Kristy McCaffrey's Blog: Author Kristy McCaffrey - Posts Tagged "the-canary"
National Novel Writing Month and The Canary
By Kristy McCaffrey
Last month was National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. During November, writers from around the world try to write a 50,000-word novel. I signed up to punch out a first draft of my next Wings of the West book, The Canary, and I’m happy to report that I made it to 50k. Is the manuscript readable? Well, kinda ….
This is the fourth time I’ve participated in NaNo, and after much revising I’m happy to say the previous three projects all went to publication (The Blackbird, Deep Blue, and The Starling). The Canary will also need some work, but I’m pleased with what I have.
For previous NaNo’s, my goal was to get to some version of the end of the story, because it often helps to know the ending in order to fine-tune the beginning. This means skipping interior scenes, since my books usually fall between 75-85k.
For this NaNo, however, I changed my method. When I hit 40k, I realized I didn’t like my first chapter. I was working with a fake marriage trope between the main characters, Sarah Ryan and paleontologist Dr. Jack Brenner, but the initial setup left me feeling lackluster. In the first one, Sarah pretends to be married to Jack because she’s run into one of her professors who’s been harassing her, and she’s frightened to be in the Arizona desert with this man. But as I kept writing this premise, I felt it weakened Sarah’s character.
So, for the last 10k of NaNo, I rewrote the first five chapters from scratch, using a different approach to get Sarah and Jack “hitched,” and I like this one much better. I’ll have to tear apart the rest of what I have and repurpose it, but this is how I generally work anyway.
I have a few other projects I must return to, so I’ll start revising The Canary in February. This will allow me time to do more research, which is challenging when trying to write 2,000 words every day. (If you write each day of November during NaNo, you only need 1667 words, but I overwrote so that I could take time off around Thanksgiving).
I will say, though, that the more I read about the dinosaur fossils in the Painted Desert in the late 1800’s, the more intrigued I become.
I’m very excited for this book, and I hope the readers will love it too.
You can pre-order The Canary now at
Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
It will also be available at Google Play Books and Kobo but closer to the release date of July 25, 2023.
Would you like a Christmas card from me for 2022? Fill out this Google doc and I’ll add you to the list.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Last month was National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. During November, writers from around the world try to write a 50,000-word novel. I signed up to punch out a first draft of my next Wings of the West book, The Canary, and I’m happy to report that I made it to 50k. Is the manuscript readable? Well, kinda ….
This is the fourth time I’ve participated in NaNo, and after much revising I’m happy to say the previous three projects all went to publication (The Blackbird, Deep Blue, and The Starling). The Canary will also need some work, but I’m pleased with what I have.
For previous NaNo’s, my goal was to get to some version of the end of the story, because it often helps to know the ending in order to fine-tune the beginning. This means skipping interior scenes, since my books usually fall between 75-85k.
For this NaNo, however, I changed my method. When I hit 40k, I realized I didn’t like my first chapter. I was working with a fake marriage trope between the main characters, Sarah Ryan and paleontologist Dr. Jack Brenner, but the initial setup left me feeling lackluster. In the first one, Sarah pretends to be married to Jack because she’s run into one of her professors who’s been harassing her, and she’s frightened to be in the Arizona desert with this man. But as I kept writing this premise, I felt it weakened Sarah’s character.
So, for the last 10k of NaNo, I rewrote the first five chapters from scratch, using a different approach to get Sarah and Jack “hitched,” and I like this one much better. I’ll have to tear apart the rest of what I have and repurpose it, but this is how I generally work anyway.
I have a few other projects I must return to, so I’ll start revising The Canary in February. This will allow me time to do more research, which is challenging when trying to write 2,000 words every day. (If you write each day of November during NaNo, you only need 1667 words, but I overwrote so that I could take time off around Thanksgiving).
I will say, though, that the more I read about the dinosaur fossils in the Painted Desert in the late 1800’s, the more intrigued I become.
I’m very excited for this book, and I hope the readers will love it too.
You can pre-order The Canary now at
Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
It will also be available at Google Play Books and Kobo but closer to the release date of July 25, 2023.
Would you like a Christmas card from me for 2022? Fill out this Google doc and I’ll add you to the list.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Coelophysis: Dinosaur of the Old West
By Kristy McCaffrey
When you think of dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex comes to mind but there were many types of theropod that came before it. Coelophysis was a small bipedal carnivore and was one of the earliest dinosaurs to walk the earth. It was also an ancestor of T. rex.
Coelophysis, a small dinosaur from the Triassic Period (considered to be the Dawn of the Dinosaurs)
Dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic Era (sometimes called “the Age of Reptiles”), which spanned from 252 million years ago to 66 million years ago. It was comprised of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods. Early dinosaurs (such as Coelophysis) emerged in the Triassic, but they were quite small. Giants such as T. rex and enormous sauropods such as Brontosaurus and Diplodocus lived during the late Jurassic and Cretaceous.
A Coelophysis fossil at the Museum of Northern Arizona
In 1889, Edward Drinker Cope was the first to identify and name Coelophysis. The first remains were found by David Baldwin, an amateur fossil collector working for Cope, in 1881 in northwestern New Mexico. These first finds were too poorly preserved to give a full picture of the dinosaur, but in 1947 a massive graveyard of fossils was found in New Mexico containing many well-preserved and fully articulated specimens.
It is theorized that Coelophysis may have run in packs, although no direct evidence supports this
There is wide consensus today that birds descended from theropods such as Coelophysis. (T. rex has more in common with the modern-day chicken than to a crocodile.) Both birds and theropods shared wishbones, likely incubated their eggs, had hollow bones, and were covered in feathers.
In my upcoming book, THE CANARY, Dr. Jack Brenner and Sarah Ryan are on the hunt in the Arizona desert for Jack’s father, the esteemed paleontologist Dr. Allan Brenner. And Allan is on the hunt for Coelophysis.
Coming July 25, 2023. Pre-order a copy today!!
Read an excerpt
Jack and Sarah have entered a marriage of convenience for various reasons, one being her difficult relationship with one of her professors, Dr. Everett Pierce. Isaac is a Comanche friend and paleontology assistant of Jack’s father.
“And why are you here, Dr. Pierce?” Sarah asked, sitting up straight and looking him in the eye. Either she was a very good actress, or her animosity was real. Jack at least had to concede that it was likely the latter.
“I’ve been contracted to explore the area,” he said.
“By whom?” Isaac cut in.
“Roderick Melton.”
That Pierce was still tied to Melton shouldn’t have surprised Jack, but it did, despite that it was no secret Pierce’s father pulled strings wherever he could for his son. It had been a topic of gossip in paleontological circles that the elder Pierce had been trying to establish business relations with Roderick Melton. And then there’d been the business with Betsy. Unbeknownst to Jack, he’d been in a romantic triangle with her and Pierce, and while he blamed Pierce wholeheartedly for being an unethical ass, Betsy had decisively left Jack despite that he’d protected her from possibly going to jail, which probably wouldn’t have happened considering Roderick’s wealth.
But Pierce had never won Betsy’s hand—she had later married someone else—and it had been the one bright spot in an otherwise painful period of Jack’s life.
He kept his reaction to himself by raising his glass—the whiskey this time and not the beer—and nursing a long drink.
Isaac folded his hands together on the table. “Selling out, are you?”
“Don’t give me the holier than thou speech,” Pierce replied with a smirk. “We’re all in it for the money. Private collectors have as much right to house collections as museums.”
“At least we know now for certain,” Isaac said.
Pierce raised a brow. “What’s that?”
“You have zero ethics.”
Unethical ass echoed in Jack’s head.
“Ethics don’t pay the bills,” Everett said. “And what about Allan Brenner? Who’s paying his bills?”
Jack and Isaac didn’t respond, so Sarah filled the empty space. “Yale University,” she said. “And Helen Parks, I would assume.”
“Yes, of course,” Pierce said conversationally, leaning forward. “And she’s the one who hired you, right Sarah?”
Jack didn’t like the proprietary tone in Pierce’s voice as he said her first name.
“You know,” Pierce continued. “If you’d wanted a dig, you could have come to me. I could’ve introduced you to Melton.”
“Like you did with Jane?” she countered.
Pierce’s eyes narrowed and he swallowed nervously, his Adam’s apple bobbing noticeably. “Jane quit school, a reminder that women really don’t have what it takes to be out here.”
“I’ve heard that could be said of some men, as well.” Sarah offered a polite smile while sipping her drink.
Jack tried not to laugh, but his lips twitched anyway.
Pierce rose to his feet. “I look forward to seeing you in class in the fall, Mrs. Brenner. I’m sure you’ll have much to share with the other students after your summer here.” He adjusted his jacket. “Gentlemen. I expect I’ll see you out there.”
“Not if I can help it,” Jack said plainly.
Pierce snatched the bottle of whiskey, clearly unwilling to leave the remainder with them. “Allan Brenner thinks he’s some sort of god out here. He’s not.
“I get it now,” Isaac said with a knowing nod. “You’re here to outshine him. How exactly do you propose to do that?”
“He’s pinned so many of his theories on Coelophysis,” Pierce said, “but he’s yet to find a full skeleton. And when I find one, I’ll debunk every hypothesis he’s put forward.”
Learn more about Kristy's books at kristymccaffrey.com
When you think of dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex comes to mind but there were many types of theropod that came before it. Coelophysis was a small bipedal carnivore and was one of the earliest dinosaurs to walk the earth. It was also an ancestor of T. rex.
Coelophysis, a small dinosaur from the Triassic Period (considered to be the Dawn of the Dinosaurs)
Dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic Era (sometimes called “the Age of Reptiles”), which spanned from 252 million years ago to 66 million years ago. It was comprised of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods. Early dinosaurs (such as Coelophysis) emerged in the Triassic, but they were quite small. Giants such as T. rex and enormous sauropods such as Brontosaurus and Diplodocus lived during the late Jurassic and Cretaceous.
A Coelophysis fossil at the Museum of Northern Arizona
In 1889, Edward Drinker Cope was the first to identify and name Coelophysis. The first remains were found by David Baldwin, an amateur fossil collector working for Cope, in 1881 in northwestern New Mexico. These first finds were too poorly preserved to give a full picture of the dinosaur, but in 1947 a massive graveyard of fossils was found in New Mexico containing many well-preserved and fully articulated specimens.
It is theorized that Coelophysis may have run in packs, although no direct evidence supports this
There is wide consensus today that birds descended from theropods such as Coelophysis. (T. rex has more in common with the modern-day chicken than to a crocodile.) Both birds and theropods shared wishbones, likely incubated their eggs, had hollow bones, and were covered in feathers.
In my upcoming book, THE CANARY, Dr. Jack Brenner and Sarah Ryan are on the hunt in the Arizona desert for Jack’s father, the esteemed paleontologist Dr. Allan Brenner. And Allan is on the hunt for Coelophysis.
Coming July 25, 2023. Pre-order a copy today!!
Read an excerpt
Jack and Sarah have entered a marriage of convenience for various reasons, one being her difficult relationship with one of her professors, Dr. Everett Pierce. Isaac is a Comanche friend and paleontology assistant of Jack’s father.
“And why are you here, Dr. Pierce?” Sarah asked, sitting up straight and looking him in the eye. Either she was a very good actress, or her animosity was real. Jack at least had to concede that it was likely the latter.
“I’ve been contracted to explore the area,” he said.
“By whom?” Isaac cut in.
“Roderick Melton.”
That Pierce was still tied to Melton shouldn’t have surprised Jack, but it did, despite that it was no secret Pierce’s father pulled strings wherever he could for his son. It had been a topic of gossip in paleontological circles that the elder Pierce had been trying to establish business relations with Roderick Melton. And then there’d been the business with Betsy. Unbeknownst to Jack, he’d been in a romantic triangle with her and Pierce, and while he blamed Pierce wholeheartedly for being an unethical ass, Betsy had decisively left Jack despite that he’d protected her from possibly going to jail, which probably wouldn’t have happened considering Roderick’s wealth.
But Pierce had never won Betsy’s hand—she had later married someone else—and it had been the one bright spot in an otherwise painful period of Jack’s life.
He kept his reaction to himself by raising his glass—the whiskey this time and not the beer—and nursing a long drink.
Isaac folded his hands together on the table. “Selling out, are you?”
“Don’t give me the holier than thou speech,” Pierce replied with a smirk. “We’re all in it for the money. Private collectors have as much right to house collections as museums.”
“At least we know now for certain,” Isaac said.
Pierce raised a brow. “What’s that?”
“You have zero ethics.”
Unethical ass echoed in Jack’s head.
“Ethics don’t pay the bills,” Everett said. “And what about Allan Brenner? Who’s paying his bills?”
Jack and Isaac didn’t respond, so Sarah filled the empty space. “Yale University,” she said. “And Helen Parks, I would assume.”
“Yes, of course,” Pierce said conversationally, leaning forward. “And she’s the one who hired you, right Sarah?”
Jack didn’t like the proprietary tone in Pierce’s voice as he said her first name.
“You know,” Pierce continued. “If you’d wanted a dig, you could have come to me. I could’ve introduced you to Melton.”
“Like you did with Jane?” she countered.
Pierce’s eyes narrowed and he swallowed nervously, his Adam’s apple bobbing noticeably. “Jane quit school, a reminder that women really don’t have what it takes to be out here.”
“I’ve heard that could be said of some men, as well.” Sarah offered a polite smile while sipping her drink.
Jack tried not to laugh, but his lips twitched anyway.
Pierce rose to his feet. “I look forward to seeing you in class in the fall, Mrs. Brenner. I’m sure you’ll have much to share with the other students after your summer here.” He adjusted his jacket. “Gentlemen. I expect I’ll see you out there.”
“Not if I can help it,” Jack said plainly.
Pierce snatched the bottle of whiskey, clearly unwilling to leave the remainder with them. “Allan Brenner thinks he’s some sort of god out here. He’s not.
“I get it now,” Isaac said with a knowing nod. “You’re here to outshine him. How exactly do you propose to do that?”
“He’s pinned so many of his theories on Coelophysis,” Pierce said, “but he’s yet to find a full skeleton. And when I find one, I’ll debunk every hypothesis he’s put forward.”
Learn more about Kristy's books at kristymccaffrey.com
The Canary releases next week!
THE CANARY is almost here. Five more days!
I'm so thrilled to get this one out there. I've been working like a dog the past few months on this, and I hope you guys will love it as much as I do.
Paleontologist Jack Brenner enters a fake marriage with Sarah Ryan to protect her in the Arizona wilderness …
+ Marriage of Convenience
+ Medium Spice
+ Painted Desert Expedition
+ Dinosaur fossils
+ Walnuts
+ Bees
The Canary is Book 9 in the Wings of the West series but can absolutely be read as a standalone novel.
Pre-Order Now
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Amazon AU
Apple Books
Nook
Kobo
Google Play Books
Paperbacks are coming.
Read Chapter One
Here's an excerpt
“Dr. Brenner,” Ralph said. “This woman is looking for you.”
Jack turned and gave a slight nod, trying to ignore the jolt to his senses when he met her gaze.
“Dr. Brenner?” she said, her green eyes shiny with excitement. She extended a hand. “I’m Sarah.”
He was glad the white glove she wore kept their skin from touching. It had been a long time since a beautiful woman had caught his eye. Not since Betsy, really. And he didn’t need a repeat of that.
“I’m so pleased to meet you, sir,” she added, a big smile lighting up her face.
The “sir” caught his attention, and it all began to click into place. She thought Jack was his father. S. Ryan had been hired by Mrs. Parks for the dig.
But maybe he was wrong. Maybe this woman was here for another reason.
He cleared his throat and said, “Sarah …?”
“Sarah Ryan.”
I'm so thrilled to get this one out there. I've been working like a dog the past few months on this, and I hope you guys will love it as much as I do.
Paleontologist Jack Brenner enters a fake marriage with Sarah Ryan to protect her in the Arizona wilderness …
+ Marriage of Convenience
+ Medium Spice
+ Painted Desert Expedition
+ Dinosaur fossils
+ Walnuts
+ Bees
The Canary is Book 9 in the Wings of the West series but can absolutely be read as a standalone novel.
Pre-Order Now
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Amazon AU
Apple Books
Nook
Kobo
Google Play Books
Paperbacks are coming.
Read Chapter One
Here's an excerpt
“Dr. Brenner,” Ralph said. “This woman is looking for you.”
Jack turned and gave a slight nod, trying to ignore the jolt to his senses when he met her gaze.
“Dr. Brenner?” she said, her green eyes shiny with excitement. She extended a hand. “I’m Sarah.”
He was glad the white glove she wore kept their skin from touching. It had been a long time since a beautiful woman had caught his eye. Not since Betsy, really. And he didn’t need a repeat of that.
“I’m so pleased to meet you, sir,” she added, a big smile lighting up her face.
The “sir” caught his attention, and it all began to click into place. She thought Jack was his father. S. Ryan had been hired by Mrs. Parks for the dig.
But maybe he was wrong. Maybe this woman was here for another reason.
He cleared his throat and said, “Sarah …?”
“Sarah Ryan.”
Books That Were The Most Fun To Write
By Kristy McCaffrey
There are three books that have been the most fun for me to write.
Into the Land of Shadows
At the beginning of my writing career, I wrote THE WREN followed by THE DOVE. I knew I had a series on my hands, but instead of continuing I went and wrote SHADOWS because it was a story that jumped in my head and wouldn’t let me go. It was initially titled HER TOUCH, and I infused a lot of humor in the book, something I hadn’t before attempted.
I modeled the heroine, Kate, after my own daughter Kate, giving her the same sass, curiosity, and maddening habits (e.g. sleeping late). I set the story in Northern Arizona, a favorite location in my home state, and I gave the hero a pet wolf (based on my parent’s wolf hybrid from my childhood). I also didn’t hold back in terms of plot, and I pushed a paranormal angle (an exorcism) that has likely affected sales, but this book is still a favorite of mine, combining humor, a brooding hero, a sassy heroine, Bart the wolf, Navajo lore, and spiritual possession. It’s also one of my steamier novels.
Ancient Winds
I’ve long been fascinated by ancient alien theories. I wanted to play with those ideas in a book, and ANCIENT WINDS was the result. It’s a contemporary adventure romance set in the wilds of Bolivia, because I’d always wanted to do a jungle romance. My heroine, Brynn, is a Sumerian cuneiform scholar, and it took some doing plot-wise to get a cuneiform tablet into the jungle, but I was determined. The hero, Dr. Tristan Magee, is a rogue physicist because I’m a huge science geek. I even managed to add time travel. My brain cells were really firing for this one. What a fun playground this was for me to write each day.
The Canary
This more recent book is centered around paleontology in 1899. That alone made this story great fun to research. I thought I knew dinosaurs, but I was regularly wowed by what I unearthed each day. I also loved giving the heroine, Sarah, a lot of agency (the scene where she has to convince the hero’s father that she’s got the grit to be on his dig site was written in one sitting—that doesn’t happen too often).
I was really pleased by this quote from InD’tale Magazine – “Strong female characters dominated this book although most of the characters are male.” That’s a score in my book!
There are three books that have been the most fun for me to write.
Into the Land of Shadows
At the beginning of my writing career, I wrote THE WREN followed by THE DOVE. I knew I had a series on my hands, but instead of continuing I went and wrote SHADOWS because it was a story that jumped in my head and wouldn’t let me go. It was initially titled HER TOUCH, and I infused a lot of humor in the book, something I hadn’t before attempted.
I modeled the heroine, Kate, after my own daughter Kate, giving her the same sass, curiosity, and maddening habits (e.g. sleeping late). I set the story in Northern Arizona, a favorite location in my home state, and I gave the hero a pet wolf (based on my parent’s wolf hybrid from my childhood). I also didn’t hold back in terms of plot, and I pushed a paranormal angle (an exorcism) that has likely affected sales, but this book is still a favorite of mine, combining humor, a brooding hero, a sassy heroine, Bart the wolf, Navajo lore, and spiritual possession. It’s also one of my steamier novels.
Ancient Winds
I’ve long been fascinated by ancient alien theories. I wanted to play with those ideas in a book, and ANCIENT WINDS was the result. It’s a contemporary adventure romance set in the wilds of Bolivia, because I’d always wanted to do a jungle romance. My heroine, Brynn, is a Sumerian cuneiform scholar, and it took some doing plot-wise to get a cuneiform tablet into the jungle, but I was determined. The hero, Dr. Tristan Magee, is a rogue physicist because I’m a huge science geek. I even managed to add time travel. My brain cells were really firing for this one. What a fun playground this was for me to write each day.
The Canary
This more recent book is centered around paleontology in 1899. That alone made this story great fun to research. I thought I knew dinosaurs, but I was regularly wowed by what I unearthed each day. I also loved giving the heroine, Sarah, a lot of agency (the scene where she has to convince the hero’s father that she’s got the grit to be on his dig site was written in one sitting—that doesn’t happen too often).
I was really pleased by this quote from InD’tale Magazine – “Strong female characters dominated this book although most of the characters are male.” That’s a score in my book!
Author Kristy McCaffrey
Kristy McCaffrey writes western historical and contemporary romances. She and her husband live in Arizona with their two dogs. Visit her online at kristymccaffrey.com.
- Kristy McCaffrey's profile
- 518 followers
