THE HUSBAND MAKER BY KAREY WHITE and Western Roundup Continues

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Charlotte’s a girl with nicknames. She may not love being called Charles or Chuck, but the hardest nickname to take is the one she was given in college, the one that’s followed her now for too many years. They call her “the husband maker” and sadly, it fits. Every guy she’s dated since high school has become his next girlfriend’s husband. Not hers. Not three girlfriends down the road. The next.

Is she doing something wrong or is she just cursed?

When Kyle Aldsworth enters the picture and sweeps her off her feet, Charlotte begins to hope that maybe she's not destined to be single forever. A senator’s son with political aspirations of his own, Kyle's wealthy, handsome, and in need of a wife. Will Charlotte be disappointed yet again, or will she finally be able to make a husband for herself?

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THE HUSBAND MAKER Excerpt:

Mrs. Shelton’s words bounced around in my head. They call her the husband maker.

“That’s quite a frown you’ve got going there.”

“Sorry.”

Angus dipped his head, forcing me to make eye contact with him.

“Don’t be sorry. Just talk to me.”

“Have you heard anyone call me the husband maker?”

Angus leaned back in the booth and shook his head. His dark, worried eyes watched me. “Who told you about that?”

“So you have?” When he didn’t immediately speak, I knew the answer. I sighed and leaned back against my seat as well.

There we sat, both of us slouching against our seats, looking at each other.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.

“Now why would I do that? Why would I purposely tell you something that would hurt your feelings?”

I should have appreciated his desire to spare me, but at the moment, I wasn’t sure what to think. “Wouldn’t a real friend be honest with me?”

“I was honest. If you’d ever asked me, I’d have told you. I wouldn’t have lied to you. But I don’t think a real friend would jump at the chance to share something hurtful. Wouldn’t a real friend be protective?”

I shrugged.

“Who told you?”

“No one.”

“Then how—?”

“I overheard Hannah Shelton’s mom in the restroom. She was telling some other woman that everyone calls me the husband maker.”

“Not everyone, Chuck.”

“You know what I mean. And why shouldn’t they? There I was at Harrison’s wedding. I guess I just made him a husband. I guess I made Skyler a husband. And CJ and Jerry and . . . I can keep going if you want me to.” I would have kept going to illustrate my point, but my voice was starting to quiver, and in a minute, I’d only have two options—cry or yell at Angus. As upset as I was that he’d never told me, I knew he didn’t deserve to be yelled at. He was here for therapy, after all.

“Charlotte.”

His voice was full of concern, and he used my given name, so I knew he wasn’t kidding around.

“What?” My voice cracked.

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about what people say. You’ve had bad luck. That’s all. It isn’t your fault.”

The waitress brought out our food. “Can I get you anything else?”

“This is great, thanks.” Angus wasted no time piling food on his plate. “I hope you’re hungry,” he said after she left.

“I can’t believe we’re eating this much food at almost ten.”

“If the food doesn’t take your mind off all this junk, the heartburn will.”

I laughed.

Angus’s voice turned serious again. “If you wish I’d have told you, I’m sorry I didn’t.”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer, but I had to ask. “Have you ever called me that?”

“Of course not.”

AUTHOR KAREY WHITE

Karey White grew up in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Missouri. She attended Ricks College and Brigham Young University. Her first novel, Gifted, was a Whitney Award Finalist.

She loves to travel, read, bake treats, and spend time with family and friends. She and her husband are the parents of four great children. She teaches summer creative writing courses to young people and is currently working on her next book.

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads

Coming Fall 2014 - Charlotte's Story continues in The Match Maker

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Thanks for stopping by! To participate in the WESTERN ROUNDUP GIVEAWAY HOP, please scroll down to the previous post and leave your comment there. Come back on Friday for another addition to the WESTERN ROUNDUP GIVEAWAY HOP! 

RECHARGING

Monday will be my 700th post on this blog. Be sure to return then to help with my celebration and sign up for giveaways!

Each of us has work-related stresses. Although I love writing, occasionally I need to refill my well. What do I do? I meet with my three amazing critique partners: Geri Foster, Carra Copelin, and Brenda Daniels.

Geri Foster

We do more than critique each other’s work. We make suggestions, talk about marketing, discuss the new changes in social media, and laugh a lot. Yes, meeting with these women is group therapy.

Brenda Daniels

Other writers understand that hearing voices in one’s head is not necessarily a sign of madness. Okay, maybe a little madness, but we are allowed in public. And we only harm people in our books. So far.

Maybe you don’t write, but you do something that requires your concentration and sometimes causes you stress. So what do you do? I have a suggestion—meet with friends.

Psychologists say that the camaraderie and laughter of meeting with other like-minded individuals creates the same endorphins that runners experience in a “runner’s high.” What’s better, those endorphins from getting together with others hang around for up to three days. Yep. Goofing off with friends is beneficial to your mental health!

Carra Copelin

And there’s no major plan required. Call a friend and go to lunch or dinner. Join a book club, Bible study, bridge or bunco group—whatever appeals to you. Even if you enjoy the solitary pursuits of knitting, crochet, quilting, scrapbooking, gardening and so forth, join a group centered around those activities.

Even if—as I do—you enjoy time alone, occasionally meeting with others to exchange ideas boosts your morale and broadens your outlook. Not all of us are extroverts, but we must force ourselves to get up and get out of our routine. For me, this means venturing out of the comfort of my pink writing cave. But—my psyche protests—I love it here. So, I have to get tough with myself and make myself leave the security of the place where I’m most comfortable.

Today is critique day. I submitted my pages earlier in the week and have read and commented on my critique partners’ submissions. They’re good writers, by the way. Even the one who’s not yet published has great story ideas. I’ve printed out their pages and have them in my handy tote bag ready to walk out the door.

We meet at a local restaurant. The staff there know we like to sit in the front corner and that we’ll be there a while, but we tip well to make up for tying up the table. When I leave the restaurant, I’ll be recharged and ready to jump back into my writing.

What do you do to recharge?   

Thanks for stopping by!

RECHARGING OUR PERSONAL BATTERIES

Are you one of those people fortunate enough to have boundless energy? Does the Energizer Bunny come to you to have his batteries recharged? If so, I envy you.

I’m one of the less fortunate whose energy level is low—read lethargic. So how do I recharge my well? So glad you asked.

One of the ways is to meet with friends. This past weekend, four of us met for a writers' plotting marathon. We loaded up our suitcases, snacks, supplies, and trekked to a local motel where we locked ourselves in to work.  We worked hard from noon Friday until almost noon Sunday. I mean serious work.

Not that we were always serious. Laughter? Was there ever! Until we had tears running down our cheeks. The fun did not take away from our productivity. Actually, our merriment added to the quality of our output. Chocolate didn't hurt, either. And I ask you, is there ever too much chocolate? Of course not. 

Armed with plotting boards, Post-it Notes, and laptops, we brainstormed eight books. Two of those books and one novella were for me. Hooray! I can hardly wait to start writing them.

Each of us brought our ideas/premises for our books. The other three authors helped nail the linear progress of those stories. Writing from one of these strongly plotted outlines is much faster and saner for us than the seat-of-the-pants method. 

There are writers who start with the premise and jump in writing by the seat-of-the-pants. This works for them, or at least they feel it does. Two successful authors who do this are Diana Gabaldon and Alison Brennan. For many other writers we know, the method leaves them floundering and cutting material they've worked hard to create. Or jettisoning a story because "it's just not working." 

The four of us prefer to have a firmly plotted road map for our stories. That doesn't mean we can't take detours along the way as the muse inspires us, but we always return to the main highway of our plot map. For us, this produces a better story.

The result is that in spite of almost no sleep, way too much junk food, and being tired, I came home with my internal writing batteries recharged. 

If you’re not a writer, you probably don’t care about turning points, inciting incidents, black moments, and resolution. You’re interested in a great read. So are we, and we strive to make certain our books will offer readers the very best we have to offer.

How do you recharge?

Thanks for stopping by!

LOOKING BACK ON 2013

While it's not good to dwell on the past, occasionally I need to take stock of where I am and where I've been in order to see where I'm going. This has been a difficult year in many ways, but good things have happened too. Fortunately, the good outweighs the bad. At least, I choose to believe that.

I lost a good friend, a cat, and a beloved niece this year. Losing Rachel, my friend, was hard, but she was elderly and had told me that she had prepared her mind and soul to face death. She looked forward to being with her husband Jim again. The cat Bailey's demise was unexpected. She was not fond of people and would let no one but me pet her, and then only seldom. Perhaps she is now happier frolicking with other pets over the Rainbow Bridge.

Joyce in Portugal
with her sister and mother
(unknown woman behind her)

Even though my niece, Joyce Lifquist, was older than me by a number of years, her loss to rapid cancer was unexpected and a shock. I still can't quite make myself believe she is gone. Her memorial service is January 4th in her hometown of Bakersfield, California. She was a wonderful person, and the eldest of my nieces and nephews. Her parents and siblings made the Cleavers, Father Knows Best, and the Brady bunch look like grumpy slackers. My half-sister and her husband and their two daughters and one son were absolutely the perfect family, an opinion shared by most people who knew them. They helped so many people--not only in our family, but friends as well. Anyone who needed a place to stay while looking for work or looking for a place to live went to their home. As far as I know, they never turned anyone away. When I was small and loved to draw and color, all the girls I drew looked and dressed as much like Joyce and her sister as I could make them. The two were always my ideals and I have looked up to and admired them all my life. I still do!

Our new-to-us house in Hurst TX

Hero and I way downsized this year. That sounds so much easier than it has proved to be. We moved to the perfect size house for us, but we are still having trouble fitting what we want to save inside our new-to-us house. The home was built in 1965 and is somewhat dated. We like it, but have a few changes we'd like to make when we get to them. We absolutely love living here and know we will eventually get everything arranged to suit us.

Also on the plus side, this year brought prizes and awards for my writing. BRAZOS BRIDE won first place as well as Best Overall Book in the Winter Rose Contest. HIGH STAKES BRIDE won second place. WattPad gave me an award as one of the authors with the most followers. Smashwords founder Mark Coker included BRAZOS BRIDE on the jump drive he gave to every person who attended the Romance Writers of America's National Convention in July. (I wonder if anyone who received it actually read it?) I published BLUEBONNET BRIDE, TABITHA'S JOURNEY, THE MOST UNSUITABLE COURTSHIP, and included THE TEXAN'S IRISH BRIDE in the boxed set NINE WAYS TO FALL IN LOVE with eight of my friends. I also boxed the first three MEN OF STONE MOUNTAIN books into one discounted set.

A new venture for me is audio books. BRAZOS BRIDE is available at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes. Very soon, HIGH STAKES BRIDE will also be available at those sites.

Max in a quiet moment in Hero's lap

We have a new cat, Max. He's a Manx cat. If you read my blog earlier this month, you know he is also full of mischief. He is a joy and likes to sit beside my keyboard and watch the cursor on the screen. He especially loves Facebook. ☺ He's made friends with our 7-year-old tuxedo cat Sebastian and with our little black Shih Tzu Webster. Sebastian is a bit jealous but is coming around. Of course, Hero and I adore Max. Even Darling Daughter 1, who is convinced dogs rule, fell under Max's spell at Christmas.

My critique partners are the best. They encourage me as well as catch my goofs. They make me a better writer and keep me sane. Well, mostly sane. These three women and I meet at a restaurant about every two weeks to critique, eat, laugh, and share what amounts to group therapy. Laughter is a very good medicine!

My younger brother and his wife visited from North Carolina. We hope they can move near us in the next year so we can all be together at Christmas 2014. Their widowed daughter lives with them, and will make the move with them when/if they can manage it.

My family encourages and sustains me. Hero is exactly that, my hero. He does everything he can to facilitate my writing and enjoying life. Both our daughters do their part to encourage me and help me as well. I am very blessed!

I hope that as you look back on this year, you count blessing after blessing. Hold the good things close and let the bad slide away. 2014 approaches. Who knows what wonderful things lie in store?

Thanks for stopping by!

INSPIRATION COMES IN MANY FORMS

What inspires you? What fills you with awe?

Here are a few of the things that inspire me:

Family - I’m fortunate in that my immediate family encourage me in whatever I do.

Friends - Good friends who get my weird sense of humor (most of the time) are a blessing.

Chocolate - Perfect food, except for the calories.

Spring - I love the new green growth, baby animals, flowers. Yeah, I could live without the weeds, but then some of the plants I enjoy are considered weeds in other parts of the world.


Estate and garage sales - I’m such a sucker for these. Then I think I need to go home and clean out my closets and cupboards. No, I rarely actually get around to decluttering, but I think about it.

Birds - Hero and I love watching the birds at our feeders outside the breakfast room window. We love the blue birds who live in the house Hero built as well as the swallows who swoop across out meadow. What fun watching our feathered guests drink and splash in the birdbath.

Reading - Losing myself in an author’s words inspires me to write better myself. Thank goodness my family members are avid readers and understand my craving/need to read every day.

Travel - Getting away from home broadens one’s outlook. And Dorothy was right, “There’s no place like home” when you return.

What inspires you?

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE!

Geri Foster

Readers, today my guest, Geri Foster, is a friend I've known for almost twenty years. In that time she has not only been a critique partner, she has brightened the lives of those around her. She's an amazing woman who does things like write kids letters from Santa each December, goes to DFW Airport to respectfully greet returning soldiers, and serves in all the writer's groups to which she belongs. She's a bundle of energy and organization. Please welcome her today.

Laugh Often

I have a sign on my kitchen wall that says, “Live Well, Love Much and Laugh Often.” I never paid much attention to that little plaque until this weekend. Then it struck home.

After a harrowing week of crazies, I went out with a few of my girlfriends over the weekend to have dinner and a few drinks. With the help of wine, margaritas, and some foo foo drink, we ended up laughing ourselves silly. For over three hours we were completely out of control and at times bordering of hysteria. We laughed about sex toys, dogs fighting, kid’s clothes, and weird people. You’d have thought we were sixteen year old girls out for the first time.

As I drove home that night, I thought why don’t we do that more often? How come we let the stupidest things in God’s creation steal our fun and our laughter? The jobs, the kids, the housework, it all robs us of who we really are. And let’s not forget the people in our lives. Sometimes it makes me want to live on an island all by myself.

Who am I kidding, I’d be nuts in a day!

Didn’t someone once say, Laughter is Good for the Soul? That proves it, even God wants us to laugh and have fun. What better fun than getting together with great friends who allow you to display your silly side without judgment?

We need to laugh more and stress less. As writers we need to recognize that life is a joke, most of the time. Why do we take ourselves so seriously? Why all the drama. And yes, wherever you have writers, you have drama! But you also have fun loving people who actually understand you.

I know, that’s scary.

I promised myself I will no longer allow small stuff and people and jobs and obligations to drive me nuts. I won’t let anything dig its claws into my time, my fun, my life or my writing. I’m going to laugh more and I’m going to appreciate the wonderful friends I have.

As women (and men) who write, let’s become better friends. Let’s smile more and crack a joke at every given opportunity. Let’s bust a gut laughing until every other person in the room turns around and gives us the stinky eye for having more fun than them. Let’s not take ourselves, and others so seriously.

I honestly think the sound of laughter is the most beautiful sound ever created by God or man. And we all have it. We all have the ability to laugh instead of cry, we have the creativity too look at all the crap around us and see the more humorous side.

I’m laughing out loud today, how about you?

Geri Foster

Geri, thanks for sharing your wonderful joy for life with us. Laughter is a good medicine, and being with friends who understand us and accept us as we are boosts our immunity at the same time we gather lasting memories. Win, win.


Progress and Solitude and Friends---and Prize Winner

The winer of her choice of download from my books is Loretta. I've emailed Loretta to ask which book she prefers.

Have you thought about the changes technology has made in our lives in just the past five years? Good things are the price of computers came down, the price of various e-readers came down, and cell phones improved tremendously. Those great television sets have decreased in price, too. There are thousands more books available as e-books to download to your e-reader or computer or phone. Life looks pretty good now, doesn't it? So what's bad about progress?

Many people count on their phones and computers to contact their friends, but spend far less face-to-face time with friends. Some people even text or talk on the phone when they're out to dinner with friends. Hero and I were in an Olive Garden recently. A family of five was seated near us. Four of the five spent most of the meal on the phone. Family togetherness? I think not. For one thing, if you are dining with me, don't talk on your phone. I subscribe to the theory of Tom Hanks' character in "Sleepless In Seattle." If you're not bleeding and no one has been kidnapped, the call can wait. Oops, there I go on another of my soap boxes.

Psychologists say that getting together with friends produces the best endorphins. We don't need to run to get a runner's high--we can go to a meeting or dine with friends and achieve the same benefit. Not only does it help that day, but the residual flows over for a couple of days. In other words, to be happy and well balanced, we need friends face-to-face.

Writing is a solitary profession. We sit facing the desktop or laptop computer for hours, even days at a time. If I didn't have Hero to keep me balanced, I'd probably only leave my cave when hunger struck or nature called or I keeled over to sleep for a few hours.

I remember a favorite scene in "Romancing The Stone" when Kathleen Turner's character--a single romance writer--finished her book. There were sticky notes throughout her apartment with reminders to buy food, buy tissues, etc. Sound familiar? The point of this diatribe is that friends are not just nice to have.

We need friends!

Join writers groups, church groups, civic groups, whatever. Don't let yourself become isolated. It's not healthy mentally or physically.

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Please leave your email in your comment to enter my weekly prize drawing. A follow counts as a second entry. Like me on Facebook for another entry. My Twitter name is CarolinClemmons with no E in Caroline due to space constrainst. This just goes on and on, doesn't it? Ahh, that's progress.

  

Sharing With Friends - Happy 101

 Happy 101 Sharing with Friends

Cate Masters graciously sent this Happy 101 award badge to me. Cate is a wonderful author. If you haven't already done so, pick out one of her books from the list on her website at http://www.catemasters.com/ and read it. You'll be glad you did.

Now I have to list ten of my favorite things before I pass the award on to ten bloggers. Hmmm, only ten favorites?

1. spending time with my family.

2. reading

3. spending time with my friends

4. browsing antique malls, estate sales, and garage sales.

5. watching movies with Hero.

6. traveling with Hero.

7. taking a nap, preferably with Hero.

8. chocolate anytime

9. Spring flowers

10. Writing, writing, writing!

I'll pass this lovely award on to fellow authors. Be sure to visit their blogs.

1. Hywela Lyn at http://hywelalyn.blogspot.com/

2. Information Central at http://blog.stephaniesuesansmith.com/

3. Michelle Miles' Ye Old Inkwell at http://michellemiles.net/blog

4. Sandy James http://www.sandy-james.com/stable/index.php

5. Terry Spear at http://www.terryspear.com/

6. Linda Broday and her friends at http://www.petticoatsandpistols.com/

7. Bobbye Terry at http://bobbyeterry.blogspot.com/

8. Beth Trissel at http://bethtrissel.wordpress.com/

9. Skhye Moncrief at http://blog.skyemoncrief.com/

10. Michelle Miles at http://michellemiles.net/blog

Join or Go It Alone?

"I'm going to tell you how it works. It's about hills and valleys. Anybody can handle the hills, but you find out who you are when you hit the valleys." Count Basie to Quincy Jones

Are you a joiner? Do you prefer solitude?

Did you ever see "The Net" with Sandra Bullock? That movie struck terror in the hearts of all those who work in solitary at home. Solitude is great, but there are times when we need face-to-face fellowship.

I used to be a world champion joiner--three bridge clubs, garden club, book study club, church women, home extension club, newcomer's club. Then, when I decided to really apply myself to writing and being published, I quit everything but church women and joined writers groups with the zeal of the newly converted. And went to confernces and conferences and conferences. I saved notes by the bale, bought CD's, and shelves of how-to-books. If it would have helped, I would have left a book under my pillow at night hoping I'd absorb something in my sleep. Not that any of this is wrong, mind you. Well, the book under the pillow is dumb, but feel free to try the rest.

I still belong to quite a few writers' groups. Know why? Writing is a solitary profession. I sit in my lovely pink cave at my computer most of the day. Lucky for me, my Hero and Darlings 1 and 2 are very supportive. But sometimes, I need to talk with other writer who've had sales and rejections of their own.. They understand me. I don't have to worry they'll think I'm crazy when I say these people in my head keep telling me to write their story and won't shut up until I do. No one calls the doctors with straighjackets when I say I see the opening scene of my work in progress (WIP) as if it were a movie in my head. Writers understand that's normal for us . . . well, as normal as we ever are.

So the answer to my initial question of "join or go it alone" is: Both. Yes, I join online and face-to-face writers groups. Yes, I sit alone in my lovely pink cave as I write. Those who nurture us help us through the valleys of rejection. Those same friends rejoice with us when we are at the peak of success. My groups are Yellow Rose RWA, Dallas Area Romance Authors, Hearts Through History RWA, and Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal RWA, and the other The Wild Rose Press authors. I've made writer friends in each of these--friends on whom I can depend for truth about my work if I ask for a critique. Friends I'll treasure the rest of my life.

Are you in a lonely occupation? What do you do to survive?

Writer Kari Winters' Cats Are Safe

Reprinted with permission from Information Central Blog:

Kari Winters was an award winning pet writer and animal welfare activist who died mysteriously. At last, her surviving cats are finally safe. They are in a loving foster home and will be placed with people Kari would want to have them.

When Kari died, her housekeeper took her dog and four cats. This person refused to surrender them to Kari's family, despite being ordered to by the probate judge. One of the cats and the dog died, and Kari's friends were upset, confused, and not sure what to do. Joline Gutierrez Kreuger, a reporter for the Albuquerque Journal, investigated the story. Three columns and a follow-up have moved officials to reopen the case. If you have any information that might shed light on how Kari Winters died, please contact Albuquerque Police Detective Medrano at 505-768-2300.

Due to pressure from Kari's friends across the nation, in Canada, and in the UK, Kari's four surviving cats were removed from the housekeeper's home and placed in a safe home far away. Profound thanks go to American Airlines, with special thanks to Susan Baker, Manager, in New Mexico, who took charge of the four cats and flew them to safety; to the Albuquerque Animal Services Department and their magnificent team of veterinarians, and to a wonderful foster home in New Mexico who loved Kari's cats until they could be flown out of state to another treasured foster home. From there they will be placed in loving homes to peacefully live out the rest of their lives. Thanks also to the Rio Rancho Animal Shelter for keeping the cats overnight until they could be turned over to Albuquerque Animal Services. Individual names, as well as their current residence, have been deliberately left out for the safety of the cats and the people who have been and are currently involved in this tremendous act of love, caring, and generosity. Kari's many friends are extremely grateful.

Please cross post this--post it on your blog, and let your friends know about it. There is reason to rejoice: Kari's four cats are safe. There is reason to mourn: Kari, one dog, and one cat are dead. Continue to press for a full investigation of what happened to her.

Articles can be viewed here:
http://www.abqjournal.com/upfront/05231069334upfront03-05-10.htm part one
http://www.abqjournal.com/upfront/080711989upfront03-08-10.htm part two
http://www.%20abqjournal.com/upfront/122252623086upfront03-12-10.htm part three

http://www.abqjournal.com/cgi-bin/print_it.pl?page=/upfront/162338276262upfront04-16-10.htm part four