Comments on: I Really Hate…

By: AztecLady

AztecLady — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:21:46 +0000

Karen, yeah, that’s pretty much the plot of Son of the Morning in a nutshell and it’s truly an awesome book, isn’t it?

By: JulieLeto

JulieLeto — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 01:54:48 +0000

Reminds me of Sleepless in Seattle where the h/h don’t meet until the very end.

Thankfully, this is one time where I know it’s not my book!

By: Karen Scott

Karen Scott — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:59:49 +0000

Nonny, If I recall correctly, I believe the hero was from another time? The heroine witnesses a murder and she goes on the run to protect some valuable artifact or scrolls or something. She undergoes an amazing transformation whilst on the run, and actually she becomes the hero and the heroine of the book.

Is that the one?

One of my fave Linda Howard books of all time, it runs a very close second to Cry No More.

By: Karen Scott

Karen Scott — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:51:34 +0000

By the way, it was a romance. Supposedly. Not only didn’t the hero and heroine meet for an age, but it was a total snoozefest too. Two hours of my life I wont be getting back anytime soon. Sigh.

By: Nonny

Nonny — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:50:50 +0000

Karen, that might have been it!

By: Karen Scott

Karen Scott — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:49:33 +0000

Nonny, do you mean Linda Howard’s Son Of The Morning by any chance?

I loved that damn book. I have to say though, the romance was totally secondary to the story, because of the length of time it took for the H and H to meet.

By: Nonny

Nonny — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:39:55 +0000

Tuscan…

I’m blanking on the name, but there is a romance by a very well-respected genre author in which the hero and heroine do not meet for some ridiculous length of time. Yet, the book has been a phenomenal success. (I think it may be something by Diana Galbadon but I could be TOTALLY wrong on that score.)

There are always exceptions. Most people can’t pull them off, however.

By: Dee Tenorio

Dee Tenorio — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:16:57 +0000

Hey Tuscan, well, I can definitely tell you that if you’re trying to SELL a romance to a publisher, if your chars don’t meet in the first two chapters or at least acknowledge some knowledge of each other…you ain’t selling it to an established Romance pub.

Rule of thumb is generally not to go twenty pages–without a VERY compelling reason–without the characters interacting. Excuses include plot-requirements, like an abduction where the rescue is protracted for excellent reasons. And even then, they’d better be thinking a lot about each other.

From a craft position, if you can’t keep the focus of the story on the couple together, then you’re not targeting properly. Subplots are definitely allowed, of course, but only in a secondary sense.

Mysteries have different rules, because subtlety and misdirection and evidence gathering usually has to happen in an unobtrusive way. Five bucks says the back half of that book you mention only works because of the info imparted in the first 150 pages.

Dee

By: Tuscan Capo

Tuscan Capo — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:29:51 +0000

I don’t know. One of the best mystery books I ever read had absolutely nothing mysterious about it for around 150 pages. Yet it turned out an unforgettable read and I’ve come across the same scenario in horror novels, too. If these genres can stretch outside the limitations of the box I see no reason Romance has to remain confined.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:32:09 +0000

I don’t understand that. I’m assuming like everyone else that this was a romance? I’d certainly like the h/H to have met by chapter 2.

100 pages? Like Nonny said, that’s practically an entire book!