Vanessa Kelly Guest Blogs: Different But The Same

I’d like to thank all you lovely Vixens for having me on the blog – it’s always great to be here!

There’s a well know mantra in the publishing world that says that everyone is looking for something “different.” Whether it’s the next Twilight or Harry Potter, writers hear all the time that they have to produce something unique that will knock the socks off those jaded, seen-it-all editors. But whenever you try to nail down exactly what that “something” is, the only answer you’ll hear is, “I’ll know it when I see it.”

Cue the psycho music, as said writer drives herself crazy coming up with something new and different. And what does that really mean for those of us who write genre fiction, particularly a very specific sub-genre like historical romance? Is “different” all we’re looking for? Or is it more important to fulfill the expectations our readers bring to the genre?

I’d say both. If a writer can deliver on familiar genre conventions but do it in a fresh and exciting way, then she’s really grabbed the brass ring.

One way to do this is by developing a fresh take on character types. Anna Campbell is a master of this, especially in depictions of that classic archetype—the tortured hero. In her books, Anna often tortures her hero—sometimes quite literally. In Captive of Sin, for example, the hero is a soldier who was ruthlessly tortured and now suffers from PTSD. It’s a very different take on what we’re used to seeing in a hero, and it really raises the stakes—both in the world of the story, and for the reader.

For my latest Regency-set historical romance, My Favorite Countess, I wanted to create a hero who was different from the average aristocratic. Not that I have ANY objection to a hot marquess or earl, as my earlier books will illustrate. But I really wanted to come up with someone outside the ordinary this time around. After all, my heroine’s a bit of a tough nut. She’s a sharp-tongued, fiercely intelligent countess who is occasionally quite bad-tempered. Bathsheba has had a difficult life and, consequently, she doesn’t have a very rosy view of the world. I needed to give her a man who was not only strong, handsome, and sexy, but one who was also decent and kind and who could show her that good people do exist, and that happiness is possible to achieve.

Who better to accomplish that difficult task than a doctor, especially one whose life mission to care for the impoverished women of the slums?

And so Dr. John Blackmore, my hero, was born. He’s an accoucheur, which is the Regency version of an obstetrician. As you can imagine, giving birth was a difficult and often dangerous proposition during the period. If a woman survived the actual birthing process, there was still a fairly good chance that she could die from childbed fever or any number of complications. It was even worse for poor women, who suffered from malnutrition, terrible housing conditions, and a lack of clean water. I decided to have John dedicate his life to saving these women and their babies, even going into the most dangerous slums of London to do so. Not your average guy by any means, and pretty much impossible for my heroine to resist!

So what about you, dear readers? How far are you willing to stray outside the box? Do you like a different kind of hero or story, or do the tried and true conventions of the genre work for you? One person who comments will win a copy of Vanessa’s previous book in the series (and the one which introduced Bathsheba to my readers), Sex And The Single Earl.

Vanessa Kelly writes Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra. Named by Booklist as one of “new stars of historical romance,” her books have finaled in several contests, including the Maggies, The RomCon Readers’ Crown, and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. You can find her on the web at http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com/.