I have always read a lot, and like many people I ended up with favorite writers. I read everything by Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris Dick Francis, Anthony Price and too many more to mention. But the advent of the Kindle (and Nook and others) e-reader has changed the playing field. Books are cheap enough in e-book form (often under $5.00) that I’m branching out and reading writers I’ve never heard of (and never would have heard of) and in genres I wouldn’t have touched previously with a ten foot pole. It’s great to find all these other good and extremely entertaining “new” writers.

Here are a few.

HAVE GUN, WILL PLAY by Camille LaGuire. A cross between a Western and a mystery. Quirky, has great characters and was fun to read. Here is its Kindle link—–http://amzn.com/B003TU20I8

THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron. A Newbery Award winner. That’s all you need to know. Here is its Kindle link—-http://amzn.com/B000OI118S

MASTERSON by Richard S. Wheeler. Another Western. This a character study of Bat Masterson. Fascinating and hard to put down. Here is its Kindle link—-http://amzn.com/B003X4M882

ST. DALE by Sharyn McCrumb. A combination romance novel and stock car racing memorial. Great fun, also heartwarming. Its ISBN number is  978-0758207760.

REVISE THE WORLD by Brenda W. Clough. This is a long science fiction novel with a strong romance at its core. It’s about time travel and adjusting to circumstances. Here is its Kindle link—http://amzn.com/B002VWLLYO

I’ve got a lot more. Will save them for another time. There isn’t a book mentioned above that anyone wouldn’t like. Give them a look at least. Thanks.

PHOTOS BY ROXANNE RIX

THE COWBOY’S BABY by Gretchen Lee Rix. Kindle link–http://amzn.com/B003UYUVZC

He went to her, gave her a gentle kiss, and whispered into her ear. “This too shall pass,” he said.

Before the truck returned, Peter had tripped over something behind the pen and lost another roll of toilet paper to the goats that had the spot staked out. His flashlight didn’t deter the animals from tearing the roll apart and running away with it. He had a weird feeling the goats were enjoying the extra attention.   

Baby watched silently from his post. There was going to be some way to get out of this pen tonight, he just hadn’t figured out how as yet. He let Peter leave without expressing his displeasure or letting him know he was there.

Before Cassie returned, Ralph Maybeath came up to Frank and apologized. “I knew I should have gone with them,” he explained. “I need to go to the house with the next bunch. Soon.”   

“Next bunch?” Frank said.   

Ralph looked at him. Frank looked back.  

“I’ll just stay here,” Ralph added. “They should be back pretty soon, right?”    

Frank didn’t answer, just pressed his lips tighter. Cassie’s sleepover wasn’t getting off to a very good start. And then he saw the Bishops who were sitting outside their tent with a lamp at their feet and looking at the night sky with binoculars. The little boy Leon was with them, Mr. Bishop helping him with the glasses, probably showing him the Milky Way, Frank guessed, from the way Bishop threw up his arms and pointed over his head and then down. His wife turned off the lamp at that point; all they had now were star shine and moonlight. Frank looked up at the stars; for the moment everything was peaceful.“It’s beautiful out here,” Ralph said quietly.    

Frank didn’t reply. From where he stood he could also see flashlights from Ellison’s tent and from Marcia’s tent. He could see the outline of their bodies. Marcia was putting up her things, but then laid down and turned out the light. Ellison opened the flap to his tent. Frank saw him drag the sleeping bag out into the open before he turned his light off. The moonlight illuminated him enough for Frank to see him lying on his back, possibly also watching the stars.From a distance Frank heard Leon’s voice. “Mom, I need to take a leak. I don’t have to go back to the house, do I?”    

Frank couldn’t hear Leona’s response, but he did see her when she switched her flashlight on. Before too long he saw Peter and Leon headed back to the pen area with two rolls of bathroom paper. He did quick addition in his head and then ground his teeth. They were really making a run on toilet paper, these people, he thought. Before too long their supply would be gone.

TO BE CONTINUED…

COPYRIGHT 2010 by Gretchen Rix. Photos by Roxanne Rix. The Cowboy’s Baby available at http://amzn.com/B003UYUVZC .   

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK—Sucker Bet by James Swain and The Sari Shop Widow by Shobhan Bantwal.

PHOTOS BY ROXANNE RIX

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK—Dead Reckoning  by Charlaine Harris. And A Feast For Crows by George R.R. Martin.

I am almost through with the second draft of my novel Arroyo. I have finished four out of five segments and have been pretty pleased with what I have. While working on this I became reacquainted (as a reader) with Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch via their respective websites; they have a lot of useful information to impart. If you are a writer, you need to be reading their blogs. 

Dean Wesley Smith has Killing The Sacred Cows of Publishing at http://deanwesleysmith.com.  There is lots and lots of useful information here. One of the reasons I’m bring this up now, is that he talks about rewriting in a way I have never heard before.  And, of course, here I am rewriting Arroyo. However, turns out I was pretty much following his advice before I read it: what I already had on the page was good and didn’t need much tweaking other than reformatting, correcting errors and making sure the continuity was correct. I have a new hero.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch has The Business Rusch Publishing Series at http://kriswrites.com. Her writing is about the business end of writing and is every bit as interesting as Sacred Cows, though much more technical as it is dealing with contracts, agents, publishers, publishing and more.

After I finish this second rough draft I have one more to do. I still see a few plots that need to be tidied up, I’ve got a bit more research to do, and I need to redo some sentences. Maybe I should be doing that now in the second draft, but I want to see the whole as I originally wrote it (mostly or minimally untouched by my editing pen) before making third draft decisions.

Read these people, please. You will learn so much no one else is willing to tell you.

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK—Simply Irresistible by Kristine Grayson.

Photos by Roxanne Rix

THE COWBOY’S BABY is available as a Kindle e-book at Amazon. com. Here is the link.

http://amazon.com/The-Cowboys-Baby-ebook/dp/B003UYUVZC.

Lockhart’s animal shelter needs help. Because of the economy a lot of their donations have dried up, but the dogs and cats keep coming in. If you have the funds to spare, consider a donation. Their address is 547 Old McMahn Trail Lockhart, Tx 78644. Phone number is 512-376-3336. And if you are local (I mean Austin, too. It’s not too far to drive), come and pick out a pet to take home. Thank you.

Photos by Roxanne Rix.

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK—The Man who Knew Too Much by G.K. Chesterton.