After taking several weeks off to catch up on my reading and regroup, I'm back to work on a partially completed Old West historical romance called, "Sage Cane's House of Grace and Favor," (formerly "Bad Girl of Fairplay Creek," formerly "Wild Mountain Honey.") I'd put the half finished manuscript aside on the advice of my agent when, according to her and everyone else in the industry, Old West romances went out of fashion.The revamped title came about because Ann LaFarge, formerly of Kensington and now a freelance editor, commented that "Wild Mountain Honey" sounded a bit retro. Well, actually it was. It's from a song by the Marshall Tucker Band popular in the seventies.
So I had to come up with something else. I'm not very good with titles, and by this time, editors were looking for catchier ones. After much thought, I decided on "Bad Girl of Fairplay Creek," but shortly afterward put the book aside.
A couple of weeks ago, I brought the manuscript out again, and was dismayed to discover that while it was on hiatus, Jo-Ann Mapson had published a book called "Bad Girl Creek." So, again I racked my brain for a title.
Hence, "Sage Cane's House of Grace and Favor."
As you may surmise from the title, the book revolves around a parlor house. It's located in a fledging mining town in the Rocky Mountains, Fairplay Creek, Colorado, to be exact. And, as many of my stories seem to be, it's about a young woman who finds herself far from home struggling to make her way in a strange place. How she manages to do that in a rowdy, raunchy mining town where anything goes, and still manage to keep her moral values intact is what the story is about. The fact that it was indeed a town where anything goes is what actually encouraged and allowed her to take a risk. In the process, she turned the tables on the men in town while at the same time turning the town upside down.
The theme of the book is – A town will only rise to the standards of its women.
So, let's hear it for the return of the Old West historical romance. If, indeed, it was ever gone.
Album added to my iPod - Country Falls by Husky Rescue
1 comment:
I love your title, Sage Cane's Hous Of Grace And Favor, and your description of the plot and theme. Sounds like a book I'd enjoy. You stated that at one time your agent asked you to put the ms aside because historical novels of the West are out of favor. You've picked it up again. Wondering why? Because there's indication from the publishing world that there's a place for it, or simply because it's a book your dying to write?
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