by Rain Trueax
As a writer, I love all my books. Of course, I do-- if I didn’t, they’d not be out there. Each has something special about them. Some though have more of me in them—not saying which. Some have more fun in them—not saying which. I though thought about one recently and wanted to write about it and why I wrote and love it.
As a writer, I love all my books. Of course, I do-- if I didn’t, they’d not be out there. Each has something special about them. Some though have more of me in them—not saying which. Some have more fun in them—not saying which. I though thought about one recently and wanted to write about it and why I wrote and love it.
Bannister’s Way's hero was a secondary character in an earlier book (Desert Inferno) where I liked him and thought about a book for him... someday. Then along came an idea that he had an ex-wife. That’d be fun and something I hadn’t done. I had done ex’s who never married; but a marriage that went bust, that was new. He’s a detective, exceedingly handsome, but what would she be?
Raven turned out to be a professor in a small liberal arts college, a sculptor, who would prefer making her living creating original works of art than to teach life drawing to students
who had little interest in it. She has tried to rework her life after the divorce, but a meddling mother complicates it. Still, she has a comfortable life with dreams for making it better-- that do not include her ex, who always made things difficult.
David comes to town to investigate a murder at her college. Perfect setup but even better was how his partner got him into the school undercover—very uncovered as he’d be posing for his ex’s life drawing class. I had taken one of those in college; so I knew how it worked. He had no idea what he was getting into. Despite his shock and annoyance at his partner, despite her reluctance to use him and work so closely (he will also pose for her commission, they neither have a choice-- her because too late to get another model and him
because he wants to woo her back.
This book has arguments over art, a wily villain, good male bonding between partners; and old ladies who came into the book at different points. Her home is set on the Tualatin River, a home very like one where I had spent time as a kid when my uncle was renting it while his home was being built.
Raven turned out to be a professor in a small liberal arts college, a sculptor, who would prefer making her living creating original works of art than to teach life drawing to students
David comes to town to investigate a murder at her college. Perfect setup but even better was how his partner got him into the school undercover—very uncovered as he’d be posing for his ex’s life drawing class. I had taken one of those in college; so I knew how it worked. He had no idea what he was getting into. Despite his shock and annoyance at his partner, despite her reluctance to use him and work so closely (he will also pose for her commission, they neither have a choice-- her because too late to get another model and him
This book has arguments over art, a wily villain, good male bonding between partners; and old ladies who came into the book at different points. Her home is set on the Tualatin River, a home very like one where I had spent time as a kid when my uncle was renting it while his home was being built.
So, I know the river, the house, and have been a sculptor myself. I know the feel of clay under my fingers—and a lot of my sculptures were nudes—male and female. Besides posing for her life drawing class, his job is to pose for her commission—a sculpture of Prometheus. Some Greek mythology finds its way into the story. (As a side note, I brought this book out with a different title-- Golden Chains. I thought it'd be apropos based on the mythology and love itself. Turned out readers thought it was erotica, and I had to change it).
Despite my own love for it, Bannister’s Way has been one of those books to fall into Amazon's black hole-- typical with my contemporaries. I am not reaching their potential readers even when in KU. Mine are not that hard-edge to fit one idea of contemporary, but they also are not Hallmark. That is always a problem with having to find a box for a book that doesn't fit one.
Recently I read that a book’s blurbs might be the problem. If the blurb doesn’t excite, the reader goes on. There is a business (of course, there is), which offers to write blurbs that will sell books. Their price-- over $300 each. Might be worth it if it actually worked; but when I look at what I wrote above, this is a complex book. Simple books might do better for creating blurbs with zing. Maybe a book where teachers argue art philosophy just isn’t appealing to romance readers; so that even with a murderer on the loose, the suspense doesn’t add enough punch. I’m trying to think what kinds of blurbs attract me…
When I wanted to update the cover and reformat the text with Vellum, I learned something interesting about Amazon’s policies. It kept saying it was in review, when other books sailed by with changes. Finally, it dawned on me that in the blurb I used the word nude. Well, that’s what a life drawing class is. That must have triggered the censors. They had to have a human look at its usage (not erotica at all). Once I took out that word (we were trying to get Vellum to make the first paragraph look right since it begins with one word) it sailed through. Lesson learned but unlikely to apply to a different book anyway. How many times would nude fit a book...
Despite my own love for it, Bannister’s Way has been one of those books to fall into Amazon's black hole-- typical with my contemporaries. I am not reaching their potential readers even when in KU. Mine are not that hard-edge to fit one idea of contemporary, but they also are not Hallmark. That is always a problem with having to find a box for a book that doesn't fit one.
Recently I read that a book’s blurbs might be the problem. If the blurb doesn’t excite, the reader goes on. There is a business (of course, there is), which offers to write blurbs that will sell books. Their price-- over $300 each. Might be worth it if it actually worked; but when I look at what I wrote above, this is a complex book. Simple books might do better for creating blurbs with zing. Maybe a book where teachers argue art philosophy just isn’t appealing to romance readers; so that even with a murderer on the loose, the suspense doesn’t add enough punch. I’m trying to think what kinds of blurbs attract me…
When I wanted to update the cover and reformat the text with Vellum, I learned something interesting about Amazon’s policies. It kept saying it was in review, when other books sailed by with changes. Finally, it dawned on me that in the blurb I used the word nude. Well, that’s what a life drawing class is. That must have triggered the censors. They had to have a human look at its usage (not erotica at all). Once I took out that word (we were trying to get Vellum to make the first paragraph look right since it begins with one word) it sailed through. Lesson learned but unlikely to apply to a different book anyway. How many times would nude fit a book...
Randy and Marla from Evening Star are also in this book as secondary characters. In my Romance with an Edge books, a few do share characters.
A little snippet:
"I'm Dr. Lawrence, but you can call me Raven as that feels like me. You are in Life Drawing 301. If you are in the wrong room, leave now. If you belong here, I want your registration cards. As the basket comes past, put them in it. No chatter now. Listen up. I want to explain to you something about the class you've registered for."
David only half listened as he heard her tell them about the value there was to be had from taking seriously a study of fine art, how throughout the ages great artists have seen the study of the body--the musculature, the bone structure, in short the anatomy--was important to make their work come alive. They must take seriously the study of the nude--
Whoa! What had she just said? Nude! Who said anything about... nude? And then he knew and wished nothing so much as that Vance was nearby where he could get his hands around his throat. A good dodge, a natural way in, his friend had said. Friend, hah! He'd kill him! He barely heard the rest of Raven's instructions. It was impossible. No way under this earth or above it could he take off his clothes in front of all these people! He looked at the students, at their interested gazes in a new way. They must know he was the model, the guinea pig, the sacrificial lamb, the... No! He would not strip. It was out of the question. No way could he do it.
A little snippet:
"I'm Dr. Lawrence, but you can call me Raven as that feels like me. You are in Life Drawing 301. If you are in the wrong room, leave now. If you belong here, I want your registration cards. As the basket comes past, put them in it. No chatter now. Listen up. I want to explain to you something about the class you've registered for."
David only half listened as he heard her tell them about the value there was to be had from taking seriously a study of fine art, how throughout the ages great artists have seen the study of the body--the musculature, the bone structure, in short the anatomy--was important to make their work come alive. They must take seriously the study of the nude--
Whoa! What had she just said? Nude! Who said anything about... nude? And then he knew and wished nothing so much as that Vance was nearby where he could get his hands around his throat. A good dodge, a natural way in, his friend had said. Friend, hah! He'd kill him! He barely heard the rest of Raven's instructions. It was impossible. No way under this earth or above it could he take off his clothes in front of all these people! He looked at the students, at their interested gazes in a new way. They must know he was the model, the guinea pig, the sacrificial lamb, the... No! He would not strip. It was out of the question. No way could he do it.
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