…which is a great way to segue into my questions for the night”¦
You started writing romances because someone thought men couldn’t write them. Let me say you’ve more than lived up to the challenge! But, I’d like to ask, is it easier for you”“a man-to write in the hero or the heroine’s POV? Or does it matter? Why or why not?
I don’t feel any difference in the difficulty myself, but I wonder how much that is due to the character of my women. They are all assertive leaders who know how to get things done and things will get done. Also I read a lot, study relationship guides, listen a lot to women and have watched tv chat shows and other non-fictional tv where women interact. A lot of this helps me to write my females characters, at least outwardly, to act like women. I know there are differences between male and female communication though. In one book that both my wife and I read she could pick out the feminine nuances that told a subtle understory. At one point where the heroine, who was a willing hostage in a rich man’s house says. “I couldn’t love him.” I didn’t catch the nuance where the heroine was actually trying to deny the fact that she did love him, whereas all the women of my acquaintance caught it first time around.
I’m sure the same goes for men talk too, but I have no idea what the nuances are. Overall I like to think I do fairly well though. I’ve had several readers tell me a write like a woman. So that has to say something for all that research.
I’ve stated before that the reason I stopped reading hard (heh heh) SF and Fantasy was that the relationships in them left me frustrated.(yes,I mean PO’D) You seemed to agree, saying that they didn’t aim at a satisfactory end. While I don’t need HEA, I’d like for some sort of resolution that doesn’t include spacing or phazing the hero’s girlfriend because she ultimately betrays him to the ‘forces of evil’.
Do you try to have at least a satisfactory ending/resolution”“ if a series”“or a HEA”“in a stand alone”“ in each of your stories?
Romance, as I understand the official definition, requires the story to have an HEA. Personally, I like to write my stories with a distinct ending simply because it’s more satisfying to me. I don’t “hate” SF stories where there isn’t any end but I’m not totally satisfied with them. It appears to be, almost, one of the SF tropes. I think the underlying belief is that the end is merely the beginning of the next adventure. I do have this, to some degree, in the PIACT series. Each novel is a standalone adventure, the hero and heroine face the dangers, define their relationship and, although they don’t always get married, they make a decision to remain together by the end of the book. What I love about the PIACT undercover agent series is the secondary story. If you can read the series in order you’ll find the battle between the Separatists and the Federation starts in book one and ends in book five, and there is a minor love story that runs through books two to four, culminating in the two characters having their own tale told in book five. Each book reveals more of their developing affections, and the frustrations caused by the very nature of their opposing political loyalties, which keeps them apart. Having two love stories running through the series has made it, for me, very interesting. The reviewers as a whole seem to like it too. LOL
What comes to you first, the plot or the characters?
I guess the plot for me. Except for my character Valencius who’s still in the WIP stage. Poor guy was turned into a vampire as he was being embalmed and ended up being dependant on drinking embalming fluid instead of blood, (I love bucking the tropes, LOL). I generally get an idea, then sit down and work it into a scene (which could occur anywhere in the book.) After that I then fit the scene into a novel length story. Simple LOL
Do you have a favorite book or series of yours?
My favorite book that I’m writing isn’t a romance at all. Lol it’s a really cute comedy SF. The PIACT undercover agent series is my only one in print and I hold a certain fondness for that simply because it is the first published and a symbol of success, if you like.
Agent Double D makes me laugh so hard I hurt because I always find myself thinking the same sort of what ifs about werewolves, mermen and vampires, etc. However, if you could be one of these supernatural/paranormal creatures, which would it be? Why?
From the non-romance point of view they all have pretty sucky lives, particularly the vampire. LOL. Overall though, if you take standard romantic tropes the paranormals that seem to do best are vampires and ultra cool weres like panthers. After all, vamps always get the most attractive women, and all they have to do is bite them. You have no idea how many women have told me to do that”¦
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