A Western Writer

I have now written eight books set in the Old West, and I have ten more scheduled to be published. I didn't start out in this genre, but I gravitated there. My first set of books is set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina in the 1800s. But as my husband (who prefers to read only westerns when he reads fiction) says, "They read a lot like westerns." This is true because living in the Appalachian Mountains in the early 1800s was frontier living.

Link to the Appalachian Roots series - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078MTFXBP

I grew up as a fan of old western movies with Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Gene Autry, etc. I distinctly remember the cowgirl outfit and all its paraphernalia I found under the Christmas tree one year. I also remember my parents talking about moving to Arizona for my dad's health because the doctor thought the dry air might help his asthma. But in the end, they decided to stay near family, and an asthma attack eventually killed him at age fifty.

I have visited all fifty states, but I hadn't lived in the West until I married my husband, and we lived in New Mexico for two years. Then we had to return to North Carolina because my mother's insurance wouldn't pay for out-of-state expenses any longer, and I was her only caregiver. We bought an old adobe house while there, and I had a great time decorating it in a Southwestern theme. It sold rather quickly, even in a housing market slump. Those two years created many good memories and eventually, the Cactus Creek five-book series.

Link to the Cactus Creek series - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RLG389Z

Today, I am considered a western writer, among other things. I have been asked to join several western MAPS (multiple-author projects), so I see no end to westerns in my future. In fact, I find most of my new story ideas are set in the Old West. It's a great time and place for a historical writer.

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 An Attitude of Thanksgiving

Giving thanks shouldn't be something we just do on a special Thursday in November or occasionally when we think of it. Even thanking God for our food before meals or when we recognize a special blessing isn't enough. We need to live with thankful hearts and make it "thanksliving." 

"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name" (Hebrews 13:15).

We can cultivate a thankful heart since it's a choice we make. Paul gave thanks in all his situations (and he went through many hardships, beatings, imprisonment. and eventually, execution) because he knew God would bring good, even from bad circumstances. Do you trust God that much?

"As ye therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye with him: Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:6-7). "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20).

In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young writes, "A thankful heart opens the windows of heaven.... Thankfulness opens you up to these experiences [glimpses of heaven's glory], which provide further reasons to be grateful." Isn't this a marvelous cycle of blessings, understanding how great God is, and recognizing how good He is to us? Cultivate a continuous thankful heart and attitude and see how much better your life becomes. 

"O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever" (1 Chronicles 16:34).

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Working Through Writer's Block 

Recently, I saw where a writer was talking about writer's block on The Writers' Forum Facebook page, and it got me thinking. I've been blessed in that I've never had writer's block. However, I've now published thirty-six books, and there have been a few times when the writing slowed and became a bit harder. Perhaps the reason these times have not turned into writer's block is that I've learned to write through the slow times.

This means, even when the writing becomes more difficult, I keep at it. I tell myself to write just one more sentence, even if I have to change it later, and then another. When I write a paragraph or two, the writing always eases up and demands less effort. It begins to flow again, often coming so quickly that I can hardly move my fingers over the keyboard fast enough to get it all down.

As I see the scenes, hear the dialogue, and know what my characters are thinking, the story takes shape, and I just need to record it for my readers. The first drafts are always a lot of fun for me. It's in the editing that the real work begins. But that's another issue altogether.

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Swords of the Faithful

Paul talks about the sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6:17. It's one of the main weapons in the Christian's arsenal. We are to be soldiers in God's army, and no good soldier would go into battle without a weapon. The sword was a common weapon in Paul's day, and the one most often used by Roman soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. A skilled soldier could also use his sword to deflect the enemy's blows. 

The Christian has the sword of the Word (see Ephesians 6:17). We can see a great demonstration of how to use it by studying how Jesus responded to Satan's temptations in Matthew 4. We must know God's Word to be victorious in the many skirmishes that will come our way. There is no way we can stand up to Satan, be a good witness, or grow in our faith without it.

We fight any spiritual battles and learn how to live a Christian life by taking up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is "quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword." We should read it daily, study it diligently, meditate on it habitually, memorize it often, proclaim it always, and include it in our prayers. Then we will be able to defeat Satan in our lives and march forward as conquerers in God's army.

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 Two Views to Creating Main Characters

Some readers complain if a main character has flaws to overcome. Others complain if a character is too perfect, saying they aren't believable. Writing can sometimes feel like a balancing act. Although I know it's impossible to please all my readers, I still want to stay true to my craft and produce the best books possible, so I read and carefully consider each review.

In Mountain Storms, the first book in my In from the Storms trilogy, one reviewer and I were just not on the same page. In the story, Ian MacGregor has been badly scarred in the Civil War and becomes a recluse in the Rocky Mountains after his fiance rejected him, ran, and refused to look at him again. This reviewer writes, "For such a believer, it was a bit ridiculous his scar affected his self worth so bad, but that was the main thread throughout the whole story."

Link to Mountain Storms -https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R9X3PT1

First of all, being a believer doesn't mean we are perfect people. Look at the fathers of the faith in the Bible. Abraham lied about who Sarah was and didn't wait on God's timing to have a son. Jacob deceived his father, Elijah ran away when Jezabel threatened, Moses didn't obey God on how to get water from the rock, Jonah thought he knew better than God and ran from the mission God gave him. Peter denied Jesus, and Thomas and others doubted that He had risen. The list could go on and on.

Secondly, I think it was a normal human reaction given Ian's circumstances. He had just come back from the war where his father had been killed and he'd experienced horrible things. He and a younger sister were all that was left of his immediate family, so he took Jeannie and left after Rhona's rejection. He does change by the end of the book, too.

Another misunderstanding came with the standalone novel set in 1797, It All Started at the Masquerade. I consider this compelling book as one of my hidden gems. It has all five-star reviews but slow traction. However, one reviewer wrote: "My only complaint is that the main character was so meek and submissive. I don't enjoy reading about women who allow men to abuse them and use the Bible and it's [sic] teachings as their excuse. I'm sure that's how women were viewed back then, but still - it bothered me. It did have a happy ending though so it was entertaining."

Link to It All Started at the Masquerade - https://www.amazon.com/All-Started-at-Masquerade-ebook/dp/B078FQ38JK

I wonder how carefully this reviewer read the book because she got a lot of her facts wrong. Melanie was only meek and submissive to God, and she was depending on Him. After all the Beatitudes say, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5). Lott never abused Melanie, although he did have a nature to do so, and she was concerned that he would if she married him. She didn't have much choice at first because her older brother and guardian was pushing the match. Women had few options in 1797. Apart from a position within the family, a single woman couldn't go out and get a job as we do today. Perhaps this reviewer changed her mind, however, because the review has since been removed.

I try to be logical in my plots and true to my characters. Readers get to know my characters well in the course of a book, and most of them tell me they fall in love with the main ones. I take my calling as a Christian writer very seriously. The theme in It All Started at the Masquerade is about depending on God and keeping your focus on Him, even when circumstances look dire. At least all the reviewers, except this one, have fallen in love with the novel. I am blessed and pray that my writing blesses others.

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 Where We Focus

Because he hath set his love on me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name (Psalm 91:14).

What we focus on is of paramount importance to our Chrisitan life. Almost every story in the Bible illustrates this. Peter is one of the clearest examples. When Jesus came walking on the water toward the disciple's boat, Peter asked to join Him, showing a strong, courageous faith. As long as he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, he also walked on the water, but when he noticed the fierce storm, he began to sink. When Peter later denied his Lord, he had his focus on himself and what might happen to him if others thought he associated with Jesus. 

Elijah did much the same thing years earlier. He had been such a strong man of faith, standing up to Ahab and never wavering in his obedience to God. However, after the victory on Mt. Carmel and Jezebel told him what she intended to do to him, he put his focus on his dire circumstances and ran away. Even then, however, God never abandoned Elijah just as He never left Peter and won't abandon us.

The Hebrew spies Moses sent out is another example. Because Joshua and Caleb knew God, his power, and his love for His people, they knew the people had nothing to worry about in taking the Promised Land because God had promised and would be with them. However, the ten other spies concentrated on the size and strength of their enemies. The people listened to the ten, and as a result, the Israelites spent forty years wandering in the wilderness. A whole generation (all but two) missed out on God's promised blessing.

Sampson was a prophet of God, but he had his focus on beautiful women and his desires instead of God. They were his downfall.  And you can find many more examples of men who became fathers of the faith because they kept their focus on the Lord or those who fell into trouble because they didn't.

In which camp do you fall? Is your focus on God? Is He the most important thing in your life - far above everything else? It's easy to get caught up in things of this world and forget what's really important, However, we can always change that. In light of eternity, God is the only thing that matters. Turn to God totally and completely today.

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 A New Series Is Coming

I have a new series coming out next year. Can you believe that's less than two months away? But A Bird in the Hand, the first book in the Idioms & Cliches series, will release on February 4, 2022. The book is set in Pennsylvania in 1776. Jocelyn Wright would prefer to be outside with her twin brother instead of in drawing rooms and social events. She has had to hide her true self and pretend to be the young lady everyone expects. But as Jonas gets ready to attend Philadelphia College, the colonies’ rebellion against the crown heats up, her family is forced to quarter British soldiers, and Bennet Hart comes into the picture, changes come much too fast for even her. A Bird in the Hand is ready for preorder now, and you won't be charged until you get the book. The audible version is in production.

Link to A Bird in the Hand -  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09JWMLYSP

In Going the Extra Mile, releasing around April 2, Aaron Johnson gets caught in a blizzard in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina on his way home to western Virginia. Aaron is Jocelyn's grandson from the first book. When his horse makes it to a remote cabin, he has frostbite and is in bad shape. Meghan Scott nurses him, but circumstances, including a murder, conspire to keep him from leaving. Maybe God intends for Aaron to do more than make it home as quickly as possible. He's trained in the ministry, but he can minister anywhere.

A Few Bumps in the Road, the third book in the series, moves from western Virginia to Kansas. Judith Johnson, Aaron's daughter, takes her younger brother and goes to Kansas as a mail-order bride after her parents die. Her husband, although handsome and charming, turns out to have a drinking problem and is a womanizer. However, Calvin's older brother is stable and responsible, providing a home for them on the farm. If only Matthew wasn't so shy and withdrawn. This book will release on June 3. I'm still not 100% sure of the cover for this one, but I'll have it worked out by the time it's published.

In Got Your Goat. Robert Johnson, Judith's brother, goes home with his friend from the Civil War after the war ends. The Appalachian Mountains are beautiful, but so is Lomax's neighbor, Emily Rose Howard. When her friend comes from Greensboro to propose, an errant goat helps set things right. But Robert is confused and needs to go home to Kansas to see his family. Will the shadows from the war ever leave them? This book is planned for release on July 15.

The final book in the series, set to release on September 2, begins in Washington D.C. but moves to the Appalachian Mountains as the Great Depression hits. Gage Bradford has his life all planned out. He's a successful lawyer with a bright political future, but then, he loses everything in the stock market crash. Their best option is to go to his wife's property in the Appalachian Mountains.  Allison is Robert Johnson's granddaughter and has never been at home among the social elite of Washington. However, when they get to the Appalachian Mountains, their roles reverse, and Gage is the one who doesn't fit in. 

I am excited about this series. The characters move around, so the settings change, but the Appalachians have a part in each novel. It's the last long series I have planned. There's a western trilogy in the works for the end of 2023, but there probably won't be a series in 2024. That's as far as I have planned so far. I have all the books written for the Idioms & Cliches series, and my editor will be starting on Going the Extra Mile soon. Right now, I'm writing the rough draft for the first MAP (multiple-author project) I have coming out in February of 2023. I like working ahead like this. It allows me to have the audible book ready around the same time as the other versions and gives me plenty of time to tweak the books and get them right.

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Who Were the Samaritans?  

Read Luke 10:25-37

The Samaritans were a mixed ethnic group that included both Jews and Gentiles in their ancestry. The group appears after the Assyrians captured the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 BC. Eventually, the Jews were allowed to return to Israel. However, many of the Jews decided not to make the journey and stayed in Assyria. They often married Assyrians and adopted some of their culture. Yet, they retained some of their Jewish customs, also, had their own temple, and studied the Torah. And this was only the start of their intermarrying.

Most of the Jews hated the Samaritans. They thought the mixed-heritage group had compromised their faith by marrying Gentiles. As discrimination and mistrust grew, neither group liked the other. Unkind acts abounded between the two groups and the resentment grew.

This is one reason why Jesus' parable about the Good Samaritan was so meaningful. His listeners must have been shocked at the contrasts, but Jesus was both showing them how to live a life of faith as a believer and trying to break the stumbling block of prejudice. He does the same for us if we will only hear him.

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Preordering a Series

Did you know that when you preorder a book on Amazon, you don't pay for it until it's released and they send it to you? So, if you want all the books listed for preorder in a series, you can order them all at once, and the money you pay will be spaced out throughout the series, according to the release dates. 

Most fans of MAPS ( multiple-author projects) seem to know this because my first venture into MAPS, where different authors write one or more books in the series, reflects this. Walnut Cake by Wylene, part of the Old-Timey, Holiday Kitchen series, has a lot of preorders, although it doesn't release until December 6th. This will also help move it up in the rankings on release day -- a win for both readers and the author.

Link to Walnut Cake by Wylene: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0964JF3P9

I will also be doing another book (Forget-Me-Not-Cookies by Fern) in this series next year. And Candace will release as part of the Runaway Brides of the West MAP in December of 2022. I'm already signed up to write two more MAPS books in 2023 and two different ones in 2024. I'm excited about all of these. So, if you see a series where you like all the books, buy them. You will be billed a little at a time as the books are published. After all, at about $2.99 per book, this is one of the greatest bargains around.

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