Rhonda Tibbs's Blog

First draft of book #2 in A Thousand Stars series is complete. Now the work begins. Must. Be. Disciplined.

Yay! My fourth book, SHADOW, is done!

Shadow is the first in a planned series of books on the enduring friendship of Danny Coulter and Isabelle Long.

Danny Coulter narrowly missed being born in the smooth current of the Kiamichi River in southeastern Oklahoma. Some feared the river would still someday claim his life, but he brushed aside such notions with a child’s sense of invincibility. Brave, spirited, tender-hearted Danny spends his childhood on the family ranch nurturing two great passions: drawing and Isabelle Long, the little girl who lived over the hill.

Isabelle Long was deeply wounded when her mother abandoned her for a life singing with a honky-tonk band. Her father gives up his life on the rodeo circuit to care for Isabelle, remarries, and moves the family to the small town of Shadow, where Isabelle meets Danny, a boy she comes to consider her personal gift. With his compassionate soul and caring ways, Danny repairs some of the torn parts of her life.

Danny and Isabelle begin a life-long love that isn’t always on the same wavelength, but cannot be broken.


The book will be available at Amazon in approximately 7-10 days. Always relieved at this stage. Now, I take a breath and enter the promotion/selling phase.

Since deciding to break my original manuscript, A Thousand Stars, into a series of books, I have been working on the first book for months. I finally finished that first draft yesterday and now the painstaking process of going back through, creating a synopsis and getting the flow correct begins. After that, there will be one last run-through for me and off to my trusted editors, Mike and Courtney.

Labor of love.

Today I received my certificates/reviews for entering Song of the Snowman and Angel's Blues in the Writer's Digest Book Awards. Didn't win, but the comments from the judge were positive and encouraging. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being the poorest, 5 meaning excellent) my lowest was a 3 for plot of Song of the Snowman, 5's everywhere else. Angel's Blues fared better with 4 for plot. The judge said "Angel's Blues is an evocative and moving story that readers won't soon forget," and "Song of the Snowman is a story that lingers long after the final page." All in all, I'm very pleased with the reviews.

After careful consideration, I decided to divide my 4th manuscript into a series. I began to work on the first part this week. To my delight, I am enjoying the rewrite and freedom to fill out previously abbreviated scenes -- when I attempted to keep the word count under control. My first editor and authorgroupie will have their work cut out for them on this one, but they say they love my writing. Guess I'll brew an extra pot of coffee and make a cheesecake to show my appreciation.

Just returned from SE Oklahoma, the setting of my next series, A Thousand Stars. The OK mountains are beautiful; imagine the Missouri Ozarks without all the commericialism. The fall colors were radiant in the warm sun. While snapping some pictures of an iron bridge some nice Okie's stopped and asked if we needed help (thinking we were having car trouble). Two women in the backseat of the big pickup were avid readers and very enthusiastic about the subject of Angel's Blues and Song of the Snowman. The older of the 2 women worked for over 30 years with domestic and child abuse cases and had an e-reader, so maybe she will buy a book. Anyway, we picked up a lot of information and some great photos. Now, on to the writing part.

I had a great time selling books and meeting new friends on Saturday. Several of my readers were there to speak up in my stead when my tongue-tied shyness was upon me, and these readers sold books through their enthusiasm. I am humbled by the love and support I have received from all angles of my life. God is good.

Like many authors, I began creating stories as a child. Oddly enough, I remember them, or at least their themes, which haven't changed all that much in the years that have passed. I still write the kind of stories I enjoy reading, stories that take me on a journey, make me laugh, make me cry, or simply stir me on an intimate level. I want to write the kind of book that would have me cheering for bold redemption or deliverance, with a sense of fairness sometimes lacking in this, our real world.