(This article was originally posted by me on Clean Indie Reads, a group to which I belong)
SORRY, NO VAMPIRES OR EROTICA, but a learned friend just labeled this REAL LITERATURE OF QUALITY__ Many of the books I see promoted here are more of the romantic variety than my trilogy. And many of them are great stories of quality.
The story told within this trilogy however embodies the theme of deep love between people of conflicting ethnicities and two other similar romantic partnerships as well. It is written in an old narrative style from Western times and is less romantically sensual, but reads quickly enough, without dragging, and in an entertaining manner when the reader gets used to that style.
Amazon reviews of the first volume, SANGRE DE CRISTO, elaborate a bit [see the comment to the 3 star review there]. In all, the series has garnered one good 3 star and six 5 star reviews. One reviewer recommends it for Christian readers, though the rough edges of life then and its dangers are not filed down for reader safety.
This story is "Old School" but in a good way. It is after all about old things, revealing, that in many ways, people of "olden times" were much like us in the ways that mattered.
I think my book is so old school that, though romantic, it is very different in the expression of love. It is shown in little touches and looks or even unspoken thoughts, as seen here when it appears that the Navajo woman, Sunny is excluded from a diner invitation for the men in an army camp__
“It is fine Aaron. I will talk with some of these women and learn about them,” she responded to his gaze.
Captain Adamson watched her as she spoke and touched Aaron’s arm reassuringly with just her fingers.
...There was something about her: a maturity, not of age . . . of intellect and understanding. Perhaps it was an insight on his part fostered by observing a strong native-white relationship up close, however briefly. ...He suddenly saw the Diné as people like himself. “Mrs. Jefferson, but of course you will join us, please.”
__ It is as if we are not privy to the most intimate moments, yet we are privy to their thoughts through the omniscient narrator. As mentioned in the post, it is more the writing style of the era I'm writing about.
I sort of wrote this trilogy for the art of it rather than the marketability, though success of the latter would be a blessing. As I review more and more books, even 'clean' ones, I find most of the writing more romantically sensual than mine. It makes sense a bit, because I'm an historian (though no advanced degrees) and take a slightly different approach to the romance.
[The Author's Note below has been added to the websites that reference the Sunny of the Old Southwest historical series.]
Author's Note
This novel and the entire series were written for the art of it. Sales are not a concern. This is a serious work and not for the casual reader, who could in some cases struggle with it. The narrative, storyteller style harkens to an older era and is less common today. The novel is a hard look at life in the Nineteenth Century through the eyes of a Native American and white who dare marry and attempt normal lives at a time when the former was a pariah in her own land. It is not about Indians (or whites) it is about these two people and those close to them . . . that's all. Similarly, it is not just a Western as it includes multiple settings, with at least a third of the book set in the East.
The five book series is also not just a Western, with the final volume set almost entirely in the Philippine Islands. Similarly as well, the other five books are not light reading or an easy, rapid, action and conversation-filled romp. There is romance in these pages, real love, the kind people die for . . . . . and violence and mature themes. There is no graphic sex and gratuitous violence. That which is portrayed in a violent hard manner here is unfortunately historically correct.
This is book four and completes the series of five volumes. If you adjust and get through the slim first volume, happy reading.
SORRY, NO VAMPIRES OR EROTICA, but a learned friend just labeled this REAL LITERATURE OF QUALITY__ Many of the books I see promoted here are more of the romantic variety than my trilogy. And many of them are great stories of quality.
The story told within this trilogy however embodies the theme of deep love between people of conflicting ethnicities and two other similar romantic partnerships as well. It is written in an old narrative style from Western times and is less romantically sensual, but reads quickly enough, without dragging, and in an entertaining manner when the reader gets used to that style.
Amazon reviews of the first volume, SANGRE DE CRISTO, elaborate a bit [see the comment to the 3 star review there]. In all, the series has garnered one good 3 star and six 5 star reviews. One reviewer recommends it for Christian readers, though the rough edges of life then and its dangers are not filed down for reader safety.
This story is "Old School" but in a good way. It is after all about old things, revealing, that in many ways, people of "olden times" were much like us in the ways that mattered.
I think my book is so old school that, though romantic, it is very different in the expression of love. It is shown in little touches and looks or even unspoken thoughts, as seen here when it appears that the Navajo woman, Sunny is excluded from a diner invitation for the men in an army camp__
“It is fine Aaron. I will talk with some of these women and learn about them,” she responded to his gaze.
Captain Adamson watched her as she spoke and touched Aaron’s arm reassuringly with just her fingers.
...There was something about her: a maturity, not of age . . . of intellect and understanding. Perhaps it was an insight on his part fostered by observing a strong native-white relationship up close, however briefly. ...He suddenly saw the Diné as people like himself. “Mrs. Jefferson, but of course you will join us, please.”
__ It is as if we are not privy to the most intimate moments, yet we are privy to their thoughts through the omniscient narrator. As mentioned in the post, it is more the writing style of the era I'm writing about.
I sort of wrote this trilogy for the art of it rather than the marketability, though success of the latter would be a blessing. As I review more and more books, even 'clean' ones, I find most of the writing more romantically sensual than mine. It makes sense a bit, because I'm an historian (though no advanced degrees) and take a slightly different approach to the romance.
[The Author's Note below has been added to the websites that reference the Sunny of the Old Southwest historical series.]
Author's Note
This novel and the entire series were written for the art of it. Sales are not a concern. This is a serious work and not for the casual reader, who could in some cases struggle with it. The narrative, storyteller style harkens to an older era and is less common today. The novel is a hard look at life in the Nineteenth Century through the eyes of a Native American and white who dare marry and attempt normal lives at a time when the former was a pariah in her own land. It is not about Indians (or whites) it is about these two people and those close to them . . . that's all. Similarly, it is not just a Western as it includes multiple settings, with at least a third of the book set in the East.
The five book series is also not just a Western, with the final volume set almost entirely in the Philippine Islands. Similarly as well, the other five books are not light reading or an easy, rapid, action and conversation-filled romp. There is romance in these pages, real love, the kind people die for . . . . . and violence and mature themes. There is no graphic sex and gratuitous violence. That which is portrayed in a violent hard manner here is unfortunately historically correct.
This is book four and completes the series of five volumes. If you adjust and get through the slim first volume, happy reading.