Constructing a Plot- or How I Wrote Constructing Marcus Without Driving Myself Insane By Danielle DeVor I am your all around, creepy places sort of girl. If you want someone to run to old cemeteries in New England for gravestone rubbings, I’m the girl for you. I am not your usual romanticy sort of woman who loves movies that make me cry and mushy love songs. Which is why writing a book that had romantic elements was a challenge for me. I do read some romance- usually paranormal romance with sexy vampires. *fans self* But, I mostly find myself drawn toward writing straight fantasy or horror-esque stories. My mother, who happens to be a huge romance reader, asked me one day why I hadn’t tried writing something kind of romantic. I didn’t really have an answer except my brain doesn’t usually drift in that direction. So, since the challenge was now presented, I wanted to try to write a romantic story- but on my terms. If you’ve read my other book with Eirelander Publishing, Tail of the Devil, you’ll know what I’m talking about. My stories have a lot of grit, violence, and the occasional gross-out. But, since this story was to have some romance, I knew that a lot of the usual things I interject weren’t going to work this time and had to happen off-screen. I had to scale myself back. No scenes of torture. No scenes of violent death. This story had to be lighter. It had to make the romance between Emma and Marcus a plot point. I did slip in a little grossness, I’ll admit. But, heck, a girl like me couldn’t resist. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that it is good to challenge yourself once in awhile. I stepped out of my comfort zone with this one and I think it worked. http://danielledevor.wordpress.com
