Bonus Material from the Nebraska Series Read online

  Ruth: Are you sure you’re not making excuses for him? One day he was talking to you and the next, he’s not? Maybe he’s a jerk who’s better off making someone else miserable. I, for one, would never pursue a guy like that.

  Emily: Well, I’m not you, so I’m not going to do things the way you would. Besides, I know the type of books you write, and you do beta heroes. Beta heroes aren’t jerks.

  Ruth: Hey, I’ve done an alpha or two. Jake Mitchell from An Inconvenient Marriage and Nathan Rudolph from What Nathan Wants are what I consider to be alphas.

  Emily: But at their core, they were nice.

  Ruth: I’m glad to hear you think so. But back to Isaac. I don’t see how you’re going to get him to open up to you. He’s pretty determined to avoid you.

  Emily: I realize I have a challenge ahead of me, but I don’t back down from challenges. It might take some creative thinking, but I’ll come up with a way to find out what’s going on with him.

  Ruth: Maybe you should ask your father. He might have an idea of what’s going on and why.

  Emily: My father doesn’t like to talk about the Larsons. Well, that’s not entirely true. He’s talked with that family on occasion, but I can’t remember him talking to Isaac’s father. Now that I think about it, it is strange. He’ll talk to Isaac’s mother but not his father. Why is that?

  Ruth: Don’t you remember what happened in His Redeeming Bride when your real mother came back for you and you overheard her talking to your father?

  Emily: All I remember from that time was that my real mother never loved me. She admitted it out in the open. I hated her after that. I try not to think about it.

  Ruth: It’s okay to be upset about it.

  Emily: And what good will it do to dwell on the past? I can’t change what happened. I’m just glad my stepmother loves me.

  Ruth: Have you thought about what would happen if you saw your real mother again?

  Emily: No. I never want to see her again. The time she came to get me so she could get money is enough. *narrows her eyes* Wait a minute. You aren’t planning on bringing her into this book, are you?

  Ruth: I’m not sure. It depends on how the plot unfolds. I’m not sure how you’ll react to things at that point. Maybe you’ll run away at some point.

  Emily: I’ve never run away from anything in my life. The book is about me ending up with Isaac. It’s a romance. I’m the heroine. He’s the hero. There’s a happy ending.

  Ruth: While that’s true, everyone has their breaking point. Isaac’s going to find his, and you might find yours as well. The question is, what will you do when that moment comes?

  Emily: It’s hard to say unless I know what moment you’re talking about. If you can elaborate on it, I might be able to answer your question right now so you know how the book will go.

  Ruth: Nice try, Emily, but the best part of writing a book is not knowing how the characters will react until the scene comes up. I have no idea how you’ll react.

  Emily: But you know how Isaac will react to his crisis moment?

  Ruth: Yep. He’s not as complicated as you are. In every book I write, there’s a character who is harder for me to figure out. Congratulations, Emily. You’re that character in this book!

  Emily: Did you want me to do a cheer or something because I don’t find this particularly amusing. It sounds like you’re saying I’m difficult to work with.

  Ruth: Yes, you are going to be difficult to work with. That’s why I can’t get a true feel for you.

  Emily: And is there a difficult character in Shotgun Groom?

  Ruth: Believe it or not, it’s Joel Larson in that one.

  Emily: Why?

  Ruth: Because I don’t know if he’ll protest the marriage for as long as I’m hoping.

  Emily: If he doesn’t protest the marriage for long, then you’ll be stuck with a novella instead of a full-length book.

  Ruth: No. Secondary characters do a great job of providing conflict. Granted, the romance writing “manual” insists the conflict must be between the hero and heroine, but I’ve found it’s more interesting when the two have to work through the tough situation instead of fighting or misunderstanding each other.

  Emily: There you go. I won’t run off. Isaac and I will work together in whatever you have planned.

  Ruth: All I can say is that a story doesn’t exist without conflict. This interview has run longer than I thought it would. If you feel inclined, we’ll meet again.

  Emily: Great. Maybe you’ll tell me more about the stuff Isaac’s going to hide from me at that time.

  Ruth: Probably not. That would spoil the book for others. It’s been a pleasure, Emily. I look forward to writing your book and finding out what you’ll choose to do.

  Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com Image ID:41519404 Copyright: Karen Grigoryan

  ***

  Second Interview with Emily Craftsman (Heroine in Isaac’s Decision)

  (Blog post made 08/10/2011)

  Ruth Ann Nordin: So there I was writing Isaac’s Decision (I’m up to 4000 words now) when Emily told me she wanted to be interviewed. Without much ado, let me bring her in.

  Ruth: LOL (lots of laughs) Okay. Hold on. Emily, what are you doing?

  Emily Craftsman: I wanted you to be the first one to see my disguise.

  Ruth: What for? A comedy routine?

  Emily: No. This book isn’t a comedy. It’s actually quite serious. If I read the outline correctly, you have me crying at one point.

  Ruth: So what’s with your hand?

  Emily: What? Haven’t you all heard of a fist pump in the year 2011? It’s a celebratory gesture. I looked it up online before I contacted you for an interview.

  Ruth: ROFL (roll on the floor laughing) It just looks weird.

  Emily: Okay. Fine. Let me change my location. Maybe that will make you stop laughing.

  Ruth: What the heck are you doing in this one?

  Emily: Bringing myself some flowers.

  Ruth: I have to ask it. Why are you bringing yourself some flowers dressed as a man?

  Emily: It’s all part of my plan to get Isaac to talk to me. He won’t talk to me as Emily, so I thought he’d talk to me as Elmer.

  Ruth: Elmer?

  Emily: Yeah. I wanted to stick close to Emily to keep things simple. They both start with E and have an ‘l’ and ‘m’ in the name.

  Ruth: Okay. And the flowers are dark and creepy because?

  Emily: Oh, I figure men have lousy taste. It wouldn’t be believable if I picked something pretty.

  Ruth: Hey, wait a minute. Are you in a cemetery?

  Emily: There was a reason why I did a close up picture in this disguise. This makes me seem rather morbid. Plus, I knew you’d flip if you saw the pavement. I read your interview with April Edwards from Shotgun Groom where you pointed out the car, blah, blah, blah.

  Ruth: To be fair, she was trying to run away from the book. I’m not a stickler for the historical stuff as long as my characters aren’t trying to abandon me while I’m writing a book.

  Emily: I’m not leaving this story. I’ve been waiting for this story to be written ever since you wrote His Redeeming Bride. That was in 2009. Boy, were you long overdue to write this one!

  Ruth: I had other stories to write first.

  Emily: But none of those are as compelling as my romance. I know. I’ve read the emails you get. It seems I’ve captured the hearts of many.

  Ruth: Nothing like an ego trip to get you through the day, right Emily?

  Emily: Ego trip?

  Ruth: Didn’t look that up online before you came? Yay! One point goes to the author. It’s the Larsons they like, not necessarily you. Anyway, let’s get a decent picture of you dressed as a man so people don’t think I’m writing a horror novel because you with those dark flowers and creepy stare have “horror novel” written all over it.

  Emily: Fine. I’ll try not to look so grim when I talk to Isaac.

  Ruth: That’d be a good thing. But enough rambli
ng about pictures. Do you plan to dress up like a man and pretend to be interested in you as Emily. What’s the point?

  Emily: I have two very good reasons for doing this. Well, three. 1. My dearest friend in the whole world came up with this idea, and she’s never proven me wrong when she comes up with something. 2. Isaac will see that another man is interested in me, and I hope this gets him jealous. If he’s jealous, he might actually start paying attention to me. And 3. I might get him to talk to me as a man. Maybe he’ll tell Elmer why he keeps avoiding Emily…me… You know, the me that is Emily. Not Elmer. *scratches head* You get what I’m saying, right?

  Ruth: I think we all got the idea, but I don’t know how much of this will play out like you expect. I mean, I can come up with an idea, but sometimes things change while writing a scene.

  Emily: But I’m still dressing up as a man. That part stays, right?

  Ruth: Yes, but you actually expect him to believe you’re a man?

  Emily: I hope he does. I’ve been watching men carefully. The way they walk, the way they talk, what they talk about. They can be pretty disgusting creatures, you know. When one man didn’t think someone was looking, he scratched a certain part of himself. *shudders* That is something I never do.

  Ruth: Whatever you do, don’t watch baseball. They do that all the time, and right in front of the camera where millions are watching.

  Emily: Oh gross!

  Ruth: Be glad you live in a time when men pretended they didn’t have an itch down there. Anyway, what chapter do you think will be the one where you meet Isaac as Elmer?

  Emily: I hope in chapter 3, but knowing you, you’ll wait until chapter 4.

  Ruth: Chapter 3 is where you study men, and I need to do a scene from Isaac’s point of view.

  Emily: Really? What will he be doing?

  Ruth: I don’t know yet.

  Emily: How can you not know? You’re coming to the end of chapter 2.

  Ruth: Most of the time, I only know what will happen in the next chapter.

  Emily: Good heavens! That’s just crazy to write on a whim like that. *pauses* Can I make a suggestion?

  Ruth: What?

  Emily: Have him elope with me!

  Ruth: I can’t do that so soon in the book.

  Emily: Why not?

  Ruth: Because then it won’t be a full-length novel. You’ll take out at least 1/4 of it.

  Emily: *sigh* Can you at least interview him so he tells everyone why he’s avoiding me?

  Ruth: You mean so you can read the interview and find out before he tells Elmer in the story?

  Emily: Yes! No! I wouldn’t read his interview. It’s a secret between you and him and the rest of the world.

  Ruth: Sure, Emily. *rolls eyes* No dice. I’m not doing it yet.

  Emily: You’re hard to deal with.

  Ruth: Don’t worry. You’ll like it when you find out the truth.

  Emily: Really?

  Ruth: I’ve said all I’m going to say. Thanks for coming, Emily! *runs off before she can track me down*

  Photo Credits:

  Emily Fist Pump: ID 17632756 © Ryan Jorgensen | Dreamstime.com

  Emily Close Up with Flowers: ID 16410620 © Ryan Jorgensen | Dreamstime.com

  ***

  Interview with Isaac Larson (Hero from Isaac’s Decision)

  (Blog post made on 08/29/2011)

  Quick intro

  Just to quickly set the stage for the interview, Eva Connealy is 16 and the teacher. Isaac and Emily are both 17. Because Eva is teaching people older than her, she attends night classes to stay ahead of them in their studies. I decided Eva would be younger than Isaac after I learned that Laura Ingalls Wilder taught when she was almost 16 and went to school at night because she had some students older than her. (Who said that the vacation I took one summer didn’t pay off, even though I couldn’t get any pictures of the Ingalls’ house in DeSmit, South Dakota?)

  Eva Connealy is the youngest daughter of Joseph and Margaret Connealy (remember A Husband for Margaret?). When Joseph and Margaret got married, he already had four boys: Doug, Bob, Charles, and Ben. After Joseph and Margaret married, they had two girls: Charlotte and Eva.

  Now, you’re wondering why I spent so much time explaining the Connealy family, right? Well, Dave Larson (Isaac’s dad, in case someone reading this doesn’t know) is trying to fix Isaac up with Eva. What fun, huh? In fact, that is why I brought Isaac in for an interview.

  Enough of the introduction. Let’s get Isaac in here.

  Interview

  Ruth Ann Nordin: You know, Isaac, I didn’t realize you had such light blond hair. In fact, I’m sure I wrote in the book that you had dark blond hair.

  Isaac Larson: Don’t blame me. You selected this picture from www.dreamstime.com. (And no, I am not getting paid to advertise for them this way.)

  Ruth: You were supposed to play along and say you colored your hair a lighter shade of blond for this interview.

  Isaac: Why would I do that?

  Ruth: Well, because otherwise, we have to admit there’s a discrepancy between how you look in the book and how you look in the picture.

  Isaac: I don’t think anyone’s going to care. It’s just a book, and this is a post that will get buried into nonexistence since you tend to post a lot. By the time the book comes out, who’ll be the wiser?

  Ruth: I plan to do more interviews with you, and you’ll have the same shade of blond. We might even discuss the release of the book or your happy ending.

  Isaac: That’s not my problem. I just show up when you finally decide to write my story. I notice you spend more time on Joel Larson’s book. You’re already at 25,000 words on Shotgun Groom. You just hit 14,000 on mine.

  Ruth: Okay. First of all, his story comes before yours in the chronological order of the Nebraska series.

  Isaac: Then explain why you’re going back in time to write Sally Larson’s book after you’re done with Shotgun Groom. Chronologically, she’s the first one who gets married in the Nebraska series.

  Ruth: *sigh* Once, just once, I’d like to have a main character who will actually work with me instead of arguing.

  Isaac: I can’t help it if you’re inconsistent.

  Ruth: I plan to publish Shotgun Groom before Isaac’s Decision.

  Isaac: Really? And when will that be?

  Ruth: I’m keeping my fingers crossed for November for Shotgun Groom and January for your book, but no promises. If you characters give me writer’s block because you don’t like the direction of the story, then I’ll have to push back the deadline. But this doesn’t have anything to do with this interview. So let’s get to it. Isaac, I notice that you are avoiding Emily Craftsman. Do you mind telling us why?

  Isaac: You’re the author. Can’t you just tell everyone?