Thursday, April 24, 2008

What lies beneath...

Yesterday I mentioned some of the various conflicts in my book coming in August, A LOVER'S KISS. There are actually a few more, but those are the main ones.

However, another point I wanted to make, but decided to save until today is this:

I noted that both the hero and heroine in A LOVER'S KISS have issues based on their respective pasts, issues that have affected them long before they meet each other. These issues are the basis of their internal conflicts.

However, in my books, it's the internal conflicts that actually bring the couples together and enable them to fall in love. As the story progresses and the characters learn more about each other, they gradually realize that these issues they've kept secret and sometimes tried to keep buried, or pretend don't exist, are ones they share with the other main character. They discover they can truly understand, empathize and sympathize with each other because the fears, resentments or insecurities their pasts have created are the same. Whatever the external factors working to keep them apart (politics, class, income, education, family or other social factors), they are more alike than they are different.

In the case of Drury and Juliette from A LOVER'S KISS, both are outwardly quite confident and determined. In their heart of hearts, however, both are very lonely people who fear that they'll always be, in one sense at least, alone. And they don't want to be. However, as they spend more time together, they realize they share these feelings, and so can truly understand and empathize with each other. This is what ultimately enables them to see beyond the other conflicts and fall in love.


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