Monday, December 3, 2012

Cold Winter Nights

There's something appealing about a cold winter night, a dark, desolate cabin with a wood stove or fireplace to keep the chill out of the air.

Living in a subtropical climate all my adult life, I sometimes forget that this is actually a reality for a lot of people. And it's not all that romantic when that's your day-to-day life.

Until you throw in the desperate need to share body heat, the smell of wood smoke and silence of a snow-covered landscape.

What if you add the desperation of a fugitive on the run? A last-ditch effort to prove her innocence. Let's paint the rest of the picture with a hot-as-sin lawman keeping a prisoner in his charge safe...and warm...and close.

I have one (and only one) book with a snowbound scenario. The idea for Game of Smoke and Mirrors came to me a couple years ago when I was watching the news about a blizzard in the northeastern US a couple years ago. I'm sure those affected by the storm found nothing romantic about the situation, but being a romance writer, that's my job. I suppose we romanticize a lot of situations that others wouldn't!

What about you? Do you find the romance in otherwise not-so-nice situations? Do tell...


2 comments:

Naima Simone said...

Absolutely! Some of my favorite books take place in not-so-nice situations. Like in Son of the Morning when Grace finds romance with Niall across centuries while on the run from the man who killed her husband and brother...and now wants to rape and kill her. I think those settings heighten the need to find and cherish love because it can be snatched away at any second.

By the way, I, too, find the snowbound scenario romantic. I grew up in the Northeast and was used to A LOT of snow before I moved south and have really thin skin now! I don't know if I could survive a Jersey or Ohio winter these days. I've become a wimp! They're still romantic in books!

Wynter said...

I Know I couldn't survive a northern winter anymore!