Under the Prairie Moon by Krista Kedrick - Author Guest Blog

I am pleased to be a part of Sizzling PR's blog tour featuring Under the Prairie Moon by Krista Kedrick.

Book Summary:

~~One night, under a prairie moon~~

Poor uninspired, unfulfilled Andrea Jameson; photographer extraordinaire. Where was her dreary life taking her?

The last place she'd ever imagined! A motel room with her ex-boyfriend's younger brother.

She had to escape without a scene. So she slipped out with only the memories of one incredible night. Or so she thought...

~~One night is never enough~~

Nebraska rancher Jason McCoy made a miracle happen last night. He made beautiful, vivacious, talented Andy his after twelve years of loving her. But all his dreams came crashing down when he woke to an empty room. She was gone forever. Or so he thought;

How were they to know their extraordinary journey had just begun?

About the Author:

Krista was born and raised in Nebraska. Her first years were spent on a ranch near the Stinkin' Water Creek in Chase County with her family raising cattle, lambs and chickens and stirring up trouble. After spending several childhood years in Colorado and Kansas her family returned to make Nebraska their home.

She graduated from high school in 1998 and went on to Northeastern Junior College where she played volleyball and earned a degree in Horticulture.

Second only to volleyball is her love of plants and the outdoors. She is forever working in her yard, which explains her vivid descriptions of settings in her novels.

She has many interests, enjoys many activities, and finds it almost impossible to remain idle for more than an hour. Krista has tried her hat at a wide range of occupations from landscaper to pet store owner, not to mention several in-home businesses, but continued to pursue writing during all those years, taking courses, writing whenever possible and researching topics and the business.

It has been Krista's ambition to become a published author since her freshman year of high school when a literature class changed how she looked at writing. She discovered it could be more than an outlet for feelings or simply a hobby.

She married her high-school sweetheart in 2000. He has been a wealth of information for her western/agriculture style novels. And living in small communities has given her the inside view of small town people -their wholesomeness, kindness and appreciation of the little things in life. These one-of-a-kind people are the heart of her characters.

Her lighthearted take on the world splashes the pages of her novel creating a wonderful mix of seriousness and humor.

Krista makes her home in Nebraska with her husband, two daughters and basset hound.

Author Guest Post:

Stephen King gave me the “Warm Fuzzies” Recommended reading for writers

By Krista Kedrick

I know this may confuse some of you because Mr. King is the king of fright and reading a couple of his books is enough to make you keep an extra close eye on your pets for suspicious behavior and consider your seemingly normal neighbors a threat. So good is he at creating the ultimate in realistic monsters, one would be shocked to find he has a fabulous sense of humor.

In his autobiography/informational novel On Writing, his candid prose on his writing life and the art of the craft is refreshing and illuminating. I laughed so often he soon became my idol and someone in the top 5 of people I want to meet. Believe me, as a writer of romance and a happily-ever-after enthusiast, this came as a shock to me.

It was recommended reading by an editor, so in my quest to be-all-I-could-be in my career as a writer, I bought it. Reluctantly. I figured what can a horror writer teach me? Turns out - a lot.

As I read along, I found myself laughing at his very long journey to the top. His mistakes and lessons were something every writer can relate to told in a frank fashion. I felt as though he were giving me a personal interview and I found that I write exactly like him. Okay, maybe not the gore and fright, but his method is my method. He is a situational writer. Thank goodness! Because I thought I was the only one. I thought I was the only writer on the face of the earth that thought of a situation first and tailored the characters to fit it. Everything I had read before had told me ‘it’s all about the characters’. I considered myself a freak, a failure and someone who would never find success in the literary world.

Turns out that it is possible, so if you are one of these writers I want to tell you there is hope. You can do it! I highly recommend Stephen King’s On Writing for every writer. He offers advise about critiques, writing groups and intense retreats (it will surprise you). He gives you what to have in your “toolbox” and then makes you feel better about it if you are lacking in any of them.

His explanation that writing is “telepathy” plain and simple will encourage those of us who believe writing comes from within. He is a breath of fresh air and a warm fuzzy for any struggling author or even those who aren’t.

My second suggestion, I’ll keep it shorter, is The Comic Toolbox by John Vorhaus you don’t have to be a comic writer to find his breakdown on characters extremely valuable. He is a believer of K.I.S.S - Keep it simple stupid. I found it very helpful in how to create complex characters in 5 minutes. Most writers collapse in a fetal position mumbling incoherently trying to amp up their characters. They wail, pace, twist their hands in angst in the pursuit of perfection. Vorhaus provides a simple 5 part exercise to create interesting and complex characters that you can use for each and every one of your characters in your story.

You can pin it to your corkboard to remind you what everyone’s POV is and use it in your writing. It made the creation of my second novel a walk in the park - okay maybe not quite- but it did simplify things and make them flow a lot faster.

So if you find yourself in need of character development and how to simplify the complexities of a plot this is the book. Pick it up, you won’t be sorry.

My third book every writer should possess is of course The Elements of Style by E.B White and William Strunk. I know that it is something everyone suggests. There is a reason for that, it is really good. It’s short and to the point. If you are someone who struggles with sentence structure, punctuation, and/or grammar this is something you should keep on your desk.

I use it as a reference all the time. I am a creative mind, I was a science major in college, I excel at math. I am terrible at English fundamentals. I can’t tell you what a prepositional phrase is and thank goodness I don’t have to. I know the basics and I know it’s bragging but I can craft a pretty darn good sentence. I have 5-star reviews that tell me so. (Sorry but I had to give myself a shout out)

Anyway, since editors, agents and publishers want you to have a flawless story, in other words they want it to be a diamond in the rough shining and polished so brightly they could find it blindfolded at midnight during a new moon phase, before turning it over to them, you need to keep this book attached to your hip.

So there you go, these are the books that have helped me improve, given me laughs and things to ponder and employ. I hope you find them helpful, I know you will.

Happy Writing!