Some people have asked me if my stories ever evolve into something different than I was expecting. Or if my stories ever change as I’m writing them. Sometimes they do slightly, other times quite a bit.
Did you want to see what the changes for one story look like?
I bring you the Triple Creek Ranch series.
I did NOT start out to write a series. I didn’t even start out to write a novel.
It was simply a writing assignment for some students. Pick 3 names you’ve never used and write at least one paragraph describing them. Then write 1k words with at least 2 of those characters. Sounds easy. Simple. Short.
Those character sketches turned into a six book series.
The opening scene with Norman and Janelle was the beginning. The Orlena came onto the scene and I was in for a ride! The more I wrote, the more I wanted to find out what happened next. As the story progressed, I realized that this was going to be a long book unless I cut it into two books. I decided that might be a good idea. So I did.
Then I was talking to a friend and she asked if I was going to write three books since it was called “Triple Creek Ranch.” I laughed and said I didn’t know. Well, before I finished book 2, I had the idea for Book 3.
And I wasn’t even finished with Book 3 when the beginning of Book 4 started telling itself in my head until I had to write it down.
Book 5 didn’t start as quickly though I did have part of it written to include as a preview in the back of Book 4. That’s another thing that is different. I have a preview (very short) for the next book in the back of each of the books.
And then came Book 6. The preview was a scene I knew would be in the book, but I didn’t know when. There was more struggle and rewriting in this book than in the others. When I reached the end I debated. Do I try for another book? Do I stop with six? I had all sorts of ideas that people had given me. I even tried to write something but it just wasn’t coming. So I decided to publish Book 6 without a preview of another book. And I haven’t written any more about these characters.
The covers of these books were painted by a homeschool friend. She painted one background (what you see on the right only the arch wasn’t on it) and then each of the characters for the front of each book were painted separately (along with the arch). My best friend helped me change the coloring of the background or move it or zoom in on parts of it, so it looked like different seasons or a slightly different view before we added the characters on the front. Amazing what you can do in Photoshop.
And yes, some of those characters were modeled by people I know. Some of the illustrations inside were modeled by family and friends too if I couldn’t find just what I was looking for.
The audio books were read by one person and I think he got better with each book. Overall the TCR series was a fun set to write with a lot of different characters, plenty of action, character development and Christian growth. I enjoyed all the time I spent with the characters, and I hope you do too.
Have you read the Triple Creek Ranch books? Do you have a favorite book in the collection? Do you have a favorite character?
Love this series! I re-read (listen) to it in its entirety every year. It’s an easy listen with that narrator. He’s pretty awesome. Oh, and Rebekah’s pretty awesome, too- I mean- she DID write these exciting books; )
Aw, thanks, Amy! It’s encouraging to know that TCR is so well loved by you! And I really like the reader too. 😉
The cover art on these is so pretty and detailed! I need to read this series soon.
I love the covers too! You can get the first book in the series for free on Amazon. And the rest are available on KU if you have that.