A ROLLER COASTER OF EMOTIONS
Plot bunny hubby loves my ending for Book 3 of my epic western trilogy Alias Jeannie Delaney! He's my emotion meter. If he loves it, it's good. We did a plot bunny session over coffee in the cafe today and we both grew emotional and laughed a lot.
It's a challenge. The original ending was... nice. Nice ain't good, is it? It won't hack it. It's got to be a big bang ending or not at all. So I've got a big bang ending. I'm weaving it into the current story and I've only got ten chapters to go.
I also have fans. One of them lives next door and another lives at the end of my road. Yet another couple of them are our son's best friends who live in town. Mark, next door, said: "Congratulations on..." He'd just read about a major event in my protagonist Jeannie's life. He didn't mention her name. "You what - ?" I said, then it clicked. "Ah, yes - thank you!"
Alias Jeannie Delaney is one hell of an emotional, supercharged ride.
While working through it with my 'plot bunny' PA husband, I could tell when he had been grabbed by the story, apart from his ownership of it through working on it alongside his spouse (me). He'd go quiet and swallow if it was an emotive moment. He'd chuckle if it was funny. If it was a hot blooded sexy moment his voice would change again (I can't describe that one suitably!). When something deeply emotional and sad happened we blubbed. I was concerned that I wouldn't recover (I did).
Throughout the writing I was thoroughly excited if the narrative worked, particularly when Jeannie was caught up in what would be a pivotal moment traditionally played by a heroic western hero. I could see her in my head as I was writing it, so I knew that that instant was a good 'un.
Back when I was a young mum and writing the story for the first time, I trembled with emotion, so I had a suspicion that I was forging something good, but precisely how good I had no idea. So I ploughed onwards. The old heart strings were plucked something chronic and I was never bored in the writing. If a scene wasn't working, I'd sense it and deal with it, by changing it somehow or by deleting it altogether. So harsh.
I have several role model movies right from the start, but only one role model for Jeannie herself. I started with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid in 1969. I loved the characters (played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford), and the injection of humour. I wanted Alias Jeannie Delaney to have its fair share of funny as a respite from the no quarters held violence. Alias Smith and Jones was a firm favourite. Plenty of humour and a simple plot involving our heroes being constantly on the run because they need to be officially wanted men until they've been offered an official amnesty. The High Chaparral was another fun one back then.
Calamity Jane, made in 1953 (the year of my birth, coincidentally) was great fun and cheeky. I loved Doris Day's rendering. As a result I wanted Jeannie to dance and sing and be the centre of attention (she's the centre of attention just by being somewhere!), but I felt the story would become a parody if I wasn't careful. Jeannie can indeed dance a jig and play the mouth organ but she doesn't sing, although I see her as a contemporary electric guitar playing rock star belting out emotion in a sensual, slightly husky, androgenous voice. (Now you know my night imaginings). Referring back to Doris Day's Calamity Jane, the ending, when Jane is dolled up in a wedding dress and driven away by Wild Bill is hateful. Arrgh! Tamed. Let's not go there.
Further, contemporary influences are Brokeback Mountain, written by Annie Prouix and a film directed by Ang Lee. The story starts in 1963 and ends in 1983 and features two young cowboys who fall in love with one another. The story dealt with LGBTQ, a subject that's gradually becoming acceptable in films and books. Last but by no means least, Sharon Stone's female gun slingin' gal in The Quick and the Dead, released in 1995, was a very strong role model. The closest yet to influence me. Other movie influences have been no quarters held and gritty such as Quentin Tarantino movies, which is a bit of a conundrum considering I also wanted humour in my story.
I was depressed much of the time, such was the state of my mental health, but when I was really struggling, we knew it was the story that was affecting me. "I want to get Jeannie out into the world. I want to get her out." Because there was no other woman in literature that was anything like her, let alone in a western. I had nobody else's boots to fill. Just mine. A very niche market. I suffered burnout from trying too hard.
But would anyone see her as I did? This dynamic, mesmeric and charismatic individual, who boasts devastating tomboy looks, now graces (not certain if that's the right word for Jeannie!) my pages in such a powerful way that she's extraordinary. As I wrote her story I thought: "Oh God - she's so OTT." But try as I might I couldn't make her less than she was. Less beautiful, less charismatic, less ... She was having none of it! She is what she is and for that reason she's made for an irresistible and compelling story. So I've been told. I can't ask for more than that!
My editor was the first professional to love the story - she called it 24 carat writing. I'm so grateful to her. So fortunate that I chose her to edit Books 1 and 2. Book 3 should be launched this year with any luck, and there will be further stories of Jeannie's exploits. I've spent the majority of my teens and adult life thinking about her - damn her! - so I can't just leave her behind. No chance.
Meanwhile, I'm making a bad job of attempting to return to visual artistry as a complete break from her. No chance there, either. Many years ago, I created illustrations of her, so I'm using those on Canva to create promotional material. So there's no escaping her! On the other hand I'm rather pleased that I've become adept at computer graphics, and I rather enjoy that. Makes a change from crafting emotional, funny, graphic gun fights, but whatever I do, she's there, in my head... Damn her!
I can't complain, however - I've accrued well over one thousand three hundred readers and approaching fifty 5 star ratings and reviews. I'll end on an Ee-hah! (Seems appropriate).
THE 1ST TWO BOOKS HAVE APPEARED IN THESE BLOGS & ON YOUTUBE:
ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - THE STORYLINE
Dynamic pants-wearing cowgirl Jeannie Morgan is the fastest gun west of the Mississippi, but when she discovers that her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey & both men & women enjoy her magnificent lovemaking, she feels as though she's been trampled by a cattle stampede.
She's born in vibrant New Orleans in 1865 and strongly rebels against the upbringing of a Victorian girl. The family head west where she finds her true calling on her Pa's ranch. However, her tomboy beauty, her powerful persona and her lethal gun go against her and before long people are calling for her dismissal and even her death. How will she survive? Will she survive? Or will those very qualities see her through to a charismatic conclusion?
IF YOU'VE READ & ENJOYED THE STORY SO FAR, I'D BE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW ON AMAZON. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
