Petticoats & Pistols http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Working (And Laughing) With A Critique Partner http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 Victoria Bylin http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32648 This post is for anyone who loves languarge--readers and writers alike. It’s also for anyone who’s jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  This  past year, I decided to stretch my wings with a completely new project. In addition to writing the proverbial “book of my heart” aka BOMH,  I started working with a critique partner. I’ve written fourteen books for Harlequin Historical and Love Inspired Historical, but I’ve always worked alone. I thought I was an experienced writer. I thought I knew how to plot a story. I thought I had a good ear for language. Oh. My. Goodness. When I finished the first draft of the BOMH, I shared a chapter with my best friend, an award winning author who really knows her stuff.  She had a few ideas.  Actually, more than a few. Every one of those ideas--from word choice to plot shifts--proved to be valuable. I didn’t realize it, but I’d fallen into a rut. Mentally I had incorporated every writing rule I’ve ever read, and that obedience had limited my voice. As we worked on that first chapter, I realized that my sentences lacked variety, and my diction wasn’t as precise as I thought.  Adverbs? Nope. G.O.N.E.. But there were places were an adverb would have been stunningly useful. Use a semi-colon?  Maybe, but aren’t they considered distracting?  Not always. Sometimes they’re the perfect link between two ideas. (I used one somewhere in the blog. Can you find it?) My CP and I have a lot of fun when we do a phone edit.  She’s big on strong verbs.  So am I, but my writing style is simpler. We had a good time playing with synonyms for “to walk.” This verb is particularly synonym-challenged. How many ways can you describe a person walking?  Here’s where my mind went in a moment of hair-pulling insanity:             Annoyed, he walked to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he scampered to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he marched to the sliding glass door...             Annoyed, he did the cha-cha to the sliding glass door . . .             Annoyed, he sidled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he crawled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he bunny-hopped to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he kicked like a Rockette to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he said, “Forget it! I’m not getting off the couch! My hero told me in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to walk, he’d walk. No way would he march, pace, amble, shamble, shuffle, waddle, toddle or kick like a Rockette.  He did consent to stride, but only after I convinced him I hadn’t used that word in the past two chapters.  At least he got off the couch! Now on to that happy ending . . .

 

Brides of the West is currently available at Amazon

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES WINNERS http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 02:00:43 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32724 fabkat_edit@yahoo.com and give me your contact info, I will send you your choice of an e-copy of FIRE EYES or (if you are willing to wait a few days and live in the good ol' U.S. of A. ) a print copy--your choice. Thanks so much to everyone who came by today and commented. I appreciate all the support! Cheryl]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES REVISITED! Everything Old is New Again! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:25 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32700 Three years ago this month, my debut western historical romance, FIRE EYES, was published by The Wild Rose Press. I was thrilled! Finally, my dream had come true, with the help of a wonderful editor and publishing company. When I got my first box of books, I sat and gazed at the covers—just like any first time author would. My husband teased me about “rubbing off the paint”—but I was so proud of them, and justifiably so. A lot of very hard work had gone into that story, not just from my perspective, but also from many other people. My editor at The Wild Rose Press, Helen Andrew, was wonderful. She really explained in detail why certain things couldn’t stand and had to go or be changed. But part of what ‘had to go’ was important to the story, in my mind. Still, there were company guidelines to be followed, and neither of us could do anything about that. So we worked together to find a way to take out the parts that made it more “western” than “romance” and still came out with a fine story. However, this spring, I asked for my rights back for FIRE EYES and got them, and submitted the story to another small publisher who has an imprint for westerns and western romances.  I was able to re-edit the book and add in much of what I’d had to take out or rewrite in the first version, and it was released yesterday with a brand new Jimmy Thomas cowboy cover and lots of renewed interest. The e-book version is available now at Amazon, Lulu, Monkeybars and many other e-book retailers, and will become available soon at Barnes and Noble, Sony and Apple. Here are the links for Smashwords and Amazon: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/162817  http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Eyes-ebook/dp/B0083JYET8 The print version will become available within the week, and again, I’m very happy about breathing new life into this wonderful story. Once I am able to order my print copies, I’m sure I’ll sit on the floor and ‘rub the paint off’ again. And I’ll be grateful that I’ve had two chances to get my story out there—another thrill, a second time around! I'LL BE GIVING AWAY A COPY OF FIRE EYES TODAY! JUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING, ALONG WITH YOUR CONTACT INFO. EXCERPT FROM FIRE EYES: “You waitin’ on a…invitation?” A faint smile touched his battered mouth. “I’m fresh out.” Jessica reached for the tin star. Her fingers closed around the uneven edges of it. No. She couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s your name?” Her voice came out jagged, like the metal she touched. His bruised eyes slitted as he studied her a moment. “Turner. Kaedon Turner.” Jessica sighed. “Well, Kaedon Turner, you’ve probably been a lot better places in your life than this. Take a deep breath, and try not to move.” He gave a wry chuckle, letting his eyes drift completely closed. “Do it fast. I’ll be okay.” She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Ready?” “Go ahead.” Even knowing what was coming, his voice sounded smoother than hers, she thought. She wrapped her hand tightly around the metal and pulled up fast, as he’d asked. As the metal slid through his flesh, Kaed’s left hand moved convulsively, his fingers gripping the quilt. He was unable to hold back the soft hint of an agonized groan as he turned away from her. He swore as the thick steel pin cleared his skin, freeing the chambray shirt and cotton undershirt beneath it, blood spraying as his teeth closed solidly over his bottom lip. Jessica lifted the material away, biting back her own curse as she surveyed the damage they’d done to him. His chest was a mass of purple bruises, uneven gashes, and burns. Her stomach turned over. She was not squeamish. But this— It was just like what they’d done to Billy, before they’d killed him. Billy, the last man the Choctaws had dumped on her porch. Billy Monroe, the man she’d come to loathe during their one brief year of marriage. She took a washrag from the nightstand and wet it in the nearby basin. Wordlessly, she placed her cool palm against Kaedon Turner’s stubbled, bruised cheek, turning his head toward her so she could clean his face and neck. She knew instinctively he was the kind of man who would never stand for this if it wasn’t necessary. The kind of man who was unaccustomed to a woman’s comforting caress. The kind of man who would never complain, no matter how badly wounded he was. “Fallon.” His voice was rough. Jessica stopped her movements and watched him. “What about him?” His brows drew together, as if he were trying to formulate what he wanted to say. “Is he…dead?” What should she tell him? The truth. “I—don’t know.” “Damn it.” “You were losing a lot of blood out there,” Jessica said, determined to turn his thoughts from Fallon to the present. She ran the wet cloth lightly across the long split in his right cheek. His breathing was controlled, even. “I took a bullet.” He said it quietly, almost conversationally. Jessica stopped moving. “Where?”]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/feed/ 38 We Have A Winner! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 03:07:29 +0000 Karen Kay http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32698 We have a winner!  Of course you'll all winners and I want to thank you one and all for coming here today and sharing your stories with me. But we do have a winner for the free book, and that winner is:....drum roll....Sharon. Sharon please email me personally at: karenkay(dot)author(at)earthlink(dot)net -- put a (.) for (dot) and an @ for (at).  Congratualations Sharon!  Please do email me so we can talk about which book you would like to receive.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/feed/ 2 WHITE EAGLE’S TOUCH — The Story Behind the Story http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Petticoats & Pistols http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Working (And Laughing) With A Critique Partner http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 Victoria Bylin http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32648 This post is for anyone who loves languarge--readers and writers alike. It’s also for anyone who’s jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  This  past year, I decided to stretch my wings with a completely new project. In addition to writing the proverbial “book of my heart” aka BOMH,  I started working with a critique partner. I’ve written fourteen books for Harlequin Historical and Love Inspired Historical, but I’ve always worked alone. I thought I was an experienced writer. I thought I knew how to plot a story. I thought I had a good ear for language. Oh. My. Goodness. When I finished the first draft of the BOMH, I shared a chapter with my best friend, an award winning author who really knows her stuff.  She had a few ideas.  Actually, more than a few. Every one of those ideas--from word choice to plot shifts--proved to be valuable. I didn’t realize it, but I’d fallen into a rut. Mentally I had incorporated every writing rule I’ve ever read, and that obedience had limited my voice. As we worked on that first chapter, I realized that my sentences lacked variety, and my diction wasn’t as precise as I thought.  Adverbs? Nope. G.O.N.E.. But there were places were an adverb would have been stunningly useful. Use a semi-colon?  Maybe, but aren’t they considered distracting?  Not always. Sometimes they’re the perfect link between two ideas. (I used one somewhere in the blog. Can you find it?) My CP and I have a lot of fun when we do a phone edit.  She’s big on strong verbs.  So am I, but my writing style is simpler. We had a good time playing with synonyms for “to walk.” This verb is particularly synonym-challenged. How many ways can you describe a person walking?  Here’s where my mind went in a moment of hair-pulling insanity:             Annoyed, he walked to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he scampered to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he marched to the sliding glass door...             Annoyed, he did the cha-cha to the sliding glass door . . .             Annoyed, he sidled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he crawled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he bunny-hopped to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he kicked like a Rockette to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he said, “Forget it! I’m not getting off the couch! My hero told me in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to walk, he’d walk. No way would he march, pace, amble, shamble, shuffle, waddle, toddle or kick like a Rockette.  He did consent to stride, but only after I convinced him I hadn’t used that word in the past two chapters.  At least he got off the couch! Now on to that happy ending . . .

 

Brides of the West is currently available at Amazon

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES WINNERS http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 02:00:43 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32724 fabkat_edit@yahoo.com and give me your contact info, I will send you your choice of an e-copy of FIRE EYES or (if you are willing to wait a few days and live in the good ol' U.S. of A. ) a print copy--your choice. Thanks so much to everyone who came by today and commented. I appreciate all the support! Cheryl]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES REVISITED! Everything Old is New Again! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:25 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32700 Three years ago this month, my debut western historical romance, FIRE EYES, was published by The Wild Rose Press. I was thrilled! Finally, my dream had come true, with the help of a wonderful editor and publishing company. When I got my first box of books, I sat and gazed at the covers—just like any first time author would. My husband teased me about “rubbing off the paint”—but I was so proud of them, and justifiably so. A lot of very hard work had gone into that story, not just from my perspective, but also from many other people. My editor at The Wild Rose Press, Helen Andrew, was wonderful. She really explained in detail why certain things couldn’t stand and had to go or be changed. But part of what ‘had to go’ was important to the story, in my mind. Still, there were company guidelines to be followed, and neither of us could do anything about that. So we worked together to find a way to take out the parts that made it more “western” than “romance” and still came out with a fine story. However, this spring, I asked for my rights back for FIRE EYES and got them, and submitted the story to another small publisher who has an imprint for westerns and western romances.  I was able to re-edit the book and add in much of what I’d had to take out or rewrite in the first version, and it was released yesterday with a brand new Jimmy Thomas cowboy cover and lots of renewed interest. The e-book version is available now at Amazon, Lulu, Monkeybars and many other e-book retailers, and will become available soon at Barnes and Noble, Sony and Apple. Here are the links for Smashwords and Amazon: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/162817  http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Eyes-ebook/dp/B0083JYET8 The print version will become available within the week, and again, I’m very happy about breathing new life into this wonderful story. Once I am able to order my print copies, I’m sure I’ll sit on the floor and ‘rub the paint off’ again. And I’ll be grateful that I’ve had two chances to get my story out there—another thrill, a second time around! I'LL BE GIVING AWAY A COPY OF FIRE EYES TODAY! JUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING, ALONG WITH YOUR CONTACT INFO. EXCERPT FROM FIRE EYES: “You waitin’ on a…invitation?” A faint smile touched his battered mouth. “I’m fresh out.” Jessica reached for the tin star. Her fingers closed around the uneven edges of it. No. She couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s your name?” Her voice came out jagged, like the metal she touched. His bruised eyes slitted as he studied her a moment. “Turner. Kaedon Turner.” Jessica sighed. “Well, Kaedon Turner, you’ve probably been a lot better places in your life than this. Take a deep breath, and try not to move.” He gave a wry chuckle, letting his eyes drift completely closed. “Do it fast. I’ll be okay.” She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Ready?” “Go ahead.” Even knowing what was coming, his voice sounded smoother than hers, she thought. She wrapped her hand tightly around the metal and pulled up fast, as he’d asked. As the metal slid through his flesh, Kaed’s left hand moved convulsively, his fingers gripping the quilt. He was unable to hold back the soft hint of an agonized groan as he turned away from her. He swore as the thick steel pin cleared his skin, freeing the chambray shirt and cotton undershirt beneath it, blood spraying as his teeth closed solidly over his bottom lip. Jessica lifted the material away, biting back her own curse as she surveyed the damage they’d done to him. His chest was a mass of purple bruises, uneven gashes, and burns. Her stomach turned over. She was not squeamish. But this— It was just like what they’d done to Billy, before they’d killed him. Billy, the last man the Choctaws had dumped on her porch. Billy Monroe, the man she’d come to loathe during their one brief year of marriage. She took a washrag from the nightstand and wet it in the nearby basin. Wordlessly, she placed her cool palm against Kaedon Turner’s stubbled, bruised cheek, turning his head toward her so she could clean his face and neck. She knew instinctively he was the kind of man who would never stand for this if it wasn’t necessary. The kind of man who was unaccustomed to a woman’s comforting caress. The kind of man who would never complain, no matter how badly wounded he was. “Fallon.” His voice was rough. Jessica stopped her movements and watched him. “What about him?” His brows drew together, as if he were trying to formulate what he wanted to say. “Is he…dead?” What should she tell him? The truth. “I—don’t know.” “Damn it.” “You were losing a lot of blood out there,” Jessica said, determined to turn his thoughts from Fallon to the present. She ran the wet cloth lightly across the long split in his right cheek. His breathing was controlled, even. “I took a bullet.” He said it quietly, almost conversationally. Jessica stopped moving. “Where?”]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/feed/ 38 We Have A Winner! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 03:07:29 +0000 Karen Kay http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32698 We have a winner!  Of course you'll all winners and I want to thank you one and all for coming here today and sharing your stories with me. But we do have a winner for the free book, and that winner is:....drum roll....Sharon. Sharon please email me personally at: karenkay(dot)author(at)earthlink(dot)net -- put a (.) for (dot) and an @ for (at).  Congratualations Sharon!  Please do email me so we can talk about which book you would like to receive.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/feed/ 2 WHITE EAGLE’S TOUCH — The Story Behind the Story http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 Victoria Bylin http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32648 This post is for anyone who loves languarge--readers and writers alike. It’s also for anyone who’s jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  This  past year, I decided to stretch my wings with a completely new project. In addition to writing the proverbial “book of my heart” aka BOMH,  I started working with a critique partner. I’ve written fourteen books for Harlequin Historical and Love Inspired Historical, but I’ve always worked alone. I thought I was an experienced writer. I thought I knew how to plot a story. I thought I had a good ear for language. Oh. My. Goodness. When I finished the first draft of the BOMH, I shared a chapter with my best friend, an award winning author who really knows her stuff.  She had a few ideas.  Actually, more than a few. Every one of those ideas--from word choice to plot shifts--proved to be valuable. I didn’t realize it, but I’d fallen into a rut. Mentally I had incorporated every writing rule I’ve ever read, and that obedience had limited my voice. As we worked on that first chapter, I realized that my sentences lacked variety, and my diction wasn’t as precise as I thought.  Adverbs? Nope. G.O.N.E.. But there were places were an adverb would have been stunningly useful. Use a semi-colon?  Maybe, but aren’t they considered distracting?  Not always. Sometimes they’re the perfect link between two ideas. (I used one somewhere in the blog. Can you find it?) My CP and I have a lot of fun when we do a phone edit.  She’s big on strong verbs.  So am I, but my writing style is simpler. We had a good time playing with synonyms for “to walk.” This verb is particularly synonym-challenged. How many ways can you describe a person walking?  Here’s where my mind went in a moment of hair-pulling insanity:             Annoyed, he walked to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he scampered to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he marched to the sliding glass door...             Annoyed, he did the cha-cha to the sliding glass door . . .             Annoyed, he sidled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he crawled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he bunny-hopped to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he kicked like a Rockette to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he said, “Forget it! I’m not getting off the couch! My hero told me in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to walk, he’d walk. No way would he march, pace, amble, shamble, shuffle, waddle, toddle or kick like a Rockette.  He did consent to stride, but only after I convinced him I hadn’t used that word in the past two chapters.  At least he got off the couch! Now on to that happy ending . . .

 

Brides of the West is currently available at Amazon

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/feed/ 0 Petticoats & Pistols http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Working (And Laughing) With A Critique Partner http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 Victoria Bylin http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32648 This post is for anyone who loves languarge--readers and writers alike. It’s also for anyone who’s jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  This  past year, I decided to stretch my wings with a completely new project. In addition to writing the proverbial “book of my heart” aka BOMH,  I started working with a critique partner. I’ve written fourteen books for Harlequin Historical and Love Inspired Historical, but I’ve always worked alone. I thought I was an experienced writer. I thought I knew how to plot a story. I thought I had a good ear for language. Oh. My. Goodness. When I finished the first draft of the BOMH, I shared a chapter with my best friend, an award winning author who really knows her stuff.  She had a few ideas.  Actually, more than a few. Every one of those ideas--from word choice to plot shifts--proved to be valuable. I didn’t realize it, but I’d fallen into a rut. Mentally I had incorporated every writing rule I’ve ever read, and that obedience had limited my voice. As we worked on that first chapter, I realized that my sentences lacked variety, and my diction wasn’t as precise as I thought.  Adverbs? Nope. G.O.N.E.. But there were places were an adverb would have been stunningly useful. Use a semi-colon?  Maybe, but aren’t they considered distracting?  Not always. Sometimes they’re the perfect link between two ideas. (I used one somewhere in the blog. Can you find it?) My CP and I have a lot of fun when we do a phone edit.  She’s big on strong verbs.  So am I, but my writing style is simpler. We had a good time playing with synonyms for “to walk.” This verb is particularly synonym-challenged. How many ways can you describe a person walking?  Here’s where my mind went in a moment of hair-pulling insanity:             Annoyed, he walked to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he scampered to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he marched to the sliding glass door...             Annoyed, he did the cha-cha to the sliding glass door . . .             Annoyed, he sidled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he crawled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he bunny-hopped to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he kicked like a Rockette to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he said, “Forget it! I’m not getting off the couch! My hero told me in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to walk, he’d walk. No way would he march, pace, amble, shamble, shuffle, waddle, toddle or kick like a Rockette.  He did consent to stride, but only after I convinced him I hadn’t used that word in the past two chapters.  At least he got off the couch! Now on to that happy ending . . .

 

Brides of the West is currently available at Amazon

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES WINNERS http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 02:00:43 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32724 fabkat_edit@yahoo.com and give me your contact info, I will send you your choice of an e-copy of FIRE EYES or (if you are willing to wait a few days and live in the good ol' U.S. of A. ) a print copy--your choice. Thanks so much to everyone who came by today and commented. I appreciate all the support! Cheryl]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES REVISITED! Everything Old is New Again! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:25 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32700 Three years ago this month, my debut western historical romance, FIRE EYES, was published by The Wild Rose Press. I was thrilled! Finally, my dream had come true, with the help of a wonderful editor and publishing company. When I got my first box of books, I sat and gazed at the covers—just like any first time author would. My husband teased me about “rubbing off the paint”—but I was so proud of them, and justifiably so. A lot of very hard work had gone into that story, not just from my perspective, but also from many other people. My editor at The Wild Rose Press, Helen Andrew, was wonderful. She really explained in detail why certain things couldn’t stand and had to go or be changed. But part of what ‘had to go’ was important to the story, in my mind. Still, there were company guidelines to be followed, and neither of us could do anything about that. So we worked together to find a way to take out the parts that made it more “western” than “romance” and still came out with a fine story. However, this spring, I asked for my rights back for FIRE EYES and got them, and submitted the story to another small publisher who has an imprint for westerns and western romances.  I was able to re-edit the book and add in much of what I’d had to take out or rewrite in the first version, and it was released yesterday with a brand new Jimmy Thomas cowboy cover and lots of renewed interest. The e-book version is available now at Amazon, Lulu, Monkeybars and many other e-book retailers, and will become available soon at Barnes and Noble, Sony and Apple. Here are the links for Smashwords and Amazon: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/162817  http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Eyes-ebook/dp/B0083JYET8 The print version will become available within the week, and again, I’m very happy about breathing new life into this wonderful story. Once I am able to order my print copies, I’m sure I’ll sit on the floor and ‘rub the paint off’ again. And I’ll be grateful that I’ve had two chances to get my story out there—another thrill, a second time around! I'LL BE GIVING AWAY A COPY OF FIRE EYES TODAY! JUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING, ALONG WITH YOUR CONTACT INFO. EXCERPT FROM FIRE EYES: “You waitin’ on a…invitation?” A faint smile touched his battered mouth. “I’m fresh out.” Jessica reached for the tin star. Her fingers closed around the uneven edges of it. No. She couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s your name?” Her voice came out jagged, like the metal she touched. His bruised eyes slitted as he studied her a moment. “Turner. Kaedon Turner.” Jessica sighed. “Well, Kaedon Turner, you’ve probably been a lot better places in your life than this. Take a deep breath, and try not to move.” He gave a wry chuckle, letting his eyes drift completely closed. “Do it fast. I’ll be okay.” She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Ready?” “Go ahead.” Even knowing what was coming, his voice sounded smoother than hers, she thought. She wrapped her hand tightly around the metal and pulled up fast, as he’d asked. As the metal slid through his flesh, Kaed’s left hand moved convulsively, his fingers gripping the quilt. He was unable to hold back the soft hint of an agonized groan as he turned away from her. He swore as the thick steel pin cleared his skin, freeing the chambray shirt and cotton undershirt beneath it, blood spraying as his teeth closed solidly over his bottom lip. Jessica lifted the material away, biting back her own curse as she surveyed the damage they’d done to him. His chest was a mass of purple bruises, uneven gashes, and burns. Her stomach turned over. She was not squeamish. But this— It was just like what they’d done to Billy, before they’d killed him. Billy, the last man the Choctaws had dumped on her porch. Billy Monroe, the man she’d come to loathe during their one brief year of marriage. She took a washrag from the nightstand and wet it in the nearby basin. Wordlessly, she placed her cool palm against Kaedon Turner’s stubbled, bruised cheek, turning his head toward her so she could clean his face and neck. She knew instinctively he was the kind of man who would never stand for this if it wasn’t necessary. The kind of man who was unaccustomed to a woman’s comforting caress. The kind of man who would never complain, no matter how badly wounded he was. “Fallon.” His voice was rough. Jessica stopped her movements and watched him. “What about him?” His brows drew together, as if he were trying to formulate what he wanted to say. “Is he…dead?” What should she tell him? The truth. “I—don’t know.” “Damn it.” “You were losing a lot of blood out there,” Jessica said, determined to turn his thoughts from Fallon to the present. She ran the wet cloth lightly across the long split in his right cheek. His breathing was controlled, even. “I took a bullet.” He said it quietly, almost conversationally. Jessica stopped moving. “Where?”]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/feed/ 38 We Have A Winner! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 03:07:29 +0000 Karen Kay http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32698 We have a winner!  Of course you'll all winners and I want to thank you one and all for coming here today and sharing your stories with me. But we do have a winner for the free book, and that winner is:....drum roll....Sharon. Sharon please email me personally at: karenkay(dot)author(at)earthlink(dot)net -- put a (.) for (dot) and an @ for (at).  Congratualations Sharon!  Please do email me so we can talk about which book you would like to receive.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/feed/ 2 WHITE EAGLE’S TOUCH — The Story Behind the Story http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 02:00:43 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32724 fabkat_edit@yahoo.com and give me your contact info, I will send you your choice of an e-copy of FIRE EYES or (if you are willing to wait a few days and live in the good ol' U.S. of A. ) a print copy--your choice. Thanks so much to everyone who came by today and commented. I appreciate all the support! Cheryl]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/feed/ 0 Petticoats & Pistols http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Working (And Laughing) With A Critique Partner http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 Victoria Bylin http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32648 This post is for anyone who loves languarge--readers and writers alike. It’s also for anyone who’s jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  This  past year, I decided to stretch my wings with a completely new project. In addition to writing the proverbial “book of my heart” aka BOMH,  I started working with a critique partner. I’ve written fourteen books for Harlequin Historical and Love Inspired Historical, but I’ve always worked alone. I thought I was an experienced writer. I thought I knew how to plot a story. I thought I had a good ear for language. Oh. My. Goodness. When I finished the first draft of the BOMH, I shared a chapter with my best friend, an award winning author who really knows her stuff.  She had a few ideas.  Actually, more than a few. Every one of those ideas--from word choice to plot shifts--proved to be valuable. I didn’t realize it, but I’d fallen into a rut. Mentally I had incorporated every writing rule I’ve ever read, and that obedience had limited my voice. As we worked on that first chapter, I realized that my sentences lacked variety, and my diction wasn’t as precise as I thought.  Adverbs? Nope. G.O.N.E.. But there were places were an adverb would have been stunningly useful. Use a semi-colon?  Maybe, but aren’t they considered distracting?  Not always. Sometimes they’re the perfect link between two ideas. (I used one somewhere in the blog. Can you find it?) My CP and I have a lot of fun when we do a phone edit.  She’s big on strong verbs.  So am I, but my writing style is simpler. We had a good time playing with synonyms for “to walk.” This verb is particularly synonym-challenged. How many ways can you describe a person walking?  Here’s where my mind went in a moment of hair-pulling insanity:             Annoyed, he walked to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he scampered to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he marched to the sliding glass door...             Annoyed, he did the cha-cha to the sliding glass door . . .             Annoyed, he sidled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he crawled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he bunny-hopped to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he kicked like a Rockette to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he said, “Forget it! I’m not getting off the couch! My hero told me in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to walk, he’d walk. No way would he march, pace, amble, shamble, shuffle, waddle, toddle or kick like a Rockette.  He did consent to stride, but only after I convinced him I hadn’t used that word in the past two chapters.  At least he got off the couch! Now on to that happy ending . . .

 

Brides of the West is currently available at Amazon

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES WINNERS http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 02:00:43 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32724 fabkat_edit@yahoo.com and give me your contact info, I will send you your choice of an e-copy of FIRE EYES or (if you are willing to wait a few days and live in the good ol' U.S. of A. ) a print copy--your choice. Thanks so much to everyone who came by today and commented. I appreciate all the support! Cheryl]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES REVISITED! Everything Old is New Again! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:25 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32700 Three years ago this month, my debut western historical romance, FIRE EYES, was published by The Wild Rose Press. I was thrilled! Finally, my dream had come true, with the help of a wonderful editor and publishing company. When I got my first box of books, I sat and gazed at the covers—just like any first time author would. My husband teased me about “rubbing off the paint”—but I was so proud of them, and justifiably so. A lot of very hard work had gone into that story, not just from my perspective, but also from many other people. My editor at The Wild Rose Press, Helen Andrew, was wonderful. She really explained in detail why certain things couldn’t stand and had to go or be changed. But part of what ‘had to go’ was important to the story, in my mind. Still, there were company guidelines to be followed, and neither of us could do anything about that. So we worked together to find a way to take out the parts that made it more “western” than “romance” and still came out with a fine story. However, this spring, I asked for my rights back for FIRE EYES and got them, and submitted the story to another small publisher who has an imprint for westerns and western romances.  I was able to re-edit the book and add in much of what I’d had to take out or rewrite in the first version, and it was released yesterday with a brand new Jimmy Thomas cowboy cover and lots of renewed interest. The e-book version is available now at Amazon, Lulu, Monkeybars and many other e-book retailers, and will become available soon at Barnes and Noble, Sony and Apple. Here are the links for Smashwords and Amazon: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/162817  http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Eyes-ebook/dp/B0083JYET8 The print version will become available within the week, and again, I’m very happy about breathing new life into this wonderful story. Once I am able to order my print copies, I’m sure I’ll sit on the floor and ‘rub the paint off’ again. And I’ll be grateful that I’ve had two chances to get my story out there—another thrill, a second time around! I'LL BE GIVING AWAY A COPY OF FIRE EYES TODAY! JUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING, ALONG WITH YOUR CONTACT INFO. EXCERPT FROM FIRE EYES: “You waitin’ on a…invitation?” A faint smile touched his battered mouth. “I’m fresh out.” Jessica reached for the tin star. Her fingers closed around the uneven edges of it. No. She couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s your name?” Her voice came out jagged, like the metal she touched. His bruised eyes slitted as he studied her a moment. “Turner. Kaedon Turner.” Jessica sighed. “Well, Kaedon Turner, you’ve probably been a lot better places in your life than this. Take a deep breath, and try not to move.” He gave a wry chuckle, letting his eyes drift completely closed. “Do it fast. I’ll be okay.” She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Ready?” “Go ahead.” Even knowing what was coming, his voice sounded smoother than hers, she thought. She wrapped her hand tightly around the metal and pulled up fast, as he’d asked. As the metal slid through his flesh, Kaed’s left hand moved convulsively, his fingers gripping the quilt. He was unable to hold back the soft hint of an agonized groan as he turned away from her. He swore as the thick steel pin cleared his skin, freeing the chambray shirt and cotton undershirt beneath it, blood spraying as his teeth closed solidly over his bottom lip. Jessica lifted the material away, biting back her own curse as she surveyed the damage they’d done to him. His chest was a mass of purple bruises, uneven gashes, and burns. Her stomach turned over. She was not squeamish. But this— It was just like what they’d done to Billy, before they’d killed him. Billy, the last man the Choctaws had dumped on her porch. Billy Monroe, the man she’d come to loathe during their one brief year of marriage. She took a washrag from the nightstand and wet it in the nearby basin. Wordlessly, she placed her cool palm against Kaedon Turner’s stubbled, bruised cheek, turning his head toward her so she could clean his face and neck. She knew instinctively he was the kind of man who would never stand for this if it wasn’t necessary. The kind of man who was unaccustomed to a woman’s comforting caress. The kind of man who would never complain, no matter how badly wounded he was. “Fallon.” His voice was rough. Jessica stopped her movements and watched him. “What about him?” His brows drew together, as if he were trying to formulate what he wanted to say. “Is he…dead?” What should she tell him? The truth. “I—don’t know.” “Damn it.” “You were losing a lot of blood out there,” Jessica said, determined to turn his thoughts from Fallon to the present. She ran the wet cloth lightly across the long split in his right cheek. His breathing was controlled, even. “I took a bullet.” He said it quietly, almost conversationally. Jessica stopped moving. “Where?”]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/feed/ 38 We Have A Winner! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 03:07:29 +0000 Karen Kay http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32698 We have a winner!  Of course you'll all winners and I want to thank you one and all for coming here today and sharing your stories with me. But we do have a winner for the free book, and that winner is:....drum roll....Sharon. Sharon please email me personally at: karenkay(dot)author(at)earthlink(dot)net -- put a (.) for (dot) and an @ for (at).  Congratualations Sharon!  Please do email me so we can talk about which book you would like to receive.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/feed/ 2 WHITE EAGLE’S TOUCH — The Story Behind the Story http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:25 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32700 Three years ago this month, my debut western historical romance, FIRE EYES, was published by The Wild Rose Press. I was thrilled! Finally, my dream had come true, with the help of a wonderful editor and publishing company. When I got my first box of books, I sat and gazed at the covers—just like any first time author would. My husband teased me about “rubbing off the paint”—but I was so proud of them, and justifiably so. A lot of very hard work had gone into that story, not just from my perspective, but also from many other people. My editor at The Wild Rose Press, Helen Andrew, was wonderful. She really explained in detail why certain things couldn’t stand and had to go or be changed. But part of what ‘had to go’ was important to the story, in my mind. Still, there were company guidelines to be followed, and neither of us could do anything about that. So we worked together to find a way to take out the parts that made it more “western” than “romance” and still came out with a fine story. However, this spring, I asked for my rights back for FIRE EYES and got them, and submitted the story to another small publisher who has an imprint for westerns and western romances.  I was able to re-edit the book and add in much of what I’d had to take out or rewrite in the first version, and it was released yesterday with a brand new Jimmy Thomas cowboy cover and lots of renewed interest. The e-book version is available now at Amazon, Lulu, Monkeybars and many other e-book retailers, and will become available soon at Barnes and Noble, Sony and Apple. Here are the links for Smashwords and Amazon: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/162817  http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Eyes-ebook/dp/B0083JYET8 The print version will become available within the week, and again, I’m very happy about breathing new life into this wonderful story. Once I am able to order my print copies, I’m sure I’ll sit on the floor and ‘rub the paint off’ again. And I’ll be grateful that I’ve had two chances to get my story out there—another thrill, a second time around! I'LL BE GIVING AWAY A COPY OF FIRE EYES TODAY! JUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING, ALONG WITH YOUR CONTACT INFO. EXCERPT FROM FIRE EYES: “You waitin’ on a…invitation?” A faint smile touched his battered mouth. “I’m fresh out.” Jessica reached for the tin star. Her fingers closed around the uneven edges of it. No. She couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s your name?” Her voice came out jagged, like the metal she touched. His bruised eyes slitted as he studied her a moment. “Turner. Kaedon Turner.” Jessica sighed. “Well, Kaedon Turner, you’ve probably been a lot better places in your life than this. Take a deep breath, and try not to move.” He gave a wry chuckle, letting his eyes drift completely closed. “Do it fast. I’ll be okay.” She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Ready?” “Go ahead.” Even knowing what was coming, his voice sounded smoother than hers, she thought. She wrapped her hand tightly around the metal and pulled up fast, as he’d asked. As the metal slid through his flesh, Kaed’s left hand moved convulsively, his fingers gripping the quilt. He was unable to hold back the soft hint of an agonized groan as he turned away from her. He swore as the thick steel pin cleared his skin, freeing the chambray shirt and cotton undershirt beneath it, blood spraying as his teeth closed solidly over his bottom lip. Jessica lifted the material away, biting back her own curse as she surveyed the damage they’d done to him. His chest was a mass of purple bruises, uneven gashes, and burns. Her stomach turned over. She was not squeamish. But this— It was just like what they’d done to Billy, before they’d killed him. Billy, the last man the Choctaws had dumped on her porch. Billy Monroe, the man she’d come to loathe during their one brief year of marriage. She took a washrag from the nightstand and wet it in the nearby basin. Wordlessly, she placed her cool palm against Kaedon Turner’s stubbled, bruised cheek, turning his head toward her so she could clean his face and neck. She knew instinctively he was the kind of man who would never stand for this if it wasn’t necessary. The kind of man who was unaccustomed to a woman’s comforting caress. The kind of man who would never complain, no matter how badly wounded he was. “Fallon.” His voice was rough. Jessica stopped her movements and watched him. “What about him?” His brows drew together, as if he were trying to formulate what he wanted to say. “Is he…dead?” What should she tell him? The truth. “I—don’t know.” “Damn it.” “You were losing a lot of blood out there,” Jessica said, determined to turn his thoughts from Fallon to the present. She ran the wet cloth lightly across the long split in his right cheek. His breathing was controlled, even. “I took a bullet.” He said it quietly, almost conversationally. Jessica stopped moving. “Where?”]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/feed/ 38 Petticoats & Pistols http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Working (And Laughing) With A Critique Partner http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 Victoria Bylin http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32648 This post is for anyone who loves languarge--readers and writers alike. It’s also for anyone who’s jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  This  past year, I decided to stretch my wings with a completely new project. In addition to writing the proverbial “book of my heart” aka BOMH,  I started working with a critique partner. I’ve written fourteen books for Harlequin Historical and Love Inspired Historical, but I’ve always worked alone. I thought I was an experienced writer. I thought I knew how to plot a story. I thought I had a good ear for language. Oh. My. Goodness. When I finished the first draft of the BOMH, I shared a chapter with my best friend, an award winning author who really knows her stuff.  She had a few ideas.  Actually, more than a few. Every one of those ideas--from word choice to plot shifts--proved to be valuable. I didn’t realize it, but I’d fallen into a rut. Mentally I had incorporated every writing rule I’ve ever read, and that obedience had limited my voice. As we worked on that first chapter, I realized that my sentences lacked variety, and my diction wasn’t as precise as I thought.  Adverbs? Nope. G.O.N.E.. But there were places were an adverb would have been stunningly useful. Use a semi-colon?  Maybe, but aren’t they considered distracting?  Not always. Sometimes they’re the perfect link between two ideas. (I used one somewhere in the blog. Can you find it?) My CP and I have a lot of fun when we do a phone edit.  She’s big on strong verbs.  So am I, but my writing style is simpler. We had a good time playing with synonyms for “to walk.” This verb is particularly synonym-challenged. How many ways can you describe a person walking?  Here’s where my mind went in a moment of hair-pulling insanity:             Annoyed, he walked to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he scampered to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he marched to the sliding glass door...             Annoyed, he did the cha-cha to the sliding glass door . . .             Annoyed, he sidled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he crawled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he bunny-hopped to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he kicked like a Rockette to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he said, “Forget it! I’m not getting off the couch! My hero told me in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to walk, he’d walk. No way would he march, pace, amble, shamble, shuffle, waddle, toddle or kick like a Rockette.  He did consent to stride, but only after I convinced him I hadn’t used that word in the past two chapters.  At least he got off the couch! Now on to that happy ending . . .

 

Brides of the West is currently available at Amazon

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES WINNERS http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 02:00:43 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32724 fabkat_edit@yahoo.com and give me your contact info, I will send you your choice of an e-copy of FIRE EYES or (if you are willing to wait a few days and live in the good ol' U.S. of A. ) a print copy--your choice. Thanks so much to everyone who came by today and commented. I appreciate all the support! Cheryl]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES REVISITED! Everything Old is New Again! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:25 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32700 Three years ago this month, my debut western historical romance, FIRE EYES, was published by The Wild Rose Press. I was thrilled! Finally, my dream had come true, with the help of a wonderful editor and publishing company. When I got my first box of books, I sat and gazed at the covers—just like any first time author would. My husband teased me about “rubbing off the paint”—but I was so proud of them, and justifiably so. A lot of very hard work had gone into that story, not just from my perspective, but also from many other people. My editor at The Wild Rose Press, Helen Andrew, was wonderful. She really explained in detail why certain things couldn’t stand and had to go or be changed. But part of what ‘had to go’ was important to the story, in my mind. Still, there were company guidelines to be followed, and neither of us could do anything about that. So we worked together to find a way to take out the parts that made it more “western” than “romance” and still came out with a fine story. However, this spring, I asked for my rights back for FIRE EYES and got them, and submitted the story to another small publisher who has an imprint for westerns and western romances.  I was able to re-edit the book and add in much of what I’d had to take out or rewrite in the first version, and it was released yesterday with a brand new Jimmy Thomas cowboy cover and lots of renewed interest. The e-book version is available now at Amazon, Lulu, Monkeybars and many other e-book retailers, and will become available soon at Barnes and Noble, Sony and Apple. Here are the links for Smashwords and Amazon: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/162817  http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Eyes-ebook/dp/B0083JYET8 The print version will become available within the week, and again, I’m very happy about breathing new life into this wonderful story. Once I am able to order my print copies, I’m sure I’ll sit on the floor and ‘rub the paint off’ again. And I’ll be grateful that I’ve had two chances to get my story out there—another thrill, a second time around! I'LL BE GIVING AWAY A COPY OF FIRE EYES TODAY! JUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING, ALONG WITH YOUR CONTACT INFO. EXCERPT FROM FIRE EYES: “You waitin’ on a…invitation?” A faint smile touched his battered mouth. “I’m fresh out.” Jessica reached for the tin star. Her fingers closed around the uneven edges of it. No. She couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s your name?” Her voice came out jagged, like the metal she touched. His bruised eyes slitted as he studied her a moment. “Turner. Kaedon Turner.” Jessica sighed. “Well, Kaedon Turner, you’ve probably been a lot better places in your life than this. Take a deep breath, and try not to move.” He gave a wry chuckle, letting his eyes drift completely closed. “Do it fast. I’ll be okay.” She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Ready?” “Go ahead.” Even knowing what was coming, his voice sounded smoother than hers, she thought. She wrapped her hand tightly around the metal and pulled up fast, as he’d asked. As the metal slid through his flesh, Kaed’s left hand moved convulsively, his fingers gripping the quilt. He was unable to hold back the soft hint of an agonized groan as he turned away from her. He swore as the thick steel pin cleared his skin, freeing the chambray shirt and cotton undershirt beneath it, blood spraying as his teeth closed solidly over his bottom lip. Jessica lifted the material away, biting back her own curse as she surveyed the damage they’d done to him. His chest was a mass of purple bruises, uneven gashes, and burns. Her stomach turned over. She was not squeamish. But this— It was just like what they’d done to Billy, before they’d killed him. Billy, the last man the Choctaws had dumped on her porch. Billy Monroe, the man she’d come to loathe during their one brief year of marriage. She took a washrag from the nightstand and wet it in the nearby basin. Wordlessly, she placed her cool palm against Kaedon Turner’s stubbled, bruised cheek, turning his head toward her so she could clean his face and neck. She knew instinctively he was the kind of man who would never stand for this if it wasn’t necessary. The kind of man who was unaccustomed to a woman’s comforting caress. The kind of man who would never complain, no matter how badly wounded he was. “Fallon.” His voice was rough. Jessica stopped her movements and watched him. “What about him?” His brows drew together, as if he were trying to formulate what he wanted to say. “Is he…dead?” What should she tell him? The truth. “I—don’t know.” “Damn it.” “You were losing a lot of blood out there,” Jessica said, determined to turn his thoughts from Fallon to the present. She ran the wet cloth lightly across the long split in his right cheek. His breathing was controlled, even. “I took a bullet.” He said it quietly, almost conversationally. Jessica stopped moving. “Where?”]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/feed/ 38 We Have A Winner! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 03:07:29 +0000 Karen Kay http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32698 We have a winner!  Of course you'll all winners and I want to thank you one and all for coming here today and sharing your stories with me. But we do have a winner for the free book, and that winner is:....drum roll....Sharon. Sharon please email me personally at: karenkay(dot)author(at)earthlink(dot)net -- put a (.) for (dot) and an @ for (at).  Congratualations Sharon!  Please do email me so we can talk about which book you would like to receive.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/feed/ 2 WHITE EAGLE’S TOUCH — The Story Behind the Story http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 03:07:29 +0000 Karen Kay http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32698 We have a winner!  Of course you'll all winners and I want to thank you one and all for coming here today and sharing your stories with me. But we do have a winner for the free book, and that winner is:....drum roll....Sharon. Sharon please email me personally at: karenkay(dot)author(at)earthlink(dot)net -- put a (.) for (dot) and an @ for (at).  Congratualations Sharon!  Please do email me so we can talk about which book you would like to receive.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/feed/ 2 Petticoats & Pistols http://petticoatsandpistols.com Romancing The West Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Working (And Laughing) With A Critique Partner http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 07:00:15 +0000 Victoria Bylin http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32648 This post is for anyone who loves languarge--readers and writers alike. It’s also for anyone who’s jumped from the frying pan into the fire.  This  past year, I decided to stretch my wings with a completely new project. In addition to writing the proverbial “book of my heart” aka BOMH,  I started working with a critique partner. I’ve written fourteen books for Harlequin Historical and Love Inspired Historical, but I’ve always worked alone. I thought I was an experienced writer. I thought I knew how to plot a story. I thought I had a good ear for language. Oh. My. Goodness. When I finished the first draft of the BOMH, I shared a chapter with my best friend, an award winning author who really knows her stuff.  She had a few ideas.  Actually, more than a few. Every one of those ideas--from word choice to plot shifts--proved to be valuable. I didn’t realize it, but I’d fallen into a rut. Mentally I had incorporated every writing rule I’ve ever read, and that obedience had limited my voice. As we worked on that first chapter, I realized that my sentences lacked variety, and my diction wasn’t as precise as I thought.  Adverbs? Nope. G.O.N.E.. But there were places were an adverb would have been stunningly useful. Use a semi-colon?  Maybe, but aren’t they considered distracting?  Not always. Sometimes they’re the perfect link between two ideas. (I used one somewhere in the blog. Can you find it?) My CP and I have a lot of fun when we do a phone edit.  She’s big on strong verbs.  So am I, but my writing style is simpler. We had a good time playing with synonyms for “to walk.” This verb is particularly synonym-challenged. How many ways can you describe a person walking?  Here’s where my mind went in a moment of hair-pulling insanity:             Annoyed, he walked to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he scampered to the sliding glass door and looked out.             Annoyed, he marched to the sliding glass door...             Annoyed, he did the cha-cha to the sliding glass door . . .             Annoyed, he sidled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he crawled to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he bunny-hopped to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he kicked like a Rockette to the sliding glass door …             Annoyed, he said, “Forget it! I’m not getting off the couch! My hero told me in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to walk, he’d walk. No way would he march, pace, amble, shamble, shuffle, waddle, toddle or kick like a Rockette.  He did consent to stride, but only after I convinced him I hadn’t used that word in the past two chapters.  At least he got off the couch! Now on to that happy ending . . .

 

Brides of the West is currently available at Amazon

]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/24/working-and-laughing-with-a-critique-partner/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES WINNERS http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 02:00:43 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32724 fabkat_edit@yahoo.com and give me your contact info, I will send you your choice of an e-copy of FIRE EYES or (if you are willing to wait a few days and live in the good ol' U.S. of A. ) a print copy--your choice. Thanks so much to everyone who came by today and commented. I appreciate all the support! Cheryl]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-winners/feed/ 0 FIRE EYES REVISITED! Everything Old is New Again! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:25 +0000 Cheryl Pierson http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32700 Three years ago this month, my debut western historical romance, FIRE EYES, was published by The Wild Rose Press. I was thrilled! Finally, my dream had come true, with the help of a wonderful editor and publishing company. When I got my first box of books, I sat and gazed at the covers—just like any first time author would. My husband teased me about “rubbing off the paint”—but I was so proud of them, and justifiably so. A lot of very hard work had gone into that story, not just from my perspective, but also from many other people. My editor at The Wild Rose Press, Helen Andrew, was wonderful. She really explained in detail why certain things couldn’t stand and had to go or be changed. But part of what ‘had to go’ was important to the story, in my mind. Still, there were company guidelines to be followed, and neither of us could do anything about that. So we worked together to find a way to take out the parts that made it more “western” than “romance” and still came out with a fine story. However, this spring, I asked for my rights back for FIRE EYES and got them, and submitted the story to another small publisher who has an imprint for westerns and western romances.  I was able to re-edit the book and add in much of what I’d had to take out or rewrite in the first version, and it was released yesterday with a brand new Jimmy Thomas cowboy cover and lots of renewed interest. The e-book version is available now at Amazon, Lulu, Monkeybars and many other e-book retailers, and will become available soon at Barnes and Noble, Sony and Apple. Here are the links for Smashwords and Amazon: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/162817  http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Eyes-ebook/dp/B0083JYET8 The print version will become available within the week, and again, I’m very happy about breathing new life into this wonderful story. Once I am able to order my print copies, I’m sure I’ll sit on the floor and ‘rub the paint off’ again. And I’ll be grateful that I’ve had two chances to get my story out there—another thrill, a second time around! I'LL BE GIVING AWAY A COPY OF FIRE EYES TODAY! JUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING, ALONG WITH YOUR CONTACT INFO. EXCERPT FROM FIRE EYES: “You waitin’ on a…invitation?” A faint smile touched his battered mouth. “I’m fresh out.” Jessica reached for the tin star. Her fingers closed around the uneven edges of it. No. She couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s your name?” Her voice came out jagged, like the metal she touched. His bruised eyes slitted as he studied her a moment. “Turner. Kaedon Turner.” Jessica sighed. “Well, Kaedon Turner, you’ve probably been a lot better places in your life than this. Take a deep breath, and try not to move.” He gave a wry chuckle, letting his eyes drift completely closed. “Do it fast. I’ll be okay.” She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Ready?” “Go ahead.” Even knowing what was coming, his voice sounded smoother than hers, she thought. She wrapped her hand tightly around the metal and pulled up fast, as he’d asked. As the metal slid through his flesh, Kaed’s left hand moved convulsively, his fingers gripping the quilt. He was unable to hold back the soft hint of an agonized groan as he turned away from her. He swore as the thick steel pin cleared his skin, freeing the chambray shirt and cotton undershirt beneath it, blood spraying as his teeth closed solidly over his bottom lip. Jessica lifted the material away, biting back her own curse as she surveyed the damage they’d done to him. His chest was a mass of purple bruises, uneven gashes, and burns. Her stomach turned over. She was not squeamish. But this— It was just like what they’d done to Billy, before they’d killed him. Billy, the last man the Choctaws had dumped on her porch. Billy Monroe, the man she’d come to loathe during their one brief year of marriage. She took a washrag from the nightstand and wet it in the nearby basin. Wordlessly, she placed her cool palm against Kaedon Turner’s stubbled, bruised cheek, turning his head toward her so she could clean his face and neck. She knew instinctively he was the kind of man who would never stand for this if it wasn’t necessary. The kind of man who was unaccustomed to a woman’s comforting caress. The kind of man who would never complain, no matter how badly wounded he was. “Fallon.” His voice was rough. Jessica stopped her movements and watched him. “What about him?” His brows drew together, as if he were trying to formulate what he wanted to say. “Is he…dead?” What should she tell him? The truth. “I—don’t know.” “Damn it.” “You were losing a lot of blood out there,” Jessica said, determined to turn his thoughts from Fallon to the present. She ran the wet cloth lightly across the long split in his right cheek. His breathing was controlled, even. “I took a bullet.” He said it quietly, almost conversationally. Jessica stopped moving. “Where?”]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/23/fire-eyes-revisited-everything-old-is-new-again/feed/ 38 We Have A Winner! http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 03:07:29 +0000 Karen Kay http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32698 We have a winner!  Of course you'll all winners and I want to thank you one and all for coming here today and sharing your stories with me. But we do have a winner for the free book, and that winner is:....drum roll....Sharon. Sharon please email me personally at: karenkay(dot)author(at)earthlink(dot)net -- put a (.) for (dot) and an @ for (at).  Congratualations Sharon!  Please do email me so we can talk about which book you would like to receive.]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/we-have-a-winner-64/feed/ 2 WHITE EAGLE’S TOUCH — The Story Behind the Story http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/white-eagles-touch-the-story-behind-the-story/ http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/white-eagles-touch-the-story-behind-the-story/#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 08:10:54 +0000 Karen Kay http://petticoatsandpistols.com/?p=32576 Howdy! WHITE EAGLE'S TOUCH -- one of my best selling books -- is currently being released newly in ebook format.  And since it's one of my favorites, I thought I'd tell you a little of the background that went in to the making of that book. I love this cover by the way.  WHITE EAGLE'S TOUCH starts with my love of a rather spoiled, head-strong heroine -- one who is really quite soft-hearted, but for reasons explained in the book, she harbors opinions that are far from flattering.  In the story, the heroine, Katrina, is blond-haired, stubborn, almost out of funds and demanding her inheritance in order that she might marry into royalty.  She has also grown up without ever knowing her parents -- who perished out West -- or her uncle, who holds the purse-strings to her inheritance. In other words, she has some reason to be spoiled, because she's grown up without love -- with a succession of nannies. There are problems -- mainly that her uncle will not release her funds until she comes West and parades her fiance for his approval.  I must admit that it really is a lot to ask of a young woman who has known only the comforts of New York City -- still it was rather fun to play with her outrage. Of coure her uncle doesn't show up at the scheduled rendevous -- he sends his friend -- who is almost like a son to him -- White Eagle -- to bring her to him. Of course the story goes on from there -- spoiled, rich-girl meets handsome, yet determined young Indian warrior. Now, the truth of the matter is that the character of Katrina was patterned after my daughter, Trina, who is definitely not blond.  Not that Trina is spoiled, but at the writing of this story, Trina was a teenager -- about nineteen, I believe -- and she definitely had her likes and dislikes.  Off to the side here is a picture of Trina with her daughter and my granddaughter, Lila.  But patterning the heroine after my daughter really gave me a deeper understanding of my character, Katrina's, personality -- it also helped me to love this character, even when she is at her wit's end. In writing this book, I often had pictures of clothing and what the heroine might have looked like at that time.  Off to the left here is a picture of that period's clothing.  I love this clothing, I must admit and sometimes wish we could go back to an age where women looked so very feminine.  Now this picture to the left really -- in my mind -- has the look of my heroine at this time.  A little bored, a little spoiled, always well dressed and trying to do the right thing -- although in the West, my heroine's efforts are sometimes clumsy and humorous -- as she tries to "fit in." As for the hero, another one of my loves -- I've always loved the hero, who brooks no argument, yet who is kind and generous -- and who is waiting patiently for the heroine to come to her senses. There is one scene in this book that I particularly like.  It was a scene where the hero, along with his friend concoct a scheme to send Katrina's fiance packing.  At the writing of this book, I had just the previous year, married my husband, Paul.  When I married Paul, however, I also discovered that he was extremely close to his brother, Bob -- this picture to the right isof Bob and Paul -- Paul is the one sitting down.  But his particular scene was about these two fellows and what they would do if they were there to rid themselves of this very unwanted person, and send him packing for home. Interestingly, that "friend" of White Eagle is Night Thunder who has a book of his own -- next in this series. To end I thought I'd show you a picture of the original cover for WHITE EAGLE'S TOUCH.  The reason I have to show you is that this cover is also one of my most favorite covers. Well, that's all for today.  I'm on the road and so might not be able to respond to every post, but I will be picking one blogger out to send a free book to. So come on in and leave a comment.    ]]> http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2012/05/22/white-eagles-touch-the-story-behind-the-story/feed/ 24