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Wednesday, April 25, 2012
WHY ROMANTIC SUSPENSE - by Kathy Ivan
Somebody asked me the other day why I write romantic suspense. I thought about it for a few seconds, realizing there are really several reasons why I write it. Since it's a genre near and dear to my heart, I thought I'd share a few of them with you today.
1. I WRITE WHAT I LOVE TO READ. I've always been a sucker for a good mystery/suspense story. I was weaned on Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, trying to figure out the culprit/bad guy or girl always set my heart pounding, my pulse racing and my brain whirling with the possibilities. There was nothing better than spending a Saturday afternoon curled up with these friends I'd made, living the adventure with them and knowing that good would always triumph in the end.
2. FIGURING OUT WHO DID IT. I'll admit it, I love a good puzzle. Figuring out the real clues from the red herrings that have been dropped along the way by an author, coming up with the usual suspects and the not so usual suspects while delving into the mystery is a big turn on for me. I love being able to follow along with the hero and heroine of a story, live out the adventure with them, and know who the villain is.
3. I GET TO GO ALONG WITH THE CHARACTERS ON THE ADVENTURE. How many of us in real life get to diffuse a bomb? Or land a plane where the pilot and copilot have been incapacitated? Find a missing child? Save the world from evil domination? Within the pages of suspense/mysteries I get to do all of these things and more. I can live vicariously, seeing through the eyes of the player on stage in the book and experience the kinds of things I'd never get to do in reality.
4. ESCAPISM. This ties in with #3 above. I get to go to places I'd never ever be able to afford when I get lost in the pages of a story. I can travel to Antarctica as easily as a tropical island. Wrangle cattle in Wyoming or tread the boards in New York City. Jaunt to Monte Carlo on the arm of a tuxedoed handsome stranger. All without leaving the comfort of my easy chair. Does life get much better than that?
5. ROMANCE AND HAPPILY EVER AFTER. In a romantic suspense/mystery in addition to solving the crime, thwarting the villain, and possibly saving the free world, we have romance. Unexpected yet inevitable. Your hero and heroine dance their forbidden dance of passion, fighting the inevitable attraction while chaos burns around them. Yet in the end, all the threads are tied up, all the questions answered. Everything is right with the world, and love always wins in the end. Could anything be better than that?
Ask yourself the same question. Why do you like to read (or write) romantic suspense/mysteries? I'm sure you're reasons may differ from the ones I've listed. Tell me all about yours. I'd love to hear them.
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12 comments:
Hi Kathy,
The reasons you list are quite in line with mine. It's the crime of passion thing and the element of danger that always keeps me reading. As for writing them, it's trying to work out how to sprinkle clues without giving away the plot too soon that I enjoy.
Ahhh, a post after my own heart. :) I want my characters to 'earn' their romance. I want them to overcome dangerous and suspenseful obstacles. It makes the HEA that much more gratifying to me.
Great post, Kathy. I'm with you; I love puzzling out whodunnit and if the hero and heroine get together in the end, all the better.
I write suspense pretty much the same reason you did Kathy. I've tried to write other genres but, by gosh by golly no matter what I do it turns into suspense. My to do list turns into a suspense outline. Will she get it done? Will she pretend it doesn't exist? Will the hero come in and do it for her?
Hi, Kathy! And do you write good rom suspense. I, too, am a Nancy Drew gal and probably that's why my unpubbed book has mystery elements. ox
I love puzzles, too! That's a lot of the reason I write it, and why I add twists as to who my villain ultimately is. But I think the main reason I write it relates to my psychology background...having seen the dark side makes me appreciate the fine lines, I suppose. And I love bringing that out in my villains.
My thanks to everybody who's dropped by today. Don't you just love Romantic Suspense? I know I do, reading it, writing it, even watching it in films.
(Looks like blogger didn't like my post though and ate all the formatting and spacing--so thanks for reading it anyway.) LOL
Hi Kathy,
I'm with you on all points! Gotta love R/S! Who doesn't love a HEA after a good amount of danger and conflict!
That's what does it for me, Dee, that HEA after all the drama, the chase, the adrenaline rush. Throw in some explosions and great sex and we have a fabulous story!
Kathy--you are so right on every point. Me too!!!
Great post, Kathy. It's the figuring out who did it that gets me. I've always loved a good puzzle. Also, I love to go into dangerous situations via the pages of a book. - either one I'm writing or reading. I freak out if I hear a strange noise while I'm in my bed so I'd be hopeless in a real crisis. With fiction though, I can go anywhere and be anyone or anything. :)
Hey Shirley-- me too! I love that weird torture of reading something that is freaking me out. Knowing it's all in my mind and yet...I still have to turn the lights on to sleep. It happens when I write a scary scene too--especially if I'm working late and everyone else has gone to bed. I just made it up and I'm still clammy & jumping!
Good stuff.
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