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Misunderstanding and distrust—the predominant elements of a novel—without them, everyone lives happily from the beginning:

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Ever been watching a movie or reading a book and yell at the characters, ‘Just talk already! Tell him the truth!’? I know I have.

In real life, we usually don’t allow the man of our dreams to walk out the front door thinking we’ve been having an affair with his best friend and secretly plan to leave him, but it makes for a great soap opera, and that’s what that is, a soap opera.

Yes, my characters won’t know all the facts, but I’ll make sure they think they do. That’s the difference between a soap opera and a good mystery, I believe. Notice, I wrote ‘misunderstanding and distrust’ as my title, not ‘lies and deceit’.

In my first novel, She Belongs to Me, I start you out with a bang, ‘literally’ on the first page (By the way, a reader pointed that out in her review, so I’ve used it ever since), and then I show you a husband struggling to understand what happened to his marriage of five years. Why would his wife attempt suicide, or was there something that he didn’t know about her?

From there, the mystery spins and turns, revealing suspects, secrets, and truths. The key in my mind is never to trick the reader; I hate that. You know everything the protagonist knows and even a little more, as you get to crawl inside all the main characters’ heads. Yes, even the proverbial ‘bad guy’. I love being in the antagonist’s head.

So if you love your novel twined with a perfect thread of romance, mystery, and suspense, but not filled with lies and trickery…just a few secrets maybe J, please check out my novels. You can read all about them below.

Until next time, happy reading!

Carmen


Thank you for stopping by my place and reading my musings. Remember, these are just my opinions and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section, and I promise you I will answer.  If you’re curious about what I write, please visit one of my author pages, where you can read all about my novels and short stories. And hey, I’ll even give you a free book just for stopping by.

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Comments

  1. AnonymousThursday, April 17, 2014

    I love romance novels that are more than romance (as you do them Carmen)...otherwise they become a core after a while. The suspense and thrill are imperative to a good story. They keep us handing on to every word.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carmen DeSousaThursday, April 17, 2014

      Thank you, Wendy! Yeah...I can't sit still too long for just one swooning after another, one throbbing body part after another. LOL!

      Delete

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