Writers Just Want to Write

How dare they! The world, life and business has interfered with my Work In Progress, aka working title The Bride's Basket, Book 3 in my Basket Series.

>>THE BASKET MAKER'S WIFE (BOOK 1): KINDLE/UK/iBOOKS/KOBO/NOOK

>>THE EGG BASKET: AMAZON/iBOOKS/KOBO/NOOK

I'm headed for The Bride's Basket last quarter, the windup--until I add more onto the series. :) But amid this last slide into home, I need to work with the cover artist. (I'm hoping for a November release.)

I've just spent an entire morning--with my story calling me--cruising through stock photos. Since I'm loving what artist NajlaQamber has done on the first 2 books, I'm hoping for an appropriate match. Or killer cover. I love these covers! Tip: The more ideas you can give a cover artists, the better.

Holing up while writing this book hasn't been possible and you'll see the stuff below that has interfered during The Bride's Basket's creation. I'm still hoping for November publication. :) During this book, running on a parallel timeline I've:

•  traveled/visited family
• took care of a sick relative
• learned a whole lot* from Joanna Penn/TheCreativePenn *Priceless info for the business side of writing, which most of us do not totally enjoy. However, to save our dimes, a lot of us do our own slave labor.
• dug in and learned basic WordPress enough to re-establish my actual website. During a stressful family time, I had to transfer my name domain to my blog. Time-saving, you know.
• worked more with Dragon and a podcasting microphone, recommended by JoAnna Penn, and excellent interviewer and podcaster. Excellent. I have the recommended mic, so therefore I must also be excellent--right? :). I had Dragon on my PC, but shifting to Mac, had to relearn some stuff. Mac has a good built in mic, but this mic helps a lot. I'd used a headset before and if I purchase another mic, it will be a headset. It's what you're used to using.
• Purchased and fully love Vellum, software that does amazing things. It takes a Word file and formats it for all different major ebook sellers. It also does epub, so useful with SmashWords and others. I love VELLUM! It truly is gorgeous! It is only for Mac at this pt--or so I understand--however, TheBookDesigner (Joel Friedlander) offers packages that do both ebook and paper layouts. If you want to learn more about Fonts, do check out Joel's blog. (I prefer to handcraft my paperbooks. I'm just that way. :))
• Worked more with Scrivener--no simplistic software, but excellent organization and story-ware. If you're writing series, the hottest thing going now, you need an organizer. But it does a whole lot more and formats. Try the trial version. Got one for my Mac and just now IOS came through for one for iPad. Haven't tried the iPad version yet. I am truly hoping to do more with Scrivener in a new series I'm laying out now. Yep. Western guys again. I hope. :)
• Then the everlasting downsizing--not fun, people. Sorting, packing, selling equals a big UGH!
• One of the best experiences recently was working with Ryan Zee to promote my enewsletter subscription. If you're not on my enewsletter, you should be.:) I'm learning more of shipping free books to contest winners via BookFunnel and other ways.

NOTE: I wish I could run away from DOWNSIZING, but I guess it's my monster to tame. I'm skipping canning and making jams this year, but I may freeze zucchinis/summer squash for stews and for zucchini breads.

Please do join my enewsletter for more? The Egg Basket's beta readers came from my enews contact and I truly love those 6. I hope they have time to read my other work. :)

>>THE BASKET MAKER'S WIFE (BOOK 1): KINDLE/UK/iBOOKS/KOBO/NOOK

>>THE EGG BASKET: AMAZON/iBOOKS/KOBO/NOOK

Story Fetching

Writers have to get out from behind their desks to be fresh. Stories are out there waiting to be collected, which I did.

I've just gotten back from a 5000 mile, 18 day trip from and back to Missouri. Traveling alone, I just let the stories roll onto me. I loved every minute. My thanks to Honda for my sweet running CR-V 2002 LX, a plain good driving car and no gas hog, either.

The Trip: From SW MO, I headed north to Sioux Falls, IA and then took a left on I-90.  SD, WY, MT, ID and then North Central WA State to visit relatives. One of the highlights there was getting a tour of a relative's Boer goats. Very interesting. More stories brewing about those, and the one Nubian "weed-chewer."

Somewhere in the ID mountains, there was a fantastic elk with velvet on his rack. Huge, gorgeous beast munching beside the road. I really slowed down when passing him because of danger, and so wished I could have taken a photo. The problem with cameras and animals and that the animals move quickly. :)

June apparently is calving month and throughout the first leg, there were lots of calves. At a guess, more Angus than others.

A few days there, then I cut down WA State to Longview, WA just across the river from Oregon.

Longview has lots of logging, and the air smelled great. Across the river was even better driving with lots of greenery to the famous Hwy 101. If you haven't traveled on 101, you'll love it. Lots of gorgeous scenery, and I had a great fish and chips lunch at the Sea Hag in DePoe Bay.

I visited relatives in San Fran for a wkend or so and then drove a straight shot thru hot I-80 NV/UT/WY/NB. From Lincoln, NB, it was a jog around and then down to KC and south to SW MO. Did I say it was hot??!!

It is great to bum off relatives, which helps on motel etc. expenses. :) Thank you, everyone. Loved Panda Express in San Fran and wish we had one near.

These were waiting for me on my porch light. I tried to sell them to my neighbor and he wouldn't take the bargain. Relocated them in a tree for mama to tend.

I've driven parts of I-80 when researching Night Fire, set on the Oregon Trail. If you can, take that trip and you can almost feel the struggles of the pioneers. As a writer, one of the most difficult tasks is getting the time matrix correct, this because certain points had to be reached by certain dates. I read the diaries of Donner Pass, and when driving that area had the eerie sense of their terror.

I really wanted a good windmill photo, like the one I saw in KS. There were so many lives and stories caught in the few remaining paddles. Alas, all the windmills I saw on this trip were new and shiny, or without paddles.

A few humor points: 1.) I counted 18 road kill deer and no antelope, though they were visible. I came to the conclusion that antelope are smarter. Okay, they are probably faster and dodge better, but I like the smarter idea.
2.) On some NW pass, maybe just before swooping down into Coeur d'Alene (gorgeous walls of pines on either side of the road) there were signs directing people to call and report unsafe drivers. The numbers to call were full length, which would require the reporting driver to divert his attention. Not only that, but there was no cell phone reception for miles.
3.) Near Salt Lake City, on the miles of white flats, black stones formed graffiti along the road. And the 4-story tall metal tree with canoes was a true surprise. :)

These long drives are heaven and gifts for the storyteller. I never got that shot of the perfect aged wooden windmill, but did love WY's wind farms. The scenes were almost sci-fi, all those 3-paddled monsters lined up on the horizon. Congratulations, WY.

I'll be writing more about my trip. Loved every minute--5000 miles and no trouble.

!!Then after I was home decided to drive to the "Vegetable Lady". Picked up a spike and got a flat tire within miles from my house. :)

Return to Fairy Cove

Return to Fairy Cove by Cait London (that's me) is the new title for What Memories Remain 2004. Now in e-publishing, this story has a new title and a new look.

Set on the shores of Lake Michigan, (a gorgeous real place I loved to visit and research) fictional Fairy Cove is saturated with great Scots-Irish lore.  There is nothing like the feel of actually visiting the site of fictional stories.

I also loved researching wooden boat building, which the hero, Ewan is set to do....

Reviewed originally as What Memories Remain, Return to Fairy Cove, is the story of world-worn Ewan Lochlain returning with his dream of building handcrafted boats, the same as his father, in the same lakeside shop. It's a promise to himself that he intends to keep.

But fiery Cyd Callahan has big plans for the lakeside shop, including making a mint from its sale. Haunted by her childhood, she'll do no favors for one smooth talking, gorgeous hunk, Ewan Lochlain. And she's set for revenge....

Determined to stake his claim on what’s his, including flame-haired Cyd, Ewan is haunted by his parents’ deaths— which are somehow linked to Cyd’s terrifying, hidden memories, and to deadly secrets. Now people are dying in Fairy Cove and a killer is stalking the night…

Here's what reviewers have to say:

THE BEST REVIEWS:

WHAT MEMORIES REMAIN [RETURN TO FAIRY COVE] is riveting. This romantic suspense thriller is embedded with so many questions, so much drama and intrigue, it makes us yearn for answers. As it captivates all our senses with an utterly sensuous love story, it weaves a story so compelling, so mysterious, it leaves one breathless. And the ending will leave you speechless. I'm reading it again just to make sure I didn't miss anything. It's a masterpiece.

Reviewed by Suzanne Tucker
 

Romantic Times:

London is back with an edgy thriller that's sharp and taut. Cyd and Ewan are very complex individuals with loads of baggage, and tension is rife in this gripping read. 

Reviewed By: Jill M. Smith

I hope you enjoy Return to Fairy Cove and I hope you can visit Lake Michigan's shoreline and lighthouses as I did. :)

Featuring 2 Western Historicals

Since April is my birthday month, I'm celebrating with a sale price for A Lady's Choice until April 20, 2011.

Also April 7 at 5p Central, Daily Cheap Reads will feature two of my historicals, NIGHT FIRE and Wild Dawn, western historical romances.

I've been working for awhile to get my backlist up and running and now I'm learning a few of the cornerposts in selling. Daily Cheap Reads is one of them. If you visit at 5p April 7 and read her reviews, I would so appreciate your comments on her blog, which is widely read.

I'll also be posting the time on Twitter to several hash marks. Retweet if you would, please?

Formatting, learning the processes of epublishing, self-publishing is not easy, and it's taken me a while to dig out places like Kindleboards and learn places on Twitter.

Meanwhile, my new stories have had to wait. I'm currently working on another historical, widely reviewed and garnered a great review from Publisher's Weekly. That is The Wedding Gamble.

This is a great book about an 1880s professional lady billiards player, and I'll be writing about how I researched the historical game's rules, and on site at Fort Benton Montana, the historical society there, plus Interlibrary loan newspapers of the time.


Dell did an exceptional job on the rose cover, and reknowned Elaine Derillo was the artist who PAINTED the stepback, complete with historical detail.

I'm working on that cover now and using my own rose photographs, but nothing could compare with that high gloss, gold embossed font.

I'm hoping to get that up soon, but meanwhile, please note my sale price of A Lady's Choice until April 20,11, and Daily Cheap Reads April 7 at 5p CDT.

Quite the little adventure getting these books back into the stream of a new readership. Oh, and you Goodreads people, watch for my books there, too?

Westerns Ride Again

Now that summer is over and I'm back at my keyboard, I'll try to do better at keeping up my blogs--which I love btw. I've had some great writerly experiences this summer, but now it's time to settle down to business :)

First up: Published by Berkly-Jove in 1995, DELILAH, renamed DELILAH and The Mountie in 2010 is getting ready for lift-off into epublishing.... With a different cover. I'm working on that now.

As Cait London, a pseudonym, I have quite a few books in my front and back lists. I'm bringing my early books into epublishing, but it is a slow, slow process. You can find them at Amazon and just about anywhere else.

Revisits allow minor changes, such as changing my then-pseudonym, Cait Logan, for current Cait London. But hey, guys, same writer whether contemporary or historical. You'll find a different style that goes with each time period.

I loved writing my Northwest historicals, riding the trails, researching everything--no hardship at all. DELILAH's U.S./Canadian Okanagon and Cariboo trail to Barkerville, B.C. was fabulous. So I've actually been in my story locations, even if fictionalizing the names.


I'm working on a new cover for DELILAH and Her Mountie now, but this one is gorgeous, especially its stepback by the artist Pelligrino. Back in the day, there were more artist renditions/paintings than the graphic works now, which can be just as attractive. As a painter myself, I lean toward that.

So here's the introduction I'm using for DELILAH and The Mountie:


DELILAH
“Cait Logan beautifully blends the heartwarming atmosphere of an American Western with a humorous yet poignant love story.” Romantic Times

TAME THE FURY
“The fire and spark between the protagonists is really exceptional, generating and maintaining the best sensual and romantic tension seen in a long time. Definitely a book for readers who adore sizzling verbal sparring and a relationship between hot-tempered lovers!” Romantic Times

WILD DAWN
“An exciting, stunning, and intense book that will touch readers’ hearts and souls.” Romantic Times

NIGHT FIRE
“A marvelous, not-to-be missed read.” Romantic Times

***
PUBLISHED BY READER REQUEST
Dear Reader:
Welcome to DELILAH, previously published by Berkley-Jove Books as Cait Logan and now reissued under Cait London, another pseudonym.

I’ve added “and the Mountie”, because in Simon Oakes is definitely worth mentioning. I’m certain you’ll fall in love with him, too. In revisiting DELILAH, I fell deeply in love with her story again. The research for DELILAH was fascinating, and my daughter and I actually traveled the trail from Okanogan/Omak Washington state, up to British Columbia, Canada, then to the Cariboo Trail to Barkerville. I grew up near the Columbia River, not far from our origin point, Okanogan/Omak Washington state. (By the way, the Okanogan Indians are part of the Confederated Colville tribes, pronounced Call-ville.)

While a hefty portion of my fellow writers leaned toward Southwest stories, I researched and rode the Northwest Indian and mining trails. I grew up in rural inland Washington state, and its history is fascinating. (Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce is buried there.)

I have been to the locations of all of my books and the experience is unforgettable, definitely one of the benefits of my vocation. I cannot say enough about the beauty of this trail, from the lush fruit line valleys, to the exciting mountains and wild, untamed Frazer River, churning below. Amid tons of photographs somewhere, we documented this trip, and sat one night, viewing the Northern Lights in a field near Barkerville.

Barkerville, B.C.: Among all the restorations of forts and encampments I’ve visited, Barkerville stands out the most, as the best. A mining town, started by a strike, it is fabulously presented now. You can walk down the board lined streets, visit the wooden shops, the church, the courthouse, and see the giant waterwheels churn nearby. I loved this town and commend the Canadian government for its restoration.

We also visited the Mountie museum, and mention of the Whoop-Up Trail (whiskey traders) there, led to another book, set in Fort Benton, Montana just below the border. (I’ve written several books, historical and contemporary, set in Montana.)

Note two different spellings, U.S. and Canadian, caribou for the animal, and Cariboo for the Canadian spelling. Also, in the U.S. Okanogan and in Canada Okanagan. The Cariboo Trail and all the stops are not to be missed. Loved the journey and I hope you will love Delilah and her Mountie as much as I do.

As I prepare DELILAH and Her Mountie for epublishing, I am struck by how deeply I feel about my stories, every one, either contemporary or historical. I’m so glad that this new format allows new readers to enjoy her story, too.

Please visit my blog for more information about DELILAH and HER MOUNTIE, and my other early books, as well as new ones. I’d love to hear from you. Just e-mail.

And if you ever get the chance to travel these historical trails, take it. Barkerville, B.C. is fabulous for its history and more.

A Writer's Choice

After just finishing Kindle's A LADY'S DESIRE, early category romance, I'm questioning which project to start next.

Let's see: 1. There's life stuff; 2. business (that ugly underbelly of the fun writing-part)which is scanning, filing, oh yeah--need to update my website really badly. I have new software, so it's not that easy a re-do; or 3. finish the 100 pages and edit my WIP that basically stopped while learning how to work with my reverted early books.

Any one of the 3 is major time consuming. So time vs. priorities is one of a writer's "real life" problems. I did a seminar on this for writers, complete with help from Julie Hood's and my own handouts, blocking time.

DELILAH'S Stepback.

Mm. Then there's Delilah, my "Mountie" western historical. It's all scanned and waiting.

This book is special to me, as they ALL are, because I've invested so much of myself and love into the story. For Delilah and Simon, her Mountie, I drove the entire route from basically Okanogan, WA up the Cariboo Trail (that's Canadian spelling is correct) to Barkerville, B.C., a perfectly restored historical mining town, complete with Chinese waterwheels.

I took pictures of this great car trip, so if I can just dig them out, they'd be great to work into Delilah's cover.

I always research heavily, more than what shows, and this trip, complete with Northern lights, Fraizer River, mountains, Barkerville was supreme. My westerns and some contemporaries are set in the Northwest, the westerns following the Indian, trapper, gold miner, etc. trails. The Oregon Trail was unbelievable, even car-driving, because you actually see how much the pioneers suffered in crossing.

And the interviews! Loved interviewing local history buffs and gathering regional materials.

So right now, it looks like DELILAH is in the lead for priority.

But then, I'm really really wanting to finish my women's fiction, the first of a series, I hope.

Spotlight: The Catalyst

Tribute

While on a long driving trip, I really enjoyed Tribute by Nora Roberts. I also enjoyed her Circle of Seven Trilogy audiobooks. But while driving, and my writer's mind churning, I thought what an excellent example Tribute was of how a CATALYST ignites a story (more later).

Recently, I mentored a writing friend, not something I do much of as I think that there are enough workshops and material available for writers to learn--if dedicated to learning. Plus writerly income depends on how the person manages productive time.

However, writing is, to some degree a hand-me-down craft and in this case, I did for her, what my first editor did for me. That was to mark up her work, then to explain the Whys. We've spoken since, so we're still friends :)

The most useful tool any beginning writer can have is the edited manuscript of a pro. When my edited manuscripts are returned to me, and especially when I first began, I really tried to understand the whys.

I'm reformatting some early published books for e-pub, because as another writer said, they deserve another go 'round. But in my own early work, I found some of my friend's same problems. Hey. We learn as we go--or we should.

If you can get a pro to hand mark your work, then explain, as I did with my friend, the whys, I promise you'll get some learning tips yourself. They say I'm a teacher, but I have my doubts, but I feel really good about this time as she is off and running.

Her story was good, but the fine points, digging in on details are going to be better, she says, applying it to her other work. I so hope this helps her become published.

Basically, her story was good, and that's important.

Her heroine is a catalyst. CATALYSTS rate high in creating stories. Tribute makes a wonderful CATALYST study. Basically, a woman comes back to where she grew up, to reclaim her grandmother's house--and uncover hidden secrets. (That's the name of one of my titles, Hidden Secrets :), so you know I love them. And I love the small towns, the web of characters that can evolve around a main character.

A CATALYST sets the ball rolling, stirs up the heat.

In this case, the Catalyst is a woman, a homecoming. HOMECOMINGS or events are also catalysts. A dog can be a catalyst, a wildfire, etc.

But most interesting in this case, as framed so well by Nora's Tribute, is the character who returns home to untangle old secrets and stir up hatreds, which she did not create, but could none the less.





In each of these Roberts Circle of Seven stories, someone is a catalyst. Someone comes into town to contribute to the story arc. In one instance, a character returns to town.

To begin, an earth-shaking event launches the trilogy, and Nora brings it to a brilliant conclusion.

Each of the characters brings something to the table, and that's important in anything, what is brought to the table.

Writers bring themselves and their unique (or should be) voice. That voice is developed by the editing, the fine-tuning of a story. Action/Reaction, keeping background characters in their place, highlighting the emotions, working them are all elements, but how the writer handles them, contributes to individual voice.

Now, the important concept about a human catalyst, say a h/h, is that they also evolve, changed by the situation they have ignited. So it is flip and flip back. The catalyst is affected by the events they set in movement.

I felt really good about mentoring my friend and that reason is because she's really working now on pushing her on work. So I know it was time well spent.

First Big Book Backstory

Tame the Fury, my very first western romance and quite the challenge. I'm reviewing it now, preparing for re-publishing and remembering how scared I was, leaping into this new writing adventure.

As a writer, I really welcomed new opportunities, but did weigh each carefully. Tame the Fury proved to be a good opportunity.

Let's get that title out of the way first: Not to my liking, thought it sounded like S&M, but ohmigosh what a cover. Loved that cover, which cannot be reused in newer publication.

The lead in the Berkley Diamond line and the first of several historicals, Tame the Fury was quite the little exercise. Here's some of the backstory:

1. I'd written a few SCALs, Berkley's Second Chance at Loves, they'd placed well on sales (see previous post) and my then-editor invited me into writing a western historical. The phrase "scared stiff" didn't quite frame my fear.

2. Not a clue as how to market it back then.

3. I wrote about current Washington state's 1890s-1900s historical town, using my growing-up area as a base--we have lots built into us, if we'll only use it.

4. Made it through one draft, which was okayed by the editor.

5. THEN THE CALL: Apparently the excellent author created a mistake so far as the heroine's hair color. Since I'd used blonde/golden as the wheat fields, etc. and the artist had portrayed Rebecca as raven/black-haired, all my similes were cold stone dead.

So I got this frantic call from my editor, rewrite and change the color. I was working a day-job then, with 3 teens, and under contract to another publisher, so writing time was scarce, let alone a RE-DO.

I balked a bit, and then my editor stated firmly, "Okay, then, I'll just stuck blonde in where you have raven and black."

Fear gripped me. All those lovely wheat fields and sunshine similies tossed out the window. I agreed to said VERY FIRM request and set to work. It was a last minute scramble, but came up with the idea of using a Scottish type poem to "drive the book". My Highland Rose was the result.

Take a Big Note: This stuff happens really frequently in publishing, not only with covers, but formatting, publishing dates changed after all ad work has gone out, just reasons for all, but I was really, really happy with the end result of this cover.

6. Everyone seemed satisfied with the result, which was actually probably better than the original.

You can see more of my western historicals at my website. I traveled to research each one, including driving the Oregon Trail, which was delicious to me, but not to the pioneers.

And so it began. I'm having quite a time revisiting these early books, remembering all the really enjoyable research and Travel. Loved the travel to research bit.

Why, Oh Why?

  Yesterday, I attended a local writers' meeting. Naturally, 'tis the season discussion of the annual Christmas party came up. Limit set on gifts, all important, also a silent auction. Suitable items were discussed.

Well. To me, books are always good, used if the price isn't a match to the limit. Or something that writers could use, i.e. pens, paper and pads. Erasers, even. Magnifying glasses, sticky notes. All good necessary items that writers must have on supply.

So when did these various auctions turn into yard sale goods that do not apply to the purpose of what writers are supposed to be doing?

BTW, the photo of the big goggle-glasses days AND full set of owie BRACES was one illustrating Signed by Cait labels. I had more fun sticking these labels on backs of those who I knew would laugh. You realize there are people who do not enjoy themselves, don't you? :)

But onward into these auctions and gift-giving to writers at Christmas do's....


This morning, I let my stove-peculator perk too long, thinking about groups and behavior and why I may or might not fit into membership. For instance, there's a thrilling new RWA group, Women's Fiction with real pros headlining it. Their professional conduct should be a standard for all groups. I'm wishing this group well and they're headed off to a great start. Barbara O'Neal is acting Wise Woman, and she's a 5X RITA recipient as Ruth Wind and Barbara Samuels, I believe.

Now as for Christmas gifts for writers: I stock up during the year for Christmas, taking advantage of sales. But I also handcraft some items, if that's what you can call jam making, apple butter, breads, etc., plus some sewing you can see at my other blog, My Jam Jar.

With 2010 coming up, I also spend time at the end of the year making my New Year's To-Do. My list is lengthy, but right there is a writers' gift idea: A small holder big enough for index cards. Write out those To-Dos, date them and update them. Index cards are great gifts, so are notebooks and pens, printer paper, stationery, envelopes, whatever. In this economy, we are all watching our pennies, so why not give something useful to a writer?

Also VistaPrint offers a free membership newsletter which has freebies galore. So does their website. By stocking up on these freebies, you've got some nice gifts at Christmas time, and personalized if for family and friends.

I'm thinking of posting a whole load of URLs here for useful writers' tips as my gift to you. Meanwhile, do check my Writer's Survival Guide category.

Prominent on that list for writers would be Twitter and Facebook. This because of all the media work now, the ability to reach out and network. I am learning tremendous things from neat involved, business people like Lorelei King, voice actor, whose posts and followers led me on to discover other interesting people. (Love audiobooks, you know. After a day on my computer screen, it's a nice end of the day, or makes those long cross-country drives a little shorter.)
Plus agents/writers/publishers and agents are all so available. Recently on Twitter, agents answered questions and it was fascinating for hours on a Friday, I believe.

If you are not on either and you are a writer, you're missing good stuff.

I'll have to work on my Christmas list.

Seasons and Writers' Balance

 
 
 
Fall is beautiful in the Ozarks, and soon I'll be taking my cameras out for a full day of sunshine and color.

I enjoy the last roses of summer. Mine are struggling now with cool temperatures and supposed frost tonight. However, mums love fall.

Mums of every color are on display now. I usually wait until a little later for sale prices and then pick up a few. I'm enjoying these in my yard right now. I'm generally not a fan of smelly things, but the color is lovely this time of year.

I love my carefree day out, a couple of cameras, a thermos of coffee, a few snacks in the basket and nothing to do or worry about all day, except if there is enough gas in the car. That's it: gas in the car. I drive all over the Missouri and Arkansas rolling hills, taking photos of old buildings/unique trails/gorgeous trees etc. I can't wait to see the pictures on my screen.

As a writer, my mind also takes pictures and starts spinning those stories. Someone has a great saying that I'll paraphrase: You can't write about life by sitting behind a desk. Okay, we probably have some writers who can do just that. But writers need to experience life and color.

At The Second Cup, I wrote about moving too fast through the morning and mistakenly grabbing the vinegar bottle, in lieu of raspberry flavoring for my coffee. Take a sip of Good Morning Coffee, your first deep sip of the day, set to appreciate the taste and get vinegar--and you know you're moving too fast.

In today's fast-moving world, we all need some kind of balancing therapy. Fortunately, I like to do very many things to balance and I hope you do too. To see what else I do, click my other blogs at the top tabs.

Ode to Exploding Cigars

 
For the last couple years or so, I've enjoyed Love is an Exploding Cigar blog with tremendous authors and guests. Cigars Regulars are: authors Karen Foley, Lynn Raye Harris, Ellen Hartman, Diana Holquist, Samantha Hunter, Shirley Jump, Dee Tenorio and
Jeannie Watt. As a guest, I really enjoyed everyone and the comments.

Now "Cigars" has decided to close, the authors really busy with careers. I understand fully. We're in hugging mode over at Cigars, so please drop in and visit.

Here's one of my guest author posts, modified a bit for this format:
VIBES by Cait London
So I was talking to Wilson this morning about my dining experience with two psychics. Wilson was his usual stoic self, but then large pumpkins don’t often have a lot to say.

I’ve become somewhat attached to Wilson, named after Tom Hank’s Wilson. My Wilson is not pretty, the usual dull tan of a “cowfield” pumpkin. I bought him last October; I knew his kind made great pies, especially when mixed with molasses. But writing heavily, I didn’t have time to deal with Wilson and he remained in the cool basement until late February. It was time to visit my daughter and family and help with their newborn. (Yes, I’m a grandmother.) And that is how Wilson became my traveling companion and quite the conversationalist. As I drove through snow and ice on my way to Lexington, KY, this from MO, Wilson sat happily in my large bread bowl. Again, I was too busy to deal with Wilson, and he returned home with me.


This morning, he sat in his bread bowl on the couch (I hadn’t unpacked yet), and while the conversation was silent, I’m certain he understands about psychic vibes.

There I was, sitting between two psychics after lunch. One gave me a tarot reading, while the other conveyed her “spirit guides” conversation to me. Both readings were possible, sometimes true, and equally hair-raising.

In preparation of writing my romantic suspense Aisling Psychic Triplets trilogy, I’d previously interviewed psychics and understood something of their personalities and experiences. Generally, there’s some trauma in their pasts, just as with my triplets—Claire, Tempest, and Leona.

As I sat between these two psychics, tarot cards and lunch leavings on the table, I felt their vibes mixing around me. I came to wonder if the readings were actually mine. Did I have psychic ability? Okay, reportedly my family has touches of the abilities and sometimes do connect with each other, though miles apart.

With three daughters, I understand the family dynamics of the Aislings, and how the familial position affects their personalities. My middle daughter is a really good character study and Tempest in A STRANGER'S TOUCH was created from her personality. Likewise Claire, the youngest in AT THE EDGE, derived from my youngest, and Leona, the fighter, the most fierce and powerful emerged from my eldest daughter’s traits. (Leona in FOR HER EYES ONLY was a 10/08 release.)

Explaining psychic vibes can get a little chancy, because the whole field is a bog of uncertainties and nonrealities. I’m certain that when psychics of any kind are near each other, their vibes mix, much the same as my triplets’ emotions and thoughts mixed, when in close proximity. That is why the Aislings, contemporary women descended from a Celtic seer and a Viking chieftain, must live a distance from each other. No way would you to romance a hunk, such as Marcus Greystone with your sisters and mother understanding what’s going on. Which is why Tempest Storm, the middle-born, and heroine of the 2nd book in the trilogy, stays away from water, a universal transport for psychic sensations/thoughts, when in Marcus’s arms.

  Wilson, sitting in his bowl with the Hawaiian leis I’d placed around him (after all, he’d been through several states, but never Hawaii), understands Marcus perfectly, probably a male-to-male thingie. After a one-night stand, Marcus isn’t happy with the woman who left his bed, without saying good-bye. He wants a rematch with Tempest, this time without her protective gloves, and he also wants her psychometry ability to solve a cold-case murder. Tempest is psychic-hand endowed, able to feel the history of an object, and the person who held it. To save her family, she’s after an ancient brooch, which is in Marcus’s firm grip and she’ll do anything to get it.

A STRANGER'S TOUCH is set on the shores of Lake Michigan. Wilson’s vibes seemed to shudder when I told him that, but then pumpkins float, so he’d be safe.

Wilson is safe … for now. He understands how very different each book in the triplets’ trilogy is, how very individual the characters are, and how unique they fit within the story arc of all three books.

I think that all writers have their own individual vibes or use those given off by others as we create our stories. We’re probably sucking vibes from each other right now, so watch out.

Or that’s what I told Wilson.

Gunsmoke, A Character Study

Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2

My stepfather never missed Gunsmoke on TV. I suspect my mother watched it for a different reason. Matt Dillon does have a nice behind. In my opinion now, his rates with Tom Selleck's.

I appreciate the lead view of Matt's behind, but as a writer, I appreciate the reruns for the wealth of characters and how they revolve around each other. I'm seeing more aspects of their relationships in each show.

I've written a few western romances under the Cait Logan pseudonym, and I still love them. A native westerner of Washington State's inland sage and sand, I already had some background, but I loved researching my novels on site and drove many of the NW trails, visiting the forts. I went on to write contemporary romances and romantic suspense, usually with a small town western flavor.

There's the setting, a character in itself. Then the cast, specifically in Gunsmoke, Doc, Festus, Kitty and their underlying stories, i.e. the segment when Festus gambles a race with his mule and then finds the terrain too daunting. Kitty, faced with an old boyfriend, who is now on the wrong side of the law, which means her allegiance to Matt is challenged. Doc, faced with his professional ethics against a wealth of burdens.

Matt is a constant, the characters revolving around him. Subcharacters, and many actors got their start in Gunsmoke, have various romances, struggles, crimes.

Emotional conflicts abound, but one of the characters that is almost overlooked, but yet plays an important part in how the others treat him, is the town gossip. Cannot place his character name, but this person is always amid everything, running to Festus and Matt, carrying tales. He's usually excitable, ready to lay some great problem on them.

How they handle this gossip speaks of their character.

If you're looking for good character studies in a specific setting, the characters each with a part to play within the whole, study Gunsmoke.

Fan of the Fae

Darkfever

Where have I been? I wondered as I listened to Karen Marie Moning's podcast novel, Darkfever.

I'm a fan of iPod/iTunes or MP3 players, but especially my trusty iPod, small and old, but familiar to the touch, in its red case. I've been listening to writerly podcasts, interviews from Pen on Fire and other stuff, dismissing music.

But recently, while hunting for some suitable YA-boy travel podcasts, I found Karen's great podcast novel, Darkfever. Listening to "Mac's" urban fantasy, set in Dublin was addictive. The female voice actor soaked southern accent into the story....


Bloodfever
Sometimes I listen from the sound dock and finished Moning's podcast/novel at home. But I purchased book 2, Bloodfever and found it just as good. With a long trip and by myself this time, I attached my iPod into the car's stereo. Mac and Moning did not disappoint, but instead led me to Faefever, book 3.
Faefever I ordered it as soon as I returned home and am listening to it on my sound dock.

Okay, I'm behind. Bloodfever and Faefever are my first purchased audio books.

The point here, writers, is that podcast novels, such as Moning's first are great PR. But more than anything, the voice actor was excellent, the sound great. Can't wait for book 4, out next.

I'm So Pleased

I'm always so pleased to receive email asking about my psychic triplets, Claire/Tempest/Leona and their mother, Greer Aisling. And when they want more, like this a.m.'s email requested, more about Greer and Kenneth and Janice and Saber, and the upcoming babies, I'm walking on air! How nice of you to take the time to write such great stuff. I love this family, but at the present have no plans to continue. Still, you never know about the future--well, we aren't the psychics the triplets are, are we? :)

A writer receives many of these requests and some spur new ideas, which may fly with the publisher, or not. But my heart truly is with these triplets, descended from an ancient seer.

I loved working in the psychic elements, and as I look back, one of my books, a western, featuring mountainman Bear McCloud and the Lady Mariah was labeled a "gothic western". It did have psychic elements as Mariah is on the run from her evil, possessive stepfather and lands in Colorado's mountains, rescued by a mountainman.

Then in a Montana Desire, a cowboy telepath who shares his thoughts with Shep, his dog, mixes with a feminine counterpart/telepath, who is also an empath. I visited Fort Benton, Montana where steamboats brought goods to the Mounties, and where there is a statue dedicated to Shep. Shep, a faithful collie, waited 14 years for his master to return from the train.

Another Montana book, The Wedding Gamble, places a down and out westerner with a baby in a billiards parlor, owned by the top player. In The Wedding Gamble, the stakes are high, her services as a pseudo-mommy against his grubstake. Researching this book landed it as the only romance in the American Billiards Congress museum.

Watch for more backstories and keep sending that lovely email. :)

Thanksgiving

This is what I did on Thanksgiving, spending it with family in California. It was a quick trip, tucked into everyone's schedule, but worked out well.These shots are on Hwy 1, near Pescadero overlook. I take lots of photos, but love the ocean ones the best. After the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner, we saw tallships, heard the blast of their cannons, had fish and chips and clam chowder at the marina's Barbara's Cafe north of Half Moon Bay, spent a few hours on the Bay's beach, and walked around Pescadero's tourist shops. My favorite photos are of water and I use it in my books, i.e. the psychic triplet trilogy. My painting of Lake Michigan's lighthouse is at my website. I spent a personal retreat there, and would love to do the same on the NW coastal area. Love the West coast and have dreams of visiting the NE one.