Thursday, February 14, 2013

Nickel Nasties Series #10: by L.K. Killian


Welcome to the Nickel Nasties series! In celebration of my first scathing Amazon review for A Ranger's Tale (1 in 58 ain't bad), I've decided to devote February to the stories that garner so much stereotype and ridicule, but still comprise one of the world's best-selling genres: ROMANCE! I hope you'll enjoy this series. Please leave comments for the wonderful contributors. And...don't forget to check out their books!


L.K. Killian



I first fell in love with romance when western shows were all we had to watch on our black and white tv with only 3 channels.  Clint Walker, Cheyene Boaty imprinted me with what a real man should look like, act like, and speak like.  And I have been chasing him down all my life.  If you don’t know Cheyene, you can go to Youtube and look at his pictures.  OMG!!!

To my way of thinking, Mr. Darcy of Pemberley was fashioned after Cheyene. 

James Arness as Matt Dillon came in a close second, but not dark haired like Cheyene.  Broad shoulders, trustworthy, honest, always the good guy fighting for the little person.

In westerns, the romance was always hinted at but never in your face.  We never knew that Matt followed Miss Kitty up the stairs to her room over her saloon.  We never saw him in her room or coming out of her room.  But they were in love and they must have had some hot romance going on. 
The same with Darcy of Pemberley.  You don’t see Elizabeth and Darcy on their honeymoon.  At the very end of the most recent re-make of Pride and Prejudice, you see them in their night clothes by the lake, and he is kissing her on the face, calling her endearing names.  You know they have just come from their bedroom where things were hot and steamy, but you don’t actually see it.

So, I guess you could say that I like my romance to be mostly unspoken, but implied, left to my very vivid imagination.

On the other hand…isn’t there always an other hand?  In one of the last episodes of the tv western, HELL ON WHEELS, Lily and Cullen have an unbelievably powerful love scene.  Not a lot of their skin is shown, but so much is given to us, but not said between them.  Luckily, I had that episode recorded so now I can go back and watch that one little 3 minute scene over and over.  Can you wear out a DVR that way?

BUY it HERE! 
Leaving most of the romance up to the reader’s imagination is how I write my novels.  I’ve written two: Journey to Rome and Hadrian’s Rome e-published on Smashwords.com  and Amazon.com under my name, L. K. Killian.  I like to play around with the give and take, the steamy scene where the action is just about to take place, but you have to supply the details.

I have searched my mind to see why I don’t write in depth love scenes and I think it boils down to the fact that I have grandchildren.  I want my family to be able to read my books and also sit across the table with me at Sunday dinners. Evidently Barbara Cartland and Nora Roberts don’t have that same shyness.

So, I raise my glass to the reader who can infer a bit of deeper romance instead of having me supply all of the details.  Enjoy!  And here’s to Cheyene, Mr. Darcy, and Cullen.  Long may the handsome lover live!

****

I think a lot of us have a book in our hearts and heads that keeps us company and wants to be written. After years of procrastinating, I wrote Journey to Rome and Hadrian’s Rome, two novellas.

When I retired, instead of buying a new car I took a trip to Rome. While there, Emperor Hadrian’s name came up at the Pantheon. This temple to the gods had been built around the first century, and burned twice, but he had his architects rebuild it. I had previously visited Hadrian’s Wall in England in 2002.

It was as if Roman Emperor Hadrian took over the English romance novel I had planned and made it his own. But I’m not complaining. These novellas have been a joy to write. I hope everyone enjoys them.

I could never have done this without the help of everyone at Writers Village University -WVU.com. I began by completing the F2K class twice, which is free. Another great help to those of us who wish to complete a draft of our novel is NANOWRIMO.COM. I just completed the draft of book 3 Druid Dreams at NANOWRIMO.

I would be happy to give anyone encouragement if you want to write your own novel.
You can find me at:

Facebook.com/L. K. Killian
Smashwords.com/ L. K. Killian

2 comments:

  1. Hi Linda - When I write love scenes, I get nervous because what I want to write and what ends up on paper can be totally different, as I've edited the scene in my head as it flows out my fingers onto keyboard :) For me, I'm also worried about family and friends reading the scenes (if it's risque) and looking at me after wondering if I'd ever done any of what I've written hahaha

    On the other hand, that could make for interesting conversations around the dinner table? :) Or not.

    Like this post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Linda, I enjoyed your post. Yeah, Cheyenne was a hottie all right. I guess we watched those same westerns.

    I got a laugh out of Amelia's post. I worry about the same stuff but, here lately, it doesn't bother me as much. I just might surprise you by spicing up my next book.

    I loved both your Hadrian books!

    ReplyDelete

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