I am really excited to be here today as part of my blog travels to talk about HeavenSent.com, my novella in the Holiday Brides anthology (due out tomorrow!). I’d like to thank the crew here at We Write Romance for hosting me and to thank you for stopping by to chit chat with me about how I wound up writing about love.
I didn’t start out writing romance. I wrote poetry all through my teen years before heading off to the University of Missouri-Columbia’s School of Journalism. I went there to become a writer and graduated as a reporter. When I did get around to penning my first manuscript, it came out more like women’s fiction. If you’d asked me, I couldn’t have told you the difference anyway. I offer my first query letter as proof:
“Inkling, the novel I’m requesting you review, offers women’s fiction featuring paranormal, suspense and romance elements – a comfortable fit within the genres you currently seek.”
Okay, so it makes me cringe. But I can laugh now at all the things I didn’t know about the publishing industry and writing romance in particular. To an agent or editor, it was apparent I hadn’t done my genre homework. Women’s fiction – I’ve since learned – focuses is on the woman’s personal journey with or without a man. Romance – as defined by the Romance Writers Association (which I later became and remain a member of) – has to have a “mutually satisfying ending.” We call that the HEA. A year later, I did sell the above story I pitched. First I had to figure out what the heck I was writing (paranormal romance), then I changed the title to Where Souls Collide and re-crafted my query. Oh, I also re-wrote over half the book accordingly. Except for the ending.
I stubbornly stuck to my pragmatic “sometimes life isn’t fair” farewell for the heroine and her unwitting hero. That is, until I got The Call. Once I heard Monica Harris saying “We want to make an offer for Where Souls Collide” in my voice mail, my heart suddenly softened and I managed to find 3,000 words to give my characters the sendoff they longed for and the ending my story deserved.
I admit, I was a little ambiguous about the whole romance author thing at the time. I was a journalist after all, trained to be objective, fair, realistic. Writing love stories seemed at total odds with the essence of me. Like I said, I had a lot to learn.
After consulting a few years of craft classes, a new shelf of writing books, a close knit critique group, and an untold number of exchanges on a host of writers’ loops, I find that I now love telling people I write romance. Otherworldly romance at that.
I discovered that who I am is not masked by giving my characters a happy outcome. I have thousands of words with which to immerse them in real world challenges, wreak havoc on their lives and besiege them with supernatural challenges. I guarantee you that by the time The End approaches, we’re all looking for a way out of the conflict.
Finding that road to HEA has stumped me with each story, but that, to me, has become the fun in writing romance: Regardless of what the nightly news suggests or personal experience dictates, in these pages love does conquer all. I didn’t start out writing that way, but I do so love these endings.
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You can read more about HeavenSent.com (from the Holiday Brides anthology) and the first chapter of the story on my web site at http://www.stefanieworth.com/HeavenSent.html
You can also connect with me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stefanieworth), Twitter (www.twitter.com/stefanieworth) or MySpace (www.myspace.com/stefanieworth).
In celebration of the release of Holiday Brides, I’ll be giving away a signed copy of the anthology to one person who comments on my post today. Good luck and enjoy the story!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Three cheers for the HEA and the escapism it offers!
Hurrah for the HEA from me, too. I don’t read many books without happy endings. They don’t have to be romance — I like mysteries and sci fi and other genres, too — but I really do love that sigh of satisfaction at the end of a good book.
KAK — I think the escapism involved with crafting a way out of the worst situations is one thing that now makes writing HEAs so satisfying.
Barbara — I, too, look for satisfying resolutions in all types of stories. Even though I’ll watch movies that are deeply introspective and end on a sad note, I couldn’t survive on a steady diet of books or films like Leaving Las Vegas.
Thank you both for stopping by!
My belief is that reading should be relaxation and escape. I’ve read some truly awesome books as I grew up which taught me a lot, though they were torture to read and weren’t HEAs. My parents’ encouragement of my reading of realistic books that taught me in many ways just how lucky I was to live the privileged life I did, was a good thing.
However, as an adult who is more than aware of what goes on in the world and how few people, relatively, have the wonderful life and opportunities I have, I want my reading to be an escape. Relaxation. I don’t need to deal with all that tragedy in my time off as well as my time in the real world.
Romance gives us the escape we need to refuel and de-stress, so we’re stronger and more able to face reality when we emerge from our fantasy world.
As a reader, I’ve loosened up my strict ideas on HEAs. For years, it wasn’t a HEA unless there was a big wedding and a baby on the way.
Nowadays, I’m happy with a pledge of love and a diamond engagement ring.
Anida — I, too, love reading as an escape and have since my very young years. Now, with my journalism roots and a day job in nonprofit, I get my share of reality. Hooray for an imagination that so easily transports me elsewhere.
Phyllis — I can watch and read stories that end neatly in marriage and kids, but I actually prefer writing endings that are satisfying, but not quite tied up in a bow. That mindset has probably evolved as a result of simply living life.
Thank you both for dropping in!
Drum roll please. . .
The winner of my book giveaway is Barbara Monajem! Thanks for stopping by to comment.
Enjoy the story!
Stefanie
Which WP theme do you use?