Build Us Your Ideal Story with Marnie St Clair
Build Us Your Ideal Story with Marnie St Clair
Thanks to AusRomToday for hosting me today, and the continued support for the Australian romance community. On to building a perfect story for the bargain price of $10 …
My first spend is $5 on a happily ever after
Not necessarily the kind with rings and a white dress, and not necessarily the promise that everything’s always going to be perfect, but commitment, the sense that this is a lasting love, capable of weathering the inevitable storms.
Conflict that forces personal growth – $3 (taking the total to $8)
In my own writing (and in my own life!), I do tend to focus on this. I think we all want to know that we are capable of change, and that we are largely in control of our own destinies. Not that you don’t have to do the work …
For me, one of the best things about romance is the fact that the hero and the heroine are often flipsides of the same personal growth coin.
They are each other’s worst nightmare and only salvation in one, forcing the other to face things they’d rather not deal with, and at the same time, offering a path forward, and of course, the biggest reward of all.
The moment when they face that fear and take that leap is so sweet.
Argh, only $2 left! I’m going to go with a surprise, unexpected ending
The ‘inevitable surprise’. So hard to do, and yet so important – a strong start might keep readers turning pages, but the ending determines how they remember your book, and whether they’re inspired to buy the next one.
One way to keep surprises coming and the level of tension high through to the end is to keep turning the screws with your external as well as internal conflicts.
In my latest release, Deal Breaker, both my hero and heroine have a fair amount of internal baggage to work through. But they are also management consultants, working on the sale of a small boutique toymaker, Honegger, to a multinational. The complications and conflicts that arise as part of this sale force Alex and Ellen to find enterprising ways to resolve the situation, and hopefully, lead to an exciting, unexpected ending.
I’m pretty happy with my perfect story!
Deal Breaker
Marnie St Clair
From one-night-stand to new boss…
Ambitious management consultant Ellen Kennedy is going places. But when last year’s one-night-stand shows up in her office as her new manager, it threatens everything she’s worked so hard for. Even worse, she’s not quite sure that one night was enough.
Alex Broadhurst has private reasons for moving to Melbourne, and he has no intention of sharing them with anyone, including the woman he never forgot. But business and pleasure can’t mix, not ever, no matter the temptation.
Workplace romances always end in disaster, so Ellen and Alex strike a deal: one night in the past won’t affect their present or influence their future. But sometimes even the best deals are made to be broken…
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