Chick Lit and Cigars

Friday! Phew!

This has been an unexpectedly busy week, and I must apologise for not being able to make my usual blog commenting rounds. I plan on using this weekend to catch up!

A big thanks for all the kind comments on my photos earlier this week. Mr TR & I are pleased with how they came out. And a huge congrats to Paul Anthony Shortt and his wife on the birth of their twins!

In other news, India Drummond has released a very helpful how-to video on formatting for CreateSpace. It really does simplify things, so it's definitely worth a look.

Today, I'm delighted to welcome Michael Harling to the blog. Mike and I first 'met' a few years ago, when I was writing guidebooks under my real name and he was penning hilarious stories about being an expat in England. Mike is here to talk about his first novel, Finding Rachel Davenport.

Over to Mike!

Hi. I’m Mike Harling, I drink whiskey, I smoke cigars, I write chick-lit.

I’ve always wanted to say that, even if it is not technically true. While Finding Rachel Davenport does meet the basic criteria for chick-lit—being as it is about a woman navigating relationships with two would-be boyfriends—this young woman also happens to moonlight as a low-budget crime fighter who runs afoul of the law and has to dodge awkward questions from her nosy neighbor.

Also, there is a literal ticking bomb, a race to save a life and a few narrow escapes thrown in. But there are handbags, and I even knew enough to call them that, so I should be given some leeway.

I did not set out to write a “chick-lit” book, or even a book that could be classified as “woman’s fiction.” I know publishers aren’t keen to take on novels that cannot easily be slipped into a pigeon hole, but I was too naïve to consider that; I was merely interested in telling a story that was fun and fast-paced and had a happy ending. Much as I admire more hard-hitting fiction, when I finish a Harry Hole adventure, I usually feel like slitting my wrists. Now, I’m willing to put myself through that on occasion, but I much prefer it when the people I have just spent the past week with have, at last, found happiness and put everything right within their fictional world. There is enough pain and injustice in the real world, so I aimed to give my readers a break from it. That’s all.

As anyone could have told me, a manuscript that blurs the genre lines will garner more confusion than offers: Is it a thriller? A comic novel? Chick-lit? A crime drama? With no pigeon hole to fit into, it seemed like Finding Rachel Davenport was going to have trouble finding a home. Eventually, Prospera Publishing expressed interest, and published it as an ebook under their Opis Imprint.

Luddite that I am, and having retained the paperback rights, I self-published the book through Amazon as a paperback, giving my friends without Kindles something to look forward to this Christmas, and me something to set on my bookshelf and admire.

So what is Finding Rachel Davenport? Well, I’ll let the readers decide, but if you like chick-lit—especially the kind with fun, quirky plots that don’t leave you feeling like reaching for the happy pills—then I think you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Michael Harling moved to Britain unexpectedly (and through no fault of his own) in 2002. He is the author of three humorous books about expat life: Postcards From Across the Pond, More Postcards From Across the Pond and Postcards From Ireland. Finding Rachel Davenport is his first novel. He currently lives in West Sussex with his wife and has recently been promoted to the position of “full-time writer” thanks to a shrinking economy. All his books are available as ebooks and in paperback format. Visit Michael at his blog, Postcards From Across the Pond (http://pcfatp.com) or his website (http://michaelharling.com) 

Thanks, Mike!

Have a great weekend, everyone.