Detailing The Flavor Of A City

At the top of Art Hill in Forest Park

Yes, I'm somewhat into self-mortification. Last week, before I pressed "publish" on my latest novel, I actually looked at the reviews of the first one. The one that started it all. For a variety of reasons, I'm reworking it, and since it is free, I need to add it to an online retailer that hasn't ever carried it. So, I wanted to know what needed to be fixed.

One review was amazingly disheartening as the reader completely missed the interplay between the characters and went straight to objecting to their faith demonstrations. Okay, maybe I overdid it with all of that, but when it comes to "write about what you know," that's what I know.

In a way, though, all of that detail was supposed to be a reflection of the character of the city. My hometown of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by Pierre Laclede, a Frenchman who came up the Mississippi to set up a fur trading post. One of the first buildings built was a church. As a friend who is not a native put it, in STL Catholics still rule the roost. We have two St. Patrick's Day parades, a Mardi Gras celebration second only to New Orleans and maybe Carnival in Brazil, the open container law in the state is you can't be the driver and have an open container...and then there are the Lenten Fish Fries.

Yes, I poured on the fish fries a bit thick in the first book, but when I say there are websites dedicated to posting which parishes have one which week during Lent, and listings in the newspapers, I'm not kidding. Radio stations do remotes from them. St. Ferdinand, which is mentioned in the book, is legendary for being the best of the best. St. Mary Magdalen actually has a drive through every week. My parish does two. They're big fundraisers where everyone pitches in and has fun - and it is part of the culture.

Perhaps that wasn't explained well, but there it is. EVERYONE goes to the fish fries. EVERYONE.

And so it is, as I go to write the tenth installment (started the first draft today), this one takes place in August and September. Honestly, for the first three weeks of August NOTHING happens around here. It's hot, and a lot of people are out of town. September, on the other hand, is one festival or event after another. Trying to work all of that in is going to be a challenge. Greek Fest, the Japanese Festival, the Clayton Art Fair which is a nationally judged event, the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. These are the weekend events by which we mark time.

It also speaks very much to the culture of the city, one that is not well understood outside of it. There is so much to do here, it's not even funny.

I'll try to work more of that in.

Getting Ready For A New Book

At the end of a rather stressful summer, it was time to face some facts about my published ebooks. Frankly, for some reason, readership has been less than stellar. I'm really not sure if the reality is that I was taking too long between publications, or if it was something else.  Like marketing.

Argh.

Trying to break into an established novel genre, like romance, even in the indie market is difficult. There's a lot of people out there trying to do the same, and trying to break through all the barriers put up to be sure material that publishing houses would most likely reject actually reaches the readers. (Like clean romance that many readers prefer over books with soft porn scenes.)

And so, I'm investing time in learning how to get the word out. This is not as easy as it looks.

In the meantime, "Talk Dirty to Me" is the first book in the second half of the "Turn My Head" Series. Here's the blurb that will appear at the beginning of the book when it is published right after Labor Day.

Welcome to the second half of the “Turn My Head” series!

In the first six books, we meet a family of seven amazingly hot, and wealthy brothers – and their brides – the Pernouds. The boys all inherited the family trait of falling in love forever at first sight, a phenomenon known as “head turning” in their family.

Along the way in the first six installments of this series, we meet several friends and in-laws who have just as muxed up lives as every other human family out there. In the second half, we get to know Ryan Fallon, Josie Miller, Mickey Dolan, and his southern belle, Tara McKenzie. Sean Dolan capitulates on pursuing Marianne Drummond, and her big brother Linus and Sean and Mickey’s sister Maureen spend a lot of time dancing the night away.

Along the way, Gabriel Pernoud and Alicia Drummond FINALLY get married, but not without massive Drummond family drama better suited for the stage than a wedding. Picking up the rear, is a Pernoud cousin, Declan Collins, whose head turner slapped him across the face when he approached her. She was attached at the time, but is no longer.

Watch for the next installments of the Turn My Head series – the brainchild of this author and the product of her hard work, imagination, and observations of human behavior over the years – at this ebook retailer.

For updates, news, and the occasional snippet of upcoming installments, follow my facebook page at www.facebook.com/PatriciaHoldenAuthor.

The first six books of the Turn My Head series are:

1. Turn My Head – Adam Pernoud and Mae Jones
2. Break Through – Ben Pernoud and Darcy Platt
3. Third Time’s the Charm – Christian Pernoud and Sarah Jane Rappaport
4. Conflict of Interest - Damian Pernoud and Margot Dolan
5. Romeo Night – Ed Pernoud and Beth Hartke
6. Last Man Standing – Francis Pernoud and Rosemary Fallon

Permission to Relax

One of the hardest aspects of transitioning from office work, chasing after kids, staying up on current events so as to be an effective blogger, etc., to almost a pure artist in terms of writing, music, and crochet, is learning to relax. Well, not so much relax, but learning to shut down and do nothing as a means of recharging the creative batteries.

I'm lucky enough to live in a hidden gem of a city where we have world class cultural institutions and amenities accessible year round thanks to them being on a tax base. Truly, taking advantage of the proximity is something I enjoy. However, escaping the guilt of living in a society where work is often placed above family and God - let alone mental health and natural stress relief - is much harder. Just sitting at the pool and watching people I've known for decades sunning themselves is a challenge.

After a challenging summer, that is where I find myself. I need to finish up a book, and get it published, but am only good for editing for about an hour and half. Composing I can last longer, and frequently do, but an hour and a half of work in a day?  Huh? I'm an American. How is that possible? So many people here are fond of saying "if you don't work, you don't eat."

Well, in writing, some realities just have to be worked around, and is something I have to reconcile, just like only being able to sing for so long before the voice and the rest of the body needs rest. The brain and the creative juices need it too.

And I have to take it. It's a learned skill in a family of people who have a tendency not to stop.

That's where I am. Learning to make a schedule that includes rest and relaxation as part of the work cycle.

News:

I started sketching out Alicia and Gabriel's story today. Will begin composing when I have "Talk Dirty to Me" published, and Draft 2 of "High Maintenance" in the can.

Draft 3 of "Talk Dirty to Me" should be done within the next week. Looking at the second week of September or so to publish depending on Draft 4.

Why Clean Romance?

It's a little odd for someone who fell in love with the romance genre on bodice rippers and pirate stories to be writing what is now termed "clean romance" meaning no between the sheets action in the pages, but there is a method to the madness.

After years of being a connoisseur, being a member of writers' forums on and off for the last twenty years, and reading lots of reviews, it's very apparent that there is a whole swath of romance readers out there who really don't like the steamy sex scenes.

Really.

To an extent, I'm one of them.

See, the bedroom can be quite distracting from the actual story, and yes, a lot us writers know this.

The first time I realized that the sex scenes were not "all that" was some time ago in the middle of a Virginia Henley novel. Seriously, this was the soft core porn precursor to "Fifty Shades of Gray." And the sad thing is...not too long ago I read a novel by a different author who outdid Henley on the descriptions, and none of it was germane to the story.

Honestly.

And the big push on sex in romance novels isn't coming from the writers necessarily. Reports are out there that the publishing houses have been known to send manuscripts back to the authors asking for the scenes to be "hotter." Guess they haven't read the reviews where reader write notes saying that such interludes are unwanted.

So, when I started self publishing, I took the chance on clean romance and while there are some steamy scenes (one of them was actually in a steam shower), the characters remain covered. Hopefully. (If I slipped up, readers, please let me know.) The idea is to tell the story, not to get the reader all hot and bothered.

(For more on this idea, the legendary Mary Balogh had a good piece and discussion on her website a few years ago.)