I’m redrafting a historical romance I started writing on a train ride to Dallas, Texas and back (Austin) more than a year ago. It might have been two. THE CIMARRON BRIDE.

When I dragged it out of mothballs to edit, I didn’t like the main character, and some of the plot was ridiculous. So very glad I waited on this one.

I’m at chapter eight now, which I feel might need a few more revisions in the long run, but I’m soldiering on into chapter nine. It’s Stephen King’s advice, to keep writing forward, and it has helped turn me from a writer with six or seven partial novels in my desk drawers, to a writer with twelve published books who is working on her thirteenth and has part of the fourteenth stored under the keyboard I’m typing on right now.

Yea, Stephen King!  

Here’s a very small sample:  

It was Valentin.

Everyone in the room recognized that voice. May Ling was surprised she hadn’t. The deputy seemed scared. While he sucked on his bruised and cut hand, Big Jim cautioned him. “Better pour some spirits over that, and I mean right now. Wrap it in some cloth.” Everyone else stood stupefied, even the previously manic Squash Blossom.

May Ling wanted verification that it was truly Valentin out there. To see with her own eyes. She moved toward the door.  Big Jim pulled her back into the office. “It’s him all right. No need to meet him head on, Miss May Ling.”

The three horses inside had retreated to the back of the room and stood with their heads hanging down. “That’s not a good sign,” Big Jim commented. “I’m going to open the door back up and let them out.”

Richard walked over to shut the exit door, but stopped in the threshold to watch what May Ling could no longer see. “They’re gone,” he told her, talking over his shoulder in her direction. He wafted his hand in front of his face to disperse the settling dust. “And here he comes,” he added. “Earlier than I expected,” he told Big Jim.

You can find one of my books in Austin at Bookpeople. You can find all of my books in Lockhart at Logo’s and Buffalo Clover and some at Printing Solutions. Go to http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix  for NOOK books and https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix  for KINDLE books.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Deadly Games by Lindsay Buroker. Conspiracy by Lindsay Buroker.

THE SAFARI BRIDE is the first of three non-related romance novels I’ve planned. You can see it here http://amzn.com/B00PUVCBGK. I haven’t re-read it recently, but I liked it then, I’ll probably like it now.  

THE CIMARRON BRIDE was the second planned book, and it’s what I’m working on now. That was another story. I started it about two years ago on a train ride to Dallas and back, plus all the time in the hotel room. It’s been finished for quite a while, but when I took it out to check for typos, etc, I found I didn’t like what I was reading.

THE CIMARRON BRIDE is undergoing what is called a re-draft. I ruthlessly cut out all the chapters I didn’t like reading, and am working my way through the rest, which I do like. Quite a bit.

It’s very interesting working this way, and a lot easier to get it right the first time through than with a re-draft. And I’d considered it, too. Just tossing the whole thing, keeping the characters and the plot but none of the actual writing at all.

This will be a more traditional type of romance novel than I’ve attempted before. I’ve got the marvelous novels of Sherry Thomas to thank for that. When I finally ventured from Not Quite A Husband to the rest of her books, I began to realize what was wrong with THE CIMARRON BRIDE. Thank  you, Sherry.

Wish me luck. I hope to finish my book by the end of October. Then I’m going to wait. Until I can read it with fresh eyes. Hopefully, I’ll like it this time. If not, I’ll be trying the re-write from scratch method.

P.S. I really hope the redraft method works because I’ve had something really special just waiting for me to get good enough to fix.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  The Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker.  The Western Star by Craig Johnson.

Illustrations from ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT. Courtesy of Streetlight Graphics.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Survivor’s Dawn by Ashley Warren.

My books can be found at all the usual places, including some neat stores in Lockhart, TX.

THE GOODALL MUTINY is available as a paperback, as an e-book, and as an Audible file. If you’d like a free copy of the Audible file, I have a few left. Go to the comments area and let me know.

WHAT I READ THESE PAST WEEKS:  Ships of My Fathers by Dan Thompson. Murder As A Fine Art by David Morrell. Scorched by Mari Mancusi. A Strange Twist of Fate by Debra Erfert. FYI, I’ve read a lot more than this. Not going to list them this time.

CLOUDS IN MY BACKYARD

TV Dallas once said hurricanes coming/Take shelter.

I watch tornadoes die in my backyard. They meant tornadoes. Dumb screenwriter. Dallas is too far from the coast.

Gray, black-tinged cotton, lowering heavy atmosphere ready to drop.

On me, not really so safe lying in the grass in my backyard. Watching. Eyes dazed even now by the sun hidden in there somewhere. I squint. Flinch with the first crack.

Thunder. It rolls over ground like bowling balls, knocking air out of its way. Wind assaults the dry grass, begging for water, and then whips my face red.

Cold, ice-laden in its thoughts if not in its stroke, it sandpapers me, then dies.

Too cold for tornadoes.

My backyard sky is an art gallery of clouds and of unmarred blue and of black menace hurtling down like the hawks that eye my cat as they float overhead.

And sometimes I can still see the sun set. Pink and orange and red, mostly hindered by my neighbor.

Sunrise or sunset? Sunset. Slow as slow until the end, then gone, then minute by minute more stars reveal themselves, and the moon, where she sometimes is.

Dying over living? Rest. It is over.

“That will do, pig.”

A very old poem of mine. Here is the cat 

THE GOODALL MUTINY is free on Smashwords for a short time. Check it out: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/620213

It should have been BILL OBERST JR. and then THE GOODALL MARAUDERS, but we hit a snag. THE GOODALL MARAUDERS appeared first. Then early last evening I got the notice that Emmy award-winning actor BILL OBERST JR.’s narration of my walking macadamia horror stories ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT has gone live on Audible. You really don’t want to miss this. Believe me, you don’t.

ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT is more funny than anything else (not counting quirky, and maybe macabre), and nobody could have done a better job on it than Bill. Although it is a horror collection about walking macadamia trees, I laughed myself silly. Couldn’t believe I’d written these hilarious stories. Couldn’t believe what this marvelous actor had done with them. He doesn’t just read them, he becomes them.

And the other news,

THE GOODALL MARAUDERS. I can’t stop humming, and sometimes singing the drunken sailor song.

What do you do with a drunken sailor? What do you do with a drunken sailor? What do you do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning?

Weigh heigh and up she rises. Weigh heigh and up she rises. Weigh heigh and up she rises, early in the morning.

Trust me. The above has a lot to do with my story, the third of the Goodall Mutiny series. Sends chills down my spine. Hey, the book went live a couple of days ago. My latest book is always my best book. I outdid myself with this story. The cover is by Streetlight Graphics.

Get the Audible file here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Ill-Met-by-Moonlight-Audiobook/B0744QRVDD

Get THE GOODALL MARAUDERS here: https://amzn.com/B0746QSXWQ

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris, The Resistance by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Delicious by Sherry Thomas.

My newest book’s cover. By Streetlight Graphics.

A poem.

Titled: Poem number Two.

Can I make a rhyme? Write a poem. Compose a song on paper that sings?

May I take the time? Light a fire under my butt (couldn’t think of a word that marches with poem at its side like a brother.) Repose from work and soar with ringing words?

Mine. Time is all I have. Read and write. Read and write. Better than watch and sleep. Watch and learn. Think and play. How come I can’t come up with more than four-letter words in scrabble?

Babble. A word a day keeps people at bay. Look at your short word poem here.

Pyanfar crying out for play. Py An Far. Space captain. Swaggering female.

Staggering with fumes. Drunk on neglect. See if I can make one sentence soar.

Here it comes.

Silver feline collapses in worshipful love between my feet, tripping me up in my own place, all that I will ever have is here in her magical eyes. Plus I have the books.

Here is Pyanfar.  

Coming soon: a fantastic narration of ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT by Emmy Award winning actor Bill Oberst Jr. (In about two weeks).

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  ARROYO by Gretchen Rix. THE RIVAL by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

FIND MY BOOKS AT: Bookpeople in Austin, Tx. Logos, Buffalo Clover, and Printing Solutions in Lockhart, TX. For the Nook at http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix For the Kindle at https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix For Itunes at http://smashwords.com/books/view/79235

Again, major and minor procrastination saves the day. My book is much better for it, not to mention different from what it would have been if I’d continued to write linearly.

It’s like taking a soothing bath and suddenly realizing who the murderer is in the book you’re writing. Something clicks on in your brain when you’re not looking.

I am in stage 2 of editing right now. One-third of the book to do. Then going into phase 3 editing. What fun! (Actually, for this book it is). 

On a different note, this just came in through the spam mail. Very inventive:

I’ll immediately clutch your rss as I can not find your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please permit me recognize so that I may subscribe. Thanks.

LINKS TO MY KINDLE BOOKS https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK: Hill Country Greed by Patrick Kelly. His at Night by Sherry Thomas. Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas. His Mysterious Lady by G.G. Vandagriff.

Almost done with the “rough draft” of my next book. From the list of books down at the bottom it would seem I’ve been reading too much instead. (I just moved the list up).

WHAT I READ THESE PAST WEEKS:  Angelique in Love by Sergeanne Golon. Dead On My Feet by J.A. Konrath. Beguiling the Beauty by Sherry Thomas. Queen of the Dark Things by C. Robert Cargill. Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas. Tempting the Bride by Sherry Thomas. The Changeling by Kristin Kathryn Rusch. The Hidden Blade by Sherry Thomas. Insects by John Koloen.  

For the last week I’ve been watching naked guys on film. Sometimes half-naked guys on film. Started with the remake of Psycho. Went to Eastern Promises. Ended with The Legend of Tarzan. Between those three, plus the stills on the internet that went with them, I garnered a few details to add at the end of my work in progress.

You should have seen me, sitting on the couch by myself (actually, our dog Boomer was on the couch with me), a notepad on my lap, trying to take notes instead of getting caught up in the story. And pausing, running it back, pausing, running it back. Those guys just moved too fast for me to concentrate on what I wanted, which was shoulders, small of the back, forearms (and don’t ever Google “men’s forearms”).

I’m into writing that scene today. Probably tomorrow and Wednesday, too. Hope I can make it sing.

Apologies to the actors I’m using as guides, but they are the ones who signed up for nude scenes. And I did watch the whole movie. Each of them. Eastern Promises was a lot better than I remembered. And an incredible bit of acting from Viggo Mortensen as well. The remake of Psycho, not so much. The Legend of Tarzan held me enthralled. I almost forgot to take notes.

Name of my new book, already months late: THE GOODALL MARAUDERS.

My published books can be found here https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix