Day 16 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

September 16, 2013 by stephaniehurt | Leave a comment

Welcome to Day 16 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Lizzie Lamb and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Lizzie and her book Tall, Dark and Kilted.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

As a reader and writer of romance I enjoy novels with a satisfying resolution and incumbent happy ending. One where the hero and heroine survive the trials and tribulations of their – often stormy – relationship, but in the end realise they are meant to be together. Forever.

       However, I have noticed that many ‘romances’ nowadays feature as their central themes: infidelity, abusive relationships, and single/divorced parent struggling against the odds. Add to those tropes novels which regularly feature middle-aged/middle class heroines suffering from low self-esteem and/or ‘empty nest’ syndrome. In short, novels which hold a mirror up to society and encourage the reader to examine their own lives against its reflection.

       Bucking that trend, perhaps, I write about the moment when one falls in love and I want readers to recapture the buzz, whatever their ages. I know from feedback that my readership wants to remember the magic of that moment, too. I also enjoy writing about warm, emotion driven sex between my hero and heroine – once their internal/external conflicts have been resolved, naturally!  Judging by the reviews I’ve received (67 in amazon.co.uk/56 in amazon.com) the majority of my readers feel the same way. 

       I like romances full of sparky dialogue between the hero/heroine – and the funnier, the better. I enjoy placing my heroine in a situation where she has to use native wit, intelligence and resourcefulness to get her out of trouble – without the hero’s help. My second rom com:Boot Camp Bride, which is due out this autumn, contains a large element of romantic suspense.

       In short I couldn’t write a book I wouldn’t enjoy reading. I want my readers to close my novel with a happy sigh and with a smile on their lips. And to search the internet for my next book!!

 Biography

 

If you have a dream – go for it.
Life is not a rehearsal

With Scottish, Irish, and Brazilian blood in her veins, it’s hardly surprising that Lizzie Lamb is a writer. She even wrote extra scenes for the films she watched as a child and acted out in the playground with her friends. She is shamed to admit that she kept all the good lines for herself. Luckily, she saves them for her readers these days. Lizzie’s love of writing went on hold while she pursued a successful teaching career, finishing up as a Deputy Head teacher of a large primary school. Since deciding to leave the profession to realise her dream of becoming a published novelist, Lizzie hasn’t looked back. She wrote Tall, Dark and Kilted – which echoes her love of her homeland in every page, not to mention heroes in kilts – and published it. Lizzie loves the quick fire interchange between the hero and heroine – like in old black and white Hollywood movies – and hope this comes over in her writing.
For her second novel: Boot Camp Bride (due out autumn 2013) she’s had enormous fun researching VW camper vans, the Norfolk Marshes and the world of journalism. Not to mention falling in love with a delicious new hero – Rafael Ffinch. 

Fliss Bagshawe longs for a passport out of Pimlico where she works as a holistic therapist. After attending a party in Notting Hill she loses her job and with it the dream of being her own boss. She’s offered the chance to take over a failing therapy centre, but there’s a catch. The centre lies five hundred miles north in Wester Ross, Scotland. Fliss’s romantic view of the highlands populated by Men in Kilts is shattered when she has an upclose and personal encounter with the Laird of Kinloch Mara, Ruairi Urquhart. He’s determined to pull the plug on the business, bring his eccentric family to heel and eject undesirables from his estate – starting with Fliss. Facing the dole queue once more Fliss resolves to make sexy, infuriating Ruairi revise his unflattering opinion of her, turn the therapy centre around and sort out his dysfunctional family.  Can Fliss tame the Monarch of the Glen and find the happiness she deserves?

Go over and check out Lizzie at Amazon

Here’s a link to Rosie’s side of the tour: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2xX