Guest Blogger - Emmie Dark

The Playground welcomes debut Super Romance author Emmie Dark today. Emmie hails from Australia, where the weather is just opposite ours (and since we've been having unseasonably warm weather here, I wonder what it's like Down Under). Please make room on the swingset for Emmie!


An Affair to Remember

Thank you so much for inviting me to blog with you!

Today I thought I’d talk about one of my favourite old movies – An Affair to Remember. Can you beat the combination of Deborah Kerr and (swoon!) Cary Grant?

Their character names are more than a little confusing: Nickie and Terry – that’s Cary as Nickie and Deborah as Terry! I don’t think those names would work in a book – as a reader I’m sure I’d be far too confused about who was who to keep things straight!

I remember hearing once that Cary Grant was apparently terrible at remembering his lines. In the final scene where Terry is sitting on the couch and Nickie finally realizes why she didn’t meet him on top of the Empire State Building, apparently Deborah Kerr had to keep feeding Cary Grant his lines. I don’t know if that’s true, but even knowing this doesn’t spoil my enjoyment of the story at all.

Like any good romance story, we go into it with a fair idea of what kind of ending we’re going to get – Nickie and Terry, “happily ever after”. The suspense, the reason we keep watching, or keep turning the pages, is to find out HOW. (Especially after what happens to poor old Terry!)

That’s the trick we have to master as romance authors – getting readers connected to our characters quickly, ensure they care about them (Will Nickie follow his passion and become an artist? Will they both find the courage to end their current relationships so they can be together?), and then we must maintain the tension and drama as the hero and heroine find their way back to each other.

In an Affair to Remember, Nickie and Terry face many obstacles along the way to happiness. And I – like many of you, I’m sure – cry along with them!

What’s your favourite classic romantic movie? Tell me about it for a chance to win a copy of Cassie’s Grand Plan.


CASSIE'S GRAND PLAN
Four steps to a brand-new life

Cassie Hartman knows what she needs to do to get her life under control. First, she’ll get herself promoted. Then she’ll update her appearance. Steps three and four—marriage and family—well, those will have to wait.

Then Ronan McGuire shows up. The too-sexy, too-polished business consultant has the power to derail Cassie’s plans before she’s even really started. If he doesn’t approve her promotion, she’ll be back to square one—and that’s not an option. Cassie needs to keep her focus on that first step, no matter how much Ronan tempts her to skip ahead to the third and fourth ones….


After years of writing press releases, employee newsletters and speeches for CEOs and politicians – none of which included any kind of kissing – Emmie Dark finally took to her laptop to write what she wanted to write. She was both amazed and delighted to discover that what came out was sexy, noble heroes who found themselves crossing paths with strong, determined heroines. And plenty of kissing.

Emmie’s overnight success has taken about five years to achieve. She began fiddling around with story ideas when the urge to write fiction became overwhelming. In July 2011 she sold her first book to Harlequin SuperRomance and she’s not looking back, with her second sale in September. Both books will be out in 2012.

Emmie lives in Melbourne, Australia, and she likes red lipstick, chardonnay, sunshine, driving fast, rose-scented soap and a really good cup of tea. Like, a really good cup of tea. She’s particularly fussy about it, and has been known to pack her own teabags when she travels. Most members of her family are too scared to make her a cuppa, in case they get it wrong.

Emmie will be giving away a copy of her book and there's a $50 Amazon gift card for names drawn from people who follow her around her blog tour. More info can be found here.