ROMANCE WITH A SMILE
Though romance isn’t
necessarily funny, humor usually has its place in romantic stories.
Some romances are based on
humorous situations. Not that these stories don’t have their serious moments,
but the humor interwoven in them makes them feel-good reads that provide an
escape from reality.
At times books are so serious
that a character or event is used for comic relief. When you just need to
briefly step back from an intense plot, some characters bring a smile to your
face.
While I enjoy reading all
kinds of romance including comedy, in my books, with the exception of the
satirical GreatSword’s Woman, I tend to have moments of humor interspersed with
horror, action or drama. Though I usually find comedy difficult to write and
truly admire authors who have mastered the art of creating romantic comedies,
some characters have such outrageous personalities that they can’t be written
without humor.
Two characters I feel very
close to and who were easy to write, partly because of their sense of humor,
are Vincent Dilorenzo and Sir Lock. I received a lot of mixed feedback about
Vincent. People either loved him or hated him. They either got his humor or
they didn’t. Both types of comments were nice to see because he stood out
enough to provoke a reaction either one way or the other. Vincent was so much
fun to write because he used humor as a shield. He preferred playing the
buffoon to confronting the shame and guilt of his past. Sir Lock also used
humor as a coping mechanism. Both guys could be wild, crazy, and obnoxious.
They drove other characters nuts, but they were liberating to write, mostly
because they weren’t trying to impress anyone and didn’t care about appearances.
The usually went out of their way not to conform.
Some of my favorite romantic
comedies are Vampire Vintage by Ashlyn Chase and the Shelby’s Angels series by
Stephanie Burke. If I’m in a bad mood, these stories can help get me out of it.
How do you feel about humor
in romance books? Do you have any favorite romantic comedies or humorous
characters that always make you smile?
About Kate
What do trips around the
world, endless nights of breathtaking sex, and a muscular, 6-foot 3-inch,
brown-haired, blue-eyed significant other have to do with Kate Hill? Absolutely
nothing, but she can dream, can't she? In reality Kate is a vegetarian New
Englander who loves writing romantic fantasies.
When she's not working on
her books, Kate enjoys reading, working out, and researching vampires and
Viking history. You can visit her
online at http://www.kate-hill.com
When it comes to humour and romance, and aside from Melodie of course, I look to Janet Evanovich. The Plum series is a lot of fun. Her screwball romantic comedies are even better for pure escapist reading.
ReplyDeleteCan't beat Evanovich! She is the author I most admire. It's darn hard producing comedy after comedy, with readers expecting each novel to be just as funny as the last.
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