TAKING TIME OFF

SAINTS & SINNERS is available as a single story or as part of the TWISTED RIXTER collection

Taking time off from writing. I’m nearly at the end of my brief respite, and it’s cost me. I should have finished THE GOODALL MUTINY by now. Aiming for the end of April, now, and honestly, it will probably be the end of May.

I realize I do a lot better when I write every single day, but sometimes I just don’t want to and I just don’t want to make myself do it. Welcome to the real world.

THE SAFARI BRIDE, Adventure and Romance in one, also available at Bookpeople in Austin, TX

This isn’t writer’s block. I’ve got the ideas and the desire to write. I just decided to catch up on a lot of things I shuttle to one side in the ordinary scheme of things (like emails and the blog and website), and to read and watch TV.

I’ve just finished two months taking Dean Wesley Smith’s workshops on writing and the business of writing, and it was very hard working on those and writing at the same time. I’ve got a few more notes to input and a book to read, then I’m completely finished here (except for practice and review and practice and more practice).

Knowing that I’m the type of person who likes starting-off points, I’ll probably get back to writing Monday. Or maybe Sunday if I want to be a stickler about it.

In the meantime, I want to show off some of my favorite covers.

TRUEPENNY is available as a single story, or as part of the collection TWISTED RIXTER

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK:  Blowback by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.  Dragon’s Bait by Vivian Vande Velde.  A Murder of Clones by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Check out  http://rixcafetexican.com/entrees to see all my books.

For Kindle readers http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

For Nook readers http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix

For Smashwords readers http://smashwords.com/books/view/494824

And for Kobo readers http://kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=gretchen+rix

Resting in Fulton Beach/Rockport

It’s time for another RECOMMENDED READING post.

Anything written by Alexandra Fuller. I’ve only read the two, Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood, and Cocktail Hour Under The Tree Of Forgiveness, but boy does that lady have a story to tell. These are memoirs from her childhood and early adulthood in colonial Africa.  Cocktail Hour can be found here http://amzn.com/B004IYISJ4, and Don’t Let’s here http://amzn.com/B00CUG8GAS. I didn’t realize she had even more books until I was compiling this list today. Look’s like I’ve got some more Alexandra Fuller reading to do.

The Wayward Pines trilogy by Blake Crouch, but I’d advise watching the miniseries made out of it first, that way the shocking surprises will truly and surprisingly shock you. The books in question are Pines, Wayward, and The Last Town.

The series Wayward Pines will be on FOX starting May 14.  The books can be had here:  http://amzn.com/B007FG9LIE and  http://amzn.com/B00C1IPQZ8 and http://amzn.com/B00GUU9262 It’s quite a thrilling ride.

I can’t recommend the Grave novels of William Doonan too highly. They had me falling out of my chair laughing. Are good mysteries, too. About a very old man solving crime on cruise ships. Here’s the link to the first of them. You can find the rest through it.  Grave Passage  http://amzn.com/B0088JO4RK.

Texas longhorn from the Lockhart/Luling corridor

We just got through with AggieCon 46. Thanks to all of you who bought books by Gretchen Rix and Gretchen Lee Rix and Patrick Kampman. (I’m the two Gretchen’s, of course. Use my full name for romance novels. Patrick is his own man, and his books are pretty damn good).

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh.  Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde.  A Taste of You by Irene Preston.

Go to http://rixcafetexican.com/entrees for a list of my  books and short stories.

Photos by Roxanne Rix.

Obviously, this isn’t wordless.

I’ll be part of the Meet the Authors event here next Saturday. Come out and visit.

This is actually a scene from the Halloween train ride at the Austin Zoo.

At the Welcome to Lockhart sign just before a trip to the Davis Mountains.

This is what yard art looks like in Texas.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Anniversary Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Check out my books at  Rix Cafe Texican

Photos by Roxanne Rix.

WRITING REPORT

Got to be a western if it’s got a bull on the cover!

The last day of February I finished the rough draft of the companion piece to The Safari Bride, The Cimarron Bride. Mind you, it’s a rough draft. I was supposed to have finished it at the end of January. Spent too much time watching TV, reading, sleeping, all sorts of stuff that interfered with the writing. Plus, there’s still a lot of work to be done on this, but I immediately launched into my next book, a science fiction mystery The Goodall Mutiny.

Start date on this was was March 1. It’s March 7 and I’ve only finished three chapters, but the good news here is that I might have a more complete first draft on this one than I did with The Cimarron Bride. At least that’s the plan. It’s also the plan to finish this one before April 1. We’ll know how that turned out pretty soon. Going to write a bit more on it tonight before I turn in.

Don’t forget to turn the clocks forward early Sunday morning. Daylight Savings Time begins.

Something else alerting you that it’s a western.

Photos by Roxanne Rix

Check out my books at  Rix Cafe Texican

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Dexter’s Final Cut by Jeff Lindsay.  The Patterer by Larry Brill.  Necromancer Awakening by Nat Russo.  Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Adventure and Romance in one

Looks like I’ve done nothing but read in the last few weeks.

WHAT I READ SINCE LAST TIME:  An Invitation to Scandal by Kelly Boyce.  The Disappeared by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.  Merchanter’s Luck by C. J. Cherryh. Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.  Mercenary Instinct by Ruby Lionsdrake.  Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.

Weird Western

I did more.

In addition to all the reading, I binge-watched season two of American Horror Story (Asylum), got BABY SINGS THE BOOS up and ready for CreateSpace trade paperback publication, got the car maintained, got Merry Maids fired (actually they fired us, didn’t want to come this far from home base), and I’ve almost finished the first draft or rough draft or the non-critical brain version of my next book THE CIMARRON BRIDE. Next up will be a science fiction novel THE GOODALL MUTINY. And then the third in the Boo Done It mysteries CHECKING OUT THE DEAD DUDE. And I hope for a fourth novel this year, another short romance, THE TEXICAN BRIDE. I’m also deep into an online Dean Wesley Smith writing workshop that’s downright fun (so far).

What I haven’t done is eat properly or get any exercise. Taking the golf cart out for a ride doesn’t count as exercise. Not even in Texas.

The armadillo didn’t see his shadow on groundhog day. I think our short (very short) winter in Texas is almost over. Bluebonnet driving trips are just around the corner. Texas highways during the Spring are fantastic things to behold. People stop on the shoulders and walk out into rattlesnake-infested wildflower fields just to get a great selfie.

Find my books at

http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix and http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix and at http://smashwords.com/books/view/105559

These are poppies. Bluebonnets are sort of purple.

The real Boo Radley.

The Boo Done It Mystery series started with our dog Boo Radley, named for the To Kill A Mockingbird character played in the movie by Robert Duvall.  Our Boo Radley is female. We tend to pick out our pet names before we pick out our pets.

Boo out walking in our yard

Boo in real life was much as she’s described in the novels TALKING TO THE DEAD GUYS and TEA WITH A DEAD GAL, and in the new short story collection BABY SINGS THE BOOS. Stubborn, beautiful, nervous, hard to control, afraid of thunderstorms (and just about everything else unexpected), and beautiful.

That’s me on the other end of the leash getting dragged by Boo Radley

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK: Aleutian Grave by William Doonan.

My books are available at

http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix and http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix

Photographs by Roxanne Rix.

Boo Radley

WHAT I’VE LEARNED OVER FOUR YEARS OF INDIE PUBLISHING:  

A Boo Done It Mystery

SALES AREN’T STEADY. A terrific six months can be followed by six months of few to no sales. You don’t necessarily get any sales at Christmas time. And a book that started off slow and then got a lot of sales, and then sold very slowly? That book still sells four years later. But not a lot. I don’t think you can look at your figures and plan your upcoming income from indie published books. ADVICE: When you do make a lot of money out of your books, save the majority of it against the year you don’t do so well.

YOU (AND THE PROFESSIONAL COVER ARTIST YOU HIRE) CAN CREATE BEAUTIFUL AND KICK-ASS BOOK COVERS. I think the operative word in the above sentence is professional. A professional cover artist with experience knows what they are doing. You can still have a lot of input in the creation of your cover, but let the professionals handle it.

SALES TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY REALLY DON’T HELP. So don’t ask them to buy your books. Don’t expect them to buy your books. What you need is strangers buying your books. Work on that. How? Targeted e-book email blasts like BookBub and ebook soda.

WRITE MORE GOOD BOOKS. The more good books you have in your stable, the more sales you will make. It won’t be equal, either. One or two of your books might make up most of your profit, with the others getting few to no sales at all. But the more you have, the more visible you are.

KEEP PRICES REASONABLE (OR LOW). Even I don’t like paying $12.99 for Stephen King books on Kindle, although he is one of only a few authors I will accept that from. Book prices run the gamut from free to ninety-nine cents to $2.99 and up past $9.99. Best advice is to look at your own book buying habits. How much are you willing to pay for a book from an author you’ve never hear of? How much are you willing to pay for a book that’s part of a series? If you take a free book and enjoy it, are you now willing to pay for other of the author’s books?

CONSTANTLY CHECKING TO SEE HOW MANY BOOKS YOU SOLD IS FUN!  It’s also a big waste of your time. And in more than four years of publishing, I still can’t break the habit. Like I said, it’s fun. ADVICE: Don’t let yourself get depressed over the days (or months) of no sales or over-elated over the sales you do get.

I LOVE INDIE PUBLISHING! This is the most important of the many things I’ve learned so far.

DISCLAIMER: These have been my experiences and might not apply to you.

I’ve got a new book coming out in a week. BABY SINGS THE BOOS. It’s six short stories combining the main characters from THE COWBOY’S BABY and TALKING TO THE DEAD GUYS. They get into all sorts of Texas-based mischief. It was damned fun to write. Should be fun to read. Look for it on Kindle, Nook, and at Smashwords.

Darwin says you’ll like my new short story collection. She’s in one of the stories!

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson.  Hot In December by Joe R. Lansdale.

You can find my books here http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix and here http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix and here http://smashwords.com/books/view/105559 and if  you’re ever in Lockhart, Texas, check out LOGOS and the LOCKHART SHOPPES ON MAINE and BUFFALO CLOVER.

Prize toys from the game alley of the State Fair of Texas

Texas longhorn from the Lockhart/Luling corridor

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Unwritten  by Charles Martin.

My cover artist is Streetlight Graphics. They’ve done all my covers for about four years now. I couldn’t be more proud of them. And it’s an interesting process. Between me and my sister we decide what we want, we tell them what we want, and then we get back a cover that’s exactly what we ordered, but it looks nothing like we’d imagined. We’ve got another new one coming up in a couple of weeks: BABY SINGS THE BOOS, a collection of six short stories combining the characters from The Cowboy’s Baby and The Cowboy’s Baby Goes To Heaven with the characters from Talking To The Dead Guys and Tea With A Dead Gal. Lots of fun to write. Hopefully lots of fun to read.

http://streetlightgraphics.com

And here’s where you’ll find the Kindle versions of the below three novels.

http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

Photos by Roxanne Rix.

A Boo Done It Mystery

A Boo Done It Mystery

Adventure and Romance in one

 TANGLED HONOR by Philip McBride, a book review.

There are more than enough accurately depicted battle scenes in TANGLED HONOR to satisfy the Civil War buff, but it’s also a compelling family story.

While Captain John McBee ably commandeers his men through bloody horrors, he also fights against his attraction to a beautiful woman he accepts shelter from one frightful night. Add to that his growing respect for his slave Levi, who has become indispensable to him as his aide, and is most likely his son.

TANGLED HONOR starts with a riveting bit of back-story from after the Texas Revolution when Comanche tribes were a major foe: The Battle of Plum Creek. Then the action jumps forward to Texas’ involvement in the Civil War where main character Captain John McBee fights for what seems at the time to be the upcoming victory of the South over the North.

No reader who enjoys realistic battle scenes will be disappointed in this historical novel. No reader who enjoys historical fiction from the Civil War era will be able to put this book down.

DISCLAIMER: I am part of the same critique group as Philip McBride, the author, and saw many chapters of this book as it was being written. Follow his blog at  

http://mcbridenovels.blogspot.com

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Revival by Stephen King.

Photos by Roxanne Rix

You can find my books at

http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix and http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix

THE TEN BOOKS I ENJOYED BEST IN 2014

I got this idea from Julia Tomiak’s Favorite books of 2014 nblo.gs/12dc9t blog. I’m going to share with you the 10 books I read in 2014 that I most enjoyed.

Here’s Darwin telling me to put my book down and pay attention to her

THE SEVENTH MAN by Max Brand. It’s a western like no other, where the bad guys are the viewpoint characters. It will take your breath away.  

THE WALK by Lee Goldberg. Wildly entertaining catastrophe novel that should be a movie. I’ll re-read this book forever.

DEAD MONEY by Dean Wesley Smith. A thriller set in the world of gambling and high politics. I bet you can’t put it down once you start reading it.

GRAVE INDULGENCE by William Doonan. Loved it, loved it, loved it. An octogenarian private detective solving murder mysteries on cruise ships. I wish I’d written it.

MEDITERRANEAN GRAVE by William Doonan. Another splendid and rip-roaring cruise adventure that will have you falling out of your chair.

QUICKSILVER by Toni Dwiggins, one of her Forensic Geology thrillers. It’s absolutely riveting.

COCKTAIL HOUR UNDER THE TREE OF FORGIVENESS by Alexandra Fuller. The memoirs of a girl growing up in post colonial Africa. What a life!

REPUBLIC by Lindsay Buroker. The latest in the adventures of The Emperor’s Edge gang of Amaranthe, Maldynado, and everyone’s favorite conflicted assassin Sicarius. Fantasy/science fiction steampunk.

STREET JUSTICE by Kris Nelscott. Hard-boiled mystery from the steamy side of the street.

BROOD OF BONES by A.E. Marling. You’ve never read a fantasy like this one.

Someday I hope to see one of my  books on a list like this. The books above are what I strive to achieve with my own.

PHOTOS by Roxanne Rix

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  The Before by Emily McKay.  Tangled Honor by Philip McBride.

My newest book Tea With A Dead Gal.  

A Boo Done It Mystery