Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Larion aka Larriane Wills - Writing from the past into the future

Larion writes both Sweet (western romance) and Sweet, Discreet (contemporary romance, romantic suspense)

Multi-genre, multi-named, Larion Wills aka Larriane Wills writes from the past into the future. With strong characters, no matter the setting, she drags you into intricate plots in genres you didn’t think you liked before with a fast moving style that keeps you reading. Visit her at her website to keep abreast of previously published and those coming. 

http://www.larriane.com/

Read her fascinating post below about stories in her family.

Family stories, as told by Larion aka Larriane Wills
I had a great uncle who could not only recite numbers of all the Civil Wars battles but enthrall me with some funny, interesting, and scary stories of his own. Add those to stories told to me by his sister, my grandmother, and I was hooked.
I think one of my favorites out of all of them was great, great, great—I think that’s enough greats—grandpa. When he was born back in the Civil War period, his mother fell down a flight of stairs, causing his birth to be premature. The doctor set him aside to attend to his mother, saying, “This one will never make it.” A cousin to his mother was there and asked if she could have him. Obviously, since he was my great, great, he survived. By all odds, he should, as the doctor said, have never made it. His mother didn’t. Cousin Selina kept him in a shoe box on top of a hot water bottle. I saw one of his baby dresses, not even eight inches long. Considering they made baby dresses about two feet long then, you can imagine how small he was.
I wish now I had gotten more stories and had written down those I’d been told. All those elders are gone now and the stories with them. Whenever I read a historical, or any novel for that matter, I always wonder how many authors incorporate a little bit of family history or personal experience in the stories they write. In Mourning Meadows, I didn’t any family history. I did include a scene of a wild ride my husband and I took down a mountainside when our brakes went out. As Edward says in the book, “What a rush.”
Discovering  ‘family’ stories in Mourning Meadow put Kari into shock, Caroleigh also. Neither of them enjoyed them the way I did those from my elders. Poor Steven and Edward got caught up in the fall out.

 
What her Sweet, Discreet Mourning Meadow contemporary romantic suspense is about:
 
Knowing he’d have to dodge Caroleigh’s advances, Steven still jumped at the chance to see the Mansion. From the first moment he saw the sister, Kari, she fascinated him. With too many coincidences, he knew something was off before the first attempt at murder. Was Kari the target or perpetrator?  

13 comments:

  1. Loved you post, Larion, but then I'm already a fan of your writing. I wish I'd written down some of the stories my Granny told me, too. She was big on ghost tales, and how different her life was from mine as a child. I just have to rely on my faulty memory now as she's been gone for a long time. I still miss her.

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    1. you need to write them all down, Ginger, to add meat to those great stories of yours.

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  2. What a nice story. Some miracles are more incredible than fiction stories.

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  3. Excellent story, Larion. This is a reprint of a book from Swimming Kangaroo, isn't it? Did you make changes for this new version? What do you feel you know better now than you did back then?

    Congratulations on the book. It sounds superb.

    All my best,

    Cheryl

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    1. Yes, it is a reprint. I've learned a lot since then. lol. Meadow was the 3rd book I had published and the newer version is much better edited and polished. For instance,I still amaze myself with all the thats I use even though I know they aren't needed.

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  4. Larion, I just love the family story with the shoe box! Welcome to Sweet Not Spicy!

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

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    1. thank you for the welcome Morgan, and for having me. I loved the story as well. I would have found the it hard to believe if I hadn't seen his baby dress. It was about 8 inches long. Most infant dresses I've seen from that time period were about 2 feet long. Selena, the cousin who took him most have been quite a lady to create a cardboard incubator.

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  5. Beautiful memories. Thanks for sharing them with us.

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  6. Your post brought back some beautiful memories. My grandfather used to tell me such fun and interesting stories! I really miss him.

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    1. I know what you mean. Both my grandmother and great uncle are gone now, but pieces of their stories live on in my writing.

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  7. Neat post...my goodness, talk to the older members of your family because once they're gone, that piece of history is gone.

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    1. and write it down. I've found so many of the stories I only remember bits and pieces of and wish I'd taken the time to write down those details.

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  8. My mission is to encourage and help folks to write their life stories. So important we keep our every day stories alive for the future generations. I present life story workshops every year. Very interesting and rewarding not only for me, but for the whole group. You are right, Larriane...Write it down!

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