"Ghostly Tales of Route 66" (Vol. II) Can Be Sexy, Too!

Thanks so much, Romance Readers, for letting me write a guest post on your blog. I’m slightly familiar with WordPress, since my own blog, www.weeklywilson.com is a WordPress blog. [I’ve always had trouble posting or labeling pictures on my own blog, so good luck to us all!]

I’ve been writing since age 10, which is a long time, and recently was named the Associated Content Content Producer of the Year (January, 2009) by that half-million-member blog. You can read about my 42-year college teaching career and my 53-year writing career at www.ConnieCWilson.com, but let’s move on to romance.

Am I a romance writer?

I don’t consider myself to be a romance writer, but maybe I’m kidding myself? Let me give you just a short snippet from my first 327-page, 80,000 word collaborative novel Out of Time. (www.outoftimethenovel.com). You decide whether this novel sounds like it belongs in the science fiction/thriller category where it came to rest after publication in December (2008) by Lachesis. The set-up here is that there is a romance between a married First Lady (Renee Bellwood) and a world-famous rock star, Dante Benedick (think Mick Jagger with Jon Bon Jovi’s looks). Kaley is one of the First Daughters. They’ve made a run for it from the evil hubby and are hiding out on a ranch in Franklin, Tennessee, as all hell breaks loose around them. (I blew up the entire East coast, but my apologies if you live there.)

Page 285 of Out of Time:

“They climbed the staircase towards the largest bedroom in the house. They could see Kaley, the animal lover, outside by the stable fences, feeding the horses.  A groom was speaking to her. Dante and Renee were finally alone.  The Secret Service was checking the house and setting up a communications room.  The couple had time to themselves for once. 

Dante unbuttoned the first button, the second, the third button of Renee’s cardigan.  He removed the pale blue cashmere sweater that Renee had worn on the flight over.  Underneath the sweater, her chest was ample and her breathing deep.  Her lovely breasts rose with each intake of breath and fell with each exhalation.

Dante slid his right hand under the thin fabric of the shell she was wearing beneath the light blue cardigan sweater.  He felt a lacy bra and, instinctively, moved to unhook the hooks in the back.  But there were no hooks in the back.  This was a front-closing bra, and, finally, laughing slightly, Renee guided his fumbling fingers to the front-closing mechanism.  When that, too, presented the rock star with difficulties, she reached up herself to undo it and released the most perfect breasts Dante Benedick had ever seen.”

So, okay. I’ve been known to write a sex scene or two…or three.  I love reading them. I like writing them. I wrote this particular book over three years’ time, and it was published in December of 2008, from an idea proposed by the collaborator, a fan of science fiction and horror novels. Most of the plot points were jointly concocted after he spun the original over-the-top idea of a Time Traveling rock star. Take a look at www.outoftimethenovel.com to see a trailer about that book.

But the “new” book is the second in a trilogy of Ghostly Tales of Route 66 from Quixote Press, covering the route from Oklahoma to Arizona, with one story set in nearby Fort Smith, Arkansas. If you’re in Chicago, I’ll be signing copies of it at Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore (7419 W. Madison St., Forest Park, IL) at 2 p.m. on Satrday, Halloween Day.

If you’re in my hometown area of the Quad Cities of IA/IL, I’ll be signing copies at Barnes & Noble at NorthPark Mall in Davenport, IA from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 24^th. If you are in St. Louis, I was one of the featured speakers at the Second Annual Route 66 Festival at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge on October 3^rd.

Are there any sexy stories within the true ghost stories of Route 66 I gathered during a 2,000-mile drive last November? You betcha’!

 I recommend “The Angel Child of McLean, Texas,” and the “Tradewinds Triangle” stories, but you’ll find some other true ghost stories, related to me by the locals. Lots of research. Lots of firsthand comments by those who’ve experienced these paranormal events. Lots of fun tracking them down and getting them to share. And there are some true firsthand ghostly encounters experienced at Fort El Reno, Oklahoma on November 15^th last year, during their last ghost tour of the season on November 15, 2008 plus one absolutely outstanding and unbelievable picture (p. 47), all taken with my brand-new Nikon D90. There are other pictures in the small $9.95 ghost book, too, a book you can order by dialing 1-800-571-2665.  (Quixote Press). In time, Amazon promises to get it up and orderable, but, for now, I’d go the 800 route. All of my friends say that Amazon tells them it is “temporarily out of stock,” when the truth is that they haven’t ordered the book from Quixote yet. I also plan to have PayPal orderability on either one or both of my websites: www.ConnieCWilson.com (for all of the books) and on www.ghostlytalesofroute66.com. But, for now, try that 800 number and then work your way back to Amazon as a last resort. And, if that fails, contact me at www.Einnoc10@Aol.com and I’ll make sure you get a copy ASAP for $9.95 (plus $3.50 postage and handling).

Make sure you select Volume II of the Ghostly Tales of Route 66: Arkansas to Arizona, my  solo venture (ISBN #1-57166-568-4) and the first with real pictures (Nikon D90) of actual ghosts…[or so I’m told by the para-normal investigators present on the scene who wanted the pictures for their website.] There is a website, called, naturally, www.ghostlytalesofroute66.com. [You can see a picture of the cover in the archives at www.weeklywilson.com on August 6^th. It’s a cool cover, utilizing the tail fin of a ’57 Chevy. If I can get it “up” on this blog, I will, but my luck in this department is not always the best.] There are also a couple of humorous YouTube videos using Howard Dean (yes, that Howard Dean), which you can check out online. (The one that features Howard Dean dolls fighting with forks is difficult to explain. Let’s just say that my college-aged daughter was bored.)

My next writing release will be genre short stories Hellfire & Damnation from Sam’s Dot Press in January, 2010. Introduction by William F. Nolan (“Logan’s Run”) and blurbs by 5 Bram Stoker winners.  Then, It Came from the ‘70s, 50 reviews of seventies movies, with main cast and interactive trivia. It’s 250 pages long with 76 photos of movies from “Alien” to “Apocalypse Now.” Alphabetically organized, the reviews were actually written (and published) back in the day, and 4 “Best of/Worst of” lists. (They appeared originally in the Quad City Times of Davenport, Iowa, when I was their film and book critic in the ‘70s and ‘80s.)

After this, projects include The Obama Chronicles (retired English teacher covers 2008 campaign with press passes) and The Power of Darkness, another 80,000 word novel which is likely to have some steamy scenes amidst the murder, mania and mayhem in a small midwestern town.

And…don’t forget…. Ghostly Tales of Route 66 is a trilogy, so there’ll be (at least) one more book tracing the Mother Road from Arizona through California. I promise it will be well researched and rip-roaring! The publisher promises “family friendly” so I’ll have to hold my “romance junkie” tendencies in check till The Power of Darkness heats to a boil.

Happy reading! And thanks, again!