"I’ve always thought the payoff of the
HEA depends on the path leading to it."
My guest, is author Nancy Northcott. She writes the Light Mage War series.
A satisfying ending is a must. But what kind of ending should you choose? The type of ending depends much upon the genre you write. Nancy discusses Happy-Ever-After and Happy-For-Now.
What makes the HEA ending of a book
satisfying? Well, obviously the main
characters have to be happy. And the
reader has to be happy. In romance, at
least, there can’t be any niggling little but
what about…?
The obvious exception would be in a
series with an overarching plot in any genre.
Romance seems to be leaning more toward Happy For Now (HFN), but with
the promise of that ever after part
down the road. The hero and heroine
generally are settled in their relationship even if other elements of the plot
may remain unresolved.
I’ve always thought the payoff of the
HEA depends on the path leading to it.
There’s an old saying that those who’ve never known sorrow cannot
appreciate joy. There’s also the theory
that we appreciate most the things that don’t come easily. I think these ideas influence our perceptions
of a book’s happy ending.
That doesn’t mean everything has to be
dark and super-angsty, at least not to me.
But it does mean that the path of true love, to borrow from another
saying, cannot run smoothly. If the hero and heroine never have more than the
occasional little spat, we never really doubt they’ll end up together. There has been no suspense, no growth, and
not much conflict. Without conflict, the
book is over in chapter one.
I love Terri Osburn’s and Jill
Shalvis’s contemporary romances. In
every couple, one of them has to confront some shadow from his or her past and
overcome it. There are varying degrees
of angst involved, but healing and character growth always occur.
Mystery series may use the same couple
in all the books. A romantic arc may
start slowly in book one and build as the series goes on. In such a case, the HEA would be the
resolution of the mystery, the sense that the villain has gotten his/her just
desserts.
Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series
wraps up its murder mysteries at the end of each book, but the relationship
between Will and Sara Linton didn’t start until the third book and has been
progressing slowly since. The books
don’t always end happily for Will and Sara--but there are always feelings shown
that imply a happy resolution and commitment down the road. Despite the many complicating factors
Slaughter has thrown in their way.
Jeaniene Frost’s Cat & Bones
books, which I just recently discovered and then rapidly devoured, take the
relationship between Cat and Bones on an arc that extends over the entire
series. Those books and the ones in Nalini
Singh’s Guild Hunter series skate the line between paranormal romance and
fantasy in that there’s often a thread of the bigger plot still hanging and there
may be relationship issues that aren’t entirely resolved.
All the series I’ve mentioned involve
heroes and heroines who learn to face their personal shadows and move beyond
them. So it is with Will and Audra in Warrior.
Will has to face the youthful scars that have made him wary of letting a
woman get emotionally close, and Audra must learn to appreciate her own value.
I read pretty much everything but
horror, and I can be happy with an ending that ties up the big story questions
and implies that the relationship issue will be settled. I can even deal with having the hero and
heroine apart at the end of the book if I think they share strong enough ties
to get back together in the next book.
My friends who read only romance,
however, often want the relationship solid at the end of the book and a new
couple for the next outing. They prefer
not to have romantic issues left hanging.
- How about you? What makes an ending qualify for Happily Ever After status for you?
Sia, thanks for having me! I’ll give away a signed, personalized copy of
Warrior to one commenter today.
Leave your email addy if you want to win a copy
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A Woman Tormented by Darkness
Archaeologist Audra Grayson hopes the dig in the Okefenokee Swamp will save her career. But that hope is dashed when she finds out-of-place relics and brilliant, sexy consultant Will Davis comes to investigate her for fraud. Worse, working on the site strengthens the evil shadow that has haunted her since childhood, and she knows he will think she’s crazy and unfit for the job.
A Mage Who Must Oppose it At All Costs
Mage Will Davis senses the darkness in Audra when they meet. Wondering whether she’s in league with dark forces, he vows to ignore his growing attraction to her. Then deadly ghouls target her dig, and Will discovers they want the ancient bronze pieces to open a portal for demons from the Void between worlds. If they succeed, everything on Earth is an endangered species.
The Fate of the World At Stake
With ghoul attacks escalating and mage traitors in league with the enemy, time is running out for Will to stop the portal from opening. The chemistry between him and Audra threatens to combust, but the darkness within her may give the enemy its chance. Must Will choose between the fate of the world and the love of his life?
NANCY NOTHCOTT'S debut novel, Renegade, received a starred review from Library Journal. The reviewer called it "genre fiction at its best." Nancy is a three-time RWA Golden Heart finalist and has won the Maggie, the Molly, the Emerald City Opener, and Put Your Heart in a Book.
Married since 1987, Nancy and her husband have one son, a bossy dog, and a house full of books.
You can find Nancy: Website
