Plot versus Character
Plot and character, together at last! A balanced approach to writing great fiction.
More info →
Emily’s Trials
Emily Peyton is one of the first female attorneys in 1880s Kansas. After her father is injured in an accident, Emily takes on managing the practice in the face of prejudice and hostility. Many feel the law is no place for a woman.
Emily’s first case is defending a man accused of murder and robbery. During the trial, she must deal with the blatant bias of the trial judge, who frustrates her ability to present her case.
When her client is convicted, Emily blames herself and takes on the task of finding the real killer before her client is hanged. She risks her life in the face of threats to herself and her father if she continues to pursue justice.
With the help of old and new friends, Emily tracks down the killer but faces her own death and that of the man she is falling in love with.
More info →
Riverbend Reunion
The past has a way of catching up with you... Michael and Rachel have everything to look forward to and no reason to look back, or so they thought. In the midst of the newlyweds' trials and triumphs in Riverbend, Michael receives a cryptic telegram from his sister Ellie, whom he hasn’t seen in ages...
More info →
Journey to Riverbend
Sometimes the journey is only the beginning . . .
Michael Archer might not have been able to save Ben Carstairs, but he vowed to carry out Ben’s dying wish: to be reconciled with his father. What he doesn’t know is that Sam Carstairs—the most ruthless businessman on the frontier—has no use for his own son, much less a man of God seeking reconciliation.
Soon after arriving in the booming town of Riverbend, Michael meets the stunning Rachel Stone while waiting for Sam to return from a business trip. Beautiful yet guarded, Rachel is running from a past as dark as Michael’s, and the last thing she expects –or thinks she deserves—is a chance at love.
When word reaches town that Sam has been kidnapped on the stagecoach home, Michael joins the search posse. But the trail ahead is more dangerous than any had imagined, and making it back alive will require Michael to face his past and overcome his deepest fear.
More info →
Riverbend Justice
In the 1870s American West, Michael Archer, wracked by guilt over having killed once again, embarks on a mission to clear the name of a man wrongly executed for murder.
When his is beaten and shot, and an innocent young girl is taken hostage, and his beloved Rachel Stone is wounded, he puts aside physical pain and his own fears to seek the killers.
Now that he has found the villains, he must survive a life or death struggle with powerful enemies to reveal the truth and save those he holds most dear.
The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (3rd edition)
Christopher Vogler explores the powerful relationship between mythology and storytelling.
More info →Fiction Writing for Dummies
Tricks of the trade for writing compelling and concise fiction
More info →The First 50 Pages
Engage agents, editors, and readers, and set up your novel for success
More info →Journey to Riverbend
Michael Archer embarks on a dangerous quest to achieve a prodigal son reconciliation by proxy. The prodigal son is dead and the prodigal father is not at all like the prodigal father in the Bible story. The father has enemies who abduct him for their own ends. Michael takes part in the rescue and must confront his own dark past to attain his goal. At the same time, he must deal with his growing feelings for a woman who captures his heart yet hides her own dark past.
More info →