If you’re a hundred years old like me, and you used to be a teacher like me, you might remember Dover clip art books. It’s true–clip art used to be art that you clip with scissors, not a digital file.
Of all the books I’ve written, only one was inspired by a bit of clip art–The Charm School. Before I put pen to paper (yes, I write my first draft in longhand) https://www.susanwiggs.com/my-low-tech-laptop-2/ , I clipped this from a Dover book and came up with the title.
And then I thought up a story to go with it. Isadora Duncan Peabody was the girl we all were in high school–the awkward misfit who was also the smartest one in the room. She’s based on a real young lady from Salem, Massachusetts in the 1800s. The real Isadora looks like this:
Her adventures on the high seas with swashbuckling sea captain Ryan Calhoun ended up being so horny that my daughter’s high school friends used to read the naughty bits aloud in the school hallways.
After her adventures, Isadora turned out like this:
Some of you might be old enough to remember the “stepback cover,” a premium cover look on paperbacks. The outside cover had hearts and flowers, and the inside, the horny couple.
Remember that bit of clip art I showed you above? It made its way to the creative art designer, thanks to my editor, the now-legendary Dianne Moggy. And she faxed me the sketch. Are you old enough to remember faxes?
I instantly loved this concept, so I told them to go for it, and the book turned out like this:
…and a happy ending was had by all. The book won some awards and became a bestseller. It launched the Calhoun Chronicles and was published all over the world and it’s been in print ever since.
Why am I telling you this now? Because this frisky little book is on sale now for $1.99. That’s about ½ the price you paid for the latte you bought to sip on while you read.
But wait! There’s more! The Charm School is available now in audio format. Listen to your heart.
Also—you read it here first: There is a future Calhoun book in the hopper. No pub date yet, but stay tuned!
#reading #ebooks #digital #audiobooks #fiction #romance
