Taking The Bounce: Get Back Up and Try Again By: Courtney Leigh

To give y'all a little of Courtney Leigh's background... I graduated from UC Davis (after I studied abroad in Scotland for a year!) with a double BD in Political Science and English. I gave up a plush job to move to Arizona and work part-time at my parents' dog boarding kennel. I did that to start my writing career. Now I'm a published freelance writer, and all the closer to being a published author. We all know it's a matter of the amount of grit and sweat (and sometimes tears!) we're willing to invest, that makes us persevere.

It was a journey for me to find my fiction genre. But once I made the commitment to 20th century historical romance, I had a former editor from Harper & Row tell me my writing was absolutely superb (yay!), but 1940s war-time romance didn't sell (argh). I got that a lot in the responses I received to queries from agents and editors alike. This is the blurb for Seasons of Change...

A soulful love that transcends the atrocities of WWII Europe...

American expatriate and Resistance legend, Evangeline, vows to lay down her gun. Only upon Colt's insistence, an American soldier whose love promises a happiness she feels unworthy of, Evangeline agrees to leave Europe and returns to her family's Texas cattle ranch. Her personal war has just begun.

As she waits for Colt stateside, she must face the demons from her past for the sake of her future. When love and happiness are the prize, will her resolve be enough to defeat a home front enemy she never encountered as a spy in Europe?
-----

Seasons of Change speaks to those who have bravely waited for a loved one's return, or who have fought to return home themselves. Evangeline and Colt prove that love and determination are more powerful than any bullet, any bomb. Any war.
-----
It has taken me almost a year to bounce back from being told that war-time fiction was a hard-sell. But now that I have had time to really think myself into a clearer vision, I have bounced back with vigor. I've heard the phrase, "Taking The Bounce," as a way to describe getting up and trying again. I like it, so I use it. For some reason it keeps me thinking positive thoughts...

I took the bounce by asking myself how I could effectively pull a larger crowd of romance readers into the catacombs of history. What I came up with, which has become a new, true passion, is Decopunk.

Decopunk romance covers the 1920s to the 1930s (and into the early 40s) Art Deco aesthetics, and is a futuristic rendition of the past--just as Steampunk has done with the mid-to-late 1800s--by introducing modern technology (cell phones, laptops, speed detectors, jet engines, etc.) that didn't exist in real-time history. Have any of you seen Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? How about The Shadow? There's even an episode in season one of Fringe that covers Decopunk.

But I haven't read anything in the romance genre that coincides. The closest I've come to what exists in book form that aligns with my vision, are comic books. And they are very popular when they're done right (hey, I know the readership is different, but it's just a matter of very, very visual description, people!).

So as part of my bounce back, and making the bounce work for me, I've been working on two Decopunk manuscripts that are fresh, new, and vibrant. Some of you may wonder what these romances are about, but I'm still in the developmental stages, so unfortunately I don't even have blurbs for them--because I don't know the endings myself yet (gulp!). In order to find out more about these bounce-back stories, you may want to follow my future blogs on RTG. I'm planning an exciting April...

Tell me what you think about the idea of putting Art Deco aesthetics with modern technology and romance. Can you imagine Gretta Garbo or Vivien Leigh holding smart phones (cased in mahogany with silver-plated industrial detail, and touch screen technology)? When have you, as writers, had to bounce back with a vengeance? Give me your story.

MARGARET TANNER, 20TH CENTURY EYE WITNESS

A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE MID 20TH CENTURY

Who would have thought that while I am still alive I would be part of history?  The 20^th century was a tumultuous one. In my opinion it was the most life changing of any other century, two World Wars, the great depression, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Television was invented and changed the way we lived.  The contraceptive pill led to the sexual revolution.
 
But what about me personally?  I have to say the 1960’s was my time. Mini skirts, stilettos (I’ve bunions to prove it), beehive hair dos, I couldn’t quite manage that, although I did tease the life out of my hair and regularly put in coloured rinses, French Plum or Rich Burgundy, were the colours I favoured. I can remember when the Beatles made their first visit out to Australia. A couple of girls I worked with were lucky enough to get tickets to their concerts, (we hated them, of course), they came to work the next days minus their voices, and stayed that way for about a week, because they had screamed so much.
 
We used manual typewriters in those days. One original and four copies of everything we typed. I don’t know how many blouses I ruined because I got ink on the sleeves from changing the typewriter ribbon or the black stuff off the carbon paper.

During this time the Vietnam War loomed in the background. The Australian government introduced conscription. It was in the form of a ballot, or the death lottery as many called it. All twenty year old males had to register, their birth dates were put into a barrel and a certain number were drawn out, and those young men had to report to the army and subsequently many of them were sent to Vietnam. This of course caused severe bitterness and division in the community, and even though the government denied it, was subject to abuse and unfairness. Rich men kept their sons at university so they didn’t have to go.  Conscientious objectors were thrown into prison. Only sons were called up, yet families with two or three eligible males didn’t have any of their boys called up.

I only had one brother, and I can clearly remember my father (a World War 2 veteran) vowing, that if his son got called up, he would protest on the steps of the parliament with a placard on his back.

There were protests marches, anti-war demonstrations, and things often turned violent. Not that I went to any of the protest marches, but a cousin of mine did and got trampled by a police horse.  I can recall it all as clearly as if it only happened a few years ago, not half a lifetime ago.

BLURB:  MAKE LOVE NOT WAR

Make love, not war was the catch cry of the 1960’s. Against a background of anti-war demonstrations, hippies and free love, Caroline’s life is in turmoil. Her soldier brother is on his way to the jungles of Vietnam. She discovers she is pregnant with her wealthy boss’ baby, and her draft dodger friend is on the run and needs her help. 

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Love-Not-War-ebook/dp/B0094WQOPU/ref=sr_1_12?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346642917&sr=1-12&keywords=margaret+tanner

 

http://www.bookswelove.net/tanner.php

 

Overheard on... Downton Abbey

By Genre-ista: Deanne Wilsted

www.deannewilsted.com

“Edith dear, you're a woman with a brain and reasonability. Stop whining and find something to do." Lady Violet

Awww, twentieth Century romance; filled with rapidly changing fashions and matching feminine confusion.  If ever there was a set-up for tension this would be it. Men were hunkered down, valiantly trying to hold onto their traditions and roles, while females were pressing against the bounds of society and culture. And in the midst of this, somehow romance would still flourish.

We have come a long way since those golden days. Stay-at-home dads, while not the norm, are certainly observed frequently in my typical suburban neighborhood. And women juggle work and parenting fluidly… texting while watching their son or daughter play soccer. But, the tension is still there, set up by those early days of the 20^th C.

Reading this period can give contemporary authors much more depth for their own writing. The transitions that took place during that century hold context for what came before and after. 19th C. romance authors can find the tides that were drawing their heroines into these future battles.

To write romance with any tension at all, we must understand the 20^th C. So in March, as the Genre-istas host guest writers of the 20^th C, I’d like to use it as a platform for commenting and discussing the tension that stems from such a huge transitional period.

Have you read a particularly poignant 20^th C novel, romance or otherwise, that has illuminated this tension? And, where else did we find it during that century? Racial tension, economic tension… there is much ground to cover, so pick an idea and let’s see where it takes us…. As long as you don’t kill off the hero of the show/book;>)