Tag: romance

Do you need to believe in love to be able to write romance?

Post author By Ulrike Hill
Post date 12/02/2016

Guest Blog by Suzanne Jefferies

You can write romance source: wwwtabletmag.com — You can write romance
wwwtabletmag.com

Love is a many splendoured thing. All you need is love. Love to love you baby. All the great lyricists know that there’s no more abused word in the entire lexicon than ‘love’. Not only can it heal wounds, but it can also perpetuate them, “But I love him/her, even though he treats me badly, kicked my dog, ran off with my best friend/mother/extraterrestrial neighbour.” Love bites. Why don’t you love me? Love me, love me, say that you love me. See, any good writer knows that the fortunes of love can run from overflowing then end up in the red within moments. And any great writer knows that ‘love’ can and does happen to everyone – it’s our universal glue.

I know what you’re thinking though…you’re thinking boy/girl, girl/girl, boy/boy lurve. Wrong, wrong, absolutely wrong.

All protagonists have some sort of love affair that moves them to do the things they do. To go on an adventure across a shire, to solve a crime that seems impossible, to protect their family, to get that date with the hot chick, to make the soccer team, whatever. Are you going to tell me that your hero/heroine is kinda lukewarm about their romance? Nu-uh. They’re usually fiercely passionate about it, even if they seem reluctant to move at first. Of course, they’re reluctant, who wouldn’t be reluctant? Embarking on any kind of romance runs the risk of having your precious heart absolutely shattered against the rocks of fate, fortune and chance. Hands up to the writer who has not experienced this kind of romance, the kind that has you slaving away, year after year, rejection after rejection, as you refine your craft? Is it love? Abso-frigging-lutely. Do you need to believe in it? Hell, no. It just is.

And we haven’t even got on to the topic of the ‘love interest’. What do they do? Provide complications? Naturally. The course of…, and so on and so forth.

All novels are romance novels at their heart (oy vey, bad pun). They’re a romance between writer and novel, reader and novel, reader and writer, protagonist and goal, protagonist and love interest. You don’t need to believe in love to write it, you just have to need to know how to keep someone hooked. Isn’t that what romance is all about?

About the Author

Suzanne Jefferies is the author of The Joy of Comfort Eating, a contemporary romance novel set in cosmopolitan Johannesburg. The book is currently available at Amazon. Check out Writer’s Support 5-minute interview: Suzanne Jefferies Interview .

Connect with Suzanne

Twitter: @suzannejefferies

Website: www.suzannejefferies.com

Facebook: suzanne.jefferies7

Tags author, creative writing, romance, Suzanne Jefferies, The Joy of Comfort Eating

Creative Writers

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

Post author By Ulrike Hill
Post date 05/02/2016

“I am writing a story about my ex-husband who was a real bastard,” the attractive read-head tells me. I am facilitating a memoirs workshop and I ask each delegate why they are writing their story. “Really?” I respond to the redhead. I am curious about her story especially as this is nothing new to me. I tell her that many divorced people think their exes are bastards.

“Well not many people have gone through the traumatic experience of the husband sleeping with her best friend on their wedding day,” she tells me. I can see the memory is still painful.

I suggest she rather turns her story into fiction. Not only could it cause problems for people in the story but she faces the probability of legal actions if she publishes the book. Unfortunately, the scorned red-head is not interested in my advice and proceeds to write the story. A few months later I receive her manuscript for a critique. I turned her down. The book displayed the names of her ex-husband (who incidentally is now married with kids) as well as her ex-best friend. Obviously, publishers will never accept this book (unless she was a famous person).

I see the reason for this type of story as narcissistic.

The narcissistic writer’s reason for writing is a selfish one; she wants the world to know how she was rejected, despite the fact that innocent people may be affected by the story. It has nothing to do with the desire to become a published writer.

Narcissism is a personality disorder, loosely defined as ‘extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and a craving for admiration’.

If a pre-published writer has this personality disorder it can spell disaster in the current self-publishing trend that is sweeping through the book-world. No longer does this type of manuscript need to go through a gatekeeping process. Just write your story, upload it onto any e-book platform and the world has access to your world.

The breaking up of a long term relationship or a messy divorce are painful life events. Many published romance

writers incorporate this as themes into their fiction. Obviously the story will have a happy ending and is far more beneficial for the reader who may have experienced similar life experiences as the protagonist.

Don’t misunderstand. Writing about the experience can be a cathartic experience for the wounded soul. In fact, I encourage it.

Here is one piece of advice I give out free of charge to any person writing about an ex. When you type in the words THE END, the manuscript should be shelved in a dark place – never to see daylight again. Hopefully by writing your story, you will gain some perspective about the break-up and will be ready to face the world and open yourself to new relationships. Perhaps one day you can use your story as inspiration for a scene or character if you are serious about becoming a published writer. You could adapt it as a work of fiction, something based on real life events but changed enough so that details and characters are not recognisable should someone from your past read the story.

The sword inflicts a wound that heals quickly and may leave a superficial scar. The pen creates a wound that is much deeper. Although it is not visible it does manifest itself through intentions and behaviour.

Self-publishing provides the stage for the narcissistic writer to make a statement to the world. The problem is that the only people who will read the book are the people connected to the narcissist. The rest will avoid this type of writer like the plague.

Serious about becoming a published writer? Send in your manuscript for an appraisal. Contact: writer@ulrikehill.co.za or call 071 636 8026.

Tags author, memoirs, narcisstic, romance, self-publish, ulrike hill

Interviews

The 5-Minute Interview: Suzanne Jefferies

Post author By Ulrike Hill
Post date 08/12/2015
1 Comment on The 5-Minute Interview: Suzanne Jefferies

Book Title: The Joy of Comfort Eating

Genre: Romance

What was your inspiration for writing this book?

Ever had somebody pull back your ribs, rip out your heart, use it as a battering ram, then hand it back to you? Sure you have. Every time you get on the dating merry-go-round.

In those moments after my last break-up, when my thoroughly mangled heart had retreated to somewhere in Numbtown, I was nudged by a half-written novel I’d scrawled at least ten years previously. It was about a well-rounded character who gets herself fired from her job as a teacher at an exclusive girls’ high school, while simultaneously falling for the headmaster. It so didn’t work. I’d re-written the story some time back and swopped out the headmaster for a former lover. Still didn’t work. But what if there was something there that was salvageable? In both the manuscript, and in the relationship? I was still licking my wounds from the break-up, with insane Thornton’s fuelled thoughts such as ‘What if he and I had another chance?’ Un-bloody-likely. But what if Charlie had another chance with the love of her life? I started writing.

Why will the reader fall in love with your main character?

I’ve got a soft spot for my heroine Charlie Everson. Here’s why.

1). She’d love to be the good time girl.Charlie’s exactly the type of person you want on a girls’ night out. You know she’ll be the one to crack open the champagne before you’ve even left the office. Sadly, she’s also the one most likely to be caught.

2). She knows what it’s like to have dream or two go up in flames. Totally unsuited to the political shenanigans of the corporate communications’ Queenswood office, Charlie’s any of us who looks back on her life and wonders ‘how the hell did I get here?’. And instead of setting off on a goal-setting workshop, she decides to swim into the delights of fried food, cake and chocolate. Let me pause there. In fact, I’m going to go do just that. Okay, I’m back (with my Cinnabon), she’s lost her first love, hasn’t had much luck with her second or third, and any attempt at a career in art has gone splat.

3). She doesn’t think cake can save the world, but it doesn’t hurt to try .

What is your favourite part of this book?

Favourite bit? Why the HEA of course!

If you could give the antagonist in your book one advice, what would that be and why?

One piece of advice? Only one? I’d give then man plenty. Like how to not walk away from arguments. How to say what you’re thinking instead of engaging in verbal gymnastics. Okay, I’ll stop there for now.

If you went on a date with the love interest in your book, where would you go?

A date with Brian? Hmmm. A nightlcub in the dodgiest part of town for a little swing dancing and some vodkas and lime. Perfect.

Give us the blurb about The Joys of Comfort Eating

It’s the worst day of Charlie Everson’s life. Not only can she no longer fit into her clothes (disaster for any public relations director), but also her first love, the sexy super-successful Brian Tendai, is her new CEO – the last person she ever expected to run into. Seeing him again tumbles Charlie back into her past. Still so many unanswered questions: he’s convinced she left him, she’s convinced he left her. Charlie minimises the ‘ex-factor’. Tell that to her emotions that are running wild.

But Brian’s not there to rekindle their romance. He’s overseeing Queenswood Communication’s recent merger after a hostile takeover. Guess whose name is at the top of the list?

They agree to one night together, just the one, then it’s back to business as normal. Or is it?

The Joy of Comfort Eating is a contemporary romance novel set in cosmopolitan Johannesburg.

How can the reader buy your book?

Currently online, Amazon

How can readers connect with you?

Twitter: @suzannejefferies

Website: www.suzannejefferies.com

Facebook: suzanne.jefferies7

Tags author, comfort eating, heartbreak, love, romance, Suzanne Jefferies