Ever wanted to try your hand at writing a romance novel, after all, how hard could it be? Right? Go on…admit it! You have? Great!
Here’s some excellent advice:
Albeit rather tongue in cheek 
Have a happy Easter everyone!
I saw an interesting article in the New Zealand Herald the other day, and bookmarked it for later reading and blogging about. With it being Valentine’s Day here in NZ already, what better day than today?
In the article it states that 90% of human cultures kiss (which begs the question, what do the other 10% do?) and then propounds the theory that this practice may have come from mothers chewing up food for their children and giving it to them by mouth (I’m kind of gagging at this point.) Thankfully, someone has busted this theory and researchers Susan M. Hughes, Marissa A. Harrison and Gordon G. Gallup Jr. found that kissing is in fact part of an evolved courtship ritual. Thank goodness!! Because let me tell you, when considering the former, it’s enough to put me off kissing The Man of The House forever!
Plus, there’s further evidence that women use kissing as a way to monitor the 
status of their relationship, and to assess and periodically update the level of commitment on the part of their partner. Who knew?
Actually, who did know? Any thoughts? What’s in a kiss for you?
I freely admit that having this movie in our DVD player was NOT my choice. I’d read the premise of the film, I’d even seen other people blog about it–but faced with another evening of boring television (we don’t have cable) we watched KNOCKED UP since it had been hired by the kids.
Firstly, I think this movie could have been a whole lot better than it was. The actual premise had a ton of potential to show some great character growth and yes, while the lead male’s behaviour was incredibly juvenile and lacking responsibility he came to the party and was prepared to be ‘there’ for both the girl he knocked up and the baby that resulted from their one night of random sex.
I suppose, really, that his portrayal was pretty honest for the situation but the movie really lost it for me when the secondary characters (the heroine’s sister and husband) started acting out. What is it with couples, or at least TV and movie couples, where a female gets to say ‘I don’t like the way you’ve been behaving, I want you out of the house.’ Is there abuse? No. If there was I certainly wouldn’t have issue with wanting someone out of the house. Is there mental cruelty? No. Has he forgotten how to communicate with his wife about his own dreams? Yes. D’uh. Makes no sense for him to move out in my book. How the heck are you supposed to make things right when you’re not even together?
Call me old-fashioned, I don’t mind. I just find the whole cut and run thing (or even the cut and banish thing) very immature, especially when kids are involved and especially when there’s been no effort to seek to make things right in the first place–one strike and you’re out? Excuse me? To me, marriage and long term relationships are work all the way. Sometimes good work, sometimes hard work, but always work–much like life really. Forget to breathe and you’ve had it. Equate breathing with working on keeping your relationship healthy, and aren’t relationships the same way?
Anyway, suffice to say I wasn’t disappointed in this movie because I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy it. Yes, there were moments of humour that weren’t based in a particularly grubby toilet bowl and, yes, I’m probably not the target audience for this film being <mumble mumble> years old, married for half that time, etc.
So anyone seen a really good movie they’d like to direct me to? I don’t care if its comedy, romance, drama, thriller or action (just not too much gore, please.) Tell me about it, please?
I picked up “SLEEPING PARTNER” recently and started to read it the other day. You know, it’s always a huge delight, as an author, to get totally and happily lost in another author’s story and this duo, available through eHarlequin Australia, is such a delight.
Here’s a brief blurb:
Mia Fletcher has just inherited a dilapidated colonial hotel in the heart of Penang from the mother she never knew. She’s tempted to stay and restore it. Even more tempted to find out what she can about her mysterious mother… And enigmatic hotelier Ethan Hamilton can help her do both. There’s just one catch.
He’s the son of the man her mother ran off with.
And she’s hopelessly, outrageously attracted to him…
I really enjoyed Kelly Hunter’s first release so was very keen to read her ‘Penang’ book. I was not disappointed. Kelly has penned a romance that still sits there in my heart and my mind as I’m writing this. Her characters, from the hero and heroine right through to the delightfully eccentric interior decorator, are painted so vividly that I really felt as though I was voyeuristically living and seeing their lives. I’ve never been to Penang but I feel I gained a sense of it’s beauty through the eyes of someone who truly love/s/d being there. Kelly’s done a fantastic job of this story with how she’s set up the situation between the heroine and hero and how she’s built and then resolved the conflict. I genuinely look forward to her next release. She’s become an auto buy for me now.
So, Kelly’s great story aside, I wondered what the bonus novel was included with “SLEEPING PARTNER”. I was thrilled to discover it was Julie Cohen’s “ALL WORK AND NO PLAY…”
Here’s a brief blurb:
Jane is hopeless at seduction. So when she meets a gorgeous male model she asks her online friend, geeky computer nerd Jonny, for advice on how to turn on a man.
Too bad she doesn’t know that the gorgeous male model is actually Jonny…
Like Julie, I have a real weakness for a mistaken identity story, especially one that’s extremely well done and this one definitely is. Julie has a great writing style that’s light and humorous without detracting from the intensity of the needs and wants of her central characters.
I highly recommend getting a hold of both these books (in the duo if you can! Great value!) if you like sexy, sassy, fun romance that still hits you in the heart and leaves you feeling well satisfied as a reader. And, if you’re interested in a copy, I have one to giveaway. All you need to do to be in the draw to win a copy is to tell me which great books you’ve read lately and why you liked them!
UPDATE: I’ll keep this competition open until Wednesday 31 October and announce the winner then.
Caught an interesting post today (3 October) on The Writing Playground and have to admit that my mind is totally boggled at the thought of state legislature banning something like the sale of sex toys. Seems a bit OTT to me, but what do you think?
