RomanceEverAfter

The Writing Craft

Julianne Maclean

Julianne Maclean gives readers an insight as to where she gets her ideas for heroes, heroines, and plots.

You can visit Julianne at www.juliannemaclean.com to find out about her upcoming Harlequin Historicals, Silhouette Desire, and Avon releases.

Topics Discussed 

*Ideas for heroes, heroines, and plots

My ideas come from everywhere, and it's different every time. My April 2003 historical, "Adam's Promise," was inspired by actual historical events that occurred near my old hometown, when people from Yorkshire emigrated to Nova Scotia in the colonial period. 

I consciously dug deep for a story to set there, and used the following elements: For a long time, I liked the idea of a hero being torn between two sisters (which came from a very old movie I saw years ago called "Green Dolphin Street"). I took the "sister" theme, combined it with the popular "mail order bride" theme which fit perfectly with the historical event, and voila! I then developed the characters and let them dictate where the story would go.

Another book I have coming out soon, "Sleeping with the Playboy," is a contemporary Silhouette Desire, and I came up with that idea by looking at a common marketable hook for the Desire line: bodyguard and protector. I switched the hook to make the heroine the bodyguard, for a fresh twist. So that idea came from what was selling in the marketplace.

My third book soon to be released is another historical, again based on actual historical events of the late Victorian period, when British nobles were marrying American heiresses for their money. That situation lent itself perfectly to a romance, so I set out to develop characters that would shine in those circumstances. I loved the concept so much, I made it into a series revolving around three American sisters.

My next story, which I am about to propose to my editor, will revolve around another American heiress (to fit into the series,) but her story will be inspired by the common fairy tale theme of Beauty and the Beast. I'm still working on making it my own, and giving it a fresh twist. That's usually where the challenge lies.

As a whole, I would say that I usually come up with ideas that I know will fit the conventions of the romance genre, but I work hard to do something original within those parameters.