December 21st, 2009 — About
What makes a novel memorable? Is it the characters? The sex? The plot? The setting? The writing? The angst? All of the above play a part, but for me angst is king.
What is angst?
Angst is moving, and emotional, and evocative. It is 100% relatable. Everyone has doubts, fears heartbreak, has experienced pain.
In a romance novel angst is the big conflict. It is the elephant in the room or the giant hurdle the leads have to overcome together. It will drive a wedge in the relationship and they will separate as they try to figure things out for themselves. The test of the relationship is in the angst.
How deeply did they feel?
Angst is valuable and purposeful, not because it’s a way to eek out an extra 15-30 thousand words for a story. Angst is important because it is the culmination of all the little hints and worries and fears into the singular instance that will bring the conflict to its head and start the argument or break up of the leads. Our reaction to it as a reader is a measure of how much the writer got us to care. When we are invested everything changes.
How deeply do I feel?
The payoff:
Nothing worth while is achieved without effort and hardship and this includes the HEA.
"[A]bove all, in an ending, the reader/audience has to CARE. A good ending has an emotional payoff, and it has to be proportionate to what the character AND the reader/audience has experienced." Alexandra Sokoloff
Angst is just the first step in the emotional payoff the writer gives the reader for reading the story. We know going in that there will be highs and lows, happiness and sadness, fluff and angst. The second step in the emotional payoff is in the fixing of the mess or problem. This can be done any way the author feels like, but it must make sense.
A hero wouldn’t suddenly believe the heroine’s tale about how the man she spent the night with all alone at the inn was in fact her cousin if he’s prone to jumping to conclusions or is highly skeptical and jaded when it comes to women and their feelings. He will confront her and not give her a chance. He has to learn the truth of what actually happened outside of the relationship. Then he has to feel guilty for not trusting her and only after all that can he be allowed to find a HEA with the heroine. This usually comes after a nice long grovel. This heroic grovel is our reward as readers for dealing with difficult heroes and it tastes damn good.
When it comes time, how do you like your angst?
Photo Credits: David Robert Wright
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November 6th, 2009 — 3.5 Stars, Book Review, Contemporary, Cursed Lead, Detective, Magic Users, Paranormal, United States of America, Vampire
Linda Wisdom is the creator behind the latest paranormal sensation. Her hit characters Jazz Tremaine and Nick make an appearance in Hex Appeal, a fun little pun on sex appeal. The novel is a sequel to 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover
and contains the old gang plus some new faces. I particularly loved the slut shoes, Delilah and Croc. They were a hoot, chasing after guys in all directions.
Don’t know the characters? I’ll introduce you!
Jazz is short for Jasmine and she’s a witch. She’s over 700 years old and I have to know her beauty secret for eternal youth! Jazz is a curse eliminator and forays between the preternatural community and the mortal one to do her job. When she’s not eliminating curses she’s driving for Dweezil, an ugly bad tempered creature, but at least the pay is good. In short, Jazz is quirky, funny, and feisty.
Nick is Jazz’s long time vampire honey. Sure they’ve been on again off again a few times, but Nick is the one for Jazz and vice versa. Currently, Nick is working as a detective in the preternatural community helping to solve crimes that the mortals simply couldn’t deal with. He drinks his blood from a beer bottle and likes to watch sports. He’s also good in bed.
Krebs is Jazz’s mortal roommate. He likes computer programming, web design, and horror films. He’s petrified of Jazz’s bunny slippers and ghost dog, who likes to hump everything in sight. Not that Krebs can see the dog; no that would be too easy. Jazz will have to get on that so Krebs can avoid the canine.
Irma is a ghost stuck with 50s hair and clothes. She watches pay-per-view, cries during Casablanca, loves to smoke, and can be a general pain but she’s got her uses. Irma can go through wards witches can not and makes a helpful side kick when she isn’t determined to be whiny.
Fluff and Puff are Jazz’s ultra scary bunny slippers. They terrify the preternatural community and Krebs on a regular basis. They love licorice, carrot cake, and Jazz – well when she isn’t punishing them for things they didn’t do! They would never eat a wereweasel because they’re disgusting and to imply otherwise is a grievous insult.
But potential murdering bunny slippers aside, Jazz has a lot more to deal with in Hex Appeal. Somebody is tampering with her dreams! She and Nick fight after a dream that was so vivid Jazz could feel the pain of it even after she woke up. If that weren’t bad enough she was turned mortal for 48 hours and mugged. Who hates her enough to do something to heinous? She was subject to mortal problems like acne!
As things start to pile up on Jazz and Nick, they have to figure out who is the cause behind all their problems, solve a murder, deal with the vampire police, and a couple of grouchy bunny slippers. All this before time runs out!
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Originally posted 2008-10-26 15:39:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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October 16th, 2009 — Guest Blogger, Lycanthrope, Magic Users, Paranormal, V-Z
by Linda Wisdom, guest blogger and author of Hex in High Heels
Thank you to Love Romance Passion for having me here today!
As an author who’s been published for many years, I still get excited when a new book comes out. It’s fun to go into the bookstores and see the books there and so tempting to say “I wrote that book” when someone picks up a copy. Yes, I have done it a few times. So far, Security hasn’t hauled me out. :}
It’s even more fun now because I have these wonderful stand-out covers that grace the shelves.
I started out with the concept of rebellious witches. The best part is that it’s taken off from there.
Unlike most series, mine deals with a different heroine in every book, but I do sprinkle in the others and introduce future witches in the books. In essence, the same part is a rebellious witch with special gifts and accessories along with a hot male, but the difference is in personalities and their adventures.
Blair Fitzgerald is the main witch in Hex in High Heels
, although Jazz and Stasi also appear along with sightings of Thea and Maggie who will be in the next two books. Since layers are important to a book, I’ve added sexy carpenter Jake Harrison, Blair’s Were Border collie love interest and some nasties as in Jake’s Were mother and brother who aren’t happy about the idea of Jake being involved with a witch. Let’s just say there are reasons there that are not good at all.
But Blair can’t just have furry boyfriend trouble, although that’s there in spades. Not when Fluff and Puff have decided to hang around as tattoos on Blair’s ankle, Irma’s staying in Moonstone Lake because she’s found a boyfriend who’s older than her, and some elves that Santa wouldn’t want at the North Pole.
Blair’s not just a witch, she’s a stubborn and determined witch and if anyone messes with her boyfriend she’ll go after them with spells a’blazin’ and the same if anyone thinks they can harm her town. How Blair handles it is fun and more than a bit scary, since we are talking a witch who’s gifted in revenge spells. She also shows a cheating boyfriend it’s never good to lie to his girlfriend or strange things can happen.
That’s my thing. I love to add layers to my books. One thing will lead to another then to another and eventually go back to the original incident. Even if you throw them all up into the air, they’ll come down in a strangely chaotic and fun arrangement that goes together.
I may have started out with a witch in lust over a Were Border collie, but pretty soon a lot of roadblocks were thrown Blair’s way and being the witch she was, she managed to zap them out of the way.
An excellent reason why I also love writing paranormal, because it’s so much fun to add magick to the book and what some might oddball situations.
What can I say? I love the unusual!
And I hope too.
What is it you love about paranormal books?
Linda
Hex in High Heels, Book 4 in the Hex Series,
In Stores October 2009!
In this sexy, funny paranormal romance by bestselling author Linda Wisdom, it's all beautiful witch Blair Fitzpatrick can do to keep a lid on her talent for revenge spells, but things are about to get a lot more complicated...
Blair loves running her vintage shop and hanging out with witchy friends Stasi and Jazz. She's forever had a crush on hunky carpenter Jake Harrison, whose Were nature (he's a Border collie) makes him loyal, lovable, and fierce when need be. Just as sparks are beginning to fly, Blair is served with a big surprise when Jake's mother shows up along with his pack leader, who threatens to make Jake heel! When the alpha does the unthinkable, Blair is pushed over the edge. No one messes with her boyfriend-to-be, even if he does shed on the furniture!
Buy: Hex in High Heels
About the Author
Linda Wisdom has published more than 70 novels with 13 million copies sold worldwide including traditional, paranormal, humor, action/adventure romance, and romantic suspense. Her bestselling books have been nominated for Romantic Times awards and the Romance Writers of America Rita Award. She lives with her husband in Murrieta, California.
Giveaway: 2 readers can win 1 copy of Hex in High Heels. Open to US and Canada readers only. Enter by answering Linda's question or leaving a relevant comment. Multiple entries allowed. Ends on October 23, 2009.
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