And they both lived happily ever after.
"If this were a feel-good movie or a
book, he would turn and tell me that I deserve to come along with him too. We’d
fly off into the sunset and this would be the start of us falling madly in
love... This is not a feel-good movie or book."
Despite Geli’s thoughts, the lead character in my second
book, Geli Voyante’s Hot or Not, she does, of course, get a
happy ending. It’s what happens in chick lit
books, romcoms, or whatever label you choose to call this genre.
The heroine (typically) always gets that happily ever after. It's a given
that Cinderella will eventually marry Prince Charming, that Becky
Bloomwood will marry Luke in the Shopaholic series.
It’s their fictional right, even if in real life we don't
always get a fairytale ending.
Geli Voyante's Hot or Not didn’t
always end this way though. Right up until the very last minute the book
ended with Geli sat on her own, pondering her future. She didn’t get the man,
and she was OK with that. It wasn’t the feel-good movie or book she compared
her situation with, but it was a lot more realistic and in keeping
with everyday life.
My new book, Lost, which is the follow-up to Kept and
the second book in the Arielle Lockley series, doesn’t have the ending readers
will be expecting. This time though, I’m sticking firm and won’t
relent and change it at the twelfth hour. It might be a bit of a
gamble since the expectation is there to tie up the rough loose ends and make
the ending of the book shiny and smooth, but it's one I'm willing to take
because it makes Arielle’s journey not only stronger, but it makes it more
meaningful.
(OK, the follow-up to Lost is
called Found so there’s a glimmer of hope that things might
work out for Arielle in the third book... maybe! I'm not going to spoil
the rest of the series.)
I adore the genre I write, but sometimes I think it’s more than OK
for a character to get her happy ending on her own – for her (or him) to take
charge of the situation and realise that she’s better off, for now,
concentrating on her own happy
ending.
What do you think? Do you prefer a happy ending in books, or are
you all for a more realistic one?
About Lost
"I'm starting to realise that age is just a number,
but Tabitha pointed out I'm only saying that because I'm twenty-five, engaged,
and have my life together. (Touch wood things stay that way.)"
Arielle is back! OK, she's not on her way to becoming the next Coco Chanel, her childhood dream, but she is one way step closer to running her very own shop with business partner Felicity.
She's also planning her perfect romantic wedding to fiancé, Piers, and Arielle is starting to think that she's finally found her place in the world... Of course life is never that straightforward.
Arielle is back! OK, she's not on her way to becoming the next Coco Chanel, her childhood dream, but she is one way step closer to running her very own shop with business partner Felicity.
She's also planning her perfect romantic wedding to fiancé, Piers, and Arielle is starting to think that she's finally found her place in the world... Of course life is never that straightforward.
With a new-found foe interfering with her shop decisions, not to mention haughty wedding planners and loved ones facing personal struggles, will Arielle figure out what's important before all is lost?
Pre-order on Kindle now: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Arielle-Lockley-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00U2X7E4A If you’ve not yet read Kept, the first book in
the Arielle Lockley series, buy it here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kept-ebook/dp/B00CHCOO7E/
About Elle
Elle Field lives in London with her boyfriend and their cat.
She enjoys exploring new places, watching musicals on the West
End, and eating her way around London’s culinary delights.
Her first novel Kept was released in April 2013; Geli Voyante’s Hot or Not followed in October 2013. The sequel to Kept, Lost, will be published on April 7th, 2015, and is available to pre-order now. Look out for the final book in the Arielle Lockley series, Found, towards the end of the year.
Her first novel Kept was released in April 2013; Geli Voyante’s Hot or Not followed in October 2013. The sequel to Kept, Lost, will be published on April 7th, 2015, and is available to pre-order now. Look out for the final book in the Arielle Lockley series, Found, towards the end of the year.
Links
Thank you for having me on the blog today! {^_^} x
ReplyDeleteI like "uplifting" endings, but not necessarily happily-ever-after, tied up in a bow endings. I think it depends on the story itself and the character arc. I typically write happy endings but in one of my books, I thought it was better for my main character to have a "different" sort of happy ending better fitting her arc. Of course, some readers were pissed off, but others thought it was perfect. You can't please everyone :) Great post.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely can't please everyone, Meredith! :)
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