Blog Hop: WIP of #Bandita, Book II

1) What is the (working) title of your featured WIP?The working title is currently Book II of Bandita Bonita: Romancing Billy the Kid

2) What genre does your book come into?
Historical Fiction

3) Provide a short blurb or an idea of what the book is about.
The story takes place in New Mexico and Book I ends in July 1878 with the 5-Days-War, officially ending The Lincoln County War, and Book II picks up directly after that, chronicling the fall-out of that war which nearly spanned another three years until 1881. The protagonist, Lucy “Lucky Lu” Howard, resumes her tale of Billy’s life in the wake of that war, which was a war for supremacy between cattle barons in New Mexico, and his rise to fame as the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid.

4) Is your book part of a series? If so what is the series called and what volume number is your featured WIP within this series?
This is Book II in the Bandita trilogy (#Bandita)

5)Who is your MC and what do you think is his/her greatest challenge in the featured book?My protagonist is Lucy Howard, a New York heiress who of her own accord remains caught up in the aftermath of the war that continues to rage in New Mexico. Her primary challenges include her attempts to save Billy from a doomed fate against the odds, and to win her own freedom from the male dominated social hierarchy that awaits her in the east. She also finds herself still struggling to survive in the harsh environment of the Wild West, but of course she manages it, while navigating the stark oppression of women in the west as well.

6) What do you think is the most important lesson your MC will learn as a result of this book?Lucy learns the hard lesson that freedom comes at a price and that loved ones are lost regardless of the exhausted efforts of trying to save them. She also learns that “right” does not always win out over “wrong”— that those in power, no matter how crooked, hold all the cards.

7) What social issues does your book series touch on/avoid and why?
Book I and II both deal with the discouraging oppression of women in the Victorian age as well as investigating the issues of love and friendship which span the chasm of class differentials, the concept of nature v. nurture, and the detriment of crooked power. It also touches on the reality that those who stand to lose their freedoms, rights, and lives, the oppressed, are formidable against the richest powers that be despite their disadvantages in position.

8) Will you be writing any more books about this particular MC?
Yes. Bandita is a trilogy—Book III has already been conceived.

9) Have you written in other genres or do you plan to do so in future?
As far as other genres are concerned, I’ve had false starts in the past, though I did nearly complete another work of historical fiction years ago that dealt with the Wild West, getting as far as writing a second draft. I am not averse to writing under a different genre, but at present my full concentration is on the story I am telling.

10) When do you think your featured WIP will be released?
Book I was just launched on December 23, 2013, so I am not rushing Book II. I of course want to get it to publication ASAP, but quality needs to come before quantity, and so I need to take a certain amount of time in order to feel comfortable that I’ve gotten it as right as I possibly can.

You can read a sample of Bandita Bonita, Book I on Amazon.com (Also available on Kindle and Nook).

Sample of Book I on Amazon.com


For an excerpt from Book II, you can visit the Western Online Webzine at:

The Western Online_The Shade of Richard Twitter: @Western_Online

Visit my author page at: www.nicolemdixonauthor.com, or contact me via Twitter: @NikkiMDixon

This blog hop was sent to me by Juliet P. Madison, author of Best Served Cold: julietmadisoncrimeauthor.wordpress.com Find her on Twitter: @JulietBMadison