MONDAY MUSINGS—LAUGHTER AND HARD TIMES

Laughter isn't just the best medicine -- it's life's saving grace.

WENDY HOLDEN ON INSPIRATION FROM THE ROYAL WEDDING

My guest, international bestseller, Wendy Holden. She writes juicy romantic comedy with a lovely edge of the satirical and biting wit. You can't help but laugh and shake your head over her lively, well drawn characters. 

Today she talks about her research into creating her characters and the fun she had in writing her anti-heroine, Alexa.  

Current events inspire most of my books. The one that inspired my latest novel, Marrying Up, was the recent Royal Wedding in Britain because I’m fascinated with Kate Middleton’s social trajectory. One thing’s for sure, it didn’t come about by accident. That girl worked her ass off to get that guy.

What I’m most interested in is how people move between social classes, or try to. For a comic writer like me, the trying is the where all the best comic material is and in Britain we have a very long tradition at laughing at people who try to ‘better themselves’ as it’s known. It’s a strange contrast to the United States, where no one thinks it’s odd to try and improve one’s circumstances and it’s the American Dream to move up in the world. In the UK, we try to keep people in their place, although, of course, people have no intention of staying in their places, and why should they? I didn’t keep in my place, that’s for sure (see my website if you want to know more, www.wendyholden.net) 

The British class system looks rigid and impenetrable from the outside but in actual fact it is extremely flexible. You can get all the way up, just like Kate Middleton did, despite having a mother who was an airhostess. Although of course being an airhostess has in itself bagged other women men with titles – Queen Noor, for example, met King Hussein on a transatlantic flight. You see what I mean? I’m very interested in all that, in the loopholes and rear doors that allow people with ambition to move from humble circumstances to more exalted states. 

In Marrying Up, my anti-heroine, Alexa, is a sort of disaster version of Kate Middleton. She’s desperate to bag herself a titled husband. She’s no aristocrat herself, but she works the system as best she can. Her first effort is to get a job on a society magazine so she can get invited to smart parties and meet smart people. That doesn’t work so she tries hanging out at posh funerals and picking up men there. She’s incorrigible and pretty immoral, but I admire her spirit and her guts. I actually like her better than the book’s real heroine. Wicked characters are much more fun to write than good ones! Perhaps because they’re closer to real life. 

Marrying Up is partly set in a glamorous Mediterranean kingdom a bit like Monaco, so it allowed me to use one of my favourite settings. I’ve loved the South of France for 25 years but of course things change so much so I simply have to go back every single year and make sure it’s all still the same! I’m so glad I write glam romantic comedies instead of inner-city slasher novels, as the research wouldn’t be half so much fun. My subject area also requires that I read enormous numbers of glossy magazines and celebrity lifestyle publications. Funnily enough, many of these – British Hello and OK especially - have some quite subversive writers on them who use the unthreatening context to ask their famous (and usually pretty dumb) interview subjects some pretty subtle questions. I get a lot of inspiration from this sort of thing, although I’m not interested in sleazy celebs, just the very rich ones. Their route upwards is always fascinating and gives me ideas for future characters in the Alexa vein. Anyway, I hope you enjoy Marrying Up, it was a blast to write and I’ve been lucky enough to get some great reviews for it in America. This is thrilling to me, an obscure foreigner, to make any sort of an impact in your great and glorious country. I feel extremely fortunate and completely amazed.

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, INDIEBOUND

MARRYING UP: A RIGHT ROMANTIC COMEDY 

Beautiful but broke student Polly and scheming social climber Alexa may have grown up in the same place, but they couldn't be more different. Polly's just fallen for Max, a handsome country vet. But Alexa can't be bothered with love—any guy with a pedigree will do, mind you, as long as he comes with a title, a mansion, and a family tiara.

Alexa wiggles her way into friendship with Florrie, a clueless aristocrat who could support entire countries with her spare change. Suddenly the grandest doors swing open for Alexa, and a new life is so close she can taste it. Polly could care less about Max's money, but his mysterious habit of disappearing scares her. What's he hiding?

Razor sharp in its wit, and as fresh as newlywed royals, Marrying Up reveals how sometimes a rags–to–riches story can rip a girl to shreds—and how sometimes the rewards of love aren't always what you expect. EXCERPT

Wendy Holden was a journalist on The Sunday Times, Tatler and The Mail on Sunday before becoming a full-time author. She has written nine novels, all Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers. She is married and has two children.

NO LONGER A SUPPLICANT…

Multi published author, Libby Malin, is visiting us again here at Over Coffee.


It's not that traditional publishers are trying to turn out cookie cutter books, they're not, but their focus is on making money. They look at trends and go with popular depictions of heroes, heroines, and plots. They're a hesitant to take on a story too different or one that doesn't fit a clear genre mold. 


Libby has been published with traditional publishers, been nominated for prestigious awards, but having contracts don't always equate to a steady income. But, I'll let Libby tell you of her writing journey.

Only the luckiest authors achieve publishing success without some rejection. In fact, it’s not unusual for lots of rejection to precede “The Call” from agent or editor offering a contract.

My story is no different. After writing for several years, having manuscripts rejected right and left, I finally reached publishing’s happy ending – first, a contract for young adult mysteries from Bancroft Press, and then a contract for a “chick lit” novel from Harlequin. After that, other contracts followed, from Dorchester (for paperback rights to my first two YAs), Sourcebooks (more chick lit – or romantic comedy), Five Star/Cengage (my first hardcover!), and even a film option deal.

Each step of the way, I thought to myself: This is it. I’ve made it. I can make a steady income from what I love to do best – writing fiction.

And every time I thought that goal had been achieved, I faced disappointment. An Edgar nomination for my first YA didn’t make sales soar, nor did it ensure future publication of other works with other houses. It did get query emails answered more quickly, though!

Some excellent reviews had the same effect—that is, they didn’t jack up sales noticeably but did help me get my manuscripts read by other editors. Even a film option deal, in the works before the print rights had sold, didn't guarantee that a publishing house would take on a project!

I also learned the hard way that when a publisher doesn’t get your book reviewed by the main trade journals, it can have a deleterious effect on your sales. A couple times this happened to me, each time for a book that was near and dear to my heart. While it’s impossible to tell precisely what reviews from the Big Journals (Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal and the like) would have done for these particular books, I can’t help thinking that the lack of such reviews meant booksellers and librarians wouldn’t be paying much attention.

Nonetheless, like all writers committed to their chosen field, I struggled on. I snagged online reviews when none were appearing in print. I did book signings, virtual book tours, and paid for one full-page ad in a romance magazine.

And I kept writing, often finding, unfortunately, that my manuscripts were like “square pegs” that didn’t quite fit in the “round holes” of various imprints. Some of my rejection letters read like back cover blurbs.

Then something wonderful happened. The Kindle was released and vigorously promoted by Amazon. Other e-readers followed—the Nook, the iPad, and new life for the Sony E-reader.

Authors everywhere started to discover they no longer needed to be supplicants of the “Big Six” publishing houses in New York in order to reach readers. Self-publishing quickly and surely began to lose its negative connotation. It no longer implied vanity publishing, an ego-driven exercise by failed novelists (and isn’t seeking publishing by the Big Six an ego-driven exercise anyway?).

Now there is no such thing as a round hole into which your square peg of a novel won’t fit. Authors can publish their slightly-off-the-beaten-track novels on their own, and many are doing so.

Count me in with that crowd. I now have five novels e-published through my family’s e-publishing house, Istoria Books. One of them, an inspirational romance that had been rejected by editors in New York and beyond, is now regularly among the top 100 bestsellers in historical romance – in both print and e-books.

And my latest offering, a romantic comedy (Aefle and Gisela by Libby Malin), allowed me to explore satire – satire of academe, no less! Who in the traditional publishing world would have taken that on?

That’s the real happy ending of this story. E-publishing has given me the freedom to write the kinds of stories I want to write, without that pesky shadow editor on my shoulder saying things like: “But remember how that agent told you this kind of plot doesn’t sell or that one said the heroine has to be this way or another one suggested you try for this kind of hero…” Those voices have been silenced.

Now I can let my own voice sing.

_________

AEFLE AND GISELA BY LIBBY MALIN

Stopping a wedding -- what could go wrong? 

History Prof Thomas Charlemagne takes a dare and stops a wedding in an attempt to put his "Timid Tommy" reputation to rest at long last....Only problem? It's the wrong wedding.

Legal problems ensue that could wreck his career as the world's leading expert on a poetry-writing medieval monk, Aefle, and his secret love, Gisela, both of whom provide a template for Thomas’s own struggles with life and love.

A heady mix of outlandish comedy, sharp wit and biting satire, Aefle & Gisela is the perfect summer beach read. EXCERPT

 Booklist -- Malin creates a world of wit and chaos that is …smart and insightfully written (My Own Personal Soap Opera).

Buy the book for Kindle here. Buy the book for Nook here. Buy the book for other e-readers here.

Hurry—it’s on sale for only 99 cents as part of a book launch promotion!

_______

Libby Malin is the award-winning author of romance, literary, mystery and young adult fiction. In an attempt to thoroughly confuse her reader fans, she writes comedy under the name Libby Malin and serious fiction under the name Libby Sternberg. Her first young adult mystery, Uncovering Sadie’s Secrets, was an Edgar nominee, and her first romantic comedy, Fire Me, was optioned for film. She lives in Pennsylvania, has three children and one husband, and confesses to watching “Real Housewives” shows despite enormous amounts of culture-guilt.

Visit the author’s website at: http://www.LibbyMalin.com

Visit the Istoria Books blog to read an interview with the author by her alter ego: http://istoriabooks.blogspot.com/2011/09/libby-interviews-libby-about-aefle.html

Some praise for Libby Malin's other comedic novels:

Booklist -- Malin creates a world of wit and chaos that is …smart and insightfully written (My Own Personal Soap Opera).

Publishers Weekly --  A whimsical look at the vagaries of dating... an intriguing side plot adds punch and pathos to the story...(Loves Me, Loves Me Not) 

_____

Strange Neighbors and The Glitch

My guest is Ashlyn Chase. Ashlyn writes zany romantic comedies of the paranormal persuasion.


Writing a good book isn't always smooth sailing. We face various difficulties and glitches getting the story, so clear in our head, down on paper. Sometimes the transition isn't always smooth.


Ashlyn shares with us some of difficulties she faced transitioning from writing novella sized books to full length novels. Speaking of glitches, Ashlyn's characters face many on their way to Happy Ever After.

Sounds like a Harry Potter title, doesn’t it? Well, I was asked to share any glitches I may have encountered while writing The Vampire Next Door and I can only think of a couple.

First, I didn’t know if I could write it at all! Based on book 1, my editor contracted 2 sequels. The frightening part was writing a book that long. I’m a novella girl. That’s my favorite length to read as well as write. I don’t get into pages of flowery description. I like my writing tight and my pace fast. Loads of detail can really bog down the reader.

Strange Neighbors was a mass-market paperback and had to be about 90,000 words. Do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with a story complex enough to sustain it for over 350 or so pages? Eek! I was so out of my comfort zone, I had to add a note at the end of book 1 to crow about it. (snicker)

So, book 1 felt like a fluke. Then book 2 was my second miracle, but could I do it a third time? Odds were against it. To my sheer delight, my characters were old friends by this time and practically wrote the book for me. Whew! Once it got going…

There was a second almost glitch. I didn’t know which witch would be my vampire’s heroine. They both wanted him. Either one would have been great fun to write, but I had to let the hero decide. It didn’t take long before he made his choice. I knew Sly was a smart cookie and he’d choose well. He did. He looked past the superficial younger, prettier witch and picked the one who was a better match for him intellectually and emotionally. Fortunately, he considered her beautiful and made her realize she was every bit as pretty as her vivacious, flirtatious cousin.

I love men like that. I’m sure a lot of guys start out drooling over the pretty young things, but as they mature other things become important in a real relationship. Perhaps because my husband overlooked a lot of younger prettier women to be with me, I’m partial to this type of hero. He’s 13 years my junior, but we were right for each other when he was a mature 23 year old, fed up with fickle, flighty, giggly girls.

We’re still right for each other many years later. Mine is a very happy marriage, so I believe they can and do happen. What I think is key to a happy relationship is maturity. Age has nothing to do with it. I’ve seen emotionally immature seventy year-olds.

• So, what do you think is the key to a true and lasting love?   

THE VAMPIRE NEXT DOOR BY ASHLYN CHASE – IN STORES AUGUST 2011

Room for Rent: Normal need not apply

This old Boston brownstone is not known for quiet living… first the shapeshifter meets his nurse, then the werewolf falls for his sassy lawyer, but now the vampire is looking for love with a witch who’s afraid of the dark… and you thought your neighbors had issues!

Undead Sly is content playing vigilante vampire, keeping the neighborhood safe from human criminals, until Morgaine moves in upstairs. Suddenly he finds himself weak with desire, which isn’t a good place for a vampire to be. And Morgaine isn’t exactly without her own issues—will the two of them be able to get past their deepest fears before their chance at “normal” slips away? Excerpt 

You can see the trailer of her first book, Strange Neighbors here. 

Multi-published author Ashlyn Chase specializes in characters who reinvent themselves, having reinvented herself numerous times. She has worked as a psychiatric nurse, for the Red Cross, and has a degree in behavioral sciences. The first two books in the Strange Neighbors series are Strange Neighbors and The Werewolf Upstairs, which are both available now! She lives with her true-life hero husband in beautiful New Hampshire. For more information, please visit www.ashlynchase.com. 

WRITING WITH CATS

My guest says she started writing when she was seven about an abandoned puppy. At nine, Anjali created a “series of mysteries and adventures with preposterous premises and impossible plots.”

It appears the desire to write has remained a constant in her life and she has graduated to writing both adult fiction and YA. Including her latest, Haunting Jasmine.

Please welcome Anjali Banerjee to Over Coffee.

She has also brought her Muses: Luna, Simon, Teddy, Cheyenne and Ruby. Aren't they gorgeous. All writers need cats, lol!

Luna

Help.

I’m stuck in a dark house during a storm-induced power outage – surrounded by cats. As I lie under the covers, trying to stay warm, typing this blog entry on a lightweight netbook computer with an emergency flashlight propped on the keyboard, my eighteen-pound tabby cat, Luna, is climbing onto my chest. She keeps licking my hand and trying to burrow under my armpit. Our smaller ragdoll cat, Cheyenne, just jumped onto the windowsill, scrambled for a foothold, and fell to the floor. Our sleek black kitten, Ruby, sleeps in a basket on the bureau. Oops, not any more. She leaped down onto the bed, then to the floor and sauntered off. Simon, a rather large, orange and white male tabby, has left through a secure tunnel into a safe outdoor enclosure, where he makes believe that he’s defending a vast territory.



Teddy

 I hear Teddy, our fluffy Maine coon kitty, scraping the litterbox to cover his latest fragrant droppings. I have to decide whether to interrupt my writing process and scoop the litterbox, or endure the pungent scent of cat poo while I work.

I choose to scoop. Be right back.

Yes, I live and work in a circus of cats – five, to be exact. They graciously allow my husband and me to live in this small rambler in the woods on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. We’re charged with feeding the fur people, loving them, brushing them, clipping their claws, providing them with fresh running water and clean litterboxes, and generally catering to their every whim. Occasionally, they allow me to work and write so that I might make a living and continue to, um, feed them.

It’s not easy.

This morning, while I raced to complete a project on deadline, Luna threw up a hairball on the bedcovers. Decision time again. Clean hairball or keep on working? I chose to clean up the hairball.



Cheyenne

 Then Cheyenne hissed at Ruby, and Ruby skidded down the hall and crashed into the wall. I had to comfort her. Teddy climbed onto my keyboard and batted around a pen or two.

So I moved my laptop to another room, thinking I might get a little peace, but no… as the computer was booting up, I walked away for a few moments. Mistake. When I returned, Ruby was sitting in front of the keyboard, her innocent gaze focused on a blue screen. In only a few seconds, she had managed to crash my computer. I somehow got it working again after three reboots.

If cats are so difficult, why do I live with them?



Ruby and Anjali


Luna has settled down next to my leg. She’s a warm, purring ball of fluff - loyal, sweet, loving fluff with affectionate green eyes. She never cares what I look like or what mood I’m in. She just wants to be close and to be loved. And Ruby, my little intelligent gem of a black cat, curls up next to me and gazes into my eyes with the wise soul of an ancient goddess. The cats make me laugh with their antics, and they give unconditional love while asking little in return, relatively speaking. Cats know how to meditate, to eat when they’re hungry, sleep when they’re tired, and play when they feel playful – they experience the world in a pure, joyful way.

They are also my muses. They find ways to sneak into my books. In my children’s novel, Seaglass Summer, a young girl learns that her idealistic dream to become a veterinarian can bring sadness – when an old kitty passes away – as well as satisfaction. In my novel for adults, Invisible Lives, my heroine tests the quality of a man by his reaction to her cats.

In my new release, Haunting Jasmine, Jasmine Mistry, an overworked L.A. businesswoman, agrees to run her aunt’s bookstore on a rainy Pacific Northwest island while her aunt is away in India. Little does Jasmine know that the bookstore, in a cluttered Victorian mansion, is haunted by the ghosts of dead authors, who help her to slow down, reinvent her life, fall in love with a mysterious stranger… and adopt two shelter cats, of course.

In my current novel in progress, a cat graduates from cameo role to central character, helping a young widow emerge from her isolation and find love -- on the same Pacific Northwest island.

After all, what would a story be without cats?

But how does one balance the good and the difficult – the at once loving, muse-like qualities and disruptive tendencies of cats? My husband helps, when he’s home. We provide outdoor enclosures - play areas for the cats - and toys, cat beds and condos. When we adopted Ruby as a kitten, we also adopted a male kitten, Teddy, of roughly the same age. The two kittens bonded, sleeping together and playing together. I write while the cats are resting, or I close my office door.

Sometimes, though, I simply have to leave the house. I write in a friend’s office, or I go to a café. It’s always a balancing act - a little of this, a little of that. But isn’t that what life is all about?

As I close this blog entry, my husband and two cats are asleep here on the bed, allowing me to write. The wind is howling, and the power is still out. The battery is about to run down on this netbook computer, so I’d better shut down for now.

Haunting Jasmine

Divorcée Jasmine Mistry is intent on restarting her life when she gets the chance to do just that. A call from the past brings her home to Shelter Island, a green dot in the middle of Puget Sound, to run her beloved aunt's bookstore. The familiarity is heartening – the rocky beaches, pewter skies, country boutiques, and above all, Auntie’s Bookstore, nestled in a quaint Queen Anne Victorian, and believed, not incidentally, to be haunted.


With that knowledge, Jasmine embarks on a mystical journey, urged along by her quirky family, guided by the highly emotional spirits of long-dead authors, and moved to heal her broken heart when she falls unexpectedly in love with an enigmatic young stranger. He knows about blurring the lines between truth and fantasy. In redefining the meaning of everlasting love, he urges Jasmine to reinvent herself in a place she calls home. All she has to do is close her eyes and say yes.  Excerpt

Buy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million

Anjali Banerjee was born in India, raised in Canada and California and received degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Her books have received accolades in many review journals and newspapers. The Philadelphia Inquirer called her young adult novel, Maya Running (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House) "beautiful and complex" and "pleasingly accessible." The Seattle Times praised Anjali's novel for adults, Imaginary Men (Downtown Press/Pocket Books) as "a romantic comedy equal to Bend it Like Beckham."
 
Anjali loves hiking, reading, watching movies, supporting local animal welfare organizations, feeding birds, and playing piano. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, in a cottage in the woods, with her husband and five rescued cats.

You can find Anjali: Facbeook and Website



Sweet Simon



Photo Credits: Carol Ann Morris -Author bio picture, Anjali and Ruby, and Teddy. Reprinted with permission.

Ideal Writing Day?

I'm pleased to have Libby Malin visiting Over Coffee again with her latest romantic comedy, My Own Personal Soap Opera. Libby writes both YA (as Libby Sternberg) and humorous Women's Fiction.

Libby leads a very busy life as many authors do these days. She's a wife, a mother of three, and a professional writer. She has worn many hats in her professional life, a Spanish gypsy, a Russian courtier, a Middle-Eastern slave, a Japanese Geisha, a Chinese peasant, and a French courtesan – that is, she sang as a union chorister in both Baltimore and Washington Operas. She's been an education reform advocate, done stints on Public Radio, and then turned to writing, working in a public relations office and then as a freelancer for various trade organizations and small newspapers.

• Given her busy schedule I asked her, What is your ideal writing day? Have you ever had one?

I’ve been doing a lot of crazy blog posts during this virtual book tour, so my first inclination when I get asked this question was to dream up an extravagantly luxurious day involving pools, pool boys, masseuses, bon bons, pedicures, manicures, martinis and gauzy peasant-style clothing that I wear while typing on my laptop in a gazebo amidst flower-scented warm breezes.

But I won’t go there.

Instead, I’ll the truth. :-)

A realistic ideal writing day for me is actually one where I feel I have the freedom to write as long as I want, the inspiration to stick with the writing and an ironclad surety that what I write will be published. Rarely does an author experience that.

But here’s the closest I have come to that ideal—writing virtually nonstop all day because I’m on fire to tell a particular story, resentful of any interruptions (phone calls, meals!) and eager to get back to my characters, reasonably sure I can sell what I’m writing.

I think those moments are rare for most authors because of the need to work at other jobs and also because of the unsteadiness of the market. Few authors are sure these days that their next book will sell.

I’ve been very fortunate because I also work as a freelance writer and editor. For several organizations, I write articles and other publications. And for two publishing houses, I am a copy editor. This work is very fulfilling, keeps my bank account from growing too anemic, and also helps me polish skills I use as a writer of fiction. But this work—especially the copy editing, which usually has a tight deadline—can interfere with writing fiction. So I have learned to discipline myself to write, even when inspiration or a whole lot of creative energy isn’t there.

Most beginning writers have to learn that lesson very quickly because often, writers are working full-time before or even after they sell their first novel. Somehow, you find the time and the energy to make it happen. If writing is what you really want to do, nothing can stop you!

I’d be happy to answer any questions about the writer’s life or about writing comedy, in particular.

My Own Personal Soap Opera is my third humorous women’s fiction book. I’m very fond of its characters, particularly the protagonist, Frankie McNally, who is also a writer—the head writer for a soap opera.

I had a lot of fun researching this book by reading autobiographies of soap stars and interviewing some folks who’ve been involved in soap opera work. The head writer of As the World Turns was particularly kind and patient with me, and I really appreciated her help. Of course, I take liberties with the real information I unearthed, but I hope the book creates a realistic-enough feel that even those in the industry will find it entertaining!

• Any questions about comedy or writing, thoughts, or comments? 2 copies of My Own Personal Soap Opera. 2 winners, US and Canada only. Be sure to leave me a way to contact you.

Back Cover Blurb:

Is life stranger than fiction, or vice versa?

Frankie McNally has found the perfect solution for life’s perplexing problems: as head writer for the daytime soap Lust for Life, she works them out on the air!

Meanwhile, Frankie’s being courted simultaneously by the dashing older man sent in to save the show’s sagging ratings and by the soap’s totally hot leading man. And just when Frankie thinks the plot couldn’t get more complicated, a jewel thief starts copying the show’s storyline-a development that could send the show’s ratings soaring, if it doesn’t get Frankie arrested first...

Can Frankie writer her way out of this one? And can she put make believe aside long enough to discover the truth of her own heart?

First Chapter Excerpt Download

In her signature blending of the hilarious with the poignant, Libby Malin’s latest light-hearted novel combines the best of life and of fiction into an entertaining and incredibly satisfying read.

~*~*~*~

Libby Malin is published in women’s fiction, including the books Fire Me, My Own Personal Soap Opera and Loves Me, Loves Me Not. Writing as Libby Sternberg, she is also an Edgar nominated YA mystery writer. As Libby Sternberg, she has an adult historical mystery offered exclusively on Kindle called Death Is the Cool Night. Her first print adult historical, Sloane Hall (inspired by Jane Eyre and set in old Hollywood), will be released in September.

Libby has worked in public relations, as an education reform advocate, and was a member of the Vermont Commission on Women. She is the proud mother of three children and lives with her wonderful husband in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

• For more information please visit http://www.libbysbooks.com/ or her blog, http://www.libbysbooks.blogspot.com/.

• You can drop her a note at mailto:LibbyMalin@hotmail.com if you’d like to be put on her email list.

• Also, you can friend her on Facebook at Libby Malin Sternberg.
  

Writing Laughter for Hard Times

Laughter isn't just the best medicine -- it's life's saving grace.

Laughter is the ultimate stress buster during hard times. When times are rough, people need something to de-stress their life and lighten the load—even if it’s only for a short time. I think this is why during the 1930’s, during the Great Depression and as Europe was gearing up for WWII, some of the greatest comedy teams were born: Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, and Laurel and Hardy. Abbot and Costello were popular on radio. Remember, during this time period, radio shows were the main form of entertainment. The movies of the time featured a variety of comedies, from silly slapstick to romantic comedies.

The styles were different but they achieved their purpose. Making people laugh and forget for a time their troubles. The subject/premise of comedies were either light and fluffy or dealt with darker issues with an overlay of comedy. Parroting life, you could say. What made them work? A reasonable, though many times an improbable, premise. Good dialog, fast paced, proper build up of tension, and comedic timing.

For example, Laurel and Hardy’s Sons of the Desert (actually most of their movies) was a balance of laugh-out-loud dialogue, plus fast-paced slapstick. Every frame of the script and dialog built up to and led into the next, and comedic timing. This was the pattern taken up by Jackie Gleason and Art Carney and later Sienfeld used the same sort of humor. Monk and Psych, seen on TV today, borrow from this general style. It works.

Romantic comedies like Bringing up Baby, with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn were popular. The premise was improbable but it worked. Main characters were well drawn, a straight-laced paleontologist trying to raise money for a museum and an impulsive and beautiful heiress, and their adventures. This was pure madcap comedy. I think an improbable premise works well for comedy. What made the comedy work are good dialog, fast pacing, and impeccable comedic timing.

The Thin Man is a classic and based on a novel by Dashiell Hammet. This was really a dark tale of solving multiple murders. Yet the movie makes you laugh. The dialog is sharp and clever, a combination of dry wit and unexpected silliness. It’s fast paced and never allows your attention to wander. The main characters are well developed; glamorous, stylish, intelligent, and they have tremendous fun as they work together to tracked down the murderer. From this style of light and dark, humor and danger, sprang many movies, TV shows, and books…Magnum, P.I., Remington Steel, and Burn Notice. Even Robert B Parker’s Spencer books are a blue-collar take on the Thin Man.

In the past eight years we’ve seen a lot of tragedy and hard times and they haven’t ended. Like in the 1930’s and 1940’s, people are facing attacks on the American people, subsequent wars, and economic hard times. People are looking for laughter and diversion. For example, just recently, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, starring Kevin James was #1 at the box office. So, its no surprise that updated versions of old styled comedies are again popular. Movies like The Mummy trilogy and the Rush Hour trilogy also balance fast paced dialog, laugh out loud humor, and the physical fight scenes—today’s form of slapstick. The Meet the Parents movie has well placed comic moments, but within the gags and the shock humor is a nice little romance story.

Romantic comedies like What Women Want and Two Weeks Notice are throwbacks to the screwball comedies of the 1930's and 1940's with witty repartee between characters, a rather improbable premise, well-paced comedic timing, and some gags/physical humor.

Many of these comedies were scripts; a few were based on novels. Setting up a premise, crafting your scenes, and writing dialog for a thriller or suspense are different than writing dialog for comedy. The same holds true if you write Romance—romantic suspense as opposed to romantic comedy. A different mind-set is required.

There is a market for laughter and well-developed comedy in today's hard times. Romantic comedies are popular and authors like Janet Evanovich and Toni Blake have successfully filled that need.

To be successful in writing comedy one must first have a solid premise. As we've seen, it doesn't have to be particularly realistic, in fact being slightly improbable works well. Well developed characters and from the examples we've looked at here, having a straight man and the comic, are necessary elements in writing a good comedy. Tightly written scenes that build one on the other pull your reader forward. Sharp, fast paced dialog. Use of gags or physical slapstick and this can be fight scenes or situations. One of the most important aspects of writing good comedy is having impeccable comedic timing.

What do you think is the secret to writing comedy? How do you set up your scenes? Do you feel a story can have a blend of both serious aspects and comedy, and be successful? What authors have you read that seem to do comedy well? And why?