Marriage ...I Don't?

If it's a love story they do not have to be physically together or bonded as you say. A love story would be like "The Notebook" or even "His Dark Materials" trilogy. Neither of which has a romance HEA although both have a love story element.

If it is a romance then it does require an HEA ending. At least from what read about romances which are most Harlequins.

I've read a couple "romance" books set in space where it was impossible for the lead MC's to live together.. each running their own domains as it were.. in the service, what have you.. and as long as they are true to each other and don't wh*re around.. I don't think people will have a problem with it...I know I never did. and I the HEA LOL
JMO

pretticute80 said:

My WIP is set in space and while a lot is going on, it is a romance at heart.

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There is futuristic romance - heavy on the romance, lighter on the SF.
There is science fiction romance - fifty/fifty (approx.) romance and SF.
There is SF with romantic elements - heavy on the SF, lighter on the romance.

Which one best describes your story?

My WIP already pushed many buttons and I am working to only bend instead of out-right break the rules of genre so I have been trying to work on alternating endings that has them bonded (married) but none flow with their personality or the rest of WIP. Any suggestions or would this be a rule okay to break (if it is a rule)?[/

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In addition to the traditional "happily ever after," there is the less common "happy for now" ending. Many romance readers want the traditional HEA; others are satisfied with the HFN.

I think you would get a lot out of my friend's blog, which is featured in my sig line. There are many links to writers who are dealing with the same things you are, as well as reviewers who love the sort of thing you are writing.

Best of luck!

Hi,
Have you ever seen the brilliant Denzel Washington film, 'Man on fire'? It's a story about a bodyguard who is looking after a little girl in new Mexico city. Children of the rich get kidnapped in Mexico and that's precisely what happens to the bodyguard's little charge. It goes on to show how he get her back, but in the background of this film, the top policeman and the prime reporter on the case are shagging each other. It brings a great sub-plot running all the way through the film. So no, HEA don't have to happen in the conventional way to make a great love story.


Elodie

No it really doesn' t matter. I read a series (sorry can't remember the titles) about three friends. Of course each meets the man of her dreams two friends marry one doesn't but lives with the man.

You don't have to write a Genre Romance book to attract Genre Romance readers. What you need to have a heavy concentration of the story on interpersonal relationships (sexual and non-sexual). Alien Taste by Wen Spencer (SF) is a great example of that style of book with a lot of attention from Genre Romance readers and reviews. I believe she was up for a couple of Romance awards as well. There's not a real love story in the entire book, FWIW. The hero & his lady meet, shag and have zero real conflicts. But because the book focused so much on the hero's relationship with his mothers, his partner, his lady, etc, it was fascinating to Genre Romance readers.

If you're writing a book you want to market as a Genre Romance (Futuristic being a subgenre thereof), then you need them together in a committed relationship at the end of the book. Doesn't matter if they're married, it matters that they are together and committed. Over the last 20 years, readers have been more and more okay with the idea that the Hero/Heroine might not be perfect together forever, but it's good that they're perfect together right now. It's a reflection of what women want out of their own love lives. But the point still is--they are together at the end.

And, yeah, writing Genre Romance is HARD. Not all ideas lend themselves to Genre Romance because of the demands of the genre. I spent about 12 years trying to figure out how to write what I enjoyed reading and just can't do it either. My ideas don't click there in the right way. But because I have a love and fascination with how people interact with each other and work through their problems, I have little doubt that (should I get published), I'll attract readers from that side of the aisle regardless what I end up writing.

Good luck with your book.

I like anything that Denzel is in too, he's lovely, and I always cry at the end of 'Man on fire'... He's not as lovely to me, as my Jean though, for many different reasons.

Right, for the serious part of this reply. I personally don't write romance and have honestly never read a romance book. I think the nearest things I've ever read to romance, were the five books in the 'Flowers in the attic' series, but there again, that wasn't proper love, it was incest.
I write love stories, but always with a criminal or emotional dilemma running on in the background. I do have to have HEAs though, as I've said on here before, 'Gone with the wind' upset me at the end, so I need to have the happy ever afters for my characters, purely to suit my too emotional self

pretticute80 said:

Yes, I enjoyed "Man on Fire" -I enjoy anything Denzel-ly , but have to watch it again. After starting this post, I took a moment (actually an hour) to reflect on my writing to discover why I tend to have such trouble writing the HEA. Writing in general is hard work so I don’t mean to imply I think writing romance is easy –apparently, for me it’s far from it, but even when I set out to write a romance, it goes awry.
As much as I love reading in the romance genre and was certain it was the one for my writing, I am beginning to believe I am not meant to write in it and should just stick with love stories or stories with a romantic element.
Ah well, another dream deferred.

Oh okay that’s good to know but my couple doesn’t even live together. I tried a re-write where they did live together but it interfered with their duties too much.

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I would like to mention that Linnea Sinclair, who won the RITA award from RWA for "Best Science Fiction Romance" doesn't actually write romances. Her books are shelved on the Science Fiction shelves from Bantam Spectra, which is an SF publisher. They do have HEAs, however, even if loosely.

So, there's no reason you can't just let the book be the book and let the readers decide what they consider it to be.

pretticute80 said:

Let the book be the book –a strange yet wonderful notion . I will stop trying to covert my WIP into something it’s not (since it really won’t let me any way) and let the readers decide (please let there be readers to decide).

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Always listen to your story. It knows what it is. It's our obligation to discover it and share it with others.

This couple has no plans to ever live together, and doesn't formalize their relationship in any way? Is it safe to assume they have no plans of ever having children together? To me that kind of implies that they don't expect their relationship to be permanent and don't like each other as friends enough to want to hang out together and do social activities together. Like they are choosing their careers over each other. That's not a terrible ending because at least they are happy together at the moment. But have you considered having them build some sort of shared capital on the border between their two domains? They could have separate courts/daily business but at least be able to share a meal and a bed at night? Or one could have plans to abdicate to a chosen heir in a few years?

There are a couple of anime series where the two people fall in love and cannot stay together. One is the movie, Princess Mononoke and the other is Escaflowne neither of the programs explained it sufficiently enough for my tastes as to why they had to stay separate.

His Dark Materials (spoiler) has Lyra and the boy she falls in love with, sorry I can't remember his name, remain apart at the end of the series. But it has a good and logical explanation that shows their character. So it didn't bother me like the animes did. Only one opening could remain open so the dead souls could leave Hell and reach heaven without the shadow monsters becoming too many and killing the living.(end spoiler)

So as long as you give a really good explanation I'll buy the separation.

Hi pretticute80,

As a romance writer, in my own work I am die-hard for HEA's. As a matter of fact, I don't think I can write a story where the two MC's don't end up together. So don't think you have a dilemma; it's just your thought process.

I am open to seeing the rules bent if the story is good. Your story sounds good, but you sound like you really want to write it another way. Don't worry about genre so much now. I agree with what others have said, just write it and see where it goes.

But if you're still not satisfied with the results, consider this; in sci fi can't people travel to other worlds and visit each other at the speed of light, or faster? Or, is there a way to have their worlds unite, making them allies? If you find that these two MC's really want to get together, I'm sure there is a way.

pretticute80 said:

Yes, in my WIP they are able to travel faster than the speed of light (though I am not certain if I will keep it this way because I really use this as my Get-Out-Of-jail cliché so I could complete the story ). This does make it possible for them to visit each other whenever they are free but still difficult to do so everyday. For the heroine in particular. Her people are on everyone’s ****list (with good reasons) and if she’s not off fighting, she’s in a meeting with her advisors or training. My hero has a little bit more flexibility but just barely. He’s usually the one who makes the commute.
They are allies –sort of, although I did plan on strengthen their ties so it would be more plausible why their people are willing to overlook my MCs’ relationship.

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Sounds like you've mapped out some leeway, which is always a good thing and hopefully, the story will tell itself. Good luck!

When I intentionally try to write a romance my characters are flat, as one beta said - you got no emotion here. When I write anything else, always with a male and female character, there is interest between them, there is repressed interest, unrequited, and I’m told a high sexual tension. (shrug) I don’t know why it works that way. I don’t do HEA, but I do both hero and heroine being alive and together at the end, even if they are on the way to the hospital. To me that’s HEA, even though I know HEA means a wedding or the promise of one.

Mostly you gotta go with what your characters want. If you force them it won't work. Sounds to me as though you have a handle on what you're doing. Sometimes the dream just needs a different name from what we thought.

Stlight