Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
After the high of shoes, we come back to Earth once again this week. From insights and insider tidbits from the writing world, we have come to lay the finger on something that is almost taboo in our world - our writing and the market.
How is it taboo? Well, we all faced the question - who to write for? - one day. Most would want us to believe we have to write for the market, but the real question is, what exactly is this market? A specific pub? A specific agent? A specific little tidbit of rumour that is floating about? But all this is hush-hush, alluded to, never really spoken about aloud...
So we at RBA were tickled about this question - who to write for?
Catch T.J. on Tuesday in a very thought-provoking post about whether you need to write for the market or go off the reservation.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) brings you a little analogy between the worlds of diets and that of writing. What's the link? Read her post and you should have it figured out.
And on Wednesday, Diana Castilleja pens for us her monthly contribution. Since we've been dealing with reality this month, Diana asks the very reflective question about how much reality is too much, giving us her take on the issue.
Don't forget:
This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.
This June, we're on the quest:
Searching for the author's reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
P.S. We'll be taking a week off next week, clocking it in with the July 4 celebrations. We wish you all to enjoy a happy July 4th. We'll be back on July 6 with lots more, as usual!
Showing posts with label reality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reality. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
With Love, from Ms. Blush
Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
Third week of June, and maybe it's the fact that summer is just around the bend, but we got around to talking about... Shoes! Of all things!
Yes, we all know every fashionista worth her salt has a shoe fetish, and that she wants the Manolos, the Choos, uhm, even the flip flops from Target if that's what's in vogue that season.
Maybe this turn of thoughts has to do with the fact that we dealt with a very heavy topic last week, namely crit partners and their place in every writer's life and toolbox. We needed some lightness, some fun and frivolous thing to tide us through. What better than shoes? Thus started the discussion T.J. mentions in passing in her post for Tuesday, the fact that most of the ladies in her author's group have ditched the high heels (horror of all horrors! *gasp*)
But that's without knowing the posse of the Royal Blush Authors. We like light stuff yes (souffle foundation, strappy sandals and breezy sundresses among others on the wishlist this summer— oops, sorry, veering off track here *sheepish grin*). Yes, where was I? Oh yeah, the crew at RBA always have something to say, even if on the apparently breezy topic of shoes.
This is how Tuesday will find you with T.J. in a terribly moving and introspective post about what shoes have represented to her in the past days and weeks.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) brings us her post about what it's like to be in the shoes of your heroines. Spurred on by T.J.'s post, this one will make you ask yourself where and how thoughts and shoes meet in perfect harmony.
And, on Wednesday, catch Sandra Marshall as she tells us about one very important aspect of being in a writer's shoes - rejection and how to deal with it.
Don't forget:
This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.
This June, we're on the quest:
Searching for the author's reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Third week of June, and maybe it's the fact that summer is just around the bend, but we got around to talking about... Shoes! Of all things!
Yes, we all know every fashionista worth her salt has a shoe fetish, and that she wants the Manolos, the Choos, uhm, even the flip flops from Target if that's what's in vogue that season.
Maybe this turn of thoughts has to do with the fact that we dealt with a very heavy topic last week, namely crit partners and their place in every writer's life and toolbox. We needed some lightness, some fun and frivolous thing to tide us through. What better than shoes? Thus started the discussion T.J. mentions in passing in her post for Tuesday, the fact that most of the ladies in her author's group have ditched the high heels (horror of all horrors! *gasp*)
But that's without knowing the posse of the Royal Blush Authors. We like light stuff yes (souffle foundation, strappy sandals and breezy sundresses among others on the wishlist this summer— oops, sorry, veering off track here *sheepish grin*). Yes, where was I? Oh yeah, the crew at RBA always have something to say, even if on the apparently breezy topic of shoes.
This is how Tuesday will find you with T.J. in a terribly moving and introspective post about what shoes have represented to her in the past days and weeks.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) brings us her post about what it's like to be in the shoes of your heroines. Spurred on by T.J.'s post, this one will make you ask yourself where and how thoughts and shoes meet in perfect harmony.
And, on Wednesday, catch Sandra Marshall as she tells us about one very important aspect of being in a writer's shoes - rejection and how to deal with it.
Don't forget:
This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.
This June, we're on the quest:
Searching for the author's reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Monday, June 8, 2009
With Love, from Ms. Blush
Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
Second week of June already. Where does the time fly? We're all geared towards spring and the sun, though in some parts of the world, like for Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn), the gales of winter are blowing in full force. But, this is all about the continuation of the seasons, right? One thing flowing into the next to create a whole?
This is also what we're aiming to provide here. Last week we covered aspects of that elusive thing called voice and how you can pin it down and wrestle it into submission. Big lol here - you cannot wrestle with voice, because it will always win. Learn to accept that fact. Sorry though, I am veering off track.
This week, we have more about the reality of the writer in store for you. We actually touch upon a very sensitive subject in the writing world, people we cannot exactly exist without. The halo-ed and hallowed crit partners!
T.J. on Tuesday will bring you a very important post to ponder - should you fire your crit partners? Are they actually helping you or hindering you? To what extent do you need a crit partner and what's her role/job in your life as a writer?
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) continues upon the same issue, along the lines of how you should deal with the crits you get and the, unfortunately, bashful and murky crits you may receive.
Don't forget:
This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.
This June, we're on the quest:
Searching for the author's reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Second week of June already. Where does the time fly? We're all geared towards spring and the sun, though in some parts of the world, like for Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn), the gales of winter are blowing in full force. But, this is all about the continuation of the seasons, right? One thing flowing into the next to create a whole?
This is also what we're aiming to provide here. Last week we covered aspects of that elusive thing called voice and how you can pin it down and wrestle it into submission. Big lol here - you cannot wrestle with voice, because it will always win. Learn to accept that fact. Sorry though, I am veering off track.
This week, we have more about the reality of the writer in store for you. We actually touch upon a very sensitive subject in the writing world, people we cannot exactly exist without. The halo-ed and hallowed crit partners!
T.J. on Tuesday will bring you a very important post to ponder - should you fire your crit partners? Are they actually helping you or hindering you? To what extent do you need a crit partner and what's her role/job in your life as a writer?
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) continues upon the same issue, along the lines of how you should deal with the crits you get and the, unfortunately, bashful and murky crits you may receive.
Don't forget:
This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.
This June, we're on the quest:
Searching for the author's reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Voice sotto voce
T.J. started an important topic 2 days ago about voice. We've all heard about voice, the long and short of it. But what is it basically?
Voice is that special brand of writing unique to an author. It's how you write - whether you use long paragraphs of description that however mingles seamlessly into your story (think Tolkien and Jilly Cooper); whether you ramp up the emotion and describe every little happening in the emotional drive (Marian Keyes and Katherine Garbera); whether you write with humour and wit (think Sophie Kinsella and Jill Mansell and also Janet Evanovich); whether you're known for the unexpected twists and turns you bring to a story (Sidney Sheldon and again, Jill Mansell); whether you write about hard issues in a way that sucks in everyone (Martina Cole). It's something that as a writer passes through your words and makes the way you write unique.
One thing many confuse is voice and genre. Voice transcends genre, for example Philippa Gregory writes both contemporaries and historicals, yet the way she lays out her story and her wording immerses you into the plot irrespective of whether she is writing about small-town England or the Elizabethan era. As a writer, say for example your particular brand is funny and witty. Whether you write a contemporary or a fantasy, your readers who are follwoing you won't bother that you're asking for a suspension of disbelief when in the fantasy world. They want to read you because they want that funny streak.
And that's the mastery of voice. Your voice is how you write. Period. Now if like Sophie Kinsella you write funny contemporaries about modern and slightly silly but endearing characters, you as a reader read Sophie Kinsella because you know there will be that funny tone in her works. Now imagine Ms. Kinsella going way off to another genre - say a paranormal. You expect to see something along the lines of Sabrina The Teenage Witch from her pen, not the Dresden Files of Jim Butcher.
T.J. mentions consistency of voice. It's plain and simply that how you write is supposed to be consistent, unless you expressly want to branch out to another voice (again, think funny v/s dark and dismal), you need to build this new voice, and expect that not everyone will follow and you may also lose readers this way.
Another aspect of voice is what POV you use. If your readers love your 1st person takes, be careful when venturing to 3rd person. It may be easier to switch from 3rd to 1st, but always expect that the reader who reads you in one POV and liked your style may not like the other POV because the two are inherently different.
One other thing - your voice is yours, most definitely, but you have to ask yourself whether this voice agrees with the market of today and the market you are targetting. Anyone who's read a Betty Neels M&B will know what I mean here. Ms. Neels wrote about romance but her stories were more about narration and the day-to-day happenings of the characters. Take a look at any M&B today, and romance in general, and you will see it is action and character-driven. The story is in your face, and you are not supposed to go about how the heroine Marie spent her day first visiting the cats in the loft of the barn, then she whiled away the afternoon with a stroll by the lake and then she came back home as the dark was descending to have a hearty meal of shepherd's pie before going to sleep. This was good when Ms. Neels wrote circa the 70s, but it is not what the market of the post-2000 looks for.
An author who comes to my mind every time I think of mastery of character involvement in Harlequin and Mills and Boon stories is Katherine Garbera. Okay, a Blaze book is only 180 or so pages long, and I can read that in 2 hours. But with Katherine Garbera's books, I do it in just over an hour. Why? Because she sucks me into the story and I feel I'm there in the scenes, and it is oh-so-hard to break away without knowing how the H/h are gonna end up together! This is all thanks to her voice, because a Blaze is always a Blaze with H/h kept apart yet with a fire burning between them. You know they'll overcome all obstacles and get that HEA, yet why is it some other Blazes you can put down at page 60 and then pick up to get to 100, and then to 120, and so on, while for some you simply have to read it all in one go?
Voice, again, is the key.
I hope I didn't further muddy the waters for you. Any questions, feel free to holler!
By the way, come check my new website - it just went fully live this week!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com
Voice is that special brand of writing unique to an author. It's how you write - whether you use long paragraphs of description that however mingles seamlessly into your story (think Tolkien and Jilly Cooper); whether you ramp up the emotion and describe every little happening in the emotional drive (Marian Keyes and Katherine Garbera); whether you write with humour and wit (think Sophie Kinsella and Jill Mansell and also Janet Evanovich); whether you're known for the unexpected twists and turns you bring to a story (Sidney Sheldon and again, Jill Mansell); whether you write about hard issues in a way that sucks in everyone (Martina Cole). It's something that as a writer passes through your words and makes the way you write unique.
One thing many confuse is voice and genre. Voice transcends genre, for example Philippa Gregory writes both contemporaries and historicals, yet the way she lays out her story and her wording immerses you into the plot irrespective of whether she is writing about small-town England or the Elizabethan era. As a writer, say for example your particular brand is funny and witty. Whether you write a contemporary or a fantasy, your readers who are follwoing you won't bother that you're asking for a suspension of disbelief when in the fantasy world. They want to read you because they want that funny streak.
And that's the mastery of voice. Your voice is how you write. Period. Now if like Sophie Kinsella you write funny contemporaries about modern and slightly silly but endearing characters, you as a reader read Sophie Kinsella because you know there will be that funny tone in her works. Now imagine Ms. Kinsella going way off to another genre - say a paranormal. You expect to see something along the lines of Sabrina The Teenage Witch from her pen, not the Dresden Files of Jim Butcher.
T.J. mentions consistency of voice. It's plain and simply that how you write is supposed to be consistent, unless you expressly want to branch out to another voice (again, think funny v/s dark and dismal), you need to build this new voice, and expect that not everyone will follow and you may also lose readers this way.
Another aspect of voice is what POV you use. If your readers love your 1st person takes, be careful when venturing to 3rd person. It may be easier to switch from 3rd to 1st, but always expect that the reader who reads you in one POV and liked your style may not like the other POV because the two are inherently different.
One other thing - your voice is yours, most definitely, but you have to ask yourself whether this voice agrees with the market of today and the market you are targetting. Anyone who's read a Betty Neels M&B will know what I mean here. Ms. Neels wrote about romance but her stories were more about narration and the day-to-day happenings of the characters. Take a look at any M&B today, and romance in general, and you will see it is action and character-driven. The story is in your face, and you are not supposed to go about how the heroine Marie spent her day first visiting the cats in the loft of the barn, then she whiled away the afternoon with a stroll by the lake and then she came back home as the dark was descending to have a hearty meal of shepherd's pie before going to sleep. This was good when Ms. Neels wrote circa the 70s, but it is not what the market of the post-2000 looks for.
An author who comes to my mind every time I think of mastery of character involvement in Harlequin and Mills and Boon stories is Katherine Garbera. Okay, a Blaze book is only 180 or so pages long, and I can read that in 2 hours. But with Katherine Garbera's books, I do it in just over an hour. Why? Because she sucks me into the story and I feel I'm there in the scenes, and it is oh-so-hard to break away without knowing how the H/h are gonna end up together! This is all thanks to her voice, because a Blaze is always a Blaze with H/h kept apart yet with a fire burning between them. You know they'll overcome all obstacles and get that HEA, yet why is it some other Blazes you can put down at page 60 and then pick up to get to 100, and then to 120, and so on, while for some you simply have to read it all in one go?
Voice, again, is the key.
I hope I didn't further muddy the waters for you. Any questions, feel free to holler!
By the way, come check my new website - it just went fully live this week!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com
Monday, June 1, 2009
With Love, from Ms. Blush
Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
Another month has started, and we're already clocking into the 6th division of the year. Before we know it, Christmas will be at our doors (I'm sure this is what the marketing department of every shop is also thinking!)
So, what do we have in store for you in June? June's the name of a girl... Heroines maybe? Nah, we already covered that, though we haven't said all there is to say about characters. Well, June is the continuation of spring that starts with May, and we thought we'd go about continuation too.
Remember how in May we were searching for an appropriate reality? We touched upon issues pertinent to reality and realism in the penning of a story.
Well, in June we're continuing in the same vein, except we'll be talking about the reality that faces the writer. Yes, get ready for some truths about the business.
We kick off this first week with something many stumble and stutter with - voice. What is voice and why do you need it?
Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells you about the main consideration every writer needs where voice is concerned.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will try to shed some light on the concept of voice, clocking it in with T.J's post too.
Throughout the rest of the month, we'll also feature our regular contributors Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja, asking them about what they feel is the reality of a writer and what things you simply have to take into account when you step into this field.
Don't forget:
This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.
This June, we're on the quest:
Searching for the author's reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Another month has started, and we're already clocking into the 6th division of the year. Before we know it, Christmas will be at our doors (I'm sure this is what the marketing department of every shop is also thinking!)
So, what do we have in store for you in June? June's the name of a girl... Heroines maybe? Nah, we already covered that, though we haven't said all there is to say about characters. Well, June is the continuation of spring that starts with May, and we thought we'd go about continuation too.
Remember how in May we were searching for an appropriate reality? We touched upon issues pertinent to reality and realism in the penning of a story.
Well, in June we're continuing in the same vein, except we'll be talking about the reality that faces the writer. Yes, get ready for some truths about the business.
We kick off this first week with something many stumble and stutter with - voice. What is voice and why do you need it?
Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells you about the main consideration every writer needs where voice is concerned.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will try to shed some light on the concept of voice, clocking it in with T.J's post too.
Throughout the rest of the month, we'll also feature our regular contributors Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja, asking them about what they feel is the reality of a writer and what things you simply have to take into account when you step into this field.
Don't forget:
This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.
This June, we're on the quest:
Searching for the author's reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Why the fine line exists
T.J. and Diana have already given us great posts about reality in fiction, and especially in popular fiction. Face it - you won't read about vampires in literature now, would you?
As writer, crit partner and also as editor, I have come across some instances where the people writing want it to be real. Fine, but you must know there's fictionalised real and utter realism. And that, is the distinction between popular fiction and literature.
The example I am going to take pertains to 2 authors studied in literature classes today. Dickens and Austen. Oliver Twist/Great Expectations versus Sense and Sensibility/Pride and Prejudice. Which one of them would you be more inclined to read? The latter, right? Why? Because Austen never set up her works to portray the drab reality of her time and the utter grit and realism of life in her era. You may argue that Austen writes about big families and nobility and well-to-do people, but hey, Tess of the Ubervilles (Hardy) was also about a big family. Check out the differences between the treatment in the two author's penning.
Austen can be said to be popular fiction, while Dickens and Hardy are hardcore literature. When Austen penned her tales, she didn't do so to impress that her time was hard. She wrote them as a social depiction of women in her position. It was escapist in nature, even though it used aspects of society and reality to put across the situation and plight of her heroines.
Popular fiction is about this - you use an aspect of reality as the foil for enveloping your characters' stories. Imagine a whole fish wrapped in foil paper that you put in the embers of the grill during a barbecue. When lunch/dinner time comes, you open the foil to get to the cooked food. In popular fiction, the foil is the reality and the fish is the story of the characters (whether romance, suspense, drama). It's the other way round for literature - the foil is your characters and the fish is reality, because you're aiming to show reality in all its smaller detail.
Which brings me to another point we have considered this month - how real should your character be? I've often heard writers say they want their character to be as real as possible. That's fine, as long as he is real enough but not a mirror image of the real people out there. Imagine the typical thirty-something male who's supposed to be the hero of your romance. Most real guys in that age bracket live for the trip to the pub, meeting the mates and hollering like a madman over a game of soccer live on the enormous flat-screen that's just above the bar. He almost always forgets birthdays, anniversaries and big dates, and you can be pretty sure that given the choice between cuddling with his girl and playing Fifa 2000-whatever on the X-Box with his mates with a six-pack close by, he'll choose the second option. That's reality - is that the romance hero you want? Fine - not all men are tycoons and millionaires and handsome like Greek Gods. Yet this is exactly what we're looking for, because not all men are tycoons, millionaires and handsome like Greek Gods. Reality, and ultimately literature, is Homer Simpson singing SpiderPig in your front room; popular fiction is Daniel Craig coming out of the water in his tiny-tiny shorts every time you turn in his direction.
Another example - tabloids. Why are they so popular? Because they tell us most often about the downfall of the rich, beautiful and famous. We're not rich, beautiful or famous like them, and it's nice to note that they don't get everything on a platter while walking on the red carpet everywhere. Imagine the chubby gal with the buck teeth and the frumpy hair at your local supermarket, and imagine the likes of Paris Hilton. If you're told, her man ditched her, what will you think? For the socialite, you'll go, aww that's so sad, but inside you'll be like, good for her. Why? Because she's got it all why you don't. I know, bitchy, but that's reality. Same for the supermarket girl. You'll be like, she had a man? While I don't (and I'm ultimately better than she is)??? Face it - we don't want to see people worse off than us with what we don't ahve, and we want to see the ones who have it all fall and come back to our level again. Watch talk shows and check out the happy-happy couples who profess their love for each other at every turn and who look welded together. Half the time, he looks like Elmer from the Looney Tunes and she looks like something the cat dragged in. While we're slathering on the sunscreen, the makeup, enduring torture when waxing our legs and blow-drying our hair every morning, where's our guy? The one who'll stand by us always and who thinks we're the most beautiful creature of the world even as we wake up with puffy eyes and the imprint of our pillowcase on our cheek?
Reality is okay, but we already live reality -our reality- every single day. We don't want to read about it too. Fiction is escapism, fiction is hope for us that we too can make it, we too can be the most beautiful thing in the world to another person, that we too can climb the corporate ladder and break the glass ceiling, that we too can rake in the moolah effortlessly.
Write literature if you're intent on realism. Write popular fiction if you want to bring hope into the world.
I'd love your take on my very long-winded post! Any comments welcome!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com
As writer, crit partner and also as editor, I have come across some instances where the people writing want it to be real. Fine, but you must know there's fictionalised real and utter realism. And that, is the distinction between popular fiction and literature.
The example I am going to take pertains to 2 authors studied in literature classes today. Dickens and Austen. Oliver Twist/Great Expectations versus Sense and Sensibility/Pride and Prejudice. Which one of them would you be more inclined to read? The latter, right? Why? Because Austen never set up her works to portray the drab reality of her time and the utter grit and realism of life in her era. You may argue that Austen writes about big families and nobility and well-to-do people, but hey, Tess of the Ubervilles (Hardy) was also about a big family. Check out the differences between the treatment in the two author's penning.
Austen can be said to be popular fiction, while Dickens and Hardy are hardcore literature. When Austen penned her tales, she didn't do so to impress that her time was hard. She wrote them as a social depiction of women in her position. It was escapist in nature, even though it used aspects of society and reality to put across the situation and plight of her heroines.
Popular fiction is about this - you use an aspect of reality as the foil for enveloping your characters' stories. Imagine a whole fish wrapped in foil paper that you put in the embers of the grill during a barbecue. When lunch/dinner time comes, you open the foil to get to the cooked food. In popular fiction, the foil is the reality and the fish is the story of the characters (whether romance, suspense, drama). It's the other way round for literature - the foil is your characters and the fish is reality, because you're aiming to show reality in all its smaller detail.
Which brings me to another point we have considered this month - how real should your character be? I've often heard writers say they want their character to be as real as possible. That's fine, as long as he is real enough but not a mirror image of the real people out there. Imagine the typical thirty-something male who's supposed to be the hero of your romance. Most real guys in that age bracket live for the trip to the pub, meeting the mates and hollering like a madman over a game of soccer live on the enormous flat-screen that's just above the bar. He almost always forgets birthdays, anniversaries and big dates, and you can be pretty sure that given the choice between cuddling with his girl and playing Fifa 2000-whatever on the X-Box with his mates with a six-pack close by, he'll choose the second option. That's reality - is that the romance hero you want? Fine - not all men are tycoons and millionaires and handsome like Greek Gods. Yet this is exactly what we're looking for, because not all men are tycoons, millionaires and handsome like Greek Gods. Reality, and ultimately literature, is Homer Simpson singing SpiderPig in your front room; popular fiction is Daniel Craig coming out of the water in his tiny-tiny shorts every time you turn in his direction.
Another example - tabloids. Why are they so popular? Because they tell us most often about the downfall of the rich, beautiful and famous. We're not rich, beautiful or famous like them, and it's nice to note that they don't get everything on a platter while walking on the red carpet everywhere. Imagine the chubby gal with the buck teeth and the frumpy hair at your local supermarket, and imagine the likes of Paris Hilton. If you're told, her man ditched her, what will you think? For the socialite, you'll go, aww that's so sad, but inside you'll be like, good for her. Why? Because she's got it all why you don't. I know, bitchy, but that's reality. Same for the supermarket girl. You'll be like, she had a man? While I don't (and I'm ultimately better than she is)??? Face it - we don't want to see people worse off than us with what we don't ahve, and we want to see the ones who have it all fall and come back to our level again. Watch talk shows and check out the happy-happy couples who profess their love for each other at every turn and who look welded together. Half the time, he looks like Elmer from the Looney Tunes and she looks like something the cat dragged in. While we're slathering on the sunscreen, the makeup, enduring torture when waxing our legs and blow-drying our hair every morning, where's our guy? The one who'll stand by us always and who thinks we're the most beautiful creature of the world even as we wake up with puffy eyes and the imprint of our pillowcase on our cheek?
Reality is okay, but we already live reality -our reality- every single day. We don't want to read about it too. Fiction is escapism, fiction is hope for us that we too can make it, we too can be the most beautiful thing in the world to another person, that we too can climb the corporate ladder and break the glass ceiling, that we too can rake in the moolah effortlessly.
Write literature if you're intent on realism. Write popular fiction if you want to bring hope into the world.
I'd love your take on my very long-winded post! Any comments welcome!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com
Monday, May 25, 2009
With Love, from Ms. Blush
Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
We hit the last week of May and also the last week about reality in writing.
How much reality is real enough, and how much real is too real? Yes, there is such a thing as too much realism in writing.
Catch the posse of RBA this week as we tackle this issue.
On Tuesday, T.J. will tell us more about the fine line between reality and boredom. This is one line many writers cross and one that may contribute a good deal to the unsaleability factor of mss.
Wednesday, catch Diana's take on the whole matter of realism and reality in writing. She brings to light some important considerations we could all benefit from pondering over.
Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) weighs in on the discussion too, with her topic slanted on reality when slotted in popular fiction and in the other genre, literature.
Don't forget:
This May, we're scratching at the surface of escapism and bursting the bubble of what constitutes reality in fiction.
This May, we're on the quest:
Searching for an appropriate reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
We hit the last week of May and also the last week about reality in writing.
How much reality is real enough, and how much real is too real? Yes, there is such a thing as too much realism in writing.
Catch the posse of RBA this week as we tackle this issue.
On Tuesday, T.J. will tell us more about the fine line between reality and boredom. This is one line many writers cross and one that may contribute a good deal to the unsaleability factor of mss.
Wednesday, catch Diana's take on the whole matter of realism and reality in writing. She brings to light some important considerations we could all benefit from pondering over.
Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) weighs in on the discussion too, with her topic slanted on reality when slotted in popular fiction and in the other genre, literature.
Don't forget:
This May, we're scratching at the surface of escapism and bursting the bubble of what constitutes reality in fiction.
This May, we're on the quest:
Searching for an appropriate reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Thursday, May 21, 2009
A House Call
This week, we're supposed to be talking about heroes, and how realistic they should be and how they should be portrayed.
This got me thinking about an unlikely hero - Dr. Gregory House (House M.D). Oh yeah, he is sarcastic, caustic, brings irony to a new level and basically you want to sock him one half the time. Why is he a hero then? How can this hateable man be likable, and even sympathetic? Yes, I found him sympathetic, once, and that's when he won me over.
T.J mentioned that one of the biggest strokes of genius when Margaret Mitchell penned Rhett Butler was that she made this Alpha man behave like an Alpha. It's what they did for House too.
Gregory House seems to hate women. Okay, he hates everyone. Sometimes he is seen to 'like' his best friend Dr. James Wilson and he has shown compassion and feelings for his colleague Dr. Allison Cameron and he often portrays a distant attachment and affection for his boss, Dr. Lisa Cuddy. This somewhat makes him human, though I do also think the fact that he doesn't hesitate to tell everyone the truth about them also makes him human (come on, wouldn't you want to be so frank sometimes?). But what I'm talking about is when his ex-girlfriend Stacy Warner walked back into the picture. Stacy manipulated it so that House would have an operation he didn't want, and he holds her responsible for the way his life has degenerated (his limp, his enduring pain, the need to drown in Vicodin). So Stacy has moved on, married someone else, Mark, and now she's back at the Princeton-Plainsborough Hospital where House works to be the legal representative.
House still loves her, it's obvious, though it's never shown that he is simpering or whining over the loss of his one true love. It is calmly apparent in his gaze, in how he watches her. Stacy for her part has moved on, but back in close proximity to House, she knows she still has feelings for him. Starts then a limbo between House and her husband Mark, with House doing everything to break them up so he can win her. I know, not heroic at all. Then Stacy and House do end up sleeping together, but Mark has a stroke and Stacy has to go back to his side. While helping her husband recover, Stacy battles her feelings for House, and starts another dilemma. She comes to the conclusion she'll never be able to leave Mark, especially not in the condition he is, but she doesn't want to let go of House either. She wants the milk and the cow, as House so clearly presents it to her.
And that's when he turned into a hero in my eyes - he asked her to leave. He cannot settle for being the other man, the toy Stacy comes running to play with and then discard when real life calls back. Despite loving her - you can see it's breaking him - he asks her to go. And he also leaves.
Gregory House is an Alpha character, and through the above happenings, he is portrayed as the Alpha man, because this is what an Alpha man does and how he reacts. There is consistency in how he is portrayed. The writers stick to who he inherently is and show him as such, without any window-dressing, giving the tortured soul hiding behind the caustic wit.
You may not agree with me, but a man who doesn't accept to be second best or to be the one in the shadows is heroic for me. House shows how real life is and how real life can be, and I think we as writers should not discount this fact. Reality can be portrayed through fiction - and it can be portrayed well. Just make your characters act like real people would.
Any questions, just holler!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com
This got me thinking about an unlikely hero - Dr. Gregory House (House M.D). Oh yeah, he is sarcastic, caustic, brings irony to a new level and basically you want to sock him one half the time. Why is he a hero then? How can this hateable man be likable, and even sympathetic? Yes, I found him sympathetic, once, and that's when he won me over.
T.J mentioned that one of the biggest strokes of genius when Margaret Mitchell penned Rhett Butler was that she made this Alpha man behave like an Alpha. It's what they did for House too.
Gregory House seems to hate women. Okay, he hates everyone. Sometimes he is seen to 'like' his best friend Dr. James Wilson and he has shown compassion and feelings for his colleague Dr. Allison Cameron and he often portrays a distant attachment and affection for his boss, Dr. Lisa Cuddy. This somewhat makes him human, though I do also think the fact that he doesn't hesitate to tell everyone the truth about them also makes him human (come on, wouldn't you want to be so frank sometimes?). But what I'm talking about is when his ex-girlfriend Stacy Warner walked back into the picture. Stacy manipulated it so that House would have an operation he didn't want, and he holds her responsible for the way his life has degenerated (his limp, his enduring pain, the need to drown in Vicodin). So Stacy has moved on, married someone else, Mark, and now she's back at the Princeton-Plainsborough Hospital where House works to be the legal representative.
House still loves her, it's obvious, though it's never shown that he is simpering or whining over the loss of his one true love. It is calmly apparent in his gaze, in how he watches her. Stacy for her part has moved on, but back in close proximity to House, she knows she still has feelings for him. Starts then a limbo between House and her husband Mark, with House doing everything to break them up so he can win her. I know, not heroic at all. Then Stacy and House do end up sleeping together, but Mark has a stroke and Stacy has to go back to his side. While helping her husband recover, Stacy battles her feelings for House, and starts another dilemma. She comes to the conclusion she'll never be able to leave Mark, especially not in the condition he is, but she doesn't want to let go of House either. She wants the milk and the cow, as House so clearly presents it to her.
And that's when he turned into a hero in my eyes - he asked her to leave. He cannot settle for being the other man, the toy Stacy comes running to play with and then discard when real life calls back. Despite loving her - you can see it's breaking him - he asks her to go. And he also leaves.
Gregory House is an Alpha character, and through the above happenings, he is portrayed as the Alpha man, because this is what an Alpha man does and how he reacts. There is consistency in how he is portrayed. The writers stick to who he inherently is and show him as such, without any window-dressing, giving the tortured soul hiding behind the caustic wit.
You may not agree with me, but a man who doesn't accept to be second best or to be the one in the shadows is heroic for me. House shows how real life is and how real life can be, and I think we as writers should not discount this fact. Reality can be portrayed through fiction - and it can be portrayed well. Just make your characters act like real people would.
Any questions, just holler!
Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com
Monday, May 4, 2009
With Love, from Ms. Blush
Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!
I trsut it you've had a nice little break? Well, I can already tell ya that we here at RBA had a very fulfilling time and now we're back and raring to go!
During our little time off, we conducted a little survey among some trusted guinea pigs, oops, sorry, fellow writers (you know we love you guys, right?) and it has come to our attention that there is one tiny aspect pertinent to writing and logic that can blow out of proportion if one is not careful.
It's about realism and the portrayal of reality in romance and popular fiction in general. How real should we as writers get? Is real boring? Is real not worthy of falling in love with? Where to draw the line between the escapism notion of popular fiction and the gritty portrayal of reality in literature?
This is what we'll be talking about this month. This week, we've already started with backstory, or how to make your characters appear real through this simple but loaded term.
Catch us for the rest of the month as we go through what makes a realistic heroine, how real a hero needs to be, and whether romance and fiction is about escapism or reality.
Our regular contributors, Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja, will be chiming in on the debate. The regulars, T.J. and Aasiyah/Nolwynn, will continue to provide insight on the topics every week.
This May, we're scratching at the surface of escapism and bursting the bubble of what constitutes reality in fiction.
This May, we're on the quest:
Searching for an appropriate reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
I trsut it you've had a nice little break? Well, I can already tell ya that we here at RBA had a very fulfilling time and now we're back and raring to go!
During our little time off, we conducted a little survey among some trusted guinea pigs, oops, sorry, fellow writers (you know we love you guys, right?) and it has come to our attention that there is one tiny aspect pertinent to writing and logic that can blow out of proportion if one is not careful.
It's about realism and the portrayal of reality in romance and popular fiction in general. How real should we as writers get? Is real boring? Is real not worthy of falling in love with? Where to draw the line between the escapism notion of popular fiction and the gritty portrayal of reality in literature?
This is what we'll be talking about this month. This week, we've already started with backstory, or how to make your characters appear real through this simple but loaded term.
Catch us for the rest of the month as we go through what makes a realistic heroine, how real a hero needs to be, and whether romance and fiction is about escapism or reality.
Our regular contributors, Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja, will be chiming in on the debate. The regulars, T.J. and Aasiyah/Nolwynn, will continue to provide insight on the topics every week.
This May, we're scratching at the surface of escapism and bursting the bubble of what constitutes reality in fiction.
This May, we're on the quest:
Searching for an appropriate reality...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Who Can Resist A Worthy Hero?
by Angela Guillaume
I firmly believe that in order to create a "perfect" hero in a fictional setting, we must first endeavor to create a "real" hero—one that could appear as comfortable in the pages of a book as he'd be crossing Main Street on a busy April afternoon.
According to Umberto Eco, the famed Italian literary author (among his works: The Name of the Rose, which was adapted into film), we should ask the question, "How can fiction help us to attain a severe and correct definition of the truth?" I heard the man ask this very question a few months ago at an Emory University lecture series in Atlanta, Ga. I think this is a valid question, and it does have some application to this month's RBA theme: Searching for the Perfect Hero.
From what I have garnered speaking to different authors, every hero is perfect—perfect for the book he was written into. Why? Because he is a creation of the mind of the author. Yet, to think of Eco's question, can a hero reflect that which is true? I believe he can—because a hero, for all intents and purposes, is a REAL man. A fictional hero is as real as a flesh and blood person in his own context—that is, in the novel.
Indeed, another of Eco's comments was, "While historians evoke real ghosts, novelists create real characters." Thus, a fictional hero can be as true and real as a historical one. For example, Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle's hero starring in many tales, was real, and he really lived in Baker Street and had a sidekick called Watson… in the novel! His identity is unmistakable, and he is recognized by many, still today. So essentially, the difference between reality and fiction could be seen as a very blurry one, and each is true in its own dimension.
Another hero we have all heard about is Superman—and another thing we also know to be "true" is that Clark Kent IS Superman. But, as Eco continues to say, true assertions such as this may not always be found in history. For example, to say that "Hitler lost his life in a Berlin bunker" may possibly be true, yet, it is not proven beyond the shadow of a doubt.
So, once we have created an "irrefutably real" hero, how do we make sure he's PERFECT? What, indeed, is perfection? I think that the moniker "perfect" is often misused—some say that nothing ever can be perfect. I disagree, and I think that perfection is not necessarily something that is completely great, precise, faultless and wonderful; rather, something that is where and how it should be. Something that is fated, that is truly meant to be in the world that surrounds it.
My view of this is when both the author and the reader can identify and understand the character, as well as the character’s fate and goals—when the reader empathizes and FEELS for this hero—then that same character becomes, essentially, both real and perfect. I have a different take on this—perfection to me does not essentially mean the complete absence of flaws; rather, it means the capacity to be and act "human", therefore, "real". Thus, reality and perfection are a sort of superimposition, one over the other, creating the amazing mélange that constitutes what we define a compelling character.
James Bond is the perfect hero. Why? Not because he is picture perfect, but because despite all his skills and savoir faire, he also gives us glimpses of humanity (See "Casino Royale"). He probably wouldn't make a great "Gandhi" type character and he would probably suck as Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights) but we cannot deny that he is perfect in the very role for which he was conceived. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) is the perfect hero because, despite his pride, he also displays a kind and compassionate heart. Jason Bourne (The Bourne saga—Robert Ludlum) is a perfect hero because he is tortured and wonderfully flawed based on his past experience. He is an extraordinary man, a lethal killer, who refuses to be a machine and strives to find himself.
It may therefore be stated that perfection lies, peculiarly, amidst a universe of failings. The reader is thus allowed to sift through these human failings (therein lies the fun of discovery) and find that which lies beneath—the hidden gem that unveils this hero's innermost core: one that is worthy and honorable.
In essence, to break all of this down and apply it to the realm of the romantic novel, I think that a perfect hero is, above all else, a worthy one.
~ Angela Guillaume ~
Where love is more than history
Website: http://www.angelaguillaume.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/angelaguillaume
Facebook: Angela Guillaume
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/breathtakingromance/Blog: http://angelaguillaume.blogspot.com
"Mile High to Heaven"--Xtra hot!!!--Contemporary short. Available March 2009 at Whiskey Creek Press Torrid.
"Mr. & Mrs. Foster"--A toasty warm holiday tale. More info at: www.whiskeycreekpress.com/torrid
I firmly believe that in order to create a "perfect" hero in a fictional setting, we must first endeavor to create a "real" hero—one that could appear as comfortable in the pages of a book as he'd be crossing Main Street on a busy April afternoon.
According to Umberto Eco, the famed Italian literary author (among his works: The Name of the Rose, which was adapted into film), we should ask the question, "How can fiction help us to attain a severe and correct definition of the truth?" I heard the man ask this very question a few months ago at an Emory University lecture series in Atlanta, Ga. I think this is a valid question, and it does have some application to this month's RBA theme: Searching for the Perfect Hero.
From what I have garnered speaking to different authors, every hero is perfect—perfect for the book he was written into. Why? Because he is a creation of the mind of the author. Yet, to think of Eco's question, can a hero reflect that which is true? I believe he can—because a hero, for all intents and purposes, is a REAL man. A fictional hero is as real as a flesh and blood person in his own context—that is, in the novel.
Indeed, another of Eco's comments was, "While historians evoke real ghosts, novelists create real characters." Thus, a fictional hero can be as true and real as a historical one. For example, Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle's hero starring in many tales, was real, and he really lived in Baker Street and had a sidekick called Watson… in the novel! His identity is unmistakable, and he is recognized by many, still today. So essentially, the difference between reality and fiction could be seen as a very blurry one, and each is true in its own dimension.
Another hero we have all heard about is Superman—and another thing we also know to be "true" is that Clark Kent IS Superman. But, as Eco continues to say, true assertions such as this may not always be found in history. For example, to say that "Hitler lost his life in a Berlin bunker" may possibly be true, yet, it is not proven beyond the shadow of a doubt.
So, once we have created an "irrefutably real" hero, how do we make sure he's PERFECT? What, indeed, is perfection? I think that the moniker "perfect" is often misused—some say that nothing ever can be perfect. I disagree, and I think that perfection is not necessarily something that is completely great, precise, faultless and wonderful; rather, something that is where and how it should be. Something that is fated, that is truly meant to be in the world that surrounds it.
My view of this is when both the author and the reader can identify and understand the character, as well as the character’s fate and goals—when the reader empathizes and FEELS for this hero—then that same character becomes, essentially, both real and perfect. I have a different take on this—perfection to me does not essentially mean the complete absence of flaws; rather, it means the capacity to be and act "human", therefore, "real". Thus, reality and perfection are a sort of superimposition, one over the other, creating the amazing mélange that constitutes what we define a compelling character.
James Bond is the perfect hero. Why? Not because he is picture perfect, but because despite all his skills and savoir faire, he also gives us glimpses of humanity (See "Casino Royale"). He probably wouldn't make a great "Gandhi" type character and he would probably suck as Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights) but we cannot deny that he is perfect in the very role for which he was conceived. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) is the perfect hero because, despite his pride, he also displays a kind and compassionate heart. Jason Bourne (The Bourne saga—Robert Ludlum) is a perfect hero because he is tortured and wonderfully flawed based on his past experience. He is an extraordinary man, a lethal killer, who refuses to be a machine and strives to find himself.
It may therefore be stated that perfection lies, peculiarly, amidst a universe of failings. The reader is thus allowed to sift through these human failings (therein lies the fun of discovery) and find that which lies beneath—the hidden gem that unveils this hero's innermost core: one that is worthy and honorable.
In essence, to break all of this down and apply it to the realm of the romantic novel, I think that a perfect hero is, above all else, a worthy one.
~ Angela Guillaume ~
Where love is more than history
Website: http://www.angelaguillaume.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/angelaguillaume
Facebook: Angela Guillaume
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/breathtakingromance/Blog: http://angelaguillaume.blogspot.com
"Mile High to Heaven"--Xtra hot!!!--Contemporary short. Available March 2009 at Whiskey Creek Press Torrid.
"Mr. & Mrs. Foster"--A toasty warm holiday tale. More info at: www.whiskeycreekpress.com/torrid
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