What won't we do for love, pt 2:
This entry may be more random than I had hoped. For one thing, I know I have something brewing because I spent most of the morning working on my caption book. A little known outside of my own household, this is a brown-paper blank book I've started decorating with pictures left over from olllld Star Trek calendars of various vintages, and captions I've written for them. Which have absolutely nothing to do with Trek or SF in general, and can be either amusing or twisted depending on how your mind works.
The pages today got more sophisticated, and I surprised myself that a few consecutive pages actually have a rudimentary story arc. So yes, something is definitely brewing in my story center. Which means I will probably go on a writing tear sometime in the next few days and make up for the pokey days. Which is a good thing. Because aside from the collaged pages, writing was pokey today. I added to my page count, yes, but it was pokey, and pokey makes Anna grumpy.
But back on topic. I'm a sucker for rough stuff in my historical romances. If I hear a book has anything at all to do with Newgate Prison, it's in my cart right away. Indentured servitude? Yep. Survivors of domestic violence, you bet. Horrible first spouses for hero or heroine? Yes, please. Wars, famines, diseases, come on in and let's have us a talk.
For me, part of the romance journey is about healing. My h/hs are strong enough to take whatever I throw their way. They have to be; it's part of the job. As I was saying in IM with Elise (she of ETC by ECT) earlier today, the hero and heroine will make it to their HEA. Everyone else, I make no promises. There's going to be some rough stuff going on. That's part of the story. There's going to be healing, because that's part of the story, too.
When a recent Marsha Canham book surprised me with something permanently owie that happened to a previous h/h (don't want to spoil anyone) my first thought wasn't "oh no, how could they do that to X" but "well, yeah, of course. Occupational hazard. Wouldn't have picked it, but X can handle it." And X did. I want my h/hs to be like that. I want them to be real people with real lives.
Bleh. Must post in the morning next time, as my brain just looked at the clock and promptly shut down.
2 comments:
I agree with both part 1 & 2--I'm a fan of the real tragic stuff happening. Of course, I don't want the book to be hinged upon it(You don't know how many horrible family sagas I read when I first started reading romance--Catherine Cookson and Catherine Gaskin are the worst, but then again, they are British authors.), but I do want something that will jolt the h/h out of their mundane life to meet each other when they wouldn't have otherwise. But I do know the Marsha Canham book you're talking about. I wasn't as shocked because I read the sequel first and then the prequel. *g*
Ah, the old clogs and shawls stuff. Still part of the "family." I hear you, though.
Totally agree on jolting h/h out of their regular lives to meet each other where they wouldn't.
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