Shauna Roberts's Blog, page 4

Complication cards, part two

<br /><div class="normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UAoV-oniDdg..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UAoV-oniDdg..." width="200" /></a></div><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I welcome back author <a href="https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Ines Johnson</a> for the second of her three-part guest post on complication cards—an index card that summarizes the heart of a scene or story. Today, she describes how a character journeys from having wants to knowing what they need.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="normal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="normal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Complication Cards, Part 2: The Obstacle Course</span></b></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="normal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">by Ines Johnson</span></b></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Yesterday we learned that characters have holes that only <i>needs</i> can fill. Before a character can see their need, they have to yearn after a <i>want</i>, which takes them on a bumpy ride to nowhere.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This obstacle course contains physical and/or internal complications that force the hero or heroine to make decisions that produce dramatic action.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There are four kinds of obstacles.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">The antagonist (bad guy)</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">A specific antagonist lends clarity and power to the dramatic structure because his primary function is to oppose the protagonist. He doesn’t necessarily have to be evil, but he should personify the protagonist’s obstacles.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Example: Cinderella’s wicked stepmother</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Physical Obstructions</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Physical obstructions are just what they sound like—material barriers standing in the way of the protagonist. These can be rivers, deserts, mountains, a dead-end street, or a car causing a crash—anything that presents a substantial obstacle for the protagonist.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Example: Arielle’s fin</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Inner or Psychological Problems</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Inner obstacles are intellectual, emotional, or psychological problems the protagonist must overcome before being able to achieve their goal. For example, dealing with fear, pride, jealousy, or the need to mature fall into this category.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Example: Fiona’s appearance (in </span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Shrek<i>)</i></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Mystic Forces</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Mystic forces enter most stories as accidents or by chance, but they can be expressed as moral choices or ethical codes that present obstacles. They can also be personified as gods or supernatural forces that the characters have to content with.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Example: Tiana’s magical transformation into a frog (in </span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Frog Prince<i>)</i></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Exercise</span></b></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Which of these obstacles will your character face? Will they face more than one type of obstacle during the course of the story?</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Tomorrow (Friday), we’ll put it all together—the character, need, and obstacle—into a scene card.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Menlo Bold";">✥✥✥✥✥</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://inesjohnson.files.wordpress.c..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://inesjohnson.files.wordpress.c..." width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Ines Johnson writes romantic erotica, paranormal romance, and fairytale-retelling romance novels. You can find her Website at <a href="https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/<.... Part one of her newest romantic erotica book, <i>The Loyal Steed</i>, is at </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Amazon <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Loyal-Steed-Par..." target="_blank">here</a>. The </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">complete serial can be preordered <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Loyal-Steed-Com..." target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div></div>

View more on Shauna Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 14, 2015 05:00

Complication cards, part one

<br /><div class="normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Today, author <a href="https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Ines Johnson</a> returns with a three-part guest post on boiling down the meat of your story so that it fits on a single index card. The method can also be used for individual scenes. Today, she analyzes the differences between what a character wants and what that character needs.</span> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><div class="normal"><br /></div><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Complication Cards, Part 1: The Character with a Hole</span></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="normal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">by Ines Johnson</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">All characters have holes (notice it rhymes with goal). When you open the first chapter of a book, you find a human being who believes they have a void and are lacking something crucial in their lives. Perhaps it’s the dream job, or the right social circle, or their mother’s approval. Maybe it’s love.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Rarely do you enter the world of a character who finds themselves whole. A part is usually missing. For the next tens of thousands of words, you embark on a journey with that character to fill that void.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Characters fill these holes in one of two ways; with a want or a need.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Remember when you were young and you wanted the fancy pair of jeans? Think Brenda in <i>90210</i>. Fresh from the Midwest, she was thrown into the dangerous waters of the Beverly Hills elite, and her working class parents couldn’t afford the patchwork, ripped jeans that cost the same as a car payment. But Brenda <i>wanted</i>those holey jeans so that she could fit in with Kelly and Donna. In the eyes of her mother, Carol, there was a <i>need</i><b> </b>for<b> </b>a new pair of pants for Brenda to wear to school, and that’s what Brenda got. Now if we watched that 20-year-old episode, we know what Brenda did to those new pair of jeans: She made holes in her jeans to fill her social void.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">You might <i>want</i> a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, but in the end you <i>need</i>a pair of functioning heels to go with that cute dress.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">A <i>want</i> is a false goal, a red herring that throws both the reader and the character off the true course that will fill the character’s hole. It takes some time and some bumps in the road before the character realizes their want is not likely what they need. The <i>need</i> perfectly fills the void the character has been experiencing.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Exercise</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Take a look at your main character(s). What is it that they need to be whole again? Now consider whether it would serve your story for your character to have a false goal during much of the book that keeps them from seeing their true need.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Tomorrow (Thursday), you’ll learn the four types of obstacles that a character might face during their course of their quest for their need.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://inesjohnson.files.wordpress.c..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://inesjohnson.files.wordpress.c..." width="213" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Menlo Bold";">✥✥✥✥✥</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Ines Johnson writes romantic erotica, paranormal romance, and fairytale-retelling romance novels. You can find her Website at <a href="https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/&lt.... Part one of her newest romantic erotica book, <i>The Loyal Steed</i>, is at </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">Amazon <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Loyal-Steed-Par..." target="_blank">here</a>. The </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia; line-height: 115%;">complete serial can be preordered <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Loyal-Steed-Com..." target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="normal"><br /></div></div>

View more on Shauna Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 13, 2015 05:00

News

My most exciting news today is that my 2014 historical novel, Claimed by the Enemy, is a finalist in the National Readers' Choice Awards in the "Novel with Romantic Elements." I was happy to see that my friends Jennifer Apodaca and Debra Mullins were finalists in other categories.

Winners will be announced in July at the Romance Writers of America National Meeting, which unfortunately I won't be attending.

Nat Ch Villa. Used under CCA 2.0 license In other, sillier news, there are now only two degrees of separation between singer Beyoncé and me. She and her husband, Jay Z, bought the Garden District house in which my husband and I had an apartment this past fall when we were in New Orleans. Read more here: http://theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/neworleansnews/12345495-123/jay-z-and-beyoncé-buy. (Our apartment was one of the three mentioned at the end of the article.)

ADDED LATER: A friend sent me a link to an article with a gallery of four pictures. Our apartment isn't pictured, but the roof garden is, along with cool shots of the interior. See them at http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2015/05/jay-z-beyonces-new-orleans-mansion-former-church/.

View more on Shauna Roberts's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 12, 2015 12:13

Guest post: Can a working-class hero work in romance?

Today I welcome journalist and fiction writer Jessica Cale, who bucked the trend for titled heroes in romance novels and explains the appeal of her hero, Mark Virtue.

Falling in Love With a Working-Class Hero
by Jessica Cale

With so many dukes and earls populating the pages of historical romantic fiction, you might wonder why I chose to pull my hero from the working class. Because dukes have the money, the education, and the endless supply of bespoke suits, working-class men often get overlooked, and that is a dreadful shame.
Why? Money and position aren’t everything. Lord knows overcoming obstacles is harder when your resources are limited, but your wits get sharper when you’re forced to live by them. Besides, there’s nothing sexy about a man who can’t feed or dress himself without the help of servants.
Helpless is not a word commonly used to describe my character Mark Virtue.
There’s a lot to love about Mark. After spending the uncertain years after the Great Fire of London robbing coaches as a highwayman, he’s decided it’s time to settle down and take his place as Southwark’s Master Carpenter in truth instead of using the business as a front for his less reputable activities. Two stints in Newgate are enough for any man, after all, and Mark doesn’t fancy going back. Not as long as the warden fancies him as much as she does…
Mark’s life hasn’t been easy. He may have grown up in a posh house in St. James, but that doesn’t mean he’s anything other than thoroughly common. His father may have been a war hero, but he ran a stable first, and it was only through his mother’s second marriage that he was able to get his apprenticeship at all. Years of back-breaking labor sculpted that body of his as he built houses—and coffins—for his impoverished neighbors, often at his own expense. He’s been poor and he’s gone hungry, but Mark takes his duty to his community very seriously because he knows that although they may all be in the gutter, they’re in it together.
That’s not to say he’d ever complain. He appreciates what he has and he loves the life he leads. He’s smart, he’s resourceful, and he’s down to earth. He’s an independent, self-made man, and he’s not looking for a housekeeper or a trophy, he just wants a girl.

Jessica CaleOne girl in particular.
Mark has always been popular with girls; just ask the Henshawe sisters down at The Rose & Crown. Meg’s decided he’s hers now, but Mark only has eyes for Jane. Jane the actress. Jane the seamstress. Lady Jane Ramsey, the bloody bane of his existence, whose wicked smile and steel-gray eyes haunt his dreams. As the daughter of an earl and an heiress besides, they were never meant to inhabit the same world. Their only night together? A fluke. Jane could no more live a day in Southwark than he could fit in at Court, and he wouldn’t want her to.
Would he?
You can meet Mark in Tyburnand read his story in Virtue’s Lady, out now.
✥✥✥✥✥
Jessica Cale is a historical romance author and journalist based in North Carolina. Originally from Minnesota, she lived in Wales for several years, where she earned a B.A. in history and an M.F.A. in creative writing while climbing castles and photographing mines for history magazines. She kidnapped (“married”) her very own British prince (close enough) and is enjoying her happily ever after with him in a place where no one understands his accent.
You can visit her at http://www.authorjessicacale.com. Her first novel, Tyburn, won the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence in the Historical Category for 2015. You can find both Tyburn and Virtue’s Lady here.

View more on Shauna Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on April 15, 2015 06:00

Writing skills aid job success

A small study of 448 freelancers in eight fields on Elance revealed that better writing skills were linked to higher pay and better ability to get jobs:

The above graphic was created by Grammarly and is used with its permission.

Financial disclosure: Grammarly will donate $50 to Reading Is Fundamental in return for my posting this graphic.

View more on Shauna Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on April 01, 2015 03:00

Cinderella grows up

Today I welcome romance author Ines Johnson to the blog. She has provided a thought-provoking guest post on the Cinderella trope in recent movies and fiction.

✥✥✥✥✥

Girl on Her Own Horse
Have you been paying attention to the evolution of the Cinderella story? If you’ve watched the Disney blockbuster Frozen, then you have. Young girls and women are no longer waiting around for a man to come by on his horse, sweep them off their feet, and give them shoes.
Okay, I doubt any of us would turn down the shoes!

Courtesy Glamhag, CC BY-SA 2.0 license
My point is that women are now taking the reins of their own stories and rejecting the Cinderella trope of changing themselves into someone new. In many, dare I say most, of these stories, the prince doesn’t pay attention to the Cinderella character in her ordinary world of working 9–5 pm with grime under her nails and threadbare clothes. He doesn’t look her way until she gets magicked into expertly applied makeup, a binding, shape-shifting corset, and brand-new shoes.
My first notice of this twist on the trope was in the film Working Girl. This 1980’s retelling of the Cinderella story featured a bright secretary who had dreams of entering the boardroom with a briefcase instead of coffee. After her wicked boss steals her idea, the secretary seizes an opportunity to steal into a high-profile business meeting by pretending that she’s her boss, while also wearing her boss’s dress and shoes. Melanie Griffith, as the secretary, uses Harrison Ford’s charming character to get her into the board room’s door. When the business deal goes south, Griffith doesn’t wait for the knight in a business suit to rescue her. Instead, she shows off her “head for business and bod for sin” in order to win a business deal, thwart her boss, and get her man.

Sander van der Wel, CC BY-SA 2.0A decade later, Drew Barrymore retold the Cinderella story in Ever After. In a pivotal scene in which Barrymore’s character, Danielle, has been taken prisoner by the evil Pierre Le Pieu, the audience holds its breath as the prince leaps onto his horse and heads off to rescue her. But Danielle picks up not one, but two swords and swashbuckles her way to an escape. As she’s walking out of the castle a free woman, the prince arrives moments too late with her shoe in hand.
Nearly another decade later came another retelling with Penelope. Penelope is an heiress born under a curse that can only be broken in the face of true love. The problem? Penelope’s face doesn’t inspire sonnets and poems as much as it does a hankering for breakfast meats. Penelope’s snout nose has caused her to be rejected her whole life, including rejection from her own mother. When she finally finds a man willing to tolerate her looks and break the curse, she comes to the realization that she likes herself just the way she is. And just like that, the curse is broken and Penelope’s outside matches her glowing inside.
In today’s stories, women don’t wait around for men on horses. They take the reins, defend themselves, and declare love to their own reflections. They’re now even qualified to deliver true love’s kiss to their own sisters as we saw in the blockbuster Frozen.

In my fairytale retelling Pumpkin: A Cindermama Story, my heroine has given up on fairytale love. Single mother Malika “Pumpkin” Tavares lost faith in fairytales after she fell for a toad.

Town royalty Armand “Manny” Charmayne has been searching for his soulmate all his life, whom he’ll recognize at first sight by a golden aura that only he can see surrounding her person. Manny doesn’t see gold when he meets Pumpkin, but the more he gets to know her, the more he considers defying fate, if only he can convince her to take a chance on love again.

✥✥✥✥✥

Ines Johnson writes erotic, paranormal, and fairytale romance novels. You can find her Website at https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/. Her newest book, Pumpkin: A Cindermama Story, is available in Kindle format at Amazon here.

View more on Shauna Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on March 25, 2015 03:00

The natural world deserves to be in your books and stories

The modern industrialized United States has demonized dirt and bugs and everything else in our world that works together to create a balanced harmony in nature. I get snail mail and email several times a week from organizations telling me about states not only allowing but encouraging people to kill wolves, which play important roles in their ecosystems.

"Odin's Self-Sacrifice," W.G. Collingwood (1854–1932)One can see the disconnect between people and nature in the many novels that either ignore the outdoors or uses it generically as a setting. I've been guilty of it myself . . . although I'm going to be more aware in the future to do my part to wake people up to the beauty that surrounds us and the importance of saving species, even toads that hold up highway construction.

Yesterday, I did a guest blog post at the Futuristic, Fantasy, and Paranormal Chapter of the Romance Writers of America's blog. I talked about the close relationship between trees and hominids, focusing on beliefs and myths about trees that are found around the world. (One of those myths is the "world tree," known in Norse mythology as Yggdrasil.) You can check it out at http://www.romance-ffp.com/your-stories-need-more-trees-by-shauna-roberts/.

Do you agree that the natural world should be a crucial element of world building? Do you notice when authors use the indoor world in their stories but not the outdoor world? If you are an author, do you remember to include the natural world?

View more on Shauna Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on March 24, 2015 04:00

This 'n' that

1. Those of you who've been waiting for my posts on chronic illness may have noticed they have not been appearing. Ironically, I have been too sick the past year and a half to write much ... except in my head, which has been planning those blog posts along with three new novels and another project. I'll be having two or three surgeries this spring and should feel much better afterward. So stay tuned for those posts, which people without chronic illness should find interesting as well.

2. Wednesday (25 March), Ines Johnson will be visiting my blog with a post on the recent evolution of the Cinderella story. I rarely go to movies, so I was fascinated by Ines's discussion of how the Cinderella trope in movies has changed.

3. I'll be signing Claimed by the Enemy on Sunday (29 March) in Brea, California, in a book signing with 70 other people. Most authors write romances, but there will also be authors of mysteries, historicals, erotica, and who knows what else.

Even if you already have my book, please stop by my table to say "hi" and pick up bookmarks (for Like Mayflies in a Stream, Claimed by the Enemy, and my August 2015 release, Ice Magic, Fire Magic) and a Ghirardelli chocolate square.

View more on Shauna Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on March 23, 2015 03:00

Want a free Kindle ebook of Claimed by the Enemy?

Choosy Bookworm's "Read and Review" program is making Claimed by the Enemy (Kindle version) available free to the first 30 people who request it. (The usual price is $3.99.) The deal is that you will review the book after you finish reading it. To request the ebook or learn more about the "Read and Review" program, go to http://choosybookworm.com/product/claimed-by-the-enemy/.

Claimed by the Enemy has 11 ratings on Amazon so far, all 5 star! I'm overwhelmed by the nice things people have said about this historical novel. You can check the reviews out here.

What's up in the future for Claimed by the Enemy?
It has just come out as an audiobook available through Amazon, Audible, and iTunes—great for listening during your commute and long drives and while exercising or cooking.I will be signing the paperback version on Sunday, March 29, at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Brea, California, from 2 pm to 4 pm. For a map to the hotel as well as a list of the dozens of other local writers who are signing, please go to http://caldreaminwritersconf.org/2015-book-signing/.I will soon be making Claimed by the Enemy, as well as my other ebooks, available in Nook, iTunes, Kobo, and other formats. Stay tuned for more information.

View more on Shauna Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on February 27, 2015 14:48