Red Sunset

Red Sunset -- April 17, 2013

Finding love in the wrestling arena is unlikely, and a relationship based on the illusion of control isn't easy. Scott O’Doul and Brad Fraser have managed both: one night under a blue moon's light they found they meant more to each other than either expected. Their comfortable world is shattered when Brad is released, and he must head to Japan if he wants to keep wrestling. The work is exciting but lonely—six weeks seems an eternity. Once Brad and Scott reunite, they vacation at a lakeside cabin and find the miles apart have brought them closer—but they’ll need courage if illusion of control is to become the heart of love. 

Available at Dreamspinner Press and Amazon.

Contractions are a Thing

I'm not sure why people get so up in arms over contractions. It's like they're the new adverbs or something. I've read, in more than one place, people saying they couldn't get into a book because of a lack of contraction usage. Really?

The original place I read it was in a review of Blue Moon. The reviewer didn't like the fact that Scott rarely used contractions.

Oddly enough, along with the fact that nothing ever happens in my books, I really get into character building. I was building Scott's character with his lack of contractions. I don't want to give too much away about Red Sunset, but Scott is beginning to unbend, and now he's starting to use contractions. Maybe after Red Sunset comes out I'll write another post about that.

The latest knock on contractions came in a generic post about medieval romances. The person didn't mention which medieval books they read, but since I've written two myself my hackles went up. I got the impression that the medieval speech was too difficult to read due to the lack of contractions. Great. As if my semi-accurate speech patterns weren't enough, now there are droves of readers who balk at the lack of contractions.

I will not apologize for the lack of contractions in either my medieval or contemporary works. I have my reasons for not using them (character building in the contemporary works, and semi-accurate language in the medieval works). It's just one more thing to add to the list of "why I'll never read your stuff Rowena Sudbury!"

Nothing ever happens...

The writing isn't bad but the story is dull and the characters aren't fleshed out. When I read, I want to get wrapped up in the book and feel something but all I felt with this one was boredom. There are no emotional highs or lows and no excitement.

Don't get me wrong, this 2 star Amazon review for Blue Moon doesn't really irk me all that much. It's the person's opinion, nothing more. Granted, I read it and think...no highs? no lows? Whu....? Are you sure you were reading my book? But, whatever, I'm sure the knock was what the entry title suggests...nothing happened.

In my books...nothing happens. They're love stories. My sole purpose in writing them is to study the human condition as it pertains to how love works on the emotions. There's no action. My characters aren't spies, or vampires, or shape-shifters. They don't do anything except exist in their worlds. They are kings, woodsmen....wrestlers! They live mundane little lives, but they burn with passion and have all the emotions that fill people who are in love.

I can't get mad at people who read my books and are disappointed with the fact that nothing happens, and believe me, this is not the first time I've been accused of being "boring." Reading should be an escape after all. For me the escape is diving into someone else's normal world and going through all their ups and downs as they revolve around love. I'm fascinated by that, so I write that. I can see where that doesn't work for other people. It's kind of a shame when they feel the need to give low ratings for my work...as the above reviewer notes, the writing isn't bad. But...it happens, and I've grown accustomed to it.

Twelve days into the new year, and I've still yet to write anything. Still trying to get my mind out of the whirlwind of things that have happened over the last few months, and I'm sure within a week, or two (or several) I'll be back at work on the next boring little book. I can't wait!

Year End Reflections on Writing

As 2012 comes to a close, I spend a bit of time reflecting on writing here .

Red Sunset

I'm pleased to report that Dreamspinner Press has accepted my novella Red Sunset. This is the sequel for Blue Moon. It will be published sometime in April or May of next year.

The King's Heart

I read a nice little three star review on Amazon today for The King's Heart. The reviewer admitted they hadn't read The King's Tale first, and was disappointed that there wasn't more drama in The King's Heart. The speculation was that there was probably more drama in The King's Tale, and I reckon they are correct. At least in my mind there is a lot of drama in The King's Tale.

So, this leads me to something I've hinted at before. The original version of The King's Heart did have a pretty dramatic scene in it, but at the request of the publisher I removed it. I could see the publisher's point, and rather than inadvertently send the wrong message, I revised the story. This was tough work, as I had built up the story in a lot of places to counteract this scene I removed. I fought to leave all these scenes in, even though as this Amazon reviewer noted, a lot of the sex scenes were rendered pointless.

In any case, a three star review is a win in my book, so I marked the review "helpful."

Passionate Cooks eCookbook!

The Passionate Cooks cookbook is now available!

I have a recipe included, and you can click here if you want to read a little short featuring Brad and Scott from Blue Moon. They tell how the salad was created in the first place.