Apr 27th, 2009 by BK Reeves
After twenty years, I ditched Microsoft and embraced Apple. For a writer who is on the computer 24/7, that was a scary decision. The change seriously interrupted my word output as I groped through new methods of managing my files, getting email and saving to my flash drives. But the pros outweighed the cons, and I made the leap from a flawed platform I knew very well to another I’ve had to learn from scratch.
Friends and family reminded me I hate to learn new stuff. I say old dogs can learn new tricks and keep their sanity. So far, that’s a real maybe. Continue Reading »
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Apr 25th, 2009 by BK Reeves
(C) 2009 BK Reeves/Short Story/LOVE ME FOREVER
The snow was just beginning to fall when Callie pulled in at the west gate. She could see that it was chained and padlocked. Rummaging in her bag for the keys, she jumped out of the pickup truck she’d rented in Abilene.
The sun dropped behind the pastureland at her back as she tried to fit the key into the icy padlock. Finally the lock gave and she was able to unwrap the chain and push back the double gates.
Cold, she was so cold. She blew on her hands before she started the truck and pulled onto the land she’d inherited, the small Caddel spread. Small for Texas, 2500 acres more or less. Callie had forgotten to call Lucas Calvert and ask if he was running any cattle on the wheat right now. She squinted, trying to catch sight of a possible herd, but they would already be down by the barns, eating and getting ready to snug in for the night.
If she left the gate open, cattle would be scattered all up and down the county road before sunup. Damn, damn, damn! She glanced at her cell phone beside her on the seat. She could call Luc if she had enough bars. His number would be easy to find in her purse. She grabbed the phone, punched it on and nothing. Continue Reading »
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Apr 25th, 2009 by BK Reeves
I’m a native Texan and have lived here all my life. Seems like I’d be a little wary about venturing out on the highway in the face of an ice storm, on a journey of 440 miles. Unfortunately not
We didn’t get started from Houston until 1:00 p.m. The temperature stood at 50 degrees. I’ve been making that trip to our old family farm every six to eight weeks for over fifty years (a round trip of almost a thousand miles). I thought I’d seen it all. Continue Reading »
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Apr 24th, 2009 by BK Reeves
Roan’s Redemption
The Wild Rose Press
Release Date: July 8, 2009
Oklahoma Territory 1892
Addie McKenna finished digging the grave at sundown. She had to get Mattie in the ground tonight; tomorrow would be another scorcher. The dog barked as Addie climbed from the grave. A stranger driving a buckboard loomed from the shadows. As he came closer, Addie’s breath caught. Roan McLeod! She kept her face blank. He was a married man.
Roan McLeod looked at Addie McKenna, alone beside the open grave. Four months since he’d seen her. His nights had been haunted by this red-haired girl, haunted by forbidden images of them together as he opened his mouth on Addie’s and removed her clothes. Those were shameful thoughts for a man who had buried his wife and daughter only ten days ago.
Roan’s Redemption is the first romance in a series called “The Orphan Train Legacy.”
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Apr 24th, 2009 by BK Reeves
You can have the greatest story concept in the world, but unless you have conflict you won’t have dramatic tension.
Basically, your line of conflict is the obstacle course you put your main character through so she wins her goal or mission and regains control of her life. That’s from Spielberg. Remember his definition of story? Someone loses control of his life and then regains it.
Conflict, obstacles, loss of control. These engender dramatic questions that create dramatic tension. The story problem, the outside conflict, tells your reader what to worry about. Soon enough he will discover the protagonist’s inner conflict, his ghosts and hidden demons.
Good storytellers learn how to think about their story. Stories evolve, in our minds or on the page. I don’t believe this process can be hurried. I like to take my time, noodling my story through after inventing intricate, conflicted characters who embark on an adventure.
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Apr 24th, 2009 by BK Reeves
Any creation is a god-like act, and creating characters is totally god-like. Most writers turn the act around. They perceive the character in a flash and then embark on a voyage of discovery, trying to figure out who and what this character is and what makes him/her act or react in certain ways. Perhaps this is going about the job backwards. Here’s how I start. Continue Reading »
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Apr 24th, 2009 by BK Reeves
Making time to write, as opposed to finding time, has long been a theme of mine, as any of my students can tell you.
If you are really serious about being a writer, (as who of us are not?), you make necessary changes in your life. IMO, the most important change is making sure you are prepared to write when the moment comes. Warning: These suggestions might not work for you. Use what you can. Continue Reading »
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Apr 24th, 2009 by BK Reeves
It’s atavistic, I think. Most of us like to cozy up to a fireplace, stare into the flickering flames, dream and drift or think of nothing at all. Others find inspiration in writing by a fire, snug in a blanket, laptop at the ready.
I was raised without central heat. In a bitterly cold house on the Texas/Oklahoma border, the welcome warmth of a hot stove was our greatest comfort. Those stoves were closed cast iron heaters, fueled by chopped wood and vented via a tin chimney with a damper to regulate the heat. Continue Reading »
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Apr 24th, 2009 by BK Reeves
Written at the farm December 24, 2005
I spent a most enjoyable hour or two yesterday, curled in one of my lounge chairs here at the farm with a printout of the synopsis of a historical that has bugs in it. The original date of the document was 1993, so I’ve been working on it since then, at intervals of five years or so. I travel with a laptop. The first thing we do is set up a work station for me. We have a neat little printer that lives in a cupboard out here. Continue Reading »
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Apr 24th, 2009 by BK Reeves
Have you ever had to do something you just hated? Last year, two days before my seventy-fourth birthday, I voluntarily gave up driving. I was rattling around town and almost got run over. Twice. I came home, walked in the house and canceled my car insurance. I knew I wouldn’t drive that car uninsured. My kids and friends were so proud of me. I was too, but habits you’ve had sixty-four-years are hard to break. Continue Reading »
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