Monday, March 27, 2017

Using every emotion—good or bad—in your stories by Rachel Brimble


MUSE MONDAY
Please welcome back one of my favorite guests, Rachel Brimble. She's always a good read!
So many readers and aspiring writers ask authors where they get their ideas from and I find this a really hard question to answer. For me, ideas are everywhere…but never more so than when I listen to the way I feel about something or, better still, how I react to it.

Every day we experience a whole host of emotions – if you stop and listen to your head and heart, you’ll be surprised just how often your day will be a mix of happiness, disappointment, fear, laughter, love and frustration. My advice? Hone those feelings into your work and your readers will be able to relate to your story and, hopefully, become wholly invested in it.

As I write romance, emotion is key and so is that all-important Happy Ever After.

My first book was published in 2007 and since then I have written at least two books a year. Today, I’m starting to plan my twenty-second and third novels. To say I am running out of ideas would be a lie. That’s not to say I don’t experience the same panic of stretching an idea into an 80,000 word novel!

So how do I ensure I provide my readers with an emotional ride and a satisfying ending?

I look deep inside of myself and think of something that bothers me, makes me happy or scares me. That’s the beginning. That’s the emotion I will run through the entirety of the book and not let go until I type ‘The End’.

My latest release, Saved By The Firefighter, was due to my editor at the end of 2015. I had no intention of writing a firefighting hero when this book was contracted, but at the time I was due to start planning the book, I lost my beloved black Lab, Max.

I was devastated. Distraught. Depressed…unable to climb out of my all-consuming grief. This dog had been my constant companion for ten beautiful years. I, literally, didn’t know what to do with myself.

Then I stopped.

I allowed what I was feeling to wash over me instead of fighting it.

I knew I had to write a book about bereavement, grief, climbing out of the black hole to invite love back into your life…to put your heart on the line once again despite knowing the risks.

Writing Saved By The Firefighter became my therapy, my solace, my healing and readers and reviewers have been so lovely about the result. So many people have told me that I was brave to tackle this subject, even braver to tackle it in a romance novel.

I couldn’t disagree more – what better gift to a grieving reader than to provide them with a story where two characters have experienced heartbreak and through their love for one another found true happiness and love again. This book fixed me! I hope it will you, too  :D

Happy Reading!

Rachel x

Saved by The Firefighter (Harlequin) is out now – this is book 6 in Rachel’s popular Templeton Cove series (all books can be read stand-alone)…

Blurb & buy links:

How can she forgive him for what he didn't do? 

Photographer Izzy Cooper feels as frozen as her pictures. Trent Palmer might be the hottest firefighter in Templeton Cove, but she can never face him again. Not after he failed to save her brother. But when they're forced together by a calendar shoot, the sparks between them are undeniable. 

Izzy knows it's not fair to blame Trent for the tragedy, but opening herself up to loss again isn't something she's prepared to do, no matter how determined Trent is to show her that pain is part of life and that love—their love—can make any suffering bearable.



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Bio/links:

Rachel lives with her husband and two teenage daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK. After having several novels published by small US presses, she secured agent representation in 2011. Since 2013, she has had six books published by Harlequin Superromance (Templeton Cove Stories) and recently signed a contract for two more. She also has four Victorian romances with eKensington/Lyrical Press.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America, and was selected to mentor the Superromance finalist of So You Think You Can Write 2014 contest. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England.

She likes nothing more than connecting and chatting with her readers and fellow romance writers. Rachel would love to hear from you!

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2 comments:

  1. Can't wait to read it, Rachel. Often, experiencing those raw emotions makes our writing of them much more realistic. Good luck with the book!

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  2. Hi, Jennifer! It was a hard book to write when I was feeling sad, but I really think it sometimes takes experiencing joy, grief, shock & every other emotion to write well...it's just painful sometimes!

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