I haven’t been reading much lately. Instead, I have been working hard on a debut romance novel, writing as Drew Greenfield. What began as a challenge (Why don’t you try writing an adult romance?) became a germ of an idea, then a serious project, and now a completed e-book.
So, today, I’m going to indulge in a bit of self-promotion.
Sweeter Than Wine by Drew Greenfield will be released on Amazon and other digital platforms on May 11, 2018.
The Digital Cover
Set among the lush, green vineyards of the Garonne Valley, Sweeter Than Wine is a contemporary adult novel told from the point of view of Nicole Durand, a young French girl who wants a career:
Nicole takes a job as housekeeper-companion to Cathy, wife of wealthy Bordeaux winegrower, Yves Ravel, to earn money for university. She isn’t looking for romance, but when she meets the Ravels’ son, Andy, she is irresistibly attracted to him. Should she give in to her desire, risking her future ambitions and his – or settle for friendship, and be the sister Andy never had?
The past few years have not been easy for Nicole. She has struggled to come to terms with her father’s early death and with her mother Denise’s subsequent addictions, lies and bad choices in men. In spite of it all, she has come through lycée with top marks. She has had to grow up quickly.
Now, as she grows closer to Cathy and her feelings for Andy intensify, Nicole becomes caught up in her employers’ problems as well as her own – by Yves’ obsession with the business, his threats to stop funding Andy’s science doctorate, the continual arguments and by the Ravel family tragedy. Moreover, she is distrustful of Denise’s new partner, and afraid her younger siblings may suffer the way she did. With three years of study in a foreign country looming, these are all complications she doesn’t need.
Although I have written and published some books in the past, this is a completely new venture for me and I have absolutely no idea how it will go. Initial reactions from a few ARC reviewers so far range from ‘it’s OK but I don’t usually read romance’ through ‘sensual and satisfying’ to ‘it’s really good’. [I’m trying to be honest here. I know romance fiction isn’t for everyone.]
So, if you like romance, or if you’re simply curious, please pop along to Amazon and take a look. The book is available to pre-order. Here are a couple of links:
The book can be accessed at all Amazon’s international stores with the same reference.
I have also set up a new Drew Greenfield page on Facebook to showcase the novel, and you can find that here. And if you can see your way to liking the page, I will be very grateful.
Comments on my post, my page, or on romantic fiction generally will be most welcome.
Tomorrow, I will pen a few thoughts about writing from the female point of view.
Bookheathen Scribblings 
Well played, always good to see fellow wordpressers getting books out.
Sounds good.
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Thanks, Lion! When you put yourself out there you have to be prepared to expect and accept all opinions, so my fingers are tightly crossed.
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Write what you love and forget others opinions…not always easy to do though, it’s easy to imagine our work being critiqued as we write.
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Wow, interesting! Congrats on the new book. I’m one of those people who don’t usually read romance novels, but every once in a while I do get in the mood for a good romance read. Hope it is well received!
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Thank you! I’m certainly hoping for more ‘good’ responses than the other.
But you never can tell. Maybe you’ll get around to my story one of these days.i
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Is there a strict definition of Romance? Did you follow a formula, or rules, that were different from the rules used in novel writing? I ask because when I wrote my novel, I considered it historical fiction, but because it was set in the American West, libraries have cataloged it under “Westerns” rather than in the category of “Fiction.” I would hate to lose a reader because they don’t read Westerns, just as I would hate for someone to miss out on your splendid novel because they don’t read Romances. Your novel falls into two categories, too – Romance and Fiction. What is a good story without a bit of love, too, eh?
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The major publishing houses, booksellers and libraries seem to tie themselves in knots over this question. And I can well understand your feelings in respect of your novel. I notice that Amazon put it under ‘Literature and Fiction > genre fiction’ but even here you’re missing out on the ‘historical’ sub-genre.
After several years working with Amazon, I still can’t make sense of it. Currently, on the UK and US sites, ‘Sweeter Than Wine’ comes up as ‘Literature and Fiction > contemporary fiction’. In Australia and Canada it’s ‘Kindle e-books > romance’. Amazon allows the publisher to ‘choose’ the category. According to the meta data my book is ‘Fiction > romance > contemporary’ and ‘Fiction > romance > general’, but neither of these shows up on the novel’s Amazon pages.
Sorry if that’s a rather long-winded way of answering “NO” to your first question!
As for your second, it didn’t occur to me to write to any formula. I started with the characters and worked from there.
And ‘YES’, in the words of the song, Love is All Around!
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Your answer isn’t long-winded at all; the publishing industry is complicated and a bit baffling. As for building a story around the characters, I agree completely!
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Congratulations! The story sounds intriguing. I made the same decision to publish an ebook a couple of weeks ago. Looking forward to reading Sweeter Than Wine!
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Thank you, Mary!
I caught your post this morning. What an interesting premise – a modern Elizabeth Bennett.Bought myself a copy. 🙂
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Thank you! Hope you enjoy it!
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Awesome news!
Congrats on your new book! Haha and tackling a new genre could not have been easy. Do you still offer advance reader copies?
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Hi Anastasia
Thanks for your interest in my book. I will email you some details shortly.
Kind regards, Andrew
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Great! 🙂
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