Day 5 Winner: J.Lee – congratulations!
It’s Day 5 and my friend Shona Husk is generously contributing today’s giveaway prize. She and I have shared rooms at writing conferences, sat on writing panels together, not to mention the coffee catch-ups.
Shona is generously giving away the first book in her paranormal romance series Coven of the Raven, CURSED, to a lucky commenter to this post. The one thing I love about Shona’s books is that she always writes fresh and innovative storylines, and the Coven of the Raven series, about a coven of sexy male witches, is no different.
I love reading and writing about turning genre tropes on their heads. One author I think did this brilliantly was Terry Pratchett. What trope would you like to see turned on its head, or if you’ve read a clever take on an established trope, what was it, and did you like it?
Learn more about CURSED
I’d like to see a twist on childhood crush or brother’s best friend.
Those are both popular tropes, Vanessa!
I don’t have a specific one…never really thought about it, tbh.
🙂 One I’d never really liked was the arranged marriage trope, but Grace Draven did an awesome job turning that trope on it’s head with her fantasy romance Radiance.
Radiance was a wonderful story; it’s one I’ve re-read a number of times (like Dark Horse).
🙂
Thanks, I’ll see about giving it a try.
Hi J.Lee, congratulations, you’re today’s winner. Shona Husk will be in touch with you to get you your ecopy of CURSED.
The reverse harem is an inverted trope that seems to have become popular over the past few years. My first experience with it was with books by Laurell K. Hamilton. I did like her Anita Blake series for quite some time but then it went a bit over the top for me.
I haven’t read any harem stories, reverse or otherwise, but I have heard about them, and it’s interesting to me that this seems to have become so popular.
Reverse harem has become so pervasive you can’t avoid it lately. It was fun at first but it’s becoming boring already.
Kareni mentioned it, as well, Carol. I haven’t read it, but you’re right, it seems to be everywhere.
A twist on tropes sounds good… nothing specific comes to mind though…
It’s fun just to upend things, it helps keep stories fresh 🙂
Not so much a twist on a trope, but a tweak. Julie James’ book Just the Sexiest Man Alive has an arrogant actor cross paths with a stubborn lawyer. Many fireworks result when he realizes that his little smile makes no headway with her. 🙂
The female lead (Lawyer) is strong, smart, has a sense of humor and is NOT a ballbreaker. Just very comfy in her skin and willing to face the world head-on. It was good seeing a female character be strong and not a caricature.
Yes! In Australia, there’s a great TV series called Newton’s Law, which I love, especially because the main character is a solicitor who tries to raise everyone around her up, not grind them down. Her default is cooperative and encouraging. It was so great to have the main character in a legal drama not be a win-at-all costs person, and yet, she still always wins, because she’s smart and she has a great network of allies.
Something that has always bother me is why the hero is always the Commander, Chief, Alpha – the top dog- but where are HEA for the others, I was always more attacted to Mr Spock than to Captain Kirk, and as far as reverse harem I read some from Tracy St John but after a couple ( ok, more like 7 or 8) I was bored I want more story and less on the explicit details.
I think the stories you’re talking about are sometimes called Beta romances. There’s a couple of books which usually have the word ‘Nerd’ or ‘Geek’ in the title that focus on the less assertive heroes.
I’m a geek myself and it must be why I have a facination with Mr Spock but I wouldn’t use the words “less assertive” I think I would prefer “more cerebral.
Very true. Spock is hardly ‘less assertive’ 🙂