The Next Big Thing - Blog Hop!

Over the past weeks many authors have been participating in a blog hop to help get the word out about our new upcoming books. Today it is my turn. Below are answers to questions about the "next big thing," which for me is the coming release on April 1, 2013, of Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to write about my hometown. 

What is the title of your book?

Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Where did the idea come from for the book?  

My publisher, Summerside Press, was looking for stories set in resorts and I was raised in Lake Geneva--a perfect fit I would say!

What genre does your book fall under?  

Historical Romance

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?  

When I first developed my characters I decided that my heroine, Meg Alden, looked like an actress from the 30s whom I think is Gloria Stewart, but I can’t find the source now. 

In my mind's eye, Jack Wallace, the hero, bore a resemblance to Jack Kennedy during his college days. 

As I wrote the story, I realized more and more that I was picturing Meg and Jack more as how my parents looked at that age, which isn’t too far from the original “famous people” models I used. 

Here’s a shot of my parents when they were young and in love.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?  

Will she give her heart to the man who stole her job?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am represented by Terry Burns at Hartline Literary, and the book is published by Summerside Press, due to release April 1, 2013. You can preorder it on line right now at Amazon.com and other online bookstores.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Counting the three months of research, about nine months.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  

Any books in the “Love Finds You” line or historical romances set in small towns during the 30s and 40s.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?  

I’ve always dreamed of wanting to write a story set in my beautiful hometown and when my editor encouraged me to come up with a proposal, I decided on focusing on the Riviera Building which was built in 1933. The “Riv” has become an icon of Lake Geneva and is historically protected. The second floor ballroom hosted many big bands during that era and it has proven itself to be a worthy “co-star” in my story. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Today Lake Geneva is still a beautiful  town, but it is vastly different than the town of the 30s or even the 50s and 60s. My story gives a glimpse of the town as it was when Main Street was lined with retail establishments that included at least two drugstores, a bakery, two hardware stores, a meat market, and many other businesses. People went to town to shop and socialize. Nowadays people do their regular shopping at the edge of town where Walmart and Target are located. I took great care through my research to include actual stores and restaurants that were there during 1933 depict the small town life that existed back then. It’s a nostalgic look at Americana during the Great Depression that carried forward for several decades. 

But, one thing hasn’t changed since a very-long-ago glacier first carved out Geneva Lake—the lake itself. It’s still spring-fed,  crystal-clear,  beautiful body of water there for all to enjoy.

My book is already listed on Amazon and other on-line bookseller sites. If you click on my book cover, you will be taken to Amazon to pre-order, but feel free to purchase at other sites if you wish!

Blogger's Note: Late yesterday I learned that the sequel to my debut novel Thyme for Love,  will be released in about three weeks! This blog was already written for today. Be sure to look for Love Will Find a Way, a contemporary mystery romance that concludes Marc and April's journey to love with a few mysterious twists and turns along the way!

Next week two of my author friends will be posting about their new books at their blogs. Be sure to hop on over there and check them out.

Ada Brownell:  http://www.inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com/

Lynda Schab: http://www.on-the-write-track.blogspot.com/

Writing Historical - A New Experience And I'm Having a Blast!

A few months back, I wrote about seeing my hometown of Lake Geneva, WI through new eyes as I delved into research in preparation for writing a book set there in 1933.

I finished the proposal on August first, and my agent sent it on to a potential publisher. In the meantime, I attended the ACFW conference in Denver, and then reworked my cozy mystery from a mystery with romance to a romance with mystery. It is now titled, Thyme for Love. With the proposal for that story out at several places, I finally have time to work on my Lake Geneva romance called Dream a Little Dream of Me. It's only a working title and often publishers will change titles to suit their preferences, so I hang onto it loosely.

Other than writing a short story for a creative writing class based on my grandmother's diary from 1900, I have never written historical fiction in my life. I have always loved writing about today, having my characters use their cell phones, computers, etc. and ride around in fast cars. But writing early to mid 20th century historical is different than writing historicals set in Colonial times or even at the turn of the century, 1900.

Today's Lake Geneva looks a lot different than the Lake Geneva I grew up in. First, the town has grown by about 3,000 people, and second, it now boasts a Super Walmart, McDonalds, Burger King, Home Depot and many other franchised operations. When I was a kid we had to drive to Milwaukee for a McDonald's burger. The lake, of course, is still there, but the beach has been improved and some of the large mansions have been torn down for smaller lots.

However, if you stop long enough to look, you'll still see vestages of the past. Enough mansions are still there, perhaps boasting several more coats of paint or a wing added on, but they are still the stately manors they were in the 19th century.

Stroll down Main Street and look up past the modern storefronts of shops selling gourmet foods, boutique clothing, and home decor and you'll see the architecture of a time gone by. It doesn't take much to imagine a butcher shop, food market, or mercantile that once existed on the street level.

Today what was once called the Slater Building houses a real estate company. When I was a child I went to the dentist on the second floor, and I can't remember what was on the first floor. Probably a different real estate company. That's the building on the right. Back in 1933, it housed the Lake Geneva News-Trib, the weekly paper where the hero and heroine in my novel meet and work. It's a special feeling to know that I've been in that building many times as a child, and now here I am writing a story set right there.

Oh if those walls could talk. I bet they'd give me fodder for more stories than I could write. And it would be a blast.