by Heidi Rice, author of Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger (Harlequin Presents Extra, April 2011)
I write glamorous romantic fantasies with a sassy twist.
It says so right there in the Harlequin writing guidelines: “Upmarket, glossy and sharply contemporary, these stories sparkle with lively dialogue and sizzling sensuality.”
And I love writing them, because when I sit down at my computer, I adore embracing my inner hedonist and escaping the tedious details of everyday life — like that pile of laundry in my utility room which, no matter how much of it I load into the washing machine, never gets any smaller.
I want to transport myself and my heroines into a world where money (and laundry) is going to be the least of their worries — because they’re going to have much bigger things to worry about. Like a passion so intense with a man who appears to be so totally wrong for them, that it’s going to throw their whole life into turmoil. See? Suddenly that extra pair of clean knicks in the drawer isn’t such a biggie anymore!
But how do you get inspiration for that glamorous romantic fantasy world when your real life is ever so slightly less glam? Uh-huh, I’m thinking about that darn laundry again!
Well, let me give you an example. Two summers ago, I went on a camping holiday to Cornwall. Now Cornwall is a beautiful, wildly romantic place: dramatic scenery, windswept beaches, historic manor houses and a fine tradition of great literary heroes (Ross Poldark, Jem Merlin, Maxim de Winter, King Arthur). But I’m not a natural camper and Cornwall had a very bad summer that year. And let me tell you, it can be hard to conjure up the glamour of a Presents novel when you’re shivering on a beach in the pissing rain having spent a sleepless night on a deflated airbed while your tent was being battered by a force-ten gale… And I’m not even going to mention the plague of wasps at our campsite.
Good thing I’m an author, eh, and I’m made of pretty stern stuff imagination-wise! And also a very good thing that while I was sitting on that rain-soaked beach with my sister, we couldn’t help noticing the two very buff lifeguards patrolling the beach right in front of us. We reckoned they may have been Australian, as they both had tans and sun-bleached blond hair despite the miserable weather… Not that we spent most of the afternoon fantasising about them, you understand, as we’re both happily married women!
Anyway, my sister suggested using one of them for my hero. Why not have him save the heroine from drowning? At first I liked that idea, because those guys were certainly sexy and commanding enough to be Presents heroes. But once I started mulling it over, I got less excited about it. A guy saving a woman from drowning seemed sort of obvious. Where was the conflict? And the sass? Because let’s face it, no woman’s gonna be all that sassy after she’s just been pulled out of the surf and resuscitated.
But the next day (and yeah, it was still raining folks!), one of the lifeguards was a young woman. And suddenly I had an idea I could run with. And Rye King and Maddy Westmore were born — my injured, embittered ex-surfing champ and the lifeguard who saves him from drowning when he tries to prove that he’s still the man he used to be, and makes the traumatic discovery he isn’t.
Add to that a very striking manor house that I noticed perched on the cliffs above the bay where we all went boogie-boarding at the end of the week (in the rain, of course!). And suddenly I had a dark, dramatic and surprisingly glamorous setting for my story too.
So there you have it… How to forget about your laundry and escape to a glamorous Presents fantasy world when you need it most. Have I ever told you how much I love this job!
Heidi, this story truly is an example of the power of the imagination if it came out of that damp holiday! I loved this book, couldn’t put it down after that amazing opening. Who cares about laundry – smelling nice is so overrated. ;0)
xx Abby
Sounds like a great book Heidi. I’ll be sure to read it.
But what a miserable camping trip. I’ve slept on deflated air mattresses, too, and it’s a great way to make every part of your body hurt.
I l-o-v-e the dramatic Cornwall setting. (And Poldark! What a great hero.)
Ditto Daisy! I loved this book as well.
Ha, Abby, see now you know the secret of my inspiration… Think of the worst possible holiday, then add hunky guy! Problem solved.
Suzanne, hope you like the book… And that darn airbed will live in my memory for almost as long as those lifeguards!! And you’re so right, despite the rain and wind and wasps, Cornwall is an amazing place. So dramatic, and I have been known to read my Poldark novel on the cliffs. I still have very fond memories of that BBC series, think even now that Ross’s wife Demelza was a Presents Extra/Riva heroine (despite being created in the wrong century!)
Cheers Marilyn, so glad you enjoyed Rye and Maddy’s story.
I never notice how stereotypical Australians are until I’m back home! We did invent surf lifesaving, so I guess they might have been Australian. Don’t worry, they probably had our awful ocker accent, so no matter how good-looking they were, it wouldn’t have been possible to have a conversation with them!
I sure hope Europe warms up in the next four weeks. I’m heading over there for a few months and there’s still snow on the ground in most places I’m going to!
Very good point SN, the first rule of fantasising about a good-looking bloke is under no circumstances have a conversation with him! LOL.
Lovely spring day here in London today, sun is shining, due to be pleasantly warm and all the Yummy-Mummies in my neighbourhood are out having coffee mornings in the park… Come here, the weather’s great. Although you may want to avoid the end of April, I hear two twenty-somethings are getting married down the road!
Great post Heidi !
Thanks for cheering up my day !!! And for everyone out there who has not yet read Heidi’s books go out and remedy your loss right this second she is brilliant !
Aw Desere, thanks so much!