Librarian's Idea of a Scary House

I created this scary house last year for the library. I'm sorry that I didn't get close-ups of each set-up. The librarian's idea of a scary house is:

*Where nobody reads (posted behind the hippo with his headsets on)

*Where library books disappear (book is sticking out from underneath the bed)

*Where library books get damaged (a ferocious stuffed dog is chewing up a book)

*Where there's no time to read (next to the clock)

*Where library books are used for everything but reading (books are stacked under the lamp)


I hope to take this idea and create a picture book someday. I could add a chapter on abused books taken from real life where I've found chili stains, tire tracks, sticky candy within the pages of books, along with broken spines, chewed up corners by teething babies, mold growing on them, (insert scream) not to mention the simple torn and marked up pages. And what about those families who think nothing of moving off and abducting the library books! Frightening!

The Rest of the Article

I always include something tangible with each book purchased from me-- something related to each story. With Grace Falling Like Rain, I included a little bar of lye soap. A powder puff was given with Mercy's Face. Torn Asunder had a white feather on the page where the first white feather appears in the story. And you'll just have to find out what comes with Anchor Point.

I wrote the following column about ten years ago, and pulled it out to use part of it for something related to book 4, Anchor Point. If you acquired the book through me, you will have received something extra slipped between the pages of the book, and this is the complete article that only a portion is shown on the back side if you'd like to read it in its entirety.

A New Romance Novel

Her breath caught in her throat. What was that noise? Had she been found out? Would he suspect the reason she was here? Earlier at dinner, it just wasn't enough. Surely he knew that—he had to have felt the same way! She wanted more—she had to have more! Her hands moved stealthily along in the dark until suddenly, she grasped a firm, muscled leg. Her mouth opened in anticipation as.... the light came on.

Her husband stood in the doorway shaking his head... the turkey leg froze midway to the guilty woman's mouth...

I'm working on a title for this potential romance novel, but I can't decide between: Ravaged Turkey... Leftover Rendezvous... or The Incredible, Edible Leg...

What is it about these paperback romances? Women aren't just reading a couple of them now and then. They are devouring them to the tune of a bazillion dollars a year. Are these stories fulfilling something missing in their lives? Are they living vicariously through the fictitious lives of these scantily dressed, panting, pouting, unrealistically gorgeous victim/heroines who are held captive and escape and fight and fall in love with these buff oxymorons?


Does it lessen the image of our husbands a bit when we can't help but compare them to the Gentle Rogue's well-defined biceps and abs attained naturally from hard physical labor:
1. on a ranch out west;
2. being raised by the Indians; or
3. acquired from previous intensive military training?
It's hard for them to compete with a Sensitive Savage whose sole desire in life is to save and protect the heroine [usually from herself] as well as carry her to that nebulous realm of ecstasy and back at every given place and opportunity. [Just a reminder to you young girls--these are female fairy tales--fictitious--not real]. A friend told me she just wants to slap her husband after she reads one of these stories. He just doesn't seem to measure up to the Tender Warrior for some reason.
Do men ever read this genre of books? Probably not. I don't believe they can get past the titles. The Vulnerable Viking and The Clever Clod simply do not have the same appeal to men as macho titles such as The Barbarous Brute or Rockhard Blackguard might have.
And have you noticed that most of these stories deal with two people meeting, the breathless chase towards each other, and the amorous collision? Then the story ends.
Is that love, or is it just physical desire? Love means patience. Love means respect. Love is commitment. Love is unselfish. Love is also what gets you through the days you don't like each other very much. Love involves deference towards another. Love locks onto the insides of people--- it's not velcroed to the outside where the least bit of life's pressure or change in one's appearance pulls it apart.

Maybe I'll get up the gumption to write a realistic romance someday. The hero will be a hard-working man that's doing the best he can for his family. He'll be wide in the shoulders and slim in the hips. His wife won't mind what's above the belt buckle or his thinning hair. The heroine will have plenty of smile lines and just a few worry lines on her face, some gray hairs that her husband doesn't seem to notice, and an ample lap with lots of comfortable spots grandchildren can cuddle up to.

Some days he'll rescue her from the kitchen. Other days she'll watch his back and save him from embarrassment. Some days he'll be married to a self-centered damsel. Other days she'll be married to a scoundrel.

But the story keeps going.

What happens in the closet... stays in the closet

Anchor Point is making its debut this month! It's up on Amazon and Barnes & Noble now, and you can read a more detailed description and the first chapter on my Web site http://www.donnavancleve.com/.

I loved writing this story. I love the juxtaposition of putting opposites together:

He was perfect on the outside...
She had let herself go.
He fed his fleshly urges...
She fed her face.
He was hiding from his past...
She was struggling to save hers.
But the closet changed everything.

Can you imagine getting kidnapped along with one of the hottest country music entertainers in the country? Okay, you're locked in a very secure storage room in a remote hunting camp with this international hunk, and hunting season is months away. And did I mention that you're married, overweight, and have no makeup to hide behind. Is that a nightmare or what!?

In the process of writing the story, I included a boarding school as one of the settings and decided to try to find an actual one in Africa. I discovered one not too far from Nairobi, which started as a boarding school for missionary kids over a hundred years ago. Rift Valley Academy currently has over five hundred students attending and is considered one of the top schools on the entire continent of Africa. Would you believe that the teachers have to provide their own funding for salaries? The school has an amazing history, but I don't want to give away its part in the story. You'll enjoy reading about this actual place.

I hope you get the chance to read Anchor Point. It's definitely not your run-of-the-mill romance novel. The main female character is a descendent of the original Taylor family. Several readers have asked that I include a family tree so they can trace the family line. I have a rough family tree just so I can keep all the characters straight in my stories, so I may start including one in book five, which is going back to the turn of the century.

Just need more time in the day. Happy reading!