A Captain's Heart - Back Cover Text

Here is the text that will be on the back cover of A Captain's Heart giving you a little idea of what this new story is all about.

Wealth and social standing mean nothing to Captain Kyle Bryden. To his family, however, they are everything.  For years it has driven Kyle and his family apart. He longs for understanding from his parents, but most of all he yearns for them to accept the truth behind his faith.

When his father sends him on a voyage to collect two family guests, it only complicates matters, particularly Kyle's growing desire to marry and make a home. He finds himself caught between pleasing his parents and following his heart. As some things begin to change, could a secret no one is expecting be enough to tear at Kyle's heart and destroy the love he has found?

A Captain's Heart Cover

Here finally is the cover of A Captain's Heart. It took me more hours than I care to remember to finally come across the photos for it, but I am so happy with how it turned out.

Delays for the better...

I know, I've been promising the release of A Captain's Heart since August, but taking so much time has been for the best. I thought once summer ended, I wouldn't be so busy and could focus on my writing, but this fall has been incredible and just as busy. God has done amazing things in my life in the last two months that are now really contributing to my writing. It's quite a cool story that I want to post about sometime, but long story short, I've come to know a wonderful group of believers and am now part of a Bible study that really hopes to become a local church. The people I've met and have become friends with have been so encouraging and helpful to my writing. Already I've learned things that have made me go back and change things here and there in A Captain's Heart to be clearer and better understood. That is one reason I'm glad publishing it has taken so long. I've also gone back and slightly updated Every Tear, which is in the process of being done now.

As for the progress of A Captain's Heart, it is almost done. Mom only has a couple of chapters left and has the cover mostly finished, so now it's pretty much up to me to read through it once more and format the pages. I am determined to have it done this month so it's out before Christmas.

Another project I have going is I've decided to re-print The Pirate Daughter's Promise with Createspace. It will be an updated version, but not too different. Just little things I've felt I wanted to change or add to. It will also have a new cover, which I'm very excited about. I will write more about it once I get farther, but I'm hoping it won't take long. I'd like to have it published within the next month or two.

Makilien Update

Today is quite exciting for me. I finally finished Truth, book one of my Makilien Trilogy. It's been quite an experience so far. I'm very happy to have finished and accomplished something I didn't think I could get to work. It's been amazing how God has guided me through different parts. Makilien has been such a huge part of my writing life. I've been writing it in one form or another since I was thirteen. The story and the characters will always be particularly special to me. It's very satisfying to have this newest version completed, and I can hardly wait to share it. So now I am very anxious to begin working on book two, Courage. I'm hoping that I can write that one quickly and go on to book three so I can start to think about publishing them in the near future.

Quick Update

I just wanted to write a quick update on the progress of A Captain's Heart. I plan for it to be available by early next month if all goes well. The great news is I finally found photos for the cover which I just love. I was beginning to think I'd just have to settle for something. I spent countless hours searching through stock photos. I wasn't even sure what to search for anymore, but it really paid off. Mom and I will probably begin work on the cover very soon, and I will post it here as soon as it is finished along with the text from the back cover so you can get an idea of what the story is all about.

What's New

I've been really bad about writing new posts this summer, it's been so busy.  I really haven't been writing much for the same reason, but I wanted to write this post to catch up on what is new with my writing. I'm still working on Makilien. I'm very close to finishing and want to get it done to focus on my other projects.

Mom is nearly finished reading through A Captain's Heart, but we still have quite a bit to do so I'm not sure if I'll make my early September deadline for its release. I want to make sure I feel it's completely ready so we may have to work on it a little longer.

Now, as I mentioned about a month ago in a Twitter update, I've started working on a new book, my first Western novel. I've wanted to write one for years, but never got a start on one. Right now I'm going back and forth working on it and Makilien. I have the prologue nearly finished. It's about five teenage to adult siblings who are left to run the family ranch after their parents die. Mainly it will be told from the viewpoint of the oldest daughter, Casey. I'm not entirely sure where it will all end up yet, but I'm looking forward to getting deeper into the story. I know I'm really going to enjoy writing the relationships between the siblings. It's something I've wanted to have in a story for a long time now. And I'm a huge fan of Bonanza and love the relationships between Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe so that's definitely inspiring me as I write this new book.

A few years ago, I also started writing short Western stories all about the same family, kind of like episodes of Bonanza. I finished two and started a third one. I had a lot of great ideas so I'm really interested in getting back into that and hope to write a bunch and put them all into a book sometime soon.

More Concerts

I got to go to two more great concerts last month. On July 12th I finally got to see Jeremy Camp who I've wanted to see for such a long time. It was just as amazing as I was anticipating.  His music is so wonderful and powerful and even more so when you get to see him perform live.  After his performance we weren't sure if he'd come out to sign autographs so we waited around for a while and waiting really paid off. He did come out and we were some of the first in line along with a couple fellow members of the Jeremy Camp Crew that I met at the merchandise table. It was incredible getting to personally meet Jeremy. I don't think you could know just how sweet and sincere he is without meeting him.  I got really choked up telling him how his music really inspired me during some hard times and he was so kind and really showed he cared.

Then on July 25th we got to go see John Waller perform.  His song While I'm Waiting was in the movie Fireproof and is one of my favorite songs. His music has been a big part of my life lately. So many of his songs have really touched me. I was so thankful to have gotten to see and meet him. I felt very blessed by his performance. He is a very nice guy. We talked to him for a while after and he really encouraged me about my writing. I really look forward to seeing him again.