Taking Chances

Life is full of highs and lows. No one can escape them. Both can exhaust us, so with any luck balance will be quickly restored. 

I've been contemplating giving up the paid website for many months now. Yahoo developed a new marketing tool that sends information directly to a paying customer's inbox. That quickly became a low - for Yahoo.

Tracking website hits compared to blog hits left no doubt in my mind I needed to rethink a few things. Twenty-Six Keys gets five times the hits the paid website gets. It's a no-brainer. If I'm going to pay for a home on the web, I'd do better to pay Blogger. 

Oh wait. It's FREE. At least for now and until I can switch the .com domain over. 

I'm going to bite the bullet, as they say, and give up the paid website. Yes, I've had it for thirteen years, but we need to be frugal even if it makes us a bit sad. 

So rayneforrest.blogspot.com is my new web home. I'll still be blogging right here at Twenty-Six Keys, but I think having a separate site for the books will work out just fine. I might even give Facebook a look now. 

Rayne
http://www.twitter.com/rayneforrest

IWSG - The once and future writer

Way back in 2003 I signed my first publishing contract. It was 9:00 PM when the email came in and I screamed loud enough to make my partner jump out of his chair and come back the hall to the computer room (as we called it in those days).

No, I didn't see a mouse, dear. Someone is actually going to publish The Skies of Mahdis. 

And so it began. I had a very successful writing career up until the Triskelion Publishing debacle. Excuse me. They called it bankruptcy. RAYNE calls it a debacle. Same damn difference.

The debacle happened at the end of a very trying personal time. My beloved partner had, we prayed, been successfully treated for cancer. It's an insidious disease. Even after almost nine years we panic if he gets a cold or some weird symptom. Anyway, I was already mentally and emotionally exhausted and the debacle was pretty much the last straw.

I shifted gears and took on a new name and a new genre. Was it a "cut and run?" Yes, it was. I needed to write and I needed the stress free environment of anonymity. It's been a successful cut and run, though. I started over without telling anyone other than author Brenda Williamson what I was doing. I submitted the first story and it was immediately accepted.

Huh. Maybe I really do have some small talent at this writing stuff. But the world has turned.

Publishing isn't what it once was. Going indie is no-longer the kiss of death to the serious writer. Yet even as indie authors bask in the new freedoms, the screw tightens to control them. Amazon, the land of indie opportunity, keeps changing the game. Our, ahem, illustrious, government does nothing to control piracy.

I have a nice collection of completed stories sitting on my hard drive. I've already re-edited a few, learned some basic photoshop techniques, created a few simple covers, and indie published them. I might even indie publish The Skies of Mahdis and come full circle. 

It's daunting to be effectively starting over yet again. I question if, knowing so much more about the publishing industry, I can do it. 

Will I be as successful (or at least my definition of the word) in 2015 and forward as I was a decade ago? I don't know. Do I need it to be to be happy? Probably not. I simply know that as the once and future writer, I'll figure it out as I go. 

That's what all of us do, one step at a time. 

Thanks for stopping in here at Twenty-six Keys as part of the IWSG blog hop. 

Rayne
http://www.rayneforrest.com
www.twitter.com/RayneForrest

Right From the Start by Rayne Forrest

Starting on the journey to get my stories back out in the world has been interesting on so many levels. Yes, I'm learning a lot, which is always a good thing, and I'm being challenged, also a good thing, but the experience has affirmed how far I've come since the early days. It's been satisfying to open up an old manuscript and apply improved technical skills to the prose. It doesn't change the story at all, but it makes it a bit more enjoyable. -Rayne

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Right From the Start 

Dana Myerly believes in helping out a neighbor in need. One rainy Monday she aids a stranded fellow motorist. She finds herself drawn to a big smile, friendly hazel eyes, and a tight pair of blue jeans. Coerced into yet another blind date by two of her friends, Dana finds her luck has changed and her date is her stranded motorist, Randy Walker.

Dana and Randy share an immediate connection, but how do you know if it’s love…and he’s the one.. Right From the Start?

EXCERPT 

Dana was approaching her car when a man’s voice called out behind her. It startled her and she almost stumbled. Then she recognized it. Randy.

“Hey, wait up!” he called.

“Don’t scare me like that!” she exclaimed, heart racing. She made a sweeping motion over the dark parking lot.

“Sorry,” he said as he fell into step beside her. “I didn’t stop and think about that,” he admitted. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“Who’ll protect me from you?” Not that she wanted protected from him. Her heart still pounded, and not with surprise or fear.

“You think I’m the big, bad wolf?” he asked, laughing.

“What if I am?” she answered glibly. She sensed a subtle shift in his walk. He got a little closer and she caught a whiff of his after-shave. Her nipples tingled and hardened. This was getting way out of hand.

She really didn’t want to react to him this way. Her belly tightened. A sweet ache began, sending tendrils of desire snaking through her.

“I think maybe I’d like that.” They’d reached her car and his hand covered hers as she reached for the door handle.

His touch jolted through her and her senses expanded to him. Her vulva pulsed faster than her heartbeat and that was racing. She turned her head to look up at him and her eyes widened. She had only that split second warning before his lips touched hers.

Every nerve in her body woke up and clamored for attention. His attention.

His lips were soft, almost gentle. Almost. Some feminine sense told her if they weren’t in a parking lot, his kiss would be all demand. She shushed the voice of reason and raised her arms around his neck and leaned back against her car. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his hips to hers.

He teased her lips open, gently touching the tip of his tongue to hers. She melted. She hated when men tried to choke her with their tongues. Randy didn’t. He teased lightly. He nibbled on her lower lip. His lips traveled down her throat.

Not that she was able to fully concentrate on those clever lips. She was concentrating on the action happening lower down. He was getting hard. He was pressed so firmly against her she would feel him pulsing and swelling, lengthening and hardening. She fought the urge to lift her legs and wrap them around him. He seemed to know.

“Do it,” he urged, a husky voice in her ear. “Do it. Let me feel your heat.”

- - - - - 
Right From the Start is available now at Amazon. 

As the Brain Simmers

There's a saying, and I'm not sure where I read it, that a book is written as the fish eats - in nibbles. The last few days have been like that - nibbles. 

It used to concern me when the words to a story wouldn't come. I'd worry that I was finished. That I had nothing left to say or to create. Now I know it's just the way my brain works. I occasionally need to back off and let the ideas simmer. 

Is there a danger in that? You betcha. Sometimes I can let an idea simmer so long I forget about it. I opened my ideas folder last night and clicked through it. Wow. I really had some high expectations back in the day. 

But there are a few good ideas in the folder, ones I'll bring out and simmer. With the right ingredients, I might have something worth the seasonings. We'll see.

Rayne
http://www.rayneforrest.com

A Hidden Heaven

Finding the perfect title is an authorly pursuit. Sometimes the title comes and then you get the idea for the story. At other times you can be in the midst of the prose and a phrase catches your attention and you turn it into the title. A title based on the overall theme can be good, too. 

And sometimes the author chooses a title that the readership just doesn't "get." I think this is the case with Skipping Heaven. That title came out of the text. What is it exactly ghosts are doing? They're skipping heaven for a little while. The ghost lovers in my story were given their own private heaven to occupy and enjoy for a while. Their mountain home could very well be the "room" prepared for them. 

Skipping Heaven has always been a very personal story. It was written after my beloved was diagnosed with cancer. I'd like to believe love can continue after death but thankfully I'll have a while yet before I find out. He's pretty healthy these days. But I digress...

I decided to re-title this book "A Hidden Heaven." It fits. Justine has found her own private heaven, hidden from view. The only question is will Daniel stay and share it with her? 

Is there love after life? I believe so. 

Rayne
www.rayneforrest.com 

When it rains... go indie

This has been an unusual winter. We expect cold - got it. We expect snow - got it. We expect many days to be breezy but yet sunny - nope. Didn’t happen.

It’s been the topic of conversation in the office for several months. No one remembers being without sunshine for so many days in a row. It’s, well, it’s depressing.

A few years ago a lot was written about the link between the lack of sunshine and depression. While I don’t think I get clinically depressed, I do sort of go into a hibernation mode during the winter. Sleep is preferable to just about anything else.

Somehow this year I survived both the gray, dreary days and the urge to hibernate. I’m not sure how, but I’m not looking this “gift horse” in the mouth. I’m taking it for what it is.

I’ve spent this winter going over manuscripts and learning new things about self-publishing. My account at All Romance eBooks was just approved and I hope to get Mischief at Midnight and To Bed a Spy uploaded with the next few days. After that, it’s time to move on to other outlets.

The ability to have control over my work is exhilarating. It’s not that I think publishers are dishonest, but I do think the writer, on whom this ENTIRE industry depends, is not treated equitably. Without the writer, the publishing industry collapses. Somehow it’s come to be believed the publisher makes the author’s career. Um, no. The ability to tell a good story makes the author. It should be a symbiotic relationship and it is with the really great publishers. 

It's been an eye-opener to discover I can do for myself everything a publisher does, but could I have done this without the experience of being with nine different publishers over the years? Nope. I still think a publisher is a good idea for someone new to the industry. 

Take advantage of the opportunity to learn from publishers and editors. Bite the bullet and commit to a few years of having your work under contract. Remember nothing in this business worth the effort happens overnight. There are no shortcuts. You're either in it for the long haul or you should stop now. And if you're in it for the long run, don't shut off any avenue of forward progress. 

Think about it. 

Rayne
www.rayneforrest.com

Rayne's Ramblings - Writing is like Gardening

Having been at this business of blogging for many years, I have quite an archive of blog entries. Twenty-six Keys is simply the latest incarnation of the many blogs I've had over the years. It got to the point where it was easier to start fresh than go back and remove old, invalid links and outdated content. And so Twenty-six Keys was born. 

Since I do have all that old content, I'm going to recycle some of it. What follows is an entry originally posted on one of those now defunct blogs in July 2007. It may be eight years later but I find writing is still like gardening for me, and this old blog entry still applies. 

Rayne

http://www.rayneforrest.com

Writing is like gardening

I've been a lifelong gardener. I suppose it's in my blood, passed down from generations of women who knew long before the evening news told them so that houseplants keep indoor air fresher. One thing my mother and grandmother always had were flowers.

My mother used to collect cardboard milk cartons to trim and fill with potting soil. In these she started her seeds. Once the seeds sprouted she would turn the cartons every day so the tiny seedlings weren't forced to stretch one way or the other toward the sunlight.

Mom nurtured the plants until the first of May then the cartons were set in the garage to "harden" before being planted in the regular beds or pots after May 10th, which is historically the day the chance of a hard frost is over for our immediate area. By July my mother's yard was blooming and she was hard at work weeding and watering. With the arrival of October she was clearing the beds of frost damage and making mental notes for the following year and washing out new milk cartons to stack in the garage for next March's seed sowing.

Mom has scaled back some in recent years but she still maintains a flowerbed that stretches along her driveway. She's mostly content with a smaller area but sometimes we reminisce about her hundred foot long border along the edge of the backyard of the house I grew up in. Glory days. 

Writing, for me, is much like gardening. The seed of a story comes to me either from something I've already written or from whatever it is beyond myself that makes me want to create characters and stories. The seed sometimes quickly sprouts, sometimes lies dormant waiting for a different season. Once it begins to grow it needs attention, nourishment, and sometimes a lot of weeding. If I'm lucky it eventually matures and blooms into something I can be proud of, something well worth all the work.

RF

When least expected

Life has a way of handing you the unexpected, and it's not always a bad thing. Sometimes it's something you've wished could happen. Or maybe it's something you planned to work towards and never quite got around to it, being absorbed with the busyness of the daily grind. And I've certainly been busy.

Yesterday, Super Bowl Sunday, marked ten years since I sat at the computer and began to write my first book. While that story remains unpublished, I've had what I consider to be great success with my writing career. After all, I never set out to have a writing career. I set out to write a novel just to see if I could.

I guess I got my answer.

As for the universe talking to me, yes, it did. I've long pondered what to do about my older stories, the ones which had limited runs at publishers no one ever heard of and never became mainstream, or were at houses that closed, or should have closed. Today, a simple email was a signal it's time to move forward and get those books back out.

The epublishing world was a lot different back in 2003. It's matured, and, thankfully, so have I. It's going to take a little time to go through those stories and apply those things I've learned in the last ten years, but I think the stories are worth it. My technical skills are better and it's important to me to do the best I can in everything I do.

So I suppose I'm climbing "back on the horse." We'll see how it works out.

I think it's going to be fun again.

Rayne

Rayne's Ramblings - How to cut a deal on a used tv for Christmas

Time marches on. Christmas is almost upon us again. Didn't we just do this last year? There doesn't seem to be an escape from the yearly rut. My tree is up, and my house is decorated. Several presents are wrapped and/or bagged and under the tree. (I love those gift bags!)

With the economy being what it is, my beloved and I agreed to keep our spending in check. That lasted until HE saw a 42" Vizio television with a 120 ghz refresh rate in his price range. We've been together over fifteen years and I never knew the man could grovel with such style and panache. And effectively. Yes, I caved in and agreed we could get the blasted thing, PROVIDED I got the older flat screen for in the bedroom. I even agreed to split the cost with him since it could be his Christmas present. It's amamzing that three-hundred fifty bucks can get me a used tv....

I never saw him so eager to jump in the pickup and head for town. It was almost embarrassing. The man is sixty-one, for heaven's sake. (Yes, he robbed the cradle when he met me.) It took a lot of fast talking to convince him to wait and see if they go on sale just before the big day.

He whimpers well, too.

In other happy Christmas news, the die-T is progressing quite well. The new slacks that were snug a month ago fit fine now. But I have a new worry. My rings are starting to slide around a bit on my finger. No more wearing the good stuff for everyday.

Do my fingers type faster? Oh, he$$ no. I wouldn't be that lucky.

This year, as Christmas approaches, I'll have an edit to do on an upcoming release, "A Hero's Bargain." I'm looking forward to getting this story out. It's another science-fiction piece, and I like it. The story turned out quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

And this is enough rambling for one session. Check out the books to the right. I'll probably be letting my paid website go at the first of the year, so watch for this site to be updated with more frequency.

The new frugal is a bit of a drag, isn't it?

Rayne Forrest

PS. Don't forget to join my mailing list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/authorrayneforrest so you don't miss the announcement about the release of "A Hero's Bargain."

Rayne's Ramblings: Diet is DIE with a T

To say that 2009 has been a year of rest for me is probably understating the fact. The peaks and valleys of upheaval smoothed out, and gave me some peace. But like any good rolling stone, I haven't stopped long enough to let the moss gather.

Being an introspective sort of person, I constantly take stock of where my life is now, and where it is going. With those around me finally healthy again, this past summer was the right time for me to look at my own health. I've been making a few positive changes. Unfortunately, with free time scarce, it meant moving away from the computer, and, well, moving myself. Okay, it meant moving my ass. And my arms.

One of these days I hope to scale back the amount of hours I spend working outside the home. To do that, I've got to be firmly entrenched in an exercise routine. Yeah, yeah, you read it everywhere you go. I read it, too. But this was the year I took it to heart. And kicking, screaming, and begrudging every moment spent away from my writing, I began. And you know what? It hasn't been too bad.

Honest. I actually look forward to my walks. My upper body workout? Eeyyyyy, not so much, but I do it. Twenty minutes a day? I don't think so. I bust through the movements and I move on, but at least I'm doing them. Maybe some day I'll start to enjoy them..OR NOT..but I'm not giving up.

And diet? Well, diet is simply DIE with a T. You stop eating, you die. So that's definitely a one day at a time change, too. Some days, I do great. Other days, not so good, but it seems like I'm doing better all the time. The easiest thing has been eating at least one piece of fruit a day. As soon as I hop in my car to drive home from the day job, I munch on an apple. So far, they haven't outlawed THAT while driving.

Am I making progress? The last pair of slacks I bought were a size smaller. However, there is one drink I won't give up. Give up my coffee? I'll rip your hand off if you try to take my coffee away, but I can tolerate a fat-free creamer.

So, Rayne's rambling again. Perhaps. I look at the changes made this past year as positive steps for my writing, because they are positive steps for me. Feeling better, sleeping better (I've always been a champ at that), and eating better can only help me write better. That's my theory.

What's up next for Rayne the author? A science-fiction erotic romance entitled, A Hero's Bargain, coming early in 2010.

What's up next for Rayne the woman? Perhaps a wardrobe full of smaller-sized clothes. Wouldn't that be wonderful? It certainly would.

Rayne's Ramblings: The hokey-pokey

This has been a productive summer for me. I used to wonder if the writing would get easier, and now I have an answer. For me, yes, it has. I’m much more relaxed about this business than I used to be.

Part of that is I don’t spend a lot of time out on all the lists, and groups. Maybe I should, I don’t know. Trying to do the personal appearances took a chunk out of precious writing time, so I think it’s a necessity that I limit time spent on the Internet. Does that hurt sales? I don’t think so. I believe that the best promotion is the best book you can write.

When I was first starting out, the prevailing wisdom said you had to promo at the review sites in their “live” chat rooms. I did it. Some review sites bragged of having hundreds of people show up for a chat. When I wasn’t headlining those events, I went as myself, not the author, and I never encountered more than twenty-three people at a “live” chat, even when some rather big-name, New York authors were there.

The prevailing wisdom said, “You must have contests.” So I did. I got to know those people who haunt the lists waiting for a contest. I don’t bother much with contests, these days. T-shirts, bookmarks, promo cd’s – all the little klitchy things. I did them all.

And nothing – absolutely nothing – makes any difference if you don’t have a good book.

If I have just one shot at giving any advice to a new writer, or an old one, for that matter, I make it this: Forget everything that fills up your hours with counterproductive activities, and learn, learn, learn all you can to make your writing better.

And a better story leads to greater personal satisfaction, and that, my friends, is the hokey-pokey of this business. That’s what it’s all about.

Rayne
http://www.rayneforrest.com

July again

July again. How did this happen? It seems like just yesterday it was March and the trees were bare. Now my backyard Eden is lush and green, visited nightly by fireflies. My beloved and I sit on the patio and laugh at the cat’s antics as he stalks them. Shooter seems to know it’s just a game to pass the time. Either that or he’s tasted fireflies and doesn’t care for the flavor. Who knows with cats?

After so many years of intense gardening, I’ve scaled back. The deer have won. We set aside a little patch of dirt outside the kitchen window and beside the patio for a daylily patch. I moved one of every variety I have into it, and it’s lovely. Looking out the window at that bright splash of color actually does ease the pain of being at the sink working. (I’m just not a kitchen person.)

I’ve been taking stock of my writing. My beloved’s battle with cancer took a lot out of both of us. More so him, of course, but almost losing him definitely altered my outlook on life. I set better priorities for myself, and the nose to the grindstone style of working is pretty far down the list. Earlier this season, as we sat on the patio wrapped in robes against the morning chill, he asked me if I planned to continue writing. It’s a big question, and the answer is yes, I do.

It’s time to forge ahead, get back in the game, not that I really left. I have more than a few completed manuscripts ready to go out the door. I hope my editors will be pleased to get them, but it’s always a roll of the dice.

The ideas never stop coming. I’ve seven concept folders started with bits and pieces of ideas, photos, and even one or two opening chapters. It’s time to pick one and starting composing prose.

First, though, it’s time for a bike ride with my beloved on this last day of my long holiday weekend. He has a new bike, you see, and even though it’s supposed to be a birthday present for a birthday at the end of this month, he has it now and can’t wait to test it out.

Life’s too short not to enjoy what you have.

Rayne Forrest
http://www.rayneforrest.com