Writing Past Insecurities
By L.K. Below
What made my recent release, Beauty in His Bed so challenging to write was the characters. Specifically, the heroine.
In any romance, the main characters will have to battle their insecurities in order to achieve their happily ending. However, in this book, I didn't realize what a Herculean task it would be to win Amy's heart. She's self-conscious about her weight, about her self-worth, and doesn't have a clue why Seb is interested in her. Because of this, I found it very difficult to write many of the scenes, particularly ones in which Seb had to crack Amy's heart-hardened shell to savor an intimate moment. After writing and rewriting the same scene, I realized that I needed a different plan of action if I was going to give these two characters their happily-ever-after.
First, I made a list of Amy's every single insecurity. I assure you, it was a long one. But once I knew where she would be tempted to back off, I was prepared. And I was determined that Seb would be, too. One by one, he crossed Amy's insecurities off the list. Verbally, and without words. Actions speak louder, after all.
Once I knew Amy's triggers, I could orchestrate their encounters. Too many at once and she was liable to back off. So I introduced them slowly, one at a time. Leaving Seb to confidently brush them aside and continue with his courtship. When they came up for a second time, Seb would show Amy in a different way how wrong she was to think of herself negatively. Over and over again, Seb did everything he could to wipe those thoughts from her mind.
And if all else failed, I switched to Seb's point of view. If an intimate moment was too tense from her point of view, his reactions would be enough to forge the intimacy so desperately needed. A simple formula, but one that proved invaluable in this case. The book came along slowly, but it did come.
Beauty in His Bed is now available from Lyrical Press, Inc. Read more or buy it at http://bit.ly/BeautyInHisBed. Visit L.K. Below online at www.lbelow.net.
BLURB:
Upon finding a gorgeous woman in his bed, Seb wakes her with a wicked kiss…and it just might lead to forever.
Devastated by a breakup, plus-sized Amy Somers retreats to New Orleans to visit her longtime friend. But when her friend delivers the key to her apartment and sends Amy on ahead, she doesn’t realize that the apartment belongs to someone else.
Upon coming home to find Amy asleep on his bed, Sebastien Babineaux entertains lusty thoughts. Bent on seducing her, he never expects to lose his heart -- or to work so hard to keep Amy by his side.
EXCERPT:
Damn.
Seb propped his shoulder against the door frame to keep from falling to his knees at the sight of the woman lying half-naked on his bed. Was he drooling? Faced with a sight as delectable as her, he didn’t know how his jaw wasn’t lying on the floor.
If only she’d been conscious.
His hands tingled with the urge to strip off the rest of her clothes. After the dry spell he’d been having, he would have considered himself delusional to be handed such a feast. That is, if Monique hadn’t warned him that she’d sent her friend over. Seb needed no help charming women, but with a beauty like the one sprawled out before him, how could he turn her away?
This woman--Amy, he’d been told was her name--had been crafted to fulfill his every fantasy. She lay oblivious to his presence. Her blue baby doll clung to her large breasts, revealing miles of unconquered terrain. Her auburn hair draped over her chin and part of her plump mouth. One hand was tucked beneath her cheek; the other rested between her lush bare thighs. With her legs curled, he couldn’t tell how tall she would be, but one thing he was certain: before him lay a woman who he wouldn’t have to worry about crushing with his six-foot-tall frame. And one he shortly hoped to know very well.
One question held him rooted in place while his hormones urged him to join her.
Why would a goddess like her be lying half-dressed on his bed?
Thanks so much for having me here, Margay!
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