Today I'm happy to host the talented Misha Gericke.
I've asked her to talk about the romance in her debut book, THE VANISHED KNIGHT.
Thanks for letting me post here, Christine!
Romance is one of my favorite aspects to a book. I mean, who doesn’t love then the chemistry between two characters sizzles and we’re all waiting to see how it all ends up. And please please please let the ending be happy.
I left the issue open-ended in The Vanished Knight, though. Chemistry I have in spades. As well as some delicious guys. The thing is, there’s one girl and four guy main characters. And they all have a ton of stuff going on for the whole book.
Two are on the other side of the continent for most of the book, and the two who are with Callan are… well, a bit distracted by the fact that they have to find a missing prince or all hell will break loose.
But like I said, there’s plenty of chemistry, especially where Gawain’s involved. I guess I could have put in more romance as well, but the fact is, I didn’t want to.
Firstly, it would pretty much have gone against Callan’s character. She has a secret that pretty much forestalls any attempt she makes at getting closer to people. Besides that, her have-a-clue-meter about male interest is pretty much stuck on zero.
The other big reason: With so much going on, their romance would have been pretty much an instabond. While I get why writers do that, I don’t have to, since I have four more books in which to develop their relationship. I much prefer that. Although saying this, I’ve already sown the seeds to threaten what they’ve got going.
Don’t take this as a spoiler, though. I honestly don’t know for sure whether or not Gawain manages to win Callan over. There’s too much that can change between now and the next few books. I do hope you’ll read The Vanished Knight though. And let me know if you think Gawain is the one for Callan.
Who else prefers long-burn romances to develop over a series?
Romance is one of my favorite aspects to a book. I mean, who doesn’t love then the chemistry between two characters sizzles and we’re all waiting to see how it all ends up. And please please please let the ending be happy.
I left the issue open-ended in The Vanished Knight, though. Chemistry I have in spades. As well as some delicious guys. The thing is, there’s one girl and four guy main characters. And they all have a ton of stuff going on for the whole book.
Two are on the other side of the continent for most of the book, and the two who are with Callan are… well, a bit distracted by the fact that they have to find a missing prince or all hell will break loose.
But like I said, there’s plenty of chemistry, especially where Gawain’s involved. I guess I could have put in more romance as well, but the fact is, I didn’t want to.
Firstly, it would pretty much have gone against Callan’s character. She has a secret that pretty much forestalls any attempt she makes at getting closer to people. Besides that, her have-a-clue-meter about male interest is pretty much stuck on zero.
The other big reason: With so much going on, their romance would have been pretty much an instabond. While I get why writers do that, I don’t have to, since I have four more books in which to develop their relationship. I much prefer that. Although saying this, I’ve already sown the seeds to threaten what they’ve got going.
Don’t take this as a spoiler, though. I honestly don’t know for sure whether or not Gawain manages to win Callan over. There’s too much that can change between now and the next few books. I do hope you’ll read The Vanished Knight though. And let me know if you think Gawain is the one for Callan.
Who else prefers long-burn romances to develop over a series?
Blurb:
Since the death of her parents, Callan Blair has been shunted from one foster family to another, her dangerous secret forcing the move each time. Her latest foster family quickly ships her off to an exclusive boarding school in the Cumbrian countryside. While her foster-brother James makes it his mission to get Callan expelled, a nearby ancient castle holds the secret doorway to another land...
When Callan is forced through the doorway, she finds herself in the magical continent of Tardith, where she’s shocked to learn her schoolmates Gawain and Darrion are respected soldiers in service to the king of Nordaine, one of Tardith's realms. More than that, the two are potential heirs to the Black Knight—Nordaine's crown prince.
But when the Black Knight fails to return from a mysterious trip, the realm teeters on the brink of war. Darrion and Gawain set out to find him, while Callan discovers there is more to her family history than she thought. The elves are claiming she is their princess.
Now with Darrion growing ever more antagonistic and her friendship with Gawain blossoming, Callan must decide whether to stay in Nordaine—where her secret grows ever more threatening—or go to the elves and uncover the truth about her family before war sets the realms afire.
Bio: M. Gerrick (AKA Misha Gericke) has basically created stories since before she could write. Many of those stories grew up with her and can be seen in her current projects.She lives close to Cape Town, with a view over False Bay and Table Mountain.
If you’d like to contact her, feel free to mail her at warofsixcrowns(AT)gmail(DOT)com, Circle her on Google Plus or follow her on Twitter. If you'd like to see her writer-side (beware, it's pretty insane), please feel free to check out her blog. You can also add The Vanished Knight on Goodreads.
Links:
When Callan is forced through the doorway, she finds herself in the magical continent of Tardith, where she’s shocked to learn her schoolmates Gawain and Darrion are respected soldiers in service to the king of Nordaine, one of Tardith's realms. More than that, the two are potential heirs to the Black Knight—Nordaine's crown prince.
But when the Black Knight fails to return from a mysterious trip, the realm teeters on the brink of war. Darrion and Gawain set out to find him, while Callan discovers there is more to her family history than she thought. The elves are claiming she is their princess.
Now with Darrion growing ever more antagonistic and her friendship with Gawain blossoming, Callan must decide whether to stay in Nordaine—where her secret grows ever more threatening—or go to the elves and uncover the truth about her family before war sets the realms afire.
Bio: M. Gerrick (AKA Misha Gericke) has basically created stories since before she could write. Many of those stories grew up with her and can be seen in her current projects.She lives close to Cape Town, with a view over False Bay and Table Mountain.
If you’d like to contact her, feel free to mail her at warofsixcrowns(AT)gmail(DOT)com, Circle her on Google Plus or follow her on Twitter. If you'd like to see her writer-side (beware, it's pretty insane), please feel free to check out her blog. You can also add The Vanished Knight on Goodreads.
Links:
I love long-burn romances! They have a better chance of being convincing, IMO. While there are definitely cases where instant romances work, it's much easier for those to feel like a plot device instead of a natural progression for some stories...
ReplyDeleteI do! As Heather said, long-burn romances seem so much more realistic.
ReplyDeleteAs long as something does come of it! Otherwise it's just unfulfilled teasing.
ReplyDeleteYeah...I'm not so patient. I can handle the long game, but I sit there banging my head against the desk and screaming, "JUST ACT ALREADY!" (This is ironic coming from a girl who grew up denying she had a single romantic bone in her body.) ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty much in favor of any romance so long as it's realistic. Since I'm never sure if I'll write a series, I cram the romance all in there in the first book! lol
ReplyDeleteAs longs as it's not draw out tooooo long.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi, Misha. I agree that the romance needs to develop over the whole of the series. Otherwise, that tension and conflict vanishes. Congrats on your debut!
ReplyDeleteHi, Christine. Happy Thanksgiving.
I actually like both variations...:)
ReplyDeleteHeather I agree that it's easier to write a long-burn romance convincingly.
ReplyDeleteDana I agree.
I agree, Alex. Something needs to happen eventually.
Hahahaha Crystal, I do that to, but oddly, I love doing it. :-P
Lol Lexa yeah luckily with me, I almost always get a feeling if a story I'm writing will end up being a series.
I agree Nicole, there has to be a balance.
Carol I agree with you. It always annoys me if someone gets the timing wrong on the romance and it messes everything up.
T.F. I also like both, and write both. But for this story, the long-burn variation worked better.