Even writing
Regency romances (how much more flight of fancy can one get short of adding
magic?) I never stray that far from what I am, good and bad. In fact, by
writing what some would consider light hearted romance stories, I find I am
connecting more deeply with issues that matter to me than when I tried to write
them as they are. I don’t even mean to put them in there – it isn’t a conscious
agenda (I’m a thorough pantser, I’m afraid), I just suddenly find them there,
whole and working away and that is that.
In my
latest book Lord Hunter’s Cinderella Heiress I touch upon issues that affected
people I care and cared for very deeply – suicide and survivor’s guilt, PTSD,
and bullying. They don’t take over the story but they are there and from some
of the reviews coming I am relieved to hear they have enriched the characters
and the romance. In the book Hunter’s younger brother, a sensitive boy who
joins the army to prove himself, is captured and maimed and never succeeds in
recovering either physically or mentally. Despite Hunter’s efforts he commits
suicide, locking Hunter into guilt and remorse and inadvertently connecting
Hunter’s life with that of Nell who is trying to escape a bullying aunt and
indifferent father. Nell finds her personal redemption by giving love, to
horses and to the schoolchildren she teaches. Hunter finds his in helping war
veterans avoid the path his brother took and in otherwise indulge in a care for
nobody rakish lifestyle.
I was once
told that ‘whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ I don’t believe in
that. I think we could probably do without a great many of the knocks life
deals us. But I do believe that dealing with those knocks, and in particular
knowing how to seek help and depending on others to see us, support us, and
even to know when to ask them to stand back, does make us stronger. That is why
I love writing about people going on these difficult journeys and helping each
other find that strength (and their HEA, of course).
So, writing
about what hurts you can indeed be very romantic because if love can
grow on such rocky ground, it is love truly worth nurturing.
Excerpt
from Wild Lords book #1: Lord Hunter’s Cinderella Bride (November 2017)
Hunter’s grin widened.
‘Very amusing, Saxon. Now come down before I decide to put all this hay
to good use.’
She really should get down but she didn’t want to, not yet. As she
remained unmoving the raffish quality of his grin shifted, mellowed, his lashes
dipping slightly.
‘You do look like a Saxon queen up there; about to bestow her favour on
her knight.’ He observed and Nell planted her feet more firmly as the bale
quivered beneath them, or maybe that was just her legs that had wobbled. She
was used to looking down at men, but very contrarily looking down at him made
her feel dainty. Dainty?
‘She would probably be a Norman queen if there were knights,’ the
schoolmistress corrected, and then, more to the point and in a less resolute
voice. ‘I don’t have anything to bestow.’
‘Yes you do.’
How could three words turn a quiver into a blaze? He might as well have
touched a match to the hay the heat was so intense. And the sense of danger. He
was making love to her in the middle of a stable yard without raising a finger
and she didn’t want it to stop. This is not making love, just flirting, the
schoolmistress pointed out and was kicked off the bale of hay.
Book Links:
Amazon: getbook.at/HuntersCinderella
Harlequin:
http://bit.ly/2yPXtm6
Author Contact Links
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LaraTemple1
Twitter: @laratemple1
2 comments:
I think it can give strength to the characters and show the way they handle adversity, and that can be endearing and attractive.
densie
I completely agree. We discover who people really are when they are faced with adversity and their own demons. I love putting my heroes and heroines through real life challenges and watching them help each other. If they can do it and still laugh together, all is well...
💕
Lara
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