A Busy Writing Week

 This has been a busy week of writing - Here is what kept me busy, edits on two finished books and two new essays in my soon-to-be-finished fourth book for seniors. Interesting that I’m working on a fourth, and one of the two books I am still editing is the third. Oh Boy!

 

Let’s See – I believe those three books will put me at 16. At my age (rather advanced), I still see 20 or so.

 

Hey Mr. Older Adult - Speaking of advanced years, Grammarly did not like me using the term old man as I edited my latest Blade Holmes western mystery. It suggested I use older adult or older man instead. I don’t know, but to me, it is not disrespectful or culturally inappropriate to use old man. I have always disliked the saying, “It is what it is,” but I’m 75 – an old man. It doesn’t hurt my feelings one bit. I am happy to be alive and in good health well (mostly) and an old man at three-quarters of a century.  

 

It feels so good to be back writing - I don’t want to belabor the point, but when I was unable to write due to health issues (see previous posts), it felt like a new beginning as I, once again, tapped away on my laptop.

 

Word Count – Page Count – An excellent week of writing and rewrites pushed me to almost 2,500 words, which is not bad for me. I also edited 60+ pages.

 

More on Word Count – I never wrote the number of words many writers do, but most years, I wrote and published over 200,000. Some writers go a million words a year – now that’s a lot of seat time. Because of my photography and gardening habits, ok, along with walking/hiking, jeeping, and watching the backyard birds, I'm one busy guy. 😊

 

Writing Quote of the Day – “Every year, there’s a few more things I’m not sure of. I’ve decided that a wide-ranging uncertainty is the mark of the true maturity of man.”     Lawrence Block

 

That’s It for today - I will be back soon. Have a great day and a super week.

 

Today's Photos – Were all shot this week, one in our backyard and two in the Laramie Range west of town.

 

Writing Week

Quote of the Day - An author knows his landscape best; he can stand around, smell the wind, get a feel for his place. Tony Hillerman

Dinner Time

Writing & Sleeping (My Life) – Writing has been a bit of a tough go for me the past five or six days. At my age, writing when I do not feel good is not easy. Seems like I am trying to set a record with a bad December cold now three years in a row. The bad cold keeps me asleep for more hours each day than I am awake. But, at last, today I may have turned the corner, at least long enough to write this post. Hopefully, later today I will get in some work on my final run through edit, of my kid's chapter book. I have been stalled, for two weeks and really need to finish. Good luck to me on this! (-:

How to Sell More Books – Know who reads your stuff, and publish a couple of books each year. Those are the two things I try to follow with my writing. Most of my writing is geared to older readers, and I keep that in mind as I write. I also need to work on my author page on Facebook and maybe upgrade this site. Actually, I definitely need to upgrade this site. I do about one-hundred dollars worth of Amazon adds each month, it helps but does not make me a best seller.

From the Old West – Outlaws and martyrs are greatly improved by death.

Photo of the Week - 

My Christmas Books – One more mention of my two volumes of Christmas stories. Each book, of 14 stories - Under Western Skies and Under Christmas Skies, are available as eBooks or as fine looking books to place on your coffee table.

As always, you can find all my books here on Amazon

 Or

Follow me here on twitter at @wyohistoryguy

Keep on Reading and Keep on Writing

&

Enjoy the weekend along with the shopping we all need to finish.

 

                                                                                           

I Write What I Feel

I Write What I Feel

So many times writers are told to pick a genre and stick with it. Pretty good advice, but I never follow it. Why, because I write what I feel, as my mood or life changes, my writing seems to change with it. Not a great way to get rich writing, but a nice way to keep my sanity, or what I have left of it.

I have published three non-fiction books, one a serious look at the Civilian Conservation Corps and the building of Wyoming’s beautiful Guernsey State Park, the other two are more of what I call, just for fun.  I am in the process – likely before Thanksgiving, of publishing my fourth in the - Mike and Moose and Me, series of kids chapter books.

When I am in the mood to write something longer, or more serious I write western mysteries, I have two Blade Holmes books, my best selling books, and a stand-alone novel set in central Wyoming that revolves around an ancient people’s mystery, and a modern-day murder. I also just published, only the eBook is available so far, the second of two collections of Christmas short stories.

There you have it – my eclectic writing collection.

From the Old West – Lonesome creates diseases that friendship cures.

What Am I Working On? – Nothing the next eight or nine days – we are heading on our annual trek to Branson, Missouri. That means I may miss a post or two, but I will be back, rested and ready.

 Photo of the Week –

Nice looking young couple

As always, you can find all my books here on Amazon

 Or

Follow me here on twitter at @wyohistoryguy

 

What a history and story this place must have

Keep on Reading and keep on Writing

Don’t forget - next weekend we get an hour back as Daylight Savings fades away for another year.

Writing Westerns and a Trip to the Laramie Range

The garden is planted, the flowers are blooming and summer is here. I remember watching so many old (maybe as old as me), characters in TV westerns when I was a kid. They often talked about the sun making it easy on their old bones, now it’s my old bones enjoying the warm weather. Think I must have reached that point in my life. I spend time every day in the sun, and more in the shade, but still outside on these terrific summer days.

Writing – Blazing away on my third Blade Holmes western mystery, or at least working along on it. I have also taken some time to polish my second book of Christmas short stories this week. Kind of fun sitting in the sun and writing about cold and snow.

Reading – Much of my reading is centered around research for the books I’m working on, but I always take time to read for relaxation also. Right now I am enjoying, William Kent Krueger’s, Minnesota adventure, Iron Lake.

Selling Books – As is to be expected this time of year, sales are slow, glad my writing income is only part, and presently, a small part of our income. I have had a few weeks with only a handful of sales and darn few KDP pages read, but in the end, it will all work out when fall arrives.

Writing tip – Start with a character, preferably your protagonist, and put them in a mess – yep, create conflict, keeps readers turning pages. Here is how I started my second Blade Holmes novel, The Ghost Dance.

The man riding alone on his horse should have heard the shot, but he was already dead. The huge .52 caliber slug had torn through his shirt an instant before the sound reached his lifeless body. The noise from the big gun reverberated through the canyon, but only the shooter heard it.

Less than an hour later U.S. Marshal Blade Holmes found the body, vultures looked to have arrived shortly after Jimmy Spear had been blown from his saddle. The young, smallish Appaloosa he’d been riding was grazing oblivious a hundred yards away.

Todays Photos – From west of town on our Sunday drive and from our backyard.

It’s hot outside, super time to get in some extra reading and writing. 

Writing and Social Media - Spring Photos Too

Lots of May showers here in Wyoming hope that leads to an abundance of good pasture and many wildflowers.

My writing has taken a backslide as we had guests here the past two weeks. We did get to do much in the way of catching up, and, of course, took some time to see the local sites.

Words - I did get a thousand words, or so, on my nonfiction, but nothing else written in the last 10 days. Meanwhile, my third in the Blade Holmes, western mysteries, sat by waiting for more words, but it didn’t happen. Did have time to edit the 6,000 words I have completed, I like the story so far.

Cutting Back – I have cut back some on my social media, I just don’t have, or do not make, the time I need to use everything I was trying to do. I have several sites on Blogger along with this one, an active presence on Google Plus, and I try to keep going strong on Twitter. I recently created an author site on Facebook, and hope that will make up for giving up, mostly, on Word Press, and other sites that I just could not keep up with. (Please feel free to click the link and follow me on my Facebook author site). I am also posting less often, which I find may not be good, sales are down.

Speaking of Sales – Sales of my soft cover books and eBooks are trending down. May has also started with a downturn in my KDP pages read. At times I think maybe everyone that wants to read my stuff has already done so – then miraculously, everything takes off again. Waiting for my next uptick, but not waiting patiently.  

Reading- Much like my writing, my reading has suffered lately. I am re-reading a favorite, Absaroka Ambush, from  William Johnstone’s Mountain Man series. I have also started, (just), David Dary’s, Cowboy Culture – A Saga of Five Centuries. Looks to be a fine reference for those who write about the old west.

Todays Photos – From a drive this week up to the tiny mountain village of Esterbrook, 50 miles away.

On Turning 70 - See my latest book here, a tongue in cheek look at aging, at least up to my age. 

Here is that 70-year-old taking a break on Horseshoe Creek

Have a great week, enjoy the beginning of spring, and keep on reading and writing.

At Last Cold Weather and a Time to Write - A Lot

Cold weather has set in here and it’s almost comical how much my writing has picked up. Yesterday I final-edited 30 pages from my humorous nonfiction look at aging, and completed another short story for my Christmas book, coming in 2018.

A Writers Struggles - I still seem to be struggling with my third western mystery. It is another Western historical mystery with my popular protagonist, Blade Holmes. Thinking about trashing the two chapters and outline I have, and come up with a new story. Meanwhile, I will just keep working on other things.

Outlining or Not - Speaking of outlining before writing, I have a bit of an unusual method, or at least it looks odd to me. I outline or list what I want to happen in my novels and nonfiction books. With short stories, I start with a title, use it for my inspiration as to where the story will lead. Occasionally, I will write a short story then go back and change the title I started with, but not often.

I keep saying coming soon, and hope it is a true statement - With a bit of luck I will have two books ready soon, one in the next few days, and another, the fourth in the series of my kid's chapter books, should be out within six weeks.

Photos - I still attempt to get out with my cameras most days. If the weather is nice we walk and I snap what I see, and when it’s cold most shots come from the warmth of my pickup.

All of today's photos are from one of our afternoon adventures.  

Keep on reading and keep on writing, and make sure to buy yourself a nice book for Christmas

Writing Can Be Hard Work

I have written several posts over the past few years about how fickle the process of selling books can be. This has been emphasized by my nearly complete lack of sales in September. It doesn’t help when bloggers write about September being slow because of school starting, doesn’t console me much.

Christmas comes early in the Laramie Range

Writing - Today instead of sales I am thinking more about the writing process. Seems that every week I read or learn by writing, new things about the process. Following is a list of what I learned about writing this week.

1.  Although many writers say that all first drafts are crap, I have learned that forcing myself to write results in something so bad it cannot be fixed.

2.  Not feeling like writing most often results in no writing

3.  Maybe there really is such a thing as working on too many projects at once

4.  Tired and Dr. appointments are good excuses to not write, but nothing more – still not many words on paper.

5.  Writing is hard when lacking enthusiasm and goals

6.  Maybe what I’m writing is boring me – Should I follow Elmore Leonard’s advice and leave out the boring stuff, in this case maybe an entire project or two?

7.  On the good side of writing – I am reading a couple of good books at the present and enjoying what others have to say about writing. Guess I am in the school of, when I don’t feel like writing I enjoy what writers have to say about the process.

New growth Aspen - in a burn area, looking wonderful

Fall is here - In other news, It’s fall, and here in Wyoming the weather is turning and it is officially my favorite time of year. I am hoping for a long and beautiful autumn, full of good writing, photographs, and friends.

Almost harvest time

My wish for you - Write on, and read on and get out and enjoy fall.

Photo’s today from our time out and about in beautiful Wyoming this week.

See all my books here  Free sample pages 

Getting an Amazon Best Seller or at Least in the Top Half

I spent some time this morning doing research as to how many books Amazon has for sale. Might have fit better into, messing around on the internet, but I’m going with research because it sounds like I was working. During this research phase of my day, I could not find anything from the last few months but did see that in 2015 Amazon had 17.1 million books, in English, available for sale. The same information listed more than three million, written in English, eBooks.

If this is true, an author with a book consistently listed in the top one million seven hundred thousand will make it to the top ten percent of books on Amazon. The same eBook would need to be in top 300,000 to qualify. To be in the top half of all books listed for sale on Amazon, it would take a book in the top 8,500,000 or the top million and a half eBooks. Sounds pretty good except that a book selling near the bottom of the top half of all books on Amazon would only need to sell a copy or two each month to qualify for that ranking, maybe even less than that.

My first six books - click to go to my Amazon Author's Page

Got my proof books for my two latest novels today. Will need to make a few changes to the cover of, The Ghost Dance, I didn’t like the white font. Otherwise, it looked fine. Hope that doesn’t take long. That book will be out to first readers in the next day or so – then some final edits, and it will be published. The other proof is for the third in the series of my of kids books – Yikes, My Neighbor’s a Vampire. It is fine and should be as this is the third time I have made changes. My thought is, keep doing it until I like it.

I liked how it looked on my computer, but too light here

Now I am in the final part of my first draft of a gardening, and murder in the garden, book. It is a bit different, I hope readers like it.

I also continue the painstaking research on my second nonfiction book, still hope that I will get it out before 2018, but not sure. I am also hard at work on the third of my Blade Holmes, historical fiction- mystery novels.

Pronghorn walking the foothills west of town

The days are warming, and spring cleanup has started in our backyard. We have also made a few nice drives giving me a chance to get out with my camera.

Young Bison Bull

Keep on reading and keep on writing. 

Mule Deer running the Pronghorn off

The End of the Year - Goals & Selling Books

Remember the old line from Alice in Wonderland, “The hurrier I go the behinder I get?” When I was a kid, more than a half-century ago, I used to see it quite often, I think we had a napkin holder on the kitchen table with that Lewis Carroll quote. Funny, I saw it often but had no idea what it meant.

Goal Setting - It took a lifetime to understand, but now I do, especially this time of year trying to tie up last year and get into a new one. This time of the year I start thinking about setting goals for next year. My first goal will be to work on them, and actually try to reach my goals. Seems to be much better than just surrendering in the middle of the year.  I fell woefully short this year, I wanted to publish three books. I published one and one short story. I wanted to write 300,000 words, watered down from my original goal of 350,000. I wrote just a bit over 200,000.

I wanted to publish a few more of my photos, I didn’t say how many, so I guess that I may have reached this one, as more than a dozen were picked up by various people/companies.

Dollars & Cents - I also wanted to pick up some paid writing, I also made that one. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself, but my word count needs to improve. Next week I will be posting my new goals which I hope to work harder at this time around.

Yikes, My Neighbor Is A Vampire - I have, at last, finished the third of my kid’s book series, all I need now is a cover. I am pretty happy with this one, should be fun for 6-11-year-olds. What follows is a cut from page six of the first chapter with the 11-year old me narrating.

I grabbed my winter coat from the peg by the door, scooped up a pair of gloves, and my favorite stocking hat, pulled them all on, and headed outside. This time, I was careful to push it shut tight, I had been reminded enough times the past few weeks. I jogged along the first twenty or so yards, then took a full run and slide on the ice in front of Mike’s house. We were still in trouble for getting out the garden hose and building our little ice rink, but it sure was fun. Maybe leaving the hose out all night and then breaking it, several times, the next morning is what got us into trouble. That must be it because everyone loves a good slide on the ice.

The book, like all my kid's books, runs between 11,000 and 12,000 words. Should be fun.

Selling Books - I mentioned on my Wyoming Blog a couple of days ago how happy I was to see the reception and sales for my latest book, Ghost of the Fawn, it has consistently sold in both eBook and softcover and stayed in the top 100, in its category, on Amazon for several weeks. Gratifying to say the least – oh, how I love readers.

In a few days, my book of Western Christmas stories will be reduced to .99 cents for five days, I will let everyone know when the sale goes live.

Today's photos all taken in the last few days – it's winter outside.

 Keep on Reading and Keep on Writing 

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So, Just What is a Western?

What makes a book a western? Okay, that’s a fair question. I recently read a post whose author seemed surprised the book was considered part of the western genre. I have not read the book, but did look at the overview and it appears to start with a man fresh out of prison driving his pickup home – sounds like a western to me.

I believe if it is set in the old west it is a western, and I will not allow anyone to change my mind on that one. Modern westerns can be harder to pigeon hole. If it is set in a state or area where old time westerns were set, it may be a western.  A modern western is set mostly outside, preferably in wide open spaces, and any action in a town is short and usually in a small city or town.  Plots can be very modern and tackle modern day problems. Living in Wyoming this could mean dealing with, the oil and gas industry, coal, power plants, wolves, big government intrusion, big game hunting, guns, clean air, open spaces, livestock, and numerous other topics. I have the first draft finished of a young adult modern day western. What does it deal with? Oil and gas and the Wind River Reservation. I think it’s pretty good and topical, but it still needs a lot of work, I am hoping for, but not predicting a late March release.

In the old days, a western was just that a western. A mystery was a mystery, and literary fiction was, well same as today, mostly unreadable. Today we have multiple sub-genres. I classify both of my westerns as western/mystery. Western/Romance is the most popular western sub-genre today. Westerns could also be classified as, Western/Sci-fi, Wester/Thriller, Western/Horror, and lately Western/Erotica and Steampunk Westers are growing in popularity.

Westerns still seem to be bought and read today, they just may not be in the western section of your local bookstore. Meanwhile – read on.

Oh, by the way, right now I am reading, Stephen Burckhardt’s Christmas short, Into the West-The Orphan Train and Fishing and Other Misadventures by Bradley Stoner. I am also re-reading two books on Fort Laramie and the Indian wars.

Want to take a look at my books? Click here, and thanks.