C. Margery Kempe's Blog: Lady Smut, page 219

How to Plot Your Romance

by C. Margery Kempe

On the one hand, you have a distinct advantage when it comes to romance: we all know how it's going to end. That's also the chief disadvantage: how do you keep the reader guessing, doubting that everything can work out okay? Mostly you do it by throwing roadblocks between the protagonists, keeping them from being happy at last for as long as you can manage it without actually resorting to torture — well, unless you're writing something like a spy novel. The difference between a potboiler and a classic, however, comes from the source of those impediments. They should be believable to the world you've created, suitable to the characters you've drawn and revealing truths about both that have your readers nodding their heads rather than shaking them in disbelief. The difficulties your characters face not only keep the plot lively; they also reveal their capabilities — the root of their true selves. As Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water."

I'm going to use as my example Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, though the same lessons will apply to same sex couples or menages. While gender norms are fairly restrictive at the time she writes, the conflicts don't really arise from gender, though the restrictions on their responses do. Yes, there will be spoilers a-plenty, so if you haven't read it yet, stop reading this immediately and go read that novel because it is a work of genius. Not just as a romance — for some reason, people seem to think that genre limits it somehow. A more contained palette does not mean the genius is any less: think Picasso's blue period. It's a deliberate choice. Austen had true insight into character and write about with precise and melodic language. Her books weren't about the pelisses and breeches that too often obsess modern writers of historical romance: they're about universal truths about the human condition that can be laid bare in the parlour as easily as on the battlefield.

While it's hard to find a more delightful protagonist than Elizabeth Bennet, we do have to admit she has some faults, like all humans. As a young woman of clear mind and bright wit, she's a bit marooned without a real equal. Being a lot smarter than most of the people around her, Elizabeth has a weakness of pride in her own ability, which is immediately deflated by Darcy's easy dismissal of her. He's got his own weaknesses: in some ways, he's in the same situation, albeit in an entirely different set of economic circumstances. But he's been fawned over and while bright and capable, he lacks sympathy — and more importantly, empathy. So we have two people who are going to be attracted to each other, but already have a lot of personal traits that will make the road bumpy.

Then there are the circumstances: both are very loyal to the ones they love. For Elizabeth, this means taking umbrage when Darcy parts her sister Jane from his best friend Bingley, though he believes himself to be doing a good turn, as he thinks it only a scheme of the girls' mother to get Jane wedded. Jane's too retiring to make her feelings known, but Elizabeth finds all the fault on the other side.

She's loyal to her new friend Wickham, and because she got off on the wrong foot with Darcy, Elizabeth believes his concocted story about the wrong that's been done to him. Darcy, meanwhile, feels put off by her loyalty to someone he knows to be untrustworthy, but won't say anything out of loyalty to his sister. It's a lot of good qualities — loyalty, friendship — but because of the circumstances, they're read wrongly. The plot complications arise from the characters' personalities, so they feel natural.

Take the first proposal: you know it's going to go badly, just as you know eventually they'll get together. But it seems impossible at this point. Elizabeth's sympathies are all with the suffering of her friend Wickham. Darcy has been overwhelmed by his infatuation for her though he remains exasperated by her truly embarrassing family. He's not used to feeling powerless. Epic proposal fail!

Retire to neutral corners to rethink: Darcy decides he needs to disclose the truth about Wickham, even though it embarrasses him and exposes the fact that his sister nearly ruined her reputation. Elizabeth acknowledges that Darcy's distaste for her family isn't simply a matter of class snobbery: they're truly mortifying at times. But just when the course of true love begins to run a little more smoothly, Lydia runs off with Wickham. The ruin will reflect on the whole family, Elizabeth knows. And Darcy knows that if he'd told people about the rogue sooner, this wouldn't have happened.

Just when things seem at their worst, we find the final pieces are falling into place. Elizabeth and Darcy begin to understand each other and their circumstances better and with that mending begins. Because he knows that Lydia, however foolish a girl, deserves better than to be ruined, Darcy persuades Wickham with enough cash to do "the right thing" because he knows it will matter to Elizabeth. Not that he intends her to know about his having a hand in it; it's a true gesture of love and humble therefore.

Elizabeth, for her part, has had ample time to know that she was foolish about Wickham — because he flattered her — and penitent, fearing that the man she grudgingly came to admire will shun her now that her family has lived down to his expectations. The next big plot turn comes from Lady Catherine, who has both noticed Elizabeth's personal superiority and rightly assessed her as a threat to her own schemes. We've no doubt about Lady Catherine's opinion and it fits the moment to have her appear in order to quiz Elizabeth about the rumoured engagement to her nephew. We know Elizabeth's stubbornness — being told she cannot possibly do something makes her obstinately determined to do it. More than that it awakens what she has had a hard time admitting: she has come to love him just as much as he loves her.

Plots don't need artificial inserts of unkind fate (though they can be exciting to explore); when you have rich characters who hold strong opinions they're bound to come into conflict. When you have people with something to hide, those omissions can lead to problems and misunderstandings. Mistaken impressions and inadvertent miscommunications can snowball and before you know it, there's a huge tangle to sort out — but that's what makes your story gripping, because untangling usually involves making more tangles before you're through. When your reader gets to the end, you want them to sigh happily, sorry to part from such a well told tale.

Filed under: C. Margery Kempe, Characters, First Page, historical romance, Kit Marlowe, Regency Romance, romance, romance novels, Writer's Life, Writing Topics

Dear David: Paranormal Advice from Vampire David Hilliard

This column is for entertainment purposes.  I make no claim to therapeutic expertise.  I have only the common sense that comes with living over a hundred years.  Welcome to the dark.

–David

Dear David,

I've met an incredible man.  Actually he's a vampire.  He has everything–good looks, manners, money, and a generous spirit where I'm concerned.  I've fallen in love with him.  The problem is, I don't want to fall.  He wants me to become a vampire too.  What should I do?

In Love

Dear In Love,

You didn't say how long you've known him.  If there's anything a vampire has it's time.  Use it to get to know him better before making a decision for your eternity.

A tip off:  If he's warm to the touch, then you're true lifemates–made for each other.  If not, then it like any other relationship that could last a long time or not at all.  Are you willing to be a vampire without him?

If you have any other questions, please, email again.

David

Dear David,

Is there any supernatural way of improving the flower bloom in my garden?  Someone told me that I need to attract pixies.  Is that true?  How do I do that?

Gardening Gladys

Dear Gardening Gladys,

Yes, it is true.  Pixies are attracted by the same birdfeeders used to attract hummingbirds.  Get a hummingbird feeder and you'll have pixies too.  Your flowers will bloom like crazy. 

David 

If you have a question for me, email me at NightsofPassionblog@gmail.com and put Attention David in the subject line.  Now my sweets, I'm off.  The night is young and the shadows of the forest deep.

–David Hilliard

–Susan Hanniford Crowley

David's story can be found in The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais

http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

 

Filed under: Dear David, paranormal, paranormal romance, romance, romance novels, Susan Hanniford Crowley, vampire books, vampires

Fun Day Friday – Settings

March 25 – Friday Fun Day

Have you ever thought of how much a setting can affect the mood of your book? Without a doubt, I'm sure most of you have imagined settings (real or made up) when plotting out your books and picturing a backdrop for your hero or heroine. Why those places? Is it because you've done your research and that's where it would make most sense, or is it because it is the most unlikely setting for your story (this could cause a lot of tension). Either way, they can have a great impact on your reader. I'm going to give you some one liner story plots and then show you some pictures. For this exercise, decide where you would place each plot and why. If you don't like any of those choices, what would you choose and why? You can share your logic or keep it to yourself. As usual, the point of this is to have fun.  Good luck! 

1)      A vampire king falls in love with an unruly human blood slave.

2)      A detective risks everything to protect a suspect in her latest investigation—the only man she has ever loved.

3)      A man travels half-way around the world to declare his love to a woman he met in passing.

4)      A Fae prince finds himself in love with and determined to convince skeptical woman that magic does indeed exist.

Filed under: Toni Kelly

An Invitation, A Contest, and A Writing Idea

First off, I want to invite you to my party celebrating my steampunk   romance Mrs. Bright's Tea Room. For those that don't quite understand steampunk, it a mixture alternate history (usually Victorian England or the wild west of America) mixed with some old style science fiction (early robots, clockwork and steam machines). Being romance, my book is very sexy and swashbuckling. My hero is an Airship Captain.  My heroine is a young woman who is doing something desperate to earn the money to get her father out of debtors' prison.  In the prisons back then, it was common for people to die from disease, malnutrition, etc.  So Euthalia will do anything to free her father, including working in the notorious brothel in the lavender dirigible Mrs. Bright's Tea Room.

So come on over to http://www.theromancestudio.com/party/

I am having a contest that ends at midnight at Thursday, March 24th.  It is worldwide, and you must follow the directions at the link above to be eligible to enter.  The lucky winner will receive one PDF ebook from my backlist–their choice.

Writing Idea–It's occurred to me that writing is more fun when you change locations.  Tomorrow may be difficult since it snowing (where I live anyway), but it will be a good day to start my list of possible writing locations; such as the library, the town green, the patio, the beach…  I think you get what I mean.  Sometimes just changing location can invigorate your writing and give you a new perspective.

Thanks for dropping by Nights of Passion, and do come to my party. 

–Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowley

Filed under: A Writing Sirloin Tip, paranormal, paranormal romance, party, romance, romance novels, steampunk romance, Susan Hanniford Crowley, vampire books, vampires, Writer's Life, Writing Topics

Measuring Your Growth

I had an interesting discussion with my critique partner this weekend as I voiced my inability to see growth in some of my writing. My point was that if I pulled out stuff I wrote near two years ago, I could see a great measure of growth in my writing, which is fine and dandy by me. The problem for me is that if I pull out my manuscript from three months ago, I can't see the progress. So I sit and I ask myself if there even has been any.

Out of all jobs, fields, careers or whatever you want to call writing, I believe we do this quite a bit—many times to an even harsher degree. How many times have you sat there and wondered whether you are cut out for writing, whether any readers will even like what you write, whether you'll ever get published or if you even deserve to be published? I'm willing to bet quite a few times and if not one of the examples listed above, I'm willing to bet you've insulted yourself in some kind of completely illogical way.

Why? When we have our day jobs as doctors or bankers or nurses or miners or stay at home parents, etc., we don't sit there and say patients don't deserve to be cured by us or our children will never love us. For many of you who have day jobs, you have a boss who will tell you where you're messing up or where you have improved. As parents, you learn through high-pitched cries, sleepless nights, teenage shouting matches and the list could go on. As writers, I feel it's a bit different.

As writers, we have our critique partners and beta readers but the truth of the matter is that all in this industry can be very subjective. So when my critique partner says to me, "You should only be measuring your work against itself, not anyone else's," I sat there stuttering for a few moments with explanations while my mind processed her words. Only after a few minutes of thought did I get and agree with what she was saying (thank you Mason).

You see, I do not write as much as I wish I did. It is something I am working on and have written about it in other blogs. My crit partner however, writes as if she has a full-time job writing. So, I can see the difference in her writing going back only a few months, whereas I have to go back in mine quite a ways to see the difference. The same with others in my critique group and RWA chapter.  Some I see rapidly growing while others might have a slower pace. I like to think of our improvement as a circle of writing and depending on the subject it may be slow or fast.

Currently, I am working on dissecting plots. This is an immense topic so I expect to be here for a while but one day I will reach and understanding of it and move onto another topic (basically a circle as it keeps going without break or end).

The point is we all have our own circle and in it, our own voice, style and way of learning.  We can look to the market and our support groups for ideas and trends, but at the end of the day, you are you and your measure of growth is yourself.  If you've mastered amazing characters or plots, or settings, description, etc., that is all that matters. Set goals for yourself. Being published is nice but it will happen when it's time. When it does happen, it is not the end of the line but the beginning of a new era. The importance of measuring your growth is to ensure you are ready to handle the new era when it comes.

Filed under: Toni Kelly, Writer's Life, Writing Topics

Mason's weekly Paranormal-Scope.

As you know, I'm not qualified in any way to read neither stars nor planets. I do however; have practical advice for those of you that might encounter paranormal of some sort.

The week ahead for:

Aries

You are about to take a fantastical ride on a Dragon.

Taurus

It's like you've been dip in chocolate to be a Mayan sacrifices.

Gemini

You had to go into the vortex didn't you? On this journey, you'll learn as much about you as what's out there.

Cancer

Up is down and down is up. Good luck.

Leo

As far as you know, 2 +3 doesn't equal 8.3. You may have shifted into another dimension. Oops.

Virgo

So you are into kink with freaky creatures. Who isn't these days?

Libra

You need a trip to wonderland to reenergize.

Scorpio

You are hatching from your evil pod.

Sagittarius

Vamps and other undead fiends aren't giving you breathing space to let your creative genius free.

Capricorn

You're a an intergalactic superstar.

Aquarius

You're wavelength is on the right frequency.

Pisces

You're swimming in shallow water with mermaids. Lucky you.

Mason

a.c.Mason

Darkness ♀♂ Desires

www.acmason.com

Filed under: a.c. Mason, Mason's Paranormal-Scope

Equinox & Super Moon

You know, that could make a good title for a superheroine series… but of course I'm talking about the wonderful convergence of natural events this weekend. The biggest moon you'll see for some time to come, 'a super "perigee moon"' to use the technical term, will give us a bright orb in the sky for the full moon.

Best viewed shortly after moonrise, this beautiful sphere will doubtless inspire some howls and some sighs for la bella luna. It's just a conjunction of heavenly bodies, but we have romanticised the moon so much — it's affect on tides, it's imagined effect on lunacy and transformation — we can't simply see it as no more than a scientific fact.

It's inspiration!

Impulse quickens when we see a full moon. It's full of mystery and details that can be glimpsed by the naked eye. While it may not inspire lunacy, but when the moon is bright we can see so much better in the dark and are more likely to do things that the night gloom might keep us from at other times. There's bound to be something intoxicating about this super moon.

Fortunately, we have the spring equinox upon us, which ought to help keep a little balance in our minds. It's the time of year that we tip over from winter to spring, but it's really more of a threshold reached than a line crossed. As tradition dictates, March tends to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. In the northeast, we have had a rather trying winter with an abundance of snow and ice and it has given people a strange haunted look which the few brief warm days of late have not eradicated because we do not trust them quite yet. After the equinox passes, however, we can begin to believe in spring and face even late snows with the knowledge that they cannot remain. The crocuses push their way up and the birds burst into glorious song every morning because they know. Eggs are on their way! Spring is here.

Everybody look at the moon!

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Filed under: C. Margery Kempe, dream writing, erotic romance, films, inspiration, Kit Marlowe, Noble Romance, paranormal, romance, Romantic Places, What inspires you?, Writing Topics

Dear Vampire David: What Makes a Vampire A Hero?

This column is for entertainment purposes only.  I make no claims of having therapeutic expertise.  I have only the common sense that comes with living over a hundred years.  Join us and enjoy!

–David

Dear David,

I've been reading a lot of vampire books lately.  I mean a lot.  What makes a vampire a hero?  Aren't you supposed to be evil and nasty things that hang out in the dark?

BTW, what did you bring Susan from Paris?

Amy

Dear Amy,

Easy question first.  I brought a bottle of Shalimar cologne for Susan.  It's her favorite. 

Wow, the next question is more for an author, but I'll give it my best.   What makes any man a hero?  It's what he does.  It's the choices he makes.  Heroes tend to put themselves at risk for others, stand by others, and sometimes die for others.  A hero puts others above himself. 

What makes a vampire a hero?  For a long time, vampires were portrayed as villains–you know the Nosteraftu types that we in the Arnhem Knights refer to as savages.  They are more rabid animal than man and only look at humans as food.  Some have the capacity to reason, but most don't bother.  In 1625, New Amersterdam (which later became New York City) was founded, and in the same year, Vampire Maximillion Vander Meer founded the Arnhem Knights and their society called the Arnhem Society.  It was a conscious choice of Max and two other vampires to live a civilized life–not to be the monster–to live beside mankind.

The vampire as hero is growing in prevalence in novels today, and I'm glad.  One of the biggest problems I face every day are the vampire slayers.  Some are professional and some are hobbyists.  Neither want to recognize the civilized vampire.  To them all vampires are bad. 

I'm not telling you to trust all vampires.  Don't.  The savages are still out there.  The amoral vampires that look like us but treat people as food are still out there.  But since Max and his two friends started the "civilized" movement on the North American continent, I'm proud to say that more vampires are embracing our ways. 

What makes a hero?  My final answer is love.  Love inspires and makes a person stand up against all odds, and it's all because they love someone or something and place it above themselves.  Love will bring out the hero in anyone. 

David

P.S.  Susan will be having a contest and party at The Romance Studio on Thursday, March 24, 2011 all day.  http://www.theromancestudio.com/party/

–Vampire David Hilliard

–Susan Hanniford Crowley

Find out more about David in The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais

http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Filed under: Dear David, paranormal, paranormal romance, romance, romance novels, RWA, Susan Hanniford Crowley, vampire books, vampires

Fun Day Friday – Emotions

Today's focus is going to be on emotions.  For our brainstorming session today, I'm going to give you all a word and then I want you to write down five emotions, phrases or words that it brings to mind to you right now. There are no right answers and these are just emotions or words that come to the forefront of your mind. No using thesaurus or dictionaries, this is just meant to get the juices flowing.

We'll start with an example:

Tear       – Sadness, Anger, Japan, Broken Heart, Hurt

Based on what I've experienced this week and seen around me, these are the five words, phrases that come to mind. Now you try with the following:

1)      Rainbow

2)      Water

3)      Time

4)      Family

5)      Plane

6)      Africa

7)      Heroine

8)      Hero

Ready? Get started and have fun with it. If you want, relate it to your current work in progress so that you can make this weekend productive for your writing. The point is to unload your thoughts. Whether you realize it or not, you walk around with thoughts weighing on conscious or subconscious. Sometimes they can be productive in the sense that they are conducive to your writing and other times they will only distract you. Also, feel free to create use your own words if you don't like any of the ones above. This exercise should productive for you and that may require a bit of customization.

Thanks for visiting and good luck with your writing!

Filed under: Toni Kelly, Writer's Life

Happy St. Patrick's Day! A Sweet Dream.

There are days when I miss Ireland, its green vistas, blue skies, and sweet calm of the countryside.  Ah, Ireland.  I long to return.  I will write, of course.   Now a little something I found on YouTube to inspire your dreams as well as mine.

Filed under: Susan Hanniford Crowley, Writer's Life