I am excited to be here today to bring you a guest post from the talented Lauren Rico. If you recall, I have reviewed a few of her books here before. Today, I am excited to share a post she wrote for you all.
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Making Mayhem
By Lauren Rico
I’ve been fortunate enough to live in several different
places over the course of my life. And while that transiency was tough at
times, it enabled me to meet so many wonderful and diverse people. I was also
exposed to all sorts of local traditions, cuisines and dialects.
For instance, in North Carolina, I found most folks to be
easy-going and casual with a southern drawl as sweet as the tea they served up
with their barbecue. On Long Island, on the other hand, I found most folks to
be fast-moving with an edgy accent. They were also a more stressed out—probably
because of the traffic. Or maybe because they don’t have N.C.’s barbecue and
sweet tea!
When I create the worlds that my characters live in, I often
draw from my own personal experiences. In my book Solo, Shepherd College
bears a striking resemblance to my undergrad alma mater. In my Reverie
trilogy, my characters spend time in and around places I’ve visited on Long
Island and Manhattan. It’s my memories of these places that I pull out of the
deep dark recesses of my mind to use as fodder for my stories.
In my newest novel, Blame it on the Bet, I’ve created
the fictional town of Mayhem, Minnesota. It’s way up north in the area they
call the Iron Range. My main character, Hennessy O’Halloran, has inherited her
father’s pub. When her nemesis and soon-to-be-love-interest Bryan Truitt shows
up off the plane from L.A., he wonders if he’s walked into a David Lynch movie.
Or maybe even an episode of the Twilight Zone. After all, the cats wear
sweaters, the local priest plays matchmaker and the owner of the Little Slice
of Heaven Pie Shop is a woman who can tell your fortune based on your pie
selections.
Oh. Yeah. We got your quirky in spades here, folks!
I’m sorry to say that while I have never come across a town
like Mayhem but I have spent several
years as a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota. From my first days there, I fell in
love with the hearty, funny, welcoming people all around me. I was so homesick
and in no time neighbors and colleagues became dear friends. They taught me how
to winter over my roses using a technique called the “Minnesota Tilt.” I
learned that the local Catholic Church sometimes holds polka masses and that a
common delicacy is lutefisk—whitefish cured in lye. I never could manage the
courage to try that one! And, like every other Minnesotan, I counted down the
days until the Minnesota State Fair—home of cheese curds and all manner of
foods on a stick.
So, while Hennessy and Bryan and the rest of the residents
of Mayhem may not be exact replicas of people I’ve known, they all share the
qualities that I loved best about my time in the Midwest and the people who
lived there... hard work and humility, kindness and devotion to family and
loved ones.
Come to think of it, I suppose you could find those traits
in a lot of places around the country—and even the world. But believe me,
there’s something just a little bit magical about Minnesota and I hope I’ve
managed to capture that in Blame it on the Bet.
Of course, Bryan needs a little convincing the first time he
lays eyes on the town...
It’s
taken me the entire day to get to this godforsaken speck on the map. Three
flights and one harrowing drive through the Arctic Circle later, I pull into
the town of Mayhem, Minnesota. What a name.
The first thing that strikes me is
the snow.
This is not the snow of film and
television—light, fluffy, glittery flakes of goodness that serenely float down
from the heavens. The snow I see now is heaped into scuzzy piles in parking
lots, against buildings, and lining the sidewalks like filthy, muddy icebergs.
This snow is pocked and scarred from rock salt. It’s dirty from sand and grime.
This is not angelic snow. This is angry snow. Snow with an attitude.
Blame it on the Bet is a sweet, quirky romance with no graphic
scenes of intimacy and very mild profanity. It’s available now from Entangled
Publishing.
Thanks Lauren!!!
Happy Reading!
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