Love at first sight

A none romance author in my critique group suggested that love at first sight could be an important theme in a romance novel. It could be, but usually isn’t. Why? For romance authors love is a verb not a noun. So the accent is on the journey.

The couple must face some drama, change, growth, and decide if they are really a couple for an audience to become involved in helping to solve the problems facing a couple who they know have such crazy chemistry they have to become one.

Therefore chemistry often replaces “love at first sight” as the clarion call in some romances. In others, the reaction to the other can range from detestation to melt on the spot. Often the cute meet causes one or both to form a low opinion of the other. Sometimes physical attraction is nonexistent in one or both. And everything in between.

A hero or heroine may declare instant love but that ain’t goin’ to get you there, until they bond. They may even hop into bed “lust at first sight” and then run for the hills. I can remember a short relationship of mine, long ago, in which the attraction was over the top but we had nothing else in common. There’s a very old film in which the silent screen star had everybody fall in love with her at first sight but then they heard her speak and ran out of the theatres laughing.

But, there would be somebody for her, once they got to know her and visa versa. It takes a great author to write such a story.

You drank too much eggnog

Are you Christmased out, watching Christmas romances on TV? Does your Christmas movie have cookie-making, hot cocoa with marshmallow drinking, ice skating, snowballing, snowman making, caroling, tree searching, tree decorating, mistletoe mingling, present wrapping, magical moments brought on by Santa, elves, angels, holiday calendars? Did you know much of this is required? It’s a recipe, just like ginger bread. Sprinkle on the tropes but do write a good script and have wonderful actors to carry it off.

You can write all or some of these into an original script with your brilliance showing. You can go your own way and write something different around Christmas.

My favorite Christmas movie had very little to do with Christmas. It has a misleading title, Christmas with Holly (Hallmark 2012, Eloise Mumford, Sean Faris, Josie Gallina based on a five book series by Lisa Kleypas known as the Friday Harbor series). The movie is about a little girl who cannot speak and the people who try to help her. A present does show up in the end, only because the journey took months landing us at the doorstep of Christmas, but it could have been any holiday or none for that matter, because it went to the little girl.

I’m not saying that I don’t like the gingerbread cookie cutter approach, or creative tweaks and twists. I do, if done well. Remember there is no story that hasn’t been told, because we are in the business of love. Love finds a way. There is a happy ending rather than a depressing one. The journey is yours and your fans, my fellow writer.

Highlights of Show, Don’t Tell by Sandra Gerth

Sandra’s book is free on Kindle.

One of the most important quotes from the book for a friend at Writers Bloc is, “Combine emotion markers to avoid ambiguity.” She explains that using body/facial language can be ambiguous. She suggests combining body language, dialogue, or internal monologue to make it clear.

Sandra’s book is full of concrete changes anybody can apply to their manuscript.

Telling gives conclusions and interpretations, summaries, reportage, being abstract, giving facts, not that telling doesn’t have its place. Such as to cover unimportant details, transitions, repeated info, &/or events, pacing, context (to give), & suspense.

An author may slip into telling by the improper use of adverbs and adjectives when strong verbs are needed. Avoid linking verbs such as is/was, felt appeared. The slip occurs when using emotion words such as surprise, anger, amazement, confusion or filters such as saw, smelled, heard, felt, watched, noticed, realized, wondered, knowing and more. If this isn’t clear, you are not alone. I took each word, as if I were picking fruit loops out of the bowl and munching one by one. Best to read because my blog could not possibly cover this subject in a short format.

Here’s one less than obvious example:

Telling: His mom would arrive soon.

Showing: Mom would arrive soon.

Top ten necessities for a successful romance novel

Top ten necessities for a successful romance novel:

1.      Typically, there is a cute meet (or meet cute).
2.      Ascending conflict (raising the stakes), internal and external
3.      Everybody needs direction.
4.      There needs to be an approximate equality between the couple.
5.      They need to show respect, if not up front then as the journey progresses.
6.      The journey should be both external and internal.
7.      Characters need goals, motivations, and conflicts, otherwise you’ll create stick figures.
8.      Often they must make a choice. They give up something to get something.
9.      The emotional attraction and fulfillment takes precedence over physical attraction.
10.  A story and the characters must have a purpose that should change.

Definitions and explanations:

A cute meet (or meet cute). This is most often the first time the hero and heroine meet. It could be an awkward situation or funny. They may need to team up because of it. Note: How can they fall in love if they are not forced together for much of the story? This togetherness is often labeled a romance trope, although connected quite often to the cute meet, it stands separate as a technique. According to Romance Writers of America, the top ten most popular romance tropes are:

·         Friends to Lovers.
·         Soul Mate/Fate.

·         Second Chance at Love.

·         Secret Romance.

·         First Love.

·         Strong Hero/Heroine.

·         Reunited Lovers.

·         Love Triangle.

·         Sexy Billionaire/Millionaire.

·         Sassy Heroine.

A trope in general is a word or expression used in a figurative sense, such as a figure of speech. A romance trope is broader to include plot elements, as listed above.

Ascending conflict: Often after the cute meet there is tension between the two. They might not like each other, but they had better have a good reason for dislike. Or they’re intrigued but there are so many things wrong with the idea of them as a couple or for one or both of them to change their lifestyle. Often there is an external force threatening them. This can be manifested in the form of a literal villain, friends with other ideas, ex’s, or any number of problems in their environment.

Everybody needs direction. On any journey, there are mentors, or at least close friends or family that give advice or support and sometimes bad advice. Of course, if the story is paranormal or mystical/religious, unexplained phenomena can happen. Very charming stories incorporate guardians (often strangers and much like mentors) along the way. Although these guardians are most often human, they can feel like signs or guide posts.

Approximate equality. She could be President of the United States and he a flower shop guy, but they both need to bring something of more or less equal value to the table.

They need to show respect, if not up front, then as the journey progresses. Note: Respect in the age of me-too, women’s rights, and the quest for equality is unfortunately a fairly recent must if writing romance.

A white hot burn

Yesterday, at the RWASD’s annual literary event our speaker was Sherrilyn Kenyon, a #1 New York Times Bestselling author many times over.

She told us of struggle, homelessness, deep family problems both as a child growing up and married. She never said it, but it was obvious to me that she needed to show that she was good for something. In so doing, she validated a purpose both for her and others. I surmise that that “I’ll show them” attitude can propel writers to do their best. Sherrilyn also had an abiding and unrelenting love for writing which manifested itself in entering contests and submitting as a child, becoming the editor of her school(s) papers, expanding into multiple art forms within writing such as manga. She did describe a loving relationship she had with her brother who has since died. (You might call this the “Save the Cat” influence.)

I take from this that we need a fire in our bellies. It can be set by negative influences and/or a firm belief in ourselves and some sort of human love and support. Sherrilyn said of writing, that if you have a beginning, middle, and end, start writing! All the better if the subject of your story also burns white hot. For instance, if there is something that bothers you in the world, write it. Don’t be a afraid to express yourself, just make it smart and subtle. It is fiction after all. Show, don’t tell.

My father had always denigrated me saying I would amount to nothing, but my mom was my saving influence. I did amount to something!

Yet, it was not until my dying daughter whom I was a caregiver for and to whom I read my latest story. She made me promise to, “get a traditional publisher this time, dad,” because she loved the story.

Did you ever feel that if left to your own devices, nothing much would get done or that the project didn’t have that umph necessary? I have. Well, with Lani as my angel, I do not work alone. I achieved her goal for me (and fulfilled a dream of my own). I will have it published in 2020 with a respected publisher known for the genre in which I write…

Tell me what aggravates you and let’s see if there’s a story there.

Regarding my story, what aggravated me was and is white supremacists who demonstrated their idiocy in Charlottesville and elsewhere. By the time they demonstrated outside the White House (maybe fourteen to forty of them, they were met by four thousand counter-demonstrators (a true story.) This failure gave me hope and a story idea that burned my soul white hot until I with the help of Lani completed it.

Out of the mist, I see.

Out of the mist, I see.

After all these years, literary fiction has been demystified for me. I was also not used to the term, Upmarket (see second list below). Thank you, Carly Waters for the following explanations. Carly is a VP & senior Literary Agent at P.S. Literary Agency.

Literary fiction:

1.      Is driven by craft & quality of language.

2.      Often has open endings.

3.      Blurs or bends genre expectations.

4.      Pace is methodical & slower due to emphasis on language not plot.

5.      Originality of thought where the aim is art.

6.      Often award winning.

Examples: The Goldfinch, Station Eleven, All the Light We Cannot See.

Upmarket fiction:

1.      Aim is thoughtful discussion because of accessibility to real life.

2.      Blends lines of commercial & literary.

3.      Appropriate for book club discussion.

4.      Accessible Writing.

5.      Quality writing tackling commercial plot topics or themes.

6.      Women’s fiction often falls in this category.

7.      Character driven.

8.      Universal themes everyone can connect to.

Examples: Water for Elephants, The Passage, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Labor Day, Maybe in Another Life, The Husband’s Secret, Me Before You.

Commercial fiction:

1.      Includes genres like romance, crime, thriller, mystery, sci-fi, & fantasy.

2.      Reaches broad audiences.

3.      The aim is to entertain.

4.      The writing is fast paced.

5.      Concise hook that is trying to solve a very specific problem.

6.      Creates a satisfying experience that readers have come to expect.

7.      Ending that close all open doors unless a series.

8.      Plot driven.

Examples: Hunt for Red October, A Perfect Life, A Walk to Remember, One for the Money, The Pelican Brief.

Now, with insight, my critiques in my critique group can be less tentative. I had always asked myself if the critique I was contemplating giving would not be based on the art and craft of writing, but on my understanding of commercial fiction. I would often hold my tongue unsure if my advice was solid. Now, with these lists I will be better able. I might even read some upmarket or literary fiction.

On a personal note, literary and upmarket has been creeping into my writing for years, without me realizing it. This will help me better market my future projects. The one I’m working on now is going to be published by a traditional publisher. Guess what, at some point, I’ll ask my editor, where she would place me. I know the answer will be genre romance NA, but I’ll like to see her take on how much bending I did. I promise it was not on purpose, LOL.

Follow up on Damon Suede

Follow up on Damon Suede (from previous post).

His book is called Verbalize.

Damon strongly suggests setting scenes with action both interior and exterior. About half way through the book two sentences captured the essence of the book and could be used as a pitch or logline. He writes, “All too easily a character can simply start to yearn or gossip or interfere without an object, leaving them marooned inside their own head and heart. Result: passive beat, dead scene, inert character, boring book.”

What? “Object” above means something the audience (readers) can see. Set the scene with action. For instance, Humphrey spied a notice on the student board. It read, if there is no god, how can all men be created equal? Join us tonight at the student center for a discussion. He crumbled the notice. Not knowing why.

The paper is the object and Humphrey’s act, one of a conflicted young man was to push the doubts away by becoming upset with others. Luckily, Alicia, his guardian angel eventually led him out of the quagmire of amoral thought.

Damon Suede’s book is unusual is style, which this reader enjoyed. If you get it, strap yourself in for a wild ride through the mind of a genius.

Well, I wasn't just going to take Damon's word for it, so I reread Blake Snyder's Save The Cat! Strikes back. I needed a different perspective and one even more visual since Cat is on screenwriting. (actually the principles of screen writing can well serve the novelist.) On page 79 the author writes about theme and issues five points. The third is "What's on your mind? What statement, issue, or ax to grind finds voice in your characters?"

Compare, contrast, and get back to me. (Hint, the statement, issue, or ax is the object, IMO.)

Recent Revelations

Recent revelations:

On Saturday, Oct 19, 2019 I attended my RWASD meeting in which HelenKay Dimon was the speaker.

She’s such a gifted best selling author and brought much food for thought to her lecture on beginnings, which she stressed applies to the whole story. I’ll share a little:

1.      Ground your story with setting, place, and tone, with tone being the most important. A story can start without the other two. The tone is the author’s voice. What are you trying to accomplish in the story. A consistent tone should carry through all the character changes to the very end. This sense of forward movement should also include hooks. Your theme should be felt ideally, subconsciously by the reader.

2.      What’s your book about? Knowing this guides your decisions about what kind of descriptions and dialogue fit.

3.      A hero or heroine should be compelling not necessarily likeable (especially in the beginning).

HelenKay Dimon is the outgoing President of RWA, a lawyer, and prolific novelist. Go to https://helenkaydimon.com for more.

Damon Suede is the president elect for RWA and he tells a similar story in his lectures and books but with his own personal twists. First off, my publisher recommends Verbalize by Damon. But if you prefer first to watch a 45 minute intro of his book and the man go to Damon Suede Creative Pen and click on video. His pops up first.

The video is a wild ride through the artist’s mind, a genius, if you ask me. He’s gifted, loquacious and thought provoking. Get to know this talent. He wants you to use better and transitive verbs as if you were adding spice to a recipe among other points. Take the reader on a consistent journey of unified tone, voice, and theme.

He’s a firm believer in the value of listening to your story via audio aids as a way of validating its strength for the reader and making improvements based on what you hear. This means, he said she said may not be best. This, to me, is radical but I can certainly find ways to diminish the amount of he/she saids. I have ordered the book and will let you know if I got anything wrong and what else I learned. Start with the video.

His next book, Activate is a well crafted thesaurus of transitive verbs useful to any author who likes to spice his or her stories. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1945043059/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Free ebook on writing by Sandra Gerth

Highlights of Show, Don’t Tell by Sandra Gerth, a free ebook that has won awards.

Red flags for telling:

1.      Conclusions

2.      Abstract language

3.      Summaries

4.      Backstory (there’s right place for this in the novel, generally later and spread in small pieces)

5.      Adverbs

6.      Adjectives

7.      Linking verbs (i.e was/were/is/are/felt/appeared/seemed/looked etc.)

8.      Emotion words (angry/surprised/amazement/confusion etc.)

9.      Filters (saw/smelled/heard/felt/watched/noticed/realized/wondered/knew etc)

To turn telling into showing:

1.      Use the five senses

2.      Use strong dynamic verbs

3.      Use concrete nouns

4.      Break activities into smaller parts

5.      Use figurative language

6.      Write in real time

7.      Use dialogue

8.      Use internal monologue

9.      Focus on actions and reactions

Avoid: Redundancies. Telling Backstory (use iceberg theory). Flashbacks/Prologues/character descriptions/feelings (don’t describe your characters all at once)—Reveal the character of a character.

Danger areas are large blocks of description. Make them dynamic. Describe only what your POV character would notice given his/her background, personality, and situation.

Avoid clichés. Naming emotions instead of describing.

ABC Always be clear.

Eight ways to reveal emotion without telling:

1.      Physical responses

2.      Body language

3.      Facial expressions

4.      Dialogue

5.      Internal monologue

6.      Setting descriptions

7.      The five senses in moments of heightened emotion

8.      Figurative language. BE UNIQUE and AVOID AMBIGUITY

Telling in dialogue.

Avoid:

1.      “As you know” dialogue

2.      Creative dialogue tags

3.      Adverbs in dialogue tags

4.      Reported dialogue

Don’t overshow either on a macro or micro level.

Sometimes use telling for unimportant details, transitions, repeated info, repeated events, pacing, context, suspense, first drafts.

Men's brains are just fine, thank you.

I had to stop right there. I read an article that said that most men’s thoughts are driven by what they see. True, men are visual. False, men don’t have abiding agendas and/or worries that influence and predominate their thoughts. Human beings work, have family, friends, interests. To not do these things is self-destructive.

I must admit that the sight of a lovely woman might make a man pack away his preoccupations for a moment. But after he gets over how pretty that stranger is, he’s back to solving his “real” problems, especially if he’s married. If he’s a bachelor then we need add one more item to his agenda, a mate. Still balancing all his concerns means he’ll ask that woman out on a date at some mutually good time for both. Unlike what happens on ABC’s Bachelor franchise where finding a mate consumes every waking moment. Those who go on the show make a conscious decision to shelve their normal lives for a couple months in an effort to accelerate their search for a partner.

Off point, but interesting and heart-warming: Cudos to ABC through Bachelor in Paradise in which the first lesbian couple in the history of the show became engaged.

What is your story about?

Without prejudice by an overbearing author, the belief systems of your characters are the foundation for your story. Without beliefs, even in flux, one doesn’t have a story with any merit. So why would a conservative read about a liberal or why would a Buddhist read about a Catholic? We are all people and our personal struggles speak to our humanity. The reader begins to feel for or become attached to the character.

I watched the finale of Bachelor in Paradise with my two sisters. One is a very conservative Catholic. For the first time on ABC’s hit show, a lesbian couple was presented. My sis, said something like she didn’t have much of a problem with Demi and Christian, she just wouldn’t like to watch two guys. As the show progressed, she said that it was obvious they loved each other. Isn’t that at the core of many belief systems? Love. My sis empathized, relaxed, and enjoyed the show.

In novels, there must be arcs for our main characters. For my sis it was a tiny one. For your characters, they must experience internal and external change in dramatic ways.

For many who write romance, they have put their feet on the love brakes. Yes, the hero and heroine are physically attracted to each other (usually) and yes they often can’t stand each other. (Cute meets always make me smile. Know any Dems and Pubs like that?* But they find themselves on journeys, often together. They grow, they change, they fall in love.

RWASD Seminar notes by Nikoo & Jim McGoldrick: Consider the creating the three act play using:

1.       The hero’s journey.

2.       The rule of three.

3.       Storyboarding.

Perhaps, you like me, are unfamiliar with the rule of three:

1.       Introduce the problem.

2.       Raise the stakes.

3.       Make a commitment.

Food for thought, right?

Shameless self-promotion. If you are interested in seeing the Dem and Pub running against each other for president fall in love check out my award-winning novel, A More Perfect Union. The link for which, is on the side panel of the blog. And while I’m at it, visit my new website in progress, also linked on the side. There, true love presides.

Research for your novel

Following the rule regarding research that you only present the tip of the iceberg in your story, you should still feel comfortable and fully grasp the research subject. A romance story is about your characters but their environment plays a role. So your hero is sitting on an iceberg and you need to know how long he can survive before help arrives (a female helicopter pilot, perhaps will come to the rescue).

There are many research techniques you can avail yourself of.

1.       Contact specialists.

2.       Go to the library and don’t forget the help desk.

3.       Attend classes.

4.       Use the internet carefully. There is much b.s. on it these days.

5.       Check out the library of Congress and the Smithsonian.

6.       Check out groups or societies. For instance, your character has cancer. A group dedicated to that type of cancer would be useful to contact.

7.       Go to shows or symposiums.

8.       Check in with other authors who have similar struggles.

9.       Review the artwork and poetry of the time and place you are writing about.

10.   Use the Jeopardy! technique as created by James Holzhauer, a huge winner on the show. He studied children’s books on subjects he felt were too difficult to wade through otherwise. He said to the Washington Post, “They are chock full of infographics, pictures and all kinds of stuff to keep the reader engaged… I couldn’t make it through a chapter of an actual Dickens novel without falling asleep.”

There’s a hidden point to 10. Try to not write so densely with all that research you have gathered will allow your reader to fall asleep. Hey, not that Dickens is dense. James wanted to learn in the quickest way. He didn’t want to struggle. Your reader should not struggle to figure out what is going on. Hint: try to construct a sentence with one subject, predicate, and object as often as you can. If you must do otherwise, make doubly sure the sentence is 100% clear. Drop all double (or more) meanings in the words you use or modify the word to clarify it.

The World of Forms

The World of Forms

A short history: Athens Greece 2400 years ago. The philosopher Socrates taught Plato, Plato taught Aristotle. Their impact on the way men think has a predominance in western thought.

One of Plato’s theories that is more controversial says that the senses are illusions and the world of ideas is real. After we die, we wholly become part of the world of ideas, or forms as he called it, and will experience everlasting joy.

Let’s apply this to romance in two ways. Love as an idea has to be at the top of the list of forms because it is perfect, indivisible and the reason for living. Your senses make you aware of a possible mate but the idea of love and the world of your heart are intangible. Senses are fleeting and so is our attractiveness over time. So choosing a partner should take into consideration more than physical beauty. The second application is in writing romance or for that matter any fiction. Your idea becomes a form and that is eternal. So keep contributing to the richness to be found after death!

For romance writers, focusing on love in a story is critical. Focusing on eternal love is a secret of a great philosopher named Plato.

Elizabeth Browning wrote, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways….” Count indeed. Make sure your romance is not shallow. Embrace the world of forms.

I must run now. I have guests from the Philippines to love.

Competitive Man

The competitive man

I’ve been writing about the male POV since 2011. In my Kindle book, 101 Tips, Primarily on Writing Male Characters, I had to use the word ‘primarily’ because I hadn’t collected enough ‘onlys.’ Often a male POV idea can be described as simply human. It’s a matter of degree how much a woman acts like a man and visa versa. Regarding competition, both men and women are competitive. Sometimes in different ways.

Competitiveness in men can be both good and bad. When young men challenge each other to street racing and one drives off a cliff that’s taking it too far. Guys are also more likely to fist fight…

Good can be extracted from a man often in the form of a woman being present. She inspires a man to do better. I’ll offer two recent examples, which came as a surprise to me. I’m in Zumba, and in walks my Bar teacher on a 15 minute break. I danced better without consciously trying. My daughter died of cancer, but before she did, she inspired me to write a better novel and insisted that I try harder to get it published. So I did and yes it will be published.

It is so true that many put their own needs last or accept a certain comfortable way of doing things, instead of struggling to get the best out of themselves. There’s the 80/20 rules. Most of us will complete 80% of the work necessary to ‘finish’ the job. The remaining 20% necessary for greatness is just too much work. Hence, we have the Taylor Swifts of the world. Those whose inner strength, borne of genius, to be sure, press with great energy to use the talents that God gave them to the maximum. It is human nature to take the path of least resistance. What will you say of your life if you cannot reach even one of your goals? No problem. If you analyze and understand your talents and do the best you can with them, you have accomplished the Creator’s goal set for you.

A man dates and marries a woman and wants to make her happy by doing more for her, to work hard at love, to make her feel loved, even adored in a secular way. Some men never leave the honeymoon stage. If they can’t please her, treasure her every day, they’d be disappointed in themselves. Love is the point of life. So make it.

A man left to his own devices may drift. Humans are social creatures, so, at the least, reach out to the community. (Okay, it’s Sunday. It’s preaching I know. Not all men are like this, i.e., striving for excellence in a relationship. This is for the dreamers out there who write books of love. Who deliver inspiration for those who enjoy and sometimes need it.)

The Needy or Clingy Type

The needy or clingy type.

Have you ever seen the guy or gal who clung to their partner? I have, but in this one unique case, two directions. First, being needy or clingy is considered a personality defect, but what if both are doing it to each other?

This is a true story, reported without embellishment.

August 15^th, Thursday is a Catholic Holy day of obligation. Wife and I went to an evening Mass. In walks a young couple, hand in hand. They take a pew in the sparsely populated church four ahead of us.

She rested her arm on the bench rise behind him and finger combed has locks in one small section near his opposite ear. Oh that’s nice.

He then gave her a kiss on her cheek. Sweet.

She went up to do a reading. Came back and he put his arm around her waist. Next, she put her arm over his shoulder while standing. These guys must be a new couple. But they weren’t. I spotted the rings. They’re married. What retreat did they go to? And where can Del and I sign up? Arte they married to each other. Let’s secretly meet at the church.

Next reading was his. When he returned, she rested her head on his shoulder (and this happened quite a few times). My God, they must be totally in love. Paul Anka’s hit of bygone years played in my mind. Put Your Head on My Shoulder, 1959. The link to the song: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=paul+anka+put+your+head+on+my+shoulder&docid=607995728363585974&mid=F42B7149B7BDEA7FA3D5F42B7149B7BDEA7FA3D5&view=detail&FORM=VRAASM

Then, they took turns kissing each other on the cheek (this happened maybe twenty times a piece). I looked around and people were smiling. Get a sacristy, I wanted to shout out.

During the rest of the Mass, they alternated among hand holding and arm caresses, knowing looks, cheek kisses, leaning into each other, and the put your head on my shoulder. At any moment,

I half expected them to disappear from sight and imagined groans coming from the pew. I would not chastise myself—being a romance writer—for not paying much attention to the Mass. I couldn’t tell you anything about the sermon, except for the pastor’s joke at the end requiring that we all go home after Mass and have a feast, since this was a feast day.

Perhaps the couple were newlyweds, but I have seen them around for at least a year. Never in a position to observe.

They walked out hand-in-hand and starry eyed. I worried that they might trip, they had already fallen. They were neither creepy, clingy, nor needy. Just lovey. And we all could use a dose of it.

Bachelor in Paradise vs. Love Island

Love Island (CBS) and Bachelor in Paradise (ABC) go about their business in different ways, hoping for the same result.
1. BIP tapes their show, which leads to sleuthing to spoil the finish for those who cannot wait. I have a friend who constantly "fills me in" even though I ask her not to. She just can't help herself, LOL. LI films in real time and pays the winning couple, decided by the audience, $100,000.
2. LI recruits a younger range of contestants, 21 to 26 approx. BIP maybe 21 to 36.
3. BIP offers the fantasy suite (the couple stays together overnight) at the end of the show. LI insists that all couples sleep as pairs in one large bedroom (like a barracks).
4. BIP promotes marriage proposals. LI, as far as I can tell, allows nature to take it's course--without the producers "heavy" hand.
5. On LI couples are forced to choose right up front or twenty four hours later. They'll get their chances to rectify if a mistake is made. This increases familiarity and intimacy.
6. LI does not cover up body parts. BIP does.
7. LI does have some games, but unlike the failed Bachelor Pad, the games have no prizes or punishments like leaving the show. I like this. The "kids" are just having fun and getting to know each other better.
8. On LI, in order to win the $100,000, couples may try Hollywood style acting, but the cameras catch everything.
9. There are no camera persons on LI, just fixed and everywhere, with the exception of dates outside the compound which is in Figi. BIP has a camera crew.
10. Both shows have a host. LI has a voice over explainer in chief and general jokester. BIP has no guide for the love or dialect impaired, LOL.
Both shows are enjoyable light entertainment for people who like to see young men and women struggle with life's most important feature and benefit, love.

The morality play

Aren’t we all writing morality plays? Unless you’re writing a Mein Kampf feel like, in which case get off my blog. Aristotle would have been ashamed of you.

The detective, soldier, cop, FBI, boy, girl, man, woman solve the story problem showing not telling that good wins out. In some literary novels, beauty is celebrated. Beauty is the batter with which we cook up a story of victory for love. There is the exception; it would seem, of writers who lament things not turning out right. Often, they show us by contrasting love and hate and what hate can do. On the Titanic, a ship sails without sufficient lifeboats. Moral: greed, ego, and an iceberg ruins a perfectly fine passage. Romeo and Juliet should have lived but had to suffer the hate of their families. Etc.

It saddens me that there is a big increase in hate crimes. Let’s do our part to counter that by writing good stories, i.e. those where good wins out over evil.

A most interesting take on life is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The award winning author doesn't tell us what to think. He allows us to want to do better. He said, "My weapon is literature."

Kick it up.

Hannah Brown

Hannah Brown



Everybody thought ABC screwed up this time when they selected Hannah Brown as their next Bachelorette.

On the Tell All show they announced her. Likely, she suffered from stage fright, a complete loss of the ability to communicate. She resorted to repeating herself, sticking to just a couple sentences. Many wrote that this beauty queen, who won Miss Alabama in the Miss USA contest lacked substance. The trolls oozed their vitriol in alarming numbers. People suggested ABC script their contestants, which was also an unfounded complaint from viewers in the past. “Oh, the show is scripted or rigged.” It is not. Write me if you don’t believe this and I will share with you the proof.

Hannah’s approval rating slowly went through the roof.

1.       She demonstrated more than once that she was a strong woman by immediately kicking off the show anybody who was there for the wrong reasons.

2.       She showed compassion, looking for the good in a person, who had shown disrespect to his fellow contestants.

3.       She stuck up for her life decisions and ethics allowing no one to denigrate her. A fundamentalist man on the show, who thought of women as subservient, said that he would be there to guide and protect her. He said her sex life was inappropriate. She gave him the boot while arguing her case for equality, quite to the liking of women everywhere, along with most men.

Tomorrow night is the finale. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hannah chose no one, and I wouldn’t dare to second-guess her. I will say that her big heart gave too much time in her effort to redeem the fundamentalist, which gave her less time to find her mate. I wish her the best.



For me, she started out (pre-show) as the worst Bachelorette in the history to the show and ended up the best. Any writer could appreciate this enviable story arc.

Writing tip for the day: consider taking your main character arc from evil to good, or from incompetent to brilliant, or from zero to sixty, instead of serving us a warm bowl of porridge.

Marginalized Characters

Marginalized characters.

At the gym one of my female friends told me about a lesbian who is also a teacher who’s a pain in the ass because she makes waves and wants change. “She’s hard to stomach.” My gym mate is also a school counselor! I found a way to present to her a new way of looking at the problem as she saw it and also serve this blog with a method to put into the writers’ tool box, especially for developed characters like heroes and heroines.

I said, “when a person is traumatized by a group or individual who does not accept them, they often become defensive, especially if this happens over a lifetime. Some act out. They feel unloved and therefore have difficulty opening their heart. They might feel a need to justify themselves by rocking the boat. They may be perceived as having a chip on their shoulder. They scream instead of engage in dialogue. These people are deeply hurt. Knowing this, is the first step to becoming a friend and/or helping them.” My gym mate paused worried that I thought she had a prejudice. I told her that she obviously wanted the best for her lesbian co-worker, right? She looked to me as if she’d take a new approach to her co-worker. I dodged a bullet, because as a general rule one should not lecture another adult, however subtle it is delivered. A friend is a friend and perhaps she grew, if there was any growing to do!

What about the writers’ toolbox. Every one of us have been the other at one time or another in our lives. This is a critical tool in writing what motivates your character as the story arc takes them on a journey of change. I don’t mean to say that this is just another form of relativism. There is evil and good. There are not good people on both sides, as Donald would have us believe (does he think he’s educating us?). Good people can turn bad and bad people can turn good but they cannot be good and bad regarding something as fundamental as “all men are created equal.”

Make sure to give your hero or heroine some background/opinion/conceit or even prejudice that is at odds with the antagonist and make it dramatic. Yep, he’s the killer and the hero is the cop who’s going to catch him. Extra credit goes to the writer who applies maximum drama through the differences between the hero and heroine in a HEA. Or, the hero is black, and he resents the white female lifeguard who saves him from drowning. Given, the slings and arrows one gets while growing up and thereafter, the hero can be seen in a different light, if skillfully written.

Writing any genre or non-genre has the same feel when you ramp up the emotional, spiritual, and/or physical stakes.

The hero as a good Samaritan.

The hero as a good Samaritan.

Two thousand years ago, many groups were suspicious of or held each other in contempt. They would not associate with the other group. There were always people who ignored the norms. Today, I’d like to think we’re different.

Are there good people on both sides? It depends on the groups. If it is white power types (Nazis for short) versus the rest of the world the answer is no. Why is that? Nazis are evil, not good. Unless you agree with gassing Jews or hanging black people, In which case, get off my blog.

I’m not saying that people can’t change. During anybody’s life there are chances for redemption. They need be seized.

In writing, the hero or heroine as a good Samaritan, is an excellent and dramatic trope. Why? Because it’s always good versus evil that drives every plot. People make choices. We cheer for them to make the right choice, and worry if they don’t, if in the hands of a skilled writer. The more you up the stakes, the more dramatic your writing. What could be more dramatic than the loss of one’s soul? To put it in non-religious terms: What could be more dramatic than discovering one’s purpose for living. Realizing, that is, that we are all human beings is a good start. Doing something about it is a noble purpose.

Be prepared for your query

Be prepared for your query

Of course, we all visit the agency’s and the agent’s web sites. Study the books they agented and research the agent’s background. Right? We also find out the way the agent wants the query to be constructed.

I was asked by an agent to list similar stories to mine and to draw comparisons. I believe the real question is will your book resonate in today’s culture and are you going to make a good case for it.

I’m sending it to him this week, so if any of you see something, say something.

[This is for an interracial new adult romance I recently shepherded through a third draft.]

In order to appreciate why a book does well, study the culture of the times and what came before. You wouldn’t want to be old hat unless you’re writing historical, in which case try the fedora or pillbox.

[to the agent] Harmonious interracial themes in civil discourse have been steadily increasing in America, except for the last two or so years. Since the moral arch of the universe bends toward justice, I write to a frustrated majority with pent up needs for fairness and love.

Let’s look back at our culture as a whole. Earlier films such as The World of Susie Wong, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and A Patch of Blue trail blazed the subject by finding something fundamental about our society to portray. Over time, the efforts became more frequent. Movies, such as Jungle Fever, Save the Last Dance, Monster’s Ball and Disney’s latest Cinderella wowed us with their brilliance.

On TV, it is everywhere these days. Hollywood is at war. From ABC’s The Bachelor franchise, even Hallmark to Scandal (can you imagine that about the idea behind Scandal?).

In books, from Clotel to The Sheikh’s Auctioned Nanny. From Forbidden Fruit to Finding Faith, the reading public can’t get enough.

I find the story more compelling when you pick a subject that has already proven news worthy and had become the topic of conversations around the table and in coffee shops. On August 12^th, 2018, a small group of white power types demonstrated at the White House in Lafayette Park. They were met by approx. 4000 counter-demonstrators who drown them out. This gave me hope and the idea for my story.

Some of the references above are about full adult romances. New adult is more complex and a joy to write. The “kids’ have much on their minds. School or a job. Who are they? What will they do with their lives? How can they give back? Who will be their new friends (leaving high school)? Will they get married and if so is now the time for true romance?

The American Revolution never stops

A note from the blogger.

The United States of America is growing up. Sometimes, like now, we take a step backwards, or two, or three. Out of the rubble of hatred will come a better day, due to the spirit of the vast majority of people living in this country.

I'm encouraging all writers to consider multi-racial or multi-cultural themes or sub-themes is their stories. Not only to create compelling story but help fight the cancer in our society.

I was encouraged to write Cinnamon & Sugar by the event described by the Washington Post below. 

Here’s the beginning of the Washington Post article describing the event:

Written by Joe Heim, Peter Hermann, Perry Stein, and Marissa J. Lang
August 12, 2018

White supremacists held a rally in Washington on Sunday, and almost no one but their opponents and the police showed up.

Jason Kessler, one of the organizers of last year’s violent and deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, wanted to hold an anniversary demonstration there, but the city wouldn’t let him. So he brought his show to Washington, where he hoped 400 supporters would join him for a rally at Lafayette Square, across from the White House. Fewer than 40 turned out.

The group was met by thousands of protesters who filled their half of the leafy, seven-acre park chanting “Go home, Nazis!” “No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!” and “Black lives matter!” They drowned out whatever message Kessler and his small band of followers had hoped to deliver — and that was their goal.

For opponents, the day felt like a victory, albeit an often tense and angry one.

[Blogger] To me, the event meant hope for a future in which white hate groups would realize they are vastly outnumbered, wrongheaded, and living in a delusional fantasy world supported by their over-inflated egos and under-performing lives. They seem to ignore or not notice what advantages there are to loving other people.