Maybe It's Not How It Is but........ Sunday, January 07, 2007

.....it feels like romantic suspense requires more detail. In the last year, I've finished two romantic suspense, one fantasy, two romantic comedy and some straight romance (erotic or sensual). Of all of these stories, my romantic suspense has been the toughest.

It all has to tie together. The bad guy has to get his comeuppance and the hero and heroine have to discover each other in the midst of danger. There's the aspect of "mystery" and the aspect of "romance" AND the element of action/danger.

Not being a very organized soul, I find this hinders me quite a bit. I lose track of where my characters are and where they're going. They start running around like crazy people from scene to scene and it makes no sense. That's where I am now.

I'm writing "The Big One". This is the goal I set for myself this year. Write 100K romantic suspense and pitch it to an agent and a big publishing house. I'm at that point where details matter. And I'm having a difficult time making them work. *sigh*. Not being detail oriented, I tend to make howlers that my critique partners remind me about.

I know I can write romantic suspense. I've got "Heart of the Storm" coming out in September. I'm not complaining, just curious. Why does it seem different to do "world building" for a suspense than it does for fantasy? Or maybe it isn't different to you?