Writerly
Mar
19
2007

I wrote 12K this weekend with the help of my dude who gave me scads of alone time holed up in the bedroom so I could finish Making Chase. I’m about 2K away at this point from finishing and I’m pretty pleased at this point. I’ll need to print it out and do a read from beginning to end on paper to see where it’s going but it feels coherent at this point. Interesting though, there’s a fist fight and nearly another in this book. I don’t normally do that and of all the brothers, this one is the least likely to plant a fist in someone’s face. Still it works for him.

The heroine is “plus sized” or “rubenesque” or as Tate says, “fluffy” and when I write fluffy heroines I try to make them approach their size from different perspectives. I don’t write self loathing heroines, it’s not something I do. She doesn’t “find her beauty through the eyes of a man” or lose forty pounds or whatever either. She’s beautiful and she knows she possesses qualities that make her special.

At the same time, Tate knows that she’s with this man who’s been with many extraordinarily beautiful women and she knows she’s not the same on the outside. There’s a struggle with this because of course Matt’s sisters-in-law, especially Cassie and Liv are really stunning and Tate is put off by it. Still, she gets over it because Matt loves her. And not in a I was awful until he loved me sort of way, but when someone looks at you like you’re the best and most wonderful thing ever, those other beautiful women out there aren’t so daunting. It’s a fine line but I hate it when a larger heroine is written and she’s redeemed through the man – like being fat is a moral failing.

I just hope I write it right! Because Tate is a fun character but she’s broken too in many ways so I want to celebrate the parts that aren’t broken and write the parts that are.

5 comments to “Writerly”

  1. Crystal Jordan
    March 19th, 2007 at 10:32 am · Link

    Yeah! What she said. Right on, Lauren!



  2. Seeley deBorn
    March 19th, 2007 at 2:40 pm · Link

    Sounds great Lauren!

    Nothing drives me more than a character who is a heroine only because the hero made her one.



  3. laurendane
    March 19th, 2007 at 2:44 pm · Link

    Thanks, Crystal!

    And Seeley – that’s such an excellent way to put it!



  4. maura
    March 19th, 2007 at 10:04 pm · Link

    WOOOOOOOOT – can’t wait to read this one!!!



  5. Mandy M. Roth
    March 20th, 2007 at 5:01 am · Link

    I was excited before about the next book…reading this has done me in!

    THIS SOUNDS AWESOME!

    “I hate it when a larger heroine is written and she’s redeemed through the man – like being fat is a moral failing”

    Couldn’t agree more! 😀