My librarian never-married aunt read The Fear of Flying by Erica Jong nearly forty years ago when it was
first published. She wrapped the cover in brown paper. No one else knew her
secret, except me, the hippie niece.
I remember her showing me the title of the first chapter in
her plainly wrapped paperback and giggling about the F-bomb being used in
print. Through my 1970s’ haze, I laughed with her about the use of that
particular word printed in a novel, let alone in the first chapter’s title. She
made me promise to tell no one, particularly her sister, my mother.
Her embarrassment at reading a racy novel sums up my
feelings about romance novels, until a year ago.
I read my share of romances as a form of pure escapism during
my years of teaching high school English. Discussing the metaphors and
symbolism in Moby Dick by day and
reading Judith Krantz by night, I kept my spare time reading tastes to myself.
Maybe I didn’t put a plain brown wrap around the covers, but I didn’t carry the
book outside of the house or talk about it in the teacher’s lounge either.
I was a hypocritical snob.
However, it was that secret reading that finally pushed me
to the computer to begin my own novel. I read one too many poorly written
romances and other works of fiction. I kept saying to myself, “I could do
better than this.” I’m not one to make those kinds of statements without backing
it up, and so one summer, I sat down and wrote my first novel, contemporary
fiction with illusions that might even be literary.
When I started writing fiction seriously nearly twenty
years ago, my novels contained elements of romance: love conflicts, sympathetic heroines, hunky
heroes, happy endings. But my novels also contained many threads with sometimes
complicated plots intersecting and colliding. I kept charts with lines drawn
between characters. I created visual spiders on my bulletin board and wrote
novels as long as 130,000 words (Trails
in the Sand 2013). I wanted my themes to contain “important” messages.
When I joined the Indie Author movement in 2012, I learned
romances sold much more than my works of contemporary fiction. But I still
continued to work on what I thought of as “serious” fiction.
However, many readers want quick, simple, and happy. They
want pure escape from complicated and messy lives. Once I came down from my
lofty precipice of literary snobbery, I realized not all romances need to be bodice
ripping silliness, dripping in sappy declarations of undying love.
I discovered that some of my online colleagues were writing
romances with depth in their themes, even though the plots were much less
complicated than I’d been writing. I enjoyed reading those works and found
myself unembarrassed to shout it out through reviews, my blog, and social
media.
“Romance in a Month” announcements from fellow colleague
Rachelle Ayala filled my Facebook groups. I admired Rachelle, so I decided I’d
give her new online course a chance in May 2014. Over the course of a month, I
wrote a draft for my first romance, Behind
the Altar, which led me to write a sequel, Behind the Bar. I’m now working on Behind the Curtain, the third book in this series. I’ve also
written two other romances for box sets with other romance writers, with plans
to write several more for publication in 2016.
It may seem as if I’ve sold out, dumping contemporary
fiction out of a moving vehicle. I haven’t. I still plan on writing more in my
Florida fiction series, expressing themes about landscapes, wildlife, and the
environment. I have notebooks filled with my ramblings for the plot of several
different books.
But in each of my romances, I’ve woven threads of people
living conscious lives. In my first romance, the main character runs a soup
kitchen for homeless vets. In my newest release, Third Base, the heroine, a young millionaire, and the hero, an
All-Star baseball player, both give back by being involved in organizations
such as Habitat for Humanity and Wounded Warriors.
I can write romance with one main plot line that leads to a
happily ever ending, and still include important issues of the day about
helping others, living consciously, forgiving trespasses, and healing hurts
from childhood.
It’s all storytelling, no matter the genre.
As with readers who want simple and happy as a contrast to
complicated lives, the same can be applied to the writer. My life became
extremely complicated during the past year with moves, planned retirements, and
a sick husband. Writing has always been my escape and an important passion, so
why not make that escape the least complicated part of my life?
When I’m asked what advice I have for new writers, I always
say the same thing. I tell them to write, and write again. If writing simpler
and happier stories keeps me writing, then that’s what I’m going to do for now.
And then when I’m ready for a new challenge, there are still other genres awaiting
me. I’ve never written a cozy mystery, a paranormal novel, or historical
fiction, just to name a few. There’s a wealth of writing still left in these
old fingers, and I plan to create stories for as long as I can.
Now that’s my happy ending, without the brown paper
wrapping.
Sept. 2- 7 Florida Fiction Series –box set only
$0.99 for three full-length novels set in Florida. http://www.amazon.com/Florida-Fiction-P-C-Zick-ebook/dp/B00PEUO1AG
Sept. 3, 4 – Behind the Altar is FREE! http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Altar-Love-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00N2WPFD0
September
celebrate baseball with P.C. Zick’s new release Third Base - http://www.amazon.com/Third-Base-P-C-Zick-ebook/dp/B0105DXNVY
Bio
P.C. Zick began her writing career in 1998 as a journalist. Her first novel was published in 2000. She's won various awards for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and fiction. She describes herself as a "storyteller" no matter the genre.She in Florida for thirty years, and she finds the stories of Florida and its people and environment a rich base for her contemporary fiction. Florida's quirky and abundant wildlife—both human and animal—supply her fiction with tales almost too weird to be believable. Her romance series, Behind the Love, is also set in Florida.
She writes two blogs, P.C. Zick and Living Lightly. She has published three nonfiction books and nine novels.
Her writing contains the elements most dear to her heart, ranging from love to the environment. She believes in living lightly upon this earth with love, laughter, and passion.
Links:
Website: www.pczick.com/
Blog: www.pczick.wordpress.com
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/P.C.-Zick/e/B0083DPN4E/
Facebook: https://facebook/PCZick
Twitter: https://twitter/PCZick
Video Trailers: http://youtu.be/GNsZUiyDKIo?list=UUxE92WgTCZOLI6wrbIgoYhw
