CJ Carmichael: The “Ugly Duckling” Heroine

I’m sure you’re familiar with the fable where an ugly duckling is rejected by the farmyard geese, only to emerge as a graceful and beautiful swan at the end of the winter. From this fable has sprung one of the most enduring character archetypes used in both movies and novels alike. Whether labeled a misfit, a nerd, a wallflower or a dork, these characters have been forced into situations where they are unable to tap into their full potential. The end result is a rather sad and lonely existence.

A terrific example of the ugly duckling archetype is the “Joan Wilder” character in the wonderful romp of a movie Romancing The Stone. Joan begins the movie as a nerdy, timid writer, whose restrained hair reflects the tight rein she keeps on all of her passions.

By the end of Joan Wilder’s adventure with the unscrupulous, but sexy Jack T. Colton she has emerged as an unfettered, beautiful and confident woman, ready to take on the world.

There are plenty of other examples of the ugly duckling character. In The Charm School by Susan Wiggs, the main character, Isadora Peabody, is an awkward misfit from an accomplished Boston family.  There’s also Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady, Harriet from Harriet the Spy, Vivian from Pretty Woman, and maybe the most famous misfit of all...Harry Porter.

I’ve written over fifty novels and never yet tackled the ugly duckling archetype, but for some reason I’m being drawn to it this spring as I contemplate plotting my next novel. I have in mind a young woman who has been looking after her sickly parents since she was eighteen years. As a consequence of never being able to focus on what she wants in life, she’s become rather...dowdy. She’s only twenty-five, yet feels as if life is passing her by. And it is.

Through the course of my novel, this young woman will learn how to engage with the world again. She’ll figure out who she is and what she cares about. And yes, her transformation will include a new hair style and some updated clothes. But the improvements that really matter will be the interior ones.

I’m hoping this will be a story that my readers will engage with. But I suppose only time will tell! If you want to keep updated on the progress of this and my other writing endeavers, please sign up for my newsletter. While you’re visiting my website make sure you enter my Grab-bag contest. I’m giving away a great custom totebag and a stack of ten autographed books. 

Christina Dodd Does BEST MOVIE KISSES

There is a lot of on-screen sex. Bare rears pumping, shots of boobs and torsos, legs intertwined, blah, blah. My reactions range anywhere from, “Ick, gross,” to, “Wow, that’s sexy,” to, “Hahahahaha!” Because sex, while a lot of fun in the doing, has the potential to be highly comedic.

But for real heat, nothing works like a well-done on-screen kiss. And by well-done, I mean the kind of kiss that quivers on the edge of erotica without ever going any farther than four lips meeting for the exchange of souls.

Have you seen the newest PBS version of JANE EYRE with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens? Do you remember the scene after Jane saves Mr. Rochester from the fire in his bed? They stand in silhouette against the firelight. He wraps a blanket around her shoulders. And they don’t kiss … they look at each other.

Right there on the couch, I froze, unable to move, my coke halfway to my mouth, my eyes straining, while passion smolders between them. What makes it better is — she doesn’t know what is happening, she doesn’t know what to do — and he does. And he’s right there. He could seduce her. He wants to so badly, I could taste it. And he restrains himself.

If I had spilled my drink into my lap, steam would have risen.

Later, there was more, when he was trying to convince her to stay with him, but that one scene in silhouette is seared onto my eyeballs. Sexual tension is not about heaving bottoms. It’s about one man and one woman yearning for one thing and one thing only — each other.

So in no particular order, here’s my very incomplete list of the best movie kisses.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA At the end when she’s trying to get away to go with Raoul and she plants a good one on the Phantom and only one thought runs through the mind of every woman watching. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? Gerard Butler? You’re leaving Gerard Butler for pretty boy RAOUL? Have you lost your feeble grasp on reality? So THE PHANTOM’S face is a little messed up! All cats are gray in the dark!

DON JUAN DE MARCO Early on, there is this scene with a woman in a restaurant. She’s obviously waiting for a man who doesn’t value her as he should, and Johnny Depp (dressed as Don Juan de Marco in a cape and a mask), sits down at her table. He kisses her fingers one by one while saying, “These women... have fingers, with the same sensitivities as their legs. The fingertips have the same feelings as their feet, and when you touch their knuckles, it is like passing your hands along their knees. And this, tender, fleshy part of the finger, is the same as brushing your hands along their thighs. And... finally...”

One word. Wowsa.


LAST OF THE MOHICANS DA! DA DA DAH DAH! DAH DAH DAH DAH! A hot kiss, a great theme, and a fabulous line delivered by an intense Daniel Day-Lewis.
“What are you looking at, sir?”
“I’m looking at you, miss.”

The kiss at the end of A&E’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE — okay, it’s barely even a real kiss, but the lead-up is six hours of Colin Firth brooding over Miss Elizabeth Bennett. Talk about a build-up of sexual tension that can only be released by … one … thing!

Oh man, let’s never forget that moment on the piano in PRETTY WOMAN.

And last but not least, in THE ILLUSIONIST, Edward Norton rejects Jessica Biel and at the same time, he’s kissing her because he can’t control himself. I watched that part of the DVD so many times I may have melted the plastic. For sure, I melted something.

What movie kisses have been so hot that you melted in your chair? What almost-kisses seared the scene onto your eyeballs? What do you think makes the difference between a kiss that makes you toss popcorn into the air and try to catch it in your mouth and one that makes you buy the DVD just so you can run it over and over and
over …?

Christina
http://www.christinadodd.com/

Authors who have influenced me - by Helen Bianchin

I love to read. Romance and romantic suspense, mysteries, crime ... the list is endless.

Bliss is reading a book by a favoured author, uncaring what the story holds, the characters, the setting. Just knowing I'll be held enthralled by the author's magical skill with words is enough. A comfortable chair, the benefit of several uninterrupted hours ...

A vivid imagination has been my companion for as long as I can remember. I was there with Enid Blyton's famous Five as they engaged in their various adventures; the probation nurse in all the doctor-and-nurse stories who fell in love with the resident hospital doctor, to the extent nursing almost became a considered occupation. The legal profession eventually won out, but that's another story!

I adore romance. The mythical knight on a white horse who rode to rescue the fair maiden. The modern day "Pretty Woman" scenario.

The darker marriage of convenience; the wild boy from the wrong side of the tracks who makes good; Cinderella in its various guises.

Which authors did it for me? On reflection, it was a paperback romance titled "The Distant Hills" by Lucy Walker which first made me think I'd like to write. Closely followed by Violet Winspear, who crafted and maintained sensual tension with just a look between her heroes and heroines.

Then along came Kathleen Woodiwiss, who dared to go where few authors in the genre had gone before! Wow! Who could forget Shanna? The Flame and the Flower? The Wolf and the Dove? Such passion! So much emotion. Sensuality.

As a reader, I was hooked. As a writer, I became totally enthralled. Excited by the talent, the magic, the words.

There are past works I can read and re-read countless times. All-time favourites. Keepers. To read and become entranced by the magic again and again.

I could list so many of today's authors whose work enthrall me as a reader. However the list would be long ... perhaps too long to occupy this space! And I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I inadvertently missed including someone.

Kind regards and best wishes to you all,

Helen