Friday, March 5, 2021

Today's Special - - Tracy Solheim


Just for Kicks
by Tracy Solheim
Milwaukee Growlers - Book 1
Publisher: Sun Home Productions
Release Date: March 15, 2021


It was supposed to be just for kicks...

Andi Larsen learned early on there is no such thing as fairy godmothers. A childhood spent in foster care will do that to a girl. She’s working her way through night school and is on the cusp of establishing her own business without help from anyone, thank you very much. But when her deadbeat ex steals her identity, amassing a staggering debt in her name, her fairy godmother appears in the guise of a spunky, Fireball whisky-wielding septuagenarian. The older woman’s solution for Andi? Tie the knot with a kilt-wearing, moody jock whose legs look sexier in a skirt than hers do.

Declan Fletcher never intended to be a place-kicker for a professional football team. But fate had other plans. Exiled from his beloved Scotland a decade ago, Dex is now a superstar athlete known throughout the league as the “Man with the Million Dollar Leg.” But when a mix-up in his immigration paperwork threatens to send him home before the season begins, he’ll do anything to avoid deportation and facing his greatest mistake. Even if it means marrying a pink-haired waif of a lass with eyes that seem to see everything he’s determined to keep hidden.

A grumpy cat, nosy teammates, and a sizzling sexual attraction make their marriage of convenience anything but convenient.

~~~~~~~~~~~


Have you ever wondered how an author chooses the setting for a book? For most authors, the choice isn’t random. After all, the setting of a book is practically an additional character within the story being told. Some authors create their own settings. Like a painter with a blank canvas, they get to build their own “world,” as it were. This can be a heck of a lot of fun for us creatives, but it can also be a huge time suck. Trust me, I speak from experience.

Others use actual places readers can visit in real life. That’s what I generally do. It may sound easier because everything is already created. But there are drawbacks to this method, too. Mainly that part I mentioned about readers being able to visit and explore. They also tend to point out any mistakes the author has made. 😊

All but one of my books is based in a real city or town. Places I’ve either lived in or spent a great deal of time visiting. I’m one of those people who likes to get her hands dirty or kick the tires, so to speak. I need to get a sense of not only the scenery but the sounds, scents, and, yes, taste of the places I’m writing about.

When I decided to write a new series based around a professional football team, I knew I needed to base it somewhere not too large or not too small. And I wanted someplace where sports are important. For several years, I was fortunate to attend a fabulous reader event held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Each time I visited I fell a little more in love with this uniquely mid-western city. By my third trip, I had decided that Milwaukee would be the home of my new team, the Growlers.  They’re named after beer growlers, because, you know, Milwaukee is synonymous with beer.  And cheese curds. And some really delicious custard. Told you I tasted the places I write about!

To get the feel of the city, I wandered around downtown with none other than the hostess of the Romance Dish, PJ. We explored the area, taking photos and getting a feel for where my characters would live and work. We even each struck a pose with the Bronze Fonze.


 

On another trip, I visited Marquette University to see where my heroine, Andi, would be taking her night classes. And, after exploring the wonderful Georgia O’Keefe exhibit in the Milwaukee Art Museum, I knew I had to set a scene beneath the building’s unique winged roof.

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

Because Milwaukee doesn’t have its own football team, I lured my husband up to Green Bay with a promise of a tour of Lambeau field, the home of the Green Bay Packers. The tour took us inside the visitors’ locker room. While not as swanky as the Packer locker room, I was able to get a feel for how they are set up. Besides, there’s always Google, an author’s best friend, where I found images of the Packers much swankier space. 

 

Photo Credit: Tracy Solheim

Now, just because I based the book in a real city doesn’t mean there aren’t some fictional places. The Shear Envy salon, where Andi works, is a figment of my imagination. In fact, a reader suggested the name when I gave a shoutout on Facebook asking for one. I hope I got things right in my descriptions of Milwaukee—I did ask friends who live there just to be sure. But if there is anything I got wrong, I’m okay with you letting me know. I love to chat with readers. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

Readers, have you ever visited a place after reading a book set there?


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25 comments:

  1. Book sounds great. I have never visited a place after reading a book, sorry to say.

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    1. I 'visit' a lot of them in my mind!

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    2. Scotland is on my list of book settings to visit. And Australia! For now, those trips are via Google and Starzz. :)

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  2. I have visited Chicago after reading books set there. On a sunny day, it's quite romantic. Arctic cold and flower-exploding wind drafts in winter are not. Another town I found is Elkins, West Virginia. It has a deep forest and a mansion with a bedroom tower in the middle of town (Sleeping Beauty's castle, anyone?)
    I have also found settings here in Arizona that correspond with books I've read. Brenda Novak got it right, but not J.A. Jance, who makes it up. Hope this helps.

    Susan in AZ

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    1. I love that you've visited cities from the books you read. I'm intrigued by your description of Elkins, West Virginia.

      And I agree with you on Chicago in winter. I grew up across the lake. That cold and wind combined is brutal!

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    2. My trips to Chicago have only occurred during summer--on purpose!! But I'm with you, PJ, we may have to explore Elkins, WV.

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  3. I read Nora Roberts' Inn Boonsboro Trilogy, and these books inspired me to vist Boonsboro and stay at the real-life Inn. Staying at the Inn was a wonderful treat. I know that PJ has visited there too.

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    1. Yes! It was such a delightful experience to stay at the Inn. I highly recommend it.

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  4. I've stayed there, also! I was signing books at the Turn the Page bookstore and decided to make a weekend of it. It was Halloween and all the kids were going from store to store in their costumes trick or treating. So fun. The inn was amazing. We stayed in the Nick and Nora room.

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    1. I stayed in the Eve and Roarke room. I'd go back to that room again just for the hi-tech shower and commode. Pure luxury. :)

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    2. We stayed in the Westley and Buttercup suite. I loved the room, but hated the stairs. LOL!

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  5. I love sports. I think your idea of visiting a city to get the atmosphere is brilliant.

    Thanks for the information and for writing about FOOTBALL.

    I hope everyone is taking care and staying well.

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    1. Annette, if you like football, you're going to love this new series. I'm already all-in with the team and excited to see where Tracy takes the stories next.

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    2. I'm always glad to meet another football fan, Annette!

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  6. I visited Charleston, and while there, I saw places in the Tradd St. series.

    Love Tracy's books!

    denise

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    1. Isn't that fun? I love doing that! My goal when we can travel again is to visit Scotland and experience the locations of all my favorite Highlander romances in person.

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    2. Scotland is on my bucket list! I'm trying to talk Karen White into a hosting an event in Charleston that includes a tour. I'll let you know, Denise, if she goes for it.

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  7. Since I like to travel have been to many spots of books that I have read. The one I still want to do though, is the covered bridges of Iowa. So close to home too!

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    1. I once did a covered bridges tour in Vermont and New Hampshire. So pretty.

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  8. My sister-in-law moved to Coos Bay/North Bend which is near the setting of Robyn Carr's Thunder Point series. We visited and explored a few of the other nearby cities mentioned in the books.

    BTW, I loved how Tracy mentioned Barbara Vey in this book and her charities. I loved my BVW luncheon with the two of you, PJ and Tracy!! <3

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    1. Great memories, Eileen! We'll do it again soon, I hope!

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  9. I have, I've also read books based in a location after visiting. It's fun trying to find locations that really exist when I have time to do so

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    1. I do the same, Glenda. It makes me feel more a part of a book. :)

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  10. I had started Jennifer Blake's MASTERS AT ARMS Series set in 1840's to 1850's New Orleans before we visited there. I finished two books before going and read another 1 1/2 while there. It was interesting to go through the historic city and tracing the locations of things in the book. I remember when I was reading a book after getting home, I knew exactly where the characters were standing in one of the scenes. That sort of thing makes a story so much more real. I read a contemporary book set in NOLA and again, the author was very familiar with the city. The feel of the city, the sites in the square in front of the Cathedral, the way cafes and restaurants were set up, the houses, all rang so true.
    Another that has that type of authenticity is B. J. Daniels. After traveling out West, I was reading one of her books that happened to be set in an out of the way place in Montana. The local places she mentioned and one of the sites she used were places she had obviously been. Several scenes she described could only have been experienced, to just looked up.
    I would think for the author, it makes the writing flow a bit easier because you have the place and the experience there in your head - the sights, sounds, smells - which add so much when used in the story.

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  11. Oh my goodness! I have to read this book! Sounds fantastic!

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