What Is Noir Romance? by Laura Oliva

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"You’re a bitter little lady."
"It’s a bitter little world."
- Paul Henereid and Joan Bennett, "Hollow Triumph"

Romance is not a genre most people associate with "grit."

When you mention "romance," those who consider themselves serious readers usually roll their eyes (whether or not this is fair is a subject for another post).  Romance? they say.  Give me a real book.  Romance means fluffy characters, weak plotlines, fantasy locales.

Right?

I love a love story.  But the trappings of "romance" always left me cold.  I don't want some sweet, good-hearted heroine who just knows -knows- there's a good person beneath our hero's gruff exterior.

I want Lauren Bacall.  You know how to whistle, Steve?  Give me a fast-talking, quick-with-a-quip dame who knows how to handle a piece (wink, wink).

Nor do I want a hero custom-made for a female audience.  Men don't get all flowery when they're talking to a woman.  Men don't narrate their inner struggle before they tell their girl they love her (and if they do, it sure as shit doesn't sound like Shakespeare).  Men don't turn into Longfellow when they make love.

Hell, men don't "make love." Men...

So give me a hero who... Who is a little selfish and a bit of a brute, who doesn't always play nice.  Who doesn't always act like a hero.  Who leaves the toilet seat up and has a mouth like a moderately well-educated longshoreman.  Who respects his own moral code, if not always the law.

Now let's say you've given me these people -these hard, harsh, deliciously damaged people.  Where are you going to stick them?  Not in a resort (okay, maybe if it's a shitty resort).

You're going to stick them in a place where life is tough.  Where joy is fleeting, morality is a luxury, and love is a joke.  A place designed to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Where the weak are crushed and the strong don't fare much better.

So what is noir romance?

Noir romance is all these things.  Cynical characters.  Antagonistic locations.  Warped people with warped problems that have no simple solutions.  People who are just trying to survive.  Sometimes they do the right thing, but it's usually by accident.

These are people who by all rights should never fall in love.  But they do.  And when they do, it's explosive.

I don't know about you, but I've had enough of the fluffy stuff.  I love a love story, but bring on the pain.  Bring on the night.

Bring on the noir.

Want more of Laura's writing?  You can find all her books (including her new noir romance series) on her Amazon Author Page.

A Day in the Life of an Author by Bianca Sloane

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5:00 a.m. – The alarm goes off.  “I Gotta Feeling,” by the Black Eyed Peas is playing.  I gotta feeling I may have been smoking crack when I set the alarm last night.

5:30 a.m. – The alarm goes off again.  Was I really serious when I said I would get up early and work out today?  “Bust a Move,” by Young MC is playing. Ugh.  Now the DJis trying to motivate me?

6:00 a.m. – Okay, I’ll do a hard stop at 5:00 p.m. and get my workout in.  “Dead or Alive,” by Bon Jovi is playing.  Start singing along in my head.

6:45 a.m.  – Well, now I’m hungry, so I maybe I will get up.  The DJ is talking, which quickly brings my hand down on the snooze button.  

7:15 a.m. – Alright, I really DO need to get up now.

7:20 a.m. – The morning ritual (sans workout) commences: brush teeth, get on the scale (ugh – why?), drink a glass of water to quell hunger, scroll through the BlackBerry to look at all the emails that came in overnight, mess around on Facebook, glance at Twitter, check sales, look at GoodReads.

8:00 a.m. – Still haven’t eaten.  Make scrambled eggs, toast and tea.  Watch “Frasier” reruns on Lifetime while eating.  Frasier and his new girlfriend, Charlotte, are trapped in the country with some extras from “Deliverance,” while Niles interviews the physical therapist that he thinks is the stripper and Daphne interviews the stripper she thinks is the nanny.  Hilarity ensues.

8:30 a.m. – Shower and dress.  Even when you work from home, the rule is, you always shower. ALWAYS.

9:00 a.m. – At my desk, which faces a corner in my living room.  Make out my to-do list for the day.

9:15 a.m. – Actually start working; answering emails, working on blog posts, check Amazon, muse on what to post on Facebook.  Check BN.com.

10:15 a.m. – Open up WIP to go over it with a fine tooth comb to start assessing the massive plot holes.  Write down my findings in my trusty notebook.  Gosh these pages are filling up fast.

11:30 a.m. – Mess around on Facebook.  Just for 15 minutes.

12:00 p.m. – Boy, did I go down a rabbit hole.  Resume p(l)ot hole assessment.

12:30 p.m. – Hunger strikes.  Grab an apple. Mess around on Twitter.  Just for 15 minutes. 

1:00 p.m. – And yet another rabbit hole.  Get back to the holes that matter and resume work on WIP.

2:00 p.m. – Realize I’m starving.  Lunch awaits.  Salmon and salad. Vain attempt to make the scale like me tomorrow.  Watch the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” episode that’s been on my DVR for almost a week.  

2:15 p.m. – My head hurts. 

3:00 p.m. – Back to work.  

3:40 p.m. – Work, work, work, work.  Oh, wait, I haven’t been on Pinterest yet today…

4:15 p.m. – Okay, really, I should get back to work.  Right after I check out PEOPLE.com and EW.com…

4:30 p.m. – Back to work.

5:30 p.m. – Oh, who am I kidding – I’m not going to work out today.  Like Scarlett O’Hara says, tomorrow is another day.  Besides, I’m on a roll—I’m figuring out the problems with my WIP.  Whew!

6:00 p.m. – Think about what to have for dinner.  Start texting with best friend, start finalizing weekend plans with some other girlfriends.  

6:30 p.m. – Still haven’t eaten.  Decisions: leftover pepperoni pizza or salmon?

6:32 p.m. – Pizza.  Duh.

6:45 p.m. – Watch today’s “General Hospital,” and fast-forward through half of it.  Do they have to put all the storylines I don’t like in one episode?

7:30 p.m.  – Can’t stop thinking about WIP.  Open it back up and start combing through it again.

9:30 p.m. – Oooh – “Frasier!”

10:30 p.m. – Stick a fork in me.  

10:45 p.m. – Wait…what time am I setting the alarm for tomorrow?

My Real Writer's Life by Dyane Forde

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Being a writer is tough. I’ve written stories and whatnot most of my life, but my journey to write and publish books began nearly four years ago. When I started, my biggest concern was figuring out how to turn my ideas into a story long enough to be considered ‘a book’. I spent hour after hour reading, writing, editing and reviewing works by other people, having my own works critiqued and all of it was rewarding but exhausting. But I loved to write and the dream of publishing kept me going.

Speed ahead to today. I've three books written, one of which is published (The Purple Morrow), have three others in progress and plenty of short stories in my portfolio. I’ve been busy. But that’s not all. Everyone knows that writing a book is only the beginning. An author must have a platform, must be integrated in social media to connect with readers and other professionals in the market. You have to have a business plan, must devote hours to this thing that might have started out as a hobby but has now become a realizable Dream. This is the hard part. It’s the stuff that sucks your energy dry, takes away from the time needed to write, and in some cases, even drains away some—or all--of the excitement of even being a writer.

So this is where I’ve been these last few weeks. When The Purple Morrow came out, the days of being an ‘aspiring author’ ended and I became a ‘published author’. Money is now involved because I have copies of my book to sell. I have to get out into the community and connect with local merchants, you know, build a local reputation for myself. This is a career I’m trying to build, after all, one that will hopefully thrive online as well as in the ‘real world.’ It’s great and fun, yet it’s also daunting.

One morning, I awoke in a panic. I’d been off my marketing/promotional game for a few weeks and suddenly didn't know what my game plan was anymore. My head swirled with all the blog posts about what I SHOULD be doing, but I was paralyzed by the sheer enormity of it all—I was overwhelmed. For me, when that happens I know it’s either time to Act or to Bail. I chose to Act. I started by emailing some contacts I’d been procrastinating.

That led me on to something else. There was a certain book store I’d been trying to get a hold of but hadn't been able to find the number to. Then, my mother left me an excited message: she’d been to the bookstore and told the owner about my book and he was interested in selling it on consignment. Being a little shy to make a cold call, I’d put it off. A few days later I emailed him but got no answer, probably because of Christmas. So this morning, I bucked up and called. What an amazing surprise! This wonderful, cheerful woman answered, and guess what? At that exact moment, she’d just opened my email to read! 30 minutes later, I’d dressed, packed up the kids and was driving 40 minutes to the book store.

Now, why’s this important? Talking with her and seeing how excited she was about the book reignited my own excitement about what I was doing and why I did it. It reminded me of the anticipation of holding a brand new book in my hand and not being able to wait to dig into it. Then my kids got into it.

“Mom, in your next book, can you write about a lizard?” asked my 7-year-old.

I smiled and said, “Baby, the last story you helped me with had a dragon. That’s sorta like a lizard.”

But the joy I saw in my kids’ eyes and smiles touched me. They were proud to talk to the book store clerk about my books and stories, so much so that they wanted to help with the upcoming ones. On the way home, my 9-year-old started making up a story (for me) about—yes, a dragon--and before I knew it, he was up to chapter 5! It was a great story filled with knights and volcanoes and a kind, old dragon sitting atop a massive pile of gold. I just smiled to myself as I drove and realized that this was my true writing life. Writing is more than following a business plan, or trying to find the best marketing strategies, or getting frustrated about not being able to find inspiration for a project. It’s the impact my stories have on other people, the positive feedback I get from a reader, the excitement I hear in a person’s voice when they ask about the sequel. It’s the imagination triggered in my children when they are given the confidence to dream because of what I have chosen to do. Writing really can touch people’s lives.

How about you? Have you had a similar experience? Has all the running around gotten the best of you, and how did you manage to overcome it? What does writing mean to you?

Dyane Forde’s love of writing began with an early interest in reading and of words in general. She was always amazed at how linking words together in different ways had unexpected and pleasing results on others. People enjoyed what she created! This sparked a life-long desire to write all types of things, from short stories, novels, flash fiction, poetry…she enjoys trying genres and forms of writing which are different from what she’s used to; every story or book represents new joys and challenges. Dyane views writing as an amazing and intimate communication tool, meaning that it becomes a means through which she seeks to connect with others on a level deeper than intellect.

Dyane is a social worker by profession. Learning to see the world through other people’s eyes as well as sharing in their pain has influenced and enriched her as a person, as well as her writing. She is also a wife, and mother to two children, a cat named JackJack and a dog named Sparky.

She can be reached at her writing blog at www.droppedpebbles.wordpress.com, where her other writing projects, and information and samples of her upcoming books can be found.

Please write! Dyane loves to hear from her readers.
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The Rovers had been sent to decimate the Southernlands. Instead, they awoke its savior.

Ten years have passed since the Rover army tore through the Southernlands, leaving behind a trail of devastation and death. Most believed the attacks were random acts of brutality. The wise, however, knew the truth: the Rovers sought to destroy the one thing powerful enough to thwart their conquest. They were searching for the Papilion. 

A new commander, bent on completing the mission left unfinished by his predecessors, leads the Rovers back into the Southernlands. Fierce and determined, he comes armed with a precious artifact and a secret purpose. 

While the Southernlands reel under the new terror, the Purple Morrow, a harbinger of hope, appears to Jeru, an unsuspecting and solitary clan hunter. Finding himself enmeshed in a series of incredible events beyond his control, Jeru is compelled to take the first steps towards discovering his ultimate destiny.

Five Things I Learned About Men by Gale Martin

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Ellie Overton, my viewpoint character in Who Killed ‘Tom Jones’?, is twenty-eight years old, never married, and longing for one of those white-hot romances she’s read all about in romance novels. So, Ellie is intrigued by each man who crosses her path. And I made sure I threw as many men into her path as possible. That meant creating male love interests with different personalities and motivations, which required doing some research about men—a tough job, I know, but someone had to do it. 

Here are some of the things I learned:

1.       The most important factors men look for in women are a positive outlook and self-confidence. Women who think knock-out looks are their greatest asset are probably putting way too much pressure on their physical features at the expense of developing other desirable and enduring qualities. Besides giving Ellie fulfilling relationships with the senior citizens she worked with, I also gave Ellie an essentially upbeat outlook on life and the chance to improve her self-confidence.

2.       Men's feelings change much faster than women's. There are more points at which men may fall out of love with their wives and girlfriends and fall in love with someone else as compared to women. The men in Who Killed ‘Tom Jones’? fall hard for Ellie, and initially, she has trouble accepting their feelings. Of course, Ellie will make mistakes, but I did give her the chance to learn an invaluable lesson during the book--not to take a man or his feelings for granted. 

3.       Men want their women to talk less about the relationship they’re in and simple enjoy being in it. It isn’t Ellie’s tendency to dissect a man’s feelings or beat the proverbial horse to death. Still, she hasn’t had many enduring relationships in her young life, so she has to learn it does no good to make a relationship harder than it has to be.

4.       Men have different ways of expressing love. Not all men speak the same love languages. Many are either hard-wired or conditioned to express themselves using another love language besides words, the language women very often use. Some men say "I love you" by doing things for their women. Some do so by giving them things. Ellie has an extraordinary chance to learn all the wonderful and peculiar ways of not just one but three men in this novel.

5.       Ninety-three percent of men would marry the same woman all over again. That statistic says a great deal about the value and importance of the institution of marriage today. No wonder my protagonist Ellie Overton hasn’t given up on the idea of getting hitched to the right guy.

Gale Martin is an award-winning writer of contemporary fiction who plied her childhood penchant for telling tall tales into a legitimate literary pursuit once she hit midlife. She began writing her first novel at age eleven, finishing it three and a half decades later.

Her first novel, DON JUAN IN HANKEY, PA, is a humorous homage to Don Giovanni, Mozart's famous tragicomic opera about the last two days of Don Juan's life. It was named a Finalist in the 2012 National Indie Excellence Awards for New Fiction. Her second novel GRACE UNEXPECTED is wryly witty women's fiction featuring Grace Savage, a 30-something protagonist with a heart of gold, wrapped in lead.

Gale would commit a misdemeanor to score some Babybel cheese and goes weak-kneed for hummingbirds. She is a wife and mother of one and a communications director by profession. 

She blogs about opera--the art form, not the platform and is an opera reviewer for Bachtrack, an online site featuring classical performance worldwide. She can name any aria in three notes. Okay, five notes, perfectly sung, with full orchestration.

She has a master of arts in creative writing from Wilkes University. She lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which serves as a rich source of inspiration for her writing.

Book Information

In Gale Martin's newest novel, Ellie Overton is a 28-year-old rest home receptionist with a pussycat nose who also happens to be gaga for the pop singer Tom Jones. Regrettably single, she is desperate to have a white-hot love relationship, like those she's read about in romance novels. Following an astrological hunch, she attends a Tom Jones Festival and meets an available young impersonator with more looks and personality than talent. Though he's knocked out of the contest, he's still in the running to become Ellie's blue-eyed soul mate--until he's accused of killing off the competition. It's not unusual that the handsome police detective working the case is spending more time pursuing Ellie than collaring suspects. So, she enlists some wily and witty rest home residents to help find the real murderer. Will Ellie crack the case? Must she forfeit her best chance for lasting love to solve the crime?

The Story Behind The Story by Christa Polkinhorn

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I always enjoy finding out about “the story behind the story” in a work of fiction. Knowing what triggers a story or a novel is not only interesting but gives us an insight into the creative process.

Therefore, I would like to give my present and future readers a glimpse into the background of my novel LOVE OF A STONEMASON. This is now the second volume in my Family Portrait trilogy but the first one I wrote and published. 

It was a series of deaths in my family and among my friends a few years ago that made me pick up pen and paper and my laptop. Within three months, I lost my mother, my brother-in-law, and one of my closest friends. The death of my mother left me as the last survivor of our immediate family, my father and my only sister having passed on years before. After the funeral, I began the difficult task of cleaning out our family home in Switzerland, getting it ready for renovations. I shuffled through old documents, read letters my parents, my sister, and I exchanged, while I lived abroad. I even found a love letter my father had written to my mother while he served in the Swiss Army during the Second World War. I took down my father's paintings in the home--he was an artist as a young man--and wrapped them, so they wouldn't get damaged during the renovation. I met with a stonemason to talk about the tombstone on my parent's grave. 

One evening, I was sitting in front of the fireplace in the only room in our house that wasn't full of boxes and bags, staring into the flames. It was a cold January night. Thick snowflakes were floating to the ground. I finally had time to reflect and to mourn and I did what I always do when I am in an intense period of my life. I began to write. 

I wrote about a young painter, who struggled with loss and loneliness, about a stonemason, who carved tombstones and who, interestingly enough, became the harbinger of new life for the young woman. I wrote about family, the conflicts and upheavals that sometimes bring us to the breaking point, but also the joy that we experience with those close to us.

The novel is pure fiction, all the characters are made up, but the building blocks of the story can be found somewhere in my own life. Over the following few years and with the help and support of some very dear friends, the book took on shape. What began as a time of death and loss was transformed into something life affirming, and uplifting.

In the meantime, LOVE OF A STONEMASON has developed into the FAMILY PORTRAIT trilogy. The novels are available in print form on CreateSpace and as ebooks on Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and other venues. Links to the books, to my blog, and more information is available on my website: www.christa-polkinhorn.com. 

On my website, I also created picture tours of my novels.  They show some of the places that served as inspiration for my books. Click at the Picture Tour tab on www.christa-polkinhorn.com sit back and join me on my real and imaginary journeys.

Born and raised in Switzerland, I have always had the desire to explore the world outside of my beautiful but tiny country. As a young woman, I traveled through Europe, came to the United States on an exchange program, and ended up staying. My travels led me to China and Japan as well as South America. I studied literature and linguistics in Zurich and California. Now, I live and work as writer and translator in southern California and divide my time between the United States and my native Switzerland. The tension and excitement this “double life” creates informs my literary work. Most of my novels take place in several countries. Aside from writing and traveling, I am an avid reader and a lover of the arts and dark chocolate. I published three novels in the FAMILY PORTRAIT series, AN UNCOMMON FAMILY, LOVE OF A STONEMASON and EMILIA as well as a collection of poems, PATH OF FIRE. AN UNCOMMON FAMILY is also available in German under the title EINE UNGEWÖHNLICHE FAMILIE.

Q & A with Author Author Suzanne Brandyn

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From the heart of Australia, romance and suspense author Suzanne Brandyn stopped by the Author's Spotlight to chat with us about life, writing and her work.

Can you tell me a little about yourself and your background?

I was born on the edge of the outback in Australia. I arrived early. Lol. I was born on a friend's property, and taken to the nearest hospital some four hours by car away. 

I spent most of my childhood in the outback and country areas of Australia, and moved over NSW to our cites, and country coastal areas. I now live in a quiet seaside town on the east coast of Australia where I have the ocean at my feet, and the mountains behind. It's the best of both worlds. 

When did you decide to become a writer?

I was always making up stories in my younger years, but never really sat down and penned a manuscript until my early married years. I have been serious about writing for five years. 

Besides your adventures living in Australia, what draws you to the genre of romantic suspense/thrillers?

I think being alone at times throughout my life, and having experienced fear along the way, I find remote places a great setup for a novel. 

How did you come up with the idea for Outback Fear?

When I lived on the property, I stayed there alone for long periods. This instigated the idea for Outback Fear. I wanted to base the novel where I lived. The question 'what if' played a major role, and my imagination took over. Anyone who lives on an isolated property can vouch for me when I say, it can be beautiful, but also that stillness in the atmosphere and the rustle through the trees can sometimes have your heart in your throat. 

Can you give me an insight into your main character of Outback Fear, Savannah Harris? Based on your description of writing about feisty heroines, what is so special about Savannah?

Savannah is an everyday woman; she has no special training to defend herself. It is through her courage, her determination that has her overcoming some tough obstacles. She stands up for what she believes in and won't give up. 

With your experience writing your book, did you work with a certain plot or outline or did you free write?

I always have a basic outline, and a main plot. As the story develops subplots pop up long the way. Most of the time, my characters take over and dictate what direction they want to go. The suspense also takes over lol… 

What authors have you been inspired by?

I began reading Nora Roberts as a child, Danielle Steel, and Harlequin novels. There's no specific writer that has truly inspired me, although now I look up to Nicholas Sparks. There isn't a suspense/thriller writer I can say inspired me. 

Are you currently working on any projects that you could share?

My current manuscript is set in a remote place and it's a romantic suspense. I find my readers wanted more romance, so I have an everyday woman who's inherited a cattle station. Arriving at the property alone, and thinking that she'd meet the workers, no one is about.  

In the middle of the night, someone is breaking into the house. She has never shot a handgun in her life only rifles at a young age. She is standing at the top of the stairs terrified that she will shoot herself in the foot. In prances the hero, a sexy Jackaroo who has her heart on fire and the gun wavering in all directions. 

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Be consistent and determined. If it's your hearts desire don't ever give up. Write what comes natural, and your unique voice will shine through. 

Check out an excerpt from her book:

Blurb:
Macy Donavan battles a terrifying nightmare to protect her two-year-old daughter, Faith from an intruder, and is knocked unconscious. When she regains consciousness, her daughter is missing. 

As the police widen their futile search, Macy struggles to pick up the pieces of an unimaginable life. Urged to take a break she heads to an isolated cabin with a girlfriend to recuperate so she can continue searching, only to face her worst nightmare— times ten. 

Trapped by a man she believed dead, he demands she play a game. 

She runs, he hunts.  There is no place to hide.   

 Excerpt
'Hey slow down a bit. I'm sure she's around somewhere. You are, and have been an excellent mother. Here take your coffee,' Rebecca said, as she walked into the lounge room.Rebecca placed her cup on the coffee table, and passed the other to Macy.

'Thanks.' As she took a few sips, she suddenly said, 'I have to go back into Faith's room...I need to.' Slamming the coffee cup on the table, she sprung to her feet. 

'You're in no condition to go anywhere.'

'I need to.' 

'If you insist.' Rebecca cupped an arm around hers. 'I'll help you.'

Macy willed her weak legs to move, clamped her hand over the railing, and forced herself to take the last few steps. The fourteen steps felt like forty-two.

'Take it easy. You've been hurt pretty bad. I really think...'

'No...no hospital. I've already said that. What if Faith comes back and I'm not here. I can't chance that.'

Light continued to bathe the room highlighting its soft, pink tones. Rebecca let go of Macy's arm as they stood beside the open doorway. Macys gaze swept around the room, stopping to linger over every item as though she was looking for clues, looking for something that would hint on Faith's whereabouts. 

She walked toward the window, moved the lace curtain aside and stared out through the dispersing mist half-expecting Faith to toddle out into the open space. Instead, the first rays of sunlight begun to carve through the white shroud signalling the dawning of a new day, a day like none she had ever experienced, a day she would remember for the rest of her life.