I fully expected Jacob to find his mate, to imprint, I think, as they called it.  But what happened I totally did NOT expect.  I had expected him to imprint with Leah, and in fact, it probably would have been more “comfortable” for me if he had.  The romantic in me SO wanted it to be her.  Poor thing is still out there somewhere without a mate.  But the intense draw between Edward and Bella seemed to be along the same lines of Jacob’s pack’s imprinting with their mates.  I actually expected there to be some similar explanation with vampires, but Ms. Meyer didn’t go that way.  That surprised me, seen as how they felt so deeply for each other, to the point of wanting to curl up and die when separated even for a little while.  It seemed supernatural to me rather than merely finding your one true love.

My recommendation, however, is for this saga to only be read by young adults 16 and older.  If you have younger teens who want to read it, you should read it first and then decide.  There’s nothing overly gory or scary in these books, however, Ms. Meyer doesn’t always “close the door” with regards to the sex scenes.  While the scenes are nothing as hot as what I write (lol), they’re still intense for the type of story it’s marketed to be, especially as the books go on.  If you don’t want your young teen to read that, proceed with caution.  I actually believe this story, the entirety of it, is geared toward adults but marketed as young adult because of the age of the characters.  However Ms. Meyer did succeed in taking me back to my high school days, as horrid as they were.    I remember sitting next to “that guy”, being excited or disappointed in class when he did or didn’t show up.

All in all, I devoured the books (no pun intended) in just a couple of weeks.  Let me tell ya, it’s hard holding a 700 page hardback behemoth while clutching a nursing newborn, but by golly I did it!

I loved the prose, I loved the way Ms. Meyer told her story, even if it was predictable and annoying at times, and I enjoyed her new take on vampires.  Edward’s unwillingness to turn Bella and his reasons for it are a far cry from vampires in your “typical” romantic fiction.  I’m used to vamps getting it on and biting women with nary a care.  Edward was portrayed much differently, and that was a breath of fresh air.

All in all, I would recommend this series despite the rabid fangirls.  I still haven’t watched the movie, but I’ll probably buy it on DVD when it comes out in a few weeks.  My only suggestion is to buy all four books at the same time to save yourself the midday trip to the bookstore when you’ve just gotta find out what happens. 

Good job, Ms. Meyer.  Four stars from Becka.