Romance Heroines We Love, by Natalie Charles

I love talking about romantic heroes. Whether you love billionaires, sheiks, dukes, single dads, or military men, romance offers a selection of heroes hot enough to make any reader swoon. But what about the smart, fesity women who bring those men to one knee? Today I want to talk about them, and I want to know: what do you look for in a romantic heroine?

 

Some readers seem to enjoy placing themselves in the role of the heroine and experiencing a story through her eyes. For those readers, it may be important for the heroine to have a relatable lifestyle, family, or outlook on life.

 

While I of course want to sympathize with the heroine on some level, I'm not in the vicarious living school of readers. I don't care if the heroine is someone whose life I want to experience. I want my heroines to be kick ass and edgy -- Eve Dallas in J.D. Robb's In Death series is a good example. I've also been enjoying Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles series. Rizzoli and Isles may not be romantic heroines in the traditional sense, but they are bad ass women with brains and flaws. Sometimes the flaws are annoying, but that's cool. I can handle imperfect. I was also crazy about Cecilia Grant's heroine in A Lady Awakened, prickly as she could be, and Sarah Mayberry's heroine in Her Best Worst Mistake.

 

I confess to struggling a bit with Mary Sue heroines, though I'm not sure if it's because I find them dull or because I lied earlier about living vicariously through heroines. I can't relate to characters who are perky and kind and inexplicably have no idea how beautiful they are. Something about that is grating. But hey, I also struggle with a lot of alpha male heroes, so maybe I'm strange.

 

So let's hear it: Do you like to live through your heroines? What do you love in a romance heroine, and who have been some of your favorites?

Q&A with Harper Impulse Author Romy Sommer

I am so thrilled to be chatting again with my friend Romy Sommer, who just released her first book WAKING UP IN VEGAS through Harper Impulse. Romy's been quite busy over the past year, and we're delighted to have her back today to discuss her latest book. 

What happens in Vegas…

Waking up to the bright lights of Vegas in an unfamiliar penthouse suite, cocktail waitress Phoenix Montgomery finds she’s covered from head to foot in gold glitter and not alone – aside from the empty bottle of champagne, there’s a mystery man in the shower and a huge sparkly ring on her finger!

Stays in Vegas?

There’s no denying Max Waldburg’s demi-god sex appeal but commitment-phobic Phoenix doesn’t do relationships. Only it seems her new husband (agh!) has other ideas…he’s trying to keep that ring on her finger and his wife firmly back in his bed. The only question on her lips is – why? Or maybe, why not?

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Congratulations on your deal with Harper Impulse! Can you tell us a little about Waking Up in Vegas?

What happens when a restless cocktail waitress with no strings wakes up married to a man who believes in fairy tales and happy endings - and who doesn't believe in divorce? Worst of all, he comes with more strings than a marionette. The result is Waking up in Vegas.
 

The journey toward publication is usually filled with ups and downs. Can you describe the path that led you to this moment?

Phoenix and Max have been with me for a very long time, and just wouldn't leave. When I finally wrote their story, thanks along the way to a little inspiration from Katy Perry, the story practically wrote itself. I loved writing this book and really believed it was going places, so when I received rejections from the only two publishers I deemed 'worthy' of this story, I didn't let it get me down. I knew Phoenix and Max had a future in more ways than one, so I prepared to self-publish.

Then I spotted a tweet that changed everything: the announcement of a new imprint from Harper Collins.

Harper Impulse is a digital first romance imprint led by Kimberley Young, who I'd met at the RNA conference last year. And this was Harper Collins!! I decided to delay self publishing to give them a chance to reject me first - and instead I got The Call.

My full call story is up on my blog here and here.

Everyone loves a Call Story. Details, please!

Oops, already answered that. Getting the call was scary, nerve-wracking, thrilling and wonderful. And none of those words truly encompasses the amazing feeling when you receive The Call.
 

What inspired you to write this book?

It all started with a dream I had one night in 2009. I wouldn't be surprised if I had it after watching the Julia Stiles movie The Prince and Me. I dreamed of a coronation scene followed by the newly crowned prince making a speech on the steps of a cathedral and calling the love of his life out of the watching crowd.

I wrote the book during Nanowrimo of that year, but it was a very rough draft that never went anywhere. I set it aside and gave it no more thought. Until 2012, when I was listening to the Katy Perry song Waking up in Vegas and thought "Wow, that would suit those characters". I rewrote their story from scratch during Nanowrimo that year (incidentally, those are the only two years I've succeeded at Nano!)

You'll have to read the book to see if the scene I dreamed made it into the final draft!

Do you have a favorite scene or character in this book?

I love the scene in which Max and Phoenix ride motor bikes through the Westerwald countryside. There's nothing like the rush of a bike ride!

I loved all the characters in this book, but there are a few supporting characters who have a special place in my heart. Khara gets her name from the Savvy Authors group I did last year's Nanowrimo challenge with (thanks for keeping me going, Team Khara!) and Rebekah and Claus owe their existence to The Vampire Diaries. Since my dear friend Maya Blake included references to our favourite show in her novel The Price of Success, I thought I'd do the same!

Waking up in Vegas is the first in a planned three-book series. Any hints about what's in store for the next two books?

Rik's story is up next and I'm not giving away any secrets except to say that he's very different from his brother Max. He's dark and brooding and angry.
Book three ... well, if you've read Waking up in Vegas, you might remember the third ring, the missing ring ... that's book three.

You have a full-time job and two children. How do you work your writing into your daily routine?

I don't sleep. No seriously. I've learned to cope on six hours a night, occasionally less, and though I'm grumpy a lot of the time because of it, I figure that won't be the case forever. Roll on the day I can quit the day job and catch up on all the missed sleep!

I've definitely found that I have to keep the momentum going and write every day (even if just for half an hour). If my head is in the story all day, every day, then writing is much easier and the words flow quicker.

You also write historical romance under the name Rae Summers. How do you balance your time or shift gears between the two?

Rae Summers will be taking a little break for the next few months, though she still has stories to tell. I'm a Gemini, so multiple personalities come easy to me. Rae has a lyrical voice and her stories and far more sensual, whereas Romy has a sense of humour, and a fun, flirty, far more contemporary tone.

Can you tell us what you're working on at the moment and what readers can expect next?  

I'm working on Rik's story, so watch this space...

 

Thank you so much for hosting me!

Thank you so much for stopping by, Romy! To learn more about Romy Sommer and her new release, please visit her at www.romysommer.com

Five Reasons Why Moms Make the Best Heroines

Hi, all, Jennifer here!

Hope all you mothers out there had a fantastic Mother's Day!

As I was going through my bookcase, I realized something. Most of the romance books I've read involved heroines who were (or expecting to be) MOTHERS.

So I put my author's hat on and got to thinking.

Mothers really do make the best heroines and here's why:

1) they're self-sacrificing—most of the "mom" heroines in romances have given up their dreams, sometimes their families, and even their schooling to have a baby out of wedlock to raise on their own.

2) they're sympathetic—every reader can relate to what the "mom" heroine is going through because even if you're not a mother...you have or have had one.

3) they're loving—the "mom" heroine shows that she's capable of giving a lot of love to her future hero through the way she interacts with her child/children. Instant likeability.

4) they're savvy and hardworking—somehow with all the sacrifices this "mom" heroine has made to be a single mother, her children are not starving nor are they collecting food stamps. Obviously, this heroine knows how to balance a checkbook and make a dollar stretch.

5) they're independent—they all can cook and take care of themselves. Maybe the "mom" heroine is not the best cook in the world (although sometimes she is), but this character knows more than how to boil water. And her children—and future hero--appreciate whatever she puts on the table as well as the fact that she does not need to rely on anyone.

Now what hero wouldn't want to be with a woman like that?

See? They're ideal heroines.

Funny, but I've personally only written one heroine who was already a mother before she met my hero. It was my first book published: The Role of a Lifetime. But every other book I've written involved heroines who became mothers or hinted to the fact that they would make great future mothers. And isn't that the ultimate happily ever after in so many romance novels?

Some of my personal favorite romances involving a heroine who is a mother are:

Nobody's Baby but Mine—Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Expecting Royal Twins! by Melissa McClone

Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan

Three River Ranch by Roxanne Snopek

Somebody to Love by Kristan Higgins

Maid for Love by Marie Force

Big thanks to my own mom on this post-Mother's Day day. She is a woman who encompasses all those traits I mentioned and more and has inspired a lot of my best heroines. :)

It's obviously very romantic to be a mother! :)

 

Do you think mothers make great heroines too? Do you have a favorite book that involves a mom as the heroine?

About Jennifer Shirk

Jennifer Shirk is a sweet romance author for Samhain, Montlake and Entangled Publishing who also happens to be a mom, pharmacist, Red Sox fan, P90x grad, and overall nice person. Check out her latest release: A LITTLE BIT CUPID at an e-tailer near your computer. :)

Before and After

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by Ami Weaver

Ahh. The life of a newly published author. The glitz. The glam. The huge advance checks. The magic wand that produces the next book....

Wait. What? Oh, sorry. I was dreaming!

In all seriousness, though, what I’ve learned over the past year is being pubbed is a whole new world of the exact same thing. It’s still hurry up and wait--hurry to submit the next book(s), then wait until the editor can get to them. Even though you have an ‘in’ so to speak, editors are crazy busy people (I can’t even imagine everything they do on a daily basis) and while there’s a time period built into the contract it often comes down to that wire. In the meantime, what do you do?

Write the next book. But not too much of it, because you don’t want to get too far and have to rewrite it anyway. This has been the hardest for me. Usually, I start a book and let it rip. It was hard to judge about where the third chapter would end (allowing for editing) since the way I draft means chapter one has thousands of words. Sometimes the whole draft is listed under chapter one. Then I start another one, and do the same thing--polishing the first chapters to a shine, just like always. 

The fun part, though, is learning all that happens to the book as it moves through the publishing process. It helps alleviate some of the stress of waiting. The first time I got AAs (Author Alterations) from Harlequin I had NO IDEA what they were or what I was supposed to do with them. Thankfully, other authors were very kind and generous and didn’t laugh (too hard) at my panic. I filled out my first Art Fact Sheet (which Olivia blogged about earlier). Saw my first cover. Held the book for the first time.

Glitz? Glam? Big money? Not for me, no. I put in a lot of hard work and sweat and tears. We all do, as writers,  no matter how we publish. But it was worth all of it to hold that book for the first time.







Ami Weaver's debut book is an April 2013 Harlequin Romance  release. Visit her  on Twitter @writerlygirl or at her website www.amiweaver.com

Dirty or Clean...Draft?

by Jennifer Faye

When starting a new book, I’ve learned from experience that I need an outline to follow. Not an outline like you learned to do in school with the roman numerals and letters. No, what I’m talking about is more like a long synopsis. But sometimes I’ll included chunks of scenes. If they come to me in that moment, I’m not going to pass up a chance to record it. The only thing that my outline must have is chronological order. Anything about and beyond that is fine by me. It’s there to keep the juices flowing and remind me of where the story is headed. NOTE: my stories/characters don’t always play along with the outline. Detours are not uncommon, but they don’t detour too far from the program and eventually they meander back to the outline.

Next comes the first draft. I must confess that I thought I wrote messy, dirty drafts, but I’m coming to learn that they aren’t so messy after all. My scenes, for the most part, are in the right order. Once in a while, I jump the gun and have something happen too soon. That’s when my wonderful editor taps me on the shoulder and suggests I move such and such later in the story. And generally she’s right and it strengthens the story.

BUT, and yes, that’s a big but, the first draft of my first chapters is usually very messy. I don’t know how else to dive into the middle of characters’ lives without just throwing down words and seeing what happens. In the opening chapter, I move scenes around. I move dialogue around. I change settings, weather, days of the week, POV’s. You name it, I probably change it. By chapter two, I’m usually cooking with gas and know where I’m going. Things are really picking up by now. ;-)

As such, I am in awe of those writers who can sit down and write clean first drafts the whole way through. Now, I’m not referring to those people who write a page or two and then tinker with it until it shines before moving on, but rather I’m referring to the people who sit down and write really clean drafts from the get-go. Those are the writers who only need to do light editing before submitting. I actually know some of those people and they amaze me.

How about you? Are you a messy writer? Or a clean one?

Jennifer Faye is hard at work on book #3. Her debut, RANCHER TO THE RESCUE, is available for Pre-order now. She’d love to hear from you via Twitter, her website, or Facebook.