Shelley Bates, Guest Blogger :: Writing Women’s Fiction and Young Adult Novels

Hi everyone, and thanks so much for having me over to visit! I’m Shelley Bates, and I write women’s fiction for Hachette FaithWords, which is based in Nashville and is a sister imprint to Grand Central Publishing ::waves at Lisa Dale:: I also have a secret identity … I write young adult novels for teens, too, as Shelley Adina.

You’d be surprised how many parallels there are between women’s fiction and teen fiction, the biggest one being the fact that romance, while it’s a big element in the story, takes a back seat to the woman (whether she’s 16 or 46) learning about herself and coming to terms with her place in the world.

But back to the romance … :)

Since I write for the inspirational market, and you’ve recently been talking about love scenes, I wondered how I could talk about the two in the same breath, LOL! Because of course in inspirational romance, as in any other subgenre of romance, it’s all about the emotions and the developing love story. But it’s pretty difficult to convince a reader that two people are falling in love without some kind of, well, evidence. It can’t all be in their heads, now, can it? So the writer for this audience, while she isn’t going to lay the whole scene out on the page in physical description, is going to take a different approach. What’s going on in the heroine’s head and heart when the hero kisses her or their hands touch for the first time become the essence of that scene, what gives the reader that “Ahhh” moment.

Pocketful of Pearls

Here’s an example of one of my favorite scenes from Pocketful of Pearls, which is book two in my Elect trilogy about women escaping from a toxic church. In this scene, Dinah, the heroine, has turned to the hero, a homeless man she’s taken in, and he finally works up the courage to tell her how he feels:

“That’s all very well,” she mumbled, “but most men want to marry a woman they’re attracted to. And I don’t compete very well in that department.”

“You’re used to seeing yourself through other people’s eyes. How about seeing through mine?” he suggested with a smile. “I see a woman who smiles rarely, but when she does, it’s like the sun burning away the clouds. I see a woman with dark eyes that a man could fall into, and skin so soft and fragile he’s almost afraid to touch it. I see a woman with hands capable enough to drive a Jeep yet gentle enough to comfort a crying baby or cuddle a frightened chicken.”

His voice dropped as he saw her lower lip tremble. “I see shoulders that bear other people’s burdens as well as her own. I see dark hair always trying to work its way out of imprisonment, and feet that would leave but that stay for love’s sake.” He paused. Her eyes were wet. “Why would any man not want a woman like that?”

She made a choked sound, and pitched forward into his arms. He pulled her closer, fitting her against him. He hadn’t held her since that dreadful day when she had lost Sheba. But this wasn’t a simple offering of comfort. He held her because he needed to. Because he hadn’t just been saying these things to build up her confidence and make her feel better.

He meant every word.

In the inspirational world, a kiss is about as far as you can go on the page. But a writer can do a lot with a kiss, especially if you’re writing for teens. Here’s a sample of how I was able to do that in the middle of a suspenseful rescue scene in Be Strong and Curvaceous (January 2009), book three of my All About Us series:

Be Strong and Curvacious

“What if you run into trouble?” I’d always thought his eyes were amazing . . . long-lashed and dark and penetrating. But now, in the dim silver light of the streetlights behind us, I saw something that made them even more beautiful.
Respect. And concern.

For me.

I shook myself so I wouldn’t just fall into his arms like ninety percent of the girls probably did. “The police have to be on their way, especially since I didn’t turn up at school. We could wait for them, but I’m afraid if he hears them coming and gets scared, he’ll do something to her. Brett,” I said, putting a hand on his arm, “I don’t have a Plan B. This has to work.”

He raised his head and did a fast recon of the backyard, making sure no one was moving inside the house. Then, he took my chin in his hand.

And kissed me, hard, on the mouth.

My eyes and lips formed three circles of astonishment as he let me go. I’m sure I looked like some stupid cartoon character, because he grinned and whispered, “For luck.”

And then he ran into the dark.

I heard the fence jingle softly as he went up and over it, and still I sat there like a melting truffle, touching my lips and wondering if I was dreaming.

Don’t wake me up. If this is a dream, maybe it will happen again.

IMO, a romance just isn’t a romance without love scenes. But you can get across what you need to in any number of ways, depending on what your readers are looking for. And I don’t know about you, but I’m looking for that “Ahhhhh” moment—whether it’s in an inspirational or a sexy historical. Vive l’amour!

And hey, before I go, I’m giving away either my Elect trilogy of women’s fiction or the first three books in the All About Us series. Leave a comment, and one winner will get to pick!

Tagged as: Be Strong and Curvaceous, Pocketful of Pearls, Shelley Adina, Shelley Bates, women's fiction, young adult