Love, Actually
Warning: This post will assume you have watched Love, Actually. If you haven’t watched it, you might wish to do that because I LOVE this movie (it is 17 years old and usually plays at least once on every TV Channel). But you also might wish to skip this post.
One of my favorite Christmas movies is Love, Actually, a movie that follows eight different lead characters as they search for love (of all kinds) over the holidays.
The happiest storyline in this movie for me is the one with newly widowed Daniel (Liam Neeson) and his son Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster). The storyline that most tore my heart out was, of course, the one with Karen (Emma Thompson) and Harry (Alan Rickman). That dang gold necklace!
But the most frustrating storyline is the one with hard working Sarah (Laura Linney) and hottie Karl (Rodrigo Santoro). Their romance sizzles over days and nights working together. They hook up at the office holiday party but that encounter is thwarted by calls from Sarah’s will-likely-always-be-in-need-of-some-help brother.
I suspect the writers thought this was an illustration of sibling love but it isn’t. It is an illustration of choosing safety and loneliness over love and happiness.
Sarah is a classic romance heroine. She is avoiding romantic love and possible hurt by doing other things. In her case, these other things are working long hours and making her brother the center of her life.
When she finally ‘grows’ enough to take a chance on the holiday party and on Karl, she receives a call from her brother and immediately retreats, using that as an excuse to avoid romantic love.
Karl isn’t given the chance to be the hero.
Sarah is extremely cruel to him, telling her brother multiple times that she wasn’t doing anything important within Karl’s hearing. She turns her back to him. She communicates quite clearly in multiple ways she doesn’t care about his feelings.
Not being an a$$helmet, Karl backs off. In a romance, this is when the heroine realizes she will lose her hero and her chance at romantic love. The heroine will then pursue her hero.
But Sarah doesn’t do this. She acts like she doesn’t give a sh*t. And Karl leaves.
This frustrates the heck out of me as a romance reader and writer…which is WHY I read and write romance.
Heroines in romance tend to…eventually…go after what and who they want. A Romance Heroine would have figured out a way to have romantic love AND support her brother.
There would be no choosing between romantic love and sibling love. She would have devised a means to enjoy both (and that would have made her brother’s life richer also).
What is your favorite storyline in Love, Actually?
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Holding Hoarse
This cyborg warrior WILL become worthy of love.
* * *
Hoarse hasn’t found his female, the one being manufactured for him. There is only one reason he can process for his lack of success—he isn’t yet worthy of claiming a female.
The big C Model is determined to change that status. He considers ulu, or doll, fabrication to be an essential part of mate preparation. Seeking to hone his skills, he contacts a reclusive doll maker and asks her to train him.
He doesn’t realize the being he is sharing his deficiencies with is his destined mate.
Arlicia desires a male whose face she has never seen. Her new trainee’s persistence, intelligence, and curiosity warrant admiration. His deep voice evokes visions of passionate kisses and heated embraces. His large hands cause her to quiver with wanting.
Before their professional relationship ends, she wants to rendezvous with Hoarse. The curious doll maker hopes for a glimpse of the huge warrior.
When a cyborg intent on being the perfect mate meets the female who knows all his secrets, garments are shed, illusions shatter, and beings die.
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Holding Hoarse is a short, light, companion story in the Cyborg Space Exploration series and is meant to be read after Testing Truth.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance featuring an intense C Model warrior, an understanding doll maker, and packs of imperfect toys seeking loving homes.
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Sense And Sensibility And Tears
The July movie selection at Smart Bitches Trash Books is the 1995 adaptation of Sense And Sensibility. I rewatched this movie for the 15th or 16th time on Saturday.
This movie is my favorite reminder to limit a heroine’s tears. When I first started writing, I thought the more a character cried, the more a reader would feel. The reader would find the heroine more sympathetic, softer, likable.
The opposite usually happens. The more a character cries, the less sympathetic we are. We view the tears as meaning less to the heroine and that makes them mean less to us.
In Sense And Sensibility, Marianne (played by Kate Winslet) is extremely emotional. She cries and cries and cries. The first time she cries, I’m sympathetic. By the end of the movie, I feel irritation, not sympathy. Yes, she hurts but she hurt previously and recovered quickly. I assume she’ll recover quickly again.
Elinor (played by Emma Thompson), in contrast, tries to contain her feelings. She fights her agony, struggles to hide it, and when she finally breaks down and cries, I cry with her. I know the pain is deep and will likely last.
Because she doesn’t cry often.
That’s key. When a character does something…well…out of character (grins), that action is highlighted, circled in red, meaningful for the reader.
The struggle is important also. It shows us there is something at stake for the heroine if she ‘fails’ and cries. Elinor sees how people judge Marianne when she becomes emotional, how they pity her, how they think her sister is weak. She’s proud and doesn’t want people to judge her the same way.
This makes her failure to suppress her emotions even more powerful. She hurts so much; she has to cry, even though she knows the possible consequences.
I love Sense And Sensibility for many other reasons (Alan Rickman being one of them – grins). I definitely recommend watching it, especially if you love period pieces.
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He wants one night. I want forever.
Hit it and quit it—that’s Smoke Sheridan’s relationship philosophy. The tall, dark, and dangerous club owner never spends more than one night with any woman. He seduces the broken-hearted, leaving them with smiles on their faces and a sexual confidence other men can’t resist.
I need his services.
My boyfriend of four years dumped me because I’m a lousy lay. Smoke can help me win him back, teach me how to make my man writhe in ecstasy. I’ll show him such bliss, he’ll bellow my name in the dark of the night, want me with an all-consuming desire.
This sounds like a great plan. Except I see the loneliness in Smoke’s eyes, feel the wistfulness in his touch, experience the wanting in his embrace. The player isn’t as shallow as he appears.
And I’ve never been good at letting go.
One And Done contains inappropriate humor, very bad pickup lines, a BBW heroine who doesn’t know what she’s doing and a player who thinks he does.
This is a standalone story.
Buy Now:
On Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/One-Done-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B01FOVMF70
On Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Done-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B01FOVMF70
On ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-oneanddone-2040641-340.html
On Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-and-done-cynthia-sax/1123809444
On Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/one-and-done-1
Topics: Writing Tips | 3 Comments »
A Little Chaos And Strong Heroines
I watched A Little Chaos last night, a film about a female landscape artist who wins the honor of designing a part of Versailles (Kate Winslet stars in it. Alan Rickman both directed and appears in it). I loved it. I don’t understand why I haven’t heard more about this movie.
Or maybe I do.
Because the lead character is female. She’s strong, stocky, wildly intelligent and super independent. There’s a love story. Yes. But her hero makes her even stronger. She’s a brilliant engineer and a savvy leader. Strong men choose to follow her.
I suspect that makes (mostly male) critics and award voters uncomfortable. Thank goodness I write romance. Romance readers EXPECT strong heroines. They EXPECT love interests to make these heroines stronger. They EXPECT heroines to find their own solutions and not wait for someone else to save them.
They expect a heroine like Sabine De Barra, Kate Winslet’s character. Sabine has a gripping back story (she’s a widow and is dealing with her grief, something all of us have struggled with). She has numerous goals and an unique view on the world. She isn’t perfect, far from it, yet she’s sympathetic (The director, Alan Rickman, sets this up beautifully with showing Sabine’s friendship with another woman right at the beginning. This woman clearly loves Sabine and that makes me love her also.).
She’s a character I could happily write a series about.
Aside: One of my favorite parts of the movies is when the ladies at court are talking about the deaths they’ve experienced. I found it interesting that Sabine doesn’t cry yet I felt the emotion even more strongly than if she did break down. It reminded me that I don’t need tears to convey a character’s sorrow.
Another note: There is debate about whether or not Sabine is a real historical character. That there is even a discussion around this tells me the film is historically accurate enough to make me happy. It COULD have happened.
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Crash And Burn
Crash was manufactured to be one of the best warriors in the universe. The cyborg has spent many human lifespans fighting the enemy. But, unlike his battle-loving brethren, he doesn’t enjoy killing. When he escapes the Humanoid Alliance, he vows to never end another life.
Then he meets Safyre, an infuriating human female, and he considers breaking his vow.
Safyre will do anything to save her friend, the being she loves like a sister. She’ll ravish a huge hunky cyborg, kiss his best friend, and invoke scorching hot desires the male never realized he could feel. Dark soulful eyes, a quick wit, and a tempestuous passion won’t divert her from her mission.
Love, and a planet-destroying weapon, however, might stop her permanently.
Pre-order Now:
On Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Crash-Burn-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B019EBKIF2
On Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crash-Burn-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook-x/dp/B019EBKIF2/
On ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-crashandburn-1950244-147.html
On B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/crash-and-burn-cynthia-sax/1123141101
On Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/crash-and-burn-13
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