Writing Magic into a Romance and World-Building

Magic.  We've been charmed by magic in our romantic stories since the fairy tales of childhood.  Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White...these stories are the classics at the core of our love affair with romance. 

The line of whether it is a traditional or paranormal romance is constantly shifting.  Whether we realize it or not, it's often the promise of a classic theme, such as forbidden love, with its roots traced back to fairy tales that draws us to both. We don't have to have talking mice or a fairy godmother with literal magical powers to recognize a Cinderella theme of class barriers and of wishing for a rags-to-rich miracle to change the future. Magic, in a fairy tale, is necessary to break down such a barrier and accomplish the rags-to-riches miracle.

Once we've all grown up, however, we might feel that Cinderella deserved more than magic. 

Choosing a Book Title

Picking a title for your book is difficult for some and extremely easy for others.  I pretty much land on the difficult side.  How do you name your "baby?"  Just like new parents, one writer might latch on to the PERFECT title right away, while another settles for a WORKING title.   It's "good enough for now."  Hopefully, when the time comes, you'll just know.  Choosing a title is one of those decisions that can land on either end of a continuum or somewhere in between.

So just how much energy should go into this decision anyway? 

Lucky Seven

I'm happy to say, "I've been tagged."  Donna Cummings has tagged me for the Lucky Seven meme.  This is a fun thing going around that goes like this:

You open up your manuscript to page 7 or page 77, and after you find line 7, you post the following seven sentences.

I'm also supposed to tag seven more authors but it's all in fun so, without that last step, here's my seven.   It's such a fun surprise to find out where the Lucky 7 lands!  This one, from page 77 of my first novel The Duke's Angel, lands in the midst of action:

 

What trick was her mind playing on her?  The thought of Justin had invaded her mind before she teleported.  It must have distracted her enough to change her course.  But that didn’t explain why she was here, standing in the middle of a snow covered road while a cold, wicked wind whipped her cloak about her body.  She shivered so hard even the ground vibrated under her feet.

Over the persistent howl of the wind, she heard a rumble, like thunder.  The rumble became louder and she realized it wasn’t thunder at all - - it was the pounding hooves of a fast approaching team of horses.

Where does your Lucky 7 land?  Give it a try and feel free to post your seven here in a comment if you'd like.  Thanks for the tag, Donna!

Time Out for a Summer Day Reflection

So much for my 3 part blog post idea.  I should know better when it's summer time!  Yesterday my son had a baseball game and on the way back some friends and I stopped by my childhood town. I thought I'd share some pics taken by a friend.  What a beautiful Northern Minnesota day! 

 Wow, what a reflection! (Down the river a few hundred yards are the rapids.  You wouldn't guess it from the calm waters here!  The bridge is an old railroad bridge.  When I was a kid, the trains still ran and we use to walk across...what were we thinking?)

Michael and Me (I'm not as agile on the rocks as I use to be!)

 Michael

Michael and a friend

 Another lovely reflection on the river.

Michael's best friend, Samantha.  She found the "best" walking stick and insisted we take it home.  It's still in my trunk and waiting for our next adventure.