"Don't be a dork, Benjamin." -Benjamin Black and Maya Stephenson
So I stopped procrastinating and put the contract for The Canvas Thief in the envelope. It’s now crossing the continent, destination Canada. Actually, the fact that Harlequin/Carina Press–yes, as in Romance novels–is in Canada is news to me. Shows how much I know about what has (sort of) become my genre. (There’s a long blog posting about my weird relationship with romance sitting on my hard drive. I keep fiddling with it, trying to explain my is-shoes with romance tropes in a way that doesn’t alienate every romance reader/writer out there.)
The Canvas Thief (which, I hope will get a new title because I suck at titles) is a hybrid of romance, urban fantasy and suspense. Set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, it’s the story of an artist who accidentally brings two of her graphic novel characters to life. It’s set in the same “universe” as The Music of Chaos and Breas the vampire is a secondary character.
Since I set out to write romantic fantasy, not a romance, it doesn’t adhere to some romance novel requirements. Like that the hero and heroine meet in the first chapter, if not first page. In The Canvas Thief, they meet in Chapter Four.
That could, I guess, change during editing. I’m pretty malleable, editorially, but I’m rather adamant that this story not have the usual forced, first page/first chapter meeting of H/h seen in many romance novels. It just doesn’t work. Not for this story.
