Well, I am preparing to get back in the saddle again to write another book. This one will be Book IV of the "Rescued...a Series of Hope" batch. This series goes into the lives of many of the girls who were rescued from a life of slavery. When I began writing the chapter about these girls in the "Nan's Heritage Series", there was not a lot of press about human trafficking. I find it interesting that I am compelled to write about it in a Christian Historical Western Fiction.
The action will take place after the rescue so that younger readers will not be exposed to the details of the horror the character lived through. The reader will see the aftermath and how she copes with it. In the original listing of names of the girls, this character's name was 'Rose'. Because there were so many of the girls and because I didn't think about writing this series until after I had written "Luke's Legacy", I named a girl 'Rose' in "Luke's Legacy". This presented a problem, so I renamed this girl 'Lilly'. Now you can see the struggles I put myself through before I learned to map out my characters better.
At the top of the picture is a journal where I have glued pictures from magazines and catalogs. Each picture is given the name of each character in the current book. I put age, location, character quirks, likes and dislikes. You know, the stuff tat makes them real.
I also use page in there as a timeline of the major events of the book. I don't really know where the book will go in it's meandering, but I know where I want it to land in the end. I also include a real history timeline so that I don't name towns, railroads, and events that didn't exist when the action takes place. This keeps the book historical and not just fiction.
The red book is one that I delve into many times to aid me in keeping my writing style in line and focused. It is "The Art of War for Writers" by James Scott Bell. It is my 'go to' book when I feel the writing is getting stale. I recommend this to students and writers everywhere.
The reason I am not actually writing on the book at this time is because I am preparing for the web challenge called the National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo. The challenge is to write 50,000 words during the month of November. It takes a lot of determination, especially since this is a very busy month, but as my former pastor's wife used to say: "If you want something done, ask someone who is busy." (Barbara Waterbury)
Several of my titles have come from this challenge. Last year, I didn't get to the goal, but I did get 35,000+ toward the next book. That is a big leg up. I am excited about "The Restless Kansas Wind" and seeing what the readers have to say about it.
I am still researching many Kansas facts. The action will take place around and near Meade, KS. The history is rich and I am discovering that the research is one of the most enjoyable things about writing a book. Keep me in your prayers as I commit this work to God.
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