Setting the Backdrop for Family Series Romance by Mary Manners

Mary Manners

Hey writers, Annette here. Raise your hand if you write romance and/or series. Today's guest, Mary Manners, is a romance writer with some great tips on how to combine the two. Enjoy!

Setting the Backdrop for Family Series Romance

by Mary Manners

The art of romance occurs solely between a hero and heroine, right? Well… yes and no. Sometimes mixing in a heaping helping of extended family thickens the plot, especially when it comes to writing powerful series romance. 

I love stories which illuminate family, steeped with the message of God’s love and grace. One way to begin a little family romance is with a trio of handsome yet slightly flawed, headstrong brothers and their intelligent yet quirky baby sister. Mix in an independent mother who is more headstrong than her children and the foundation for a four-book series is neatly set. Backdrop the drama with a quaint community tucked into the foothills of the majestic Smoky Mountains for a setting sure to please. Serve up scrumptious platefuls of delectable Italian food in a down-home restaurant nestled front and center on the town’s main boulevard, and readers become intrigued. Expertly blend a touch of humor to the mix as well as once-in-a-lifetime partners for each sibling (and the matriarch, as well) and a powerful, tightly-woven romantic series is born.

A family steeped in trials yet grounded in love, helping one another to overcome heartache and embrace hope, makes for a romance that goes beyond simple hero/heroine attraction. What can such characters teach us about life…about commitment, loyalty and devotion? The possibilities are endless.

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Warrior at Willow Lake

Warrior at Willow Lake

Forgiveness is a symphony of love.

Hunter Stone rides a bright future as an MLB star pitcher until a senseless accident steals his ability to through a curve ball--as well as the life of an innocent child. Disgraced, he leaves Willow Lake in search of something to fill the void.

Maci Ferguson uses her gift of music to help children overcome trauma. Music is the balm that soothes her hurt and washes away memories with scars that refuse to fade. She fears she may never trust a man to love her...until Hunter returns to Willow Lake.

Can the two trust enough to allow God to work in their lives...and heal them both before it's too late?

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Mary Manners is an award-winning romance writer who lives in the beautiful foothills of East Tennessee with her husband, Tim, and the cherished cats they’ve rescued from local animal shelters—Lucky and Gus.

Mary’s debut novel, Mended Heart, was nominated Best Inspirational Romance and was finalist for the Bookseller’s Best Award and her follow-up, Tender Mercies, was awarded an outstanding 4 ½ star rating from The Romantic Times Book Reviews and was also a finalist for the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Buried Treasures, her third novel, was named Book of the Year by The Wordsmith Journal. Light the Fire took top honors for the Inspirational Readers Choice Award while Wisdom Tree garnered National Excellence in Romance Fiction. Mary was named Author of the Year by Book and Trailer Showcase. She writes romances of all lengths, from short stories to novels—something for everyone.

Learn more about Mary Manners at her website: www.MaryMannersRomance.com.

Ten Beats of a Romance: Part One by Susan May Warren

Happy Manuscript Monday, everyone! It's February, the month of Valentine's Day and what better way to celebrate than with a series on writing romance? Susan May Warren is here all month to share her series on the Ten Beats of Romance. This series is helpful for writers of romance, or if you include a secondary romantic thread in your novel, or if you just want to better understand this genre. Read on!

Ten Beats of a Romance Novel: Part One*
Susan May Warren

Every genre (including romance) has key elements—things that we expect from that type of story. Because of this, people might say a romance is predictable. But the author has license to change up these elements, putting them in a different order.

And of course, they are bringing their own voice to the romance—telling it in a way only they know how. That is why we enjoy remakes of old films—because even though it is the same story, it has a different take, and we love that—and frankly, we love seeing the new voice applied to the old structure!

Every romance, regardless of the order these components fall in, has the same ten components. For our series, we’ll call them beats.

Let’s start with the first component:

Beat 1: Boy Meets Girl: In this component, there is an event, goal or circumstance that occurs to bring our hero and heroine together. Usually this happens in the first chapter, but it definitely needs to happen by chapter three. In Titanic, the ship brings the hero and heroine together.

As you sketch out your novel, start by defining that Boy Meets Girl moment. Once you have your Boy meets Girl moment, you can move on to the next beat:

Beat 2: Interest/Need: Something about their own situation makes their heart vulnerable to romance.

In Titanic, Rose hates her life, feels suffocated and longs for freedom and adventure. Jack is a vagabond, and when he sees this beautiful woman who loves him, he is affirmed. She believes in him!

It’s very important for you to figure out what it is about your characters that make them ready or vulnerable to romance. Often this element is revealed though a conversation they have with their friends. Or is a part of inciting incident.

Remember, right now, you’re just building the components—you can move them around to fit the story.

Which brings us to the next beat…

Beat 3: Why Not: These are the obstacles between the hero and heroine that conspire to separate them.

I break these down into two different structures—why/why not, and why not/why.
The why not/why is when the obstacles appear first, and the why (they need to be together, which we’ll get to in a moment) appears second.

Or, you may have a why/why not book where they fall in love first…and then realize why they can’t be together.

Again, these are just components you need to have—they can occur in different orders.

Here’s an example of a Why Not: Sleepless in Seattle: She lives in Baltimore, he lives in Seattle!

The key is, you MUST have why nots in a romance. Because without the WHY NOT, there is no conflict and the story is…boring. Or not a story.

So—as you’re building your story think about the WHY NOT that you will keep them apart.

We’re going to skip over the WHY right now (but we’ll be coming back to it) and move onto the next component:

Beat 4: Wooing: Events or situations that allow the hero and heroine to fall in love. This is the fun stuff—all those “dates” or events they have that make them fall for each other. As we get deeper into building our romance, we’ll talk about the nature and purpose of each of these wooing dates, but for now, let’s just identify them.

One of my favorite is in While you Were Sleeping—moving the sofa!

It’s important to create scenes that will engage the reader—something sweet, and things the reader would like to do. You can be creative about the wooing moment—I’ve had motorcycle rides, hockey, a trip to the library, a snowmobile ride…think outside the box. Where would you like to go?

For every romance, I try and plot at least ONE great date scene, and a couple smaller scenes.

Ask: Do you have any wooing scenes?

These are the first four beats of a great romance. But they are just the beginning. Next week, we’ll talk about the element that makes a romance great: SPARKS!

*Article series first appeared on Book Therapy Voices blog in October, 2010. Used by permission.

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To learn more about Susan, visit her website. Her latest release, Point of No Return, is a romantic suspense. Here's the blurb:

An American boy and a warlord's engaged daughter have disappeared—together—in an Eastern European border country. Only one man can find them in time to prevent an international meltdown—Chet Stryker. But Chet is taken aback when he realizes the boy is the nephew of Mae Lund, Chet's former flame. When Mae insists on rescuing her relative herself, Chet knows he has to protect her from the enemy on their trail. Yet can he protect himself from falling for Mae again?