Keep the ball rolling...

So I saw a tweet that the editor who picked me was reading synopses today and I realized I forgot to mention... I got my synopsis sent in with a few hours to spare!!

I started out with 3 pages thinking how in the world am I going to make this a little longer and make sense and ended with 6 pages and needing to cut it down a little.  I hope it made sense.  I liked the hook I came up with for the opening paragraph. 

The murder of her father had sent Thea James on a journey of running and hiding.  The years away have made her strong and taught her the importance of faith, love and most of all family.  Now it’s time to go back to where it all began and bring the truth to light.  It’s time to go home.  The only catch is getting there alive.

Now I sit and wait to find out what the editor thought of it.  I'm a little worried about the premise of the story.  I have a man and a woman on the run together.  (The editor I'm working with likes hero and heroine on the run plots)  I even threw in a blizzard.  (She is fond of  storms and natural disasters too.)  All those things are good, but the story still has to make sense.  I had to have shown in my synopsis that the hero and heroine have conflict and a good reason to not just fall madly in love on the first or second page. 

I'm not sure if I did that.  Plus, I'm not sure about the whole princess plot line.  I about second guessed myself out of that one, then in the end decided to go with it after all.  It's what was calling to me I guess. 

Now I'm on a journey of trying to write the rest of the story.  I tried to make up a little outline of the story today and realized I really only had enough for about ten chapters.  I really need to have about fifteen.  I guess I'm going to have to get wordy. 

This is also my first attempt at writing suspense.  I have to say my hat is off to every romantic suspense author out there.  Keeping a balance of suspense and romance is very tricky.  When I first started writing the synopsis I was so totally focused on the suspense part of the story, I nearly forgot there had to be another part of the story that wasn't totally dependant on the suspense.

The heart of the story after all is a romance.  Romance... A man and woman who are fighting their conflicts to get together and live happily ever after in the end.  Put them in a ton of danger and have someone who is determined to kill them or do them serious bodily harm and you have an exciting story.  Not that I'm saying the suspense can just be tossed into the romance and have it work.  They all have to twist and turn together - like one big jigsaw that makes a beautiful picture in the end.

So... easier said than done?  I'm working on it.  We'll see what happens I guess.

First thing I have to do is get my first three chapters whipped into shape.  My hero and heroine have met.  They don't particularly like each other much yet, but need each other for the big story goal.  The heroine is about to have her life threatened the first time... but pancakes first I think.  Or maybe a hamburger and fries... She's hungry and is about to tell the hero why she hasn't eaten in a few days...

Now back to work.  I've got a life to threaten after all.