This month sees the release of my eleventh novel for Harlequin Books. Eleven. Every one of them was a challenge to write. I sweated the ideas. I worried about the characters. I wondered about what happens next. Words, words, words! I needed words. But I needed them put together in just the right way for readers to care about the characters as much as I did and want to turn the page. Smoothly written prose that doesn’t touch the emotions might as well not be written.
Every once in a while, however, a story comes along that almost writes itself. THE SOLDIER AND THE ROSE was that story for me. Like a waterfall from which I was the source, came words and ideas so quickly, so instinctively, that once I started writing, I knew this story had been sitting inside my heart for a long time. A story of everlasting love. A story of family.
Stories of my own family’s beginnings in Brooklyn, NY dangled in front of me, and I immediately had the setting for this book. Not only could I picture the house and street, but I smelled the aromas coming from the kitchen – I still make those recipes – I remembered the hair styles and dresses that I’d seen in pictures of my mother and aunts. I recalled the sense of community as they talked about their young lives through the years of the Great Depression and WWII.
Most important of all was the family itself. That wonderful satisfaction and security of belonging to a family that loved me carried over from my early days in Brooklyn to the present time. Although they are gone now, the older generation is with me still - in my heart- at all times. Isn't this also what an everlasting love is about?
So, Charlie and Rose Shapiro, the soldier and his rose, were shaped by the hard times of the 1930’s and 40’s, but like all lovers throughout history, discover that love transcends anything life can throw at them.
Please join me tonight for a chat about THE SOLDIER AND THE ROSE and about Everlasting Love - the books or the reality. I hope to see you in the chat room at NovelTalk at 9:00 ET / 8:00 CT. You can use any name to sign in. Here’s the link:
http://www.noveltalk.com/chat/default.asp.
Two copies of the book will be given as prizes.
Best,
Linda
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3 comments:
I missed your chat, Linda, so sorry. Running errands. Sigh But I can't wait to read your book. It sounds wonderful!
Dang, Linda, I didn't win a book!!!
I ordered it this morning as I keep forgetting when I'm out. Can't wait to read it.
I missed the chat but what a wonderful romance! Here is something I posted about THE SOLDIER AND THE ROSE on Challenge blog and also about EL as a whole (hope it's okay to post this):
...When I was a kid, I was the grandchild who loved to visit my grandparents. What I really loved was their stories. When I read Everlasting Love, and THE SOLDIER AND THE ROSE, I get that very special part of my life, the stories of families and of people who lived through things before me. It's hard in today's hectic society to get that anywhere but I find it in Everlasting Love. I found this second chance romance to be inspirational, not in a religious sense, but in the sense that I saw a woman who lived through WWII and financial fear and the loss of her husband and also had a 60 year marriage. Despite the fact that these romances are touched with sadness and hard times, I always feel better after reading them. I feel like they give me a glimpse at life beyond the moment but through time and how love, real love, is made through time. I also loved this one because it told the story of WWII on the homefront, not just during the war or on the battle fields, but in the hearts of a hero and heroinem ---- not just during the war but in their lives.
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