Calling Intrigue Authors

What's happened to the intrigue authors' blog? Are we all too deep in deadline hell? Maybe that's a good sign.

I've been seeing questions about Intrigue's direction again. Isn't it interesting how often this question comes up?

When I sold my first book to Intrigue, my editor was very excited about the romance in my story. She indicated that many Intrigues were heavy on plot and that the romance often suffered. In my limited experience, that attitude has definitely changed.

As Patricia said a couple of months ago, the emphasis now seems to be on dark stories with plenty of action and constant danger. I love dark stories, the darker the better for me. And I've found that action begets action. Once I'm in the 'zone,' writing a suspense-filled action scene seems to lead to the next action scene and the next. It can be great fun to see how many ways the hero and heroine can tempt capture or death and still survive.

I recently received one of the most meaningful compliments I've ever received on a book. Someone said that although she knew the hero and heroine would survive and be together at the end of the book, she couldn't put the book down because she was scared to death that they might not survive. How great is that? Intrigue readers know they're going to get their happy ending, but they love to be held in suspense up until the last possible moment.

I'm enjoying writing edgier books, with badder villains and more hair-raising escapes, but I also love the romance. To me the most fun in writing Intrigues is the interweaving of the romance and the suspense. While the books are more plot-driven than they used to be, I don't want to sacrifice one bit of the romance. That wonderful 'aww...' ending when it's obvious the hero and heroine will live happily ever after is what I live for, in my reading and my writing.