Comments on: Another Minor Epiphany

By: Suzanne Jones

Suzanne Jones — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:38:42 +0000

Great post, Jackie. Your Kate and Alex story is sounding more intriguing by the minute.

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:07:57 +0000

I do know! 🙂 Ah, cheers Maisey. I certainly hope you’re right.

By: Maisey

Maisey — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:44:20 +0000

I completely deleted 25K words and just wrote new material from the middle on. But again, we shall see. It's so hard to know! (which I know you know:-)

Best of luck on your next submission, I think you're really going to nail it.

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:44:48 +0000

Hey, at least you changed it. I didn’t change mine enough which is why I failed. It’s hard eh? If you felt you improved it though, that’s a great sign.
Hope you get some news soon!

By: Maisey

Maisey — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:25:25 +0000

That’s my recurring nightmare, Jackie, that my ed calls and says ‘wow. you broke it.’ Doing a rewrite was so scary because it made me question my instincts completely and because I had to change so much it made me wonder if I was even in the right ballpark any more.

Personally, I do think I improved it. But we’ll see if it was the right kind or enough. Been away from me for 16 wks, so I’m due for some kind of news…

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:33:01 +0000

I know that feeling, Maisey. I hope you did better than I did with revisions. Some I did well but the last lot were a complete fail. Sigh.
Next time…
Yeah, do check out Nat’s book. It’s great.

By: Maisey

Maisey — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:35:57 +0000

Always appreciate the crossed fingers!! We'll see how it goes. Maybe I managed to get it right this round?

The Secret Millionaire book sounds great! I'll have to check it out. I love the idea of her being the worst possible person for him, and vice versa, a fantastic slant on things.

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:44:24 +0000

I should read Kate’s book. But then, I’m not a person who finds writing books hugely helpful – it has to be applied to my own writing before I can see it.
Anyway, an example of the hero falling for the worst possible woman is Nat Anderson’s Pleasured by the Secret Millionaire. The heroine is a heart patient who doesn’t want to be looked after and the hero is a doctor who wants to save her. She’s the worst person for him because of the heart condition/independence combo. He’s desperate to keep her safe but she won’t let him. And he’s the worst person for her because she’s trying to be independent and escape doctors! It’s a great read.

By: Janet

Janet — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:57:13 +0000

Thanks for posting Jackie, you're epiphanies are so helpful.

"...the point is not that the h&h don't want a relationship at all, they just don't want a relationship with a particular person!"

Kate Walker said something like this a while ago and I couldn't help thinking how much more difficult it is to sort that out, than give them a cliched reason why they don't want a relationship at all!

Quite a lot of the romance novels I've read give a run-of-the-mill reason why the H doesn't trust women in general (eg his ex cheated on him.) But I'm struggling to think of any stories that had specific reasons why this particular woman (the heroine) was the worst possible person for him to fall in love with.

Anyone have any examples to share?

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:43:40 +0000

Maisey - third round of revisions? Wow, girl, that's fantastic. Shall we be hearing sale news soon do you think? Crossing my fingers for you!

Lorraine - cheers m'dear!

Sri - yes, that's so true. I sometimes forget why they even like each other! But I find that the conflict can often also be the reason they like each other, oddly enough. At least at a deeper level.