Missing New England

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I can’t believe how much I’ve missed New England. I live in South Florida, where the natural beauty is stunning, but there’s nothing like spring, summer, and fall in the Northeast. This is where I grew up, went to school, fell in love, and started my family. Perhaps that’s why I’m always drawn here.

I love where I live now too. The warm weather, beautiful beaches, and tropical scenery of Florida is incredible, but most of my family is still here in New England. I guess that’s why I enjoy my visits up here so much.

I’m sure those of you who have started your lives somewhere, then moved on to another part of the country can relate to what I’m saying. You might love the place you currently live now, but it’s always nice coming home.

G.C. Riley

Next Book on the Way

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Hello friends. I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me. Since I posted last, I’ve had a few dramatic setbacks. Some good, some bad. I’ve been battling an illness the last few weeks, but have no fear, everything is good now. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much writing done while I was sick. That’s the bad news.

Right now, I’m not in Florida. I’m in the Northeast. Boston, to be exact. I live in South Florida now, but I’m originally from New England. It’s wonderful up here this time of year, but I’m not on vacation. I’m here for a couple of graduations. Two of my sons and my nephew are graduating, and I’m up here for the ceremonies.

My nephew is graduating with a masters degree in chemical engineering, my middle son is graduating with a masters degree in bio-pharmaceuticals, and my oldest son has finished dental school. (Yes, a dentist in the family.) I’m still waiting to see what field my youngest son and my niece get into.

I went to college myself, but these kids make me feel dumb. Things have changed so much these days. It just seems like you have to take your education much farther to get anywhere.

I’ll be up here for another week, and I plan on continuing with work, but you know how it is when you go back home. Everyone wants to see you, and lots of family events and get togethers take place. I’m not complaining. I’ve missed them all so very much, but working at my normal pace is going to be a challenge.

However, here’s the good news for those of you waiting for the fourth book in the Bullets & Doves series. Even with all these delays, most of the first draft is finished. Just a few more short chapters, an epilogue, and I’ll have it all wrapped up. Then a couple of weeks for the edit, and I figure I should have the book for sale–or download for you kindle unlimited people–by early June.

Sorry this book took a bit longer than usual, but all these things that popped up really slowed things down. The worst was the illness. I had factored in the trip to New England, but when I got sick, it just pushed everything back. Also, this book is a bit longer than the others, so that added to the time delay as well.

Everything is now back on track, and like I said before, you should be able to read the fourth book by the beginning of June. Thank you for making this series so popular. I hope you are all having a magnificent spring. Until next time.

G.C. Riley

Update for 04-12-2023

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Hello friends. Things are going well and on schedule with the fourth book in the Bullets & Doves series. However, as we all know, things happen and life sometimes gets in the way. In another post, I might have mentioned this one would be ready for release by late April.

That might have been a bit premature of me to say. I’m probably going to take a few extra days for this book. There’s a lot of story to tell in this one, and the first draft is definitely going to be longer than the other books in the series. When I edit the whole thing, it just might be shaved down, but it’s an intricate story with a lot of things to consider. We don’t want any loose ends, now do we.

So, taking all that into consideration, I’m probably looking at an early May release. The story itself is going very well, and practically writing itself. I’ll have it out to you just as soon as I can. Thanks.

G.C. Riley

Interesting Sunrise

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Hello friends. It was an interesting sunrise over the sea this morning. (If you’re wondering, I really do get up that early) I thought I’d share this picture with you. I used to love sunsets, but ever since I moved to South Florida, I’ve really come to appreciate sunrises.

I took this shot as I was having my morning coffee earlier today before I got down to work. Whether you live in the city, country, in the mountains, or near the ocean, I’m sure you have opportunities to take nice shots as well. Whenever the chance presents itself, do yourself a favor and take the time to snap the pic. It just may be an award-winning photo.

Everything is going well and on schedule. I’m well past the halfway point in the first draft of my next book already. I should have it out for sale by the end of the month. See my previous post/update for more info.

G.C. Riley

Update for 04-02-2023

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Hello friends. Just a quick update. I’m about halfway through the first draft of the 4th book in Bullets & Doves. I should be finished in a couple of weeks. Then maybe a week or two to edit it, and it should be ready for release by late April or early May.

I have to admit, I’m having a lot of fun writing this one. Like usual, it’s another classic western with a fair bit of romance. After all, a western isn’t a western without strong male and female characters, right? However, this story is a bit different. It centers around a hunt for gold. Hope you like it. Take care, and until next time.

G.C. Riley

Lazy Sunday

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Hi friends. It’s just one of those lazy Sundays. I’m lying around the house watching some golf on TV when I should be doing a bit of housework. Okay, okay, don’t be too hard on me. At least I got the laundry done.

I hope you are all having an enjoyable Sunday wherever you are. BTW, I have already started work on the fourth book in Bullets & Doves. Rough estimates—I should have it out for you by late April to early May. I’ll give you a more reliable estimate in a few days. Have a great rest of the weekend.

G.C. Riley

McCabe’s Last Stand Available for Sale

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Hello friends. I am proud to announce McCabe’s Last Stand: The Trial of Cassie Dodd is now available for sale. It is also available in Kindle Unlimited for the time being as well, so go ahead and download it ASAP. This is the third book in the Bullets & Doves series, and it was a heck of a lot of fun to write. I sincerely hope you enjoy it. Nothing gives me more pleasure than when I hear from one of my readers telling me how much they like my books.

I’m sorry I missed my deadline by about a week, but I had visitors recently. My son and his girlfriend came down here to South Florida from Boston for a brief vacation. I had not seen them in quite a while, so I just had to put things on hold and enjoy spending some time with them.

I still have a few loose ends to tie up, but rest assured, I’m already working on the plot for the fourth book in Bullets & Doves. A rough estimate for that release would probably be sometime in mid- to end of April. I actually want to have five books completed by the time summer rolls around, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

By the sales numbers and pages read, I can see that Bullets & Doves is turning out to be a huge success. Like I’ve said in other posts, I plan on writing many more books in this series. Don’t let that intimidate you, however. As most of you already know, these books are standalone, and can be read in any order.

Once again, thank you for everything. You are the best readers any author can ever hope to have. Take care.

G.C. Riley

Update for 02-14-2023

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Hello friends. Everything is on schedule. The third book in the Bullets & Doves series will be out late this week or early next week. I’ve got a couple of chapters left to edit and I should be done. After that, it’s just a matter of formatting and uploading, which does not take long.

I would have been done much sooner, but I’ve got some guests coming this week and I’m running around getting ready for their visit. I think I’ll take some time off during the week they’re here. I need a bit of a break. I’ve been going at it without rest since October. Barely took any time off during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

That’s okay, however. The hard work is paying off and I’m glad you’re enjoying the series so much. Thanks again. Until the next post.

G.C. Riley

Good News for Bullets & Doves Series

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Hello friends. As most of you know, the Bullets & Doves series is still fairly new. However, I have to say how happy I am with its success. The series is doing phenomenally well. As a matter of fact, it has exceeded my expectations in more ways than I can begin to tell you in just a short post.

I thank you for reading and enjoying these stories as much as you have been. With the extremely positive response I’ve been getting from this series, I plan on taking it as far as I possibly can, with many more books to come.

By the way, I am halfway through editing the third book in the series. If all goes well, it should be available either late next week or early the following week. Get ready, because there’s another great story for you to read on the horizon. Hopefully, you’ll find this one as entertaining as you found the first two.

G.C. Riley

Update for 01-31-2023

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Hello friends. I’m on the last scene of the book. I should be finished the first draft in the next day or two. After that, about two weeks for the edit and other things. The third book in the Bullets & Doves series is on schedule and should be available sometime in mid-February, as I stated in previous posts. Thanks.

G.C. Riley

On Schedule for Third Book

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Hello friends. Hope you had a good weekend. I wanted to write a short post to let you know everything is going according to schedule for the third book in the Bullets & Doves series. I have one third of the book completed, and at this pace, I should have it ready for release by mid-February like I wrote in a previous post.

The new, streamlined format I now use to write my books has been great for me. It allows me to get the books out to you much sooner than I used to before. For those of you that are enjoying this series—and the numbers I’m seeing tell me that many of you are—hold on because you’ll have the third book in just a few weeks. Thanks.

G.C. Riley

Next Book on the Way

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Friends, you’ll be happy to know I’ve started the third book in the Bullets & Doves series. It should be on sale by mid-February. Hope you’re enjoying the first two books. They were so much fun to write. This is a series I’m sure I can go long with, so get ready for many more books. And remember, each one of these novels can be read as standalone books, in any order.

For me, writing the first draft is always the best part of the writing process. It’s better than watching a great movie. I love the feeling of imagining the story and seeing it appear, as if by magic, on my computer screen. It’s one of the most satisfying feelings in the world for me. Have a great day/evening, friends. I’ll be back soon with another update.

G.C. Riley

Update on Hellfire Trail

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It’s only been a week or so, but sales and pages read on Hellfire Trail have been phenomenal. I expected it to be a great book, but I had no idea it would take off so fast. Now I know why they call it a book launch. This novel’s first few days have seen it rise through the clouds, on it’s way into orbit.

For all of you that have read it, thank you so much. Don’t forget to pick up the first book in the Bullets & Doves series titled Outlaw Called Sara: Eli Cooper’s Unfinished Business. You will also be glad to hear that early tomorrow morning, I’ll be starting the first draft of the third book in the series.

I’m sure I’ll have it ready for sale by mid-February. This new, streamlined writing format I’ve been using has a turnaround of approximately one and a half months from book release to book release. As far as the title goes, I think I’ll play it close to the vest for now. I have a working title right now, but it could change in the next few weeks.

Thanks again, friends. All this couldn’t be possible without you. Check back here soon for updates and please sign up for my email list. That way, you will receive an email as soon as I release the next book. You can sign up by clicking the link at the bottom of the Contact page.

G.C. Riley

Launch of a New Series

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Hello friends. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve recently launched two new books in a brand new series. Even though these books are in the same series, they can be read in any order. I named the series Bullets & Doves. The first book is called Outlaw Called Sara: Eli Cooper’s Unfinished Business. The second one, which I released just recently, is called Hellfire Trail: The Awakening of Rose Collins.

Like always, my books have plenty of action and suspense with a strong love interest just to make things even more interesting. I hope you like reading them. They were immensely fun to write and I intend to keep this series going for a while, with several more books to come.

What about the other series? Good question. The Pinewood Valley series has been a huge hit and I’m planning a book in that one sometime late this spring/early summer. The Sisters of Red River is another series I’d like to get back to at some point as well. I actually have book 2 of that one half done already, so it wouldn’t take much to complete.

However, as always, please don’t hold me to any of my long-range plans. The only certain information I can give you at this point is what I’m working on presently. The third book in Bullets & Doves should be out sometime this February. I haven’t started it yet, but I plan on plotting it out this week, and getting down to writing the first draft next Monday. Hang on folks, I think this one’s going to be something, with plenty of gun slinging and romance.

G.C. Riley

Hi, I’m back…

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Hello friends. Once again, I’d like to apologize for my absence from this site. The life of an independent writer is filled with a lot of work, and posting on a website probably comes last on the list. There is so much to do when launching a book that firing off a quick post is unfortunately overlooked.

However, I realize that this site is a resource for readers that cannot be taken lightly. I promise I will use this platform more often to keep you informed of what’s going on. For example, I’ve launched not one, but two books since my last post. Yes, two books in three months. It’s a record for me. One that I’m very proud of. Thanks for being patient.

G.C. Riley

Mid-Summer News

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Hello friends. Work on my Sisters of Red River series is going well. I have slowed down a bit, as I usually do in the summertime, but the writing is progressing at a moderate pace.

I’m also entertaining a friend visiting me here in South Florida. She’s the friend I usually go to visit in Europe every winter. We actually went to school together, and have known each other since we were kids. She’s a very dear and close friend to me as we’ve been through a lot together.

Other than that, Book 2 titled Cowboy Ranch Hand: Cora’s Lonesome Heart should be ready by late summer/early fall. Soon after that, I’ll start on Book 3, the last book in the series. I want to have the trilogy complete for the holiday season.

I hope you’re enjoying the summer, and wish you all well with health and happiness for you and your loved ones. Take care, and until next time. Love you all.

G.C. Riley

End of May Update

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Hello dear reader. I thought I’d take a moment to let you know how the second book in the Sisters of Red River Series is going. However, let me first say that the first book, Last Honorable Cowboy is doing quite well. It’s still too early to judge with any amount of accuracy, but I’m very pleased with sales and your feedback.

As I was saying, the second book, Cowboy Ranch Hand: Cora’s Lonesome Heart, is well on it’s way. It did take me a bit longer than usual to outline. I’m usually the fast outline type of writer. A quick, one-page outline and off I go, letting the chips fall where they may. But since this series has quite an intricate plot line, I took a bit longer this time.

Rest assured, I’m already well into writing the first draft already. So far, I’m on schedule for a mid-summer to early spring release. If you were twisting my arm for a more accurate estimate, I’d probably say sometime in September, and that’s playing it very conservatively. I wouldn’t be surprised if I finished it a bit sooner.

Other than that, keep reading, enjoy the summer, and I’ll be back with another update very soon. Love you all…

G.C. Riley

Good Old Days of Simple Websites

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Remember the good old days when you navigated to an important website to get information, accessed your accounts, or even checked up on the latest gossip? In my opinion, those days are long gone.

Today, when you’re surfing the web, hopping from favorite site to site, how many of us can actually say it’s a relaxing experience? When you’re bombarded with several ad videos playing at once, animated advertisements popping out at you from everywhere, and a multitude of other nuisances, the first thing on your mind might be, Get me out of here!!!

In the old days, I used to love sitting in front of my laptop with a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning. It really was relaxing, going to my favorite sites and catching up on news and gossip. It was my chance to finally use my computer for something other than work. I don’t do that anymore because I find it annoying, sometimes stressful.

Unless you have a new laptop with cutting edge software, the web has become a hostile place. Rather than sailing smooth seas, navigation from site to site is filled with gale force winds, treacherous shoals, and 30 foot waves breaking over the deck. Yes, it’s because of all that junk—most of it in the form of ads—that causes these feelings in web surfers.

It slows down your computer. When you access a website, all that cutesy garbage is loaded into your laptop. Heaven help you if your machine happens to be an older model. Even if it’s not, do you really want all that invasive stuff attacking your computer; perhaps even staying memory resident long after you’ve left the site, spying on your activity and logging your preferences? Not me, nosiree.

What I don’t understand are the organizations that advertise on these websites. Do they visit and see how annoying these sites really are, and how a visitor to the site their ad is on may associate their bad experience with their product? If there are any metrics on this, I suggest their marketing departments take a long, hard look at them.

My blog here has ads on it. However, let it be known that I did not put those ads there. I have no control over that since this is a free blog. WordPress, the site that hosts my blog put those ads there, but even so, these are simple ads like we had in the old days. When it comes down to it, WordPress is great at not putting any invasive ads onto your blog, and I highly recommend them.

If I want a completely ad-free blog, all I have to do is take the paid option. The ads WordPress puts on my blog would be completely removed for a low, yearly fee. I plan on doing that soon, but first I wanted to make sure this blog was feasible and beneficial as an author’s blog. Now that I see it is, I will be taking the paid option very soon so you won’t see any ads at all.

When it comes down to it, I just want you to enjoy coming to my blog, getting any book release news you’re looking for without any hassles, have a laugh or two at my sometimes off the wall personal observations, and have an all-around good experience.

G.C. Riley

Life in the Sunshine State

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Hi friends. It’s a sunny South Florida day today. Exactly what you’d imagine when you think of the Sunshine State. As you can see by the picture, the ocean is as flat as glass and crystal clear. Just the way I like it.

So why am I not down there on the beach right now? Because I have work to do. Writing books takes a lot of time and effort, but for some reason, all my friends and family who live in the northeast think I’m sitting on the beach, sipping a margarita day-after-day. It’s actually funny, if you think about it.

People don’t realize you still have to work, even though you live in Florida. It’s not that bad, though. At least I really enjoy what I do, and I can always take a look out the window and see the people having fun down on the beach every time I take a break. 🙂

All kidding aside, I really enjoy living here. The night life is incredible. The restaurants are awesome and numerous. The tropical scenery is out of this world. And you get to meet all sorts of people from every corner of the country.

However, if you’re seriously considering moving down here, you need to take everything into consideration. Yes, even the cat-5 hurricanes that bear down on you every once-in-a-while.

G.C. Riley