tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post727100484463223569..comments2023-07-13T16:21:08.229+01:00Comments on Step Into The Story: Taking Risks with the Happy Ever AfterNicola Cornickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12916076219284821820noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-24238713583259624942009-08-21T20:50:53.703+01:002009-08-21T20:50:53.703+01:00Oh, you both mentioned my fave hero! Yay Vidal :)...Oh, you both mentioned my fave hero! Yay Vidal :)Alisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13420150980378381269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-75097032006445493062009-08-21T12:27:48.571+01:002009-08-21T12:27:48.571+01:00Jenny, thank you. I'm very happy you think my ...Jenny, thank you. I'm very happy you think my heroes so resourceful, amongst other things! <br /><br />Yes, Vidal is a wonderful example of the flawed hero. I remember being genuinely shocked when he shot that fellow and left him lying in the road. I found that really hard to deal with. And he was pretty foul to Mary to begin with yet I loved the way she was his perfect foil. To me that book is the ultimate example of a hero who reforms through the love and influence of his "bright, particular star."Nicola Cornickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12916076219284821820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-26806308801997427102009-08-21T12:16:09.390+01:002009-08-21T12:16:09.390+01:00Thanks so much for contributing to the debate, eve...Thanks so much for contributing to the debate, everyone. I haven't come across Blake Snyder, Michelle, so I will read his thoughts with interest.<br /><br />Louise, I thought you summed up the flawed hero beautifully. It's all about growth, redemption and a strong heroine to balance him.<br /><br />Alison, I glad you're intrigued! I've just heard that MIRA Books will be publishing the Brides of Fortune trilogy in the UK next year so I hope UK readers will want to get their hands on the books then! And I'm glad you like the picture. I love it - so romantic!Nicola Cornickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12916076219284821820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-6731847813656213632009-08-21T11:37:36.832+01:002009-08-21T11:37:36.832+01:00Oh no, Nicola, don't go for 'nice'. I...Oh no, Nicola, don't go for 'nice'. I love your multi-faceted heroes. <br /><br />Much looking forward to your Bear Grylls traveller, but ALL your guys are the sort of people you could depend on if the carriage lost a wheel in the middle of a lonely moor on a dark and stormy night. <br /><br />Surely, the hero who is at odds with the world and only the heroine can get near is the essence of romance? Think Vidal, the ultimate romantic hero. But your Ben can give him a good run for his money.<br /><br />JennyJenny Haddonhttp://www.jennyhaddon.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-22816807449164990462009-08-21T11:13:56.897+01:002009-08-21T11:13:56.897+01:00I don't mind heroes having issues, and having ...I don't mind heroes having issues, and having a journey to go on, to a certain extent to their happy endings. I have to confess that I haven't read your new series yet, but with some of the comments I've become more intrigued.<br /><br />On a separate note, I was very pleased to see the picture from All For Love or St. Ives! Now, there's a bit of a scoundrel who had a lot to learn!Alisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13420150980378381269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-84397610426150356592009-08-21T09:22:26.655+01:002009-08-21T09:22:26.655+01:00Niceness sounds a touch "vanilla" for my...Niceness sounds a touch "vanilla" for my tastes, I have to say. I like a flawed hero and I have confidence when I pick up one of Nicola's books that I'm not going to find a man who is incapable of growth and redemption. I also know I'm going to find a heroine who can stand up to him until he finds his way there! Once a bully, always a bully IMO,and my tolerance for that is zero - but I never saw any of these men as bullies - misguided, hurt and therefore capable of hurting, dangerous until they learn better, yes. For me the capacity for empathy is key - the moment when they see the other persons pov and emotions and can sacrifice their own needs to that, and I felt that in all these books and that's what gave me the emotionally satisfying ending I look for.Louise Allenhttp://www.louiseallenregency.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-16775316568771459982009-08-21T08:46:17.807+01:002009-08-21T08:46:17.807+01:00I think more than a HEA, you need an emotionally s...I think more than a HEA, you need an emotionally satisfying ending.<br />Close ended plots where all the threads are tied up are the commmerically successful of all plot types. People do want to know.<br /><br />If you are getting feedback about niceness etc, it is not the ending, but the beginnings you should be looking at. The Save the Cat moment/hint that the hero or heroine is redeemable possibly (see Blake Snyder Save the Cat) needs to be more pronounced than it already is. <br />FWIW<br />And of course I tend to think your heroes are to die for.Michelle Styleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03400990189443593076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-37632737304729103022009-08-20T18:11:27.781+01:002009-08-20T18:11:27.781+01:00Thank you very much for your comments, Keira. I to...Thank you very much for your comments, Keira. I too love watching the way that the hero and heroine change and grow, both separately and together, towards the HEA.<br /><br />I am very glad that you enjoyed the Brides of Fortune series. Thank you.Nicola Cornickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12916076219284821820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-56877165720748486982009-08-20T07:08:38.245+01:002009-08-20T07:08:38.245+01:00Nicola, as I've said elsewhere before, I loved...Nicola, as I've said elsewhere before, I loved your new series.<br /><br />For me, it's more fascinating when an author starts with not a perfectly slotted h/h, sometimes even very disparate ones, but convincingly unravels their story and brings about their solid HEA. Its not who the characters are in the begining of the book, but in the how, in the middle of the book, that either I'm rolling my eyes or I'm glued to the book, which is where magic happens.Keira Soleorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440213826734580889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-29446538434390879702009-08-19T21:49:23.956+01:002009-08-19T21:49:23.956+01:00I wasn't convinced of the motivations of eithe...I wasn't convinced of the motivations of either Dexter and Laura, or Miles and Alice.<br /><br />I was surprised that Dexter would use an innocent child to blackmail Laura to do his will. I was equally surprised that Laura, with her background with her husband and her role with the Glory Girls, let him get away with it. <br /><br />As for Miles and Alice, yes, Miles was abused. He did a lot of rotten things, but I couldn't see that he made a habit out of abusing innocent people. Because that's exactly what he did with Alice. He blackmailed her as much as Dexter did Laura. And she, after all the trials she suffered as a servant, let him get away with it. <br /><br />I really doubt these marriages will succeed. Both men are blackmailers, ie, bullies, and the only way to disarm a bully is to confront him. <br /><br />I understand you have to try different things. Maybe I just want to see a better world in romances than I see in the real world.Linda Banchehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18143074276306710646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-75170585298835243182009-08-19T19:46:42.749+01:002009-08-19T19:46:42.749+01:00Wow, Linda, I'm kind of shocked by that! Thank...Wow, Linda, I'm kind of shocked by that! Thanks for sharing those thoughts, though. Clearly the books didn't work for you and in that respect I failed to deliver the HEA and I'm sorry.<br /><br />All I can say is that I think this illustrates the point I'm making in the blog post. If the motivation convinces the reader, then they can see why the characters behave as they do and can buy into their journey and their HEA. From my perspective, Dexter's behaviour flowed from Laura's treatment of him. According to Newton's Law every action results in a reaction; Laura's actions resulted in Dexter's response. But my job as an author is to convince all my readers of the validity of that - which clearly I didn't!<br /><br />In Miles case I think you are absoultely right - Miles is very tough, cynical and disillusioned and feels that he doesn't have an ounce (or a thimbleful) of the milk of human kindness left in him and this shows in his treatment of Alice. Miles is not a nice person. In his case, as in Lizzie's in Undoing, it is his background and experience that has made him the person he is. With both of them I hope that to understand their experiences is to see why they behave as they do. Miles comeuppance is being brought to his knees by Alice and under her influence he learns to be a better man.<br /><br />I'm always disappointed when people don't like my books and I take those comments very seriously and try to learn from them because it would be an arrogant author who didn't. I still believe that I have to keep taking risks with the HEA, though, and pushing my characters as far as I can. My job is to make sure that the motivations are so strong and so convincing that I can carry readers with me.Nicola Cornickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12916076219284821820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7974614945447984069.post-78760393109265175472009-08-19T16:34:05.396+01:002009-08-19T16:34:05.396+01:00Like you, I read to escape the real world. I want ...Like you, I read to escape the real world. I want a little fantasy in my life, and a break from the gritty reality of newspapers and television.<br /><br />Part of the reason I read romance is for that happy ending. I know a romance has a guaranteed happy ending.<br /><br />I liked Ben Hawksmoor, and I can understand his need for financial security. I firmly believe the only people who say "Money isn't everything" have always had tons of it. <br /><br />I found myself a little disappointed in Dexter Anstruther in "Confessions of a Duchess". I liked him from "Unmasked", but he turned out to be really nasty to Laura, and I hated him for it. I also thought Miles Vickery was too nasty to Alice Lister in "The Scandals of an Innocent".<br /><br />I'm a little scared to read "The Undoing of a Lady" because I'm afraid Nate will also be a little too nasty for my taste.<br /><br />I hate really mean heroes. I don't think such men deserve the title of "hero" and I've tossed books that have that kind of hero.<br /><br />Heroes do not have to be completely good, but I do like a little more niceness than I found in the first two books of "The Brides of Fortune".Linda Banchehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18143074276306710646noreply@blogger.com