We discussed having a theme this month that tied in with Valentine's Day and came up with Killing Me Softly. I asked what does that mean. Lashing me with a feather boa? Okay, what I think it really means is how do we melded writing suspense and romance. It's the love/hate tug-of-war. Actually those two emotions are closely connected. Look at all the divorces in this country. When those people married, they were deeply in love, and when they divorced, often they hated the other. It's sad that when the police investigate a murder they often look first at the family members as possible suspects.
But what I really wanted to write about is how easily it is to mash the two elements into a romantic suspense story that rocks. Intense emotions are churning in a person when he/she is in danger. As a writer you can use that to tap into the love story between the hero and heroine. You've already got strong feelings flying around, why not attraction and love? You can't have a book so suspenseful and intense that you don't give your reader a few pages to breath deeply and assimilate what is going on. What better way than to have two people fall in love. I love the two elements being together. Through all the "bad" things happening, there is hope of something beautiful coming from it: two people falling in love.
What do you think about mixing romance and suspense in a story?
Christian Romance Authors with Fictionalized Tales of Intriguing Edginess
11 comments:
I believe the suspense element is a perfect combo for a romance. Really, we know who is going to wind up together from the get go, so the "edge of your seat" suspense really keeps me turning pages.
I really love romance and suspense in a story. I began reading mysteries at an early age and only began reading romance much later in life. However I don't like gratuitous violence just for the sake of having it.
Ellen, I cut my teeth on Nancy Drew books as a child. That started it all.
Thanks for posting, Dana and Ellen.
Margaret
Suspense and Romance just naturally go together. After all, think about your dating experiences. Didn't you wonder at some point, "Is he EVER going to ask me to marry him??" Well, you may not have, but I sure did. That boy kept me in suspense for TWO years...arghhh...Talk about killing me softly!
LOL! Thanks for this, Margaret.
Lynette, TWO years!! I'd be there with you...arghhh. I know he's been worth it, though.
Margaret
Oh, oh, I also read every Nancy Drew there was and I still have them boxed away. My daughter read through them and someday so will my granddaughter(Lord willing I have one)
I wonder how many suspense authors also read Nancy.
Hmmmm.
I was a Nancy Drew fan also. But I also read my brother's Hardy Boys books. Unfortunately a flood destroyed my books.
I grew up with the Trixie Beldon series, then moved on to the Nancy Drew. I still have the complete collection of the Trixie Beldon series.
Don't forget Robin Kane! Loved those books. And I got to pay a bit of homage to them in my next book. That was a joy.
What memories you all have sparked in me.
Margaret
I loved Nancy Drew. I wrote my very first "suspense" in grammar school--"The Haunting of Sparks Castle." It was really, really bad but my friends loved it! The ghost wasn't real at all--just some mean person who wanted to take over the castle!
Lenora :)
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