Weaving Romance through Hair... and History with @KimKasch #Romance #RB4U

Romance and writing both require a little effort, just like love requires two people. And Batman and Robin and Xena and Gabrielle knew the secret to success: everything is easier when you do it as a tag team - even research.

So, when Kristin started writing a manuscript about Marie Antoinette (or as we came to call her, “M.A.”) we both knew that a little—or maybe a lot—of research was needed. And one of the most fascinating facts about MA was her obsession with hair.

She wanted it just like her cake: TALL and WIDE. MA wanted drama in her style. Simply look at the crazy wide skirts she wore, which were only partially rivaled by the height of her hair, if you want to see just how dramatic Marie Antoinette really was.

But how could Kristin write about something she knew nothing about…?
She had to learn all about MA’s hair styles. And together we came up with a plan…
We wanted to discover how it felt to have hair piled high on top of a head, and see what sort of artistry was needed to weave the locks into an intricate pattern.
What we discovered is writing a love story is a lot like styling hair.

·         Details are important.

·         Planning and preparation are required.

·         Little strands of a story—like hair—need to be woven back and forth, in and out, together and around to create something worth looking at and reading.

·         Hair and history both weave their way through people’s lives, silent and subtle.

So Kristin and I decided to find out, first hand, a little bit more about hair styles. And there’s really only one way to do that. We had to have our hair done.

FIELD TRIP FOR WRITERS – WRITING AND RESEARCH SHOULD BE FUN
This is a fun way to do research. We went to have our hair done…all for the glory of the story. And to save on the expense, we went to a beauty school. There, the students taught us what we didn't know about hair and styles.

This was another occasion of putting our butts in the seat to do the hard (okay it wasn’t so hard for us) work. We sat in the chairs and let the hair stylists show us a few things about styling hair back in MA's day. And these stylists had flat irons, bobby pins and hairspray, things that weren’t around in Marie Antoinette’s era.

And, like they always say, a picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few pictures of what we did for our “WRITING FIELDTRIP”.

SOCIAL MEDIA SITES:

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Here’s one more post about writing research: http://kimkasch.blogspot.com/2016/04/how-to-do-research-to-write-book.html

AND, if you’d like to read more about “fun” writing projects or see author interviews, join Kristin and me on our brand new blog: Writing, Words & Wisdom

Posting our first piece this weekend here: https://wordpresscom28734.wordpress.com/

And if you’d like to read a story with romance and thrills, check out my latest book:

The Cats of Cullaby Creek

LOVE IS ALWAYS RISKY

BUT

IN CULLABY CREEK IT’S DANGEROUS

TAG LINE:

Love is in the Air, something else is in the water

BOOK TRAILER: https://youtu.be/JOft7ED0z2Y

BOOK TEASER: https://youtu.be/729o2HWEAuE

YOU CAN BUY KIM’S BOOKS HERE:

AMAZON & iBOOK

A bit of Sweet and Savory with Author @kimkasch #RB4U #PNR

SWEET AND SAVORY

That’s the perfect combination, like salted caramel or a good romance to read. They both tickle our taste buds and leave us feeling satisfied.

QUESTION: But what makes these two opposites—sugar and spice—attract one another…?

ANSWER:     It’s a complete mystery. Just like deciding what it takes to make a Dynamite Dinner or Delicious Dessert. It’s the same with figuring out the plotline to a great book.

One person might like the mellow luxury of warm chocolate while another wants the tart taste of lemon meringue. And still one person wants a humorous romance and the other wants a romantic tragedy.

So, how do we even decide between which sweet to select…or if we want something completely different, like a savory dessert?

Sometimes the best answer is not to decide at all but to simply have a little bit of both. We do this exact thing when we serve dinner with dessert.

We might start out the meal with a sexy dish – like Cioppini (or Seafood Stew).

And finish it off with a decadent temptation…or two…maybe even six:

And this sugary ending to an evening is sure to leave you feeling satisfied when you’re finished. You’ll be full and sleepy as a cat on a warm afternoon.

And, having a dinner that’s both sweet and savory is like reading a sweet romance with a little spice hidden in the center of the book. These two reading and writing combinations go together like sweet and sour chicken or French toast and bacon. They work together from opposite sides of the taste and reading spectrum to create a more worthwhile experience.

So when you’re working on a story, you might want to sprinkle a little sugar on top of that spicy romance to make it more well-rounded and fulfilling for your reader.

It’s the same when you make a meal, you don’t want to go too heavy handed on the salt, or you’ll ruin the entire dish. You want to combine all sorts of flavors . . . and emotions to have a complex story or a fantastic dinner.

And never give it all away at the beginning. That would be like serving dessert before you’ve even eaten your dinner.

You have to have a little mystery to dish up a completely fascinating book. So, remember to leave a little nugget tucked away in the center. A little secret or hidden clue in the middle of your story will keep your reader invested in your character enough to want to get to the bottom of whatever it is your serving. So sprinkle a clue here and there so your reader will keep turning those pages to get to the very last morsel.

So Bon Appetite! And happy writing.

Kimbra Kasch is the author of The Cats of Cullaby Creek.

This story has plenty of mystery stirred into the plot because when Savannah meets Kyle, its love at first sight. And why wouldn't it be? He's perfect, as far as she can tell. But Kyle appears whenever things go wrong. Maybe he isn't everything she thought he was.

She can’t figure it out until she discovers the water in Cullaby Creek is being bottled and sold as vitamin “infused” water. Mistic Water promises the impossible. And then, like a magical elixir, it delivers. People who drink it feel younger, smarter, faster...healthier. But it doesn’t take long before side effects hit. Literally. The secret has to be in the water…or is it something more? To find out, you’ll want to read the entire delicious story. And, if you do, Kim wants to hear what you think.

TRAILER: https://youtu.be/JOft7ED0z2Y

TEASER: https://youtu.be/729o2HWEAuE

KIM’S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

http://www.amazon.com/Kim-Kasch/e/B00ZOAUKMO/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

GOODREADS

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/15278287-kimbra-kasch