A Little Desert Apartment

Never is that more the case than in modern romance. It’s a lot more problematic than traditional romance. Modern romance is much more open about relationship difficulties, social issues, and sex than traditional romance, which either ignored the preceding entirely or mentioned them only indirectly and never in explicit language.

And that’s a good thing. Readers today expect stories that ring true to our own
experiences in life. We have problems with spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends, and
other family members. Why shouldn’t the heroines we read about also face such difficulties? The realism of modern romance makes it far more credible.

But here’s the rub. However modern it is, romance can be realistic only up to a
certain point. Readers of any kind of romance, traditional or modern, also crave tales filled with passion and spark, not ambivalence and snark. Yes. Passion is what draws us to romance, old-fashioned or updated. We want to experience passion on the pages because our lives seem so dreary and mundane (a not always accurate perception).

My own fiction, the Green Stone of Healing® (www.greenstoneofhealing.com)
series, is a modern, paranormal romance ironically set in an ancient, lost civilization that embodies the Bard’s observation about love.

The parents of the first-generation heroine, Helen Andros, love each other deeply and passionately. Yet they never wed. Helen’s mother is fiercely independent and does not want to be subject to the laws of the land that keep wives under their husbands’ rule.

There’s also a little thing called racism. The heroine’s mother is a different race
than her father. Their country is deeply divided by race, a thoroughly modern
aspect of this tale, with profound repercussions on the heroine’s life.

As an illegitimate half-breed, Helen is subject to all manner of challenges, and these take such a toll on her self-esteem that she believes she is unworthy of love. So when the chance for love first presents itself, she dodges it, but cannot escape her heart. She lives her entire life very much in love with one man while married a good deal of it to another, who happens to be gay.

The man Helen loves returns her feelings but also wrestles with his own sense of inadequacy and self-worth. How about that modern twist on the strong silent type? Yes, he’s tall, dark, and dashingly handsome, but he has personal issues, too.

They do not get together until it’s almost too late — for that lifetime.
Helen embodies that ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”
She lives an “interesting” life. It’s full of agony and glory, with last-minute
moments of ecstasy in her true love’s arms. She’s also a strong-willed modern
romantic heroine who takes action on her own and does not wait for her lover to rescue her. Just the opposite: She rescues him a number of times.

As the series progresses, Helen’s descendants also experience “interesting,” passionate lives. In a modern twist, they reincarnate, replaying their relationships, all the while looking for love that lasts and sustains them.

Modern or traditional, that search for love is the age-old, never-ending story.

C.L. Talmadge is the author of the Green Stone of Healing® speculative epic. The fourth in the series, Outcast, will be published Oct. 1. Vote for the first book, The Vision, through Sept. 25 and get a free e-book on healing, love, and spirituality. Details at her blog: www.healingstonebooks.com/stonescribe

What a great post! I am so honored to have C.L. Talmadge share her talents and a HUGE thank you! I certainly hope you enjoy this as much as I have!