[aageneral] Writing Time Travel Romance

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Title: SHALLA CHATS with author Judie Aitken: "Writing Time Travel
Romance"
Word Count: 1,395
Author: Shalla de Guzman
Email: shalladeguzman@yahoo.com
Article URL:
www.shalladeguzman.com

SHALLA CHATS with author Judie Aitken

"Writing Time Travel Romance"

by Shalla de Guzman
www.shalladeguzman.com

First off, who's Judie?

Judie Aitken is a multi-award winning author of Native American
themed romance novels. Judie is a winner of the prestigious HOLT
Medallion, and is a two-time nominee for Romantic Times' annual book
of the year awards. She writes both paranormals and
contemporaries, and her books continue to earn high accolades from
the reviewers and from the readers, alike. Her latest book for
Berkley, Secret Shadows, is no exception; it is a Romantic Times Top
Pick and is a double finalist for the Reviewer's International
Organization.

Shalla: Hi Judie, so we'd love to know, what made you start writing
Time Travel?

Judie: Hi. Like so many others, I was completely enthralled by
Jude Devereaux's "Knight in Shining Armor."

I'd never even considered writing time travel but I suppose you
could say that the book gave me "permission" to consider it. It's
an absolutely perfect genre for someone, like me, who loves writing
both historical and contemporary stories.

With a time travel I get to have the best of both worlds. My own
Native American family's heritage has always been part of my writing
and it was only natural that I incorporate this into my time travels
as well. I have carefully chosen events or topics within the Native
culture that are not only of interest but also offer the opportunity
to teach my readers a little about the history and the people, as
well.

My first book, "A Love Beyond Time," a complete sell out from
Berkley, involved the Battle of the Little Big Horn and the next
time travel, "Distant Echoes" was about the off-reservation Indian
Schools of the late 1800s. I love being able to tell the history of
my people and yet also be able to tie it over to the present and how
it affects the people living in our time.

Shalla: Where do you get your stories?

Judie: Ideas for stories come from so many sources that it is
impossible for me to pinpoint any specific
one. I read a lot of nonfiction historical and anthropological
books and treatises, and some ideas have taken root from these.
News articles, conversations with friends, even paintings have also
given me story ideas.

Shalla: Where do you get your characters?

Judie: When I get an idea for a plot, the idea of who my hero and
heroine should be usually comes with
the plot. I determine which character should have the most serious
conflicts, goals, or motivations that will give the book the best
angle. The antagonist doesn't always have to be antithesis, but
they do have to cause more than a few pesky bumps for my
protagonists. The surprising characters are those who aren't planned
but who push their way into a story.

Shalla: How do you make characters credible?

Judie: There is always a bit of someone the author knows in his or
her characters. Because I write Native
American-themed books, my characters are not only based on people
that I know but also on the generational differences that exist
among the people. I try to recreate the specific speech rhythms of
a character, give each a specific voice and personality. I try to
avoid clichéd or over-the-top reactions, thus keeping my hero and
heroine and my secondary characters realistic and believable.

Shalla: How do you make characters sympathetic?

Judie: In order for a character to be sympathetic, the reader has
to like them. The reader has to have
an emotional investment in the character and in the situation.
Even if the character is unlikable at the beginning of the book, if
there is change for the by the end of the book, the reader will be
satisfied. To gain the reader's sympathy the character has to be
fully drawn, a whole individual that shows strengths and weaknesses
and who changes through the conflicts and goals of the story.

Shalla: Any tips on writing believable dialogue?

Judie: A lot of beginning writers try to write dialogue exactly as
we speak in real life. It doesn't work.
Spoken dialogue is riddled with stutters, repeated words, unfinished
sentences, and over use of an individual's name. Written dialogue
should be crisp, show emotion without an overuse of adverbs in the
dialogue tags. Dialogue is not there to fill space. It must move
the story forward and, provide information.

Shalla: How do you put the reader into the arena of action?

Judie: You have to create the arena and in doing so, make it
believable, if you don't the scene becomes
laughable. Think about all the horror movies where the heroine goes
down into the dark basement because she's heard a noise and the
lights have gone out. Everyone in the audience shouts at the
screen, "Don't go in the basement." The scene is not only clichéd,
but laughable. The arena of action whether physical place or a
plot point is actually a stage on which the scene is played. It has
to be solid, believable, and made familiar enough to the reader that
they are able to put themselves into the action. That's what
reading is all about – becoming the hero or heroine yourself.

Shalla: Any tips on creating sexual tension?

Judie: Sexual tension is all about the slow progression to the
final act. One of my favorite authors, Linda
Howard, has a fabulous "recipe" for building sexual tension:
• Eye to body. The old once-over, except it happens in a fraction
of an instant. Only a few significant details are absorbed.
Attraction occurs or it doesn't.
• Eye to eye. Eye contact is sustained only between intimates. If a
stranger stares, it's considered rude or an act of aggression.
• Voice to voice. Ranges from small talk to intimate.
• Hand to hand. This requires some trust. Hand to arm counts here,
too (man's excuse to get his hands on her, by guiding her).
• Arm to shoulder. May be a hug.
• Arm to waist. Can be sexual, especially if "waist" is considered
the small of the back. Men won't do this to other men.
• Mouth to mouth. Full frontal contact during a kiss.
• Hand to head. Requires trust.
• Hand to body. Any body part –- breast, shoulder, chest…
• Mouth to breast.
• Hand to genitals.
• Genitals to genitals.

Shalla: Do you have any suggestions on how to hook a reader by, say,
page 3?

Judie: The book should begin with the inciting moment. It is what
happens to the protagonist(s)
that is the little pebble that begins the avalanche, that brings
about all the problems, threats, changes, etc. that the character(s)
are forced to deal with while trying to attain their goals. The
longer book, 100,000 words or more, allows the author to ease into
the story, taking longer than a paragraph or two or three. With the
shorter book, it is necessary to immediately grab the reader with a
sharp hook.

Shalla: Finally, and romantic time travel movies you'd recommend?

Judie: Of course I'd recommend the one that is on everyone's
list, "Somewhere in Time," with Christopher Reeve, but I'd like to
add 2 others. My absolute favorite is "Frequency" with Dennis Quaid
and Jim Caviezell. This is one of the best crafted story lines I've
ever seen and worthy of being watched over and over as subtle
nuances are discovered with each viewing. Also on the list although
not a true time travel – it just deals with people in the same time
but one group is totally living as they did 150 years before,
is "The Last of the Dog Men" with Tom Beringer.

Shalla: Thanks so much Judie! For more on Judie Aitken, please visit
her website http://www.judieaitken.com

Best wishes Judie. We at Shalla Chats send you our best. Thanks so
much for taking this time to talk with us. We look forward to more
of your successes  Please come back and talk with us again.

Shalla de Guzman writes multicultural, fantasy and paranormal novels
with a chick lit tone. A former writer and producer of a health and
fitness cable show, Shalla is currently writing her next women's
lit. She is President of the ShalladeGuzman Writers Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShalladeGuzman/ She is also a member
of OCC/RWA and FF&P.

Join Us for our Q&A with Writers House Literary Agent on July 20
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShalladeGuzman/

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