You guys are going to love this! My friend, L.R., is hanging out today and talking about her series, Adirondack for Ladies!
The Road to Becoming an Author…
I really wanted to be a cowboy. So how did I end up writing romance novels? Truth be told, I’m not exactly sure. There are as many paths to writing as there are personalities of writers.
When I was four years old I loved watching old Westerns on television while bouncing across the room on my childhood rocking horse. I refused to wear “girlie” clothes and wouldn’t leave the house without my trusty holster and Stetson hat. The creaking of the springs on that old plastic rocking horse combined with the excitement of a round-up fueled my desire to be a cowboy. As time went by I realized a few things: One, I lived on the wrong side of the country. Two, I didn’t own a horse and the fact I wasn’t a boy negated the “boy” portion of the title, “cowboy”. Undaunted by reality, I continued my obsession with horses and dreamed of being an equestrian, and again reality smacked me up the side of the head. The rocking horse had worn out and my family could not afford the upkeep of a real horse. So I turned my energy to the great outdoors and the study of nature. By sixteen I thought for sure my calling was to be a forest ranger. I had visions of myself up in a lofty fire tower in some Western mountain range, binoculars in hand scanning the horizon as a guardian angel of the forest in league with Smoky the Bear. Guess what? That didn’t work out either. But my passion for nature and the outdoors never wavered, simply transformed into a writing career for environmental education and public awareness. I started writing nature education articles for a local parenting magazine and fooled around with creating children’s books.
Enter the Adirondack Mountains. Welcome to a world of balsam scented forests, granite mountain peaks and miles of streams and rivers where the morning mist rises off mountain lakes like a phantom ghost to the haunting call of the loon.
The idea of writing an actual book came to me in a bookstore while on vacation in the High Peaks area of the Adirondacks. The shelves of the store were filled with a wealth of books on history, field guides, maps, children’s books, and hiking trails but very few if any fiction books geared toward women. I was looking for the quintessential vacation read. I wanted a book set in the locale, something light, funny and romantic.
Hmm…. The Adirondacks are a place, a time, a nostalgic step back into history or quiet walk along a forested trail. The mountains have been the playground for the rich and famous for over a century. The perfect setting for a book that appeals to women hungry for adventure, a place where a character who has an affinity for nature can find romance ripe with the possibility of chaos and comedy thrown in for good measure..
And that’s when the characters started dancing in my head. First came Ellen, an awkward teenager, whose gangly arms and legs function only to trip, embarrass and humiliate her. Add to Ellen’s emotional make-up a stepmother who apprenticed under the Wicked Witch of the West and you have a character who is sorely lacking in self-confidence and in denial of her self-worth but with oh, so many possibilities…
In the world of romance writing you can’t have a heroine without a hot hunky hero, so Vic clambered on top of my brain saying, “Take me, take me. I’m tall, dark and gorgeous. We can’t have Ellen running around in the woods all by herself. She needs a strong pair of arms along with my broad shoulders to keep her company. The fact that my raven hair falls in waves to brush the collar of my shirt and I have dark eyes that smolder with flecks of golden amber won’t hurt either. Vic…
And that’s how the first book, Adirondack Audacity was conceived. It took me many years to finish writing the book, but Ellen and Vic wouldn’t leave me alone. They would settle in my head late at night insisting it was a good time to write. So word by word, page by page, I wrote. And the more I wrote, the more I liked writing, even if it was just for the sake of creating a story. And then the book was done, Ellen and Vic came to life and into the hearts of my readers.
Adirondack Audacity is the story of Ellen’s misguided adventures beginning as a nature counselor at the posh Camp High Point in the Adirondack Mountains. Tagged with the nickname Klutz-Ellen, her life had been sorely lacking in romance. The last thing she expected was the beguiling spell of Vicente Rienz, aloof, arrogant and dangerously handsome in denim and leather. She despised him on sight until the sparks between them ignited into a passion not to be denied. Thwarted by circumstances beyond their control and a curse born out of Adirondack legend, Vic and Ellen’s love leads to disaster. So how does a nature-loving girl like Ellen end up wearing four-inch stilettos and designer dresses on the coast of California, more than three thousand miles away from home? Join the fun as Adirondack Audacity spans the decades, crisscrossing the country on a hilarious journey, coming back full circle to the mountains in search of love.
Adirondack Audacity was written to be a single standalone title but after winning the Virginia Romance Writers HOLT award for best contemporary novel of 2015 and readers asking for more, the “Adirondack for Ladies” series was born. Romantic adventure comedies set in the Adirondack Mountains catering to those who want a little outdoors and humor mixed in with their romance.
Book Two, Audacity on the Water, is the summer release for 2016. The adventures begun in Adirondack Audacity continue…
As the sun dawns over the Adirondack Mountains, Ellen McCauley Rienz snuggles deeper into her husband’s embrace, secure in the knowledge that her first love, her lost love is safe in her bed…and here to stay. Happily ever after, at last…
Until an incessant pounding on the front door jerks her back to reality, and promises made and commitments unfulfilled.
In a moment of enthusiasm, Ellen had entered the Adirondack Canoe Classic neglecting to tell her husband they would be paddling a 90 mile canoe race through the lakes and rivers of the Adirondack Mountains…while on their honeymoon. What was she thinking?
Paddling 90 miles in three days coached by a bombastic East German, stalked by a local thug whistling Moon River and a Harley-Davidson riding housekeeper named Adele are just a few of the trials Ellen faces on this hilarious journey…with a startling conclusion that only Klutz-Ellen can pull off. Murder, mystery and mayhem on the “90”?!
The Adirondack for Ladies Series…titillating novels filled with humor, drama and a whole lot of sizzle…The perfect pairing with a glass of chardonnay and an Adirondack chair…curl up and indulge. The beach read has finally come to the mountains!
Grab your copies now!
Adirondack Audacity
L.R. Smolarek
What happens when Lucille Ball runs smack dab into Marilyn Monroe; meet Ellen McCauley. Ellen wants to escape her demons, namely a step-mother named Helen, and her reputation as the school klutz. A fall down the stairs, in front of the entire varsity football team…while wearing pink polka-a-dot underwear, earns her the nickname “Dots.” And that’s just the beginning. So when a job as nature counselor at Camp High Point in the Adirondack Mountains comes up, it spells escape for Ellen.
Her hopes for an idyllic Adirondack summer do not include Vicente Rienz, the camp lifeguard, known to his friends as Vic. Born to an American mother, but a Spanish grandee by birthright of his Mexican father, he is all male, in denim and leather, aloof, arrogant, and very competent at……..everything. Ellen hates him on sight, until the sparks between them ignite into a passion not to be denied. A summer under the stars leads to unforeseen consequences and separation.
What began as a teenage romance is rekindled when Ellen and Vic reunite as adults. Seeking answers to the past, they return to the Adirondacks in a quest that turns dangerous for a dramatic conclusion.
Adirondack Audacity serves up the titillating flavors of life: romance, drama, hilarious hijinks, a little bit sexy and always fun.
Finally the “beach” read comes to the mountains. So grab a glass of wine, curl up in an Adirondack chair …and indulge! Did someone say…… Thirty Shades of Balsam?
Available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble (print only)!
Audacity on the Water
L.R. Smolarek
Ellen McCauley Rienz yawns, stretching in the early morning light that spills through the open French doors of her Adirondack Camp. She snuggles deeper into her husband’s embrace, secure in the knowledge that Vic, her first love, her lost love is safe in her bed…and here to stay. Happily ever after, at last… Until an incessant pounding on the front door jerks her back to reality, and promises made and commitments unfulfilled. In a rash moment of enthusiasm, Ellen entered the Adirondack Canoe Classic neglecting to tell her husband they would be paddling a 90 mile canoe race through the lakes and rivers of the Adirondack Mountains…while on their honeymoon. Paddling 90 miles in three days coached by a bombastic East German, stalked by a local thug whistling Moon River and a Harley-Davidson riding housekeeper named Adele are just a few of the complications Ellen faces on this hilarious journey with a startling conclusion. Murder, mystery and mayhem on the “90”? The Adirondack for Ladies series…titillating novels filled with humor, drama and a bit of sizzle for those who love outdoor adventure.
