Heroes with flaws and flairs, Dec. 2, 2012

Negative/Positive

Your hero should have flaw(s), but shouldn’t he also have flair?

Suppose your hero is embarrassed to be seen naked*, even though he’s God’s gift to womankind. *Change to any quirk you like (fear of spiders, heights, claustrophobic, etc.).

These idiosyncrasies are memorable, as in; it will stay with your reader.

Besides your hero being great at what he does, take Linus in the movie Sabrina, shouldn’t he have another talent? Give him a passion for something and let him do it or experience it really well. Or let the heroine introduce him to it.

This harkens back to the Renaissance man I have talked about, but he could also have been a star football player or particularly sly at Baccarat. I recall James Bond and his affectations for and in depth understanding of the finer things. He dresses to the nines in the midst of battle and perhaps is a little in love with his suit and cuffs.

 

 

 

Doo wop is like a contemporary romance, Nov. 28, 2012

Do0 wop romance songs are like contemporary romance novels.

Both have tightly constructed harmonies that the reader is used to.  Ask any editor.

Doo wop is often mostly acapella. Today's novel still relies on our imagination presented in black and white.

Both have a consistant simplicity built around the ageless emotion: love.

I get romantic, nostalgic, and a smile I can't wipe off when I listen to Doo-Wop. Sure, every generation, every year, have their love songs. They're all good, no great. They recall first loves for many. They offer escape into a fantasy. You're in high school or college. That boy you always wanted to meet thrills you with some goofy remark. He likes you.

There are romantic arcs in many of the songs and some just capture the moment.

As a writer, capturing something that is both the same and different in romance is the trick to being remembered and "bought."

TEARS ON MY PILLOW by Little Anthony and the Imperials

EQUAL TIME  FOR THE GIRLS: MAYBE by The Chantels

 

 

 

SHOW THEM WHAT YOU LOVE, Nov. 18, 2012

Show them what you love, a quote by David McCullough

I was struggling on how to start a scene. So much had happened in the previous scene, I needed to let the reader know how things transitioned and progressed. I started three times and erased three times. Then, I remembered David McCullough's call to excellence.

As I wrote what I loved it not only took me into the scene late (a very good thing), throughout the scene all that I had wanted to tell was shown in dribs and drabs and flowed naturally.

I took the scene to my critique group and they loved it. So I came late and left early. My group always has something to suggest. This time the revisions were minor. I felt publishable.

The male's POV here lies in what I love. But only if you ask, will I show you the scene or how I it started.

Bob

Show. Don't tell.

Show Me from My fair Lady (don't speak of love—show me)
version 1 from the movie with Audrey Hepburn (song by Hepburn—in the movie her voice was dubbed for this song).

version 2 from the Broadway play with Julie Andrews

 

WHY READING GREAT AUTHORS' BAD REVIEWS HELPS YOU November 11, 2012

I've been MIA for two weeks because of the super storm and election. I miss you.

When you are simpatico with an author, you love her. She can do no wrong. You're insulted if somebody dares give them a 1 star review. The reviewer is crazy. Or is he or she?

Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips was released in 2008. today, it's Kindle version ranks ~10,000th and sells for $6.99. The novel has legs. (the paperback is less in price (from .01 to 2.49 to $7.99, i.e. less) but ranked ~150,000). Check out the current RWR magazine about ebook sales of all books as a percentage of the whole market.

First of all, I loved this story and naively thought everybody would. The sales speak for its popularity, but if you look at the reviews: 82-five star,37-four star,16-three star, 6-two star, 6-one star, you might be shocked. As soon as I noticed the 1 stars, I had to read them. I'll paraphrase to protect the guilty.

REVIEW: The girl's (quirky IMO) cute but no match for world famous, rich, and extremely handsome hero, yet in the last two chpaters he falls for her. Go figure.

Is there anything to be learned from this 'astute' observation?
1. SEP is doing just fine thank you. She doesn't need to change a thing.
2. We the unwashed could tweek our similar heroine to be either an unreliable narrator regarding what she her self image is and/or play up in the hero's mind the whys of his attraction to her.

Is this fantasy? Plenty of women want to be carressed by a romance, made to feel good about themselves. Loved. Pssst, guys do too.

It's not fantasy. It's atypical.

THE MALE POV: I used to be that 'extremely handsome' guy. Just ask any of the girls I paid highly to say that. I was not attracted (beyond primal noticing) to the prettiest girl in the room. I was most attracted to a good looking girl with a special personality which suited me. My blog readers know who/what I like.

I think reading favorite authors 1 star reviews insures your own writing's scotoma(s) will disappear' You'll increase the integrity of your own voice, and perhaps discover a nuance to punch up your writing. Like they said in Gypsy, "You gotta have a gimmick" (to be noticed).

So here's my barely applicable video (but entertaining (to me) and if you have the time. Time 5:27). For me, just gazing at Natalie Wood, well, that's all I need.

p.s. speaking about plot ideas and enriching your writing, a little culture can't hurt ya. PBS is putting on every Friday night from 9 to 11, episodes of Broadway, The American Musical. This is not only a fantastic history of Broadway, including its roots and rare footage, but for me it will be a special Christmas gift to the my best friend and best man at my wedding.



 

GIRL ON FIRE, October 21, 2012

“This girl is on fire.”

On Saturday, at the RWASD meeting, I pitched to Emily O. of HQN. Since I'm a guy, Emily was unsure whether I should send 3 chapters and a synopsis to HQN or Mira. Mira had a higher percentage of guy authors. I felt, by being careful, she loved her HQN readers.

I made the hilarious mistake of asking Chris Green whether I write like a guy* or a gal. She stumbled (not literally) and said I wrote like a guy, but the emotional content was well done (she had read my 1^st chapter). My faulty question is called the alternate of choice in sales. There is always at least a third option, like “I write like a successful author.” *I have the good fortune of being ambidextrous and artistic, which means I use both sides of my brain when solving problems.

Emily asked for 3 chapters and a synopsis when the manuscript was ready. She’d decide on Mira or HQN (or a pass – alternate of choice again). I pictured a mother duck taking her ducklings across a street.

Later Chris and I talked about emotional content. I said I’d never compare to Linda Thomas-Sundstrom for depth and length of thought. This is okay, because the degree of internal monologue is a style thing and depends on the genre.

Linda writes of a recurring character named Wanda who causes quite an in depth interior monologue because of her amorphous personality. I felt she stole the show in Linda's first book, Café Heaven. Wanda is physically impossible to resist. She’s a bad demon with a good streak. She’s a

GIRL ON FIRE (by Alicia Keys)

BTW, Linda, I pictured Wanda as Alicia in this video (even though her hair color and lipstick is wrong, for me the effect is the same, no stunning).

 

 

The Women of RWASD, October 17, 2012

I’m overwhelmed by the women of RWASD.

Guys writing romance have a lot to learn from their female counterparts. Our local chapter of Romance Writers of America (San Diego) has approximately 120 members. Well over 1/3 of them are traditionally published authors. All of these published authors are women.

I learn from interacting and being inspired. Our authors are brilliant at writing, building their fan base via social media, and as human beings. As a guy and former engineer, I should be able to build my social imprint, but I seem not to have enough energy to rev it up properly and make it take off. Of course, I could back into it by getting an agent or editor. But there’s another problem.

I write with an individualistic style and worry the normal reader won’t ‘get me.’ I think I do a great job of developing all my characters, but I worry if my voice is too unique. I shouldn’t have to second guess, but then again, I have no agent. I continue to learn and hope to contribute to the romance genre.

This week’s video may have nothing to do with anything, but it brought tears to my eyes when I sat through it. SO, I’ll try to justify it. Elementary school teachers are generally women, who as a whole ‘get’ (nurture) kids. They’re more empathetic on average. Therefore, they can more easily inspire. They will get the best out of their students, just like the fantastic women of our chapter inspire so many to step up and get published. It is also voting season. This video, of a grade school class, promotes voting (but not who to vote for) (3 minutes).

 

 

BTW, that's what our chapter is like, metaphorically.

Are there any non-paranormal physically flawed heroes in our romance novels? October 8, 2012

Am I alone in my thinking? Oct. 8, 2012

Why is it some of the best love stories and/or romances other than romance novels involve a great beauty and a male who is physically handicapped in some way? We are taught to make sure the hero is flawed in other ways.

Consider:

The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Esmeralda.

The Beauty and the Beast.
The Phantom of the Opera.
The mystery writer, Jeffery Deaver, writes of a quadriplegic NYPD consultant, Lincoln Rhyme and the woman who loves him, detective  Amelia Sachs.

I asked my wife who is an avid reader of romances if she could remember any hero who had a physical handicap. She not only said no, she said women who read romance want escape. The guy’s rich, handsome etc.

My gut tells me, if it is well written; a physical flaw would elevate the drama and make the romance sweeter (to say nothing of making it harder to write).

Help me here. Are there heroes with physical flaws in romance novels? Does RWA have an opinion?

On the flip side, my heart went out to the blind heroine in THE IVORY CANE by Janet Dailey. It inspired me to write a not yet published novel about a blind heroine. I enjoyed the challenge of describing her world and developing her character and the man who loved her. Let’s not forget many fine movies, i.e. An Affair to Remember, A Patch of Blue. . . .

Is it just me and my male POV or do you yearn for a breakout novel with a hero who is physically flawed? Would you dare write one?

A funny thought, I suppose all these vampires, werewolves etc. are very much physically flawed. My wife doesn’t read them. Are there any, non-paranormal physically flawed heroes in our romance novels? If not, why not?

 

A patch of Blue, 1965, Sydney Portier with Elizabeth Hartman playing a blind white teenager.

 

 

Please girls, tell me why we can't write with a physically handicapped hero. In so many romance novels, the secondary characters are handicapped. My wife is wrong, but I'm not going to tell her.