Local Author Publishes First of Many Romance Novels

Rose Kahn hates stories of unrequited love. True love, on the other hand, is what really makes this Ben Lomond-based writer tick.

“I can’t even watch movies with unrequited love in them, it just drives me nuts, my friends think it’s funny,” said Kahn, who is celebrating her first- published romance novel, A Place to Rest my Heart published by Crimson Romance on July 30 of this year.

“I think that there should be a silver lining, a happily ever after, I think there has to be something at the end of the rainbow that makes all that journey worthwhile,” she said.

Published under the pen name Galen Rose, A Place To Rest My Heart is a “lightly spicy” love story that takes place in San Francsico, spun around the lives of two mid-twenty-somethings from very different backgrounds; one privileged, and one not so much. 

“At first he dislikes her a lot because he thinks she’s just a con artist, out to take advantage of her family,” said Kahn of Sean Muldoon, a main character who falls in love with the young Laney Murphey who is taken in by his family. “He did a background check on her, found out she’s had a colorful life... Once he really gets to know her and finds out what’s beneath her snarky, sarcastic attitude then he has some respect for her,” Kahn said.  

The self proclaimed “seat of the pants writer” wrote the novel in three months, but says it took years of polishing. Finding time between laundry and raising a family, Kahn's writing style is to just sit down and write—whenever she can.

“I very rarely outline until I get more into the story, then I mostly do character development, even down to the music that they listen to. I believe character development really brings out the characters in the story,” said Kahn.

The writer sometimes uses the character traits of people she knows in real life to piece together her characters, but in this particular book the characters are spun mostly from the cloth of her imagination. Overtones of Santa Cruz do seep into the novel, though.

The road to getting published was a long and twisting one, full of the inevitable rejections from agents and publishers, but Kahn's message to all writers is: not to give up.

“One of the hardest things as a writer is to put your work out there, even if its just to a critique partner. Initially my first rejections were contests,” said Kahn. “...To all writers this is your baby, its really hard to take constructive criticism."

But Kahn, who has been writing all her life and seriously writing for the past six years, kept trying, and published her first book without the help of an agent. 

“I had a friend who saw the ad looking for submissions for Crimson Romance and he told me about it,” said Kahn, who couldn’t be happier with the publishing company.

Already working on her next project, Kahn gives a preview of her next book, saying that it’s a “Left-at-the-Altar” story. The book opens with a bride being left at the altar, and she decides to take her honey moon by herself. A sad opening premise, Kahn promises that the Maui-set book is actually a fun ride. “Don’t worry, there’s lots of fun and adventure in this one,” she said.

A Place to Rest my Heart is available as an Ebook on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and it will be print on demand ready by the end of September. Kahn plans on throwing a launch party, so stay tuned for the details, and check out the author's page.