Babs: maybe the heroine of these novels could be clutsy and end up being inadvertantly sexy
spilling water on a shirt could be sexy
(covertly caused turkey turning can lead to potentially painful long lasting sinister side effects)
Candy: lol
so, our plot
Babs: the one to overthrow the world, or the one for the novel?
Candy: they have to get thrown together
Babs: I expect they might be remarkably similar
Candy: thrown together-- stop that!
Babs: lol
Candy: lollololol
Babs: sorry
Candy: they have to get thrown together by some incredibly unlikely circumstance
shall we start with the circumstance, or with their character sketches
Babs: circumstance
Candy: k
Babs: we might inadvertantly limit ourselves by beginning with character
Candy: so, possibilities....
deserted island
both vacationing in France, and get separated from their respective parties
:)
Babs: lol
Candy: possible due to drunkeness on one or both their parts
Babs: lol
master plan to take over the world misfires
Candy: one could be a politician's son and the woman could be secret service
(just to mix it up)
Babs: oo
Candy: He could be the plumber
or, better yet she could be the plumber
Babs: yeah
I like subversive gender roles
I fear being too heteronormative
Candy: me too
and it will help keep them on their toes
Babs: yeah
Candy: She could be a mercenary hired to rescue his brilliant scientist ass from terrorist kidnappers
Babs: I like it
Candy: Or we could go more "Die Hard" and have them get trapped in a building during some hostile takeover-- but maybe it turns out its the guy from office space and he just wants his stapler
Babs: lol
a renegade cruise ship isn't that scary
Candy: lol
Babs: but, it could have an awkward beginning if they were on a cruise, and accidentally took off without any other passengers
then there would be a lot of spaces to use
Candy: what if they escaped it and ended up on an island of some kind
Babs: yeah
Candy: What if it wasn't a whole cruise ship, it was a pleasure yacht, and he was related to the rich politician who owned it, and she was one of the bodyguard/ss types on the boat
Babs: oo
I like it
Candy: maybe she was in plainclothes so she wasn't in the initial wave of people thrown overboard
it might be neat to try to work in as many of these cheesy scenarios as possible
Babs: yeah
it would be fun
if we picked a bunch of tropes
and went through them
I mean, they're limitless
and, I like the idea of a boat, because it's less conventional space
Candy: It might be fun to play with their personalities in an unexpected way, too--
all the women in these books think they're so plain-- they're always describing themselves as too thin, or having too much of an hourglass figure-- but of course they're always gorgeous
what if she thought she was gorgeous
or visa versa
he was normal, and he thought he was unattractive
Babs: I like that
if he thinks he's unattractive
Candy: it's always that the girl has a bad relationship in her past that makes her think she's unattractive or unworthy
Babs: and if she's attractive, but not sexy maybe
or rather, not trying to be
Candy: so let's give him that past
yes!
This is going to be funny
Babs: we need a good geeky, but attractive, clumsy girl
who is inadvertently appealing
Candy: maybe she's practical-- and his ex was like Paris Hilton-- totally high maintenance-- so her practical yet clumsy ways are super cute and sexy to him
Babs: yes
I like it
Candy here: I can see that I'm going to have to put in some background about my early writing for the "France" references to make sense...
Okay, back to the beginning, as Inigo Montoya once said! I have always been a voracious reader. My family wasn't so well off (okay, maybe dirt poor would be more accurate), so at one point when I was maybe 9 or 10 years old my mom found a box of paperbacks at a garage sale for some ridiculously low price, and for some unfathomable reason, purchased them for me. I'll give you three guesses what kind of books they were, and your first two don't count. Yeah-- Harlequins. Lots of them. I went from Christopher Pike and Beverly Cleary to "Molly felt impaled"-- it was definitely a game changer for me. This more "sophisticated" style heavily influenced my early writing, and I still have a notebook full of my preadolescent attempts at smut-- soon to be published for the first time ever right here!!! (Never thought I'd be so grateful to a cheesy pseudonym!!! Heehee!) In any case, at the beginning of the notebook there is a list of potential romantic situations for my characters that my 12 yr old self had brainstormed; they included most notably "In France, drunk" and "In France, sober." Because 12 yr olds think that being drunk is romantic, apparently-- though I have to give myself credit for seeing that intoxication levels would entirely change the situation, even when one is in France. :) Full list and exerpts to be posted shortly.
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