I’ve learned a thing or two about writing. I will always have more to learn. But when it comes to story structure I’ve learned from the best. William Bernhardt has a series of books on story structure, characterizations, etc. I am also a big fan of Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat series and Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel. Like I said – the best. Without them, I could never have written a book that covered several years in a woman’s life. So, if my writing doesn’t come up to their standards (or yours) I only have myself to blame – not them. But I constantly study and try to do better.
In my novel Blooming Justice, set on Keystone Lake in Oklahoma, I covered a three-year period with a young girl graduating high school and beginning her college years. She grows up a lot in that formative time. She is sexually harassed at the senior prom when she accepts a date from a boy she barely knew but was extremely attracted to. She knew better. She was smart and had her feet on the ground, but in a moment of fairytale weakness, she said yes and then paid the price. But she learned.
Once in college she again ran into Prince Charming who wasn’t nearly as charming as she originally thought. He had a dark past and it was coming out.
When you first meet Erin, she is 18 and graduating from high school. She has her life ahead of her and she has it all planned out. She secured a scholarship to the University of Tulsa and can live in her hometown of Mannford only thirty minutes away. Her dad died when she was young, and her mother was a hard-working single mom. Erin is sure Mom can’t survive without her. She’ll stay home and save money and look after her mom. But does Mom need to be looked after?
Soon, Erin will begin to hear rumors of college women being raped – and she knows who’s doing the deed. Now working part time in her aunt’s law firm, she has an opportunity to help stop the madness. But does she have the courage?
The book covers three years of a young woman’s life from high school to law school. Formative years. Erin will not only study hard but will try to make the campus safe for the women who attend TU and bring Prince Charming to justice.
Bringing justice can be hard, but to Erin it was worth it. Pick up a copy of Blooming Justice and let me know what you think of it.
It’s fall vacation time! This week my husband and I traveled north to the great state of Kansas. Our cousins from Texas joined us. We saw the sights in Wichita and Kansas City and everything in between. We may have eaten and drank too much, but we had a good time.
We traveled to Old Town and saw breweries, museums, 
the Frank Lloyd Wright Allen house (someday, I’m going to get inside that place!). Wichita is only a couple of hours drive from Enid and I don’t know why we don’t go there more often. It is a fun trip. I understand there is a Dillard’s Outlet store there, though I never found it.
I’ve lived my life in Oklahoma an have no idea why it took me so long to get to Kansas City. Again, it’s not that far. My cousin was at the wheel and seemed calm and cool under the pressure of big city (especially downtown) driving. There was the occasional GPS glitch, but we managed to get where we were going. We visited Union Station and found it was still a working railroad station. 
We took a trolley tour of the downtown area, ate at Arthur Bryant’s BBQ, which is the first and most famous BBQ in Kansas and had been visited by many famous people. We just wondered in off the street and they still let us in. We visited the downtown area and shopping in a district I couldn’t afford, then on to other places of interest. Kansas City boasts more working fountains than Paris, France and there are many beautiful parks, monuments and architecture. Again, we ate too much.
I love to blog. I feel like I am visiting with old friends and we are keeping up with each other. I tell you about what is going on in this boring life I lead, and you respond with what exciting news you have.
I spent the day with like minds yesterday at the annual Oklahoma Book Festival at the Boathouse District in Oklahoma City. I was invited by the Enid Public Library to set up with them at the festival to promote the upcoming Enid Author Fest. We had t-shirts and everything! We went to the big city to see who we could recruit and also just to enjoy the day.
If you follow my blog, you know I write on Sundays. This morning I sit at the laptop staring, waiting on inspiration and the song Easy Like Sunday Morning, by Lionel Richie, keeps spinning through my head. And I think about the things going on in my life. So, on this easy Sunday morning, I thought I’d share the musings in my head.
Thursday night September 12, 2019 at 7:00 PST (that’s 9:00 in Oklahoma, yawn), I will once again talk to Jim Christina and Bobbi Bell on LA Talk Radio’s The Writers’ Block. I’ve interviewed several times with the crew of The Writers’ Block, and I look forward to once again talking about writing, publication, my latest book and general fun. They are genuine and cordial with a little bit of crazy thrown in for good measure.
There’s a hint of autumn in the air. Today is the first of September, fall is just three weeks away. It has been raining in Enid off and on – in August! Unusual in Oklahoma. Just a few weeks ago, it was over 100°. Soon everything will be pumpkin spice, until you can’t hear, see, or taste it one more time. But at first it’s great. By 8:30 tonight it will be almost dark. I don’t like that.
When my grandson was in early grade school he came to my house announcing “Math was so cool. Look if I do this, this happens!” I was mesmerized. Most kids don’t like math and I was ecstatic that he loved it. 
Twice a year the Heavener Runestone Park in southeastern Oklahoma holds its Viking Fest in April and October with all things Viking and Celtic. The park is loaded with costumed characters and families on outings. Picnics are held as children enjoy turkey legs and corn dogs, Celtic music is heard throughout the park and it is transformed back in time to an era we can only dream about.
