One of the Many Ways in Which I Amuse Myself...
I’ve got a few pieces of writing in the works, the bulk of them romance. I like romance novels. I like all kinds of novels really. I used to read a lot of mystery and suspense, but I found that after a night with Harlan Coben, I was up until two in the morning. Every creak, every unnatural groan, death itself, lurking just around the corner. More and more, I found myself with a romance under my nose and it was for this reason that I started writing. See, the thing is, I love the mystery of romance, the mystery of how we get from point a. to point b. What I’m not always so good with is the intimacy stuff. It’s not that I’m prude, exactly. In fact, I can’t really pinpoint my problem, though if pressed, I guess I would say that my “suspension of disbelief” breaks down when watching or reading intimate scenes. In Some Kind of Jersey Girl, Jenny talks about how she can’t watch intimacy unfold on onscreen. While the book is fiction that is a trait my protagonist and I most definitely share.
So, like I said, I started writing in response to the whole intimacy thing. I thought that I could write scenes that would be intimate, but not too intimate. Sadly, I need to clarify that by intimate, I don’t simply mean the obvious connotation, though I’m sure not excluding it either! I mean, if a face is stroked a second too long, if meaningful stares are exchanged, if the L word is even mentioned, I’m doomed. Alas, I have found there is no way to temper these things. Well, to be fair, there are no heaving bosoms in my writing, no thickly chiseled arms. Still, I have come to a place where I write whatever I want. Here in lies the amusing part, at least for me. When I read back what I write, I tend to express my reaction out loud, thoughts like, Oh God, ick. Here is a perfect example, occurring just last evening. My first thought, highlighted in red, immediately follows the scene.
J and A had settled on a morning wedding and brunch with a traditional reception following in the evening. The whole thing was so unlike Avery’s own wedding, held in a little chapel with a simple reception of cake and champagne. She and James had hopped in the car and driven up the coast to Nantucket afterward and spent the early morning hours making love in a little cottage by the ocean. And it was glorious. That was the thing about James; whether it was sloppy or lazy or loving or angry, it never failed to blow her mind.
Good God. Gag.
There you have it folks. I can’t even begin to imagine what I look like when I’m watching Outlander, much less when I am reading it. I’ll have to ask my sister.
Oh Jane...
"I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W."
Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne Elliot in Persuasion by Jane Austen. It doesn't get any better than this. Mr. Darcy's got nothing on F.W. in this passage....that is for sure.
Instant Gratification...and the Lack Thereof...
I am a big fan of instant gratification. I mean, I really like it. A lot. I know there are those who subscribe to the theory that good things are worth the wait. But, I'm not one of them. Well, I suppose good things are worth the wait. I just detest the waiting. For instance, I once unwrapped and rewrapped all of the presents under the Christmas tree a few days before the big event. That was over twenty years ago and my mother still talks about it. Clearly, I have a history of impatience.
No where is this more apparent than when I am reading. I mean, I'm well past the age of staying up all night - except to nurse a sick child or weather out a hurricane - yet, I routinely do so when the right book comes along. Sometimes, I even do it for the wrong book. Hey...what can I say...I'm a little wild. Just ask my sis-in-law. I'm looking at you, Aunt Melissa!
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your stance, I was reminded of how much I loathe waiting for wonderful things just yesterday. You see, once a month I attempt to stem the tide of aging with a trip to the hair salon. With this, the rare opportunity of reading in peace presents itself. Hallelujah! Usually I'm prepared. I always have some kind of reading material lined up. This time, however, with only a minute to spare before I had to run out the door- gasp - I had nothing! Or I did, but I didn't know where it was. Always a fast thinker when it comes to something to read, I grabbed my trusty Kindle. I never need an excuse to buy a new book!
Miraculously the first five chapters of Kristan Higgins forthcoming, If You Only Knew, was available for immediate download! Woohoo! Now, I love, love, love Kristan Higgins. She is a romance writing goddess. I kid you not. I'm talking contemporary romance genius. In fact, about a month after I finished working on Jersey Girl, I discovered the incomparable, KH. And I realized I should never bother to write again....though I continue to write anyway.
So. There I sat in the hairstylist's chair, slick cold dye covering up the gray, all blissed out knowing that five great chapters would see me through the next half hour. Was I worried that I only had five chapters? Nah! The book comes out in ten days. (9 as of today, August, 16th!) No biggie.
Yeah, right! No biggie. OMG! Yes, I said it. OMG. Oh my god! Best. Book. Yet. And how is that even possible, when every one of her books is awesome? Honestly! It defies all logic. I'll have to assume the woman is magic and leave it at that.
Now...I must suffer for nine full days. Feels like Harry Potter all over again. All right, it's only nine days...not two or three years. Whatever. It stinks. It's unfair, I tell you! Did I mention I'm a given to melodrama as well...
If you haven't read Kristan Higgins, give her a try! I promise you, you are going to fall in love! After all, a key component of love is romance...and it's what she does better than anyone.
