Setting as Character

Think of any great novel you've loved and you'll think immediately of the setting. Would Cathy and Heathcliff be the same without the moors? Rhett and Scarlett without the Civil War South? Often the setting is as much a part of the story--almost a character in it--as your major characters are. It was with that in mind that I set my Rainbow Rock books in a tiny, fictional town near the Painted Desert in northeastern Arizona. Here are a few of the passages that hint at my setting as character:

From Book 1: RIDE THE RAINBOW HOME

"Oh!" Meg jumped as lightning crashed overhead. She swerved slightly, but fought her sports car back into her lane. July had come to the high plateau and with it, a typical afternoon thundershower. To Margaret Taylor, who hadn't seen the plateau for years, the storm was anything but typical. Lightning danced along the ridges and shimmered through the valley of the Little Colorado River, sending thunder rumbling in its wake. Giant thunderheads loomed thousands of feet above the red sandstone cliffs, pierced here and there by shafts of yellow light that brought heaven to earth.


From Book 2: AT THE RAINBOW'S END

A stiff breeze scoured the desert floor, catching powdery snowflakes and drifting them against the roots of the greasewood and creosote bushes. Kurt McAllister watched the would-be storm with tepid interest, idly reminded of the way his mother used to sift powdered sugar onto freshly baked gingerbread. 

From Book 3: DON'T PROMISE ME RAINBOWS

The farm lay quiet, fields worked and turned or hayed and mowed or resting fallow under a snowy blanket, animals anticipating their evening feed and a night's rest. High desert sunsets were almost always spectacular and now, during the dawn of the year, they came early, the sky often fully dark by five o'clock. Chris glimpsed the gathering sunset.

Next week I'll share glimpses from books 4, 5, and 6. Of course you can beat me to it. All six Rainbow Rock books are currently available for Kindle, Nook, Apple devices, other e-readers or your home computer. The first book is currently FREE.

Grow Old Along With Me

This past weekend created an interesting opportunity for the dh and me. We went to a small party, a quasi-reunion for members of his high school graduating class, at the home of one of his former classmates. It was eye-opening.

Before I continue, let me mention that I've attended ONE (and only one) reunion for my class.We raised our children a couple of states away from where I went to school and we seldom get back to the area. Not only that, but my parents had taken their family (the sibs and me) to that part of the world just as I started high school so I had only those few years in common with the other graduates. I've stayed in touch, or regained contact with a few close friends. 

For my dh, Roger, the circumstances are quite different. His parents lived in the same home in San Francisco from the time they brought him home from the hospital until well after he had graduated. And although he had I have moved around a little, we've been well settled for most of the last four decades in the same lovely town which is only a four-hour drive, depending on traffic, from his high school. We've seen these folks a few times. 

Still, it's unsettling. We walk into this group of Roger's high school pals and see . . . old people. Of course WE aren't old, but somehow, all those other people our same age have gotten to be quite ancient. 

There were four common topics where everyone seemed to find common ground: (1) The San Francisco 49ers, who were doing so well until they dropped this weekend's game to the Vikings. We're still counting on them to be championship material this season.  (2) Where is so-and-so and what have you heard of him/her lately? This topic largely left me out since I didn't know any of their high school friends. (3) How many children and grandchildren do you have? Do you see them often? Do you have pictures?  I did well here, since we have an impressively large family.

(4) The final topic was something I could reluctantly discuss with ease. Everyone seemed to be talking about aches and pains, anticipated surgeries, recent surgeries, loss of eyesight, loss of hearing, loss of friends who have already passed on too early. We limped up to one another, straightened our glasses and chatted, often loudly. 

It was enlightening. It was sad. It was a reminder that Roger and I planned to grow old together. It looks like we're doing fairly well. 

Susan's Ebooks are available for Kindle, Nook, Apple devices and for all other e-readers and computers at Kobo, OverDrive, and Smashwords. The first book in the six-book Rainbow Rock series is currently being offered FREE.

Start with the Change

A teacher in a writing class I took years ago (great teacher, great class) taught me to “start with the change,” to begin a story when the character’s life is shifting gears.  Today I’m looking at the first two books in the Rainbow Rock series to see how I did. First, here is the opening of Book 1: RIDE THE RAINBOW HOME.

"Oh!" Meg jumped as lightning crashed overhead. She swerved slightly, but fought her sports car back into her lane. July had come to the high plateau and with it, a typical afternoon thundershower. To Margaret Taylor, who hadn't seen the plateau for years, the storm was anything but typical. Lightning danced along the ridges and shimmered through the valley of the Little Colorado River, sending thunder rumbling in its wake. Giant thunderheads loomed thousands of feet above the red sandstone cliffs, pierced here and there by shafts of yellow light that brought heaven to earth. Meg watched in wonder as she pushed east along I-40, back to the land she had once called home.


Home? Rainbow Rock had never been home. The five years she'd spent there had been the worst of her life. The jeers she had suffered as stepdaughter to Lon Ramsdell, the high school principal, had been ravaging: "teacher's pet," "killjoy," "goody-goody," and so much worse. With relief she had grabbed her diploma and hit the road for UCLA, vowing never to return.


And she hadn't. Not for ten years, years she had spent putting adolescence behind her and building a career in management training. But time had softened the sting of those old wounds. Maybe it was time to make her peace.

Similarly, Book 2: AT THE RAINBOW’S END also starts with a main character driving.


A stiff breeze scoured the desert floor, catching powdery snowflakes and drifting them against the roots of the greasewood and creosote bushes. Kurt McAllister watched the would-be storm with tepid interest, idly reminded of the way his mother used to sift powdered sugar onto freshly baked gingerbread.


It had been a good meeting in Gallup that morning. If all went as planned, Rainbow Productions would soon have a contract for an exclusive series of educational videos. They had a funding proposal in for a documentary on Navajo weaving and were already paying their bills with pickup jobs for weddings, birthdays, graduations, and family reunions. In the four years since he had established his business with the woman who was now his sister-in-law, Kurt and Meg had built an inventory of successful management training programs that were bringing in steady income.


They were earning a strong reputation in the field and had recently moved into a larger storefront office in Holbrook. All was going splendidly, better than expected.


So why, Kurt wondered as he gunned the engine of his shiny new pickup and pulled into the I-40 fast lane, did he feel like chewing rails and spitting spikes? Frustration seemed to dog his heels these days, faithful as a bloodhound and not one bit prettier.


The road sign showed that Holbrook and his turnoff were still twenty-seven miles away as Kurt punched up the speed to pass a black touring car, but the added speed did nothing to decrease his restlessness. Neither did the fact that there was no apparent reason for it.  


Things were going splendidly in the business. The only weak area they'd had from the beginning had been scriptwriting. Meg wrote the basic script when they did a management training video, and his brother Jim, an expert in Navajo and Hopi art, wrote most of their documentary pieces. So far, there had always been someone at the community college in Holbrook who could refine their scripts. Though he and Meg had spoken of hiring a professional scriptwriter—and they'd have to get someone if they got the documentary on Navajo weaving—that seemed more an opportunity than a problem. So it had to be something else that was wringing his stomach.



As I look at those two excerpts, I get the feeling I listened to that great teacher.



All six books in the Rainbow Rock series are now available for E-readers: Kindle, Nook, Apple devices, and through Kobo, Smashwords and OverDrive for everything else. Presently the first book is being offered FREE.

Fun with Dick and Jane

I started school in the DICK AND JANE days. Little sister Sally, a kitten named Puff... Oh yeah, good times. But the simple story doesn't do it for me anymore. In fact, I think my Muse has A.D.D. She and I seem to be rambling all over the spectrum of commercial fiction.

Case in point: After eight published romances (count 'em: one for Silhouette, six in the Rainbow Rock series, an inspirational for Covenant), my next book--the one due out next summer--is a family saga with only hints of romance. Called A SECRET FAMILY RECIPE, it's the story of a broken family trying to repair itself, not exactly what some might have considered my "brand," yet that was where my Muse wanted to go and that's where we went.

Just yesterday I finished a final edit of EASTWARD TO ZION, an historical set between 1852-1860 in Australia and the western United States. It was another venture into the previously unexplored. Okay then, Muse: Have it your way.

I'm already half-way into the next venture, a book I call "a paranormal detective story with a sassy, chick-lit voice." Called MAGGIE RISING, it's the story of a bright young woman who is working her way through California State University, Chico as a psychic reader. She readily claims not to believe in the paranormal and says folks just like to drop a few bucks on an evening's entertainment, so she tells them what they want to hear, yet it seems the paranormal believes in her. It's not your typical reluctant-psychic-turned-detective meets reluctant-ghost-turned-witness story.

Where might my Muse strike next? She's thinking about a sisters story set in beautiful Florence and a Renaissance-era historical set in the sample place but in the days of Lorenzo di Medici. She also has several other stories for Maggie to pursue.

So far I have yet to write a single character named Dick or Jane.

RIDE THE RAINBOW HOME, the first book in the six-book Rainbow Rock romance series, is currently available FREE for E-book readers: Kindle, Nook, Apple devices, and at Smashwords for downloading to home computers.

Yes, People Change

When Meg Taylor was attending Rainbow Rock High School, Sally Williams and Little Jimmy McAllister were her two best buddies. Now, a decade later, Meg has returned to help Sally with her children: four of them aged three and under. Fascinated by a man she saw as she drove into town, Meg asks a loaded question. From the opening pages of RIDE THE RAINBOW HOME, here is a snippet of their conversation.

"Any new men in town?" Meg kept the question casual as she stretched her legs on Sally's back lawn. It was the first time the women had sat down since the circus they called breakfast.

"Why? You meet somebody?"

"No, of course not." Meg didn't meet Sally's eyes. "I just wondered what the prospects were--you know, for the women here."

Sally moved one fussy infant into the shade of the mesquite tree and scolded her daughter. "Isabel, stop teasing the cat!" She turned back to Meg. "There are some interesting men around." She lifted her brows, her voice rich with meaning. "Danny Sherwood's still here."

Meg groaned. "Spare me."

"You had quite a crush once."

"That was a long time ago, when I was young and stupid. Besides, isn't he married? I heard he and Lucretia Vanetti--"

"Ancient history. You're right; he's a jerk. Cretia got smart last year. She went around telling everybody how he hit her when he-- Tommy, shame on you! Get that out of your mouth!" She wiped Tommy's face and sighed. "How he hit her when he came home drunk. He denied it, of course, but the divorce went through just the same. But there are other men." Sally lifted one eyebrow. "Little Jimmy McAllister's still here."

"That's good." Meg kept her voice neutral. "I hope to see him while I'm here, but you know that's not what I mean, Sally. I'm asking about interesting men."

Sally shrugged. "People change. Darn, Sammy's crying again."

Care to make any bets on what may happen next? RIDE THE RAINBOW HOME is now available as a FREE download for Kindle, Nook, and other platforms. Get your free copy today.