Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Reoccuring Nightmares---Oops, I Mean Themes

You Wanna Hear A Story?
Boy meets girl.

Boy and girl fall in love.
Boy loses girl.
Boy and girl defy the odds and get married/get back together
Happily ever after/for now.

In my case, it's more like this:
Boy meets girl
Social issue rears its ugly head
Boy loses girl
Love and patience help overcome the obstacles
Boy and girl declare their love and live happily ever after/for now.

I've said it before; my Social Work background tends to creep into my writing. In my latest book, Teacher's Pet (due to be released sometime this spring), my heroine was dealing with trust issues. She'd had a lousy marriage and was perfectly happy with her life until a stranger set her heart pounding. She agreed to go out with him, and then suddenly discovered he'd also dated a woman with a less-than-steller reputation. And when the woman confronted her with twisted facts, she broke off the relationship.

After some time, she let him back into her life, only to be confronted again by the ghost of her previous husband and the emotional abuse she suffered at his hands. Kevin patiently helps her overcome her inner demons.

I've also used alcoholism, past infidelity (which leads to the trust issues), and reunion stories. Whatever the muse decides will make for an interesting set of circumstances to weave around the romance.

Right now, I'm totally in love with three songs:
Lady Antebellum's 'Need You Now":
Picture perfect memories,
Scattered all around the floor.
Reaching for the phone cause, I can't fight it any more.
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind.
For me it happens all the time.

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now.
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now

Boy Likes Girls' 'Two Is Better Than One':
I remember what you wore on the first day
You came into my life

And I thought hey
You know this could be something

'Cause everything you do and words you say
You know that it all takes my breath away
And now I'm left with nothing

So maybe it's true, that I can't live without you
Well maybe two is better than one
There's so much time, to figure out the rest of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two, is better than one

And Shinedown's ' If You Only Knew':
If you only knew
How many times I counted all the words that went wrong
If you only knew
How I refuse to let you go even when you're gone

I don't regret any days I spent,
Nights we shared,
Or letters that I sent.


It's 4:03 and I can't sleep,
Without you next to me,
I toss and turn like the sea.
If I drown tonight bring me back to life.
Breathe your breath in me.
The only thing that I still believe in is you.

I predict these three songs will weave their way into the stories I'm currently working on. Who knows where this theme will take me?

1 comment:

Mia Watts said...

I do have a question though... why do your girls have to have remained faithful to the memory of their guys until they get back together again, but the dudes are allowed to have slept around, even remarried in one case?