Humour in Romance

(image from a toilet advertisement from http://www.reuk.co.ukA/OtherImages/use-rainwater-to-flush-toilet.jpg)

I think humour is a really important part of romance - well at least the kind of romance I write.

I am (it's embarassing to admit) a fan of toilet humour. I find things that smell bad and bodily functions funny - particularly peoples reactions to them! Embarassment (so long as it is not my own) is funny! So it's little suprise that "Magical Gains" has some humour in it. My kind of humour anyway.

I create tend to use humour in my writing to lighten up what may otherwise be an emotionally heavy moment. I don't like romance that is heavy, soggy and maudlin. I think there is far to much serious misery in the world today, and as a writer I think it's my job to find the lighter side of life and share it!

To create a humorous moment, I tend to spot something that is potentially embarassing in the scene and play on it. It may be a bad smell. Imagine it, the man of your dreams is there, being attentive, sweet and charming... and you stink like fish. Oh it's nasty! It's funny! What do you do? Do you explain yourself? Do you pretend it's not you? How a heroine/hero reacts to an embarassing situation is potentially very funny. Sometimes just the passing mention of something embarassing is enough to win a laugh too.

Humour and romance, a winning combination in my eyes!

Good girls don't talk to Satyrs...

(image: British Museum, komos douris,http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/KomosDourisBME768.html)

So, I've just written a short story - something I never do - and it's about Satyr's!
In "Magical Gains" there are a few Satyrs - I love them, I find them shocking but also very amusing. For those of you who do not know, a Satyr is half man with goat like legs - and originally were the followers of Bacchus/Dionysus in Greek/Roman mythology (however some Satyrs in Greek mythology merely had pointed ears and a horses tail - see the image!). In "Magical Gains" as in mythology, the chief Satyr is Silenus, but the focus of my short story is Priapus another Satyr from "Magical Gains" (and mythology).

"Good girls don't talk to Satyrs," is set in the same world as "Magical Gains" and "Magical Creations". In this world, Magical Beings are simply considered minority beings, but sometimes the very nature of that Being is problematic to human society. Enter the Satyr - with an insatiable lust for human women. Generally disliked and mistrusted by humans, they are often blamed for sex crimes... So when Kim Quinn (desperately single and insecure) blows caution to the wind and allows Priapus the Satyr to sit beside her on the bus - things are destined to get messy!

Postscript: I now have plans to make "Good Girls Don't Talk to Satyr's into a full length novel. As I've currently got two other works in progress, it unfortunately will be a while coming. But...watch this space for updates.

Inspiration

I love talking to other writers and particularly discovering how they were inspired to create their stories.

As I've said, "Magical Gains" was inspired by a biscuit advertisement.

I tend to find inspiration in odd places. For example, I have half-finished a story that is based on a second hand furniture shop, because I used to ride past one on the bus every day to work. I like creating a story around something that seems quite innocuous, something rather inane, that you see every day but you never really know what's going on behind those doors or those faces.

I am also planning on writing a short a story, that was inspired by a greasy hand print on a bus window. I imagine that someone was racing to catch the bus, and banged on the window to get it to wait - but the bus takes off anyway.

I hope I always keep finding inspiration in places like these as I think it makes for a great read later.

My writing journey - the ups and the downs

Anyone who knows me well, will be aware I have a vivid imagination. It comes out in lots of things - from horrible nightmares, to painting, or dramatic over-reactions to certain events and of course, my writing.

I have written stories since I could literally write. My father had bought one of those early computers that were a green screen. On that ancient computer I wrote a story about plants who didn't like the gardens they lived in, so they'd get up and leave - leaving bare gardens in their wake. I would have been about six at the time. From then on, I wrote, mostly at school creative writing classes, but in high school, I would write stories for my friends to read.

Since then it has been an up and down battle to get published, if you want to read the whole story - check out my writing journey on Wink Girls Blog in September!