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| Fun with Rick and Jade available HERE |
By
Kelli Scott
When
I was nothing more than a writing sprig, an interviewer asked me the question:
what are some common tropes you use in your stories? What’s a trope? I asked
myself. I’d never had any formal writing education, not much support from my
local writing community due to living in the boonies. What to do? I looked the
word up in the dictionary and came away with the notion that it was the theme
of the story. So I came up with some asinine answer for the interview I now
wish I could do over.
Sometime
later I received a rejection from a publisher stating that my story did not
meet their three trope minimum. Three trope minimum! Clearly I needed to
research the meaning of trope because I had plenty of themes running amuck
throughout my manuscript.
The
most famed and frequently mocked of all tropes is the secret baby story. Never
written one myself. I have penned an accidental pregnancy, amnesia and evil
twin book. Other tropes I’ve used and sometimes abused are beauty and the
beast, friends to lovers and high school sweethearts reunited after years
apart. I love a mail order bride tale—historical, contemporary or
futuristic—doesn’t matter to me. I love them all: rags to riches, family feud, May
December romances, rivalries, opposites attract.
Two
of my favorite romance premises are stranding a couple together, whether it be
on a deserted island or in a blizzard, and then there is—drum roll please—the marriage
of convenience. Boom! Fun with Rick and
Jade.
What’s your must read
trope?
Blurb:
Jade Li only wants what’s coming to her from her high-profile baby daddy—some
child support and she’ll stay out of his life and off his radar. Committed to
being a good mother, she’s left her high-priced-call-girl lifestyle behind and
wants a fresh start. But because of her sordid past, she’s terrified of losing
custody. What she needs, according to her attorney, is a husband.
Enter
Rick Jette, younger brother to Jade’s attorney. Rick could use a wife and child
for a business deal his future hinges on. Plus, he owes his brother a huge
favor that not even marrying a sexy ex-call girl could repay. Marriage is not
what he’d expected. At. All. The good, as they play house, was better than he’d
ever dreamed. The bad—having feelings for his instant family—turns out to be
worse than he ever could have imagined.
Excerpt:
Rick Jette pushed the doorbell firmly. He heard it chime in some stately
arrangement. Ding-dong-ding. His
brother Bob thankfully called out, “I got it!” Thankfully, because Rick never
knew what to say to Bob’s wife, Candy.
First
of all, she was gorgeous. Second of all, she wasn’t too bright except about
fashion, celebrity gossip, and proper martini mixology. Lastly, Rick couldn’t
look her in the eyes, especially knowing she used to be a hooker.
Correction—escort. Don’t want to make that mistake again. Note to self:
avoid the subject of prostitution.
The
door opened. Bob smiled wide. “Bro.”
Two
things Bob had lots of, money and teeth. Rick wasn’t sure he came by either
honestly. He’d probably brokered some back-alley deal in exchange for veneers.
His
brother was ten years older than Rick. The only things they had in common were
a mother and a last name, because their mom never married either of their
fathers. She did eventually marry a guy Rick and Bob both referred to as
Dickhead, but the union never stuck like the name had. Even their mom called
him Dickhead. The nail in the coffin of the doomed marriage. With a marital
example like Mom, it was a wonder either son could make a relationship last longer
than a one-night stand.
“Bob,”
Rick replied. They hugged, including a manly back pat.
When
they broke apart, Bob shoved the door closed and waved him along. “Girls are in
the kitchen.”
Girls? He
swallowed a lump that lodged in his throat.
What
choice did he have but to follow? Looking back toward the closed door, it felt
too late to run. He’d brought with him his appetite and a bottle of wine he
clutched by the neck. Home cooking did not happen every day, at least not in
his world. In the kitchen, the aroma of roasted garlic mixed with a lemony
scent. Add cooking to Candy’s repertoire. Go figure.
She
greeted him with a double-cheek kiss. “Jade, meet Rick.” She waved her hand
elegantly in the direction of what looked to him like living, breathing perfection.
“Rick, this is my friend Jade. She’s staying with us temporarily.”
“Pleasure.”
She bobbed her head in his general direction, but her tone denoted boredom
along with annoyance and a hint of dread as well.
1 comment:
Must read trope? Hmm - I must admit, I don't even think about them. I'd have been racing for the dictionary too. The one I don't like is the girl has baby and doesn't tell baby's father and he finds out years later. But it wouldn't stop me reading the book! I find it easier to think of what I don't like than what I do.
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