Pilgrims & Lovers, a novel set on the Camino

[sojourners]

Folks,

I’m posting this to ask forum members their opinion. I’m a professional writer with ten published books and over a hundred articles in major publications. I was taken by the mystery and romance of the Camino decades ago. I’ve traveled it a number of times and will likely do again, if I’m blessed to do so.

I’m working on a novel set on the Camino, Pilgrims & Lovers, a story of a woman and a man who have been beaten down by life and find redemption in each other and in the grace of the Camino.

My agent sent the proposal to only two publishers. One said, “Beautifully written but no one cares about the Camino. Keep it in Paris and I’ll buy it.” This agent missed the point of the novel, that these events could have only happened on the Camino. The other one said “It’s been done. That movie with what’s his name, Sheen.”

My agent then said that a love story was not within the genre in which I usually write and that he couldn’t place it with a publisher. It appears that I’ve been typecast.

I’m considering publishing myself, perhaps on Amazon. Or, perhaps, sending to some other publishers. I’m also wondering if I’m nuts. Maybe no one would want to read a love story set on the Camino. What do you think?

There's a link to the first few chapters below. If you have an interest and care to read those chapters I would greatly value your responses. Thanks in advance to those who respond.

Pilgrims & Lovers -

This is the first chapter, a short preview, of a project on which I'm working. Comments are welcome. Part One Chapter One I watched the morning light move

www.jamesmorganayres.com

Love to all,

Morgan

 

[Miki Goldie]

Sorry Morgan
I don't like the pluralist title...one night in a Zurubi albergue, two young tipsy pilgrims were getting amorous opposite my bunk and after 10 minutes I told them off....then I was cheered by the other 15 sleepers in the room. I felt old but we didn't way to participate in their romance.
You might like to read, "Two steps forward" by Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist ...a love story with the backdrop of the Camino From Cluny (France) to Santiago.....
I think you're onto a winner....
Love

 

[Hurry Krishna]

Just dumb to say ‘no one cares about the camino’ - millions clearly do! And a ‘comedy romance’ book written by and Australian couple became a best seller a couple of years ago and as far as I know sold film rights to Hollywood very quickly. Check out ‘Two Steps Forward’. Good luck with your book. Hope someone will realise its value

 

[sojourners]

Hi Miki,

Thanks for your comments. I can well imagine how intrusive and inappropriate the behavior would have been.

My characters are adults and would never do such a thing. Sandra is a widow. Logan is trying to deal with a divorce. Although they meet on the Camino, their affair only comes into being after they rent a small apartment along the way.

I'll look for that book, had not heard of it.

Also, thanks for your encouragement, "I think you're on to a winner."

Writers mostly work in solitude and sometimes it's hard to know if we're headed in the right direction.

Be well,

Morgan

 

[sojourners]

Just dumb to say ‘no one cares about the camino’ - millions clearly do! And a ‘comedy romance’ book written by and Australian couple became a best seller a couple of years ago and as far as I know sold film rights to Hollywood very quickly. Check out ‘Two Steps Forward’. Good luck with your book. Hope someone will realise its value

 

[sojourners]

Hurry,

There is no shortage of dumb in the publishing and movie business.

Thanks for the book suggestion and the encouragement. I started this project ten years ago. Shelved it after not getting a good response from a publisher.

Be well,

Morgan

 

[J F Gregory]

How can you have too many books about the Camino? I have 12 down loaded to my Kindle.

 

[jsalt]

I must admit, the title put me off a bit as well. “Pilgrims and Lovers” immediately brought to mind the amorous couples one occasionally encounters in albergues. Everyone’s thinking: geez, guys, go get a room . . .

But I wish you well with your book, good luck!

 

[FLEUR]

Sandra and Logan.....their backgrounds are the same as the two main characters in Two Steps Forward.

 

[mike O Brien]

Folks,

I’m posting this to ask forum members their opinion. I’m a professional writer with ten published books and over a hundred articles in major publications. I was taken by the mystery and romance of the Camino decades ago. I’ve traveled it a number of times and will likely do again, if I’m blessed to do so.

I’m working on a novel set on the Camino, Pilgrims & Lovers, a story of a woman and a man who have been beaten down by life and find redemption in each other and in the grace of the Camino.

My agent sent the proposal to only two publishers. One said, “Beautifully written but no one cares about the Camino. Keep it in Paris and I’ll buy it.” This agent missed the point of the novel, that these events could have only happened on the Camino. The other one said “It’s been done. That movie with what’s his name, Sheen.”

My agent then said that a love story was not within the genre in which I usually write and that he couldn’t place it with a publisher. It appears that I’ve been typecast.

I’m considering publishing myself, perhaps on Amazon. Or, perhaps, sending to some other publishers. I’m also wondering if I’m nuts. Maybe no one would want to read a love story set on the Camino. What do you think?

There's a link to the first few chapters below. If you have an interest and care to read those chapters I would greatly value your responses. Thanks in advance to those who respond.

Pilgrims & Lovers -

This is the first chapter, a short preview, of a project on which I'm working. Comments are welcome. Part One Chapter One I watched the morning light move

www.jamesmorganayres.com

Love to all,

Morgan

Go for it Morgan, I was that person in your book.

 

[Lindsay53]

"He gazed longingly upon her svelte form, barely concealed by her merino shirt and Kathmandu hiking pants. She was shy, yet wanton, as she slowly removed her boots. The albergue melted away.....They were lost in their own perfect moment....The tension was almost unbearable, the sweet ecstasy as she removed her socks, exposing her ankles, perfect feet, toes....then her eyes locked on his, her mouth formed the words...."Check my blister darling"

 

[FLEUR]

@sojourners
Do take a look at Two Steps Forward, having recently read that book I see similarities .

 

[sojourners]

Sandra and Logan.....their backgrounds are the same as the two main characters in Two Steps Forward.

 

[sojourners]

I did take a look at that book on Amazon. What struck me is that Pilgrims & Lovers is written in first person with each chapter alternating voices. This is an unusual structure, one that I chose for personal reasons. There is a similar structure in this other book, although it was written by two people.

Two steps was published last year. The first chapters of Pilgrims & Lovers has been on my website since 2015 and has been referenced on this forum in previous years. My agent had my manuscript and offered it to publishers in 2013. I find the similar structure interesting. Synchronicity?

All that aside, the characters are not at all similar. Nor is the narrative. Two Steps is comedic. Pilgrims not at all.

I first conceived Pilgrims as a film and registered it with the Writer's Guild in 2009. When Sheen's film, The Way was released in 2010 my agent said, "Oh well. They got there first." Which was also the reaction of one of the publishers to whom this was offered. So, I shelved the project, went on to others and only recently returned to it.

 

[sojourners]

I must admit, the title put me off a bit as well. “Pilgrims and Lovers” immediately brought to mind the amorous couples one occasionally encounters in albergues. Everyone’s thinking: geez, guys, go get a room . . .

But I wish you well with your book, good luck!

Thanks for your comments

 

[sojourners]

Go for it Morgan, I was that person in your book.

Thanks Mike. Sounds like you also have a story to tell.

How did you like Leon? My wife injured her knee and we hung out in Leon for some days waiting for her to recover. Nice town, we thought.

 

[trecile]

Sorry Morgan
I don't like the pluralist title

I agree. I don't think I would pick up a book with the title Pilgrims and Lovers.

 

[sojourners]

I agree. I don't think I would pick up a book with the title Pilgrims and Lovers.

Thanks for your comment. I will consider it.

 

[hfenton]

Thanks for your comment. I will consider it.

Perhaps A Pilgrimage to Love, or something along those lines?

 

[trecile]

Perhaps A Pilgrimage to Love, or something along those lines?

Ooh, I like that.

 

[akula415]

How can you have too many books about the Camino? I have 12 down loaded to my Kindle.

OMG I agree! Since returning home I have bought so many and have put many more on my amazon wishlist. I started with the big three: Paulo Coelho's The Pilgrimage, Shirley MacClaine, The Camino, and I'm Off Then.

Some of the primary sources of the Camino are available in English translation. Such as the Miracles of Saint James and a Pilgrim's Guide to Compostela, which are parts of the Codex and available from Italica Press.

If anyone has any further recommendations, that would be wonderful!

 

[FLEUR]

Imortelle Randonnee by Jean Christophe Rufin. (Camino del Norte)
I believe it's now been translated into English.

 

[hfenton]

OMG I agree! Since returning home I have bought so many and have put many more on my amazon wishlist. I started with the big three: Paulo Coelho's The Pilgrimage, Shirley MacClaine, The Camino, and I'm Off Then.

Some of the primary sources of the Camino are available in English translation. Such as the Miracles of Saint James and a Pilgrim's Guide to Compostela, which are parts of the Codex and available from Italica Press.

If anyone has any further recommendations, that would be wonderful!

Sounds like you probably have an extensive list. Here are some of the books I've read:
Off the Road: A modern-day walk down the pilgrim’s route into Spain, Jack Hitt
The Field of the Star: a pilgrim’s journey to Santiago de Compostela, Nicholas Luard
A Walk for Sunshine, Jeff Alt
Following the Milky Way: a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago, Elyn Aviva
The Cockleshell Pilgrim: A Medieval Journey to Compostela, by Katherine Lack
The Pilgrimage to Santiago, by Edwin Mullins
El Camino; Walking to Santiago de Compostela, by Lee Hoinacki
The Pilgrimage to Compostela in the Middle Ages, Maryjane Dunn and Linda Kay Davidson
Pilgrimage to St. James of Compostela from the British Isles during the Middle Ages, Robert Brian Tate
Strangers on the Camino: A Father, a Son, and a Holy Trail, Sanjiva Wijesinha
The Cult of Santiago, Rev. James S. Stone
Pilgrim Stories, Nancy Louise Frey
The Road to Santiago, Walter Starkie
The Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela: First English Translation, William Melezer
Steps Out of Time: One Woman’s Journey on the Camino, Katherine B. Soper
The Way of Saint James: or the Pilgrim’s Road to Santiago, T. A. Layton
Ego Trip: 40 days and 40 nights on the Camino de Santiago, Paul McCranachan
Being a Pilgrim: Art and ritual on the medieval routes to Santiago, Kathleen Ashley and Marilyn Deegan

Interest in the Camino de Santiago has also branched out to life in the Middle Ages and the history of walking.

Buen Camino.