I was working on a special post for the Inspy blog all about my cowboy grandfather. I gathered newspaper clippings and old photographs. I’m so excited to share this with you…and I will. But not today.
I came down with COVID.
Members of my family have suffered through several bouts, but this is my first, and let me just say I’m not a fan. I had no idea what a punch it has. Working has been out of the question. **Cough. Cough. Sneeze. Wheeze.**
As much as I dislike my own plans going haywire, conflict is the meat of romantic fiction. The more I can throw at my characters to keep them apart, the better. Sometimes conflict is built into their characters…who they are as people. Someone who is always late will drive a perpetually early character crazy. A slob will make a hyper-organized person go bonkers. A quiet introvert has no idea what to do with an outgoing people-person. City versus country.
Sometimes we writers pelt our characters with other types of conflicts. Tropes often come into play here. Beauty and the beast. Secret babies. Marriages of convenience. Inheritances.
And then there are the times when we pit our characters head to head. Two characters fighting over one ranch. A squatter who won’t leave the land the other character has purchased. Custody.
And from time to time, authors will throw in the flu.
What are some of your favorite romance tropes? Why do you like them?
Bonding with the Babies will be out March 26th and is now available for preorder.
~~Love Courageously~~ Publisher's Weekly Bestselling, award-winning author of 30 novels, Deb Kastner enjoys writing contemporary inspirational western stories set in small communities. She feels especially blessed to be able to include faith as a natural and genuine part of her characters' lives. Deb lives in beautiful Colorado with her husband and a pack of miscreant mutts. She is blessed with three adult daughters and two grandchildren. Her favorite hobby is spoiling her grandchildren, but she also enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to music (The Texas Tenors are her fav), singing in the church choir, and exploring the Rocky Mountains on horseback.
Hi Deb! Wishing you a speedy recovery. Get well soon. Favorite romance troupe is second chance at love, especially for older couples that reunite. Best wishes.
I hope you feel better soon and get plenty of rest. COVID is the pits.
My favorite tropes are fake relationship, holiday romance, stuck together and unknown identity.
Fake relationship, second chance, single parents I like more but those are just a few. I love the cover of your new book it’s so adorable.
Hi Deb, I hope you feel better soon. I will keep you in my prayers. My favorite trope is Secret Baby. I enjoyed reading your post.
Get well soon Deb! Covid is awful and there’s so much about at the moment.
My favourite trope is marriage of convenience, I love seeing the different circumstances in which a marriage which started out in a very practical way becomes a loving relationship.
Looking forward to hearing about your grandfather in a future post.
I love that my editors are now actively seeking older couples. It gives me the opportunity to write people more my age, LOL! I love second chance stories. My next book, Bonding with the Babies, is a second chance at love story.
Those are all such fun tropes. Fake relationships can be especially funny.
Thank you! I had the pleasure of communicating with the grandmother of the little girl on the cover. How sweet is that?
Marriage of convenience is ALWAYS my total favorite!! I read anything and everything, but MOC was the first ones I read, and I still love them!! Hope you’re feeling better soon!!!! Can’t wait to read about your grandfather!
Secret baby is a hard trope to write in inspirational fiction, although we all know we aren’t perfect and make mistakes!
I’m currently working on a marriage of convenience story. They are a harder sell in contemporaries, but it’s fun to give the characters good reasons why they would decide getting married was a practical thing to do.
Hi Deb So sorry you have covid. Take care of yourself and I hope you start to improve quick.
I have tropes I am not a fan of but then it depends on the story.
While I know there are tropes I don’t tend to look for tropes. I think I tend to like smaller towns and ordinary people. I also like the more mature characters. I think its probably doing well as many readers are now older. I like the over 30,40 etc single never married and never really had a serious boyfriend trope as there are many (you have a few readers here) who are older and never had a serious relationship. I like when it happens without the single being made to look like they are struggling being single. Have read a few where they are turning 30 and are single and feel their life is over cos they are single. For a married person these books may work for a single person these books are depressing and I give them a miss. (It enforces the view of many churches that if you are still single at 30 there is something wrong with you)
I am so sorry. I pray you will get over it quickly. My favorite troupe is friends to more. Thank you for sharing especially since you are sick. God bless you.
Praying for a quick recovery for you, Deb.