It's the Little Things That Count

I'm in a romance-y frame of mind (must be the warm weather), so bear with me if my post seems to focus a bit more on that theme.

************************************************************

When it comes to romance in literature (whether the main focus or as a side-story) we tend to appreciate the big sweeping gestures. We're not fully satisfied until we've gotten the happily ever after where the hero was willing to risk it all for the sake of the heroine.

Those grand gestures are all fine & good, but it's the little things that make us (and our heroines) fall in love with the hero.

To prove my point, I've borrowed examples from a couple movies I'm sure most of us have seen before:

NEVER BEEN KISSED

Josie realizes how special Sam (Mr. Coulson: AKA -- hottest English teacher. EVER.) truly is when he volunteers himself to ride the Ferris Wheel, despite his fear of heights, simply because she had no one else to ride with. And then he tops it off by telling her he feels like he can really talk to her. *sigh*

27 DRESSES

Jane and Kevin can barely stand each other, until one little song plays on the jukebox in a dive bar out in the middle of nowhere. Next thing you know, they're dancing on the bar and getting hot & steamy in the backseat of his car. Who knew "Benny & The Jets" karaoke could provide the spark for true love?

How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days

Andie and Ben were both secretly using each other in an attempt to further their careers. Neither expected to actually fall in love, but for Andie things changed quickly after an afternoon spent playing "Bullshit" with Ben at a cookout. Watching him interact with his family shot an arrow straight to her heart, where all his smooth loverboy lines had missed the mark.

Bottom line, it's all the little unique pieces of someone that make us fall in love with them. Don't forget to add those things into your stories. We tend to fall in love in fragments, which means our characters should too.

What if I Don't Like Her?

I'm going to be borrowing a couple of my favorite posts (they belong to me, no plagorism, I swear) from another blog, because I'm curious to see how my peeps think. So, if some of these happen to look familiar, you'll know why.

*******************************************************

We spend a lot of time in our novels -- love stories most especially -- focusing on the hero. Is he cute enough? Strong enough? Sensitive enough? Funny enough? Charming enough? Etc., etc., etc.

It makes sense, because most of us females (and maybe the occasional secure male who's interested in exploring his feminine side) want to put ourselves in the shoes of the lead female character and live vicariously through her.

But what about the heroine herself? Don't we have to like her too?

Unfortunately, there have been quite a few books that I started and eventually stopped reading because the heroine got on my Last. Damn. Nerve.

The hardest part of writing a story geared toward a female audience, can be writing a female character that the majority of readers want to spend more time with. For me, I have to either want to be her -- or at least be her friend -- for me to stick with the gal through thick & thin.

She has to be humble, without being weak.

Elizabeth Bennett -- Pride & Prejudice

 She has to be able to take care of herself, and still retain her femininity.

Guinevere -- King Arthur

And she has to be just as willing to rescue the hero as she is to let him rescue her.

Elizabeth Swann -- Pirates of the Caribbean

(Apparently, I have a bit of Keira Knightly fetish -- who knew?)

Bottom line -- It's not an easy job being the heroine. Not only does she have to make the hero fall in love with her . . . she has to make us (the reader) fall in love with her too.

What about you? Anything that a heroine has to do/be in order to keep you reading?  Anything that completely turns you off and causes you to close the book, never to return?

My Soul Needs to Laugh

Do you ever have those days, weeks or even months, where despite having the best of intentions, you often find yourself feeling like this little guy?

Yeah, me too!

On any given morning, there are an endless number of things I wake up telling myself I am, without a doubt, going to accomplish today!!

Write. Walk the dogs. Blog. Get an oil change. Read. Workout. Clean the house. Change the wiper blades I bought 3 weeks ago. Catch up on emails. etc. etc, etc.

And, sadly, on *most* days I don't come anywhere close to making a dent in my self-imposed list.

Then--being the typical first-born child that I am--I get pretty down, stressed and feeling like I'm stuck in a rut.

I'm a loser. I'm a slacker. I have time management issues. I need more hours in a day.

It's taken me a while, but I've learned sometimes I need to pull back on the reins a little and remind myself that life isn't meant to be one ginormous "To Do" list.

Sometimes, I let myself get so wrapped up in what needs to be done, that I forget about my addiction to laughing.

I like to laugh, and I like to make other people laugh.

If I'm feeling uber stressed, it's probably because I've forgotten to give myself permission to lighten up & spend some time doing things that will release the pressure.

One of my current favorite pick-me-ups is www.damnyouautocorrect.com This stuff leaves me in tears!!

I also de-stress by doing online jigsaw puzzles

What about you all? Do you have any favorite websites, movies, activities, etc. that are guaranteed to make you laugh no matter what?  Please share!!