Full Circle

After two or three years of struggling, I finally completed my novel, "Full Circle", as a novella.  The story kind of petered out around 31,000 words and writing the last few chapters to get past 40,000 took some effort on my part as I wanted the characters to find their way back to one another.  I am all about happy endings.  In the process I found a way into a new novel that will be released later this year (hopefully).  I would like to thank my friends who encouraged me as I wrote--Amanda, Marilyn, and April, who will someday be an author in her own right.  I will include the link to the eBook for now, and the paperback once it is completely revised.  I am attaching the cover as well.




https://www.amazon.com/Full-Circle-Tommie-Conrad-ebook/dp/B07WXJX7ND/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=full+circle+tommie&qid=1567180180&s=books&sr=1-1

Windswept Nights

Prior to my surgery last fall, I had continued writing but felt as though creatively, I had run dry.  I entered a publishing contest with mixed results, but the result was when all was said and done, I had fairly successfully self-publishing yet again.  Unfortunately when it came to fresh ideas, I was fresh out--but I had been playing around with the idea of one final novel in the Windswept Saga, to serve as both sequel and prequel, taking us back to the beginning of Sam and Susan's romance while playing out stories I had hinted at in The Art of Love.  This is book six, which means book five (which I have had a story for, for a while now, but need to do further research before I put pen to paper).  Additionally I have two further novels in the works, including one that is past the 30,000 word mark, which I hope bodes well for future creative endeavors.  Purchasing information for Windswept Nights appears below.








Windswept Hearts

Love for Sale

Over the past two months I have gone through some pretty serious health issues, which I will relate to you in a future blog.  This one is simply a promotional piece; several months ago I wrote a manuscript, Love For Sale, which I held back from self-publishing because I knew Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write publishing contest would be rolling around eventually.  Well, great news:  early this month I received a phone call from an editor at Harlequin letting me know that my novel had advanced to the top 25 finalists, which meant that they wanted to read a full manuscript.  I prepared and emailed it and received another phone call once I’d been discharged from the hospital, a call letting me know I had advanced to the top 10.  I liked my manuscript, but apparently they did, too.  I signed and had notarized an affidavit and sent it in, and the process was complete.  When the day arrived and my book was posted in full for everyone to read, I began to stump for votes, and everyone seems genuinely excited about my opportunity to win this.  I’m pretty excited, too.  It’s always nice to receive some recognition.  If you’d like to vote for my novel, here’s the link.

Love for Sale

Cowboys Like Us

My love for the series “Castle” is well-known, and I’m not shy about promoting the show to other prospective viewers.  Over the years I have also seen Nathan Fillion in “Desperate Housewives,” “Pasadena,” and “Waitress”, so wasn’t it inevitable I’d eventually get around to watching “Firefly”?  Thanks to a friend who sent me the DVD set for my birthday, I was able to view it.  The foremost question, of course, was would I enjoy it?  I love “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” and “Lost in Space” and “The Twilight Zone”, and the fifteen or so episodes I was able to see of “The X-Files” were great, but I don’t, as a rule, seek out science fiction.  Call me a lazy viewer: sometimes I just can’t commit to something with that much mythology.  My impression after viewing “Firefly” is that you either get it or you don’t—thankfully, I got it.  I was fascinated by the idea of a space western:  cows and horses and taverns and spaceships and futuristic weapons.  Fillion’s Captain Malcolm Reynolds was a layered character who didn’t take crap from anyone, and the show was imbued with a lot of heart, humor, and even pathos.  There were plenty of unexpected twists and turns, and I find myself wondering, with every short-lived show, how a second season might have looked. I still need to see the follow-up movie, “Serenity.”

Back to my point about “getting it”.  It reminds me of a show that I loved as a kid, “Eerie, Indiana”, in which the lead character and his best friend seemed to exist in an alternate universe in which they were the only keen observers.  So much of life is subjective, including television shows, because we reflect our own set of feelings onto the characters and their plights.  If I didn’t already have a fascination with westerns and the cowboy lifestyle, or an appreciation of Nathan Fillion, my enjoyment of “Firefly” may have been much less.  Thanks for the laughs, Serenity gang—I needed them.

Yes, I know this capture is from "Desperate Housewives".  It's what was in my DVD player at the time.

 

The Cowboy Rides Away

I have been a George Strait fan for longer than I care to remember.  I’ve seen the movie Pure Country more times than any normal person should; I can quote entire segments of dialogue, and have been known to (frequently) use selected quotes as my Facebook status.  Several years ago his tour came through where I was living at the time, but I didn’t have the funds to go.  Then in 2010 he swung through again, bringing along Reba McEntire and Lee Ann Womack.  Now that was a concert, bordering on five hours of hit after hit.  There was something incredible about seeing Strait live and in person—a solitary cowboy who plays his guitar and sings into the microphone, yet somehow commands an arena full of people.  You feel connected and engaged from start to finish.  That was an incredible night.  Fast forward two years, when I find a portentous post on my Facebook timeline about a major announcement Strait will make.   Having listened to “I’ll Always Remember You” on his most recent album, the word “retirement” immediately flashed across my brain.  And so it came to pass that he announced his farewell tour, and the gears in my head began to spin once more.  It was announced he’d be coming back through Lexington one final time and I moved heaven and earth to make sure I got the tickets.

The tickets went on sale nearly six full months for the show—a lengthy wait if there ever was one.  After they came and I put them away, I tried not to think about them.  I’m always such a nervous person, and I’m sure I forgot about them once or twice.  Holidays came and went.  Life was mundane.  The days ticked down slowly.  The day finally arrived.  I got my souvenir shirt prior to the show; call me crazy, but I’m hard-pressed to leave the arena for any reason once I get inside.  I want to experience it from start to finish; I don’t want to miss a second of any song.

Martina McBride was the special guest; calling her an “opening act” would be like calling Star Wars an appetizer for The Empire Strikes Back.  She went through a wide variety of hits, both old and new:   Wrong Again, Blessed, Anyway, I’m Gonna Love You Through It.  She gave powerhouse performances on Whatever You Say, A Broken Wing, and, of course, Independence Day.  She did a varying selection of covers:  Rose Garden, King of the Road, and a medley of The First Cut is the Deepest and Free Fallin’ that I’m pretty sure no one else could make work.  She moved around the stage the whole show, a bundle of energy, and her blue eyes must be mega-sharp because anytime someone waved at her, she waved right back.  When it was over, you were left wanting more—but such is the way of any great concert.  You wind up wishing the artist would perform entire albums just for your benefit.

There was a brief lull when she left the stage until a pre-show video played highlighting George’s album and award successes.  Music forms a soundtrack to your life and you remember how great it was to hear a new song on the radio, or the sequence formed when various singles were released.  Life used to move slower, people.  Before Youtube, iTunes, or internet leaks, you heard songs for the very first time on your radio.  Anyway, when George made his appearance, pandemonium.   Everyone stood and shouted as he dove right into the opening songs.  I could definitely see the age on his face this time around, as we all grow older.  He did part of the concrt seated on a stool, but no one cared.  It was such an intimate show, as though he found some way to engage and sing directly to each of the more than 20,000 people in the arena.  It’s always difficult to imagine what he will put into a show; he’s recorded more hits than some people have recorded songs.  He pulled out plenty of old favorites:  Ocean Front Property, The Chair, All My Ex’s Live In Texas, and an especially poignant version of what many would deem his signature song, Amarillo by Morning, the spotlight shining directly on his fiddle player as the arena went dark.  There were several album cuts from early in his career, most of which I knew from repeated listenings to his boxed set.   He sang all three singles from his last album, as well as his newest song.   He dug out Marina del Rey, which I’d never expected to hear live.  No one told the singing audience that it was a forgotten chestnut from the early days of his career, because they sang right along.  George moved around the stage, captivating the audience from all sides.  At one point, Martina returned to the stage for covers of two legendary duets, Jackson and Golden Ring.  What a treat to hear their voices meld.  George had another surprise duet partner, Dean Dillon, whose name is familiar to anyone with a Strait album.  In an evening of so many spectacular songs, it’s hard to pick a favorite.  Then George mentioned Pure Country and jokingly wondered if any of us had ever heard of it.  Um, maybe.  He said Dusty was still around and proceeded into “The King of Broken Hearts” followed by “Where the Sidewalk Ends”.   That one was rollicking, and felt like being inside the movie itself.  That song causes him to crack up in the film, but there was no pause this time.  Wow.  You know if anyone loves the movie like I do—and I’m sure they do, given its regular airings on television—that was definitely a special moment for them.  There was something special about “Troubadour”—if anyone else cut a song like that, it’d be dismissed as hubris.  King George made it perfect, though.   There were so many wonderful old images displayed on the monitors, and the night seemed never-ending and yet all too short.  When he sang “The Cowboy Rides Away”, this time it was for real.  This may be his final tour, but his music will linger on through CDs, records, digital downloads, DVDs, and celluloid.  It will certainly linger forever in my mind.

 

Not Starting Over

Last night I finished writing my third novel.  And I didn’t start writing another one.  I’m going to let this one ride for a while.  So far I’ve finished reading three novels and started reading two more, all the while completing one in my own pen.  Editing is always the worst part of the process because inevitably you find mistakes and things you never intended to say in the first place.  Oddly enough, I had intended to write a slightly shorter novel this time, only to wind up with another 75,000 word-wonder.  Yikes.  I suppose when you set your goal at 60,000, you then challenge yourself to see if you can get past that.  It’ll be interesting to see how quickly I can get this book out into the world.  I have no timetable for editing and no concrete ideas for a cover photo.  If anyone wants to design a cover image and allow me to use it for free, drop me a line!

Heat Exhaustion

Some random observations for today:

-I can't believe it took me so long to join the Pinterest craze.  It's like a mural of every picture I love, and the kind of thing kids have been doing for years when they cut and paste magazine pictures to a piece of paper.  Except that I've always hated the idea of cutting up my own magazines!

-Summer showed up with a vengeance on its first day.  Stepping outside this evening was like stepping into an oven.

-I finally got to see the movie Practical Magic.  Sandra Bullock is always amazing.

-My book is not selling in mass quantities, but the free Kindle version was downloaded way more times than I expected.  So maybe, slowly but surely, my name is getting out there.

-Editing my second book is pretty intense, but also kind of fun.  I'm really proud of it.

-I have likely read more books in the first six months of this year than I did my entire two years of graduate school.  Seriously.

-I want to wear cowboy boots when I get married.


Currently listening to:  Hands to Heaven by Breathe

Advertising

Now that my book is completed and published to Amazon’s eKindle Publisher, I have to figure out an effective method of advertising.  I like to think this blog is one of those avenues.  I suppose my ultimate fear is apathy and dislike for my work, although at least dislike means someone read it.  There are truly works written for every taste, which is why the book aisle in any store is so full of novels and non-fiction titles.  I’m still not entirely comfortable with my self-drawn cover but since it was done on a limited budget I guess it’s better than the placeholder cover Amazon provides.  Later I’ll try to create something better.  Ultimately I’m not sure how long it takes to read the book, but I do know it took me close to six hours to finish each time I edited it.  If anyone has any comments, hopefully positive, feel free to share them with me.  I look forward to hearing from fans, no matter where they may be.

http://www.amazon.com/Windswept-ebook/dp/B0082BQLQQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336857034&sr=8-1

Completion

I have completed my first novel, Windswept.  While I consider myself a perfectionist and will need to give it yet another read through, it is done.  It's amazing to think that this journey began barely two months ago when I was cold, bored, and tired of not having anything to do.  The scariest part of all of this is that, eventually, I will have to put this product out to have it potentially dissected by perfect strangers.  Then again, that's also my goal--to have others enjoy my work.  I have already gone through and formatted it properly so hopefully when I submit the draft all goes well.  I can't give enough thanks to all of those who provided encouragement to my writing--I am forever in debted to you.  I also have to
thank in advance anyone who is willing to take the chance to follow my work, either in book form or on this blog.  I appreciate your time as well as your eyes.  Everyone's words and advice was so beneficial that I am now deeply into writing my second novel.  Not sure how long it will take as the story, thus far, has a little more depth than I expected.  It will be interesting as I try to push my own boundaries and look outside myself throughout the writing process.  I also hope that both books will be worth the wait!


Currently listening to:  "All By Myself" by Celine Dion

Day One

After more than a year of unemployment, self-pity, and a variety of other emotions, I began to realize that I wasn't fully exploiting my gifts and talents, or at least not fully exploring them.  To that end, and with encouragement from numerous friends, I began to write a novel.  Throughout the course of college I was blessed with never having to write anything longer than a final exam.  Therefore, the idea of full-length writing is still somewhat foreign to me.  I do things in a stream of consciousness, free association manner.  I brainstorm and type up various ideas before I begin to compose the actual work.  Here, I did that.  Taking my inspiration from a few different places I began to write a romance novel.  After less than a month of writing I have nearly completed the story.  Of course I will have to go through some intense editing but I hope, ideally, to have the story published before my next birthday.