Monday, June 20, 2011

high-brow literature



Last week, I found myself at a delightful wedding on Cape Cod filled with friends and strangers. And as it is with strangers and small talk, a lot of my conversations went like this:

Friend's Uncle's Business Partner: So, what do you do?

Serious Business: I'm a writer.

FUBP: Yeah? What kind of writing do you do?

SB: Freelance.

FUBP: Right, okay. But...what kind?

SB: Well, okay, I've been writing fiction-for-hire lately.

FUBP: What kind of fiction?

SB: Romance.

FUBP: Oh. Really...!


Somehow, I really had it in my head that I would somehow be able to avoid talking about what I've been doing. But there were a few problems with this thought: 1) I didn't have a good story concocted, 2) The evasion was for their sake and not mine, so I didn't really take it too seriously, and 3) I'm just not a good liar. I do sometimes leave tiny pieces out. For instance, if it was an old friend I was talking to and not a Friend's Uncle's Business Partner, I would just tell them straight up that I'm writing specifically for a sub-category of romance called Erotic Romance. Basically, my rules for disclosure are against anyone whose first reaction would include "Oh." In general, this is anyone related to me, anyone whose children I know, and people who I still think could potentially employ me.

Here's the book on Amazon. It is called 'Mexican Flames.' My editor wanted to call it 'Mexican Heat,' but it turns out there is a gay erotica book that already goes by that name.

Let me tell you a little about this book.
1) It is an e-book only. No trees were sacrificed to deliver this piece of high-brow literature to the world

2) Because it is an e-book, it has been designed to be read on e-readers. As such, it is short, and it is illustrated. ILLUSTRATED. (not by me). The funny part about this is that the book is 12 chapters, and we had agreed on around 4-8 illustrations. However, if you download the free sample chapter, you'll see that there are four illustrations IN THE FIRST CHAPTER. I have yet to download the full book myself, because two chapters are just sex, and I am scared to see those illustrated. In watercolor.

3)Did I mention that the title of the book is 'Mexican Flames?'

4)Jeremy Piven is in it.

5)This is Book One of a series. My editor-cousin wants to call the second one 'Canadian Flames.' Discuss.

1 comment:

Luis Celestino said...

this is so fucking cool! you are a-w-e-s-o-m-e