I (heart) Romance Cliches...

...because it is so much fun to break them!
by M.L. Buchman

I actually started writing romance based on exactly that concept. I began as a science fiction and fantasy writer. I discovered romance and began incorporating stronger and stronger love stories into my writing (still not romances).

I wanted to try a romance, but I did want to write along a cliche. Why? One, I actively despise cliches and stereotyping (this is one of my rabid platform things, so don't get me started [don't believe me? Check out this Publisher's Weekly Radio interview.]) and two, I had seen the success of those who find the cliche and buck the trend.

Sandra Brown looked out at the world of romance and the world of mystery and made a huge success that practically created romantic suspense.

Suzanne Brockmann read an article on Navy SEALs and military romantic suspense exploded onto the market.

Both of them had looked at a cliche and wondered how to turn it on its head.

For me I was doing research for my Dead Chef thriller Swap Out! My hero had to be rescued by a cool helicopter. (I don't know where my writer brain comes up with these ideas, but I trust it and went looking for a really extreme helicopter.) While researching, I stumbled on the U.S. Army's 160th SOAR, the secretive, helicopter-flying Special Operations Aviation Regiment, also known as the Night Stalkers.

That still didn't do it for me. Cool, might use it some day, but it didn't have the cliche-breaker I'd been looking for.

And then I found the Night Stalkers application: "Must be male to apply." (After 30 years, this finally changed in 2013, but I was back in 2008 at the time.)

BANG!

I knew I had it! Was I going to create a whole new genre with this idea like Brown or Brockmann? No, but fitting right in as "Buchman" struck me as a good sign.

What did I create by spotting the cliche and breaking it?
Cliche: The alpha male hero and the woman he falls for along the way.
New: The alpha female hero who meets the alpha male on the common ground of the military, and  who gets the man she happens to deserve.

Thus was born The Night Stalkers series:

(this includes the first reveal of the draft cover for Michael's story coming in Spring 2015!)

And the Firehawks series:

(Full Blaze is coming Dec 2, 2014 and takes the wildfire battle Down Under.)

And I just sold two more "First Women of..." series that will be launching in 2015 & 2016. Maybe they're all just one big series: Buchman's "First Women" of Military Romantic Suspense... I like it!
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M. L. Buchman has over 30 novels in print. His military romantic suspense books have been named Barnes & Noble and NPR “Top 5 of the year” and Booklist “Top 10 of the Year.” In addition to romance, he also writes thrillers, fantasy, and science fiction. 

In among his career as a corporate project manager he has: rebuilt and single-handed a fifty-foot sailboat, both flown and jumped out of airplanes, designed and built two houses, and bicycled solo around the world. He is now making his living as a full-time writer on the Oregon Coast with his beloved wife. He is constantly amazed at what you can do with a degree in Geophysics. You may keep up with his writing by subscribing to his newsletter at www.mlbuchman.com.

Cliches,Good or Bad?

By Diana McCollum
http://dianamccollum.weebly.com/


What I find fascinating about clichés is one can get across a feeling, picture or a state of being with few words which need no further explanation. True, some are used to the extreme and especially as readers we get sick to death (is that a cliché?) of hearing the clichés used over and over and over again.

I am thrilled when reading a book and I come across a new take on an old cliché; because old clichés are not all accurate when used in modern day language.

For instance:

“I’m tired of sounding like a broken record”- Really? Most teenagers don’t even know what a record is they’re too wrapped up in I-Tunes & CDs. A broken record is when they beat someone else at track etc.

“More troubles than Carter’s have pills”-How many of us still shop at a Carter’s Pharmacy? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Carter’s Pharmacy.

“It’s the cat’s pajamas”-My children had no clue what this meant.

“It’s the bee’s knees”-I don’t even know what this one means.

“It’s not worth a plugged nickel”- I give, what is a plugged nickel??

“Johnny come lately”—Huh??

And then there are others that are timeless:

“Kiss and tell”

“loved and lost”

“Poison pen”

“love is blind”

“all’s fair in love and war”

 “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”

I beseech you when you are writing if you are tempted to use a cliché, try and make it more current or different so the reader is surprised and doesn't roll his eyes at yet another cliché. Here is an example from Nora Roberts book, “Homeport”.

Instead of saying “She was cold to the bone”—“The damp, snapping wind iced the bones through to the marrow.” Much clearer picture, more of an impact and chilled me just reading it.

What are some of the clichés you dislike? What are some you do like?