Rhobin Lee Courtright's Blog, page 31

Mystery and The Hero's Journey

What could they possibly have in common? The setting can be any where and any time period - mysteries cross borders and time zones as easily as any other genre. So it is no surprise when they look to the heroes journey for character types.

For most of my work I do an intensive character sketch - part of that is to pick which hero or heroine (most of my sleuth's are female) best suits the particular story I'm telling.

In Small Town Secrets the sleuth/heroine, Chaneeta Morgan,is a strong independ...

The Heronine Wants Love

Elizabeth's quest is to find love within marriage.Women today look for the same thing, but now many women are capable of supporting themselves, so marriage is not a dire necessity. In Regency England, however, women of the upper social classes had two choices: marry well or become a spinster and live in poverty off your relatives. Love didn't often come into consideration when looking for a husband. Neither are ideal choices, as today we know how many marriages break down. Elizabeth is twenty...

Sexy Heroes

I want to give a big thanks to Rhobin for letting me be a guest on her blog!! Love ya, girl!

So, what makes a hero sexy? To me, it's his personality. It's the way he treats the heroine. And of course he must have a soft side to him. He MUST be yummy inside and out. (grins) I hope I've made all my heroes yummy, and so far my readers tell me I'm doing a good job. heehee That's good hear!

I have two more books coming out this year, which brings a grand total of NINE books released in 2009. ...

Guest Author Phyllis Marie Campbell

Look for posts from Historical and Contemporary Romance author, Phyllis Marie Campbell, who will be talking about her books. When you read below you'll see this story sounds absolutely scrumptious. If you go to Phyllis's site, you'll see some covers that just beg you to read the story!

Look for BELONG TO ME, coming Dec. 11, 2009 to THE WILD ROSE PRESS……
A masked ball—a night of seduction.

Tired of being without her wayward husband, Charlotte Hamilton travels to New York to find him. She discove...

Gray Days

It's hard for me to be cheerful when everyday looks like this! However, it isn't snowing, so perhaps maybe I should be happy about that! I am! I am!

Yin and Yang in Pride and Prejudice

To understand the hero's journey, a reader must be aware that the underlying issue is psychological rather than a reflection of life. In general, the meeting, fussing, and melding of the hero and heroine is about the integration of yin and yang within each of us, or the accepting of the conflicting opposites of self; men accepting their feminine side, and women accepting their masculine. Most romances stories are expected to end with happy ever after, or at the very least, a happy for right n...

Elizabeth's Journey As Hero

Finally, back to my topic on Mythic structures in literature.

If Pride and Prejudice follows the Hero's Journey as set out by Joseph Campbell, and as outlined by Christopher Vogler in The Writer's Journey, then Elizabeth will follow steps in a psychological journey of mythic proportions. What are the stages? The beginning one reveals the hero's ordinary world. Shortly thereafter, the hero receives a call to adventure, often with an initial refusal. Afterwords, a mentor often induces the hero t...

6 Months and Counting

April is six months away, and so is the release of Stone House Farm. Here's a short excerpt:

"What could you possibly know about my situation?" Amanda said. "And how does any of this involve you?"

The smile never faltered. "I understand it is a very generous offer."

Amanda's rage fired anew. Melisa had no part in this, and her opinion was not only unneeded, but also unwanted. "Generous if I were willing to sell out what my family has worked generations to build. I'm not." Amanda turned back to W...

Yep, God help me, another new cat

No one sleeps with the peace and relaxation of babies. Here is Fred sleeping. He doesn't look particularly comfortable with his head and shoulders hanging off the pillow like that, but he is sound asleep.

Being the youngest, you'd think Fred would be at the bottom of the pecking order. However, Fred is pretty much king of the roost through sheer charm and stubbornness. He has even inveigled the old toms Jack and Tom into playing with him. When Fred wants food, he demands first share. Fred is f...

After the last post...

Talk about a prophetic post! (Well, not quite, I'm not going to die tomorrow!) I learned shortly after the last post that I have Hepatitis C, a so far incurable viral disease; except, there is a very expensive treatment that works 50% of the time. Hepatitis C is a liver disease, it slowly destroys the liver with scar tissue. Bummer! After the initial shock, (after all, I didn't partake of the usual causes of this disease -- indiscriminate sex or using dirty needles with illegal drugs) I've de...