Michelle Monkou's Recap of Outlander, Season 2, Episode 12

Outlander Season Two, Episode Twelve - Hail Mary
(See below for links to all recaps)

(Courtesy of Sony Pictures Televsion)

Rewriting history is a nerve-wracking and tedious affair. Not only must Claire and Jamie worry about their roles and actions as they try to reset world events, but they must worry about other major players who can also tilt the balance. This constant state of affairs drives Jamie's strategy when handling the prince and when Jamie's desire to march on and fight the Redcoats.

But his plans never materialize for that pesky prince who either wants to go headlong into battle with a weary, underfed army or doesn't have a sense of direction when it matters. And so, Jamie and his men must retreat to fight another day.

In the meantime, Claire runs into Mary who is not thrilled to see her. Remember when Claire talked Alex into leaving Mary during her stint in Paris? Well, Alex turns up with consumption, but well enough to tell Mary about Claire's advice. Learning that Alex is ill, Claire tries to make amends with an offer to help Alex and simultaneously apologize to him.

(Courtesy of Sony Pictures Television)

And so Claire is in the middle of tending to Alex when - holy moly - Jack Randall appears. He's equally surprised, while she is more horrified. I couldn't stop laughing because the man was like a bad rash that keeps popping up at a bad time. Mary and Alex gush over Johnny's kindness and generosity. Claire decides to get the heck out of the room, but Jack chases after her to ask her to look after his brother. Always shrewd and seizing opportunities, Claire extracts the necessary information about the British army's location before she'd agree to help Alex.

On the other hand, Jamie faces a surprise visit from Colum. And he's sure that his uncle is there on business regarding the Jacobite cause. However, Colum is clearly ailing and in much pain from his debilitating disease. And Colum has come to request from Claire assistance to ease his transition into the afterlife.  I must admit to being surprised that Claire did help him and not go on her soapbox for political correctness sake.  Colum's visit and tying up of loose ends before he passes on allows for the big reveal that Gaelis and Dougal's baby is alive and well.

(Courtesy of Sony Pictures Television)

Once Jamie learns of Jack's appearance, he finds it difficult to let Claire be alone in that man's presence. Murtagh who makes one ferocious bodyguard will accompany her as she tends to Alex. But there is no nursing Alex back to health. He is dying. Something that Jack Randall can't accept. But his head is about to spin when he hears his brother's dying request for him to marry Mary so that she and the baby can inherit his property, her widow's pension, if necessary, and (remember he will be Frank's ancestor). He vehemently refuses and with good cause as he reveals his fear
 that his inner monster may not be tamed enough for Mary.

But in the sweetest gesture and sincerity, Murtagh volunteers to wed Mary. And Claire can't allow him to do that because of Frank's existence. Although now she knows the truth about Frank's lineage and he wasn't descended from such a vile creature. Before Alex dies, he is able to witness Mary's future secured with marriage at his bedside. And in great Jack fashion, he takes out his frustration and grief with a fit of punches on Alex's dead body. It was the perfect reminder to let us never forget what Jack is.

But this emotional episode isn't over because Colum is still taking care of his personal business by giving Jamie the enviable position as guardian of his son (remember Dougal's the biological father) until he's old enough to take over as the laird. A position that Dougal wants and makes no bones about his disappointment that Jamie, a Mackenzie shall be the surrogate father of a Fraser. But Colum doesn't back down. And in a heartbreaking scene - the kind that would be sent in for nomination consideration - Dougal is there with Colum in his final moments, but he misses telling him how he feels from the heart. Truly a beautiful scene between an often rancorous relationship between brothers.

Share with me what you thought of Season 2, episode 12. While you’re compiling your thoughts, I asked K. M. Jackson, author of Romancing The Fashionista to share her thoughts of Outlander and tell us about her latest releases. 

The secondary male characters ruled the day. With regard to Dougal - is he the big loser with all that will occur in the Mackenzie family affairs (including Geillis’s baby)? Did you feel sorry for him?

KM: Having not read the Outlander books (am I committing an Outlander sin here? Please don't throw tomatoes) I don’t know if Dougal is the biggest loser since if Claire turns out to be right in her predictions and they are not successful in their quest then none of them will come out on top. But I will say with this past episode for the first time I felt a surprising bit of sympathy for Dougal as the second son. He showed a tender side and love for his brother that was heartbreaking and relatable. Though he is not a typical hero his convictions are strong and he’s loyal to his clan. With Dougal, I feel whether you like it or not, you know where you stand. That’s respectable.

 
Jack Randall - a walking man with a death sentence because Claire shared the info. Did you feel for his pain or empathize with his reluctance?

KM: Oh Jack. Though I can’t look away from him, I live to hate him. He’s a man I just can’t feel sorry for and the more Claire does to stay in his path, the more I get annoyed with her. Try as I might I could not feel the same pain for his loss as I did for Dougal. Jack feels like a different kind of monster to me. A man completely into feeding his own appetites, who cares not for his fellow man, yet alone his brother. There is nothing respectable or relatable for me when it comes to Jack.

That Jack is a super villain.

So now tell us about your current release and the one on the horizon.

KM: My current release is a flirty novella from Samhain called Romancing The Fashionista. Here is a bit about it: When fate offers a second chance, only a fool waits for the other shoe to drop. The Flirty Fashionistas, Book 1

Manhattan fashion maven and magazine editor Melinda Mitchell shuns the social media spotlight. That is, until a tipsy girl’s night out ends with her first Facebook account and a friend request from none other than her secret high school crush, Nolan Parker. 

When Nolan lost his chance at the big leagues, he signed on with Doctors Without Borders and never looked back. Now he’s back home to help out his ailing father. Running into Mel at his fifteen-year high school reunion rekindles old feelings he thought he’d buried for good. 

Intrigued by Nolan’s irresistibly sexy profile, Melinda heads to the reunion with her best friend to see if the picture matches up to the man. Their instant attraction flares brighter than the Manhattan skyline. 

Although the tough fashionista and accomplished ex-jock rub each other the very right way, a few stumbling blocks will decide if the heat between them is a symptom of forever love, or a past that should be left where it belongs.

Enjoy Romancing The Fashionista : Amazon; iBooks; Barnes & Noble

KM: And coming in October of this year I’m thrilled to be in a holiday anthology from Kensington Publishing with two incredible bestselling authors: Donna Hill and Farrah Rochon. It’s a dream come true! My contribution is called From Here To Serenity. Here is a little about Holiday Temptation and From Here To Serenity which is available for pre-order now.

Here is a bit about HOLIDAY TEMPTATION:

’Tis the season to satisfy your holiday desires with this festive trio of sexy stories…

A GIFT OF LOVE Donna Hill 
Drama professor Traci Long spends her free time at the CoffeeMate café, pursuing her true passion—writing her own plays. Meanwhile, sexy barista Noah Jefferson is doing his best to distract her. But once they get involved, past betrayals make Traci wary. She’s right that Noah is keeping something from her—but it might be something that will make this Christmas as sweet as a rave review—and steamier than her favorite chai latté…

HOLIDAY SPICE Farrah Rochon
A Christmas-time tragedy took photographer Miranda Lawson’s holiday spirit with it. Since then, she’s traveled the world, determined to outrun her demons. This year she’s off to Istanbul. But the scenery isn’t the only gorgeous site she spots through her camera lens….Kyle Daniels loves Christmas, but he’s looking for escape too—and soon he and Miranda find it in each other’s arms. Yet their connection doesn’t end there. Maybe staying put isn’t such a bad idea after all—especially when there’s someone to celebrate with…

FROM HERE TO SERENITY K.M. Jackson

Unstoppable real-estate developer Ross Montgomery is under orders to get some holiday R&R. A cruise to Miami on his yacht, “The Serenity,” is the perfect place to start—especially when he meets his new personal chef, Essie Bradford. Between her calming presence, her amazing food, and her delectable beauty, Ross just might develop a taste for the good life. And when the two discover they have a lot in common—including an irresistible attraction—the next course may be a spicy New Year…

Pre-order HOLIDAY TEMPTATION: Amazon; iBooks; Barnes and Noble: 

Thanks so much again for having me, Michelle. Happy Outlanding! 

To stay updated with K.M. Jackson, visit her website.

My Weekly Recaps

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Michelle Monkou writes for Harlequin Kimani, Evernight Publishing, and her indie pursuits with Stella Maris Publishing. Michelle’s website is michellemonkou.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook.

Cathryn Cade: Re-Inventing Myself as a Writer

It is an honor to be invited back to RTG. A few years have rolled by since I met the Genre-istas in Portland, OR at the Rose City Romance Writers. I still remember the awe I felt sitting in the same room with real published romance writers … I want to touch the nearest one, lol.

Now I am one! And 22 romance books & novellas later, it's been grand … but things change.

I was first published in 2007, just past the age of 50. I experienced the hey-day of digital publishing, when the small pubs like Samhain were rocking the romance reading world. Wow, my first paychecks were big! They continued to grow as I wrote more books, until … more publisher fish swam into the sea and they had new ways to grab their share of readers.

This thing called self-publishing happened. Market share of the publishers, large and small, began to shrink even faster as readers shrugged and said, 'I don't care where the book comes from, as long as I can load it on my e-reader and enjoy it.' My paychecks from Samhain shrank too.

I leapt into the self-publishing ocean. It was delightful! Those big paychecks returned, with a larger percentage coming to me since there was no publisher in the middle to take their share. Woo-hoo, life was once again grand.

Then, more and more and more writers began to self-publish. Wow, getting crowded out here in the romance ocean, even for those of us with marketable names. But paychecks were still big, so with some advertising and a newsletter, no worries.

Next, Amazon rolled out a feat of marketing genius (or an evil sledge-hammer with which to destroy writing careers, depending on one's perspective), the Kindle Unlimited subscription plan. My sales plummeted again as hordes of voracious romance readers leapt like sharks onto this new unlimited reading plan—and stopped buying as many books.

All the while, more writers published their works, meaning more competition. I was so discouraged … if I didn't love writing so much, in the winter of 2015, I would have quit publishing altogether and gone back to work at a library or in education. I'm still selling books, still have loyal readers, and I know I'm doing better than the vast percentage of authors now, but not making the BIG paychecks.

But I seem to need to write nearly as much as I need to breathe.

Thus, I listened to a friend and mentor, Maggie McVay Lynch who said, "Many people who are making money now in publishing aren't just writing. They're diversifying, offering services to other writers." She herself is a shining example of this, teaching on All Writer Workshops, helping writers decipher promotion and other facets of publishing. I'm taking her class on maximizing newsletter/email lists right now.

Diversification. Great idea, but what services could I offer? Hmmm, I love writing ad copy/blurbs/cover copy, and often volunteered to write it for friends and colleagues, who expressed undying gratitude for my services. So, perhaps other writers would pay me to do so?

Turns out they will indeed. In February—just as I turned 60—I opened up shop as The Blurb Queen. In that time I've acquired many clients. I'm now being paid to do another facet of the publishing biz—helping other writers highlight their stories in a few, exciting words!

Like writing good stories, writing good ad copy is hard work, but I enjoy it just as much. So I can now afford to keep writing my beloved romance, and working from my home office, which is exactly where I want to be. Now that I've relaxed a bit about the income stream, writing is once again joyous.

As George Eliot may have said, 'It's never too late to become who you might have been!'

Wonder what new marketable skill I'll discover when I'm 70??

What do YOU do to subsidize your writing career? I'd love to hear. We're all in this together, my friends.

Cathryn Cade

Red Hot Sci Fi/Contemporary/Paranormal Romance

RT 4.5 Stars and Night Owl Reviews TOP PICK

Goodreads, My Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,

And sign up for My Newsletter for a chance to win goodies!

Cathryn Cade

Keep Calm and Let the Blurb Queen Fix It!

http://www.theblurbqueen.com

https://www.facebook.com/TheBlurbQueen

https://twitter.com/TheBlurbQueen

Publishing Trends: It's a Great Time to be a Hybrid

I had my first romance, a red hot sci fi shifter tale, published in 2008 with Samhain Publishing.

That was a great time to get pubbed. Readers were making the big shift (if you'll pardon the pun) to ebooks, and uber-sexy romance was hot, hot, hot. My first royalty checks were crazy big. This continued well into 2010, as I wrote and sold the next three books in the series. RT listed me as one of the sci fi romance writers to watch for. Whoopee!

Then, a strange thing happened. More and more publishers leapt into the ebook market. With more and more choices, readers spread their dollars out among them. My royalties dropped--partly because I genre jumped into contemporary paranormal, and readers did not follow me.

My Hawaiian Heroes were highly reviewed--RT and Library Journal loved them, yay! Readers did not vote quite as highly with their dollars. But, I kept writing, Samhain continued to publish my books, and another strange thing happened.

Romance writers began to publish their own books, with no middle-man except the sales platforms such as Amazon and BN.com. With a plethora of more new choices, readers spread their dollars thinner. Yikes, my royalties dropped yet again. Still highly rated on Samhain, still good reviews, but I was becoming extremely worried that I'd made the wrong decision to quit my teaching job and write romance full time.

Then, in June of this year, I went back to my roots. I self-published the first book in my new sci fi romance series, The LodeStar Series. Book 1, Stark Pleasure sold well enough that it earned nearly half as much as my eight books at Samhain. Wow, this was cool.

I got busy and wrote Book 2. Actually, I battled my way through Creed of Pleasure, fighting with the characters and the plot. With the help of my skilled editor, Jessa Slade, I finally wrestled it into the shape of my signature story--red hot romance, action and danger, with a little laughter in the mix. And some fantastical galactic creatures and futuristic inventions, of course. That's the fun of sci fi, after all.

With a gorgeous cover by Christy Carlyle of GildedHeartDesigns, the book went live November 7, 2013.

At latest report, my Amazon author rating is the highest it has ever been, a good indicator of reader interest. The book is the highest on the Zon charts I've ever had a book rise, except for my Free Read, Heart of Stone, another sci fi romance, but you kinda expect free books to go higher.