Monday, October 14, 2019

My favorite things... @LizFlaherty #RomanceGems

I have lots of favorite parts about writing romance. The whole Happily Ever After thing, making new friends of both characters and the people who write them, challenging myself every single day.

And not meeting those challenges more often than I care to admit. That's a favorite because romance--and women's fiction--come to that, are the most forgiving genres of all.

Someone asked the other day what our favorite heroes are. I said mine were funny and flawed. The same thing would go for my favorite heroines. I never want perfection, whether it be in looks, behavior, or anything else that is integral to the character. If her looks are perfect, I hope she's clumsy. If he's built like a brick...ahem...built really well, I want him to be afraid of heights.

I'm charmed when the protagonists aren't especially rich, when they make mistakes, and when they're not entirely sure what they want from life.

The reason I think I like all these things is that my very favorite part of romance is writing the emotion my people and I are feeling. Kathleen Turner sobbing in Catherine Lanigan's Romancing the Stone  has nothing on me! Whether it's fair or not--and it's not--perfect people who have everything can't wring a tear out of me. They seldom make me laugh. They usually don't make me care.

Because if they had challenges, they met all of them already. Better writers than I have been able to crawl under their porcelain skins and silken tresses to find depths that I don't take the time to dig for. I envy and admire those writers, but I can't be one.

We're celebrating October here, and we're having a beautiful one here in the
Midwest. See my front porch? We're also offering up treats every day. I'll choose a lucky commenter--at least I think you're lucky 😍--to receive either a download or a paperback from my backlist (of my choice) and a bag of treats.

Don't forget to sign up for this month's raffle. And, when you're commenting, share what your favorite parts of romance are.


Click here to enter our No Tricks—Just Treats Rafflecopter today for a chance to win Amazon Gift Cards. Enter often and tell your friends! (You can also click Monthly Giveaways on the Menu Bar of the blog to see details of the current month’s Rafflecopter and to enter it.)


22 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading your blog. I like my characters to fall in the gray...not quite perfectly good but struggling to be the way they want to be.

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  2. I love it when authors put in quirks for characters like being clumsy or being afraid of heights. I especially like humor in romance. I don't mind when characters don't have flaws, but when they do, it makes them feel real. Like you could be friends with them. I love that! Makes it harder to leave the book when you finish it!

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  3. Love the fall colours in your picture, Liz!

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  4. I love Romancing the Stone. *happy sigh*

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    1. Me, too, and getting to know Catherine Lanigan, who wrote it, made me love it all the more.

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  5. I also like imperfect protagonists because they give me hope. I'm not perfect either but if they can have an HEA, then hopefully I can, too. I don't like a lot of angst (so I don't sob much) and I do like a lot of witty banter (because I'm kind of mouthy myself). I agree that "Romancing the Stone" was a wonderful movie!
    Karen H near Tampa (kesh307 at yahoo dot com)

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  6. I love the emotions a skilled author can instill in her characters so I feel their pain, their frustration, their triumph, along with that endorphin rush of falling in love. Romancing the Stone was absolutely brilliant that way.

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  7. I loved Romancing the Stone!! And I love characters that are flawed also! It makes them more real.

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  8. I love the initial meeting. It is so very telling.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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    1. It can be--at least you find out what can of worms is opening up. :-)

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  9. I love your front porch, I have always wanted one with rocking chairs to sit and enjoy while I'm reading my books!

    Msredk at aol dot com

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    1. I love it, too. My brother built the porch swing, which adds to the specialness out there.

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  10. I love humor in my books! I also like romance because no matter their troubles they always have a happy ending.

    marthalawson8 (at) gmail dot com

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  11. I love porches. They make life seem more leisurely and relaxed.

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    Replies
    1. They do. It's hard for me to consider a house complete without one.

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