Did you really write all these books?
How long have you been writing?
How long does it take you to write a book?
Where do you get your ideas?
Those questions and others came up from readers at the author event I participated in yesterday. Harvest Fest is always a treat with several thousand people wandering through six “art fields” along the Nickel Plate Trail, perusing artisans’, artists’, and creators’ booths, including a local authors’ booth, where I sat. There were even strolling musicians and food trucks and beer! It was quite an event and I really had fun!
So, to answer … Yes, I really did write all these books. I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil; I wrote my first book at age 10, but I’ve been published since 2012. It takes me about four to six months to write a book. My ideas come from the people in my head who are in a long line waiting for their story to be told. Ordinarily, a long line of people talking in my head would be a confession that would get one rushed into therapy, but writers get a pass.
However, a couple of years ago when I was at an author event, I was asked, Do you like doing this? Do you like writing? I had to pause for just a second, and frankly, the question’s been in my head ever since. Simmering in the back of my mind. First of all, it didn’t happen while I was sitting at my table, it was from a person sitting at her own table, where I’d stopped by on my way back from the restroom to look at her books and say hello, mostly because she looked so … young and sad and out of place and maybe even a little bored.
She was in her late twenties and wore a black T-shirt. Her table was sparse, a couple of titles arranged in two rows, some bookmarks, a stack of business cards, and an 8-x-10 photo of herself with her name written across it like an autograph in a plain black frame. Truthfully, I can’t remember what the books were. But it doesn’t matter because it was clear, she would rather have been anywhere else.
The question that started as Do you like doing this? eventually in our short exchange, became Do you like writing? which is an entirely different question.
Do I like doing author events? Well, it’s a fun way to meet readers, to get your face connected to your stories, to network with other authors and writers groups, and to talk story. You do have to prepare–to have all the “stuff” you need together, to wear comfortable clothes, and to be “on,” which is, I admit, hard for most writers. Writing is a solitary profession, and we’re in our own heads way more that the average person, so stepping out of it is a little bit harrowing, but always fun in the end.
But the second question was the one that surprised me was, Do you like writing? The first response that rose to my lips was Would I be here if I didn’t? But the look on her face–sad, confused, and maybe a little overwhelmed, stopped me from being flip. I told her and I meant it with all my heart, It’s who I am. There’s no me without writing. I wish that thought was original to me; it’s not. I was quoting a fellow author, Anne Stuart. But when I first heard (read) Anne say it, I felt seen as writer for first time in my life. So I use it … often.
That morose young woman just stared at me like I’d suddenly grown an extra pair of ears, and she merely said, Oh, okay. There was so much more I wanted to say, to ask her, like why are you doing this if it’s not what you love? What are you avoiding? What is your true passion? But someone else came along and picked up one of her books, and I had to get back to my table to meet and greet, so I simply said, Good luck today, and I moved on.
But she’s stayed in my head, although I don’t even recall her name or what table she was at. I didn’t even pick up her card or a bookmark, which is sad too. If I was left only with the impression of someone who was unhappy at an event that was all about the happy, how did she affect others? I wonder if she sold any books. If she engaged any readers. If that event was her last. In a way, I hope so, because she was clearly not enjoying herself and that’s kinda tragic.
I confess author events are work, and writing is hard work too. I’ve been known to spend an hour working over one sentence in a sixty-thousand word manuscript. And toiling over characterization, fixing plot holes, moving the story forward can be exhausting, but the people in my head insist I write, and writing is so very much my happy place. There’s no me without it. I hope that girl found her happy place–whatever it might be.
Readers, do you have questions for this author who’s only recently come into cowboy romance? Ask me anything …I’d love to talk to you!
~*~*~*~
Here’s a treat for you! My book, Meant to Be, is just 99 cents on all ebook platforms right now. It is sweet, small-town romance–no cowboys, but lots of emotion and family and romance. I hope you’ll check it out here.
Can a near-tragedy help two best friends realize they’re meant to be so much more?
Best friends since grade school, high-powered Chicago attorney, Sean Flaherty, and small-town mayor Megan Mackenzie have always shared a special bond. When Sean is shot by a client’s angry ex, Megan rushes to his side, terrified she’s about to lose her long-time confidant.
Upon his return to River’s Edge to recuperate, Sean discovers that his feelings for his pal have taken an undeniable turn for the romantic. While Megan struggles with an unfamiliar longing for Sean, she worries that he may be mistaking a safe place to land for love.
Can Sean help her realize that they are truly meant to be so much more than friends?
I love words. I’m sure every writer does. I am a word freak, a language maven, a…a vocabularist, if you will. Okay, so maybe vocabularist isn’t actually a real word, but it should be because it describes me to a T. I am fascinated with language and how we use it, especially regional or quirky terms.
Another difference between my Montana cowboys and my Indiana winemakers, government analysts, firefighters, and attorneys is how much they talk. One of my critique partners has always told me that my heroes talk too much. Maybe they do, but I live with and raised men who ruminate and discuss and share their feelings, so my heroes probably do talk too much–just like the men in my real life. Not so much my cowboys, though. They keep it short and simple with Yup and Nope and dropping the g from the end of their verbs. They’re goin’ and ridin’ and fixin’ and of course always lovin’.
Where do you come from? Are there words or phrases that are especially peculiar to your neck of the woods. Share with me, won’t you? There are a couple of e-book copies of my newest cowboy romance, Help Wanted, Cowboy (ninja!) up for grabs for two lucky commenters.
I am generally loath to crow about my own books, which is sorta silly when you think about it. I mean, who else is going to crow about my books if not me? I’m not good at look at me, though, and if it were possible in this day and age to simply write a book, hand it to my publisher, and then crawl back into my writing cave and start a new one, without ever having to think about said book again, I would do it that way. But publishing doesn’t work like that these days. Maybe it never did.
All that said, I’m here today to be Nan Reinhardt author (<– over there) promoting a brand-new release — out today, as a matter of fact. If you love romance and Montana and spunky heroines and handsome cowboys with big hearts, Help Wanted, Cowboy might just be the book for you. Rory and Millie’s story is book 3 in my Juniper Falls Ranch series, so if you’ve read books 1 and 2, you’ll recognize Beth and Del Foster, who own Juniper Falls Ranch, Gus, their grizzled ranch hand, Bo Kennedy, the former rodeo cowboy turned ranch foreman, and others, as well as the little Montana town of Marietta. Sage’s Chocolate Shop, the Graff Hotel, Copper Mountain—all the places in Marietta that you already know and love are part of the story, too, as Rory and Millie feel their way to their own happily-ever-after. Because of course, there’s always an HEA in a Nan Reinhardt novel.
Oh, oh, P.S.: If you haven’t been to Juniper Falls Ranch yet, here’s a great opportunity for a first visit–
I have to confess that I panicked last year when my publisher Jane Porter asked me to move from River’s Edge, my little town on the Ohio River to Marietta, Montana. I mean, holy schnikeys! Except for flyovers and the very urban Bay Area of San Francisco to visit our kids, I’d never been west of Mississippi, and now I was supposed to write in the mountains of Montana? About cowboys? And rodeos and ranches? Yikes!
To be honest, the only things I had going for me as I headed into this new writing territory was a love of and experience with horses, the fact that I’d read a lot of Tule Publishing’s Montana Born books, and a deep respect for Jane and the team’s marketing expertise. They’d never steered me wrong yet, so I took a deep breath and dove in. I even took a trip to Big Sky, Montana, in July with my pal, mystery writer 
But let’s begin by defining a Western Woman. 
About Carmen
Ranch Showdown
More About Tina
The first apple trees in North America were grown in the late 1500s from seeds brought by French Jesuits. The Pilgrims also brought young trees and seedlings from England and planted them in Massachusetts and throughout New England. Settlers traded fruit, trees, and seeds with American Indians. Apples were a staple in the diet of early pioneers, since they could be eaten fresh, fried, stewed, baked, and made into cider, vinegar, and brandy. Even mediocre apples could be cooked into preserves and apple butter, and the poorest fruit was used as livestock feed.
