Comedy in The Darkest Places

Hello! Thank you to the wonderful authors at Exploding Cigar for having me back to blog today. I’m glad I didn’t scare them too much during my last visit. J

The last time I posted here I was talking about writing funny, and if you’re interested in reading that, click on the link. I had mentioned that it was a change of pace for me because the novels in my Immortal series are darker and more emotionally driven. At the same time, I wanted to come back this time to say that no matter how serious the book, it is very important to lighten things up every once in a while or you’re going to lose the reader.

The truth is, it’s nearly impossible for a writer to maintain a high level of strong feeling between characters if there is no corresponding release of all that tension and angst (and I don’t mean the kind of release you think I mean—heads out of the gutters folks J).

Comedy doesn’t have to be slapstick or obvious, but it needs to do its job. If the book is very light-hearted, then you’re going to have a different sort of comedic relief than the type you’ll find in a book that has very dark undertones and serious end-of-the-world type scenarios. Which is why I’ve always had a great deal of respect for the incomparable Joss Whedon and the writers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Say what you want about the show, but they knew how to weave different emotions together. They knew how to use comedic irony and sarcasm to their advantage in a big way, and yet still make a supremely popular coming of age television series that sent very positive, serious messages to teen girls.

In the excerpt below from my new book Forever Immortal, you can see that this small scene incorporates a number of different emotional levels. The heroine goes from feeling relatively safe in a companionable silence as she sits next to the hero in the car (which in itself is serious progress for the two of them), to deep worry at the prospect of who they are about to face in the house. We then get a hint of the characters’ simmering sexual tension and the heroine’s conflicted inner turmoil as she questions whether or not she can trust him. But we also have to have the lighter element to give us a break and let us digest all of that roiling emotion, which is where the hero’s last comments come in.

So with that, here’s your question for the day: What do you like best in your romance? Comedy? Angst? Action and Adventure? A little bit of everything? Who does it best?

And here's your excerpt!

“We’ve got company.” With the window down, Gideon entered the security code onto the keypad and waited for the system to unlock and open the gates.

Nyx’s sleepy calm disappeared. “How can you tell? Do you know who it is?”

“Oh yeah. I can venture a pretty accurate guess,” he said with a sigh of disgust. He didn’t sound worried, just very irritated.

By the time Gideon rolled to a stop inside the massive garage, she was satisfied that she could face whatever lay before her—with ruthless force if necessary. Still, it might be better just to run, make a break for it. As she got out of the car, she briefly entertained the impulse, but Gideon knew. The damned Immortal spotted the intention in her eyes and was around the front of the car fast, his fingers wrapping tightly around her wrist.

“Don’t.” He pulled her into him until their chests touched. “Nothing’s going to happen, I promise. You are still safe here. Still safe with me.” Shit. Now why did he have to go and say something like that, challenging her to believe in him and the sincerity that shone in his silvery eyes, putting the cracks back in her armor when she needed to be a fortress.

She harrumphed in response, but was aware that her expression lacked the proper element of derision. “At least tell me what to expect,” she sighed. If it weren’t for the fact that she now had concrete evidence that Damien the uber-demon was out there actively looking for her, Nyx would have taken her chances and tried to leave. Gideon’s so-called “protection” wasn’t worth the emotional turmoil he kept putting her through.

But the reality was she did need him, and God forbid, she was even starting to trust him. He hadn’t killed her yet, so she supposed it was unlikely he would all of a sudden turn on her and let his buddies do it for him.

“I’m pretty sure my sister and her husband Rhys are here.”

That was not the answer she’d been expecting. The expression on his face was amazing. Gideon looked severely disgruntled, playing the tortured brother really well.

“I don’t know who I was expecting, exactly,” she said with a smile. “But that wasn’t it.”

“Yeah. Well, I wish it were someone else too. Anyone else, actually. More demons would be good.”