Public Recognition

            Since I’m a blue jeans, cowboy
boots, and T-shirt kind of gal, I run errands dressed in the same sloppy
comfortable clothes I wear to write.
These days I keep meeting people who recognize me as an author so I take
a little bit more care than I once did.
That means I make sure my jeans aren’t ripped, my T-shirt isn’t stained
or torn, and I slap a little basic make-up on before I leave home.  I make sure I’ve combed my hair too.

            I learned that lesson the hard way
last spring.  In worn out shorts, legs
filthy from planting flowers, hair streaming down my back like a wanton gypsy I
headed out to the local home improvement store for more plants. I saw sixteen
people I know and half of them commented on something I’d written.

            On Friday as I researched some
background history for the World War II era romance I’m writing I stopped at
the local museum which wasn’t open for the day yet.  In the parking lot I met a woman working on a
project at the old schoolhouse that is part of the museum complex.  As we chatted, I mentioned that I am an
author and she stared at me, blinked both eyes and said with wonder in her
voice, “Are Lee Ann?”

            It’s not the first time I’m
recognized by first name.  I think my
last name ““ which combines my maiden surname of Sontheimer with my husband’s addition
of Murphy ““ throws people for a loop.  It’s
easier to just call me Lee Ann and be done with it.   The experience tickled me and I was glad I’d
bothered to put on a nice blouse.

            After all I really don’t want people
to say things like “I liked her book but she looked like the rag picker’s child”.  Since my photograph runs with my weekly
column in the local newspaper people do recognize me on site.  I was almost used to that but being pegged as
an author is still new enough to like.

Over
the years I’ve written a little bit of almost everything from radio commercials
to fiction that ranges from the naughty to the nice, from the supernatural to
the sublime.  These days, my main focus is
on romance and as I become known as a romance author, I see perception about
who I am shifting within my small town community.   Just a little over a year ago, I’d earned a
reputation as a writer who penned a weekly nostalgia column for the local
newspaper, did regional articles and the occasional bit of short fiction.   The local school district for which I worked
as a substitute teacher and where my three children attend classes thought that
equaled enough for me to make the occasional appearance to give a little talk
about “writing”.   When I signed my first
romance novel contract, that image began to change and today, with my sixth
novel out in the world, folks look at me just a little bit differently.

I’ve
always been different.  Call it eclectic
or color it weird, I dance to a different beat and see the world with a unique
vision.  I never could quite settle into
what passes for normal.  Maybe that’s
just a writer thing or perhaps I’m just unusual.

Now
that my novels are out there, read by people in both my original hometown and
the small town where I live, I have a reputation.   Somehow there is an expectation to be sexier
or really romantic.  I’ve been called
everything from “that lady that writes dirty books” to “author” and several
other titles.

  After a moment’s reflection, I realized I don’t
care because I’m still the same me I was before my books emerged.  Like that old Ricky Nelson song line, “you
can’t please everybody so you got to please yourself”.

My
next out release will be my second from Rebel Ink Press, a romantic suspense
novel called Witness Protection Program
due out in October 3.  It’s set in
southern Arkansas and I’ll share the blurb:

When a routine trip to the local discount store erupts in gunfire,
Kendra Driscoll finds herself rescued by a stern-faced federal Marshall. When
he whisks her away in a government van, she must face the fact that her witness
protection cover is blown. Now she’ll have to deal with being in Marshall
Timothy Campbell’s custody until further arrangements can be made. Timothy
takes her to a safe house tucked away in rural southern Arkansas and she
reverts to being Deborah Kincaid.

As she gets
to know Cam, Kendra realizes he isn’t as stern as he looks. Underneath his
gruff exterior she finds a kind, sensitive man and soon, despite the danger
from the Bianco family, she also finds herself falling in love. Worse, so does
Cam. He falls hard for his witness and that’s something that isn’t supposed to
happen.

But when
events turn ugly and Cam suffers a life-threatening rattlesnake bite, it’s up
to Deborah herself to face her enemies and deal with the danger for the last
time.

In October, I’ll also see several more anthologies out that
include my work.  I have a short stand
alone coming October 29, just in time for Halloween from Silver Publishing,
called “World Without End, Amen.”  In
November, my second Champagne Books title “A Time To Love” (time travel romance
hence the name) will be out and in December, my first Christmas release and
third Rebel Ink Press release, “Sing We Now Of Christmas” will be out December 3

2012 already has several releases lined up and waiting, mostly from
Rebel Ink Press including “Guy’s Angel”, “A Patient Heart”, “In Love’s Own Time”,
and “Miss Good Samaritan”.

So if you see me around town, I hope I’ve got my hair neat and my
good jeans on”¦because stay tuned, there’s much more to come!