Okay, it was in Pennsylvania and not Louisiana, but it was still smallish.
Yet I was raised from nearly birth till age eighteen in a small north Louisiana town...and it shows. I have small town values, a penchant for peas and cornbread and I love to sit in my rocking chair on my front porch and watch things grow. I salute the flag, love parades, and still go see my high school football team play games. I know the value in having "people" and belonging to a church that has ladies who know their way around a kitchen. It's part of who I am and I don't usually question it.
Funny though, last week, a friend was contemplating making a move. She's in the middle of making a huge change in her life and wants a fresh start somewhere other than the Southwest, so she requested an area that doesn't exist for me - liberal, mountainous, cultural and well-educated. We've got some of that, but rural Louisiana is about as far as one can get from, say, Seattle. Why am I telling you this you may ask? Because it got me thinking about where I live and how I'm perceived. And it made me wonder about my books and how they are perceived by readers.
Okay, I'm going to admit that I've peeked at my reviews on places such as Goodreads and Amazon. It's hard not to do even though veteran writers tell newbies to stay away! They know that often reader comments get under our skin and go to work on our fragile egos doing more damage than good, but it's hard to resist, especially when you want to know how your work resounds with all kinds of readers. Well, apparently my heavy Southernisms don't go over well with more worldly readers. In fact, the colloquialism and versimilitude in my writing really put them off. I believe one commentor even suggested a dictionary for figuring out what I was talking about.
Hmmm.
So it puzzled me. Should I be writing real life as I live it or something more palatable for readers everywhere?
Well, I had to think about this because it's a pretty important consideration. What I came up with satisfied me. You see I was raised in a small Louisiana town situated very near Arkansas and Texas, which means I know about living in this area. I get the people, I understand that confirmation must be moved at our church to accomodate the opening day of duck season, I understand that if you schedule a wedding on a fall weekend when LSU is playing Arkansas or Alabama or Florida or Auburn, you may have half the folks missing. I know that good watermelons are sold on the side of the road and that you can wear white after labor day but some may call you trash for doing so. Our kids wear smocked clothing and camo alternatively, and recycling means using the aluminum foil twice and getting mileage out of a cool whip tub. It's foreign to many, but it's my backyard.
And I must write what I know.
That's what I like about Superromance. We've got such variety, and I like that my small town Southern stories can nestle in between the Colorado ranches and Aussie beach resorts. There's a little something for everyone within the line. So I won't float every reader's boat, but some will read a scene in my book and think "Been there, done that" even as others are saying "what the ___?" (You can fill in that blank depending on where you live. LOL. In Minden where I grew up, we'd use heck.)
In October I will end a series that is near and dear to me (and oh, so Southern) when A Touch of Scarlet hits shelves. When I first started writing about Oak Stand, pulling out some of my family sayings and lending them to Grandmother Tucker, I could never imagine the people in that town I would create and grow to love. This last book borders on romantic comedy and really brings the series circular with a determined, straight-laced police chief and the vampy soap actress who pushes his buttons...and at the root of it all is a place anyone would want to hang his or her hat in - a small Southern town in Texas.
Yeah, I write what I know.
What about you? What appeals to you about where you live? And do you think your area is depicted accurately?
Yet I was raised from nearly birth till age eighteen in a small north Louisiana town...and it shows. I have small town values, a penchant for peas and cornbread and I love to sit in my rocking chair on my front porch and watch things grow. I salute the flag, love parades, and still go see my high school football team play games. I know the value in having "people" and belonging to a church that has ladies who know their way around a kitchen. It's part of who I am and I don't usually question it.
Funny though, last week, a friend was contemplating making a move. She's in the middle of making a huge change in her life and wants a fresh start somewhere other than the Southwest, so she requested an area that doesn't exist for me - liberal, mountainous, cultural and well-educated. We've got some of that, but rural Louisiana is about as far as one can get from, say, Seattle. Why am I telling you this you may ask? Because it got me thinking about where I live and how I'm perceived. And it made me wonder about my books and how they are perceived by readers.
Okay, I'm going to admit that I've peeked at my reviews on places such as Goodreads and Amazon. It's hard not to do even though veteran writers tell newbies to stay away! They know that often reader comments get under our skin and go to work on our fragile egos doing more damage than good, but it's hard to resist, especially when you want to know how your work resounds with all kinds of readers. Well, apparently my heavy Southernisms don't go over well with more worldly readers. In fact, the colloquialism and versimilitude in my writing really put them off. I believe one commentor even suggested a dictionary for figuring out what I was talking about.
Hmmm.
So it puzzled me. Should I be writing real life as I live it or something more palatable for readers everywhere?
Well, I had to think about this because it's a pretty important consideration. What I came up with satisfied me. You see I was raised in a small Louisiana town situated very near Arkansas and Texas, which means I know about living in this area. I get the people, I understand that confirmation must be moved at our church to accomodate the opening day of duck season, I understand that if you schedule a wedding on a fall weekend when LSU is playing Arkansas or Alabama or Florida or Auburn, you may have half the folks missing. I know that good watermelons are sold on the side of the road and that you can wear white after labor day but some may call you trash for doing so. Our kids wear smocked clothing and camo alternatively, and recycling means using the aluminum foil twice and getting mileage out of a cool whip tub. It's foreign to many, but it's my backyard.
And I must write what I know.
That's what I like about Superromance. We've got such variety, and I like that my small town Southern stories can nestle in between the Colorado ranches and Aussie beach resorts. There's a little something for everyone within the line. So I won't float every reader's boat, but some will read a scene in my book and think "Been there, done that" even as others are saying "what the ___?" (You can fill in that blank depending on where you live. LOL. In Minden where I grew up, we'd use heck.)
In October I will end a series that is near and dear to me (and oh, so Southern) when A Touch of Scarlet hits shelves. When I first started writing about Oak Stand, pulling out some of my family sayings and lending them to Grandmother Tucker, I could never imagine the people in that town I would create and grow to love. This last book borders on romantic comedy and really brings the series circular with a determined, straight-laced police chief and the vampy soap actress who pushes his buttons...and at the root of it all is a place anyone would want to hang his or her hat in - a small Southern town in Texas.
Yeah, I write what I know.
What about you? What appeals to you about where you live? And do you think your area is depicted accurately?
22 comments:
I think this is interesting b/c I've lived in small towns and big cities (and in between) and even though I've ultimately decided I'm a big city girl at heart (I love the culture, and excitement and privacy ;-)), I do feel like I "get" a lot about small towns. Lots of times I can tell whether the author really knows anything about small towns by just the kind of details you describe.
Except in my town it was deer season instead of duck season ;-) High school hunters were encouraged to bring their rifles to high school (yes, school!) and the principal would take them apart and have them waiting for when they would sign out around noon and go off to hunt. "Deer Season" was an acceptable excused absence.
I think as long as you write about where you live with an eye for detail and a balance of affection and honesty, you can't go wrong.
Oh, my goodness, Jill. That was my high school, too. In fact, our principal (a big hunter) was known to catch sight of a gun hanging in the cab of a student's truck and go out and look at it. Yeah, try that these days.
Yeah, we saw deer corn out about mid-August. Mud-splattered four-wheelers are in the back of trucks and come October...dead deer.
And I agree with you. I actually love city-life. I lived in New Orleans for seven years. Now I'm in Shreveport which is not small town, but my hometown is only a hop, skip and jump away.
Thanks for the comment :)
Liz keep on writing what you know about. I love hearing about life in a small town. I expect and want to read about different customs and ideas in books. I don't want a story whose setting is generic. Give me unique but realistic ones and I'll read your books.
I live in a city but I was born in a small town. Calgary, Alberta isn't portrayed much in the books I read but the ranching country around it is. I think most of the stories I've read set in the area are realistic.
Liz...keep writing what you know and love because you do have an audience that loves those stories. You will always have those who don't like your books but you will have an equal number who love to read them. If someone at a publishing company thought enough of your story to publish it then it is worthy of being read. Sometimes I will read a review of a book on Amazon and wonder if the reviewer read the same book I did. And I don't agree with a thing they said which is why I don't use reader reviews as a way to decide which books to read.
As a reader I will admit there are books I read and don't enjoy but there are far more that I love and yours fall in the love category.
Kaelee - I so want to visit Canada - all areas. Okay, maybe just a few areas. My husband nearly drove poor Wanda Ottewell crazy when he met her by asking tons of questions about Canada. LOL. I'm sure she loved playing travel agent for the evening. I'm pretty sure he asked her about moose. I'm like "Dude, she lives in Toronto."
I've read a couple set around Calagary and I'm fairly sure they were regarding ranches. And I love you like reading about enriched settings because I do, too. Often I base my travels on what I've read in books.
Ellen - You get me cause you're a Texas gal. :) You know, I'm the same. I read reviews about books I love and I'm like "Huh?" so reviews are really not relevant to me. What reading a few of my reviews has done is open my eyes to vast reader differences. I'm okay with not everyone liking my books, but I'm always grateful to have readers who tell me they like what I'm doing. That makes it all worthwhile.
Liz, as a true Northern Gal, I love reading stories set in the South - especially ones set in small towns *g*
I've lived in the same small town my entire life, and while I doubt I'll live here forever, it has been a great place to raise a family. My kids attend my old high school and even have had some of the same teachers I had *g* Plus, my entire family (parents, 2 brothers, 2 sisters) live here so we've had tons of family celebrations over the years :-)
That's wonderful, Beth. I attended the same high school that both my parents attended..and both my grandfathers attended. It's kinda cool to have that history which is why I consistently support my small town high school football team - The Minden Crimson Tide! Roll Tide!
But, when it came time to choose a place to raise our children, we had to make the best choice for them and us. We chose a small city close by. We're 30 minutes from my parents' house, so it works...even if I'm sad my sons won't continue on with the Tider tradition.
I know where you are coming from. I was raised in a small community in the country. Now I live in a small town and life is different then in big cities. I prefer reading stories set in small towns myself and I love them to be set in the south, so write what you know.
Liz, I'm a Yankee and I've lived all over the world (including AL, TN, FL and MD)and I love your voice. The USA is a HUGE place with countless "sub-cultures," all interesting. Keep writing what you know and it's true--appreciate the nice reviews but don't give a second look at the ugly ones. You touch your readers' hearts and that's what matters.
It's definitely different, Virginia. I remember when I first moved to New Orleans my only thought was "What have we done?" It took about a year to feel comfortable there.
Geri - your words are so sweet and I appreciate them. That's my ultimate goal is to give readers a nice escape into a different world, and when they sat the book down, they are pleased they picked it up to begin with :)
Liz,
I love your small town stories.Don't try to change, because then you'll end up like Nellie pretending to be someone she's not. Although it worked out for her in the end.
I wouldn't have been interested in a Vegas fling story if it wasn't for the small town element. Oh, and I knew VEGAS TWO-STEP was your debut book so I was curious enough to pick it up. So glad I did. I have loved all your Oak Stand stories and can't wait for the next one.
Sugar, you just can't please everybody. You appeal to the ones who get you. I'm a small town southern girl myself and I *get* your characters, and like them. :) And it's black-eyed peas (in case northerners were thinking green peas). And don't forget the turnip greens and sliced tomatoes to go with the cornbread!
The hunters in camo look familiar......I see plenty of that where we now live. I always lived in a small town, but 4 yrs. ago, moved to "country" (very small town 5 mi.away). Hub loves it as he is avid hunter. I rely on computer and reading to survive. lol
wrote a long post and it got garbled... short story... love your books Liz, love the diversity of settings in Supers... I'm with Ellen on the reviews -- never use them to decide on a book I might buy!
Hi, Liz! I like to read about a lot of different places. It really doesn't matter whether it's a place with which I'm familiar or not. I can still enjoy the story. However, if the location is a real place (or a fictitious city set in a particular real region), I want the depiction to be legitimate. (I do allow for a bit of poetic license, but I want the flavor of the place, the people, and certain "untouchable" icons, whether they be teams or places or habits, to be authentic.)
So, for me, your writing what you know would work, even though I grew up in a more urban city in a state that straddles the line between northern and southern. While some of the things you write may be a bit foreign to me, I can embrace them all the same. After all, it's our differences that make us interesting.
And it's that cross between urbanity and southern gentility that I love about my hometown. There's lots to do, plenty of cultural activities, etc., but there's a southern hospitality to the general culture of the city. I hope we never lose that.
Thank you, Kristina. And so you know, Nellie is my alter ego. I'm very much like her so she was easy to write. Thanks for the nice compliment. I swear, y'all are making me feel too good about myself today. And that really wasn't my intent, but I'll totally take it.
Diane - I can't believe I forgot the greens and tomatoes. Funny story, when my mom lived in PA, everyone ate turnips and threw the greens out. One day my mom stopped on the side of the road and fished the greens out of a box curbside. She said finally she got a taste of home that night.
Jackie - that's my dad, hubs, and two boys along with Georgia my black lab. It was several years ago, but around her fall means camo.
Snookie - thanks, and I so agree with loving the diverse settings. Funny story, at first I didn't realize Karina was from Down Under. I read one of her books and it took me a couple of chapter before I realized it was set in New Zealand. LOL.
I agree, JV, I like a city to have accurate portrayal. That does bug me because I can tell the author doesn't know the true culture. As someeone who lived in New Orleans, I hated when everything was beignets at Cafe Dumonde and foot chases through Jackson Square. There are other things in NO besides The Quarter, so if everything was set there, I knew the author didn't really know NO.
Liz, I hear ya. I was raised in rural Texas and a lot of my country roots show up in my books. Some reviewers like that, others don't. But as long as readers keep buying my books, I'll keep writing them. It's what I know. Here's to small town girls...uh...women and their books. Yay!
Great post, Liz. I like the town where I live. It's a medium big town and offers a lot of variety--including a lot of small towns close by. I love my home and suspect I'd love it in almost any town if my family was there. I grew up on a farm, so the sense of "hometown" is less than someone who would have roamed the streets on a daily basis with their friends.
When someone writes about the town where I currently live, it's usually someone who lives in the area.
Hi Liz--I agree with you-write what you know. I personally love stories set in the south. One of my college roommate was from East Bernard, Texas, and his girlfriend was from Louisiana. I ate a lot of good food while living with him and learned a lot of colorful phrases.
I do hope my area is depicted correctly, because as far as I know, I'm the only one writing about it, lol.
Yay, Linda, Mary and Jeannie! Let's just keep writing what we know...it's working for someone :)
And, Jeannie, the South has a lot of marks against it, but never for the food, especially my home state. We're all fat for good reason. LOL.
I live in a very large country town & for the most part it still has that country feel and atmosphere. I LOVE it.
I agree with the other comments here. Part of what I love about reading is the chance to experience/'see' different settings or 'visit' places I haven't been to in real life. I love it more when an author can add authentic details...the kind you can't find in a travel book...because they've experienced the place first hand. It's why I grab for books like yours, Jeannie's and so many other Supers that take me places like New Zealand or Australia.
Your books are wonderful. Don't stop what you're doing!
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