My latest quilting mystery, OCEAN WAVES, has been released. The official pub date is April 1st, but Amazon started shipping and MI sent me a shipment, so I began selling books. Saturday, I spoke at the Milpitas Alliance for the Arts Literary Luncheon to a wonderful audience and received the first complaint.
I set the book at a real place, Asilomar, which is a lovely California state park that is popular for retreats and conferences. It's a fabulous piece of real estate along the Pacific Ocean just north of Pebble Beach. Designed as a women's retreat house for the YWCA nearly a hundred years ago, the buildings were designed by Julia Morgan. Many of the original Craftsman style buildings are still being used and their timeless grace and beauty enhance the experience.
California State Rangers give nature tours and everything is done to ensure the ecosystem remains viable. The price of a stay there is reasonable and the food is pretty good. It is, in short, heaven on earth.
Now, my fan says, she's afraid to stay there. I've been on quilting retreats with her. We always have a wonderful time. And she's scared now. Just because of a little ole murder or two? What can I say? Natural and beautiful has its dark side.
Has an author ever scared you? Have you ruined a wonderful sanctuary by setting a murder there?
I've been thinking about setting a book on Alcatraz. That might be the way to go.
4 comments:
If you scared her that badly you must have done a heck of a writing job.
I assume my books are too tongue-in-cheek to scare anyone, but I guess you never know people's tolerance levels.
It sounds like a beautiful place, Terri! I would think your reader's fear would be mitigated by the fact that she knows you. Now I want to see what you wrote that's so scary.
My books are set in a fictionalized version of a real town. That way I can make up anything I want, but the people who live there still know it's about their place.
Terri, I say you set the next book at her house and really push her over the edge.
Not really.
But I love that your writing is so vivid that you've gotten into her psyche. I figured her complaint would be that the place is going to be too busy now that you've shared the secret with the world. Can you hold a signing there?
Gin. I like tongue-in-cheek. In fact, I don't think she was THAT scared. (or scarred for the matter).
Cricket, my other series is set in a fictionalized version of a real place, mostly because the boundaries are so convoluted, that the law enforcement issue would be confusing. That's fun.
Jess, I love your idea of having it at her house! And having a signing there is brilliant. if the Rangers will let me back in...
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