WELCOME TO
RWA/NYC’s HAPPY ENDINGS BLOG TOUR!
June being
the month of Brides,
we thought it apropos to talk about Happy Endings.
Visit us
daily this week and learn what some of our members think about the much sought
after and often elusive “Happy Ever After.”
Ay, there’s the
rub. For in those five little letters abides a world of differing opinions.
I once thought
of “happy” in the Wizard of Oz/Norman Rockwell sense. And then I turned eleven,
and have ever since been trying to come to terms with exactly what does “happy”
mean. Never mind trying to figure out “ending.”
We know all too
well what HEA means, and it better not have anything to do with Into the Woods, which is anything but.
Readers, and editors and acquiring publishers, want a clean finish. No wobbling
on the blades. Norman and Dorothy lock-stepping into the sunset destined to
spend the rest of their days together in connubial bliss. Or at least
canoodling bliss.
And if Norm
happens to be a hunky billionaire with soulful eyes who can incite one to
multiple organisms, and if Dot happens to sparkle like the cheerleader(s) who
set your nether regions to flame in grade school, so much the better.
Then, the
billionaire with a penchant for grey ties and blood red playrooms comes along
and/or the cheerleader who has lost her cheeriness but who still boils your
hormones like Old Faithful, and things start to get dicey.
The diceyness
might not be all, but it has its place in the romance canon. There is room for
the not-so-easily defined cowboy or city girl, musician or mechanic, or lord or
lady of the manor. I believe many readers have been the HEA route and know it’s
not paved with yellow bricks but would like to believe there are still good
reasons for tromping on down it and seeing where it leads. I want to provide a
route for that escape, by providing characters they can empathize with, get
annoyed with, then cheer for, and hopefully in so doing also perhaps provide a
little insight into themselves during the process.
I would like my
reader to close the book and think not only was that a great read, but also,
just maybe, subliminally, feel better about themselves, having been challenged
to think a little deeper, feel a little something they hadn’t quite felt
before, perhaps give a passing positive thought to an attitude they possibly
had been dismissive of. To realize that “happy” can mean a lot of different
things for a fictional character…and them.
It may not be
exactly bridge crossing time, but every story we tell has the opportunity to
plop another stepping stone down in the mire of human emotions. Give your
readers characters with lives that matter, with depth and humanity in all its
failings and triumphs, and with whom your readers can relate, even the sketchy
ones. A villain that touches us can open a pathway into a better understanding
of our own badder nature. Every little bit helps.
And of course
if those little bits are clothed like billionaires or sheathed like sexy
cheerleaders, well, that’s what makes it a romance in all its wonderful
ramifications and combinations.
That’s what
makes it happy.♥
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Troy Storm is right in the middle of learning
and sharing stories that excite, challenge and give a chuckle—and occasionally
a hearty guffaw. Try out his CoveHaven ménages, HAVING IT ALL, GETTING IT ALL,
WANTING MORE and NEVER TOO MUCH in all their combinations: MMF, FFM, MMM, FFF
and even HEA.
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Great post, Troy! Very insightful and sensitive. You're a gifted writer.
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