I stand out in the small town where I live. I’m not a native and in a culture where strangers ask your parents and grandparents names to establish where you rank in society, it marks me out as a stray. My distinctive maiden name – Sontheimer – is not, I’ve been told quite often a local name and even my married surname, when the personal, street level version of background checks kicks in, doesn’t work either. Although my husband happens to have been born here, his parents migrated north from the Pelican state so he doesn’t get to count a full native status either.
Besides I do things your average resident and/or native doesn’t. Since moving here, I worked in broadcast radio and for a long time people knew me as “the girl from KBTN” or, because of a series of commercials I did with friend and fellow radio voice Dean, “the girl who does those sexy ads”. Fast forward a little and I began penning various columns for local and regional papers. I started out doing book reviews for the county paper and advanced to feature stories on interesting area folks like a woman who made dozens of quilts in one year as Christmas gifts for her extended family. Then I did a Sunday opinion page column for the largest daily in the region, known as “The Four States” for a few years but it ended when too many readers didn’t like my views on Mel Gibson’s movie about Jesus Christ. I think it was the headline “It’s not holy, just Hollywood”. It just didn’t go over well in the Bible Belt.
The local newspaper gave me space for a weekly column called “Hindsight” which lets me write about a broad range of things from local history and personalities, to my own past, to current events, tributes to people who pass away, promo for my books, and more.
I also have twin daughters, sixteen this month, and for a long time dragging two infant carriers or two strollers around town, I was “that woman who writes for the paper who has those twins”. Then the twins got older and my son, almost eleven, started school and I started doing a little substitute teaching. I worked with all ages but it narrowed down to mostly high school kids and they liked me. They called me “the awesome sub” and I think the school officials never could quite figure out why the kids liked me so much. They never noticed I treated the kids with a combination of respect, kindness, and friendliness delivered with gut level honesty. Since I no longer sub – since some locals say “she’s the one writing those dirty books” – I can suggest maybe if they tried the same, they might get to be awesome too.
These days, however, more local and regional folks know me because of my novels. They read them. They mostly like them (except the ones who think I write smut but some of those like them too). And they talk about it.
I’m finding more people who love the way I write about ordinary folks and everyday life. Another writer once told me I wrote “blue jeans prose” and maybe I do. My heroes and heroines are more likely to be blue collar, not blue blood or white collar workers, not wealthy people.
At the local diner style restaurant I’m the lady who “makes the books”. The local library can’t keep my print fiction checked in and in the supermarket it’s not uncommon for someone to recognize me as an author. The gradual awareness of me as an author is growing, even stretching back to the hometown where I grew up at the opposite end of Missouri. Once known for my columns, for my non-fiction articles about outlaws and the Ozarks, and my anthology appearances, I’m becoming known as a romance author.
Since I do live in the Ozarks, things happen that might not anywhere else. I just traded an autographed copy of my latest print title for lye soap. One of my former high school students who wouldn’t crack a book in school read Love Never Fails and when his amazed father found out, he said, “Your teacher wrote this?” before he proceeded to read it too. And his comments – that I captured the local town in a lyrical, true to life fashion are high praise to me.
My newest novel just debuted as an eBook, a contemporary romance with a Valentine’s Day slant from Rebel Ink Press. A Patient Heart is set in my small town. Later this month, a time travel/ghost/contemporary novel also set in the same place will be out, from Rebel Ink Press. In Love’s Own Time is a unique novel combining several sub-genres into one and the inspiration sprang from the very soil of my subdivision (what passes for suburbs in a small town) where a fruit farm once prospered.
Here’s the blurb for A Patient Heart, now available for just $4.99 at most online ebook retailers.
As a little girl, Catherine dreamed she'd marry Connor Donavan one day and as teenagers, that dream seemed within reach. Until Connor ended their relationship, leaving town and breaking Catherine's heart. Ten years later, far from the old hometown, Catherine reports for work as a nurse one snowy January evening and learns that her new patient is none other than her old love, Connor. When he recognizes her, all the old feelings stir but a few sparks fly, too. As Connor recovers from an accident, Catherine realizes she loves him more than ever and he seems to love her as well. But after he leaves the hospital and convalesces at her home, his real life intrudes into their quiet time together. Then Connor leaves Catherine behind and she stays until a message sends her speeding to Kansas City, to Connor's club... On Valentine's Day.
Available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Bookstrand and more
http://www.amazon.com/A-Patient-Heart-ebook/dp/B0073FQIPG/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1328046555&sr=8-15
Facebook: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Twitter: @leeannwriter
Book trailer: http://youtu.be/Eo4Ttr_7O8Q
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2 comments:
Nice story about being a non-native in a small town.
Also - WOOT to being a twin mommy! It's...terrifying (mine are only 10 m/o and I'm scared for them to be teenagers).
I also, am a transplant in a small town. Some people who know of my career frown while other rejoice- just depends on their open-mindedness.
Dawne
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