Coming soon!
After my publisher, Turquoise Morning Press, closed its doors, I found a new home for my books. I published the series romance novels through Amazon's CreateSpace. But my romantic suspense, REBUILD MY WORLD, found a home at Salt Run Publishing, LLC, Since it's part of my Mustang Sally trilogy, it needed better exposure. This time around, the novel has added bonus material, a short story sequel of sorts called Veiled Threat. If you read TMP's anthology The Wedding Day Collection (now out of print), you may remember Veiled Threat. Both have been reedited and revised.
Soon REBUILD MY WORLD with its bonus VEILED THREAT will be available. I'll keep you posted. I am super excited to be working with the folks at Salt Run Publishing!
I have a question for writers: Do you eat what you write?
I realize that's a strange question, but in the interest of research I often drink or eat or at least sample what my characters are consuming. I do so as part of character development. I want each of my fictional people to have individual likes and tastes.
Years ago, I discovered all my heroines drove Ford Mustangs. I drive a Ford Mustang (I'm on my fourth). A rookie mistake is to give your protagonist all your preferences, so I studied other makes of vehicles to add variety to my writing. It's a little thing, but readers notice. My latest heroine (who is interested in reducing her carbon footprint) drives a Chevy Volt.
Same with food, music, shows, furniture, and clothes. I had to listen to or watch genres outside my comfort zone. I browsed magazines for photos of the latest in people and home fashions. And I tried regional and different cuisines to understand their appeal to my characters.
This morning, my heroine made a pitcher of sweet tea. Typically I drink mine unsweetened, but to get in the writer's zone I sweetened a glass of tea and drank it sweet. I totally get the appeal (and the calories). Now I can describe its taste.
I used to hate coffee and so did my heroines. But that's not realistic. The majority of people in the United States drink coffee. I sampled coffee a few different ways and a few different brews and now I drink coffee! I discovered I like it a little sweet and with half-and-half.
In trying to expand my characters' individual tastes and preferences, I've expanded mine, too.
Here's a question for readers. How do you feel when an author suddenly shifts to a different genre? I recently moved away from romantic suspense novels to sweet, contemporary romance novels and inspirational short stories. Now I've written my first historical romance, a novella titled THE RANCHER'S SPECIAL DELIVERY. Why?
Writers love to write. Otherwise, we'd have a different profession. To improve as writers, we need to stretch our creative muscles and go out of our comfort zone to try new genres. If I'm not growing as a writer, I should retire. Writing a historical (No, it's not an historical! I don't live in England.) provided new challenges, especially in research. I had to study train routes, dress styles, climate, and language from a century + ago. Avoiding anachronisms in dialog was the biggest challenge for me. I couldn't have my characters chatting in modern language using expressions that didn't exist at the time.
But I wonder if you as a reader get a bait-and-switch feeling when authors try new genres. If you purchase THE RANCHER'S SPECIAL DELIVERY, will you feel hoodwinked because your last Cheryl Norman book was a contemporary?
As a reader, I don't mind. I recall reading SKIPPING CHRISTMAS, a total departure for John Grisham from his legal suspense novels. Frankly, his holiday story delighted me. Yes, it was a different genre, but the cover art and tag line clued me in that this was a different John Grisham story. Not that I'm comparing myself to the talented Mr. Grisham! His foray into a new genre proved successful, judging from book sales and later a movie version (CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS).
Some authors use pseudonyms for different genres, like Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle or the late Evan Hunter/Ed McBain. I used a pseudonym when I wrote erotic romance fiction. But my Cheryl Norman brand, whether it's a suspense or an inspirational, is the same. I write about characters learning lessons. THE RANCHER'S SPECIAL DELIVERY continues this theme in 1899 Colorado. It's a mail-order bride story, and I loved writing it.
THE RANCHER'S SPECIAL DELIVERY is a June release from Highland Press, both as a novella download or as part of the anthology HEARTS OF THE WEST, which will be available in both electronic and print versions. Let me know what you think.
An author posted the question on Facebook re: books made into motion pictures. Are there any movies that you enjoyed more than the book upon which it was based? My first thought was Doctor Zhivago. I tried reading Pasternak's novel in college while studying Russian lit. Not at all readable. I made it through One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Anna Karenina, and Crime and Punishment just fine. But the movie Doctor Zhivago captured the horror of war, the ruthlessness of Lara's husband, the incredible Russian scenery, and the emotional battle within a man in love with two women. The book did not, at least not for me.
Then there are motion pictures that borrow the title of a book and little else, like Ian Fleming's The Spy Who Loved Me. I enjoyed the book, but except for the James Bond character, it bore no resemblance to the movie. Alas, the movie was more entertaining. Then there's Jean Shepherd's In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, which is a delightful read (not a novel. More of a collection of vignettes from Shepherd's childhood) but not quite as entertaining as its film version, A Christmas Story. Who doesn't enjoy A Christmas Story, with Ralphie's quest for the ultimate boy's Christmas present, a Red Ryder BB gun?
I could write a post every day about movies that fail to do the book justice, but that's been done to death. Borrowing from my colleague's question, is there a film you thought was an improvement on the book?
I'm a sucker for corny holiday stories. When George Bailey races through the snowy Christmas Eve to the town square of Bedford Falls yelling "Merry Christmas, Mr. Potter" I choke up. It's a Wonderful Life is a wonderful lesson in appreciating what we have.
Shopping for books, I'm drawn to cover art featuring a snow-covered town square decorated for Christmas. During November and December, my default channel on my TV is Hallmark because the network shows holiday films every day. Some I've watched a dozen times, like November Christmas, and I still boo hoo when the town pulls out all the stops to move up the calendar for a leukemia-stricken little girl (Spoiler alert: She lives. I couldn't watch it if she didn't).
Sure, good holiday stories are set in large cities, too, none better than Miracle on 34th Street. My first trip to the Big Apple included a shopping trip to the Macy's on 34th. Of course. Unfortunately, it was August and St. Nicholas wasn't there yet. Most of my favorites, though, take place in small towns.
My writing colleagues (and now my good friends!) and I put together an anthology of inspirational stories featuring feel-good Christmas stories set in small, Southern towns. Over the next few days, we'll give you a tour of each story's community.
We believe Christmas Blessings makes a good gift for the readers on your list. You may enjoy our previous anthology, The Heart of Christmas. The set would make a doubly good gift. Be sure to enter the giveaway to win a free copy of The Heart of Christmas. You can enter every day!
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Who knew? November 1 is, among other things, officially National Author's Day, a day when you show your appreciation for authors you've read, especially those whose stories made an impact on your life.
So many authors have impacted my life. Where to begin? Of course, there are the classics, like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Mark Twain. Leo Tolstoy, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald. But today I pick one, and sadly he's gone. Died too soon. Here is my tribute to...
Michael Crichton.
I first read Michael Crichton after seeing a movie in the 1970s called The Carey Treatment (starring James Coburn and Jennifer O'Neil). The film credits mentioned the novel upon which it was based as A Case of Need by Jeffrey Hudson (It would be decades before I learned Jeffrey Hudson was a pseudonym for John Michael Crichton). I found the book and read it. A page turner, it surpassed the movie (although the film was exciting!), as is often the case with novels-turned-movies.
After discovering his work, I couldn't get enough and devoured every book he'd written. I soon learned he was also a screenwriter, and his screenwriting credits included such gems as Runaway, Westworld, Twister, and Robin Cook's novel-turned-film Coma.
But the novel that grabbed me and wouldn't let go--for whatever reasons--was Jurassic Park. In childhood I had a fascination with dinosaurs that led me to books like Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, and I guess it lingered. I read the book on the MARTA on my way to work in downtown Atlanta and became so engrossed that (thank God my bosses never caught me!) I once smuggled the book into the Ladies Room so I could sit in private and finish a chapter. Now that is one compelling read! I finished it in a day (during my ride home) and then wanted more!
Soon as I finished the book, I heard there would be a movie. The movie doesn't follow the book exactly, of course, or they'd lose the PG rating and younger audience. The film version is good but could never engross me the way Crichton's book had. I still rank Jurassic Park among my top ten favorite books, right up there with A Christmas Carol, Pride and Prejudice, and The Great Gatsby. Yeah, I liked it that much.
I never met Crichton--more's the pity because I sure wanted to--and now he's gone. Too bad. I would like to wish him Happy National Authors Day.
