MY NEW NOVELLA AND PEN NAME (KATHLEEN MARKS) By Ronda Hinrichsen

Preternatural scientist Alexandra Dalton and her estranged husband Richard Dalton, a treasure hunter join forces to unravel a mysterious "Night Hag" murder.

Hi, everyone,

Though I will continue to write contemporary and historical suspense novels under my pen name, Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen, I will also be writing and self-publishing speculative novellas, under the pen name Kathleen Marks, for ebook and print on demand. My first novella is the beginning "episode" in a romantic suspense series titled: To Sleep No More, a Dalton & Dalton Preternatural Mystery and will be released later this month. Above is the cover and a quick blurb.

DRIVING THROUGH AUSTRIA'S ALPS By Ronda Hinrichsen

Written in June 2008

I'm currently working on my 2nd romantic suspense novel. "Trapped." I'm currently a little over 1/4th the way through the first draft, and my main character and the romantic lead have just arrived in Salzburg, Austria. Since this area is the setting for the remainder of the book, I thought I'd share a few pictures from my 2006 driving trip through Bavaria and the Alps. It was beautiful! And while I visited several other parts of the world during that trip, I must say that this area was among my favorites. Perhaps these pictures will help you see why--not to mention help you, my readers, experience it along with my characters.

Actually, this last one is actually Vienna, but it still shows how beautiful the country is.

STEPHANIE MEYER--A HERO? By Ronda Hinrichsen

When I was in high school, we had a "dress up as your hero" day. At that time, I couldn't think of anyone I considered my hero--anyone I'd wanted to portray at school, anyway; and since the idea was that our "heroes" would represent who we wanted to be like someday, I decided, in all my "strange," teen-age wisdom, to dress up as my future self. So, I put on my nicest formal and attached signs to it which listed my main goals. The biggest one was--"A Writer." 

I've known since I was twelve I wanted to be a writer. It was almost all I thought about (besides music--especially singing), preparing for motherhood,  and, of course, boys. And it's almost all I think about now. But during that time, while I learned from other authors, I never found one about whom I wanted to say: "I want to be like her/him." Until now.

Almost.

Who is it, and why almost? By the title, I'm sure you can guess the "who." It's Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twighlight series. Which, in and of itself, is strange because the hero of her romantic suspense novels is a vampire, and I'm not too keen on vampires. But I have learned to admire Stephenie because, as an LDS novelist, she was able to find a way to morally convey a sensual story about resisting temptation that appeals to the national market. It is so hard to find good books on the national market that don't offend me with their explicit sex scenes. And yet, Stephenie did it. Hurrah for her!

And hurrah for me, because now I have someone to learn from, someone's style I can really study and try to incorporate into my own writing. And as I've studied, I've learned I love the way she uses words--how she picks the perfect verbs to convey emotion, and how she uses pacing to increase the suspense. I want to be able to do that. And I'm trying.

However . . .

While I still enjoy reading her series, she isn't writing exactly what I want to write, and as a person, though she's very admirable, she isn't exactly what I want to be. That's why "almost." You see, I still, like in high school, just want to be myself. My best self, even my "Best Selling" self. But still myself.

And so should all of us, as writers, because, as my blog theme statement indicates, our value--our power as writers--lies in our individualities. It lies in who we are and who we're becoming.

BTW, are you a Stephenie Meyer fan? If so, what have you learned from her?

YOUR POWER IS IN YOUR INDIVIDUALITY By Ronda Hinrichsen

I recently read a statement like this from a fellow blogger: My life is so boring. I don't have anything to write about. No one wants to read about me.

Sound familiar?

All too often, writers--no, human beings--feel that way. We become so ingrained, so day in and day out acquainted, with our own lives that we forget this truth: We, each one of us, are infinitely more intriguing than we think we are. 

Not only intriguing, but powerful. Who else sees things exactly as we do? Who else owns our particular combination of talents and experiences? Who else has the power to calm, to comfort, even influence those special someones in our lives?

No one. Only you.

When I was in college, I had a creative writing teacher, Dorla Jenkins, who had a powerful affect upon me and my writing; and one of the things she told us students was: "Your value--your power--is in your individuality."

It's a statement I will never forget. It's a statement I hope everyone, including my aforementioned fellow blogger, will come to believe.