Greetings,
Thank you for having me on
your blog today!
I wanted to talk about the
differences, as I see them, between working on Paranormal Romance verses
Contemporary Romance. If I miss anything please let me know in the comments.
In my experience
paranormal romance comes with a layer of world building before the romance can
even come along. First you have to decide what the paranormal aspects are going
to be. Are there Werewolves? Fairies? Are you creating a new species? Are they
out in the open or hidden from the rest of the world? I find this to be the fun
part. I love developing a new world to play in. There is also a story going on
other then the romance. In some cases it is an over arching theme that goes
through several books. Over all there is a lot to keep track of.
With contemporary romance
the romance is not only front and center but in a lot of cases it can be the
only plot line in the story. The focus is all on the couple and their budding
relationship. Sure there are obstacles for their love. But the love is central. Also contemporary
romances take place in the present in the real world. So there is not the need
for world building and explaining to people how the world works. We as the
readers already know because we live it everyday.
For me, contemporary is
the harder romance to write. I am bound by all the rules of the real world.
Also I have to focus on the romance instead of swapping between plots. As
someone who is used to following several lines at once the laser focus on the
relationship between Renee and Ruben in The Doll Making Delta was hard for me.
I constantly had to remind myself that the romance needed to take center stage
and I couldn't let myself create sub-plots.
After writing a
contemporary romance I have a lot of awe for the romance authors that write
contemporary novels, even several a year. You ladies are amazing.
That is all for now,
Gretchen
The Doll Making Delta
Delta House Novels
Book 1
Gretchen S. B.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Date of Publication: Oct 15th
ISBN: 1500612421
Number of pages: 175
Word Count: 45,700
Cover Artist: Gretchen S. B.
and Jeannette Takashima
Book Description:
Reneé Edward has a lot on her plate. She took over as President of the Reneé-Gal company from her father a few months ago. Just in time for a merger with a new parent company.
As if that timing was not bad enough she finds out several Junior Executives have been ruining the merger from within. Just as she is scrambling to pick up the pieces, Ruben Blackthorne strolls into her life. He is sexy, tall and clearly into her. Though she is excited about this new development in her love life Reneé finds it a little hard to juggle the new addition. As everything in her life finally seems to fall into place for the first time in almost a year Reneé finds herself confused as Ruben begins to pull away.
Had she imagined their connection? Were things moving too fast? Lost and confused, at least she has her family and her fellow Deltas to get her through. That is until everything takes another unexpected turn.
Excerpt:
A
warn breeze whipped by her as Reneé practically burst from front doors of her
office building. She paused a second to take a deep breath of the fresh Seattle
air. The layers of her blond pixie cut fell across her face as she tilted her
head back. Did she ever need a break! This had been a terrible day proceed by a
terrible month. Opening her eyes she looked diagonally across the street at her
own personal escape.
Late
Night Fix was a simple one story brick building with large panel windows along
the two street facing walls. It was Reneé's home away from home. Not just
because of its cozy atmosphere or because it hosted local events. It was her
escape from work because her best friend owned it.
Reneé
didn't try to stop the grin from forming on her face as she waited at the light
to cross the street. Naomi had been one of her closest friends since the two of
them met in kindergarten. Their parents lived about half a mile from each
other. Which meant they were with each other constantly growing up. They both
received the Delta House scholarship and even earned their MBAs together.
Having
Naomi within walking distance saved Reneé's sanity the last month or two. Even
if she did not see her friend, knowing Naomi was so close was a comfort in the
hostile board room.
Reneé's
father, Stan, and uncle, James, started a doll company when she was about a year
old. Their flagship doll was Reneé-Gal. She grew as Reneé did, made friends,
picked up hobbies. The Reneé-Gal company grew in popularity and became a
regional favorite.
About
three years ago a national toy company approached her father about buying Reneé-Gal
and giving her a wider audience. He and James would still be at the head of the
company, they would just have people to answer to and more resources at their
disposal. Stan and James discussed it for over a year before agreeing to
entertain the idea.
Her
father retired six months ago after grooming Reneé to take his position. The
original plan had been to wait until after the merger but her Dad suffered a
mild heart attack and everyone agreed in would be best for him to retire and
relax. Now she and her uncle, who was semi-retired himself, were trying to
close this merger.
They
kept hitting a wall and could not figure out why. Until Monday morning when
Reneé's assistant Debbie stumbled upon emails from three junior executives
sabotaging the merger and trying to negotiate one of their own. James and Reneé
promptly fired all three of them on the spot.
That
however created a void in the workload that needed to be filled. Reneé had been
pulling eighteen hour days this week scrambling to save this merger and fill in
the gaps. She was exhausted and couldn't believe it was already Thursday and
she had not been to see Naomi yet.
As
the bell over the front door jingled Reneé felt a weight fall off her
shoulders. The shop was mostly brick with steel bar style seating at the
counter and along both windowed walls. There were two and four person circular
table everywhere. But at two pm on a week day only half the tables were
occupied. The two registers were about twenty feet away, facing the door.
Reneé
smiled at Kelsey, the young college student behind the register.
"Hey
Kelsey, is Naomi here?"
The
young blond nodded before yelling over her shoulder. "Hey boss!"
Reneé
swore she heard Naomi muttering from the kitchen through the partially open
door behind Kelsey. A few seconds later Naomi appeared, wiping her hands on her
apron.
"Really
Kelsey? Really? You could just come get me or barring that at least use my
name."
Kelsey
shrugged.
Naomi's
inky black braid slid off her shoulder as she looked up at the barista, then
she saw Reneé and smiled. "Hey hon, long time no see."
Her
tone was light and her face was pleasant but Reneé could see Naomi assessing
her to gage the level of stress.
"You
here for lunch or just a pit stop?"
"Lunch
but I can't stay too long."
Naomi
nodded and waved to the closest empty stool to the left of the coffee
equipment. Reneé took the gesture for the command it was and sat on the stool.
Every once in a while Naomi wouldn't let her pay, usually when stress was high.
She must have looked as exhausted as she felt.
A
few moments later Naomi set a large mug in front of Reneé, presumably her usual
dirty vanilla soy Chai, alongside a chicken salad sandwich. Then she set
another full foamy mug across the counter and pulled over one of the two staff
stools so she could sit across from Reneé.
"Okay,
sip and spill. What kept you away for the better part of a week?" Naomi
asked before tipping her cup to her mouth.
Sighing
Reneé unwrapped her sandwich. "You remember how Uncle James and I couldn't
figure out why there were all these hang ups with the negotiations right?"
Naomi's
eyes grew cautious and narrowed as she nodded over her mug.
"Well
as it turns out three of our junior board members were sending emails
sabotaging the merger. They claimed I was holding on to information to sweeten
the deal for our side. They also said that they could, with help, oust me and
make a more agreeable deal."
Naomi's
eyes widened as she set down her mug. "Wait, what? Isn't that illegal or
something? Are you going to sue them? Can you save the deal? How did you find
out?"
The
shocked disbelieve from her friend made Reneé feel better. It made her feel
like she wasn't losing her mind to have someone as upset as she was. Uncle
James had seemed more downtrodden than upset.
"One
of their assistants got wind of what was going on and clued in Debbie. You know
how she gets about finding information. She found the email correspondence
between these guys and our soon to be parent company. When Debbie showed the
emails to Uncle James and I we fired them. As for suing, I don’t know. Our
lawyers are handling it.
We
think the deal may be salvageable but they are sending in one of their
acquisitions and negotiations guys to do the rest in person. That way there can
be no mistakes. Uncle James is all for this. He says the guy they are sending
is the same one that approached him and Dad years ago. That he is a trustworthy
guy. I still don't know. While I appreciate that they still want to negotiate
it almost feels like I am being chastised for not having a better handle on the
board." Some of the stress crept back in as Reneé finished.
Smiling
sympathetically, Naomi reached across the counter to squeeze her hand.
"I'm sorry you have to deal with all this. But it is going to get easier
right? I mean once this thing goes though your load will be lighter. There are
maybe six months left, yes a hard six months but there is light at the end of
the tunnel." She gave another squeeze before letting go and grabbing her
cup again. "Now eat your sandwich!"
Rolling
her eyes Reneé complied, knowing full well Naomi wouldn't let her talk again
until at least half the sandwich was gone.
They
sat in a companionable silence for several minutes when the bell above the door
rang several times. When one particular time Reneé saw Naomi's face light up
she turned to see who entered. Then it was like she stopped breathing.
He
was tall, maybe six-three and gorgeous. He had shaggy light brown hair, a sharp
nose and jaw. As well as the palest blue eyes Reneé had ever seen. The mystery
guy had one of those lithe builds that suited the jeans and t-shirt he wore as
well as the guitar case strapped to his back.
Reneé
made herself start breathing again as he came to stand next to her, beaming at
Naomi.
About the Author:
Gretchen is a Seattleite that loves her home. She has a day job as a Program Coordinator a local university. She is a struggling Indie Author, struggling as in she is trying to make her living writing books. She loves to read, write and create characters. As well as knit and binge watch Netflix. She is also on a sporadic book blog and internet radio show with some of her college friends. She currently lives with her husband and their mischievous Rotti mix, who always seems to find something new she shouldn't be chewing on.
Posts
1 comment:
Thank you for having me on your Blog!
Post a Comment