Sunday, April 25, 2010

Cliff-hangers – Love em’ or hate em’????

First, I’d just like to say that I’m excited to join the Paranormal Romantics team and can’t wait to chat with fellow readers.

A little about me...

I love the paranormal romance genre and love a series more!! Nothing can hook me in more than an adventure and one that keeps on going. I love a page turner, one where I’m up at a ridiculous time and my eyes burn because I can’t stop reading. Witty characters, dominant men, danger, action, romance and hot sex―oh my!

My novels are heavy in fantasy, heart squeezing, thigh-clenching romance, and even give a good chuckle every now and again. I’m not a planner. I don’t write with a set idea because no matter what I plan, the characters’ voices always come through and demand I listen to them. So, I gave up trying to fight it!

The journey as a writer all began when I was a teen and wrote poetry, which still to this day I pull out to have a good laugh. Later on, I tried a couple of times to put a book together with no such luck. Couldn’t ever get past the first few chapters. But once I was exposed to the paranormal world, ideas came quickly.

At first, it was a way to keep my brain alive since being a stay at home mom can be a little let’s say―numbing. It was an escape from screaming kids, dirty diapers and plain old mom duty. It started as a hobby, but as the stories progressed it became a passion. Now, I indulge at nap time, especially the juicy bits! Every mom needs a good thrill!

So here in Kitchener, Ontario, I am a thirty one year old wife, mom, house cleaner, cook, teacher, play-doh extraordinaire, swing pusher, toddler chaser after – who loves the outdoors, curling up with the latest flick, and if I’m not plugging away at a new novel, I’ve got my nose buried deep in a good book. So there it is―my life!

My thought for the day...

Wrapping up the current novel I’m working on “A Deadly Whisper,” a conversation came up about cliff-hangers. Should I do one or wrap it up―that was the question. Well, of course the choice wasn’t mine. The characters demanded that I close off their story so that was that.

But this isn’t to say that I don’t love a cliff-hanger and haven’t used them before. In my Magical Sword Series, “The Devils Kiss,” has a wicked cliff-hanger that I am sure is going to cause a rumble. Sometimes, it needs it―sometimes it’s just cruel to do it.

What is your take on the matter?

7 comments:

Rebecca Royce said...

Hi Stacey, Welcome to Paranormal Romantics. So glad to have you with us. We actually have a lot in common. I write to escape the Stay at Home duty and I'm 30. Cliffhangers, huh? I love them in the book but not at the end of them because, and I'll fully admit this, I am a HEA girl. I read a lot of stuff that is HFN but I really love HEA so the cliffhanger usually denies me that.

WELCOME!

Elisa Dane said...

I don't mind cliffies at the end of a chapter. Those spur me on to keep reading because I have to know what happened next. When cliffhangers are placed at the end of a book and I have to wait a year until the next book comes out, well, that makes me a wee bit cranky.

Annie Nicholas said...

Nice blog Sara.

I'm a huge Lost fan and those writers are kings of the cliff hanger. I view each show as chapter in a book so kind of cliffhangers I love but never at the end. Maybe a hint for things to come but the immediate conflict needs to be solved for me to enjoy it.

Sandra Sookoo said...

I like doing cliff hangers at chapter ends and sometimes I'll do them at the end of a book. I'm generally not a fan of series books though. The writing has to be really stellar and the characters intriguing for me to want to invest time in a series.

Welcome to PR!

J Hali Steele said...

Hi, Stacey, welcome to PR. I don't mind a cliff hanger situation for the "world" they're in--as long as there's an HEA for the characters. LOL, does that make any sense?

Stacey Kennedy said...

Hi Ladies!

Thanks for the welcome! Cliff-hangers will forever be one of these things we hate but love.

Quiet Hedgehog said...

I have a love/hate relationship with cliff hangers. I like them, because they make me want to keep reading (or watching, if it's a TV show)! It also (usually) means there's more to come! If the story is good enough, and it makes sense to have one, cliff hangers are great. Sometimes though, they are absent where I want to hear more about a certain story/characters, and sometimes, there are cliff hangers that are never resolved!

So, I guess it all depends on the story and the writer. It's a difficult balance, or trade-off. I will forever love and hate cliff hangers.