What Sofia Said

Nora Ephron will be missed: http://sofiaharper.blogspot.com/2012/06/nora.html

Why I Screamed "Give Her The Book" For Twenty Minutes

* Warning: This is a long, rambly post. Stick with it, I promise it has a point. 

(Or, the importance of a MacGuffin. Loosely defined as the tangible thing a character wants. It also serves the role of a representation of the intangible thing a character wants.) 

One of my all time favorite movies is (500) Days of Summer. It's a bittersweet movie featuring a male lead with an incredible, INCREDIBLE movie soundtrack. So, when I heard about another movie (older) that also had a male as the central character that also had a bittersweet ending, I was in. 

The hero tells a mystery love story. The viewer doesn't know who he'll end up with, but soon I had a top favorite. This heroine had all the ear marks of a romance heroine. Or at least my Achilles heel type of heroine—she doesn't want to fall in love, especially not with the hero.  

Anyway, before they really become great friends she tells him a story about how she's looking for a book. This isn't just any book you can find at B & N or order off Amazon. (Hell, during the time period of this story I don't think Amazon existed.) This book has an inscription from her deceased father. Time moves forward (years) and one day hero finds THE BOOK.

At this point, I'm a puddle on the floor. They could have ended the movie right there and I'd have known how it would end. The hero had the MacGuffin. Since the writers hadn't been sleeping on the job the MacGuffin actually meant something. Since the characters just weren't people serving a plot or being sacraficed on the altar of plot, the MacGuffin said something. And because I checked the running time on the movie, and the writers weren't sleeping on the job, that damn MacGuffin needed at least one more damn beat. 

So, like any respectable romance writer faced with a decent love story I started to scream at the TV, “GIVE HER THE BOOK!” *

The point? 

Yes, a MacGuffin means nada without great character. No parts of your story means anything without great character. It's one of those things that goes without saying. But, a MacGuffin (with great character) can cinch the hell out of character arc, it gives the reader something to hang onto (or in my case a reason to scream), it can even be the way in to create deeper character. 

For me this was a great lesson to be reminded of. I've been having trouble nailing down my character. All I had to do was ask: What is the one thing in this world she wants most? 

What are some of your favorite MacGuffins? What are ways you cinch the character arc? What are some of the ways you create a character with depth?

* Because the writers weren't sleeping on the job, there's a twist. But, he gave her the damn book.

* I didn't name the movie because this post is one long spoiler.

Behind The Story: Everything You Need

This story sticks out when you line up my books and see what they're about. All of them, except this one, are pure contemporary romances. There's absolutely no sense of an otherworldly element.

Why did this one become an oddball?

Freak accident is why.

This book was supposed to be part of a novella with another author. That fell through. I was writing humorous women's fiction at the time that had a very strong magic realism element. I was more than sure this was the direction my writing would go. I was once again leaving behind contemporary romance. (I hadn't learn yet this is what I come back to.) I didn't see any problem adding in a disgruntled angel named Angie. (We did talk about how I'm original, right?)

So, I wrote this book and then spent three years trying to make it into something it would never be. For one, I tried to make Brice less stubborn and willful and...less like Brice. I tried to figure out how to cut out the magical element, because I wrote pure contemps. Hazel, well, I always thought nothing was wrong with her except for her love of Brice who was opinionated, passionate...well Brice. Before I decided to self-publish I was intent on opening the document where this story had grown dust and took up room on my harddrive and deleting it. I was going to wipe this story out of existence.

Two things stopped me. I had already edited the book. Like sent it off and had someone take a pound of flesh out of this book, do their best to fix my wayward sentences and so on and so forth. I had sat down and fixed all the things she told me to fix. I'd done all that. The second reason was everyone who had no thought to what this book was supposed to be liked it. They liked Hazel. They even liked Brice because he was the kind of insufferable but loveable hero. They absolutely could not wait for Tony's story.

With that in mind I decided to let the book speak for itself. It's one of my bestsellers. Who knew? (Ok. Everyone but me.)

In the end, even though I was dead wrong, I get to write Tony's story. He's a charmer. I love to write charmers. I do. I absolutely do. So, I'm calling this a win. (Here's a link to Tony's storyboard.) (You can check out my books tab to find out more about Everything You Need.)

Kindle Romance Novels

Later today How Much You Want to Bet? will be featured on Kindle Romance Novels. And this made me think how I rarely talk about this book. Since this is a re-release I assume you've heard the song and dance before, but you know, maybe you haven't.

This book didn't come about from a movie or reading another book. It came out of desperation for something different and new. I'd been pounding away on my first novel, Love Unexpected, for more than a year. A novel that, thank God, will never see the light of day.

I wanted to write on something that was not that book and then Neil showed up. Irritated and frustrated by a good for nothing rich playboy who had tricked her into a date. Ok. Maybe not tricked. She bet against him in a pool game and lost. The wager was a date and since Neil is nothing without her pride she refuses to back down from the deal. I wrote that first chapter at the speed of light. I was charmed both by Gib and Neil. (If Neil is nothing but pride, Gib is nothing but charm. As Neil would say, he could charm a nun out of her habit.) And since I had so much fun writing about their interactions, whenever the first book got too much I'd sneak in some more words. Sooner than later I got to the end and thought nothing of it. How Much You Want to Bet? was a contemporary romance. I wrote romantic suspense. I would not send that book out on submission because I could not imagine writing contemporary romances over and over again. (Yes, you can laugh hysterically at this. I do.)

Yet every single time I went back to re-read what I wrote I'd laugh over their antics. I yearned for what Neil wanted. I swooned over Gib. Finally I came to the conclusion I couldn't just let Gib and Neil sit on my harddrive. Barely 36k I sent it to a small e-publisher. It was contracted. At the end of the contract I pulled the book. And then, more people were trying out self-publishing. I kept hearing about it for months and months and whenever I did I thought about Neil and Gib.

Now even though I'd written the book, had read it a million times during edits and pulled out bits for excerpts, I hadn't really read it in a long, long time. I wrote this book way back in 2005 and 2006 and 2007. Yeah, my writing has grown by leaps and bounds. I didn't think it would hold up. So before I truly decided to self-publish I sat down and re-read How Much You Want to Bet? By the end of the third chapter I came to the same conclusion I did before: this book couldn't sit on my harddrive.

Reviews for How Much You Want to Bet?

"This romance is all that and more. Blue's style is unintrusive, but revealing. Her characters' souls are laid bare... as well as their deepest desires. A great read." Snapdragon, Long and Short of It Reviews

"Blue has crafted a highly interesting plot that keeps you wondering who has the biggest secret. Trust me, you'll be surprised at what comes tumbling out in a way you will not expect." LMReviews, Sable Lit Reviews 

"Melissa Blue gives readers a fun tale full of passion, humor, a little sadness and some suspense - in short, all the traits that make a book worth reading many times over. " Chrissy Dione, Romance Junkies 

"If you like wit, humor, attitude, and snark in your books, you’re going to really enjoy this read. If you like compassion, vulnerability, sensuousness, and plain old fun in your characters when you read, you’re going to love this book." Sandy M, The Good, The Bad, The Unread 

How My Obsession With You've Got Mail Turned Into A Book

Some people hate this movie. Hate it. Fox took her store in the end and that makes him a bastard and not a hero. Except every time I looked at the movie and the heroine, Kate aka Shopgirl, I saw a woman stuck in the past. When one of the characters asked her What if you do lose the store what would you do? She looked flummoxed. Her enter life had been that store and nothing else. Hell, even her AOL name was Shopgirl. She identified as nothing else even though it was apparent she loved books.

And, I may have been the only person who watched that movie and thought, Thank God, when the store closed. Go ahead. I'll wait for the tomatoes and rotten eggs to be thrown my way.

Ok. Done?

The single redeeming factor is that from the first scene you knew Fox and Kate belonged with each other and not the pompous buttholes they were with. When they found out who each other were, you knew, just knew, still they belonged together.

In the end I just couldn't get one nugget out of my head: what if you had to let something go? Something you loved with all your heart? Something, that maybe, you should have let go a long time ago.

I bridged that nugget with my favorite trope. The I Loathe The Very Being Of You romance trope. Love it. You get to banter and I love banter. You get to sneak in all the glimpses of the real person underneath and watch the hero and heroine fall. And there's nothing better to get to that scene where the character realizes they are head over heels in love and their general reaction is, Oh, hell. Not you! I mentioned I was bent, right?

And then Lynne sort of just lurked in the back of mind. She's a wannabe rebel. She's a big ol' softie. The more I thought of the type of man who would make her go all Oh, hell. Not you! The more I kept thinking You've Got Mail needs an argument in its defense. (Ok. Not really what I was thinking, but close enough. And it's a Nora Ephron movie and really she needs no defense. She's brilliant.) I imagined the kind of man who'd make her want to strangle herself before falling for him and then Nate started to form. He's alpha, he's a jackass and he's brilliant at what he does. And at the core he's a big ol' softie.

So, yeah, that's the big reveal in how an obsession turned into a book. Frightening or enlightening? lol

See Lynne Chased Has Landed

The official release date is May 11th, but you can pick it up now. And I'm so over the moon about getting Lynne and Nathan's story into your hands. I faced a lot of road blocks, but the characters kept dragging me back. And now it's here. Squee!

Blurb:

Nathan Craine eats small businesses for breakfast. There's one store he is dying to buy, but this time it is for very personal reasons. He's certain the owner will hand over the store; it's only the matter of naming a price. To his surprise, Lynne Kelley refuses to sell, now or ever.

For Lynne, this is more than a business--it's a home. For Nate, it is a way to honor his father and right a past wrong. Both are determined to win, yet the more time they spend together, the deeper their attraction grows. In this battle, someone has to lose. And the cost of winning might be far more than either is willing to pay.

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ARe

DAY 3: The Fifth Ring of Diet Hell

My co-worker told me the snap would be audilbe on this day. Of course, I didn't believe her. The first day I knew I had to change my eating habits I freaked. What in the hell do you mean only 5 oz. of meat and meat substitutes ALL DAY? There must be crack in your drinking water.

Then I started to warm up to the idea. Day 1 I did fine. I didn't have enough snacks that would take me over my 1600 calorie diet. I felt dizzy most of the day, so it's kind of a blur. Day 2 I did even better. I ate less than 1600. I even got in a 20 minute walk.

But today when I woke up, I needed a damn Snicker's bar. It's been calling my name. Right along with those smurf looking folks called Keebler. I don't even like sweets that much, but shh...can't you hear them?

Melissa

Melissa!

Yes.

You know you want me.

But I'm doing so good right now. I want to fit into those jeans I bought, but can't wear because my hips are too wide.

You know you want me. We have M&Ms lodge in our sweet, sweet, fatty dough.

I'm trying to think of pretzels (12 of them to be exact, because that will only be 110 calories), even a blueberry bagel with fat free cream cheese.

Melissa, you can just lick us. That won't count against your calories. Just one lick. Maybe a even small nibble.

Folks tell my mom and kids I love them. I don't think I'm going to make it.