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Unraveling
the Complexities of Romantic Suspense Romantic
suspense is one of the hottest subgenres in the market today and shows
no sign of slowing. The subgenre is broad and encompasses a lot of
different styles of writing, and one of the first questions that new
writers ask is what exactly qualifies as “romantic suspense?” In
my opinion, a romantic suspense is a novel with a story that is driven
equally and simultaneously by the threat of danger and the promise of
romance. There are as many variations on this theme as there are
types of writers -- from hot, erotic love stories with a hint of
danger to a cozy mystery with a mere allusion to a possible romance.
In a week, I can’t cover all those variations, nor do I have the
reading/writing expertise to try. And even within the tightly
defined subgenre, romantic suspense can vary with the types of plots or
settings and be even more genre-specific, such as military r/s or police
procedurals, or classified by the type of hero/heroine, such as FBI,
bodyguard or Navy SEAL romantic suspenses. In
a good romantic suspense, at least one of the protagonists is in danger
(or someone she or he loves, like a sibling or child, is in danger) and
the love story builds at the same time that the hero and heroine
confront escalating jeopardy, until both the suspense and romance reach
a crescendo that leaves the mystery solved, the villain defeated and the
main characters ending happily ever after. Sound
simple? Well, my friends, if you’ve read a good one, it does
seem simple. But if you’ve attempted to write one, finished one
or sold one, then you know it is NOT EASY. I’d venture to say
romantic suspense is the most complicated subgenre in romance writing,
but no novel is easy to write. At least, not one that’s easy to
read! The
first thing you need to do (no surprise here) is read some of the
classics and top selling authors in romantic suspense. I cut my
teeth on Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart. If
you’ve read these authors, you’ve already been exposed to brilliant
characterization, tension building, mood and danger. But, quite
honestly, the genre has changed. There are a few great gothics out there
now, but the most popular romantic suspense novels now are contemporary
stories with technology playing as much a role as a butt-kicking heroine
and real life terrorist villains. Today,
there are some really terrific romantic suspense writers at every level
from rookie through midlist to international best-sellers. The
“biggies” are Nora Roberts (I’m not talking about JD Robb, since
those books do not necessarily give the ultimate HEA, but her long
romantic suspense novels like NORTHERN LIGHTS and BLUE SMOKE. She
has dozens on the shelves and every one is terrific.), Linda Howard (my
number one personal favorite for unparalleled skill in blending sexual
tension and mounting danger), Suzanne Brockmann, Sandra Brown, Julie
Garwood, to name a very few. At the risk of accidentally omitting
dear friends, I’m not going to name specific up-and-coming authors,
but, trust me, there are some great ones out there and reading their
work is the first, most important thing you can do. The
reason I say this is not to sell books. I say this because if you
read a lot of romantic suspense, you will begin to organically absorb
everything you need to know. The pacing, the plotting, the
villains, the red herrings, the characterization, the mood, the crimes,
the procedures, the clues, the resolutions and the romance is all there.
In fact, all that you need to know is so embedded in the work of the
great romantic suspense writers, that I find it nearly impossible to
pluck out the elements, discuss and describe them and suggest ways for
any writer to incorporate them in her work. It’s a little like
sitting down to a gourmet meal and trying to explain to someone that the
chopped fresh rosemary made one dish, but it would be all wrong in
another, similar dish, but it might be okay if you deglazed with brandy
instead of port and threw in a dash of…you get the idea. The
process of writing a romantic suspense is organic to me, and, I suspect,
to most people who write within the subgenre. Why
should you write romantic suspense? The market is hot – has been
and should stay that way, almost every publisher has room for a good,
new r/s writer. The external plot of an r/s really drives the
story as much as the internal plot, so it is a great subgenre that
really works for writers who are as plot-driven as they are
character-driven. If you are a writer who loves a puzzle, who
thrives on a mind-boggling challenge, and who thoroughly enjoys research
and putting your characters in physical as well as emotional danger,
romantic suspense just could by your subgenre. If you read it, you
might very well like to write it. But
why *shouldn’t* you write romantic suspense? I don’t want to
discourage anyone, but don’t take it on if you aren’t ready for a
serious challenge in writing. All of the other challenges are
there in every other genre: creating compelling characters,
telling a breathtaking story, manipulating emotions, building sexual
tension to the breaking point, and crafting a believable, satisfactory
ending. (And then, ahem, finding an agent, editor and
contract….let’s not go there.) But add to that the
complexities of crime, danger, red herrings and a villain who is as
important as the hero and heroine, all woven together at a breakneck
speed that never lets the suspense or romance outweigh the other….and
you have one very challenging book to write. To
Reveal or Not Reveal…that is the Villainous Question In
a story that braids love and suspense, sensuality and danger, good and
evil, life and death…you might very well have a triangle of
characters. Although many will argue that there is ALWAYS an
“antagonist” in every story, that character in a suspense is
generally the villain. And in a romantic suspense, the villain not
only threatens the lives of the antagonists, he or she represents a
threat to their love, as well. So that overcoming the villain is
doubly satisfying…and creating the villain is complicated and
challenging and, as most romantic suspense writers will tell you, really
fun. When
you start a romantic suspense, you have to make one all-important
decision: to reveal the identity of the villain or not. This
choice does have a significant impact on the story – and both routes
are correct. There are GREAT suspense stories where you know from
page one exactly who the bad guy is, and you’re still on the edge of
your seat watching your hero and heroine figure it out or fight him to
the death. There are also GREAT suspense stories where you are
handed a cast of characters and while you are reading, given clues (and
fake clues – called ‘red herrings’ and someone out there is going
to tell us why) to figure it out. This is a different kind of
game, and a wholly different kind of writing challenge. I call it
“who knows what” and the reader is as important in that list as the
characters. Some people believe that it’s a “mystery” if the
reader solves the crime/identity of villain along with the characters,
and a suspense if the reader knows but experiences the characters
finding it out. I’m not entirely sure I buy that. I do
know this: when I start a romantic suspense, I make a conscious
decision to reveal or not reveal the villain and that decision has a
profound impact on the book. I lean toward NOT revealing, just
because I like to read those books. Either way, my publisher
considers it a suspense. Whether
or not you reveal the villain to the reader (or the characters), you
have to give your bad guy/girl just as much GMC (goal, motivation and
conflict) as your good guy and girl. Meaning, the villain can’t
be bad just for the pure joy of being bwa-ha-ha-ha moustache-twirling
dastardly. Something has caused that evil soul to hatch --
or something has caused a perfectly nice person to do something very bad
– and you really should have a pretty good idea what it is before you
start. The villain’s goal needs to be clear and believable –
but if you are writing the type of suspense where you have chosen NOT to
reveal the villain until the end, the villain’s goals cannot be SO
clear as to make him/her the obvious choice because the reader will feel
cheated. (I told you this was hard.) When you have a group
of villains (a terrorist cell, for example) you will probably have to
choose one or two to embody the evil. So
when you sit down to do your character charts, map out your GMC and
decide the course of your hero and heroine’s backstory, if you are
writing romantic suspense, you’ll have to do the same thing for the
villain. And you should do this for the people who pepper the plot
who are not the villain, but might be. There should be enough of
them to keep a reader guessing, but not so many that you’ve created a
world of confusion. And, as I’m sure you’ve heard in every
lecture on romantic suspense, don’t drop the villain in for the first
time in the end of the book. He/she should be there from the
beginning. My test: when you finish a book where the villain
is not revealed until the end, you should be able to go back to the VERY
BEGINNING (if not page one, then pretty darn early) and see the first
clue to the true identity of the villain. And the clues should be
there (buried, buried, but evident) all through the book. If
you have a villain who is revealed from the beginning, I urge you to
consider scenes in his/her point of view. This really helps a
reader “connect” with the villain and understand his or her
motivation. Plus, it’s just so much fun to let yourself be that
bad! Don’t
Forget the Love Story I’d
be remiss if I didn’t mention a few words about our hero and heroine.
The hero and heroine of a romantic suspense are no different than the
h/h in any other romance. All the same qualities are
important…plus, it helps if they have one or two tricks up their
sleeve that make them extraordinary. Rhonda Pollero, who writes
for Intrigue as Kelsey Roberts, calls this the character’s
“superpowers.” The character needs to be able to do one thing
better than the average Joe, and you should be sure the reader knows it
so that when you hero pulls his superpower from his bag of tricks to
foil the villain, it’s not a surprise to the reader. Whether
it’s the heroine’s computer hacking skills, the hero’s night
vision, or their ability to interrogate someone without them knowing
it…give your good guys an überpower that will take them out of the
ordinary and into the heroic. For
some reason, the TSTL heroine has a permanent home in romantic suspense.
(Too Stupid To Live.) How often have you heard the TSTL heroine
described as the one who goes to the pitch black basement, unarmed, in
the middle of the night, when there is a murderer on the loose and she
heard a noise suspiciously like a knife being sharpened? Because
the heroine in romantic suspense has to face life threatening danger,
she has to be a risk-taker. Not necessarily by nature…but in the
course of the story, at some point, she has to take at least one risk,
usually more. The way to avoid a TSTL heroine in this case is
through MOTIVATION. If her actions are believably set up and
motivated, either by the possible consequences if she doesn’t act (ie.
her child will die) or by the backstory you’ve set up for her (ie.
this is exactly how her twin sister died), then the reader will go along
with her taking risks that we, mere mortal women, would not take. Although
the breakneck plot, the life-threatening danger and edge-of-your-seat
suspense are critical to the subgenre, the art of characterization will
speak to the most important component of all: romance, sensuality
and sexual tension. Remember, they’re running to or from danger,
but they are also running to or from love. And the outcome of the
dangerous situation WILL impact the outcome of their love. Because
of the impending danger, many romantic suspense stories will take place
in just a few days or weeks. This is a REAL challenge – to craft
a believable romance arc that takes them from enemies to friends to
lovers to life partners in ten days. Yet, it is done exquisitely
well by many authors. There are a number of ways to speed up the
falling in love process in a romantic suspense:
Today’s
Market for Romantic Suspense Trust
me, I’ve been out there trying to break in, trying to sell a single
title romantic suspense to a mainstream publisher, and I know what
exactly what frustration, rejection, disappointment, envy, self-doubt
and misery feels like. I also know that persistence and tenacity
are every bit as important as talent in this business. And you
know it’s true. You have to have thick skin, patience, good
friends, wine and chocolate – sometimes daily – to endure what it
takes to sell a book. Yes,
publishers are looking for romantic suspense in all of its iterations.
You can target a single title house like Pocket (my publisher), There
are certainly ways to shorten the road to publication, including: 1.
Write the whole book. An unpubbed writer is probably not going to sell
on proposal. Although, it happens. But rarely. Write the best damn
book you’ve got in you and polish it until it shines to a blinding
finish. When you complete it, stock up on tenacity, confidence, a couple
extra layers of skin and supportive friends and family. You’re going
to need them all. 2.
Take advantage of RWA, especially critiques, conferences and contests.
When I first started trying to sell my manuscript, I found a web site
featuring dozens of interviews with first-time romance authors,
conducted after they made their first sale. All of the writers were
asked about their route to publication. I made a list of responses,
seeking the magic formula, or at least a pattern for their success. I
quickly found one. To an author, they all mentioned the role that
critiques, contests and conferences – one or a combination of all
three – played in getting published. Hundreds
of articles and workshop tapes exist on the finer points of the three
C’s. There are a few specifics to consider when you are focused on the
goal of getting published. With a critique group, find partners who read
the types of books you write – they will know the market, the tone,
the voice, the style that is selling. Seek encouragement and
suggestions, of course, but don’t let anyone change your
"voice" – it is the key element that editors love. If yours
is fresh, don’t let someone tell you it won’t sell. Your voice is
the number one talent that will sell your book. 3.
Editor or Agent? If you’re trying to sell a single title, some
houses still say you don’t need an agent and some authors will assure
you they sold without. But me? I think you need an agent to sell a
single title romantic suspense. Oh yes, you will hear the stories of
slush pile sales, but do the math. Editors are inundated with
manuscripts. The agent acts as a trusted screening process and editors
will tell you, they read agented submissions first. The key word in that
statement is "they" not "first." The editors who
make buying decisions read agented submissions. Unagented submissions at
some (not all) houses are often read first by individuals who have no
buying authority. They may be perfectly capable assistants and readers.
But they do not have the authority to march into the publisher and say,
"This one sings." They may not have the experience to
recognize that the voice is there, the story just needs some tweaking.
This is not to say an unagented submission will not sell…but an agent
drastically reduces the odds in your favor. And
here is the number one thing you need to do after you finish your
manuscript, polish it sufficiently, network effectively, enter it into a
few select contests and keep it under consideration at no less than five
places at a time: WRITE ANOTHER BOOK. Good
luck and happy reading and writing! |