An Angel gave wings to my writing by Paty Jager

The first RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference I went to was only two months after I'd signed up to be an RWA member. I'd received the magazine in the mail and saw there would be a conference with writing classes in Seattle WA. I showed it to my hubby and said, I wanted to go. He told me if I could come up with the money, he was fine with me going. 

I saved up the money and registered. 

I had only been to one other writers' conference and it had been in New York and put on by Highlights for Children for writers of children's books. I enjoyed the camaraderie of the other writers and made friends with author Dayton O. Hyde, but I also learned I wasn't cut out to write children's books. 

I went into the hotel with determination even as I slowly moved closer and closer to the walls as the crowd grew larger. I finally found the line to check in and fumbled through that process. As I returned to the wall to check out the things I received and figure out what my next step was, a woman walked over to me with a big smile on her face. She introduced herself as Janet and said she was there with some friends from the Spokane chapter. "Was this my first time?' 

Nodding, I said, "It was and I wasn't sure where to start. But I was one of the finalists for the contest."

Janet said, "Stick with us and we'll take you around." 

And that's what she did. That whole weekend, she sent me to the workshops I needed, came to my room and read my contest entry, and told me it was good. She made my first conference comfortable for me and I went back to that same conference every other year for many years. 

The last time I talked to Janet, she wasn't writing anymore. But she was pleased I had become published.

I'm proud to say that I now have my 60th novel published! 

Wolverine Instincts is #13 in the Gabriel Hawke Novels.

In the heart of the wilderness, the hunter becomes the hunted.

Gunshots shatter the quiet of Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness, drawing Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke into action. Following the sound, he stumbles upon a shredded cage, the sharp musk of a wolverine, and a dead hiker.

Tracking footprints through the rugged terrain, Hawke uncovers a second victim. It’s clear—he’s hunting a killer who’s hunting humans.

With Dog by his side, Hawke’s search leads to two brothers, one gravely injured. Enlisting the help of pilot Dani Singer, he gets the injured man to safety before returning to the wilderness.

Teaming up with a reclusive, disabled veteran who knows the Eagle Cap as well as he does, Hawke pieces together the killer’s twisted game. They suspect a poacher—one as ruthless and elusive as the wolverine he’s still chasing.

In a deadly wilderness where survival is the only rule, Hawke must outsmart a predator who knows no bounds.

Universal buy link: https://books2read.com/u/m2yARG

Direct buy link on author's website: https://www.patyjager.net/product/wolverine-instincts-ebook/

If Janet hadn't taken me under her wing, helping me navigate that first conference, and giving me confidence, I may not have hung in there and even published one book. But because of her kindness and push, I am a published writer and I reach out to new writers to help them understand publishing, writing, and what it entails to be an author. 

Thank you, Janet! 

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 60 novels, 11 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Author’s Guild, Alliance of Independent Authors, and NIWA.

Website: https://www.patyjager.net

Blog: https://writingintothesunset.net/

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Dreaming of a new release by Paty Jager

After publishing 55 books and dealing with difficult story lines in many of them, the latest soon to release book could be my toughest yet. 

The idea for this book came from statements my parents made when I was a teenager and later a young adult. I meshed the two comments together to come up with the murder of a man who hid behind his profession to mask his hidden agenda. 

I had to tread carefully while writing about the victims of the deceased as well as keep my main character, Hawke, true to himself and make him feel for the victims. 

This book has had sections and chapters taken out. It has had scenes rewritten several times. And I have put it through different beta readers to make sure I don't offend anyone. But someone will take offense, I'm sure. My dream is that the people who read the book will root for the right characters and not condemn the ones who were trying to help. 

This is one book that I have put a lot of thought and heart into. It will be dedicated to my deceased parents and to the little nuggets they dropped into my brain to come out now, in my writing. 

Damning Firefly is available on pre-order, publishing on September 25th. 

Damning Firefly

Book 11 in the Gabriel Hawke Series

A church fire.

An unconscious woman on Starvation Ridge.

Gabriel Hawke, fish and wildlife officer with the Oregon State Police, helps with a fire at the Lighted Path church before heading out to check turkey hunters. He discovers a car wedged between two trees and a woman with a head injury reeking of smoke. Is she the arsonist?

Hawke encounters the county midwife gloating over the burnt church and learns she and the victim in the car know one another.

Two seemingly separate events lead Hawke to a serial rapist and a county full of secrets. 

https://books2read.com/u/bQeBDZ

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 55 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. This is what Books a Plenty Book Reviews has to say about the Gabriel Hawke series: "The blend of nature tracking, clues, and the animals makes for a fascinating mystery that is hard to put down." 

https://www.patyjager.net

Top Photo source: Depositphotos

Blogversary Month!

This blog has been churning out interesting, intriguing, and educational posts for 12 years. Since I was one of the first authors with the blog, that means I've been blogging here every month for the last 12 years!

Wow! How time flies when you are busy and enjoying life. 

In the last twelve years, I've been an Indie author. That means I write, get help editing, format, and publish my own books. It has been a learning experience and a fun way to meet authors and readers. Writing has taken me places for research, conferences, and bookstores.

This week, I'm on a book tour with crime fiction author Dwight Holing. We are giving a talk about our series which are similar and set in Oregon. We'll discuss why we picked Oregon as the location, why we chose to have Native American elements, and how we come up with stories as well as some stores want us to read from our current books. 

I'll be reading from Bear Stalker, book 10 in my Gabriel Hawke series. 

Here is the schedule of the places where we will be:

May 1st - at Bloomsbury Books, Ashland, OR  7-8 pm

May 3rd - at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters, OR 6:30-7:30 pm

May 4th - at Roundabout Books, Bend, OR 6-7 pm

May 5^th – At Grass Roots Books in Corvallis, OR 6:30 pm

May 6th - at Jan's Books in Beaverton, OR 11am-1pm

If you live near one of these places, I'd love to visit with you! 

Being part of this blog for 12 years has introduced me to new to me authors, I've learned things, and felt a part of a writer's community. I'm looking forward to many more years with Romancing the Genres.

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 54 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.


Website: https://www.patyjager.net
Blog: https://writingintothesunset.net/

A New Release from Paty Jager

I'm happy to let all of you know that book 10 in my Gabriel Hawke series is now available in ebook and print. My narrator is working on the audiobook. And he is doing a wonderful job. 

Last summer my sister-in-law and I did a road trip to see the area where this book is set in Montana. We had a good time visiting parks and museums, and crossing muddy, rocky roads to discover all I could about the area.  We even had a close encounter with a bear. The one on the cover. The photo we took of the bear worked perfectly for the cover of the book. 

Even if you haven't read book 1-9, I've been told these books do a good job of standing alone. You don't have to know what happened in book 1 to be able to enjoy this book or any other in the series that catches your eye.

Book 10 in the Gabriel Hawke Series

Greed, Misdirection, and Murder

Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke’s sister, Marion, is on a corporate retreat in Montana when she becomes a murder suspect. Running for her life from the real killer, she contacts Hawke for help.

Hawke heads to Montana to find his sister and prove she isn’t a murderer. He hasn’t seen Marion in over twenty years but he knows she wouldn’t kill the man she was about to marry.

As they dig into possible embezzlement, two more murders, and find themselves trying to outsmart a wilderness-wise kidnapper, Hawke realizes his sister needs to return home and immerse herself in their heritage. Grief is a journey that must be traveled and knowing her fiancé had wanted Marion to dance again, Hawke believes their culture would help her heal.

https://books2read.com/u/mdjNzW

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 54 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. This is what Books a Plenty Book Reviews has to say about the Gabriel Hawke series: "The blend of nature tracking, clues, and the animals makes for a fascinating mystery that is hard to put down."

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Relationships Through Writing by Paty Jager

This is kind of a coincidence that Relationship is the theme for this month’s blog posts. While I’ve been married for 44 years and feel like I have a pretty good relationship with my kids, I thought about the relationships I have in regard to my writing.

I love the fact I have found so many friends, really good friends, through my writing. From the authors who friended me when I was starting out, to the new writers I’ve helped along the way, and even to my readers. And then there are the bookstores who have me back.  I’ve built some fun relationships with many people over the years.

Back when I started writing, I was a backward thinker. I know it sounds weird, but I’d put the reaction before the action when writing a sentence. I entered many contests hosted by the Romance Writers of America. They had ones where you could send in the love scene, the meet-up scene, or the first chapter. I would usually do fairly well in the contests, but I was getting frustrated with getting my pages back with lots of lines through sentences and nothing that told me what I was doing wrong.

Then one contest the judge explained to me what I was doing wrong and said she liked my writing and gave me her email address. I contacted her and we began to private message each other once a week. She helped me start my career as an author and I will always be thankful to her for her kindness in pointing out what I was doing wrong. Through the years I have also made some long-lasting friendships with other writers whom I met through our RWA chapter or at RWA conferences. Even now, I meet other authors at conferences and book events and find those I connect with, and we stay in contact.

There have been about a dozen writers whom I’ve helped with either their writing, their promotion, or just moral support over the years who have become good friends. I enjoy giving back as my friend, in the beginning, gave to me. I have been a leader of a 4-H writing group. There were a couple of very talented young ladies whom I hope to see a book on a shelf with their names on one day. And I have belonged to many writer’s groups and critique groups over the years. Again, when you meet often and learn not only about people’s writing but their lives you become invested in their lives and become friends.

And my readers! I would not be still writing if not for the wonderful emails and comments from readers. I love it when someone writes and said I helped them forget their pain while they read my book. And the people who listen to my books while they sew or jog or walk their dogs. At in-person events, I get to talk to the people who purchase my books. It’s so fun to put names to faces and to visit about their life since we’d last seen one another.

My friendship with bookstore owners is growing. I love going back to stores I’ve been to before and seeing how they are doing and meet some of the same people. I have a presentation at the NIWA monthly Zoom meeting this month on planning book events. I’ll be speaking about the ways I build a relationship with bookstore owners.

Helping me to grow my relationships is my newest release: Bear Stalker-book 10 in the Gabriel Hawke series.

Bear Stalker

Book 10 in the Gabriel Hawke Series

Greed, Misdirection, and Murder

Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke’s sister, Marion, is on a corporate retreat in Montana when she becomes a murder suspect. Running for her life from the real killer, she contacts Hawke for help.  

Hawke heads to Montana to find his sister and prove she isn’t a murderer. He hasn’t seen Marion in over twenty years but he knows she wouldn’t kill the man she was about to marry.

As they dig into possible embezzlement, two more murders, and find themselves trying to outsmart a wilderness-wise kidnapper, Hawke realizes his sister needs to return home and immerse herself in their heritage. Grief is a journey that must be traveled and knowing her fiancé had wanted Marion to dance again, Hawke believes their culture would help her heal.

https://books2read.com/u/mdjNzW

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 54 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. This is what Books a Plenty Book Reviews has to say about the Gabriel Hawke series: "The blend of nature tracking, clues, and the animals makes for a fascinating mystery that is hard to put down."

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May is my Favorite Month

 May is one of my favorite months. It means spring is in full swing and summer is almost here. It is the month I married my always entertaining husband, I had my first book published, and this blog started. 

I am currently in the process of recovering the first book I had published and the 4 other books in that series. I like what my cover designer has come up with so far. I'll be doing a series cover reveal for those in July along with a sale. 

If things continue moving along, I'll have my next Gabriel Hawke book releasing early June. Owl's Silent Strike has my main character battling a winter storm in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, trying to get a woman with a broken leg and a man he believes is a killer out of the mountains. 

Unexpected snowstorm…

Unfortunate accident…

And a body…

What started out as a favor and a leisurely trip into the mountains, soon turns State Trooper Gabriel Hawke’s life upside down. The snowstorm they were trying to beat comes early, a horse accident breaks Dani’s leg, and Hawke finds a body in the barn at Charlie’s Lodge.

Hawke sets Dani’s leg, then follows the bloody trail of a suspect trying to flee the snow drifted mountains. Hawke is torn between getting the woman he loves medical care and knowing he can’t leave a possible killer on the mountain.

Before the killer is brought to justice, Dani and Hawke will put their relationship to the test and his job on the line.

While I wait in between critiques and edits on that book, I am working on the next Spotted Pony Casino mystery. Last weekend I spent part of a day, first looking around the tribal police station at the Umatilla Reservation where my series is set, and following security guards around at the casino to see what they did while on the casino floor. My oldest daughter said it was a wonder she didn't have to come bail me out! 

There wasn't anyone at the police station, so I wandered around the building looking in the windows to see the layout of the building. And at the casino, I would sit in a chair near security guards, studying their clothing and equipment and following them if they were walking around. Nothing creepy about that. LOL 

I really like where this book, Double Down, is going with the storyline. It's putting a strain on the main characters in the series. Poor Dela is accused of murder. She didn't do it but there are some who believe she did. 

May should be the month I finish this book and send it out to my beta readers and critique partners. Then I need to finish a short story I'm writing for a mystery anthology, titled, A Body on the 13th Floor. It is a Spotted Pony Casino short story.

Another thing I like about May- Flowers start blooming. Some are wild and some of the domestic ones I have planted. Color outside my window when I write makes me happy!

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 53 novels, 8 novellas, and short stories of murder mystery, western romance, and action-adventure. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters.

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Change is Inevitable by Paty Jager

 I don't think the Blog Queens knew how much things would be changed when they came up with "change" as the theme for this month's blog. 

This past year, I've had two conferences I was excited to attend canceled. I now have boxes of  swag sitting in my office and no way of knowing when it will get handed out to readers. The chocolate coins are going to have to be handed out or they will go bad. 

I'm in the process of setting up a ZOOM meeting with a library for a book signing I was scheduled to do in October. And an in-person presentation I and Maggie Lynch have been working on for the PNBA conference in October, I'll now be doing my part via ZOOM if we can get it set up.

My personal life, little has changed. We live in a small rural community. We do wear masks when going to stores, but life on our property goes on as usual. We irrigate the hay field, harvest the hay, take care of the horses and steers, and I ride my horse by myself or with the grandkids down the road.  We visit with our daughter's families, I visit my dad in his senior living facility, and we go to the volleyball games our granddaughter plays in.

A writer on another blog I'm on wrote about putting the pandemic in her contemporary books. She gave good reasons for why she didn't and good reasons for why she is thinking about putting it in in future books. 

Me and my need to write "real" even in my fiction, I'd have to add in not just the wearing of the masks, but also the split among people on the vaccination. I don't like dealing with that kind of conflict, and therefore, have decided to leave the whole pandemic business out of my books. Besides, people read to get away from the real world. Why bring in something that they are trying to get away from for a short period of time? 

Change for me in the coming year will be taking more me time and writing one less book a year. I'm trying not to beat myself up over the fact I will have written one less than I had planned this year. But, I spent more time with family. While the writing is always nagging at the back of my brain, family is first, always has been. 

But writing comes second, because to me writing is fun. I enjoy coming up with characters, plots, and surprises in my books. My imagination will be going long after I can actually write a book, of that I have no doubt! 

Right now I'm closing in on the end of book 8 in the Gabriel Hawke Novels. The title is Churlish Badger. Then I'll be on to the next Spotted Pony Casino Mystery. Titled House Edge. I have twenty more animals picked for titles of the Hawke books and I have a dozen gambling terms picked out for the titles of the Spotted Pony Casino books. I think those should keep me busy for a while and keep me from dwelling on the changes around me. ;) 

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 51 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

blog / website /  Facebook / Paty's Posse / Goodreads / Twitter / Pinterest   / Bookbub