Monday May 31, 2021
Welcome to HERE BE NEWS, where each monday we bring you all the latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic:
PG Forte writes magickal tales of love from yesterday, today, tomorrow. A little steampunk, a little supernatural, a little sci-fi...and a whole lotta heat!
Monday May 24, 2021
Welcome to HERE BE NEWS, where each monday we bring you all the latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic:
Tuesday May 18, 2021: Author Deborah Bailey discusses the importance of conflict to your story and your characters.
Thursday May 20, 2021: Summer vacation coming up? Author Maureen Bonatch has your vacation reading needs covered with her new story, Curses, Cats and Corpses coming soon!
PG Forte writes magickal tales of love from yesterday, today, tomorrow. A little steampunk, a little supernatural, a little sci-fi...and a whole lotta heat!
Conflict is necessary for a story. That's a big reason why the "enemies to lovers" trope is very popular. The point where the "enemies" realize they have more in common than they thought is the basis for many books (as well as movies and TV shows).
There's something about the conflict that's exciting. We want to see the characters lower their guard and fall in love.
But stories can't just be the main characters fighting with each other. Or breaking up because they failed to have one conversation. After a while that's not going to be much fun to read about.
The problem might be that authors may not be sure what the real conflict is. Here's an example of what I mean. If your hero has been hurt and is afraid to be open, is that really a conflict? Sure, it can lead to conflict. But that isn't the one reason why the characters are in conflict with each other.
Instead of focusing on the hero's broken heart, how about going deeper? Maybe his issue isn't because the other relationship failed. Perhaps there were other factors that led to the failure. Maybe he had a loss of confidence due to other life experiences. If the hero's real conflict is within himself, his growth within the story can work for him. He can have the happy ending and fall in love again.
Of course, during this journey there will be conflict between him and his significant other. And that character will have their own growth as well. Both main characters will have to do the work to be ready to have the HEA or HFN that comes at the end of the story.
If the conflict is just the main characters making up to break up over relatively minor issues, it's may become boring. There should be more going on underneath - more conflict within the characters and more opportunities for them to grow.
When your story has romantic elements (but isn't a romance) you can make the same choices. Their relationship may not be the main event in a story like that, but it shouldn't be an afterthought.
The main characters may be in conflict because they're working together to solve a mystery or go on a quest. They'll have conflict and may even go their separate ways (temporarily). That's to be expected. But you can bring them back together to reach their shared goal while keeping the romantic conflict going.
For instance, in a mystery maybe your characters are chasing a criminal because they work together to solve crimes. They disagree over the next action to take and they split up. Conflict between them - and their methods - breaks them apart. Their romance would add another level of conflict for them.
They'll have to deal with it on both the personal level and the professional level. That can make for a very exciting story as emotional sparks fly while they pursue their quarry. In this case the conflict might be even better because they have to actively work through it, while reaching their shared goal.
The inner doubts and fears and the outer obstacles will force characters to grow. No matter the trope or the genre, conflicts are necessary and make a story worth reading.
Writer, podcaster and author of fiction & non-fiction books.
DBaileyCoach.com/Brightbooks
Monday May 17, 2021
Welcome to HERE BE NEWS, where each monday we bring you all the latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic:
It didn't come because of man's inhumanity to man. It didn't come from bombs, or plague, or even from aliens descending from outer space. In fact, no one knows what triggered it. And even if they did, there was no way to turn back time.
Only one thing was certain. One evening the sun had grown unexpectedly bigger and hotter, and heat and radiation unlike anything ever experienced washed over the Earth, bathing it in searing rays that devoured over three-quarters of the world's population.
Now the sun is smaller, and it doesn't radiate as much heat as it used to. The world is colder. Food is scarce, and people are fighting to stay alive.
Andrew Michael Tollson, aka "The Silent Wraith", was a man who roamed from settlement to outpost to city, offering his protection from scavengers and renegades. Years ago, right before the sun had exploded, when he had been a boy growing up in a small Texas town, he had felt his first crush for the little tomboy he knew as Jo. Now, as a grown man, he has finally made his way back to his boyhood home to see if Jo is still alive, or if she has been a victim of the Apocalypse. He has to know if the dreams and memories he has harbored were mere fantasies, or if the infatuation he'd felt then has grown into something else, something stronger and more tangible.
JoBeth Wythe was a member of The Triad, three leaders who protected their little settlement, and tried to recall the carefree days before the Apocalypse. All they wanted was the chance at a decent life, with enough food, some shared warmth, and a little hope for the future. She had never forgotten the pudgy little kid who had followed her around when she was growing up, the little boy she called Mikey. Every time she thought of him, it only brought back pain and a wistfulness for a past that no longer existed.
For Drew and Jo, it was only a matter of time before they would be reunited to fight together. To survive together. And to discover that the innocent kisses they had shared as children had grown into a love that would overwhelm them with desire.
Warning! Contains permanent extreme cold, love everlasting, survivalists, separation, a legend in the making, a brutal mass murder, childhood friends to lovers, and the end of the world as we know it.
PG Forte writes magickal tales of love from yesterday, today, tomorrow. A little steampunk, a little supernatural, a little sci-fi...and a whole lotta heat!It didn't come because of man's inhumanity to man. It didn't come from bombs, or plague, or even from aliens descending from outer space. In fact, no one knows what triggered it. And even if they did, there was no way to turn back time.
Only one thing was certain. One evening the sun had grown unexpectedly bigger and hotter, and heat and radiation unlike anything ever experienced washed over the Earth, bathing it in searing rays that devoured over three-quarters of the world's population.
Now the sun is smaller, and it doesn't radiate as much heat as it used to. The world is colder. Food is scarce, and people are fighting to stay alive.
Andrew Michael Tollson, aka "The Silent Wraith", was a man who roamed from settlement to outpost to city, offering his protection from scavengers and renegades. Years ago, right before the sun had exploded, when he had been a boy growing up in a small Texas town, he had felt his first crush for the little tomboy he knew as Jo. Now, as a grown man, he has finally made his way back to his boyhood home to see if Jo is still alive, or if she has been a victim of the Apocalypse. He has to know if the dreams and memories he has harbored were mere fantasies, or if the infatuation he'd felt then has grown into something else, something stronger and more tangible.
JoBeth Wythe was a member of The Triad, three leaders who protected their little settlement, and tried to recall the carefree days before the Apocalypse. All they wanted was the chance at a decent life, with enough food, some shared warmth, and a little hope for the future. She had never forgotten the pudgy little kid who had followed her around when she was growing up, the little boy she called Mikey. Every time she thought of him, it only brought back pain and a wistfulness for a past that no longer existed.
For Drew and Jo, it was only a matter of time before they would be reunited to fight together. To survive together. And to discover that the innocent kisses they had shared as children had grown into a love that would overwhelm them with desire.
Warning! Contains permanent extreme cold, love everlasting, survivalists, separation, a legend in the making, a brutal mass murder, childhood friends to lovers, and the end of the world as we know it.
