By Dalyn Weller, @DalynWeller

 I came across a quote a few years ago that went straight to my heart. I thought, yeah. That’s why I write fiction. This was the quote:

“The first duty of the novelist is to entertain. It is a moral duty. People who read your books are sick, sad, traveling, in the hospital waiting room while someone is dying. Books are written by the alone for the alone.”

~ Donna Tartt

All writers were first readers. We fell in love with the power of stories. If you’re like me, books have been solace, adventure, comfort, and companion. Stories carry us off to places we might not otherwise go. Humans have always loved and learned from stories. Remember sitting in a story circle in kindergarten? Wouldn’t it be something if schools hired professional storytellers to come and teach through story circles all the way through high school? I think the kids would learn more from stories than they do with the textbook and quiz model.

The human brain learns best from information given in story form. MRI scans prove that when people are immersed in a story, their brains light up as if they were physically present, experiencing the story as the point of view character. Stories are vital in every culture that has ever been or will ever be in the future. One of the things I love about writing fiction is there will always be more to learn. One reason I write fiction is because people need it.

I met a woman who reads all my books. She’s my “ideal” reader and I keep her in mind when I’m feeling unmotivated. She told me she must work until she dies. She said this with a grin, but I suspect she meant it. She’s past retirement age and still working full-time. She’s also a caretaker for her husband, who has dementia, and they are raising a teen grandson. They need her income. Talk about stress, this poor lady has more than her share. Reading is her only reprieve from her responsibilities. Now that I know her story, I write for her (and for others like her).

When I realized that my novels are an effort to show love and concern for people I might not otherwise reach, I stopped minimizing my work.

We want our words to matter. And they do.

Being convinced of the importance of your writing helps motivate on those days when you’d like to quit. Someone out there needs your story.

 

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The Inheritance Clause

Ruthie Rosmund and the rest of the meddling mothers are at it again…

The fate of the historic Wild Rose Ranch, nestled in the foothills of the small town of Wild Rose Ridge, and Stormy Rosmund’s future are on the line.

Unless she meets the demands of an inheritance clause in her great-great-great grandfather’s will, it’s by bye ranch. A ranch that’s become her identity and she’s not about to lose it.

The clause: She has to get married.

The problem: Feisty Stormy’s never met a man worth the trouble of marrying.

Prodigal cowboy, Dawson McClure has a way of finding bad girls, good times, and more than his share of trouble. The trouble is, he needs redemption.

So, when his grandfather sends him to Wild Rose Ranch to prove he’s a changed man, he finds he can’t resist the tough-as-tumbleweeds woman determined to run him off.

It doesn’t take long for Stormy and Dawson to realize their meddling grandparents have left them with only two options…neither of them good.

Dalyn Weller writes small-town romance novels with sweet sizzle and a pinch of humor.

She lives on a small horse ranch surrounded by apple orchards and cattle in Washington State with her own tall, dark, & and handsome and plenty of four-legged creatures. 

Like any self-respecting PNW woman, she’s a coffee snob. 

website: dalynweller.com and be sure and sign up for her newsletter: Writing from the Ranch

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