Yesterday, I was with a group of writers, and we were discussing our favorite movies. Not surprisingly, most of the movies mentioned were romance movies. Not romantic movies — there’s a huge distinction. Titanic is romantic, but Jack and Rose do not have a happy ending. It seems that when watching a movie, just as with our novels, we want a happily-ever-after. Not just a satisfying ending, but a happy one.

Not too long ago, Hollywood offered us Two Weeks Notice, with Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. There are some snippets of deleted scenes that I think should have been left in the final cut, but overall it was really fun. Loved their interaction when they were both clueless about their true emotions.
Return to Me has David Duchovny playing a decidedly un-Mulder character, in a touching romance with Minnie Driver. I think The Princess Bride should be required viewing for all aspiring romance authors, even though the hero and heroine don’t actually have much screen time together. Before that, there was Romancing the Stone, with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. It has everything — action, adventure, comedy, as well as a really nice romance. (“Oh, yeah, now that’s a campfire!”) It had such an impact on me, in my very first manuscript I was trying to write a cross between it and Jane Austen.

Then there are the classics, like It Happened One Night, with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Who can forget the walls of Jericho that finally came tumbling down? His Girl Friday, with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, has great dialogue and another wonderfully clueless hero and heroine. I think I fell in love with Cary Grant watching Father Goose, with Leslie Caron. (“Goody-Two-Shoes and the Filthy Beast are getting married?!?”) Operation Petticoat, while not strictly a romance, certainly has a happy ending for its two male leads and their heroines, and even had my dad in stitches watching it. The ensign that’s a real porker, and will be dealt with harshly? Priceless.

Looking back, I realized all of my favorites share several traits — witty banter, a sense of humor, a bit of adventure, and intriguing (often humorous) subplots. Gee, I wonder if that might have influenced my style of writing? At least the style I’m trying for.

What are some of your favorite romance movies?

Is your To Be Read Pile getting out of hand?

Are you like me? Do you have a bunch of books that you are dying to read but can’t decide which one to read first? Or perhaps lately life has been so busy that you haven’t had a chance to read ANY of them???

I LOVE to read and one of my many New Year’s Resolutions was to read a book a week. I did fine for the first month or two (sort of like my exercise resolution) and today I realized three weeks have gone by without me reading a single book.

Any tips you use to get those books read? I have to also say that one of my problems is that one I start reading I want to read the whole book….I can’t seem to stop at just twenty five pages

I’m getting married in the morning! Okay, well not really in the morning. Actually, I’m getting married at 7 at night. In the morning, I’m having my makeup, my hair, my nails, and pretty much everything else “done.” Jeez! I hope Ultimate Sportsfan recognizes me!

It’s been a long road to get here. Years, and that doesn’t even include all the wedding preparations. Those took 9 months, and I had a wedding planner and that’s probably the only reason I was able to get it done in 9 months.

Here are some things I’ve learned about weddings (don’t know much about marriage yet)
1) A good planner is worth every penny.
2) A planner cannot take the place of communication between you and your fiancé. Discuss in detail the kind of wedding you each want. Don’t assume you have the same vision.
3) Register for a lot of gifts in the $40 range and the $100 range. These seem to be popular choices.
4) Get a china cabinet because you will get a thousand glasses. Everyone wants to buy you two and a bottle of wine. This is on top of the ones you register for.
5) If you’re moving after the wedding and don’t want to unpack all the gifts, rent a storage shed so they don’t start piling up. My office is filled with boxes right now. The only clear space is my desk.
6) Be prepared for your guests to RSVP at the last minute, cancel at the last minute, bring a date you didn’t invite, and bring the kids you said couldn’t come. This will all be guests from your significant other’s side, of course . Try not to let it stress you out.
7) Don’t feel like you have to do something just because it’s tradition.
Don’t talk about the wedding all the time.
9) When you register, make sure your china or flatware isn’t going to be discontinued a few weeks later.
10) And here’s what everyone keeps telling me: have fun!

I’ll let you know if I did when I get back from the honeymoon.

In my spare time in the past several months, I have been working on an article about conflict in romance novels. More specifically, about the plot devices that were often used to create conflict between the hero and heroine in the romances of the past, but no longer seem to make the grade with today’s reader. Plot devices, for example, like “The Big Misunderstanding.” Or the “I love you, I hate you” scenario. Or my personal favorite, the “Bitter Revenge Scheme.” (Gasp! I even used this one in one of my first historical manuscripts!)

Yes, you readers of 70′s and 80′s romances more than likely know exactly what I’m talking about. Many of our favorite old tales of yore used these devices to create stumbling blocks for our intrepid hero and heroine along the rocky road to love. Come on now. A show of hands. How many times did we read about the hero who walks in on the heroine being fondled, kissed, or otherwise accosted against her will by another guy and automatically assumes she is a tartlet who welcomes that sort of attention and will hop into bed with any handy male? (This was practically a Harlequin Presents staple.) Or about the embattled couple who do nothing but fight and mistreat each other throughout the entire novel, but have hot sex in between bouts–usually stemming from an argument and involving heaving chests and much bodice ripping–so we’re supposed to accept that they are truly in love in the end. (“You kidnapped me and I hate you! But kiss me anyway!”) Or the brooding hero who believes that the innocent heroine’s father/mother/distant cousin done him wrong, so since it follows that she must be evil as well, he must take his revenge on her by either A) Seducing her, B) Taking away her home and turning her out on the streets, C) Stealing everything of value she owns, or D) All of the above. (Hint: Usually it was D.)

The rule of thumb nowadays is that if the conflict can be solved by a single conversation between hero and heroine, it isn’t a true conflict and isn’t enough to warrant keeping them apart. I admit, my tastes have changed over time and I’m not crazy about these devices, but when I happen to stumble across one of these old standbys in a current novel, I’m usually pretty tolerant. However, I have surfed around to some of the romance message boards and have been surprised by the number of readers who hate these sorts of devices with a passion and are very vocal about it. If a book contains one, they will toss it across the room without hesitation.

Why have our attitudes changed so much in the last 20-30 years? Why is it that these sorts of plot devices were perfectly acceptable conflicts in a romance novel in 1982, but not in 2006? And is there anything that would make the above scenarios work for you? What do you think?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I got the idea for A Study in Scandal before I wrote Courting Claudia. I had just finished an historical and needed to start a new one and had this idea of a woman obsessed with Sherlock Holmes who met an inspector that appeared to be her hero come to life. At this point it was a stand-alone book, and I worked for an entire weekend – at one of the writing retreats with 3 other writing friends – to try to pull the story together. It just wouldn’t work. I was so frustrated because I really loved the idea, but I had to put it on the back burner because I didn’t want to use the idea until I knew I could get a book out of it.

So I started working on Courting Claudia and at some point while working on this book, I knew I needed something to work on when I was done. I’m not one of those writers that has notebooks full of ideas. So far I have never run out, but I don’t always know what I’m writing next. Because of this, I decided I wanted to try my hand at a series, so that I would have a group of ideas to work with. I also knew that series, especially in historicals, do very well and I figured editors would like this plan. I even had a high-concept idea for Scandal, Victorian Bridget Jones meets Sherlock Holmes. I’m not quite certain I stuck to that concept, but I pitched it like that at a conference shortly before I sold and the agents went nuts over it.

Okay, so I knew I wanted a series and I wanted something clever and I didn’t want to do siblings because that’s the norm for series. I wanted something different, another reason for the characters to be connected. My mind went back to my Sherlock Holmes idea and it hit me, what if there was a group of women who enjoyed the Sherlock stories and fancied themselves detectives? Only they did so on their own with no real cases. My pulse quickened at this point and I knew I had something. I immediately e-mailed my critique partner with the idea so she could help me flesh it out. I was planning on there only be 3 women, but Emily suggested 4.

Somewhere in our flurry of e-mails I came up with the over-arching mystery of the Jack of Hearts, an illusive jewel thief that the ladies are convinced they can snare. I’m very excited to see this storyline play out over the 4 books. I also came up with the name of the ladies’ group, the Ladies’ Amateur Sleuth Society, as well as the basic character of each girl. In the following days a whirlwind of brainstorming occurred. I knew that I needed to come up with names and archetypes and basic conflicts and then I needed to find these ladies their heroes. For two of them, this was an easy task. I already knew I needed an inspector with Sherlock tendencies for lady number 1 – she became Amelia.

Now ordinarily when I write I’m extremely heroine driven, meaning I always come up with her first and I do a significant amount of character work for her before I know much about who her hero is. But with Scandal, I had a unique problem. In order for Amelia to believe Colin was Sherlock Holmes come to life, he needed certain Sherlock characteristics. This nailed me in to specific attributes I couldn’t change. I knew he needed to be intelligent and reclusive and arrogant and far more interested in solving puzzles than anything else in the world, including women. Hmmm…doesn’t sound much like a romance hero. I knew he would be different, but the more I worked with him, the more I loved him.

So it took some finagling on her character to build a perfect match – with enough conflict to keep them apart, but enough chemistry to pull them together. And from the first moment I put these two on the page, the sparks flew. A female distraction was quite new for poor Colin and he fought it every step of the way, but in the end, he couldn’t deny his feelings for her. Ah…..the happy ending. Oh, shoot, I didn’t give anything away, did I?

I can’t think who my favorite actor would be. Maybe Anthony Hopkins for his unbelievable versatility. I like George Clooney and Johnny Depp, but I wouldn’t say either of them was my favorite. Clive Owen and Gerard Butler are definite heart-throbs, partly because their looks seem real to me – they’re not too pretty like Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck, who I don’t find appealing at all.

Russel Crowe bugs me because of all the press he gets – and none of it good! When I’m watching him, I can’t forget about his arrogance and the stupid things he does. Colin Firth is always good :-0 and I think Mark Ruffalo is as cute as he can be (without being too ‘pretty’). Who else? Which Hollywood hunk rings your bell?

Go, Jon!

I watch the Oscars every year, sitting patiently in front of my television and soaking it all in (even the boring parts!). I just love the movies. And this year was no different.

Jon Stewart did a great job (but then, I may be a teensy bit biased) and I thought the Colbert political ads were hilarious. I cheered on the King Kong wins (with an extra cheer for the winners I recognized from their Lord of the Rings stints — I’m a nerd, yes). I’m probably in the minority of people who like movie montages, but geez, after the third one I was wondering if we were going to get a montage of montages. Thought the Ferrell/Carrell makeup bits were hilarious, even Ben Stiller made me laugh (though he definitely didn’t make Spielburg laugh, ouch!). Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin were great. Good times.

But what about that audience? Were they dead, sleeping, angry? Did that reflect the view of everyone else, and my happy-Oscar-watching-euphoria was completely out of touch? Or did the cameramen just pick out the people who Did.Not.Want.To.Be.There? At least Jack Nicholson seemed to be having his ubiquitous good time there in the front row. I swear that man had a flask hidden somewhere.

And how cute was Jake Gyllenhaal running up there at the end to be the first to tell Jon how he did? What a sweetheart. I have such a soft spot for all things Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. If I could insert a little smiley with hearts, I would. So obviously I’m bringing all kinds of biases into play concerning the host.

If anyone wants to dish about the ceremony, audience, nominees, winners or outfits, bring it on! I’m in!

So, did your favorite movie win? Mine didn’t fare so well.

As with many contests, quality doesn’t necessarily mean a win. Martin Scorsese has yet to win an Oscar, but ______ has two. (You fill in the blank.) Just doesn’t seem fair, does it?

Usually I get far more enjoyment from a book than the movie adapted from it, in part because the author’s voice doesn’t necessarily translate well to a script. The Firm is an exception to this. The screenwriters solved a major story problem in a way that John Grisham did not, which gave the film version a more satisfying ending.

Since I’m a very visual writer — I tend to “see” my stories like they’re snippets of film — I’m always looking for a good movie. To me, that means a good story, with a well-written script, skillfully executed by the actors and director and other technicians. It also needs to have a beginning, middle, and ending, with an actual character growth arc. “Slice of life” movies leave me cold. There was a lot of Oscar hoopla surrounding Sideways last year, so I rented the movie in order to study what was being hailed as one of the year’s best movies. I didn’t realize until too late that it was a slice of life flick. Only the scene with Sandra Oh beating Thomas Haden Church with her motorcycle helmet kept me from wanting my three bucks back.

Because I study the art of storytelling, I’m always delighted when filmmakers can surprise me — when I don’t know the next line of dialogue, when they don’t solve a story problem the way I expect, or there’s a twist I didn’t see coming. Preferably all of the above.

A movie that offered some of the biggest (and most pleasant) surprises in recent years was Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. For starters, no one expected much of another movie based on a theme park ride. (The Country Bears or The Haunted Mansion, anyone?) Critics panned it before it had even completed filming. But it offered quirky characters, witty banter, intelligent humor (I know, it comes as no surprise that’s high on my priority list in entertainment), characters who experience emotional growth, and a solid story. An actual plot. Not just a series of scenes strung together as an excuse for stunts and special effects. (Though it had some of those, too, but they served the story, not the other way around.) Any writer who pays attention to Captain Jack Sparrow’s storyline will instantly grasp the concept of GMC — at any point, you know precisely what his goal is, and you learn his motivation and conflicts as the story unfolds. Oh yeah, the actors were really good, too.

What are some of your favorite movies, and why?

A couple weeks ago, the winners of the largest Powerball jackpot in history (365 million) were a group of workers living in my home town. You can imagine the excitement. And the news got everyone talking what they would do if they’d been the lucky ticket holder. I was no exception.

I work during the day at a job that I love and then write at nights and on weekends. But if I was a multi-millionaire, I wouldn’t continue to work. I’d give a month’s notice and then write full time….because as much as I love my job and the people I work with…writing is my passion.

What else would I do? I’d travel even more than I do now. If writing is my #1 passion, travel is a close second. I think it has to do with the fact that I never traveled anywhere as a child–but always had this burning desire to see the world.

I’d also donate money to needy causes. I believe that with money comes an obligation to try to make the world a better place.

A new car? Maybe…but I could probably afford a new one now….but the fact is I still love my 1996 Riveria too much to part with it.

A new house? The house I live in is fine…I don’t really have a need for something else.

What about you? If you suddenly found yourself a multimillionaire–what would you do?

I was listening to my Walkman the other day and “All You Wanted” by Michelle Branch came on. All of a sudden, I got really excited because the song seemed to be saying exactly what I needed to hear from my characters in my current work in progress. I don’t want to talk much about the work because it’s not even written yet, and it will be like a year or more before it’s released, but that song seemed to really sum up the characters’ relationships. The heroine is a nurturer and the hero a bad boy. She wants to save him, but he doesn’t want to be saved…or does he?

“I didn’t know that it was so cold, and you needed someone to show you the way. So I took your hand, and we figured out that when the time comes, I’ll take you away. If you want to, I can save you…And all you wanted was somebody who cares.”

Music plays a part in a lot of my revelations about my books. I’ll hear a line or just get a feeling from a certain song that will then play into how I write a book. In the book I just finished, a Depeche Mode song figured prominently in the hero’s black moment. “It Doesn’t Matter” has a line that says:

“I know somewhere you are dreaming, though it’s definitely not of me…The worst kind of diseased mind is one filled with jealousy.”

As a romance writer, I have to listen to songs that make me think about love. Lately, Nickleback’s “Far Away” has served that purpose.

“You know, I love you. I have loved you all along. I miss you. Been Far away for far too long. I keep dreaming you’ll be with me, and you’ll never go. Stop breathing if I don’t see you anymore.”

God, what is more romantic than that? I could quote the whole song. Really I wish you could all be listening to this music right now with me.

And then there are the sex scenes. One song that always turns me on and makes me think about sex is “Your Body is a Wonderland” by John Mayer. It’s so romantic and sensual. Really one of the sexiest songs I know.

“We got the afternoon. You got this room for two. One thing I’ve left to do: discover me discovering you…And if you want love, we’ll make it. Swim in a deep sea of blankets. Take all your big plans and break them. This is bound to be wild. Your body is a wonderland. I lose my head.

“Something ‘bout the way the hair falls in your face. I love the shape you take when crawling towards the pillowcase. You tell me where to go, and though I may leave to find it, never let your head hit the bed without my hand behind it.”

Isn’t that romantic? I’m just swooning. (You, too, right?)

Okay, and then are the songs that make me feel good, that make me feel like writing. Songs like “Why Can’t I” by Liz Phair.

“Why can’t I breathe whenever I think about you? Why can’t I speak whenever I talk about you?”

Or “Don’t Know Why” by Norah Jones.

“I waited til I saw the sun. I don’t know why I didn’t come. I left you by the house of fun. Don’t know why I didn’t come. When I saw the break of day, I wished that I could fly away. Instead of kneeling in the sand, catching teardrops in my hand. My heart is drenched in wine, but you’ll be on my mind forever.”

And lastly, there’s Sheryl Crowe’s “Soak Up the Sun.” Who couldn’t love a line like “It’s not having what you want; it’s wanting what you’ve got”?

Something for all of us to keep in mind.