Humor, like voice, isn’t something that can be taught. It’s intrinsic to who we are and how we view the world. I do think that if humor can be coaxed out and nurtured until it works better. For me, in my earlier work, I fought my natural voice that has an edge of humor to fit what I thought was the market.

Big mistake. And it’s part of the reason I didn’t publish. As each book progressed, my natural humor emerged and my writing improved.

I thought I’d talk a little bit about how I use humor. First for humor to work, the reader has to relate on some level.

In my Samantha Shaw series I use some slapstick humor or physical comedy. That kind of humor requires two things—a believable character and a good set up. Janet Evanovich is a natural at doing this. What makes the reader relate to this kind of humor is that they’ve had some experience with it, even if it’s just a fear of it happening to them. They can identify with the character in the situation. Or the situation presses an emotional button. A good example is a scene where I had Sam decide to surprise her boyfriend in her birthday suit. I build this up for a little bit, having Samantha get up the nerve then she walks into the room, drops her towel and flashes a sexy smile.

Only her boyfriend isn’t alone. Another woman, a beautiful woman is there. Can you feel Sam’s embarrassment? That’s a sympathy laugh. The reader connects to Samantha’s predicament and can easily imagine it happening to her.

But wait, it gets worse. Sam’s immediate reaction is flight. She’s going to get the hell out of there! She turns to run and trips over the towel….and it goes on.

Okay you get the idea. I get a lot of comments on this scene. But I also want to point out that this scene led to an emotional scene between Sam and her boyfriend. I used the humor scene to reveal emotion in the next scene. I did not just throw in this scene for no reason. The scene has a purpose and moved the story forward.

View of the World Humor or Sarcasm. This is the one liners often tossed off by characters that make us smile. They make reading fun and fast paced—unless it’s poorly done then it’s tedious. What makes this kind of humor work? It has to be a part of the author’s natural voice. Anyone who readers my Sam books and knows me, can recognize my voice. I relate to how Samantha sees the world, internalizes it then verbalizes it. I recently read a cozy where the author does not have that voice but tried to force it. I couldn’t finish the book. It just didn’t work.

Plot Humor. This is where you set up the premise with humor. I did this for my novella in the Sun, Sand, Sex anthology coming out in June. A woman is accused of assault and battery with a staple gun. Sound ridiculous? It was ridiculous and set off a chain of events that made her a fugitive with a bounty hunter after her. But—this is key—as funny as that is, I used the humor to bring out the emotions of the character. We learn later that she is the family scape goat and they BLAMED HER for attacking the man with a staple gun when it was really self defense. Make humor work for you!

Character Humor. Create strong characters with issues, and then give them humor as a means of coping. I did this in THE SEX ON THE BEACH BOOK CLUB. This is probably the toughest humor in some ways. It must be natural, and organic to the character’s personality. It’s the little things that become through lines in the book. Holly Hillbay is a kick ass private eye and she is gloating when she gets one up on Wes. Wes gets her back by calling her HillBABY, which makes Holly nuts. Now throughout the book, I have Wes calling her Hillbaby now and again to irritate her or to bring her down a peg. That’s just a single example off the top of my head. Keep it natural and it’ll work.

Cruel Humor. This is making fun of someone in embarrassing circumstances. Remember the scene above when Sam surprised her boyfriend naked but he wasn’t alone? A beautiful woman was with him? What if her boyfriend had turned to the woman with him and said, “Ever seen such a fat ass?” and they both laughed? That would be cruel and ugly and we’d hate him. Not funny. You can do that with your bad guys but not your good guys. However Sam’s boyfriend in the book didn’t do that so he got to live!

I think that’s enough for now! Just a couple things to remember when writing humor:

1) Humor must be a part of your natural voice
2) For humor to work, it must evoke an emotion in your readers (sympathy, empathy, shock, etc.) that makes them identify with the character.
3) Humor must have a purpose in the story or it’s just pointless filler that bores readers.

What about you all? What humor has worked or not worked for you in books?

‘Tis th season to be jolly, fa la la la la… oops, sorry got carried away. When it comes to the holidays I am totally bi polar. Love ‘em, and hate ‘em.

I love to socialize, and throw a partay!
Whoo hoo, Karin’s house is the place to be. I spare noszing. (said in Sergeant Schultz’s voice) NOSZING! Best booze, best food, cigar bar, heated smoking room, a bartender who can whip up the meanest drink and some of the best company in town. This year? We’re having a fabulous group of Dickens carolers come by for a song or two. They vill look marvelous on my stairway!
I just hope this time when they ask for requests my husband doesn’t ask them to sing Free Bird again.

Vut, I hate about zee holidays? I hate to shop! I hate to decorate! And I hate to clean up the damn mess!!!!

It’s kind of the love hate relationship I have with publishing. I love to write, and I love to do signings. Everything else? Take it away—please!

Speaking of signings.

Last night I traveled 75 miles to San Jose for a signing at a great book store with a fabulous bookseller. Being the last Thursday of the month the romance readers group was there. Great group of ladies, some of whom I met earlier this year. Nice, and tough. Each reader chatted about the books she read in the last month, and while most were complimentary, there were several duds mentioned and the ladies explained why they were duds to them. Most complaints were about pacing and the story being just plain boring. There were a few who didn’t care for the heroines. But I listened to this group of women, women who read romance, women who can make me or break me.

I understood where these gals were coming from. I’ve read books that have put me to sleep or books where I didn’t connect with the characters, but hearing these avid readers speak so candidly about what they loved and didn’t love in a story resonated with me. I took mental notes and on the drive home put them to the test. I asked myself questions about my current wip. Is the pacing brisk? Is the heroine sympathetic? Is the story juicy or boring? All things considered, I think, JADED, my current wip is my best writing to date.

The other part of last night was the ladies I signed with. Josie Brown, Jami Alden and Jasmine Haynes aka Jennifer Skully. I have gotten to know these authors over the years and quite frankly, as we ate dinner afterwards and chatted about the industry, our RWA Chapter, then our hopes, fears and dreams, I realized that this sisterhood is just as important to me and my writing wellbeing as my agent and editor. These ladies get me, I get them, we are all still learning, and the best thing is there is no pretense or prima donna diva BS.

It’s good to know in this roller coaster business there are kindred souls so close.
On the way home I called convalescing hubby to let him know I was on my way. “Was it worth the drive and the time?” he asked. My response, “Damn straight it was.” And while it took me away from my family for an evening, cost me some serious change for gas, gave up an evening of desperately needed writing time, and I came home tired, I wouldn’t have changed a minute. Life is good. My friends, the book sellers who love romance and the readers who love it more, make this business a wonderful place to be.
I truly can not think of anything else I would rather do.

So, my question is this: In this crazy life, who or what grounds you?