"SHADOW LOVE" Needs Some Love

It is just a novella but, boy, is it giving me headaches – and I do so like my Monika Lenz as she struggles to find herself (and that hunky pilot she’s fantasizing about).

It's an interesting story (if I say so myself) but somehow, readers are not giving it the love it deserves.

I've tried several titles, several covers. So, once again, here is the latest:

     The idea for this novella has rattled around my head for so many years, that my now long-departed mother once cried aloud: "Oh, child. This is you!" It was an assumption I fervently denied. Granted, the protagonist is Austrian (like me), she is attractive and successful (no problem there). However, she does drink a little—and that's where I drew the line. But in order for the story to work, I had to burden the lady with a grip on the nip.

     There is also a connection to my other novels—the charming Edward, Con Extraordinaire-although in Shadow Love, he appears only in Monika Lenz's regretting memory.

     (As an aside, Edward turns out not quite so charming anymore in the modern-day adventure/thriller sequels to Khamsin, The Devil Wind of the Nile. We meet him first in Sirocco, Storm over Land and Sea, where he turns slightly murderous. Then, in After the Cataclysm, things seem to go from bad to worse for our protagonists. And you'll just have to read what goes on in The Crystal Curse.)

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     What did I learn while writing this novella? Well, for one thing, you can't drink and write. The only road to success (whenever that may come, if at all) is a little bit of talent, an excellent grasp of a language, good research, an even better imagination and, above all, tenacity. Keeping at it until your fingers bleed, your brain goes foggy, and your eyes cross, is a given. And then: EDIT, EDIT, EDIT.

     And if you must, don't be too lazy to republish; even one detected typo after the book has been foisted onto your readers is worth the effort.

     What else did I learn from all my books? That this writing-thing has turned into an all-consuming passion.

     The reward is when readers do that they do best: Reading my stories. Second best is, when they leave reviews letting us writers know how our stories affected them. Of course, if they liked them, that's pure gravy.

Buy on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3B9A5E

Excerpt

Men! She was glad that she had decided to be through with them. At least for a while. Monika stretched. It was going to be a long trip and already her back felt stiff.

Muori dannato! Tosca sobbed through the stereo speakers. After stabbing her powerful tormentor, she wills him to die. E morto. A wronged woman’s vendetta justly meted out. At least, according to Puccini.

Monika grimaced. “Damn,” she said through her teeth. “Fifty, and giving up on life. And sex. Bummer.” She glanced at the rock-jumbled hills, their wasted slopes echoing her impassive heart.

After doggedly pressing on for several more hours, Route 203 finally led her toward Mammoth Lakes.

“Almost there, Bandito.” She stuck her finger into the carrier again and scratched her cat’s velvety nose. He may be just a cat but Monika knew having him there with her could mean the difference between sanity and despair.

“Let’s just hope you don’t live up to your name,” she smiled.

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