Writer’s Corner: NaNoWriMo No Mo
Posted: December 1, 2025 Filed under: Books, Historical Fiction, NaNoWriMo, Western, Women in History, Women's Fiction, Writing, Writing Challenge | Tags: Kaye Lynne Booth, Marta, NaNoWriMo, Women in the West, Writer's Corner, Writing Challenge, Writing to be Read 2 Comments
I look forward each year to participating in the NaNoWriMo challenge in November. In fact, I depend on it to get a major portion of one novel completed and I schedule it into my production calendar. Even if I do not make the word count for the set goal at the end of the month, I’m still that much closer to a finished novel, so it is a win-win situation.
November 2022 produced The Rock Star & The Outlaw, book 1 in my Time Travel adventure series. In 2023, I used it to get a start on Sarah, book 2 in my Women in the West adventure series. 2024 brought a good start for the second book in my Time Travel series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Doubles Visions, which will be released early in 2026. This year’s NaNoWriMo was scheduled to create the third book in the Women in the West series, also scheduled for release in 2026.
So, you can imagine my surprise when a few days before Halloween, I’d done my research, I had my outline, and I went to sign up for the challenge and found that NaNoWriMo is no more. Apparently, the traditional challenge which has been around for over a decade and attracted writers from near and far, had an incident involving AI material last year, unbeknownst to me, which turned the whole event topsy-turvy. I still am not sure what the problem was, or why it was so serious as to shut down the whole event permanently. I was too busy panicking as I searched the web for my favorite month-long writing event, to read any more in depth than that.
What I did find was a new event called Novel November which looked to similar to NaNo, so I signed up. After I had begun setting up my dashboard, it became apparent that they were expecting me to upload my manuscript so they could keep track of my word count, instead of self-monitoring, like NaNo. So… ProWritingAid will have direct access to the words I write? That made me pause.
All of the articles I’ve read about the hullaballoo over AI snatching authors’ works illegally for training, etc…, I had to wonder how smart that would be. Then, add to that, the fact that something happened which involved AI writing, which shut down NaNo after last year’s challenge, and doing the challenge through this site seemed like a a really bad idea. So, that’s as far as I got with that.
I started thinking about the aspects of NaNo which I found valuable. It was always fun to earn their little badges, but that and the word count was all I really used. For me, NaNoWriMo was a motivator that offered achievable goals and helped me keep track of my progress. I never really used the community aspects of the challenge, although I did adopt a writing buddy one year and we held each other accountable, sort of. I realized that both of the aspects I used most during the challenge, the ones I depended on, were actually things I could do myself pretty easily.
So, this past November, I ran my own personal writing challenge. It was the same challenge NaNo set; 50,000 in 30 days. That’s a good start on any novel, and it’s enough to enable me to finish the book within the next few months. And there was nothing stopping me from setting my own goal and keeping track of my own word count.
So, that’s what I did. On November first, I began writing on Marta. I’m keeping track of my word count on a sheet of notebook paper. I am maybe not quite as disciplined as I have been in past years during NaNo, but I’m following the same principles. I sit down to write every single day, utilizing every spare minute that I can to write.
I’m a realist, however, and I learned long ago that you can’t always put life on hold, so my writing times are spread out with ten minutes here, thirty minutes there. Of course, I try to get in as many hour, or two hour, stretches as I can. So, on days when I have to go out and work in the real world, and can’t stay in my world of fiction, I may not get as many words in. I don’t always make my daily word count goal, and I might be lagging behind in the overall goal, even on the days when I do make it. But, again, any number of words I get down adds to my overall word count and moves my story forward.
I am writing this post on November 26, the day before Thanksgiving, and to date, I have 39, 298 words down. If I had made the word count every single day, the expected word count by the end of this day is 43, 342, so I still have a ways to go, but the story line is coming along nicely. Where the first two books in the Women in the West series had long periods when the protagonists must survive alone in the wilderness, with inner dialog to carry the story, Marta is surrounded by a full cast of characters on her journey with lots of external dialog. The characters are diverse and colorful, and they find themselves in some unusual situations.
I don’t know how many words I will have by the time this post is published, on December first, or how many words I will have left to type. I’m sure this story will not be completed at 50,000 words, since they haven’t yet reached their destination with over 40,000 words. Whether I reach my goal or not, Marta will be scheduled to be released in June of 2026.
**Update: It is December 1st and I did not reach my writing goal for November, but I do have 47,651 words toward the story of Marta. That’s not a bad start. As I’ve said before, any way you look at it, a 50,000 word challenge is a win-win for me. 🙂
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Writer’s Corner” is sponsored by the Robbie’s Inspiration blog site, where you can find ideas on writing and baking with hostess, Robbie Cheadle.
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WordCrafter News: Midnight Oil Release & NaNoWriMo
Posted: October 27, 2025 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Release, Books, Dark fiction, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Horror, NaNoWriMo, Paranormal, Short Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter News, WordCrafter Press, Writing | Tags: Marta, Midnight Anthology Series, Midnight Oil, NaNoWriMo, Women in the West, WordCrafter News, WordCrafter Press Leave a comment
Midnight Oil Release & Tour
Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares releases tomorrow, October 28, and the tour starts today and runs through Friday.
Michelle Ayon Navajas starts us off hosting the opening day in a triple stop over on Poetry by Mich, Hotel by Masticadores & Masticadores Phillipines with guest posts from me about my story, “Sangoma, Zombie Elephants, and Tokoloshe, Oh, My!”, and Christa Planko about her story, “Such a Time as This”.
Tomorrow, will find us here, on Writing to be Read, with a reading by Joseph Carrabis from his story, “Jeremiah”, and Wednesday we’ll be over at Book Places, where Kay Castenada will bring us a short post and promos from Roberta Eaton Cheadle about her story, “Just Deserts”. Thursday will find us on Carla Loves to Read where Carla Johnson-Hicks shares a guest post by Paul Kane on his story, “The Whistling” and then, we will wrap things up right back here on Writing to be Read with a reading of “The Initiation”, by DL Mullan and I’ll be interviewing Denise Aparo, author of the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest, “The Vanishing”.
It’s a great anthology and it’s going to be a great tour, with five chances to win a digital copy of Midnight Oil, if you follow along and visit each stop. It’s available for pre-order all day today, and then, of course it will be available for purchase after the release tomorrow at the purchase link below.
About Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares
14 authors bring you 16 dark tales that explore your deepest fears. These are the stories which nightmares are made of. Tales of monsters, mayhem, and madness which will make you shiver in the dark. Read them while you burn the Midnight Oil… if you dare.
Contributing authors include Mario Acevedo, Joseph Carrabis, Jon Shannon, Rebecca M. Senesse, DL Mullan, Zack Ellafy, Christa Planko, C.R. Johansson, Kaye Lynne Booth, Robert White, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Chris Barili, Paul Kane, and author of the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, Denise Aparo.
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/Midnight-Oil
November is National Novel Writing Month
Every year at this time, I like to use the NaNoWriMo challenge to get at least 50,000 words down toward my next book. This year, I had planned to put that 50,000 words toward my trunk series Playground for the Gods, because I still hold ideas about getting that series off the ground. However, being without a computer for several months last spring set my production schedule behind, and so, this November will find me working on the long overdue book 3 of my Women in the West Adventure Series, Marta. I have the completed outline in hand and I’m ready to begin writing my way to that first 50,000 words during the month of November.
This third book is the story of Marta Olmstead, a Mormon woman who we meet in the first book, Delilah, who is captured in an Indian raid and taken to live among the Utes, but she ends up in Leadville, Colorado. This is her story.
Marta is a strong heroine in a different way from our first two heroines. She is not driven, like Delilah, or sassy, like Sarah. Marta has a strong sense of right and wrong and is determined to walk the straight and narrow. Her journey takes her out of Colorado, all the way to El Paso, Texas, which in 1889, was a rough and rowdy border town and she meets some very colorful characters along the way.
WordCrafter Halloween Hauntings Sale
Don’t forget that all through October we’re running the WordCrafter Halloween Hauntings Sale, so you can get all paranormal and dark fiction anthologies from the WordCrafter Press backlist at hugely discounted prices. But hurry. At Midnight on October 31st, these prices will all turn into pumpkins. 🎃
Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology Series
- Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Tales – $3.50: https://books2read.com/MidnightRoost
- Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow – $3.50: https://books2read.com/MidnightGardenAnthology
Narrating the Paranormal Series
- Whispers of the Past – .99 cents: https://books2read.com/WhispersPast
- Spirits of the West – .99 cents: https://books2read.com/SpiritsoftheWest
- Where Spirits Linger – .99 cents: https://books2read.com/WhereSpiritsLinger1
- Lingering Spirit Whispers: Three Volume Set – $2.99: https://books2read.com/LingeringSpiritWhispers
Stand Alone Anthologies
- Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Fairy Tales & Folklore – $2.99: https://books2read.com/OnceUponanEverAfter
- Refracted Reflections: Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception – $2.99: https://books2read.com/RefractedReflections
- Visions – $2.99: https://books2read.com/VisionsAnthology
- Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprints of Tragedy – $2.99: https://books2read.com/Hanging-Tree
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This post sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.
Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.
Stop by and see what we have to offer today: https://writingtoberead.com/readings-for-writers/wordcrafter-quality-writing-author-services/
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WordCrafter News: “Shadowblade” Re-release from Chris Barili
Posted: June 30, 2025 Filed under: Book Release, Book Sales, Fantasy, Fiction, Smashwords, WordCrafter News, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Chris Barili, Curses, Kaye Lynne Booth, Marta, Midnight Anthology Series, Midnight Oil, Shadow Blade, Women in the West, WordCrafter News, WordCrafter Press Leave a commentWordCrafter Press July Release
WordCrafter Press is proud to announce the re-release of Shadow Blade, by Chris Barili, coming July 22, 2025. Chris was in my cohort at Western State and today, he is a talented author. As an Ask the Authors series contributor, he participated in both rounds of interviews for the blog series, and the only author to contribute to both books. Chris is a contributing author to the Midnight Anthology series.
I reviewed Shadow Blade just after its release through WordFire Press, back in 2019. You can read my review of Shadow Blade here. I so enjoyed the book, that it pleases me to no end to be able to re-publish it under the WordCrafter Press label now. The WordCrafter Press edition will also include a free bonus story , the prequel to Shadow Blade, Baiting the Hook.
About Shadow Blade
Ashai Larish is an assassin from the brutal Denari Lai order. Religious zealots, Denari Lai are kept loyal through an addiction to the same magic that makes them unstoppable. They have become the primary weapon for the nation of Nishi’iti, and in a hundred years, they have never failed.
Until now. Ashai must kill Pushtani King Abadas Damar and his daughter/heir, Makari. He infiltrates the king’s inner circle, putting him in the perfect place to strike, with only Captain Bauti of the Royal Guard at all suspicious of Ashai’s intent.
Except Ashai has fallen for Makari and cannot complete the hit. When a second Denari Lai kills the King, Ashai finds himself fighting for Makari’s life instead of taking it. To make matters worse, the order cuts him off from his magic, leaving him weakened and in withdrawal.
Meanwhile, far north in the Pushtani mines that border Nishi’iti, a slave named Pachat learns that his love, a hand slave to Makari, died at the hands of a Denari Lai assassin. His grief ignites a slave rebellion, and Pachat becomes the unwilling leader of the revolt. Urged on by Nishi’iti guerrillas, the rebellion sweeps across the borderlands, threatening to erupt into all-out war. Yet all Pachat wants is to avenge his beloved’s death by killing the assassin, so he walks away from the rebellion to seek when it needs him most.
As Pachat makes off for the capital of Dar Tallus, Ashai is forced to rely on that city’s organized crime gang to hide from the second assassin, and from Bauti’s guards. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Makari discovers Ashai’s true identity, and suddenly, he finds himself without her love, without his faith, and without the Denari Lai. At rock bottom, he doubts he can do anything but cause more damage.
Can Ashai kill the second assassin and win back Makari’s love? Will Pachat gain the revenge he so lustily seeks?
About Chris Barili
Currently oppressed by his day job, Chris has his sights set on retiring after 42 years in the Intelligence Community and writing full-time. Chris Barii writes all kinds of stories, and has published fantasy, science fiction, horror, western, paranormal romance, and most recently crime, with a noir story in the inaugural print edition of Toe Six Magazine. He is author of the self-published, weird western Hell’s Butcher series, and also writes under the pen names B.T. Clearwater (Supernatural romance) and T.C. Barlow (western). Chris is a retired intelligence officer, having served over 45 years between active duty, contractor, and government employee roles. He lives in Colorado with his wife.
The WordCrafter Shadow Blade Book Blog Tour
To celebrate the re-release and launch Shadow Blade off right, the WordCrafter Shadow Blade Book Blog Tour will run July 21-25. Be sure to drop in and join us as author Chris Barili shares guest posts and readings. Enter the giveaway for a chance to win a free digital copy of this unique and original story, and its prequel.
Meanwhile Back at WordCrafter Press…
2025 WordCrafter Anthologies
After making the difficult decision to let the second book in the Time Travel adventure series simmer on the back burner, for a while, it has freed me up to work on other projects, such as Chris Barili’s book above. In July, I’ll be working on the compilation of Curses and Midnight Oil. My own stories for these anthologies will be passed by my beta reader and final revisions done, as well. Curses is scheduled for release in August, and Midnight Oil is scheduled for October.
Women in the West: Marta, book 3
Also, I’ve been fine tuning my outline and completing my research for Marta, the third book in my Women in the West Adventure series. In July, I hope to begin the actual writing of the story.
Where Delilah and Sarah both did a lot of solo traveling of necessity, Marta travels in the company of others, expanding the cast of characters and the number of plot lines. And, while the first two books take place in the mining camps and towns of Colorado, Marta will be venturing into new and unexplored, at least by this author, territories with some colorful old west characters in 1890, presenting me with new challenges and a ton of research. I’m looking forward to venturing into this new story world.
However, Marta was originally scheduled for a September release. However, this is another of the projects that got pushed back when I struggled with the second Rock Star book, and I’m still working with disadvantages in the technology realm, so I’m doubtful that I’ll make the original deadlines. I’ll keep you posted.
WordCrafter Press Books on Sale on Smashwords in July
I’m excited to announce that many of the books in the WordCrafter Press catalog will be available as part of a promotion on Smashwords for the month of July as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! WordCrafter Press books will be discounted at 50% or free all through the month of July, so look for all the WordCrafter books that are sitting on your TBR and take advantage of the Smashword store pricing while it lasts. This is a chance to get WordCrafter Press books, along with books from many other great authors, at a discount so you can get right to reading.
You will find the promo here starting on July 1, so save the link:
https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos/
Please share this promo with friends and family, and all the avid readers in your life!
Thank you for your help and support!
Happy reading!
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw,as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
___________________________
This post sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.
Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.
Stop by and see what we have to offer today: https://writingtoberead.com/readings-for-writers/wordcrafter-quality-writing-author-services/
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Writer’s Corner: Endeavor to Persevere
Posted: April 7, 2025 Filed under: Book Sales, Books, Fiction, Kickstarter, Writer's Corner, Writing, Writing Life | Tags: Women in the West, Writer's Corner, Writing Life, Writing to be Read 1 Comment
When I was in the creative writing program at Western State Colorado University, bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson gave a talk he called “The Popcorn Theory of Success”, where he shared his journey to become a bestselling author back when traditional publishing was the only door leading to authordom. His theory involved saying, “Yes, I can do that.” to every opportunity that came to him. He’s giving this talk many times, including when he was the Keynote Speaker at the WordCrafter 2020 Stay in Place Virtual Writing Conference, hosted by WordCrafter Press. (You can see Kevin’s “Popcorn Theory of Success” on YouTube at the link above.)
For me, this was inspiring and I’ve tried to follow Kevin’s advice whenever an opportunity presents itself, even when imposter syndrome rears it’s ugly head and tries to tell me that I can’t. The publishing world today is different from when KJA was a rising star, and authors can’t just wait for opportunities to come to us. There are simply too many of us out there, and many of us don’t have time to wait around to be discovered by the movers and shakers of the publishing world. The Big 5 has shrunken down to the Big 3 as the big boys merge to stay alive in a changing publishing landscape that has shifted over to favor the independent publisher, and that’s where a plethora of opportunities are found, and authors must take the initiative to get their works published.
That’s how WordCrafter Press came about. I tried the traditional publishing route, submitting my works wherever I could, like I’d been taught while earning my M.F.A., and I even found a publisher, although not one of the Big 5, for the first edition of Delilah. But my sales weren’t nearly as good as I had hoped. Perhaps the publisher made attempts to market the book, but I never saw them. I believe this is typical for small independent publishers, and even traditional publishers have lightened up on thier marketing efforts, depending more on the author to market the book. I began self-publishing my other works through Draft2Digital and was quite happy with the results, so when my contract ran out, I didn’t renew. Instead, I revised the story and created book 1 of my Women in the West adventure series in 2023, and I did, indeed, through my own efforts, sell more copies than I had through the publisher in my first Kickstarter campaign. Sarah, book 2, was published last year, and this year, I’m working on the third book, Marta.
Today’s author must go beyond saying yes when opportunities present themselves, and find or create those opportunities and make them happen. In the movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Chief Dan George’s character, Lone Wadi tells Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) that the U.S. government told his people to ‘endeavor to persevere’, which basically means, ‘keep on keeping on’. I’ve made that my personal philosophy, to ‘endeavor to persevere’. When I run into obstacles in my path, I try to fix them or find a way around them, and then I carry on. I don’t allow those obstacles to stop me. I’ve been told I am persistent, but I think I’m just determined.
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About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw,as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
__________________________________
This segment of “Writer’s Corner” is sponsored by the Robbie’s Inspiration blog site, where you can find ideas on writing and baking with hostess, Robbie Cheadle.
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A great review for “Sarah”
Posted: July 2, 2024 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Review, Western, Women in History, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Book Review, Historical Fiction, Leonberger, Sarah, Western, Women in the West, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Press 6 CommentsDrop by Thomas Wikman’s Leonberger blog site to catch his smashing review of Sarah: Book 2 in the Women in the West Adventure Series (WordCrafter Press, 2023). I’m particularly excited about this review, as it eases my nervous anticipation about how my strong female protagonists would be received by male readers with this western historical women’s fiction series. I hope you’ll check it out. 🙂
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Winners of the Wordcrafter “Sarah” Book Blog Tour Giveaway & a Reminder
Posted: May 12, 2024 Filed under: Blog Tour, Books, Fiction, Giveaways, Historical Fiction, Historical Inspiration, Western, Women in History, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Giveaway, Historical Fiction, Historical Inspiration, Kaye Lynne Booth, Sarah, Western, Women in the West, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 9 Comments
We had a great tour for Sarah: Book 2 of the Women in the West Adventure Series, although I would have liked to see a bigger turnout. I enjoyed sharing about myself and about the research and inspiration behind the book with all of you, and I may have made new friends along the way. Thanks to everyone who participated for helping me launch this wonderful book.
The Winners Are…
Each comment on the tour earned an entry in the tour giveaway and a chance to receive a free digital copy of Sarah. So without futher ado…
Drumroll Please.
The winners of the WordCrafter Sarah Book Blog Tour are…
- Author Jan Sikes
- Priscilla Bettis
- Thomastigwikman
Congratulations to the winners!
Please contact me at kayebooth@yahoo.com to receive your free digital copy of Sarah.
Reminder
Today is the last day for tour participants to get a signed print copy of Sarah: Book 2 of the Women in the West Adventure Series. This is an exclusive offer for the tour – my way of saying thanks for your support. Tomorrow it will no longer be available, so get ’em while you can!
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Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!
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Day 3 of the WordCrafter “Sarah” Book Blog Tour
Posted: May 8, 2024 Filed under: Audio Excerpt, Author Interview, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Fiction, Giveaways, Historical Fiction, Historical Inspiration, Interview, Western, Women in History, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Audio Reading, Author Interview, Excerpt, Historical Fiction, Kaye Lynne Booth, Sarah, Western, Women in the West, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours Leave a commentPlease join us over at Book Places for Day 3 of the WordCrafter Sarah Book Blog Tour, where host Kay Castenada interviews me, the author, Kaye Lynne Booth, and my reading of an excerpt from the book. Remember to comment for entry in the giveaway and you could get a free digital copy of the book. I hope to see you there.
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Welcome to the WordCrafter “Sarah” Book Blog Tour
Posted: May 6, 2024 Filed under: Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Fiction, Giveaways, Historical Fiction, Western, Women in History, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Historical Fiction, Kaye Lynne Booth, Sarah, western adventure, Women in History, Women in the West, Women in the West adventure series, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 18 CommentsWelcome to the WordCrafter Sarah Book Blog Tour, where we’re celebrating the release of Book 2 in my Women in the West adventure series. We’ve got a five day tour planned and at every stop you can learn more about me, the author, and learn interesting historical facts which inspired my settings and characters through an interview, guest posts, and a review or two, and I’ll be giving away three digital copies of Sarah in the giveaway. You can follow the tour through the schedule below, but the links won’t work until each post goes live.
Tour Schedule
Mon. May 6 – “The Soiled Doves of the American West” – Writing to be Read
Tues. May 7 – “Utes in Glenwood Springs & the Legend of Chapita” – Roberta Writes
Wed. May 8 – Interview & Reading – Book Places
Thurs. May 9 – “‘Modern Medicine’ in the American West” – Writing to be Read
Fri. May 10 – Interview & Review – Patty’s Worlds
Giveaway
Leave a comment at each tour stop for five chances to win a free digital copy of Sarah.
The Soiled Doves of the American West
Prostitution in the Old West
In Colorado, the mining town of Cripple Creek had over 300 prostitutes in 1894, and it was home to one of the most high-end brothels in the mining towns of Colorado. The clients were taken by appointment only and were put through a thorough screening process where their finances were scrutinized, as well as their references. Appointments started at $200 an hour and the gentlemen had to have at least a million dollars in the bank to get one. The Old Homestead House brothel was run by the infamous Pearl DeVere and housed five women who squeezed into their corsets, petticoats and fancy dresses every evening to offer their ‘services’ for sale. The girls entertained in luxury on the ground floor, with music provided by the girls, gambling and alcohol available for their enjoyment, but the real entertainment occured on the second floor, in the girl’s rooms.
Although their profession was illegal, authorities and town founders chose to look the other way and add fees, fines and taxes and taxes collected to the town coiffers. Permits were required ply their trade for both madams and doves, and each girl had to undergo a weekly or monthly exam by the town doctor to be cleared for the permit, all of course, at a cost. There was a designated shopping day when the ‘respectable’ ladies stayed indoors so as not to be offended by their presence, and a ‘dove’ caught on the streets on a different day would bring a fine not only upon herself, but upon her madam, as well. And donations made to local causes such as church and school by the madam kept the ‘respectable’ ladies from complaining too much about the very existence of the houses of ill repute.
Less fortunate women in the profession, who did not work in such a high-end establishment were found up and down the street They received less for their services, with small make-shift shacks in which to entertain their customers. Independent doves who had no madam to offer a place to offer their services and provide protection from unsavory types, might provide services in the shadows of an alley for as little as a dollar gold piece.
Meet Big Nose Kate
Big Nose Kate Horony is one of the historical characters which the Women in the West adventure series is known for. In real life, she was an independent prostitute and one-time Madam, who made her own way in the west and was companion to the infamous John Henry “Doc” Holliday, and her portrayal in Sarah, as ‘the woman behind the man’ is a true and accurate story. Kate was there, and she really did go into the hills of the surrounding canyon and gather firewood to sell in order to keep a roof over Doc’s head as he lay dying of tuberculosis, too weak to practice his trade as a gambler.
One of the fascinating things about the Women in the West adventure series is the fact that there is a true-life historical female character in a supporting role, along with the strong female protagonist in each book. In Sarah, the supporting historical character is Mary Katherine Horony, (Big Nose Kate), who was the consort of the infamous dentist, gambler, and gunfighter, John Henry (Doc) Holliday. In this case, our character was the woman behind the man, and is little known for her own merit.
Born Mary Katherine Horoney on November 7, 1850, who lived in Mexico as a child, she was the daughter of a the personal surgeon to the Emporer Maximillian until her family immigrated to Iowa when she was 10. As the daughter of a prominant surgeon, Kate was educated and it is said that she spoke several languages.
At the age of 15, she and her younger siblings were orphaned when both of their parents died within a few months of each other, and the children were split up and placed into foster care. But Kate ran away within a year, and she and her sister traveled to St. Louis and by 1869, in a time when there were few opportunities for females to earn a living. A self-sufficient woman in the rough and tumble of the American west, Kate worked as a dance hall girl, a prostitute, or just about any way she could to make a buck.
In Texas, she crossed paths with John Henry “Doc” Holliday, a dentist turned gambler, who became a notorious gunfighter, and they were traveling companions, on and off, until his dying days. A strong woman with a hot Hungarian temper, she and Doc had their ups and downs as they frequented saloons and gambling houses in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, living a life of vice and liquor. Even so, Kate was always there to back up Doc’s play, even setting a she on fire to distract his guards and breaking him out of house arrest to avaoid a lynch mob, after he stabbed a man who accused him of cheating at cards. It is said that for a time, Kate even had her own bordello in Tombstone, before she reunited with Doc after one of their many seperations.
When Doc was dying in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, a friend contacted her and she traveled to Glenwood Springs to care for her destitute lifelong companion, gathering firewood in the nearby hills to cover his room and board when he could no longer support himself. And that is where my fictional character of Sarah, or Hair of Fire, meets Kate in my story, after a harrowing ordeal of survival through the mountains of Colorado.
You can learn more about Kate and Doc in my guest post from the tour for Delilah: Book 1 on Kay Castenada’s Book Places blog site.
References
Brinks, Mellissa. 23 September, 2021. “What Life Was Really Like as an Old West Saloon Girl”. Ranker. https://www.ranker.com/list/life-of-a-wild-west-saloon-girl/melissa-brinks
Whitley, Carla Jean. 10 March 2017. “To Doc From Kate – But Who Was Kate?” Post Independent. https://www.postindependent.com/news/local/to-doc-from-kate/
Hughs, Jessica. 11 September 2022. “10 Authentic Old West Towns”. Uncover Colorado. https://www.uncovercolorado.com/wild-west-towns-in-colorado/
Old Homestead House Museum, Cripple Creek, Colorado,
Bowmaster, Patrick A. “A Fresh Look at ‘Big Nose Kate'”. Tombstone History Archives. http://www.tombstonehistoryarchives.com/a-fresh-look-at-big-nose-kate.html
Van Ostrand, Maggie. 2017. “Katie Elder a.k.a. Big Nose Kate, Her True Story”. Goose Flats Graphics & Publishing. Southern Arizona Guide: https://southernarizonaguide.com/katie-elder-her-true-story-by-maggie-van-ostrand/
Williams, Joseph A. “The Real Story of Doc Holliday and Big Nose Kate”. Old West. https://www.oldwest.org/doc-holliday-big-nose-kate/
“Big Nose Kate – Doc Holliday’s Sidekick”. Legends of America. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-bignosekate/
28 February 2022. “Couples with History: Glewood Springs Loves Stories”. Glenwood Springs Blog. https://visitglenwood.com/blog/2022/02/couples-with-history-glenwood-springs-love-stories/
“The True Story of Katie Elder”. Notes from the Frontier. https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/the-true-story-of-katie-elder
Book Trailer
About the Book
Sarah is a young girl trying to make a place for herself in the world.
Sarah is not the young girl who was stolen away from Delilah anymore. Now she is Hair of Fire, mate of Three Hawks, even as she blossoms into a young woman and tries to make a place for herself among the Ute tribe.
When she is stolen away from the life she’s made with the Utes, she struggles to survive in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. A streak of stubbornness and determination take this tough, feisty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest and the rugged mountain landscape to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where she receives a less than welcoming reception by some.
Will this young woman find her way back to the Ute tribe, which she’s come to think of as family, or will she discover a place among the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado hot springs and mining town?
Follow along on her journey to learn who she truly is and where she belongs in this rough, and often hostile frontier.
If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love Sarah.
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/Sarah-Women-in-the-West
About the Series
The Women in the West adventure series features strong female protagonists in a setting filled with hardship, which many believed did not fit well with the female constitution. Women on the frontier were few, and most of those were included in a family unit. Single and widowed women did exist on the frontier, as did those whose husbands just never came home for whatever reason, went back to the family unit in most cases. Women who chose to go it alone, defying societal expectations were rare. Those who did, chose a hard life and had to have backbone to survive.
While my protagonists are fictional, they are representative of strong women who did make a way for themselves, out of choice or necessity, and each book introduces a fictionalized version of one such historical female character who plays a supporting role in the story. In Delilah, it was Baby Doe Tabor. In Sarah, it is Big Nose Kate. And Marta will feature Clara Brown.
About the Author
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
That wraps up the first stop on the tour. Thank you all for joining us. Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance at a free digital copy of the book. Join us tomorrow over at [ ], where I’ll be guest posting on how the history of the Ute Indians helped me choose my settings.
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“Sarah” is Available for Pre-Order Now
Posted: April 28, 2024 Filed under: Adventure, Audio Excerpt, Author Interview, Blog Tour, Book Promotion, Book Release, Book Review, Books, Fiction, Giveaways, Guest Post, Historical Fiction, Western, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Big Nose Kate, Historic Fiction, Kaye Lynne Booth, Sarah, western adventure, Women in History, Women in the West, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Press 8 Comments
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/3RXlRx
Hey Everybody! Sarah, Book 2 in the Women in the West Adventure Series is available for pre-order. It will be released on May 7, 2024, but you can reserve your copy now.
And don’t miss out on the WordCrafter Sarah Book Blog Tour, May 6-10, starting right here on “Writing to be Read”, where you can learn more about the book and the series. There will be guest posts, interviews with the author, a reading, and a review. You’ll have the opportunity to check out the book trailer for Sarah, engage with the author, and a chance to win a free digital copy of the book.
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Writer’s Corner: A Bump on the Road to Writing Success
Posted: February 19, 2024 Filed under: book marketing, Book Promotion, Book Release, Book Sales, Books, Children's Books, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Kickstarter, Publishing, Western, Women in History, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Press, Writer's Corner, Writing | Tags: Kaye Lynne Booth, Kickstarter, Sarah, Women in the West, WordCrafter Press 5 CommentsWhat went wrong?
I have to admit I was more than a little disappointed when my last Kickstarter campiagn for Sarah didn’t fund. I only run Kickstarters for books that I’m going to publish anyway, and Sarah is no exception, so the book will still go out to distributors, it just won’t have that extra boost the funding from the campaign would have offered. As an avenue for direct selling, I make more than when my books sell through direct sales, so I like to run the Kickstarter campaign first.
For those who did try to back the campaign and were looking forward to reading Sarah, it will be released in May, instead of March. I was behind on my production schedule, and rushing to have the book finished, so as not to delay reward fulfillment. Since I don’t have any rewards to fulfill, I thought I’d slow down the process and leave ample time for editing, so I bumped the release date back to a May release. I’ll send it off with the usual fanfare and book blog tour, so you’ll be sure not to miss it. I do hope you’ll all join us for that.
I’m not letting the failure to fund discourage me from doing other Kickstarters, but instead, I’m evaluating the campaign in an attempt to figure out what went wrong. There are a number of factors to be looked at to determine where the problem might lie. Here are a few.
Duration
In the past, I’ve run 30 day campaigns which were successful. For Sarah, I only ran a 21 day campaign, which Russel Nohelty recommended as the optimal length for a campaign in an interview on The Creative Penn podcast. 30 day campaigns involve a lot of promotion, and I already feel like a pest as I push to get backing for my campaign and sell books, so the thought of doing a shorter campaign felt like a good one. Could an extra week have made a difference? Possibly. I know of at least one backer who didn’t get a chance to check it out before it ended, so maybe, but I was almost $200 short of my goal, so perhaps not.
Rewards
With my first Kickstarter, for Delilah, I offered a higher reward level, in which backers at that level got to name a character in the second book in the series, Sarah. This was limited reward, meaning only two of these rewards were offered, and both were taken. So, I did that again with Sarah, offering two character naming rights in the third book in the series, Marta, and again had both rewards taken, so I’m guessing that it was a sound decision to offer that again.
The Rock Star & The Outlaw campaign offered merchandise, including a poster and a tote bag, which were popular, but also more difficult to deliver. Merchandise is also a bigger expense for the author, which is why I didn’t do anything like that for my last camapign for Sarah. Merchandise reward levels are higher, due to necessity, but the author must consider their cost into the overall funding goal before offering to be sure it is worthwhile. On a small $500 funding goal, there’s not a lot of room for extras without cutting into the profits.
The campaign for Sarah offered rewards of Special Illustrated Editions of both books, which I thought would be a big hit, but they tanked. To my surprise, not one backer pledged at the Special Edition levels. I offered these as exclusive rewards, only available to Kickstarter backers, planning to put them out through distributors at a later date, probably after the third book was out, so I could offer all three as a set, or bundle. Again, I will still publish these through distributors, because the illustrations, done by DL Mullan of Sonoran Dawn Studios, are really, really cool, as are the Special Edition covers, also done by Mullan. But I really want to figure out why these books didn’t draw more interest as rewards, so I’ll be looking at these closer. I even dropped the price on their reward levels, and added an add-on of digital copies, both books for $5, which is a great deal.
Promotions
With my first Kickstarter campaign, for Delilah, I chanced across a promoter who made some ads for me and ran them on their channels for $15. Did they help? I don’t know, but I can tell you that the campaign was successful. However the campaign for The Rock Star & The Outlaw was just as successful, and it had no paid promotions. In fact it even did a little better than the first, so who is to say.
One thing about running a Kickstarter is, you expect your inbox to fill up with messages from people you don’t know, telling you how impressed they are with your campaign, and how they can help you make it a success. It goes with the territory. When it started to look like my campaign was faltering, I checked out some of these cold call messages, thinking maybe I could pay a little for a boost. Unfortunately, the cheapest one I found was $150. For a campaign with a $500 funding goal, that’s a lot. Especially when I’m not sure the one campaign I did paid promos with really benefited all that much from it.
Conclusions
In conclusion, I think I will go back to running my campaigns a full 30 days, as that seems to be a better fit for me and my books. But I will continue with Kickstarter as a part of my marketing plans. I may also take another look at merchandise for rewards for my next campaign, but I don’t think I’ll be looking seriously at using paid promotions, especially not at such inflated prices. I will continue to promote my own campaigns, just as I do my blog and my books.
My next campaign is scheduled for July for the first three books in the My Backyard Friends series; a project I’ve been working on for many years, but unable to publish for lack of an illustrator. I’ll be launching these three books; Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend, Charlie Chickadee Gets a New Home, and Timothy Turtle Discovers Jellybeans with wonderful illustrations by our own Robbie Cheadle. I’m looking forward to finally getting these books out there, so I hope you will all watch for the July campaign, and back the project or share to help promote it. All support is appreciated, even when the campaign doesn’t fund. I always appreciate my supporters.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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