The "LOOK" Challenge

I've been challenged to a new game by Kathleen Rice Adams. This one is called "Look" and the object is to find the first instance of the word "look" in your work in progress and post the surrounding paragraphs. Then, tag other people to do the same.

As I told Kathleen over on Facebook, this gives me an excuse to roll out my new cover, which I finished just last night. As most of you already know, a big name western romance author chose to use the same title I've been using for her latest book, which gave me quite a bit of pause. Finally, I decided to keep the title and tweak it just a bit. In doing so, I ended up making a whole new cover. The background is an old photo I took out in extreme West Texas more than 30 years ago. I had to enhance it a bit because the color had started to fade. With a few modifications, the cowboy and his lady are a combination of two stock photos from Hot Damn Designs and Illustrated Romance. Anyway, here are the paragraphs and the new cover for My Wild Texas Rose.



click to enlarge

 



~~~~Sample Paragraphs~~~~

Leaning down, his restless gaze traveled the length of the street outside.

What or—more likely—who was he looking for? Her brother, no doubt. Did he think she’d gone to the window as a signal to someone out on the street? Could he actually think she was setting him up for an ambush?

“There’s no one waiting outside. And no one is going to come busting through the door. I told you, I’m here alone.” Her conscience pricked her because it wasn’t exactly the truth.

When he straightened and faced her again, she could see the pinpoints of sweat clinging to the ridge of his upper lip. A faint web of squint lines accentuated the outer corners of his eyes.

Having him so close sucked all the air from the room until there was only him, leather, sun-drenched cotton, and something so unique and pleasantly male it made her head swim.

“I didn’t think you were coming.”

“Started not to,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what the hell I’d be walking into. But my curiosity got the best of me and here I am.”

Happy reading!

Devon

On The Bright Side...

For the past four days, my cart hath overfloweth, just like the one in the picture. I hope they got that poor mule down without breaking his legs.

It started the morning of July 4th. When I turned on my computer that day, almost immediately I found something that set my little world on its ear. One of the grand dames of western historical romance tweeted that her newest book was available for pre-order. When I saw the title, all I could do was gape in shock at my computer screen. She'd stolen my title!

Of course she hadn't stolen my title. Titles can't be stolen, but she had titled her book the very same as my upcoming book. I immediately went into OMG! OMG! What am I going to do! mode. I wasted no time asking my western romance author pals for advice. Half said change my title, the other half said keep it. The split opinion only added to my own indecision. I slipped into a deep funk and stayed there the rest of the day.

I woke the next morning determined to get over it. Yeah, I've had the title for years, but that's just the luck of the draw. I intend to change mine, but have no idea what it will be. I'm dragging my feet right now but in the very near future, my cover will disappear from this blog and my web site. When it does, you'll know why. I'm going to have to come up with a new title and redo the cover.

On the bright side... I'm very thankful I'm able to do what I love to do nearly every day--write.

Okay. So, Thursday, hubby asked me to go shopping with him, just to get out of the house for a while. He's been talking about replacing the living room furniture for quite a while, so we went browsing the furniture stores. As luck would have it, we ran into a sale so awesome we couldn't pass up some of the deals. We ended up buying a new LazyBoy sofa and his and her recliners. That's the good news. The bad news happened when we went to take the old sofa out of the house. It was a no-go. We'd done some remodeling and changed a doorway since we bought that dinosaur with the high arched back and monstrous curving arms. No matter how we turned, angled, and measured, we couldn't get the sofa through any of the doorways in our house. This really makes me sick but hubby ended up having to rip the upholstery off the back of the sofa and remove the wooden frame for that big arching back. After that, he and our son managed to get it out into the garage. But every time I look out there, I think there's someone out there somewhere who would have loved to have that big sofa. I'll probably end up trying to put it back together before it's over with. Never mind that the cushions are pulled loose at some of the seams and it was very uncomfortable to sit on, it just seems like a waste to me.

But on the bright side... I'm very thankful we'll still be able to give the love seat--which is still in wonderful condition--to someone who needs or wants it. Also thankful that we were able to go out and buy new on a whim. Not so long ago, we would not have been financially able to do that.

Okay. So, moving furniture around showed me just how much I've been neglecting my housework. This set off a two-day cleaning marathon. Fortunately, the only big surprise I found was what looked like the remains of Molly--our rat terrier/chihuahua mix--getting an upset stomach behind the piano. Yes, BEHIND the piano. How, I ask? Did she move the piano and then put it back? Who. Knows. I've added this to a very long list of similar great mysteries. Anyway, I ended up cleaning for two days and since I haven't been used to doing all that lately, I wore myself down to a frazzle.

On the bright side... I'm soooo very thankful that I'm now able to go on a two-day cleaning marathon. For the past few months, I haven't been physically able to do much at all without a great deal of pain for the effort. I'm so thankful I'm finally healing and feeling better. :)

Devon (counting her blessings everyday)

777 Challenge ~ I've Been Tagged!

Evenin', cowpokes. Just found out I've been tagged by Lyn Horner in the 777 Challenge. Thanks, Lyn! ( I think) ;) The challenge is to go to page 7 of your current work in progress and post at least 7 lines from the page, then tag 7 other authors and challenge them to do the same on their blogs. So, here we go.

My work in progress is a Western Historical Romance titled Wild Texas Rose. I'm afraid the sample is much longer than 7 lines but, oh well. I've included two covers I've been playing around with. Haven't made up my mind yet which one I like best, or if I want to scrap them both and start over. Would love to know what you think so, opinions, please!. This book has been a long time coming and, hopefully, it won't be much longer. Hope you enjoy the out of context sample. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Wild Texas Rose, pg. 7.

 Mattie looked at the skirt and then at Rosalie with a knowing gleam in her eyes. She wedged her hands against her hips. “Where do you think you’re goin’?”

“For a ride. I’ve got some thinking to do.” Rosalie returned her attention to the wardrobe and picked up her boots from among an assortment of slippers and button-up shoes arranged side by side on the wooden shelf.

“Ha!” Mattie retorted. “I know what you’ve got in mind and thinkin’ ain’t it.”

Rosalie ignored the remark and continued to gather the various garments she intended to wear. Mattie knew her too well, was privy to all her secrets and nothing got past her, so trying to allay her suspicions was a waste of time.

But she should have known her silence was as good as an admission of guilt. The woman was as relentless as a starving hound on the scent of a wounded jackrabbit once she picked up a hint of mischief.

“Now, you listen to me, Rose. For your own good. You stay away from that boy. He can’t help you, and you’ll only end up bringin’ trouble down on his head.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rosalie denied.

“You know exactly what I’m talkin’ about,” Mattie pressed on in strident tones. “Trey Delaney, that’s what. If Walter ever got wind there was something goin’ on between the two of you…” She shook her head, evidently the thought of it even too horrible to articulate. “He can’t go against your father, Rose. Walter would destroy him if he even tried it. Then where would you be?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's my list of authors I tag to do the 777 Challenge:

Teresa Reasor
Amy Durham
Taryn Raye
Michael Embry
Alison Bruce
Cheri Kay Clifton
Tara Manderino

Will they do it? We shall see. I'll post an announcement on Facebook so they'll all know they've been tagged. Then, I'm ducking for cover. ;)

Happy reading and writing!
Devon

Back From The Edge

Hi, all! I'm back. After many months of woolgathering and deep introspection (is there any other kind?), I've decided to return to the land of the living.

As some of you already know, or may have guessed, I've joined the Indie revolution, which is a rather pretentious way of saying, I'm self-publishing. And guess what. I'm loving it! This was a decision I didn't make lightly. And, yes, I've spent a lot of long nights trying to figure out how to do this and that. There's a big learning curve between writing the book and actually publishing the book. In the coming weeks, I hope to share with you some of the things I've learned during this process.

The most fun I had was making my own cover. I think it turned out fairly well, insofar as it reflects the two main characters and one glance lets you know, you're looking at a western historical. What do you think?

Just a year ago, I never would have considered going the indie route. (Ack, the horror! Only people who can't write self-publish. The stigma, the stigma!) But times have changed, and they continue to change, sometimes on a daily basis. After spending four years with a small press/epub, I can tell you with certainty, there are more advantages to putting my work on the market myself. At least, that's true for me.

So, what are your thoughts about the self-publishing frenzy taking place in the publishing industry? Would you ever consider becoming an Indie author? Or is the stigma that's long been associated with it still too real for you?

Devon

How The West Was Loved?

Well, this image should have been the cover for Angel, instead of that big rearing stallion. This actually fits. Nah. That big stallion is gorgeous. Yee-haw!

Been absent for a few days, but only because I've been busy. I've been working on something but, for now, I'm holding the details close to my chest. Tonight, I was trying to play catch-up to see what everyone's been up to. I will read all your blog posts. I promise.

Anyway, I was on my own web site and, for some reason, I clicked on a link and discovered something new at the end of it. A site calling itself "How The West Was Loved." (edit: on further investigation, this appears to be an offshoot of BookStrand. Never heard of them either.) Here's a link, for the morbidly curious. Evidently, they've taken over sponsorship of the Western Authors Directory, whose link I have prominently on the front page of my web site. I gave it a quick look for now, but plan to keep tabs on this site. Simply because anything to do with western romance always catches my attention. Plus, it might be interesting to watch one of these places evolve from the ground up. At first I thought it was another resource for western authors, but it turned out to be a start-up e-pub. They've got a gi-normous list of series on the front page, plus a few other things, and it says, "Coming in Fall 2009." All I can say is, good luck to them.

Note to Mags: I read "The Unlacing of Miss Leigh" and enjoyed it very much. I've always been a sucker for a beauty and the beast story. Given the short length, it was surprisingly good. Thanks for the recommend!

Devon

Cover Calamities

See this cover? Kinda pretty, isn't it? If my book was a contemporary romantic suspense. But it's not, it's a western historical. This was supposed to be my cover--it's the one that didn't make it. Until now, I've only shared this image with a few close writer pals.

I think one of the biggest nail-biters an author has during the publishing process is waiting to see what her cover will look like. When I saw this, my heart sank down to the floor because it's neither western looking, nor does it look a bit historical. My first thought was, "Oh my God! How will I ever sell this to anyone as a western? It has absolutely nothing to do with my story. And what's up with the bald woman and the door!" Now, don't get me wrong. It's very nice cover and the artist did a great job, it just wasn't right for my book.

Fortunately, I didn't have to say a thing. My editor took even more exception to it than I did, and she went to bat to have it changed. You can see the final result over in the top sidebar.

Here's something to consider, if you're thinking of publishing with a small press. Your cover won't be the result of John DeSalvo and some gorgeous female model dressed in period clothing and posing amid the correct props to match your story. The cover artists at the small presses use stock photos and Photoshop them. The results are pretty amazing, considering they only have a limited selection of shots to work with.

Within just the past few months, I've had two writer friends contact me with panicky pleas for help. They'd gotten their covers and hated them. Even though I couldn't help, I did try to lend moral support. I'm happy to say the issues were resolved in both instances and they ended up with covers they're very happy with.

Devon