Category: Romance

Not just a pretty face

The past few weeks I’ve been brushing up and doing final edits on the contemporary romance that I once published here on the blog. I’m aiming for publication on The Genius and the Muse (formerly Tracing Shadows) around the end of next month. At least, that’s the plan. This is my first dip in the Contemporary Romance pool, so I’ve been doing cover research, looking at the lists, checking out marketing and blogs, and it’s made me question something: Will romance readers “buy” a hero who doesn’t fit conventional standards of male beauty?

See, The Genius and the Muse is a parallel love story. There are two couples and one of the heroes is, to be frank, not all that handsome by romance novel standards. (Notice, I didn’t say he wasn’t attractive. Attraction is far more subjective.) He’s pretty rough. He’s a welder/sculptor, so he has burns and scars. He’s not all that tall. He definitely doesn’t shave regularly. Story short, he’s not going to be in any Abercrombie ads, readers.

We talk a lot about standards of beauty for women, and how books can challenge those in ways that movies or television can’t because it’s a non-visual medium. And as a reader, I can fall for a mental picture I create more easily than an actor on the screen. But still, it’s rare to find heroes in romance who aren’t described as devastatingly good-looking or at least, ruggedly handsome.

In my first books, the Elemental Mysteries, my hero is very good looking. In fact, his male beauty is part of his history and a fairly significant plot point. In this story, it was just as significant to Javi’s character development for him to not be conventionally handsome. But let’s be frank, the vast majority of romance readers are female! And who doesn’t like picturing a handsome hero, right?

So, this leads me to my questions today. As a reader, can you enjoy a story where the hero or heroine doesn’t fit the conventionally attractive mold? As a writer, do you shy away from creating characters who are not beautiful because they might not be as attractive to readers? While reading isn’t a visual medium, those mental pictures can be pretty vivid. And let’s be honest, you don’t see a lot of average looking people on the cover of romance novels. (You also don’t see many faces, there seem to be a lot of muscular torsos out there. Interesting.) But obviously, looks do count!

Let me know what you think in the comments. No judgement. Be honest! After all, it’s understandable to want to delve into an imaginary world of attractive people when daily life is a grind, and you haven’t put on make-up for the day (or week). I do the same thing, people!

Hope you have an amazing weekend, and I should have more news about the book posted on the blog next week.

Thanks for reading!

Elizabeth

The Book of the Future: E-books killed the paperback star?

I’ve said in the past that I think the development and broad adoption of e-books is going to be great for bibliophiles; I’m sure many people would disagree with that, but I do have my reasons for saying so.

Now, to be clear, a bibliophile is defined as “a person who collects or has great love of books.” So, we’re not just talking about the stories they contain, but the objects themselves. My dad loves thrillers. He’ll listen to tons of them on audiobook while driving (he drives a lot for work) but he’s not attached to the physical copies themselves. I love books. Having them. Collecting them. Getting rid of them is physically painful for me. (Especially if I end up dropping a box on my foot. Ouch.) I am a bibliophile.

So, why am I so enthusiastic about e-books?

In the face of electronic books dominating the market for genre fiction and, eventually, all forms of fiction, I do predict that the mass market paperback will phase out. Not tomorrow. Not five years from now. But eventually, the reasons for having mass market paperbacks (economy and portability) will be better served by e-readers. For many people, including me, they already do.

But why is it a good time for bibliophiles?

As the mass market paperback is phased out, I think traditional publishers are going to be putting more focus on creating books that offer more than just the stories inside. Paper books will become more creative in their form, offer a more interactive experience, and become something that bibliophiles want to collect, not just tuck into a crowded shelf. I see three types of book that will become more commonplace and more attractive to book lovers in the future.

1. Special Editions. When Cemetery Dance Publications published their 25th anniversary Deluxe Limited Edition of Stephen King’s It, it sold out in less than 30 hours. (I believe the gift edition is still available, though, for you King fans.) It had a hefty price tag. It also had high-quality paper, deluxe bindings and  endpapers, color and black and white artwork and a new afterward by King. Fantastic! Collectible. And for the buyers who nabbed a copy, worth every penny. This is the kind of book that you simply can’t experience (and wouldn’t want to) in electronic format. Look for more publishers to be catering to this market to a greater and lesser degree. Continue reading “The Book of the Future: E-books killed the paperback star?”

Why I’ve put off watching the season premiere of Bones…

…but will tonight, and I’ll let you know what I think.

Ages ago, when I was a young, impressionable maiden (no, really, I was), I got hooked on Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta novels.  The first one was Postmortem, and I ate that series up.  This was before the emergence of shows like CSI or Body of Proof and the whole forensic science aspect was new and fascinating to me.  I loved the science, the mystery, the chemistry of the characters. In short, I’ve been a lover of the forensic science mystery for a long time.

When CSI premiered, I checked it out, and I liked it.  After a while, though, it got repetitive, and I lost interest.  While the premise was interesting, it wasn’t as character-driven as I usually liked in a TV drama.  However, when Bones premiered in 2005, I jumped on it like a mouse on cheese.  Here was a drama with two strong leads (One of whom was David Boreanaz, hello.) a twist on a premise I loved (Forensic anthropology? Awesome!) and a great supporting cast.

From the beginning, series creator, Hart Hanson, talked about how it was a character-driven show, a show about relationships, not just another police procedural. And it was. It had great mysteries, but it had great character dynamics, too. Continue reading “Why I’ve put off watching the season premiere of Bones…”

New Release—A Hidden Fire Available

Dear Readers,

Today is the official release of my book, A Hidden Fire, the first book in the Elemental Mysteries series. (insert special effects here)

Though I have dedicated the book itself to my friend, Lacey, I would like to dedicate this release day to you, my readers online, and all the encouragement, enthusiasm, and excitement you have blessed me with.

I end most of my posts the same way, “Thanks for reading,” and I want you to know that I truly mean that.  Thank you for your time.  Thank you for your attention.  Thank you for letting me take over a little of your imagination with my stories.  I hope I haven’t wasted it.

In the past year, I hope I have made you smile, laugh, think, or even cry a little (but not from my comma abuse). And I hope you enjoy this book.  All of you are a big part of the reason I decided make this journey on my own terms.  You gave me the confidence to take that step.

I’ll be running around the blogosphere today, doing guest posts here or there, I may have an interview with Nichole Chase, a totally fab YA author, and of course, I’ll be dropping into Twitter. (You know you can always get me there!) I’ll be linking to some reviews in the coming week, but after that, I promise I’ll pipe down and let the book speak for itself.

If you read A Hidden Fire, I hope you’ll consider leaving me a review where you bought it.  Good or bad, feedback is so very important (there’s also some really technical explanation involving the word ‘algorithm’ that I’m not even going to attempt to explain here, but yeah, reviews are important). I hope to hear what you think in the coming days and weeks.

Thank you.

Thank you!

Thank you for reading,

Elizabeth

A Hidden Fire is available to purchase for $2.99 at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords (should be available to all international readers outside Amazon’s reach! 10 file formats including mobi, epub, and PDF)

Please remember that even if you don’t have an e-reader, there are free e-book programs online from Amazon, Nook, and others that will enable you to read any electronic book on your computer or smartphone!  I also highly recommend Calibre, which has good quality e-reader software, all for free.  There will be a paperback version of the book eventually, but it is significantly more expensive. If you have any questions about where to get the book, or about e-books in general, please leave me a comment or email me, I’d love to answer your questions.

Tracing Shadows is finished! Epilogue has posted.

The Epilogue: Two Lovers has posted.

The story has finished.

Thank you so much for your time and attention.  I hope you enjoyed the story.

Thanks again to my amazing editing/beta team of Toni Cox and Kristy Scott, along with all the readers for the original story,The Genius and the Muse.  I hope you enjoyed this adaptation, it really was a labor of love.

If you enjoy my fiction, I hope you’ll continue to subscribe to the website and check out the Elemental Mysteries series. The first book, A Hidden Fire, will be released in Amazon and Barnes and Noble in just a few weeks!  The website for the series isElementalMysteries.wordpress.com and I hope you’ll consider checking it out and maybe subscribing.  The prologue and first two chapters of Book One are on that site and up for preview.

Thanks for reading,

Elizabeth

New Chapter posted: The Genius

A new chapter of my contemporary art romance, Tracing Shadows, is up on the blog.  We’re finally hearing from the photographer this week! Check it out if you’re a lover of art, romance, or tattoos. (There’s some tattoo action.)

Part Eight: The Genius

Hope you enjoy!

Thanks for reading,

E

The Birth of a Character Name

There are a lot of ways to name fictional characters.  I know some writers who have names just “come” to them or choose a name because it feels right.  Some are named after real life people, or versions of them.  Other character names are chosen because of their meaning or historical significance.  Whatever the reason (and I’ve named characters for every reason listed above) it’s never been random.

A friend recently pointed out to me that the character of “Kate” in Tracing Shadows is the same age as a mutual friend of the same name.  Now, there’s nothing about the character that’s similar except the age and name; but I realized, it made me feel a little uncomfortable, and I hoped that my friend didn’t think it had been deliberate. (Well, it was deliberate, as you’ll read, but not for any reasons relating to her.)

I started mentally reviewing all the reasons I had chosen to name that character “Kate” and in the end, the convoluted process made me laugh so much, I thought I’d share. Continue reading “The Birth of a Character Name”

New Chapter of Tracing Shadows: The Agent

~~~

All my work keeps going like a pendulum: it seems to swing back to something I was involved with earlier, or it moves between horizontality and verticality, circularity, or a composite of them.  For me, I suppose, that change is the only constant.

—Lee Krasner

I kind of liked posting on Thursday last week, so I think I’ll keep doing that.

Here’s the next chapter of Tracing Shadows.  Just so you know, this story is short.  There are ten parts along with the introduction and an epilogue, so it’s over half-way done.  This is part of why I’m publishing independently.  This story is half-way between a novella and a novel, but it’s exactly as much as it needs to be.  I’m not willing to add junk, or leave out stuff it needs to make it meet certain expectations.

Hope you enjoy Part Seven: The Agent.

Thanks for reading,

E

Early chapter of Tracing Shadows!

Hey folks! I’m taking some time off this weekend, so I thought I’d go ahead and post this chapter of Tracing Shadows a little early.

Part Six: The Potter

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thanks my editing/beta team for all their help with this story. Particularly Kristy Todd and Toni Cox, who have been instrumental in getting this story ready for the reading public.  Kristy has been reading and editing for me since I started writing, and Toni has lent her editing skills and artistic expertise to help make me sound like slightly less of a dilettante. Thank you both so much, ladies!

Thanks for reading,

Elizabeth