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About Me
I am a romance writer. That's not easy to say. Most people have preconceived notions about romances, and the people who write them. Let me tell you! Writing isn't for sissies. I got my first rejection in April 2004. That makes me a professional. In what other field are you considered a "professional" when you don't get called back for a second interview?
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Upcoming Releases
His and Hers Dalmatians Moonlit Romance April 2008
My Favorite Blogs and Websites
Bronwyn Parry, Author & Golden Heart Winner! Crystal Jordan, Author Kate Rothwell, Author Laura Hamby, Author Tori Scott, Author Nell Dixon, Author Denise Patrick, Author Valerie Parv, Australia's Queen of Romance Joanna Sandsmark, Dog and Kitty Author!!! Elisa Adams, Author Sharon Cullen, Author Meg Allison, Author Michelle Styles, Author Julie Cohen, Author Becca, Writer and People Watcher Sally Lawton, Playwright & Author Ainsley MacQueen, Author Jennie Adams, Author Cindy K Green, Author Bronwyn Storm, Doggy Author!!!
Works in Progress
Winter Miracles
The Husband Checklist
Resurrection
Professor Kennedy's Ghost
Everyday HeroThe Baby ContractAlmost On My OwnThe Stone CityDaddy's Little GirlsSkin DeepThe Dog Next Door
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April 2006
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Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Down for the count NaNo is so dead. How quickly I got derailed. My son's asthma has been in my way. Then my daughter took a ride to the hospital in the ambulance. She just stopped breathing. We don't know if it was an airway obstruction or if she had a breath holding episode or what. Never found an object. Here's my NaNo ticker:  And I'm counting the article I wrote for my RWA chapter newsletter in there. It's a good article. The Writer’s Shelf The Hero With A Thousand Faces By Joseph Campbell Princeton University Press ISBN: 0-691-1784-0 $16.95 This book is a landmark in Campbell’s field of study, mapping the heroic journey that is common to mythologies spanning the globe. I hope my attempt to review it will do it justice and pique your curiosity at the same time. Campbell opens his exploration of mythological heroes by first justifying our need for such stories. Though that certainly was not the main purpose of the book, I found it the most compelling section, as it explains, finally, the need for the romance novel in our modern world. Our genre has the highest sales and the lowest public regard. Why? First, let me address the issue of low regard, as explained by Campbell. Again, this was not the purpose of his work, but he so clearly pinpoints the duality of the modern human condition. We are intellectually driven, wanting to explain everything rationally or scientifically. Evidence suggests that happy endings are in short supply in daily living. Human beings therefore disregard the “happily ever after” as unrealistic pabulum for the masses—like religion. Without the comfort of myth and religion in modern times, we live in a state of consummate despair. This is why we need romance. Disdain for the happy ending leaves life with little purpose. Is there a heaven? Is there true love? The evidentiary answer of modern society is “no.” We have invented gods and so-called true love to comfort and justify ourselves. According to Campbell, happy endings should not be regarded as lies, but as a representation of mankind’s ability to transcend the state of tragedy. A touch of the divine is glimpsed in these stories, a restoration of hope, however temporary. This is the role of romance, to light the beacon of hope in a world that is often dark and filled with despair. Romance can temporarily counteract the fear engendered by the geo-political climate. It can restore belief in unconditional love, if only for the duration of the story. It can take a dreary day of work and transform it into excitement, renewing the thrill of infatuation and desire. What am I telling you? Social science says we need romance! It’s not escapism for the simple-minded. It’s the restoration of balance to the human condition. A touch of the divine is glimpsed in these stories. And this explains the genre’s high sales. Campbell’s power-packed book brings all this to light in the first twenty-eight pages of the prologue. He then goes on to explain why a hero must go through trials—again, the explanations are in the context of cultural myths. I am the one making the ties to the romance novel. “It is the business of mythology proper, and of the fairy tale, to reveal the specific dangers and techniques of the dark interior way from tragedy to comedy.” ~~Campbell, Hero…Thousand Faces, p. 29 Tragedy and trials are required for our hero/heroine to earn the happy ending. Romance readers like to feel that the characters deserve this love as a reward, not as a happy accident. For how many evidences do we see of enduring serendipity? Here is the explanation of the appeal of the tortured hero. The attraction of the dark, bad boy. You can fill in further archetypes on your own. The point is, your hero/heroine has gotta pay for happiness. If it’s free, it doesn’t mean much to your reader. Perhaps the heroes of our romances do not return from their trials with Gorgons’ heads or Golden Fleeces to rule over ancient cities. The heroes of romance may triumph over modern Minotaurs and tangible enemies, but we as readers will not feel love has been earned unless they embark on a spiritual journey, make significant personal change, and return triumphant to claim the boon of true love. There’s my summary of the first thirty pages of this book. What about the rest of it? I’m not going to lie to you. It’s dense. It’s intellectual. It’s fascinating. As a student of humanity, get the book and read it. As a writer who wants to apply the mythology to her writing, I recommend another book, which I reviewed some time ago in this column. Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers is based entirely on Campbell’s work. Having now read both of these studies of the structure of mythology, I can avow that Vogler is faithful to Campbell. He breaks the myth down into the same structure Campbell does. Quoting my earlier review: Vogler translates the hero’s journey into a formula which can be applied to any story or character. He outlines the twelve steps of the journey and provides examples in familiar stories and movies, beautifully illustrating the concepts he attributes to the work of Joseph Campbell. Both books are brilliant. Reading them was time well spent. And if you needed justification for the scores of romances lining the walls in the den, Campbell’s your man. Social science says your books are helping to restore society’s balance. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Posted at 1:18 PM by Grace Tyler
 
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