LOCAL AUTHOR IS ALWAYS THINKING
OF HER NEXT BOOK
By Amy Roundtree
Suncoast News Staff
April 8, 2006
NEW PORT RICHEY - When Doreen Lewis is signing
books, she's not thinking about an author's fame and
glory. She's just thinking about her next book, or the one
after that.
Lewis will autograph her latest books, women's fiction, Her
Backyard, and her preteen novel, The Bubblegum Babes'
Guide to Sixth Grade, today, Saturday, 1-3 PM, at the
Waldenbooks in Gulf View Square, on U.S. 19 in the Port
Richey area.
A constant writer, Lewis made her way to publication in
2005 with Her Backyard, and she's addicted.
"Now, I'll never stop," she said. "It's all I want to do."
The novel focuses on a career woman facing a turning
point in her life. It's not your typical romance novel.
"Traditional romance, I am not," she said. "Those books
introduce the protagonist and the love interest comes in,
and by page 20 they're kissing and by page 60, they're
having sex. My men of interest don't come in until halfway
through the book or later."
OF HER NEXT BOOK
By Amy Roundtree
Suncoast News Staff
April 8, 2006
NEW PORT RICHEY - When Doreen Lewis is signing
books, she's not thinking about an author's fame and
glory. She's just thinking about her next book, or the one
after that.
Lewis will autograph her latest books, women's fiction, Her
Backyard, and her preteen novel, The Bubblegum Babes'
Guide to Sixth Grade, today, Saturday, 1-3 PM, at the
Waldenbooks in Gulf View Square, on U.S. 19 in the Port
Richey area.
A constant writer, Lewis made her way to publication in
2005 with Her Backyard, and she's addicted.
"Now, I'll never stop," she said. "It's all I want to do."
The novel focuses on a career woman facing a turning
point in her life. It's not your typical romance novel.
"Traditional romance, I am not," she said. "Those books
introduce the protagonist and the love interest comes in,
and by page 20 they're kissing and by page 60, they're
having sex. My men of interest don't come in until halfway
through the book or later."
She admits she gets a little carried away by writing. "It takes on a life of its own," she said. "It's all I could think
about. You're an instrument for the character. I was a prisoner of the story."
Lewis doesn't even break stride when she switches from talking about her mature fiction work to her teen novel.
"We get one life," she said. "If you don't take the time to explore other ideas, you'll miss out on a lot. A lot of people
write in different genres."
In The Bubblegum Babes' Guide to Sixth Grade, Lewis based the four main characters on her own girlhood friends
and her daughter's friends. While she'd prefer to see her own teenage daughter reading classic literature, Lewis is
happy with her book.
"It's meant to be quick reading -- like a 30-minute sitcom where everything gets wrapped up by the end," she said.
"I think if kids that age are reading something every day, if it helps them, then there's merit in that."
Lewis is nowhere near finished.
She has submitted one book, Arm Charm, to a new publisher but doesn't know when it will come out. Explaining the
title, she said, "My sister and I used to call women who are very pretty on the arm of a rich man an 'arm charm' --
They decorate the man." Lewis said an arm charm winds up finding a new life after getting dumped by her husband
of 30 years.
"She basically transitions in appearance and spiritually in the end," she said. "She's found a new love, and also
attracted her husband back, but it's the journey of a woman finding her passion from within."
Her work in progress, Elliot's Father, is about a different kind of life choice. "It focuses on a single woman in poverty
with a baby," said Lewis. "The father was on his way to priesthood and she didn't tell him, but now, five years later,
he finds out and has to decide if he wants to be the baby's father or a father in the priesthood."
She said putting a child character in an adult situation has been an interesting challenge. "It lets me put purity and
simplicity in a complex situation. Not that I plotted it that way. That's just how it's turning out. It evolves," she said.
"You have to let it veer a little bit. You've got to let that creativity in to make it real."
about. You're an instrument for the character. I was a prisoner of the story."
Lewis doesn't even break stride when she switches from talking about her mature fiction work to her teen novel.
"We get one life," she said. "If you don't take the time to explore other ideas, you'll miss out on a lot. A lot of people
write in different genres."
In The Bubblegum Babes' Guide to Sixth Grade, Lewis based the four main characters on her own girlhood friends
and her daughter's friends. While she'd prefer to see her own teenage daughter reading classic literature, Lewis is
happy with her book.
"It's meant to be quick reading -- like a 30-minute sitcom where everything gets wrapped up by the end," she said.
"I think if kids that age are reading something every day, if it helps them, then there's merit in that."
Lewis is nowhere near finished.
She has submitted one book, Arm Charm, to a new publisher but doesn't know when it will come out. Explaining the
title, she said, "My sister and I used to call women who are very pretty on the arm of a rich man an 'arm charm' --
They decorate the man." Lewis said an arm charm winds up finding a new life after getting dumped by her husband
of 30 years.
"She basically transitions in appearance and spiritually in the end," she said. "She's found a new love, and also
attracted her husband back, but it's the journey of a woman finding her passion from within."
Her work in progress, Elliot's Father, is about a different kind of life choice. "It focuses on a single woman in poverty
with a baby," said Lewis. "The father was on his way to priesthood and she didn't tell him, but now, five years later,
he finds out and has to decide if he wants to be the baby's father or a father in the priesthood."
She said putting a child character in an adult situation has been an interesting challenge. "It lets me put purity and
simplicity in a complex situation. Not that I plotted it that way. That's just how it's turning out. It evolves," she said.
"You have to let it veer a little bit. You've got to let that creativity in to make it real."