E-News, the Paparazzi and a Small Town Teacher

 

Emma`s view on love *smile*

Pop Culture piques my interest. I can sit through E-News and treat it like it was actual news *laughs* Yes I can take a hiatus from it and be like “Kim Kardashian who?”*smile* It`s mindless TV. Literally aimed at entertaining and offers an escape from real life, if only for an hour. And now for a little confession on my part *pulls face* I started writing Falling for Mr. Unexpected as a tongue and cheek response to the ‘typical’ romance novel *hides* (Hope nothing hits my head *ducks anyway*)

You see, when I wrote the sytycw2012 entry I didn`t expect to win *blink* Shocker! lol No it wasn`t *teeth* It`s my first ‘grown up’ novel, before I wrote it I mainly wrote YA/Teen romance, though at the time I didn`t know that. I used my competition entry as my way of telling the world, look I want to be a published author. I have stories to tell and I`d like you to read them. And yes I`m serious about this. It`s NOT a WHIM! So to that end it did serve its purpose since the book got contracted *wink*

But I went in guns blazing, I mean I wrote everything in that novel I wanted to see and yes, even not see in a romance novel, with all my sarcastic humor. Thank God the editor of Ubuntu Line got that!

Here`s the Blurb (before edits):

Can you fall for Mr. Unexpected when you don`t believe in Mr. Right or even Mr. Right Now…?

Primary school teacher Emma Cupido compares the notion of ‘The One’, with believing in the Tooth Fairy. When the school holidays starts, she heads for her bother in-law`s beach house in Strand and stumbles on more than she bargained for.

Hollywood heartthrob Damian Davidson flees LA thinking his beach house in SA would be a safe hideout from his sex scandal. He`s had his fill of manipulative women and when he mistakes Emma for a crazy fan, all hell breaks loose!

Emma and Damian get off to a rocky start but first impressions can be deceiving. Is there more to Damian than the superficial taint of Hollywood? And what happens when she agrees to a trip to LA? Will she become a believer in ‘The One’ or just another Hollywood scandal?

As you can see I had fun with the whole Pop Culture element. I literally took a headline from E-News and turned it into one of my main conflicts within the story. I took a straight laced small town teacher and threw her into the path of a Hollywood ‘bad boy’.  I aimed for toe curling and a heroine that would make Jane Austin proud. Because in all her straight laced persona, Emma is anything but perfect! And Damian though perceived as just another self-absorbed Hollywood hunk turns out be anything but or does he? *cheeky grin*

And I have to be honest again (don`t you just cringe when people say that! *laughs*), I wrote Falling for Mr. Unexpected, for all my girlfriends. Every friend I`ve known throughout my life would find aspects of themselves in there if they looked closely. I catered to all their feminine hearts. I made the hero someone I know they`d have a silly grin for. But most of all, I wrote it, at the time for myself.  I never enjoyed a piece of writing as much in years and I hope the reader will be able to spot that.

I made these characters do and say things I believe would be great elements for a Rom Com movie (please Hollywood producer stumble on this post!).  It`s a universal story. Whether it`s set in a beach house, Strand, South Africa or LA, Hollywood, it`s relatable. The biggest compliment I got from a Beta Reader when they read the story was that they could relate to Emma. Not because she was this ‘ordinary’ woman, in the presence of Hollywood ‘royalty’. But because of the choices she made.

I can guarantee there will be moments in the story you`ll want to kill me, but please do read on! It will get better 😉  Plus I`m on the other side of the world, even if you want to roundhouse kick me you can`t! Not even Chuck Norris can *raised eyebrow*

*laughs*

Another thing I commented on in the novel is how the paparazzi come with celebrity culture. It`s invasive and yes, me sitting in front of E-News probably contribute to it. But it`s something that in the 90`s (that`s when I was a teenager) wasn`t as prevalent.  They shape you the viewer`s world, with the help of tabloids. I remember as I sat and watched the headline that inspired this story, I was actually a bit disgusted. I cringed. Because I didn`t want to know every single detail of a celebrity`s life. Nope. Didn`t need to know what was found in his trash or how many strippers he/she had at their birthday party. And that`s the reason why in Falling for Mr. Unexpected, they do make an appearance. Indirectly I do make a comment on this culture and what repercussions there are once the paparazzi has labeled a person or decided on what perception about that person makes them more money.

Like I said I was writing my kind of romance novel *grin*

And yes it does have all the traditional elements of a true romance novel. It is a holiday read. You can curl up with it in front of a roaring fire. And I`m not just saying that because I wrote it *ha*

This is my 2nd installment of the inside story of Falling for Mr. Unexpected.  As part of the Ubuntu Line`s April Blog Hop, I`ll post an excerpt of the story on Friday the 11th.