My Mind : What a Twisted Place to Live

I always wanted to write stories that made the reader laugh 'til they cried. So much for that. Instead I write stories that tend to make the reader cry 'til they sigh. Go figure.

The first romance I wrote from beginning to end--there were many that were started and never finished--was steeped in inner turmoil, angst, and drama. It was titled Lord Fenton's Ward and involved amnesia, suicide, murder, and intrigue. That manuscript was put in the "vault" and I haven't looked at it since.

I tried again.

The next story, actually connected to the first, was titled Lord Stafford's Love. It still wasn't funny, by any means. The hero was a little more amusing. He was not a tortured hero and had an interesting sense of humor. That was the only thing that saved it from being completely boring and a little morbid. It, too, was "vaulted."

I gave up on that series and took several months off to reflect. I reasoned that if inner turmoil was what I needed to explore, that was what I would write.

I then wrote a Regency that involved, again, murder and a hero, tortured by guilt, dubbed the Devil. The heroine was just as tortured and wanted desperately to kill the hero. There was also a smattering of insanity and attempted murder--of more than one person by more than one person. I didn't actually "vault" this story but I did decide to rewrite it recently. It started out too boring with too much explanation of the heroine's roots. I also noticed the shocking resemblance between this heroine and Raven in Spellbound. Oops. Oh, the title: The Devil's Destiny. Yup, her name is Destiny.

Next attempt: Sweet Serenity. This one may actually end up published eventually. I need some more opinions on it first. Meanwhile, it involves a quirky heroine, the daughter of a country vicar. She has the deplorable habit of trying to "fix" everyone. The hero is tortured, believed to have raped a young woman about a decade before the story opens. Of course, our quirky heroine must try to mend the rift between him and his dying father. She is levelheaded but stubborn and fully believes that she knows what is best. He is typically male.

I then read a book that made me so angry that I came up with Angel, my yet-to-be-released Regency about an emotionally disturbed young woman with horrible secrets. There I go into the dark and morbid again. This book needed a bit of a rewrite; it was suggested that I gave too much of the story away at the beginning.

From there, I wrote 

1. Betrayal--currently available for purchase (murder, rape, insanity, bitterness, betrayal)
   
2. Deception--almost ready to publish (murder, kidnapping, illegitimacy, deception)
   
3. Heartless--available (murder, marriage...anti-hero)
   
4. Spellbound--available (guilt, self-doubt, rape, attempted murder, insanity)
   
5. Misunderstood--underwent a name change and became Retribution which is now being rewritten (the hero is an ex-con, the heroine is a prostitute, and that's all I'm saying)
   
6. Redemption--available (guilt and general human error)
   
7. Intrigue--being edited (murder, treason, intrigue)
   
8. Fascination--awaiting a satisfying conclusion (murder, betrayal, insanity)
   

Why do I focus on so much negativity? 

There is always a silver lining. Some are just harder to find than others.