March 4th, 2010 — Arranged/Forced Marriage, Contemporary, D-F, Guest Blogger, Marriage of Convenience
by Mary Margret Daughtridge, guest blogger and author of SEALed with a Ring
Marriages of convenience—romance fans love ’em, but when I tell people who aren’t romance readers that SEALed with a Ring: Sometimes you get a lot more than you bargained for is a contemporary romance with a marriage of convenience plot, you’d be surprised how many ask, “What’s a marriage of convenience?”
Next thing you know, I’m explaining marriage plots. You have arranged marriage in which choice of spouse is dictated by parents. Hero or heroine acquiesces, more or less gracefully. Forced marriage is one in which one or both is trapped into marriage against their will. And finally there’s marriage of convenience where one party has a need to marry (that has little or nothing to do with love) and the other agrees—usually for financial gain.
All have built in conflict. All are beloved staples of the romance genre.
With women’s enfranchisement, all have become hard to pull off in a contemporary—a reason, I think, that these days you’ll find three or four times as many historicals as contemporaries.
Although in some cultures arranged marriage is still the norm, in the West the expectation is that people marry because they fall in love. Period. It’s hard to get a plot out of that.
Forced marriage (happily) has also gone by the wayside in mainstream society. No one thinks a marriage to save a reputation or because of unplanned pregnancy is anything but a terrible idea. Marrying a girl too young, or unable, to consent is a crime.
That only leaves marriage of convenience. Once it was perfectly acceptable as long as it was aboveboard and a fair exchange. No more. I suspect many marriages today are quid pro quo contracts (witness the rise of the pre-nup) but who’s going to admit it? Marrying for money is thought “crass,” and being married for one’s money is the mark of a loser.
It’s not easy...
But I love marriage of convenience plots and I refuse to give them up. Character-driven writer that I am, I realized the difficulty of motivating a loveless marriage in a contemporary setting could play to my advantage. A person’s reasons (good or bad) for going against society’s expectations reveal a lot about character.
For the M of C plot to succeed, hero or heroine must be motivated by altruism. From the beginning they are sympathetic characters, invested with a degree of nobility. Since their goal is larger than they are, I have more latitude to make them multi-dimensional, strong yet flawed, without losing the reader’s sympathy.
It feels like love...
I also like to explore relationships—I think most women do. Unblinded by love, the M of C characters confront the details of living together and meeting the world as a unit. They consciously assess the other’s strengths, learn to read emotions, see beneath the surface. Again, a boon to the writer of character-driven contemporaries. When the two finally fall in love, the reader was there for every step. It really feels like love.
And it’s magic...
Best of all, an M of C plot (where they don’t pretend, they really get married) has inherent alchemical magic. For better or worse, marriage changes people.
Sharing is no longer optional. One’s destiny is irrevocably tied to the consequences of another person’s good judgment and luck—or lack thereof. And suddenly, there’s little real choice about how and with whom to spend holidays. Sublime or silly, sharing can be soul shaking. For the writer, it’s another chance to delve into character. For the reader, it’s fun. The plot can take a twist at any moment.
I liked putting a contemporary spin on an old plot so much, I think I’ll do it again sometime.
How about it? Do you love M of C? What is the appeal? If M of C isn’t your fave, what is? Cinderella? Secret Baby? Reunion?
SEALed WITH A RING BY MARY MARGRET DAUGHTRIDGE—IN STORES MARCH 2010
She’s got it all…except the one thing she needs most
Smart, successful businesswoman JJ Caruthers has a year to land a husband or lose the empire she’s worked so hard to build. With time running out, romance is not an option, and a military husband who is always on the road begins to look like the perfect solution…
He’s a wounded hero with an agenda of his own
Even with the scars of battle, Navy SEAL medic Davy Graziano is gorgeous enough to land any woman he wants, and he’s never wanted to be tied down. Now Davy has ulterior motives for accepting JJ’s outrageous proposal of marriage, but he only has so long to figure out what JJ doesn’t want him to know…
Buy: SEALed with a Ring
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Margret Daughtridge has been a grade school teacher, speech therapist, family educator, biofeedback therapist, and Transpersonal Hypnotherapist. She is a member of Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Romancing the Military Soul, and is a sought-after judge in writing contests. She resides in Greensboro, North Carolina. For more information, please visit http://marymargretdaughtridge.com/.
Giveaway: Sourcebooks is offering up 2 copies of SEALed with a Ring. That means two winners! Yay! Open to US and Canadian readers only. To enter answer Mary Margret's question about marriage of convenience plots. One entry per relevant comment; multiple entries allowed. Ends: March 11, 2010.
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March 3rd, 2010 — 4.5 Stars, ARC, Africa, Contemporary, D-F, Executive, Headaches, Heiress, Marriage of Convenience, Medical, Memory Loss, Scarred Hero, Soldier, Travel, United States of America, Wartime
Mary Margret Daughtridge comes out with another fantastic SEAL story. It’s got everything! A smart savvy heiress heroine to a car empire in desperate need of a name-only husband and a hero with partial amnesia, headaches, scarring, charisma, good looks, and skilled in bed! Yum. Yum. Yum. See, I told you it had everything. Wow!
Davy Graziano is a Navy Seal corpsman. The quote at the beginning of the novel gives real insight to Davy as a hero. He figures he will die in service for the Teams and when he doesn’t he’s adrift. It doesn’t help that his mother passed away shortly after visiting him in the hospital. The situation makes him feel that his mother traded her life for his with God and he doesn’t know what to do with his second chance at life. He wants to continue being a Navy Seal but a head wound resulted in brain trauma. He’s forgetful of things he knows he knows and it’s frustrating to no end.
One thing he forgets is JJ Caruthers. Twice. Poor schmuck. Jane Jessup however is very relieved. The more she learns about Navy Seals and Davy in particular the more she sees them and him as the perfect solution to her husbandless problem. JJ contracts Davy into being her husband in an effort to get one over her grandfather who is trying to manipulate her to his liking. Davy won’t take her original offer and renegotiates the terms to his liking but as the marriage unfolds Davy just wants his life back! What’s JJ to do? I’ll tell you… she’s going to save her hero.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Buy: SEALed with a Ring
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December 30th, 2009 — 4 Stars, 4.5 Stars, ARC, Bastard, Children, Contemporary, Cursed Lead, D-F, Politician, Revenge, Sailing, Scarred Hero, Soldier, Teacher, United States of America
J.C Roat and Rick Bremseth, both former SEALs who helped with the research for SEALed with a Promise, might tease Daughtridge about writing mush, but it is mush I definitely like. SEALed is very hero-centric. I closed this book with an urge to call up my best friend to get her dad to find me my very own Do-Lord. In the immortal words of LolCat "I can haz SEAL?" or maybe it was cheezburger, I tend to forget. This book is definitely recommended for the Save the Contemporary project Dear Authors and Smart Bitches are hosting together.
Dry-witted Emmie was a blast. She was smart, intelligent, analytical, observant, goal oriented and true to character. A professor of ecology, Emmie is well read and knowledgeable in many areas. She's the definition of an avid scholar. She dresses down to hide herself and makes it an art form to remain unnoticed, which is why it's so disconcerting that Navy SEAL Caleb "Do-Lord" Delaude does. Emmie is here to support her best friend Pickett in her upcoming nuptials - she is not here looking for a brawny jock, especially the brawny jock who's the best man.
Caleb Delaude is extremely smart. He's down played his intelligence to fit in better amongst his peers. Able to retain facts after reading or glancing at print, he also has an uncanny ability to see things others can't. He's great at picturing layouts from a map, knowing where to place people in any situation and sometimes he gets strange moments of déjà vu where the present and near-future collide. Caleb finds himself fiercely attracted to Emmie and before he knows it he's worming his way into her life... but only because he needs her connections for a revenge plot... right? Strange how the operative changes all because of a slip of a thing!
Rating: 4-4.5 Stars
Buy: SEALed with a Promise
Filed under cursed lead because of Do-Lord's visions.
Originally posted 2009-04-09 05:45:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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December 19th, 2009 — Author Interviews, D-F
Hey there! Look who's here! Meet Mary Margret Daughtridge! Mary Margret is a romance author who's current SEALed Series about "Hard men...soft hearts" is making a splash. She's joined us today for an author interview and I couldn't be happier to have her. To keep things easy Mary Margret Daughtridge will henceforth be referred to as MMD!
Keira: It's obvious that the hunky men who comprise the Navy SEALs inspired SEALed with a Promise, but why focus on SEALs versus say men from other armed forces?
MMD: Honest and truly, the choice of SEALs was serendipitous. I didn't know at the time that I was starting a series-if I had I might have chosen a group which would be a little easier to research-like Green Berets who train at Ft. Bragg, only ninety miles from here. I just needed someone in the military whose job made extreme demands on his time. That would be a SEAL. Everything about them is extreme.
Keira: I read in the back of the book the acknowledgment blurb and it talked about several of the people who let you pick their brains in the name of research. How does one go about finding and then approaching these people for assistance?
MMD: Years ago when I worked as a family advocate, I used to brag I could find out the answer to any question in six phone calls or less. The same principle applies. I just go in a direction that seems promising and keep asking people who do they know who would know. SEALs are a relatively small group. One can lead to another, especially since I have demonstrated that I'm not a groupie, I don't want to know any secrets, I'm not nuts-okay, not dangerously nuts-and I won't misuse their time.
Keira: What was the hardest part of writing SEALed with a Promise?
MMD: The fact that Caleb had chosen such a hard path. I understand that a desire for revenge can be a healthy response to powerlessness, but I don't really like revenge plots, and I resisted writing it. Still, I loved Caleb. The fact that his great strength had made him so vulnerable grabbed my heart. It was often emotionally difficult to let the story unfold because I wanted to protect him from himself.
The above makes it sound like the book is heavy or dark. It isn't, but SEALed With A Promise was emotional for me to write. I cried. A lot.
Keira: Caleb and his Brad Pitt lips - is there an inspirational photo to go along with this fabulous hero? I would love to see! How about Emmie?
MMD: LOL. Caleb looks a little like Matthew McConaughey, and radiates the same laidback charm, but a little rougher and a little colder, at least on the surface. Try this one:
Emmie? I don't know. It's more a look of intelligent innocence than any particular features. A young Teri Garr would come closest I think. Traylor Howard, who plays Natalie Teeger on Monk, has some of the same look.
Keira: What do you think makes Caleb a heroic character and hero to swoon over?
MMD: I hate to admit this, but...I don't know. LOL. All I know is, I write characters I love, and to me that means writing characters-both men and women-who are full of heart. I think there is no sanity without humor, so they have a sense of humor and the ability to laugh at themselves. They need generosity and the capacity to put another's needs before their own. Finally they need to be human. That means they get it wrong sometimes. They mess up. They have blind spots. And sometimes they are led astray, not by their faults, but by their virtues.
Keira: How do you define love?
MMD: The definition I'm always working from as I craft the relationships between hero and heroine is I love the person I am when I'm with you. I believe love heals and allows us to show ourselves, and others, our best, while making space for the fact that we are human.
While I enjoy a fantasy fairytale romance, I have a strong resistance to writing them myself. My intention is to craft a relationship which really would work. And that means neither party gets "fixed" by the relationship, and yet the relationship creates a safe space in which each can grow.
I don't think any intelligent reader believes Caleb and Emmie will live happily ever after, but I do hope readers will see that a good strong foundation of respect, appreciation, and fun has been established from which Caleb and Emmie can continue to grow in love.
Keira: How do you decide on the character names (for Caleb and Emmie especially)?
Names are important. They summarize a character's history. Caleb's nickname, Do-Lord, popped into my mind the same instant he did, and I knew that it was given to him at the start of his SEAL career-a mark of his acceptance into a special group, but also a name he hid much his true self behind.
But I didn't know what his real name was for quite a while. I thought he needed a Biblical name and played around with Jesse, but it just didn't' work. One day another writer mentioned Caleb. I looked up the Biblical story and realized Caleb was an Israelite spy sent by Moses to spy on the Promised Land to determine if it could be captured.
It was perfect because Caleb was determined to use his covert skills to spy on Senator Calhoun, and Caleb's mother (who named him) would have considered Calhoun's life to be the Promised Land.
The Biblical Caleb is often designated as "the spy who told the truth," which adds a layer of irony to my Caleb right up to the moment when he decides to tell the truth, knowing the truth will destroy his relationship with Emmie.
Emmie needed a name that put her solidly outside the mainstream. Her full name is Emelina Theodora. Her missionary parents had waited for children so long that they considered her birth a miracle. They named her for a grandmother, Emelina, and added Theodora which means "gift of God."
But despite her brains, she needed a name that showed that those who knew her best valued her and held her in affection. Thus the pet name of Emmie.
Keira: Why did you decide to write romance or "mush" as some people are inclined to think (wink)?
MMD: I believe in the message of romance. Oh not happily ever after-that isn't possible, of course. But the structure of romance always carries the message that good people working together can overcome adversity, and find valuable qualities in themselves and others. I happen to believe that this message is true, and we need stories that keep us going in the dark times.
Another reason is that romance of all the genres is the most psychological. In the romance genre I have the freedom to explore character at some depth.
Your wink is referring to some of the SEALs who have helped me in my research. They tease me about writing mush. I teased them back by having Caleb, a voracious reader, read romance novels while in Afghanistan-because he's already read all the techno-thrillers, and the romance novels are all that are left.
SEALed With a Kiss garnered a lot of praise, but the praise that meant the most to me was "Mary Margret understands the human condition-and makes you feel good about it." That was written by a retired SEAL who has become a dear friend, JC Roat.
Keira: What do you think is the greatest creative risk you've taken?
MMD: Deciding to cast a SEAL as a feel-good-romance hero. Until my books, the SEALs were always the leads in romantic suspense-a subgenre I thoroughly enjoy in the hands of Suzanne Brockmann and others, but I didn't want to write it. I knew my books would confound some people's expectations.
There are people who don't get it. Occasionally, I'm criticized for not idealizing my characters, especially the SEALs-the suggestion being that I am disrespecting them. The truth is, I respect them too much to portray them as little tin gods, shiny but hollow. SEALs' extraordinary qualities seem more amazing to me because they exist in thoroughly human, fallible, vulnerable creatures-not Superman.
I'm very fortunate that Deb Werksman at Sourcebooks was willing to take a chance on a "novel" concept. (Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.)
Keira: What do you hope your readers will gain from your books?
MMD: First of all, I write entertainment fiction, and make no apology for it. Making people happy for a few hours and leaving them feeling good is honorable work. Anytime I've done that, I'm happy.
If readers gain an appreciation of the fact that people-even wonderful people-aren't perfect, and that very often their greatest strengths are also their greatest shortcomings, then maybe they will have more compassion for others. And for themselves.
Keira: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?
MMD: Just my thanks. You offered some great, insightful questions which I thoroughly enjoyed discussing.
I love hearing from readers. They can contact me through my website http://marymargretdaughtridge.com.
Well you heard Mary Margret! Go visit her site! Thanks for joining us today it's been a blast! Don't miss SEALed with a Kiss
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Originally posted 2009-04-11 05:50:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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April 7th, 2009 — D-F, Guest Blogger, Sailing, Soldier
by Mary Margret Daughtridge, guest blogger and author of SEALed with a Promise.
I like men. I couldn't live without the friendship and support of women, but I thoroughly enjoy the company of men. I think that's why I write hero-centered romances.
Men are not the same as women except with the... you know and not...the other. They really are different. In fact, since they have a chromosome women don't, I read an argument once that men and women can be considered different species. Their humanity offers them the same challenges, but their experiences are sometimes poles apart.
I don't like to lump people, even as broad a category as men, with generalizations, since one can always think of an exception. But liking men as I do, and enjoying to challenge of writing a man's point of view, there are a few things I've noticed.
Men, more than women, engage in purposeful behavior. I know, I know-women do too. But men are much more likely to be single-minded in their goals than women, and the clearer the purpose, the better they like it.
It's the reason some men don't know what a woman who kept house and looked after three children "did" all day. It's the reason they want to bang their heads when a woman has been gone for hours and says she was "shopping." Men are perfectly capable of spending hours in a store, but when they do it's because they know they're looking for a pair of deck shoes, a tractor, a rotary saw, a forty-inch bat. Now pay attention: that's what they are looking for even if they already have ten of the above, or don't intend to buy for the next eighteen years!
I understood question of purpose when I overheard two men discussing a movie romance they had been coerced into watching. I had watched the same movie and not liked it much, so I was very curious to hear their opinion. They were talking about the hero who was just plain rude, in a pig-headed macho way, to the heroine the first time they met. All romance fans will recognize a stock "alpha" hero.
The guys were laughing at him. They thought he was an idiot. Because he was rude? No. Because he was pig-headed? No. Because he was macho? No.
Because they assumed his purpose in speaking was to get the heroine to go to bed with him, and he was stupid if he thought that had a prayer of working. In short they assumed his behavior was purpose-motivated rather than emotion-motivated.
And that brings me to my second observation. Men really are thinking about sex all the time. I have a hard time imagining how they get anything done, that being the case, but I know it's true.
Women of course are not thinking about sex all the time-only some of the time. Most of the time, they're thinking in terms of permanence, meaning they are aware that they are, or are not, looking for permanence, and they are evaluating his fitness for the long haul.
One of the things I like best about the romance genre is that the writer has the freedom to switch points of view between hero and heroine. Since my biggest interest is to explore relationships, I often use point of view shifts to reveal the humor of men's and women's different agendas.
Now, I don't write comedy or even light romance. But even in the juiciest, most emotional stories there's room for humor and what could be funnier than watching men and women mix themselves up?
Caleb, my hero of SEALed with a Promise is super-smart and wily. There's a little well-controlled bad boy in any SEAL. In Caleb, there's a lot. He has realized Emmie can help him attain his goal of getting close to a powerful senator. Being seen with her will probably be sufficient, but being a man, hey why not add sex too? I mean, why not? He's not going to hurt her, in fact, he'll make sure it's good for her. And he'll be doing her a favor. Any woman who dresses the way Emmie does can't be getting much.
And of course, when the hero and heroine are together I love to confound their expectations. What he doesn't know is that Emmie, child of missionaries, was made for him.
He's a Bad Boy. She's a Good Girl.
SEALed with a Promise is a hero-centered romance, meaning that the story is pushed by his goals, But she's just as capable of pursuing her own agenda and just as smart. You can find out more about SEALed With a Promise and me at http://marymargretdaughtridge.com
What about you? Do you like a hero-centered romance, or do you prefer one that's told mostly from the heroine's point of view?
Mary Margaret Daughtridge is giving away one copy of SEALed With a Promise to a lucky commentor who responds to her question. You can also enter by asking her a question. Open to US and Canada readers only. Winner will be announced April 8th, 2009.
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