THE ROAD TO HAPPY EVER AFTER

"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

                                                                                                                                                                                           

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, POWELLS

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

Facebook:  https://facebook.com/nancynorthcottauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3468806.Nancy_Northcott

                 

TRAVELER, ADVENTURER: THE MOVIE OF MY LIFE

My guest is historical romance author, Caroline Warfield. She has had quite a few grand adventures in her life. When I asked about making a movie of her life her answer was thought out and quite fascinating.

Sia asked if they made a movie of your life, what would it look like? What genre would it be? Who would play you?  It made me smile to think about it. 

The first thing that came to mind was the theme music. I always thought the music of my life would have to be the Beethoven piano concertos. They have very great lows, tremendous highs and great crashing chords with very little limping along in the middle.  But a movie? That would take thought.

All writers are asked for their biography; they are asked frequently.  I flipped mine out with what I thought was wry humor until I looked at it and realized it was all true. Written down it sounds a lot more interesting than living it felt.  At least one person told me she wished she had my life. 
Here it is:

Caroline Warfield has at various times been an army brat, a librarian, a poet, a raiser of children, a nun, a bird watcher, an Internet and Web services manager, a conference speaker, an indexer, a tech writer, a genealogist, and, of course, a romantic. She has sailed through the English channel while it was still mined from WWII, stood on the walls of Troy, searched Scotland for the location of an entirely fictional castle (and found it), climbed the steps to the Parthenon, floated down the Thames from the Tower to Greenwich, shopped in the Ginza, lost herself in the Louvre, gone on a night safari at the Singapore zoo, walked in the Black Forest, and explored the underground cistern of Istanbul. By far the biggest adventure has been life-long marriage to a prince among men.

So what about the movie?

Lady Tobin

I propose we pitch it as a Victorian travelogue with the heroine (that would be me) as an intrepid adventurer such as Lady Catherine Tobin or Lady Florence Dixie—or a fictional adventurer like Amelia Peabody.  We might give it a sort of sepia toned look. Our heroine would wear trousers and a practical hat. She would carry a leather backpack.  The backpack would contain an ever-present book and a notebook for sketches and story notes.

Lady Florence Dixie

Finding the right actress to play me would, of course, be tough. She has to convey courage, intelligence, and a solid grounding in literature and history. She would also have to manage profound spirituality when called for.  If a very young Judy Dench isn’t available, I suggest we ask Amy Adams or Adelaide Clemens.

Caro and husband in Ephesus

What’s that? The hero you ask?  Yes, she will require a fellow traveler, one who shares her curiosity and confidence. Wait! I have one of those.  Here is a picture of him walking the paved streets of ancient Ephesus with me.
The movie would require an owl, either as a muse, a pet, or simply a wondrous sight. Add a typewriter and a camel to carry it all, and we might just have it—my life, as I would like to have lived it. 

When I begin a new book I almost always begin not with plot, not with characters, but with setting. I think of a place and time, and ask, “Who can I put there? What would their life have been like?” From that flow conflict, motivation, and love, always in the end there is love. My newest is no exception. After visiting Rome I asked, “What was it like for an English man or woman in Rome in 1820?” Dangerous Secrets is my answer.

So gentle readers, do you enjoy books set in exotic locations? Do you prefer contemporary or historical? And can you think of another actress to play me?

Leave a comment follow my Dangerous Secrets Tour link for a chance to name characters in a holiday novella that is in process, as well as an Amazon Gift card.

The Tour and Giveaway

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
  

AVAILABLE NOW: AMAZON

 When a little brown wren of an Englishwoman bursts into Jamie Heyworth’s private hell and asks for help he mistakes her for the black crow of death.  Why not? He fled to Rome and sits in despair with nothing left to sell and no reason to get up in the morning. Behind him lie disgrace, shame, and secrets he is desperate to keep.

Nora Haley comes to Rome at the bidding of her dying brother who has an unexpected legacy. Never in her sunniest dreams did Nora expect Robert to leave her a treasure, a tiny blue-eyed niece with curly hair and warm hugs. Nora will do anything to keep her, even hire a shabby, drunken major as an interpreter. 

Jamie can’t let Nora know the secrets he has hidden from everyone, even his closest friends. Nora can’t trust any man who drinks. She had enough of that in her marriage. Either one, however, will dare anything for the little imp that keeps them together, even enter a sham marriage to protect her. Will love—and the truth—bind them both together?



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
              

Caroline Warfield sits in front of a keyboard at a desk surrounded by windows, looks out at the trees and imagines. Her greatest joy is when one of those imaginings comes to life on the page and in the imagination of her readers.

You can find Caroline:

Website and Blog, Facebook, Twitter @CaroWarfield

MONDAY MUSINGS LIFE IN THE OZARKS

Apologies for the later posting. I had some computer/internet issues.

I live in the Ozark Mountains in Missouri. Like the Appalachian and the Catskill Mountains, the Ozark Mountains are actually what you’d call a dissected plateau, meaning we were once a surface plain until tectonic uplifting and then the Canadian Shield glaciers left rivers, streams and time to carve out deep valleys and ravines. We look like mountains in elevation but our elevations are pretty uniform across the range and we don’t have extensive faults and magma of those mountains such as the Rockies.  Elevations where I live are about 1300 ft. Missouri’s topography has a high limestone content with caves, sinkholes, and underground springs and waterways. It’s truly a beautiful state with a lot of diversity and an amazing system of riverways. I’ll be sharing more about life in the Ozarks next month.

I live the pink a little W of the orange area (wiki commons)

The Ozarks aren’t particularly high mountains and so don’t effectively block the cold arctic or the hot and humid Gulf air and means we have cold winters and humid summers. This also makes for some volatile clashes in the way of thunderstorms, high winds, and tornadoes. Most of the tornadoes are in the flatlands and only a few touchdown in the higher elevation plains.

Weather can be extreme in my area and there are different ecological pockets—sort of an independent area where we can get more rain or snow then other areas rather close to us. For example, I have a girl friend that lives about five miles southeast of our town and she hasn’t gotten as much snow this year as we have. I live nine miles northwest of the same town. This last storm, almost two weeks ago, dropped about 10 inches of snow but she only got about 4 inches but did get more ice. It can be pouring down rain here, at the house, and I drive to town (eight miles away) and they have gotten little or no rain. There is actually a rain line on the way. And it’s weird to be driving in rain and then hit a dry area the rest of the way into town.

Not a lot of green yet on our creek

No green yet on trees

This year there wasn’t a gradual transition to cold winter or spring for that matter. We were in the normal fifties with a few spikes into the upper 70’s this fall and someone threw a switch and we were plunged into the teens by the next day and there it stayed for several weeks. Same with spring this year (and last spring for that matter), Twelve days ago we were in the lower teens during the day with snow falling and we got ten inches by the time it was done. Four days later we were in the upper 40’s and lower 50’s and rain and by day six all snow had disappeared and it jumped to spring. It confuses the body. One day you need a coat, gloves, scarf, and boots and the next you find yourself automatically pulling on those things only to realize you don’t need them.

Spring has finally sprung here with birds singing, sunshine, and temperatures in the upper 60’s lower 70’s. This past weekend it was shirt sleeves during the day. I have tulips and daffodils breaking ground by about 3 inches, my tiger lilies just broke ground yesterday. The brown grass of five days ago is now mostly short green. You can see the green slopes of the hills surrounding us.

As my mother says, if you don’t like the weather today, tomorrow it will be different. She’s not far off by that statement. <smile>