Leading lines from movies

Powerful dialogue makes a book memorable. There's been some great lines in movies that bring romance to life. Here are some of my favourites.

From Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), "I just met a wonderful new man. He's fictional but you can't have everything."

From Camille (1936), "How can one change one's entire life and build a new one on one moment of love? And yet, that's what you make me want to close my eyes and do."

From Pride and Prejuduce (1995), "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

From To Cathc A Thief (1955), "Not only did I enjoy that kiss last night, I was awed by the efficiency behind it."

From Gone With The Wind (1939), "You should be kissed and often by someone who knows how."

From Palmy Days (1931), "Baby, you're the key to my ignition."

Do you have a favourite?

Seeing the Light - well sort of

I recently started to do a synopsis course. Unfortunately a sock eating dog and a traveling husband got in the way.

The synopsis course was a real eye opener for me. For the purpose of the course I started to use a story I'd written about 18k words of. I was changing things up as I edited it in the hopes of submitting it soon.

The more I progressed with the course the more I realised I had absolutely no idea what my characters wanted. I thought I did, but it seems I didn't.

As I stumbled through the first couple of exercises I'll admit to feeling really down. I was wondering what to do. How was I going to get this story to work. Fortunately the following week was a WInk meeting and with the help of the fabulous WInk Girls I was able to get clear in my mind my characters GMC.

Now to go back over what I'd previously written and work their goals etc back in. Or alternatively start with a clean piece of paper and start from the beginning again. That may be the way to go.

So the synopsis course helped me see the holes in my plot and my characters. I didn't finish the course but it is going to be run again in May and I definitely will be attending that course again. This time hopefully the sock eating dog is over her fascination with socks and my hubby won't be away.

So thanks to Camy Tang and her synopsis course. I would recommend to anyone who struggles with writing synopsis to try this course. It opened my eyes!

Nicki

Scary Kisses

My short story Black Widow is tucked inside this cute cover. The Scary Kisses paranormal romance anthology is available for pre-order now from indie books online , and will be out on the 4th of April.

The launch party will be at Swancon in Perth on Friday the 2nd of April

Black Widow

A man with a soul.

A demon with a heart.

A match made in Vegas.

Cover Art

This is my first ever piece of cover art. Yep, you only ever get this moment once, that moment when you first see your name on the cover of a book. Cool or what?

I have no release date yet, but you can gaze at the hero and read the blurb.

Blurb:
Four hundred years ago, Nik was tricked by his lover and left stranded as a powerless, but immortal, human. Now he craves only one thing: to reclaim the book that was once his tail and become a water Elemental again. Unfortunately, he can only locate the book when someone touches the pages. This time he won’t be left high and dry.

Isla is left a beautiful leather-bound book in her great-aunt’s will, perfect for using during her life drawing classes. However, she can’t bring herself to mark the translucent pages until a compelling crimson-haired stranger strips for art.

Nik is torn. Years of enforced humanity have given him a conscience. Despite his best efforts at remaining a heartless water Elemental, he is failing. He is falling for Isla, who has no idea she holds the power of the oceans, and his heart, in her hands.

Basic Storylines

I heard somewhere that there were only 7 basic plotlines/storylines in the world. Not believing that hundreds of years of literature could be fit into such small boxes, I resolved to do some research on the matter.
So during one of my sojourns into the internet world, I googled major storylines and came up with more responses than I'd expected. Apparently, there aren't just 7, there's 3, 8, 20 or 36 (depending on where you look or who you believe). The following is one that made the most sense to me, in other words it was the shortest list that I actually understood.

Eight Basic Storylines - according to an English teacher somewhere in the world:
1. The Cinderella Story - where unrecognised virtue is finally given credit.
2. The Achilles Story - a fatal flaw in the main character which leads to tragic consequences.
3. The Orpheus Story - what happens when former or apparent good fortune is taken away.
4. The Romeo and Juliet Story - a love story (doesn't have to be tragic).
5. The Irrepressable Hero Story - the main character has to deal with a series of obstacles and always succeeds.
6. The Circle Story - the character is drawn, unsuspectingly, into a devious plot by a villian.
7. The Tristan Story - a love triangle.
8. The Faust Story - a pact made with the devil, who must be paid.

I pondered the list and tried to fit in all my stories and the ones I've read. Granted, most of the books I read and write fall into the category of #4, except for my YA novel which is a cross between #5 and #6.

Harry Potter - #5
Twilight Series - #4 and #7
James Bond - #5
Robert Ludlum books - #6
A tonne of Romance books - #1 and #4
I didn't know of any for #8 (tell me if you know of any, I'd be interested to read it).

So, apparently, hundreds of years of plots can be boiled down to a few boxes. Although I will always endevour to find a story that doesn't fit the above, because that would be publishing gold.

Your homework...
Leave me a comment and tell me:

• Where does your novel fit in?
• Can you think of any of your favourite novels that don't fit into any category?

Thanks for reading.
Kym Brooks