High Stakes, Tortured Characters and My Untouched Hero
First off, I am delighted to share with you that my Untouched Hero (book one of my currently titled Kyonos Royals duet) has sold! (This makes Presents #12, egads!) I also submitted #13, and book two in the duet to my editor yesterday so am right back on the waiting train!
Julia Broadbooks, Alexa Fiennes, Tina Vaughn, and I were discussing my love of hero torture yesterday in connection with the sale of Untouched Hero (yes, he’s untouched in THAT way…). Because of course, he’s a hero I’ve tortured but good. An honorable man who has deferred his own pleasure in order to the right thing and now finds himself desiring the one woman he truly cannot have.
I’ve discussed my love of character torture a lot on this blog but I’ve only just realized what’s truly behind it. (No this isn’t a Freudian self-analysis where I come to the conclusion that I wish to own thigh-high leather boots)
It’s about creating the highest stakes possible for the characters. I’ve always termed it character torture, but I think that’s the root of it. Making the situation as high stakes as possible to help the reader invest.
Adham al bin Sudar from The Inherited Bride is sort of my original tortured hero. He’s scarred, he’s damaged, and when he finally starts to love another person, she’s the one person he shouldn’t love. That adds tension and drama, and the best part is, it comes from the character! (*warning, this post becomes slightly spoilery in regards to Inherited Bride, so if you don’t want it spoilered at all, don’t read in too much detail. :x)
It works for Isabella, also of Inherited Bride, as well. She is head strong, and she’s running out of time to explore that part of her nature. Already the stakes are high for her. If she doesn’t seize this last moment of freedom, she’ll never have any. Then she starts to fall for the man she’s at odds with, the man she really shouldn’t want, and the stakes get higher.
I think that process of character torture helps enable that in a MS. Their conflict, past and present, sort of collide, and then as the book moves on it increases, challenging them to face the thing they want to deny most, putting them in the situation they most wanted to avoid.
It’s the literary version of putting them on the rack. With nipple clamps.
But it ends well. I promise.
Thinking of it this way, it sort of builds to the point where it has to explode, which is what brings us to the black moment. When a character has been pushed too far, challenged to a degree they aren’t ready to handle.
For Adham, that moment is when Isabella says she loves him. He is not ready for it. Not necessarily to say he loves her, but to receive love when he feels unworthy of it. It’s only when he can deal with those issues, when he’s ready to resolve them, that he can have his HEA and I can take him off the rack. I left the nipple clamps. (I KID. I DID NOT. There were no nipple clamps. eesh.)
So there is a method to the madness of character torture. One that goes beyond the fact that many writers have a slight sadistic streak.
If you would like to see more hero torture, check out my current UK release The Argentine’s Price. And if you’re in the US…wait for my Feb release The Petrov Proposal. Where there is much torture indeed. Er…high stakes. Yep. That’s it, high stakes! *halo*
Comments
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Just to say, I’m right with you on the character torture. I love it. The black moment is my favourite part of the whole book to write. Hehe.
Congrats on Untouched Hero. That book is awesome, the hero in particular…*swoons*
BTW, she’s lying about the nipple clamps. I saw the original draft. 😉
*gasp* Jackie, you’re telling my sekrits!!
Also, thank you much. And I know you like character torture too. Heck, you excel at it!
yay, I am so excited for ya! I am also excited to read your next book. The one thing that sucks, is that it takes tem to publish book in the US 🙁
Sorry – I meant to say: It takes HQN forever to publish books in the US compared to the UK…
Melanie, I heard they’re moving toward simultaneous publication in English language markets. It will take a while though. :/ but thank you!
Awww, thanks chick. I have the Expert Fascinator to thank for that. 🙂
Wow! I feel like I’ve a brush with a celebrity or something. I’m kinda having a fan girl moment here. Thanks, Maisey. ; )
Seriously, though, this is a great post. Torture, high stakes, whatever you want to call it… that’s what makes a great book stand out from a pile of good books. Know what I mean? There are lots of stories that don’t “go there,” stories that don’t push the hero and heroine as far as they can be pushed — and I mean to the freakin’ breaking point… so that when they finally get that HEA we’re (readers) convinced they can’t get, then OMG the crying, the celebrating, the chicken-dancing ensues. That’s why you’ll always be writing and we’ll always be reading. Readers recognize when an author is truly invested and in love with her characters. The time and detail, the plotting, the planning, the torture that goes into developing those characters… oh we can sense it, even the reader who doesn’t write can sense it. That’s why we enjoy your books so much. The time and care you put into your heroes and heroines, in my opinion, also reflects how much you care about your readers. And that, dear Maisey, is not sadistic… that’s love.
See? I knew I should have commented first thing. Now I have to work hard following Tina’s excellent comment.
Seriously, the most poignant moments come from characters who stand to lose everything, who have their hearts broken, who are pushed to change. That change is more profound when it involves giving up cherished beliefs or facing long held fears. Those changes that a character makes, the deep, meaningful, life altering changes give her moment of victory such sweetness and that triumph never fails to make me believe in HEAs.
Geez you have a way with words!! Nipple clamps? LOL!!!
*sniff* Tina, I’m about to fangirl all over you!! That was so nice. I do agree with you that’s it’s SO essential to push the characters all the way. I really clearly remember the moment where I realized I had to BREAK Adham and I sort of hated that realization at the time because…he was just so strong and I knew it would hurt. D: But it’s the key to that satisfying HEA, at least it is for me!
Julia, that! Yes THAT!
Rach, am virtuous!