Stuck in the Black Moment

I have been working on this book for ages (well it feels that way, I have partials from 2 years ago that I keep promising to finish...sorry characters it's me not you). Part of the problem with this WIP is that I had no clear idea about the black moment when I started. I usually have a first meet for the h/h and the black moment and a couple of other bits in my head before I even start plotting.

Not this time.

Characters have died, secrets have been revealed and now I'm here for the final confrontation I'm not sure what should happen. Evil should be vanquished. That's the best part of fiction.

I have jokingly suggested I should let my characters be killed and call it lit fic instead of romantic suspense.

I think part of the problem is this book has been dark. The hero should go to the cops but he can't trust them. He can't trust anyone, but killing the villain doesn't seem right. It's too easy, too neat and the villain doesn't pay for what he's done. And it's just another death. I want my characters to have moved past that. To have grown and learned.

As I sit with note pad and pen trying to think my way out of this box I have made for myself and the characters I ponder what makes a satisfying ending. If the villain isn't dead can the hero still win, or is he settling?

And once that is done I still have to drag the romance out of the ashes.

That Old Black Moment

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I've been working hard on the third book in my Covenant of Thorns trilogy, ROGUE'S PARADISE. I'm right at the midpoint and I knew what I thought should happen. In fact, I had a very strong idea of what the next chapter's events would be - which is not often the case for me.

And, it turned out, I was dead wrong.

Things did not go smoothly at all, and my hero and heroine, Rogue and Gwynn... well, let's just say they hit a Big, Black Moment right when I thought they had it all handled. Gwynn was devastated and I was devastated right along with her.

I retraced my steps, to find out what went wrong, but no - everything had happened exactly as it should. Except that it all turned out so badly.

So, I did what one does in these instances: I complained on Twitter.

Several people who also love and cheerlead for Rogue and Gwynn to triumph chimed in immediately with support, among them the lovely Eleri Stone who sets up our weekly Here Be News posts. Their hand-holding really helped.

Along with their faith that things would work out.

That night I watched Thor: The Dark World and, not something I usually do, I stayed for all the special features after. (This might have been prompted by the desire to soak in as much Tom Hiddleston's Loki as possible - but that's neither here nor there. *cough*)

One of the features analyzed why a certain shocking and very sad event had to occur. Because Thor and Loki had to hit rock bottom, to have incentive enough to make a change in what they'd been doing. It hit me then that this was why Rogue and Gwynn had hit this particular wall.

They needed to make a change.

The black moment feels black indeed when you're in it. But it's also when things can turn in a new direction. This is true, not just of fiction, but of our lives.

That old black moment fate weaves so well.