Comments on: A Happy Beginning, the Next Stage of the Journey: Two Friends Set out Together

By: Tracy Grant

Tracy Grant — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 07:20:19 +0000

Elizabeth George writes fabulous mysteries that combine rich characterization and sense of place with page-turning suspense and intricate plots. I was trying to analyze what kept me wanting to read “just a bit more” of her latest, “Careless in Red,” and I decide it’s the sense that just a few more pages will reveal a bit more of the puzzle of who the characters are. In addition to the overarching mystery, in a sense each character is a mystery, and I want to read more to discover what drives them. She also has an intriguing set of ongoing characters and the book before this ended with a dark cliffhanger, so it’s interesting to see the events of this book.

I once went to a fabulous workshop on characterization that Elizabeth George gave at a mystery writing conference that influenced me a great deal, particularly in writing “Beneath a Silent Moon.” I used her character profiles method, and I loved the results.

By: Pam

Pam — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:55:50 +0000

Amen, Tracy. And tell something, if you’d like, about the George book –

By: Tracy Grant

Tracy Grant — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:58:03 +0000

I think it’s both “for” and “to,” Pam. Hearing that’s someone’s sat up into the small hours turning the pages of one of my books is one the nicest compliments I can receive as a writer. And as a reader, I love finding a book I want to burrow into and not come up for air (I’m feeling that right now with Elizabeth George’s new book).

By: Pam

Pam — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:47:37 +0000

I’ve said before that one of the things that made me want to write was a spell many decades ago where I was staying up until 4 reading Stephen King. I wanted to be able to do that for (or is it to?) readers of my own.

By: Tracy Grant

Tracy Grant — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:30:41 +0000

I was delighted when my sister-in-law (not a romance reader) said of a tense moment in The Bookseller’s Daughter, “I just didn’t know how you were going to get her out of that one.” A huge pleasure for a reader, especially when she misses the clue planted so carefully, and yet so casually, out in plain sight.”

I felt the same delight a couple of weeks ago when I was a guest on Candice Hern’s boards. One reader posted that after a particular scene in “Secrets of a Lady/Daughter of the Game,” she stayed up late reading because that plot development made her doubt the whole outcome of the book (which means it had the desired effect).

By: Pam

Pam — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:29:40 +0000

some of the happy endings I’ve found most satisfying are in books where the happy ending wasn’t necessarily guaranteed, so I nervous about how the story would play out

I agree wholeheartedly, Tracy, and in fact, I was delighted when my sister-in-law (not a romance reader) said of a tense moment in The Bookseller’s Daughter, “I just didn’t know how you were going to get her out of that one.” A huge pleasure for a reader, especially when she misses the clue planted so carefully, and yet so casually, out in plain sight.

But perhaps things are different in the world of erotica-for-erotica’s sake — which I continue to believe can be mightily romantic, even if final perfect pairings aren’t in the offing.

By: Tracy Grant

Tracy Grant — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:26:51 +0000

Fascinating topic, Pam! (And your proposed book sounds fascinating as well!). I find the whole concept of the guaranteed happy ending an intriguing conundrum as a writer. I like happy endings, as a reader, and I instinctively write to them as a writer, even in my subplots (one reader complained about everybody’s happy endings all being too neatly tied up in “Beneath a Silent”). But paradoxically, one of the things I love about writing historical fiction is that I don’t have to write a happy ending (even though I very likely will do so). And some stories I prefer without happy endings. “Atonement” requires the fascinating, troubling double-ending it has. Much as part of me wants Ilsa to go off with Rick, I actually think it would weaken the ending (and in fact, make it less emotionally satisfying). And some of the happy endings I’ve found most satisfying are in books where the happy ending wasn’t necessarily guaranteed, so I nervous about how the story would play out.

Thanks so the thought-provoking topic!

By: Passions and Provocations » Happy Fourth: More Friday Flotsam and Jetsam from the Web

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:01:59 +0000

[...] declared independence in my post here last Tuesday. Or at least I proposed the possibility of a hot and romantic narrative without the obligatory [...]

By: Pam

Pam — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:21:44 +0000

I misspoke (miswrote?!) about posting at the Tea Party today — it seems we get a day off, maybe to commemorate the Boston one.

But thanks for responding, Deborah. and thanks especially for reminding me that what the romance reader wants is more precisely the Emotionally Satisfying Ending.

So the question is, perhaps — what’s an emotionally satisfying ending for the reader of erotica? Where’s the meeting ground between the romantic yearning for reconciliation and the eternal itch of erotica?

Is it really to be found behind the gates of Pemberley?

I hope find the ending to Tell Me Lies emotionally satisfying. When I read it, I found several true satisfactions along the way — which I realize is a slightly edgy answer.

Happy Fourth, as I set forth on this new beginning.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:42:27 +0000

Hmmm … well, that doesn’t sound bad. In fact, it sounds promising. But as RWA says, the ending has to be emotionally satisfying. I am currently struggling through Jennifer Crusie’s “Tell Me Lies” — and I do mean struggling! If I hadn’t already read 4-5 of her other books, I’d have stopped after the first 50 pages, but I am really counting on that emotionally satisfying ending!