Romance Under Fire (RUF) novels by Feather Stone are full of fire. Sometimes gunfire. Always, the plot is a blaze of fast-paced action. The character’s passion – intense heat. From page one to the final word, the fire will remain with you. Bring your flak jacket, your wine / beer, and enjoy the heat.
What makes a RUF novel special?
Having witnessed and/or experienced thirty years worth of tragedy and horror as a paramedic, Feather Stone has the fodder to create intense plots. RUF novels portray the mind numbing fear, hopelessness, desperation, gut-wrenching grief Feather Stone’s patients experienced.
Feather personally knows of the heroic actions of the police, fire personnel, and her fellow advanced life support staff. Sometimes they won the battles with death’s dark angel. Sometimes they lost. But always, there was passion – deep, unrelenting passion to never give up regardless of the risk to life and limb.
Review of Vibrizzio, by Nicki Elson – (The Big V Book 1)
Feather’s Review: Novels written by Nicki Elson are a guaranteed great read. She has an incredible gift of story telling. I love how Nicki seduces a reader into the story right from page one. You’re drawn immediately into the characters’ dilemma. Within a few paragraphs, you feel a connection with each character. Nicki has the writing talent of saying so much with minimal words.
Vibrizzio is a story focused on two main characters struggling with a history of bad dates, hurtful relationships. Lyssa has virtually given up on flesh and blood men. Her vibrator, named Vibrizzio, has adequately replaced whatever pleasure they had provided and with a lot less risk to her heart. Hayden, is a fellow employee and a god of male flesh. He appears to be the typical womanizer and “man-ho.” He’s not all bad. As Lyssa begins to discover he’s intelligent and a gentleman, her determination to remain manless is put to the test. They are thrown together to work as business partners. Over a period of months Lyssa has to curb her desires during business trips and company engagements. Hayden discovered her attachment to the battery operated vibrator. She threatened him to maintain her secret. As they confronted their personal troubles, the dynamics of their relationship changed. Bridges were crossed painfully.
The sexual content of Vibrizzio is sensual, sexy and fun – and written without degrading the characters. The characters, main and secondary, are fully developed and feel like real people. I could easily relate to Lyssa and all the other characters. It made the reading experience a true pleasure. I felt the emotional impact in each scene. The ending had my heart pounding and tears streaming down my face. Even though Vibrizzio is written in one POV, I easily understood the feelings of all the characters.
I highly recommend Vibrizzio to both women and men.
Check out all the novels by Nicki Elson – all worthy of five stars.
IWSG Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time.Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.
AKA: Turning a manuscript into a best-selling novel
Have you ever ridden in an old, beat up, rusting farm truck? You might have noticed the sweet aroma of hay bails and silage mixed in with dozens of other less pleasant odors. As you climbed into the passenger seat, you might have had to push aside a mustard stained coat, heavy duty gloves, baby soother, and a few red Tonka toys that resemble farm machinery in minute detail. The floor board served as a disposal unit for straw, animal hair, and anything no longer useful or desired. As you strapped yourself in, perhaps you gasped at the damaged windshield with jagged cracks radiating from what appeared to be bullet holes.
You smiled pleasantly to the hunk of a man griping the steering wheel. His face spoke of a man who labored in the wind and sun’s heat. He offered his hand in greeting. It felt calloused. There was no mistaking the man’s strength and no-nonsense grip.
“Charlie’s the name, Miss,” he announced. In a glance you felt he had sized you up as a city slicker. “You ready?” he asked with a mischievous grin. “No turning back. Got no time for sissies.” His voice lacked the smooth tenor of a man who favors cappuccino and Zalando shoes. Even so, you noted an unmistakable charm in his blue eyes. You’re intrigued.
When he started up his relic of a vehicle, you sensed the power under the battered hood. Those pistons would take you anywhere. As he pushed on the clutch, the gears groaned in protest. The wheels spun, sending grit and gravel spraying in a wake of clay baked trails. You had a sense of where you were heading though the fence line disappeared periodically. Dodging potholes and ruts, you bounced and grabbed something to keep you from landing on his lap. A rush of hot wind racing through the open windows carried the scent of musky ditch water. You pointed out the yellow flowers.
“Marsh Marigolds,” he said like he knew every inch of the land that gave him his life, and nurtured his soul.
I know what you were thinking. Yep. You wondered what he’d look like cleaned up. Pressed white shirt, tailored suit, and expensive aftershave. Uh huh. Maybe anti-up the charm a notch, polish his manners a smidgen? But you wanted to preserve a bit of the beast in the man. You wanted a Ferrari. But, God help you, there was so much of the original that made your heart fall in love.
When rewriting your manuscript, you need to have an eye out for what’s out of date, useless, or groaning in protest. Polishing requires injecting a fresh approach to the same old story line. And yet, readers may want to feel ‘at home’ with what is familiar. They need to be able to relate to the characters. Yes, they want the novel to read like a Ferrari, fast and exciting. The glitz and glamour is nice, but the reader needs the meat and potato dinner that sustains them long after the last word is read.
I find it challenging to decide on what to keep, know what is just garbage, or what is window dressing that needs an update. The trick is to weed out what is overdone, repeated, or serves no purpose to character development or the climax of the scene or story.
You want the Ferrari, but you need to also remember what made you fall in love with the farm truck.
You’ll enjoy meeting many more authors sharing their stories by clicking on the links below. Be sure to also click on the share links below. Very much appreciated. Feather
They say sex sells. Damn! I have a problem. Since I began writing The Guardian’s Wildchild, a suspense / paranormal / romance, I hesitated to pin the romance genre to it. There’s virtually no sex. The relationship between the two main characters wavers between physical aggression and deceit – until the final chapter. If I told Captain Waterhouse that he was falling in love with his prisoner, he would have executed my muse and sabotaged my keyboard.
Every person / reader has a personal view about romance, its role in their lives, and its importance in a novel. So how do I write a romance novel that doesn’t follow the rules.
My Thoughts About the Romance Genre
The problem? It appears that for a novel to be considered in the romance genre, there must be an intimate liaison between the main characters. Period. Here’s my confession. In my “romance” novels, there is no overt intimacy, no sex.
What I aim to achieve in my romance novels is a fire that goes beyond sexual urges. More than two characters who surrender to a five star romance. More than just a plot that drives them together. My goal is for both characters to dig deep into their moral conflicts, cultural adversities, and a history of ghosts and personal agendas.
The characters must awaken to selflessness, embrace the darkness and imperfections of the other. And, they must not surrender what is precious within themselves in order to be more attractive or alluring to the other.
Romance is the dance which paves the journey to loving another. It may become sexual. Even if it doesn’t, their bond can be glorious, beautiful, powerful, eternal.
In essence, I see the sexual encounter, if it happens at all, as the epilogue rather than the romance’s grand finale. The true climax in romance novels, and in life, is to awaken to the beauty of another’s soul, overcoming barriers, and enjoying the bliss of passion.
Having witnessed and/or experienced thirty years worth of tragedy and horror as a paramedic, Feather Stone has the fodder to create intense plots. RUF novels portray the mind numbing fear, hopelessness, desperation, gut-wrenching grief Feather Stone’s patients experienced.
