An interior designer by trade, Magnolia resident Elizabeth Lonseth has turned herself into a romance novelist. But forget the steamy action in traditional bodice-rippers; her book, "Leave It With Him," is a Christian romance, and were it a Hollywood movie it would garner a solid "G" rating.
That's to her advantage, because Christian romances are hot sellers, according to Adam Cothes, publicist for the Winepress Publishing Group, the company Lonseth has worked with to get her debut book into print. "That's certainly a trend," he said. "It's been going on for some time."
Also a growing trend is first-time authors like Lonseth using self-publishing companies such as Winepress, which operates on a print-by-demand basis.
That's in contrast to so-called vanity-press books, where authors pay up front to a have a pre-determined number of their books printed. And it's in even higher contrast to royalty publishers, who have lately taken to dropping their own authors if they aren't producing blockbusters, according to the trade press.
Lonseth did well at writing in high school and in college, she said, but the inspiration to write a book took her by surprise. "It was never anything I planned to do."
Lonseth used to tell her three daughters stories as they were growing up. "Mom, you should write a book," she recalls the girls telling her.
Lonseth decided to give it a shot in the summer of 2004. She grabbed a laptop, did a mental outline of the plot and got to chapter 4 the first day, she said.
"There was a lot rolling around in her head; she needed to get it out," said Elizabeth's husband, Stan, who drew illustrations for the book, took the photo on the cover and has helped with the business aspects of the project. "I finished it up in about 11 months," Elizabeth said of the book.
The book is set in the late-1960s in the Olympia area, where Elizabeth grew up. It tells the story of 15-year-old Luke, who moves with his younger brother from Orcas Island to stay with their father in Olympia after their parents divorce.
It was a time of free love and doing what felt good, according to a blurb from Winepress about the novel. But young Luke manages to resist temptation because of his evangelical faith, a focus of the story, Elizabeth said. "I wanted to show a young person walking with God," she added.
Elizabeth also wanted to show what it was like growing up in the 1960s and to write about the beauty of the Northwest as well, she said. Stan stressed that, while the Christian theme of the book is important, it's only part of the story.
"Leave It With Him" was finished two years ago, but it wasn't until a year ago that the Lonseths signed on with Winepress Publishing after doing on-line research. "They did a copy edit," Elizabeth said. The company also had suggestions Elizabeth followed about fixing up some rough parts of the narrative. "So it was a learning process," she said.
That's all part of the deal, according to Winepress publicist Cothes. "We handle the process from start to finish," he said. Based in Enumclaw, the company can help authors print as few copies as one to 2,000 to 100,000, Cothes said of its online Pleasant Word division.
Winepress also lists its titles on Amazon.com and other on-line retailers, according to the company's Web site, which adds that authors can sign up for different packages from Bronze to Platinum.
The Lonseths signed up for 60 prints of Elizabeth's book in the package they ordered, but they've also ordered 100s of copies on their own, Stan said. "And we did a lot of marketing ourselves."
Elizabeth said she's writing a second book about the main characters from her first as they go to college at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. "She's already on chapter 8 of the second," Stan said.
And if all goes well, Elizabeth said she would like to write two more books on top of the first pair-the first tracing the lives of Luke's ancestors in Norway, she said.
Winepress is marketing "Leave It With Him" as a book for teens, but Elizabeth disagrees, saying the story will appeal to all ages. As an example she points to an 80-year-old man from the Olympia area who said he loved the book. "And he's not even part of the Christian community," she said.
Lonseth will be signing her book from 1 to 3 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Magnolia Bookstore in Magnolia Village. It retails for $21.99.
Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com.
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