Carole Remy: Did Lucy's Sexy Fun Road Trip Really Happen?? #TBSU

This post originally appeared as a guest post for March 29 on Krystal’s Enchanting Reads. This version includes some photos from the real trip and some that I found of the same places.

First a reminder that Who Is Candid? is FREE on Amazon! All the Amazon links worldwide to download the novel directly are listed at the bottom of this linked post!

Once you've downloaded the novel, it will be even more fun to follow Lucy's story here on the blog, with photos and personal anecdotes from stops along the way.

The Real Trip! Not as Sexy, but Lots of Fun!

In a sense, Who Is Candid? is as much a true story as it is a novel. My daughter and I wanted to take a long road trip together, and we brought along our little dog Joey. Yes, he was a blanket humper just like Trigger in the novel. We bought a trailer, hitched it to my pickup truck, and took off, much like Lucy does in the opening scenes of the novel.

Joey! The model for Trigger, and a companion on our real road trip!

It had occurred to me that I could write off some of the costs of the trip on my income tax if I did research as we went and then wrote a novel based on the research. Yup—thrifty and a little sneaky (but legal!), that’s me!

One writes a novel from a road trip first!

Since I was traveling with my daughter, and I’m not really Lucy, I only imagined the sex scenes as they appear in the novel. My libido got a sexy workout, as I tried to imagine a screaming hot chapter for each locale. We really did visit Lewis and Clark Caverns, the Mall of America, the frog at Fort Leonard Wood, and every other stop in the novel. And yes, the thought of having sex under the watchful eyes of President Lincoln at Mt. Rushmore freaked me out, just as it does Lucy!

Seeing Mt. Rushmore was a huge thrill. You walk up a long flight of stairs, and suddenly the whole panorama appears. This photo just shows a small second flight, and you can just see the monument at the top.

Lucy was worried about Lincoln. I don't know, all the Presidents look impressive to me!

If you go, be sure to visit the museum as well. Here's the mountainside before they began in 1905. Imagine the vision it took to even begin!

And some early workers creating one of the President's eyes.

You can tell I was fascinated by Mt. Rushmore, can't you?! Okay, enough history. But if you get a chance to visit, it's worth the trip!

Writing the Novel

When we got home from our trip, I had dozens of brochures, maps, and photos, and a scribbler full of notes. All I needed was a backstory outrageous enough to match the sex scenes! I thought of Voltaire’s Candide, and how the main character travels the world, recounting his misadventures. Do you remember reading Candide in high school or college? I think Voltaire was on our freshman reading list, and Candide was one of the novels I really enjoyed. Here's a free Kindle download of Voltaire's novel.

Read more about Voltaire here.

Lucy was born in a moment of gender-switch (the original Candide is male), and Voltaire’s patient heroine got a major gender-swap makeover as the sexy, talented, but still patient, Dick! Not much of the plot carries over into my novel. The original Candide is a full-on satire, and Who Is Candid? does poke a bit of fun at the erotica boom, as well as at our media obsession with celebrity.

To say that Who Is Candid? was fun to write is an understatement. I laughed my way through this book, as I hope you will too. Imagine Saturday Night Live doing a movie length riff on erotic novels. Really funny, REALLY sexy! As you read the novel, you'll see me standing on the sidelines, making notes as Lucy um, you know... all over the map!

Have you visited Mt. Rushmore? Were you as impressed as I was? What about some of the other sites along Lucy's route? Have you taken a road trip across America? What were the highlights for you? I look forward to hearing all about your trip in the comments!

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