I read many different romance genres, but
I write contemporary – yes, I write what I know best. I admire the authors who
write historical or paranormal or…you name the genre. But I know I do best when
sticking with—in a way—what I know best.
Which leads me to why I write small
town-based romances.
For me to write what I know includes a
myriad of experiences of being born and growing up in a city, in between stints
of living overseas. But the childhood experiences that mark me are spending
summers in two small towns in New York (my grandmother’s house and an
Adirondack camp), going to college in a tiny town in Vermont, spending summers
in an out-of-the way small beach community, visiting my daughter in the
mountains of Colorado, and living most of my adult life in a medium-sized town near
the coast of Maine. These towns are the basis of my world building. Then my
imagination takes over with what-ifs.
Don’t get me wrong, I love cities. As a
teen it was a great place to grow up, with its little neighborhoods, easy
transportation to wherever you wished to go, the cultural and educational
opportunities, and vibrant diversity. And I do write about big city
experiences, but usually in the context of coming
home to the small town.
All my experiences are like nutrients that
nourish and grow my stories. And when you can add in elements of true
experiences, all the better.
My daughter used to live in the Colorado mountains, so I know the glitz of small-town Aspen compared to the family- and small-business-friendly towns down valley. Elements of both types of small towns show up in my upcoming series, Cowboys of Mineral Springs.
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| Cattle Drive |
In The Prince’s Son, book
one, due out in April, the setting is based on a ranch near Aspen once owned by
a middle-eastern true-life prince. My daughter taught skiing to children of
wealthy visitors to Aspen. Both are true-to-life inspiration for my entirely
fictional characters.
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| Downtown Aspen |
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| Lobster Trap Christmas Tree |
Plus, there is
something romantic about small towns, where you can walk down the street and
know people, or jar memories from when you were a child or a teen or a young
married couple. Where you can hear the high school band warming up for the Veteran’s
Day parade from your back porch, even though the high school parking lot is
across town. Or walk several blocks to the town square to watch outdoor movies
on the green, or listen to the municipal band at the gazebo, or wander the
weekly farmer’s market, or skate on the man-made pond in the winter. And what’s
a day without running into and chatting with half-dozen friends in one trip to the
grocery store.
Basically, small
towns conjure up the images of being able to stop and smell the roses, instead of letting life pass you by in a
whir of work, rushing to catch public transportation, climbing the corporate
ladder, never having time to say hello to a neighbor in the apartment hallway,
or even recognizing them as your neighbor.
I was asked if writing about small towns
is limiting.
I believe there is a never-ending source
of inspiration for creating small-town worlds. You take bits and pieces of reality,
and they morph into fiction on the page. In small towns your characters can
find their happily-ever-after, maybe with a bit of meddling from the aunt who
has always been there for them, or under the microscope of the entire town. It’s
a different dynamic than in a city setting.
The layout of the small town facilitates
the ability to constantly run into friends and enemies. The characters can’t get away with avoiding people, being
put under the microscope of scrutiny, or being the victim of matchmaking.
For me, writing
small town is fun! And when the big, bad world around us gets to be too much,
immersing myself in writing (or reading) small town romance can take me away,
at times, to what seems like a less complicated way of life. Don’t get me
wrong, there are villains in small
towns too. Where would the fun / challenge / growth be if everything was all
life as seen through small-town rosy glasses?
The
Prince’s Son
A
first meet, royalty and nanny romance between a self-exiled prince, Ari Orula,
with a royal chip on his shoulders and the local rancher’s daughter, Carla
Peters, who rails against any man who tries to tell her what to do. When
she tries to tell the prince how to raise his son, tempers flare and sparks
fly.
Delsora
Lowe writes small town sweet romances and contemporary westerns from the
mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine ~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the
home fires burning ~
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| Delsora Lowe |
A transplanted big city gal, world-wide traveler,
and foreign-service brat, who now lives in a coastal Maine town, Delsora Lowe
loves to write about small town heroes from the cowboys and ranchers of
Colorado to the game wardens and lobstermen of Maine. Her work in the
hospitality industry, rape crisis, admissions, alumni relations, and women’s
advocacy has allowed her to interact on a daily basis with real life heroines
and heroes.
Lowe’s family visits to Colorado are the inspiration for an
upcoming contemporary western series, Cowboys
of Mineral Springs, to be released in 2019 and 2020. And her daughter’s
wedding and her son’s home, both on the coast of Maine, provided plentiful
ideas for the Starlight Grille
series (released in 2017 and 2018).
Look for Delsora’s
short romance, entitled Sweet Change of Heart, in Woman’s World Magazine, to be released on January 31 – February
7, 2019
Links:
Author Website:
www.delsoralowe.com
Amazon Author Page:
http://amzn.to/2nRx1Bs
Author Newsletter signup (only sent out
when there is news): http://www.delsoralowe.com/contact.html
Author Blog:
http://www.delsoralowe.com/blog
