tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138705851348115177.post8667096617400641946..comments2023-10-26T01:19:28.762-06:00Comments on Jennifer On Writing: Colleen Thompson--Advice from a Rising Rom. Sus. StarUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138705851348115177.post-4957468412603643442007-12-05T14:13:00.000-07:002007-12-05T14:13:00.000-07:00Thanks for the insight into your writing process, ...Thanks for the insight into your writing process, Colleen. Color coded synopsis, huh? Your organization both impresses and intimidates the heck out of me. Looking forward to THE SALT MAIDEN!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138705851348115177.post-85148333475554909952007-12-04T10:50:00.000-07:002007-12-04T10:50:00.000-07:00Thanks, Carolina. Hope you'll enjoy the book!Thanks, Carolina. Hope you'll enjoy the book!Colleen Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18398127184158098008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138705851348115177.post-9105390811243311622007-12-04T09:11:00.000-07:002007-12-04T09:11:00.000-07:00Thanks Colleen and Jennifer! I'll check out THE SA...Thanks Colleen and Jennifer! I'll check out THE SALT MAIDEN right away. I have a plane ride coming up this weekend. Let's see if I can wait until I board!Carey Baldwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15497341972679836624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138705851348115177.post-73875021411554823132007-12-02T20:43:00.000-07:002007-12-02T20:43:00.000-07:00Thanks for the kind words, Diana, and for your ent...Thanks for the kind words, Diana, and for your enthusiasm re. The Salt Maiden. :)<BR/><BR/>I've never read any helpful books about balancing the romance and mystery/suspense in a manuscript. However, I've read a ton of RS and straight suspense and mystery books for pleasure. In the best of RS - books by authors such as Linda Howard, Sharon Sala, and Nora Roberts - the two "halves" were integrated so smoothly, you couldn't imagine one without the other. But I read a surprising number of books that left me unsatisfied, usually with the progression of the romance and the emotional "wholeness" of the characters. (A lot of male-written straight suspense seems flat to me in that regard, although some writers, like Harlan Coben, get it just right.) So when I started writing, I mapped out all the major scenes and color coded which were romance, which suspense, or (ideally) which scenes moved the plot forward in both areas. And then I tried to write the romantic suspense novel I longed to read, adding in stuff often missing from RS, like family elements, pets, and touches of humor.<BR/><BR/>It's easy to focus so much on the mystery that you give the characters' emotional arc short shrift, but I think that by consciously striving toward that balance, you can manage. I don't color code any longer, but I do consciously examine my synopses for both aspects.<BR/><BR/>Hope that helps!Colleen Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18398127184158098008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138705851348115177.post-11822123350978028542007-12-02T17:25:00.000-07:002007-12-02T17:25:00.000-07:00Thanks for interviewing Colleen. I too am an admir...Thanks for interviewing Colleen. I too am an admirer of her work. Since Romantic Suspense requires an author to have a viable mystery or thriller components, did you find it difficult to blend these elements with romance? Were there any books on the craft that helped you?<BR/><BR/>Looking forward to reading The Salt Maiden as soon as I finish the manuscript that's due Jan 1st!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com