 | 25 Jan 12 |
Well, technically, it was yesterday, but HORIZON has hit the shelves!
Writing the third and final installment in my AFTERTIME series was an amazing experience for me. Going into it, I had a pretty good idea of how the action would unfold. The world as we know it had ended almost a year earlier. Survivors had carved out new communities and learned new coping skills. I knew what new and terrifying threats the Beaters would pose, as they scoured the land for uninfected flesh. I even drew maps of the journey the main characters would take in these final pages of their story.
But on one crucial point I was torn: Who was my heroine, Cass, going to end up with? The enigmatic Smoke, the man who first helped her search for her missing daughter – or the fiery loner, Dor, who built a trading post from the ashes, then left it behind to pursue a quest of his own?
I know from reading my reader mail that people are divided on love triangles. Many people love them – a few don’t. I consider it one of the highest compliments the series has received that more than one reviewer said something like “I usually hate love triangles but I couldn’t wait to see who Cass would choose.”
Uhhhh….me too.
The problem was that I made both of these men so irresistible that I myself couldn’t decide between them. Even when I reminded myself that it wasn’t really my choice to make, but Cass’s (and that, in addition, these guys aren’t actually *real*) – even then I was stumped.
trying to figure out a love triangle feels like being eaten by a bear...
Suffice it to say that it made the final days of the first draft pretty exciting. I didn’t know for sure until I was well into the final eighth of the book. Suddenly everything I thought I knew about my characters was turned inside out, and I realized that the choice I was building toward was all wrong. And when I figured it out, I immediately called my agent and said “You’re not going to believe this, but it’s xxx!”
(What – you thought I was going to tell you? Ha!)
I have been combing through my early reviews to see what readers think, and – knock on wood – so far, so good. (See my blog for some of the best reviews so far.)
I’m going to go do a little release-day celebrating now (hint below) but I’d love to give away a signed copy or two of HORIZON. Just leave a comment and let us know how you feel about love triangles – and if you have a favorite fictional triangle, please share!
© 2012, Sophie Littlefield. All rights reserved.
Sophie grew up in central Missouri, daughter of a history professor father and an artist mother. She earned a degree in computer science and made very little use of it. After living in Chicago for ten years, she and her husband packed up the kids and moved to Northern California in 1998.
Most important influences on Sophie's work? The critique group she's belonged to for a decade; her brother, writer Mike Wiecek; and members of the romance and mystery writing communities, who have made for excellent company along the road.
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Congrats on release day, Sophie!
I don’t mind love triangles as long as the woman eventually chooses. Because really, in romance, the men are so alpha, what man would put up with his woman bouncing back and forth between him and another guy? (Looking at you Stephanie Plum)
by Lori Armstrong January 25th, 2012 at 6:16 amoh yah that stephanie plum….i have received a lot of reader feedback on my stella books saying “for the love of god please don’t pull a stephanie plum on us.” guess they’re ready for stella to get it ON.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:14 amLove triangles are not bad but there has to be a choice in the end. Most romance novels or sub genre of romance novels have VERY Alpha men in their lead roles so I can not imagine two such men sharing very well.
Gotta love release days and wine, woooo!
by Kassandra January 25th, 2012 at 6:37 amwow there’s truth to that – the alpha men that i write do NOT share well with others.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:14 amYay Sophie! Congratulations! I am one of those readers who enjoys a good love triangle as long as it gets resolved. I get annoyed when series characters drag things out over, say, 10 plus books and it feels like just a gimmick to keep readers guessing (I can think of several examples of this).
Love the release day mani!!
by Laura Griffin January 25th, 2012 at 6:38 amthanks laura! well, I promise resolution in this one
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:15 amCongrats on the final book!! Yea!!!
by Catherine January 25th, 2012 at 6:41 amI like when the triangle is resolved, and in a future or next book, the “other” guy gets his HEA.
actually i love that too. I’ve never written this type of series before, though I tried. Years ago I wrote a book about a young woman whose mom was incredibly mean and unsupportive, and her beloved’s dad was an alcoholic convict. The I wrote a followup where the two got together. I personally loved it. Editors? – Not so much.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:16 amOooo, wine and pretty nails. A Reisling maybe?
Triangles? I found it interesting that Yasmine Galenorn decided to have Camille marry all three men so they have to share, but, I also like a resolution with everyone being happy at some point.
by Carol Shenold January 25th, 2012 at 7:04 amgood guess! It was actually a St. Michelle cab. one of my favorite affordable wines!
(and yes, it was tasty!) Yes, there are some very creative resolutions going on out there and I support every one of them. For myself, it appears I’m mired in more traditional love matches, LOL
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:18 amLove triangles provide momentum and interest to the novel providing they are well portrayed. congratulations and best wishes.
by Pearl January 25th, 2012 at 7:07 amthanks pearl. And that’s right – they have to be well done, especially emotionally credible – it’s tough to pull off.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:18 amI haven’t dealt much with love triangles, but I have the same problem when it comes to figuring out who my bad guy is. Most of the time I don’t know until well over halfway through the book.
Terry
by Terry Odell January 25th, 2012 at 7:26 amha
terry, i have to confess i haven’t had that problem yet. well, sometimes i have a problem where additional bad guys keep popping up….i guess i like to torture my good guys!
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 8:05 amHi
I don’t hate love triangles but sometimes they make me crazy when I am reading, as I try to find out who the heroine will choose at the end – and I do hope she chooses someone!
Your book looks wonderful and I am excited to read it.
Thanks for the chance
by Pam B January 25th, 2012 at 7:33 amPam
Congratulations, Sophie!!!! Celebrate!
by Debra Webb January 25th, 2012 at 7:58 amthanks deb – i have been celebrating since yesterday
but reality is about to come crashing in….time to go talk to financial person. UGHHHH!
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 8:06 amI am on the fence with love triangles in general. It really depends on how the author handles them. It was already mentioned but Stephanie, Ranger, and Morelli work very well.
by Little Lamb Lost January 25th, 2012 at 8:27 amranger and morelli – they’re the classic example!
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 2:32 pmI don’t mind love triangles as long as the author doesn’t prolong them forever and ever. If it’s for a few books, I’m okay with it. Once it reaches five or so books, then I’ll get sick of it.
My favorite love triangle? Hmmm… I honestly can’t think of one that I’d consider a favorite. As for threesomes, I could give you plenty of my favorites. But I love to read erotic romances so that’s easy peasy for me.
by Katie January 25th, 2012 at 9:08 amha ha ha – i should have had a separate category for threesomes! (and, having been on the board of the San Francisco RWA, I’ve met some delightful ladies who are geniuses at that sort of thing.)
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 2:33 pmFor me to believe a love-triangle both men have to have good qualities that I can see the heroine wanting. I have to believe either choice COULD happen. Then I’m just along for the ride to see what the writer does.
I’ll be so sad to read this last story. I love Cass.
by Jill James January 25th, 2012 at 10:31 amawwww, thanks jill!! I’m a little sad it’s over, too.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 2:34 pmHappy release day.
If written smartly and not allowed to go on too long a love triangle can be a good thing. I liked the triangle between Mercy/Sam and Adam in the UF series by Patricia Briggs. The characters should respond according to their personality and not just devolve into dithering idiots which leads us to Stephanie Plum. Pick or dump.
There was one in The Midnight Louie series which went on waaay too long and you knew she always really wanted Max (?) and not the former priest. What was the point of torturing the former priest (don’t remember the names) and making the characters unlikeable?
Then there’s Laurell K. Hamilton’s self indulgent love octagonal (or more) in both her series. I love the first few Anita Blake books and I don’t mind sex scenes in books (nobody wanted to read Anita and Jean Claude get together more than me), but good grief, there’s no story left any more.
Sorry, kind of got off track there.
by Anne January 25th, 2012 at 11:18 ami share your frustration, anne….the problem for the author, i think, is that tension between lovers is such a go-to way to keep the series arc going. and once a protagonist is in a satisfying relationship, there goes all that lovely tension!
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 2:35 pmHappy Release Day! Time for you to celebrate
I like love traingles especially when it’s a tough choice for the characters. I want them to sweat it out a little and have to work for it. I have many favorite love traingles and one of my fav is from a YA series, The Secret Circle by L.J. Smith. I read it when it was orignally released and liked it then -still do!
by Na S. January 25th, 2012 at 11:58 ami will definitely go look that up! It does seem to me that love triangles are increasingly common in YA literature. Maybe that makes sense, because young people are still figuring out what attracts them in a partner.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 2:36 pmI don’t mind a love triangle, although someone in the end is going to be hurt. So, so much for totally happy ending.
by Linda Henderson January 25th, 2012 at 2:04 pmit’s true that there has to be a loser – at least in a traditional love triangle. But sometimes that angst can be good for a book, too.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 2:36 pmI always feel so bad for the poor person who has to make a choice and the one who is not chosen. It’s just too sad. I do enjoy that storyline, but always hope the loser will find someone immediately to take the sting of rejection away.
by Barbara Elness January 25th, 2012 at 4:21 pmawww, barbara, you sweet thing! that’s why continued environment series are so nice – everyone gets a turn eventually to be the center of the story.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:01 pmI always feel bad for the person who isn’t chosen. I like when that person gets a HEA in the next book.
by chey January 25th, 2012 at 4:34 pmmy friend rachael herron writes a wonderful series where each time a new, intriguing character comes along, someone else suggests he or she should get their own romance story. i think this happens to a lot of authors.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:02 pmI don’t mind a little triangle as in it get resolves fast but some go on and on…
by Diane January 25th, 2012 at 4:39 pmin my stella series, i’m getting lots of reader urging to wrap things up – and they are unanimous on who stella should end up with! guess that’s going on my to-do list
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:02 pmCongrats, Sophie! A pretty manicure, some good wine and release day–that’s as good as it gets!
Count me in as enjoying a love triangle, with a happy resolution that occurs in a reasonable amount of time!
Love your Stella Hardesty, and now looking forward to the catching up to the Aftertime series.
by Lynn in Texas January 25th, 2012 at 4:49 pmthank you so much, lynn! i chipped my darn manicure today – but it’s still sparkly
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:03 pmHappy Release Day, Sophie! I LOVE, love triangles. I’m writing one myself in my Blood Moon Rising trilogy! I thought I knew who Falon was going to end up, but apparently I was wrong!
by Karin* Tabke aka Harlow! January 25th, 2012 at 6:04 pmoooh, i just love it when we as authors discover we had it wrong. that makes it *doubly*impactful for readers, i think.
by Sophie Littlefield January 25th, 2012 at 7:03 pmI do love love triangles but I can’t think of any right now. Some of the example above are good but none of them jumped out as favorites. Darn, now I will be thinking about this until I figure it out.
by Jen B. January 25th, 2012 at 8:03 pmI don’t mind the love triangles as long as the hero/heroine eventually ends up with one person.
by bn100 January 25th, 2012 at 8:40 pmSometimes in a love triangle I want to just slap the heroine & say CHOOSE ALREADY. Its usually pretty obvious who she should be with.
by Mary Preston January 25th, 2012 at 11:45 pmI love a good triangle! I have never been so fortunate as to have 2 men interested in me at once (and I love my hubby so the point is moot), so if done right it can be so intriguing! And I never mind waiting until the end as long as it is believable.
Taking a huge risk at embarrassing myself, I could mention that one of my favorite triangles is a huge sensation at the moment and I am TOTALLY Team Jacob! Can you tell I have a teenage daughter?
by Heather E January 26th, 2012 at 9:21 amI never read the end of the book first BUT I like to follow how a relationship develops and don’t feel like reading a book twice so sometimes on rare occasion I will read the end just to find out which hero to root for.
by Joyce January 26th, 2012 at 4:40 pmLove those nails! Congrats on another great release. I’m not a huge fan of the Love Triangle…that said, I just sort of kind of wrote one. xo
by Roxanne St. Claire January 27th, 2012 at 4:57 am