Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Please Welcome My Guest, Chris Redding

Chris will give away a cute purple tote of goodies to one lucky commenter, so be sure to comment and leave your e-mail address.

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, two kids and various animals.  She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. When she isn’t writing, she works part time for her local hospital.



INCENDIARY By Chris Redding

A firefighter and an EMT must stop an arsonist before they go up in flames. Someone is burning buildings in Biggin Hill, NJ, and framing Jake Sweeney. He enlists the aid of his old flame. Too bad their fiery past may get in the way of bringing someone to justice.

Buy Link:  http://www.sinfulmomentspress.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Incendiary 



The following is an excerpt from Chris's workshop, Show Up Naked: Writing the Male POV, which she will be giving in February at http://www.romance-ffp.com/.

 
Communication is about independence and intimacy.


Men tend to focus on independence. They give orders and tell people what to do. Women crave intimacy. For instance. a man will make plans without consulting his wife. (Not all men) He will see no reason to “ask permission” of his wife. He actually views it that way. He would see it as not being able to act independently of her. He sees at as being the underling if he has to ask permission. Even though is isn't really asking permission, but consulting the wife about her plans. (Which is how she would see it.)

Here you can add conflict. The hero makes a unilateral decision be it about a social event or in the heat of running from the bad guys. He doesn’t see why he needs to clear it with the heroine. Of course she wants to be in on the decision-making process so we have conflict between the two. He doesn’t understand why she needs to be part of making the decision.

It is the same mindset when men go out and spend money. They don't feel they need to “ask permission.” My husband once bought a car without any input from me. He was going through a rough time and I think he needed to assert his independence not so much from me, but from his job. I didn't make a big deal about it, but the next time he bought I car I mentioned it. And of course he had no idea that I would feel that way. Until I told him.

Intimacy says we're close and connected. Women bond with each other, especially through talking. In feeling connected, two women feel symmetry. They are equals.

Independence is connected to status. Men like independence and their lives are about status. So status and independence are asymmetrical. Both people in a contest cannot have the upper hand.

Imagine someone other than the hero interested in the heroine. There would be an automatic competition between the two men. Conflict! Not huge conflict, but enough to show another side of your hero.

In ancient societies, men protected women. It is still in their biology to do that. There aren't man-eating animals that women face on a daily basis so they do it other ways. (Quick story: In a bar recently with a mixed group. Someone else we knew asked one of the guys in the groups to help her get this guy off of her. Now he doesn’t even like her, but she was clearly scared of this other guy hanging on her. So my friend asked the guy to leave. Twice, nicely. The guy, of course, gave him a hard time, and they almost came to blows. My friend was willing to protect this woman merely because she was a woman.)

A mother naturally protects her children. But when a woman extends her protection to a man he bristles at it. He sees himself as a lower rank, a child. Since I was a kid in the age before widespread seatbelt use, if my father had to brake suddenly he would put his hand out to protect whoever was in the front passenger seat. I developed the same habit driving.

Fast forward a few years. I begin delivering pizza and using a seatbelt on a regular basis. I'm driving with my boyfriend (the one who convinced me to wear a seatbelt.) and I have to break suddenly. My arm goes out. He thought that was the most ridiculous thing. He made fun of me for it for awhile. Looking back, it wasn't about me. It was about him feeling as if I'd lowered him in the hierarchy of our relationship.


Here's Where You Can Find Chris Redding:
www.facebook.com/chrisreddingauthor
www.twitter.com/chrisredding

Please leave a comment to welcome, Chris. You may be lucky enough to get that cute purple tote!

12 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for being my guest today, Chris. Good luck with your new release!

    Morgan Mandel
    http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a great commentary, Chris. You've given me much to think about which will help me write both men and women with more insight. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for having me today Morgan.
    Earl, glad I could help?
    cmr

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey, Chris! Way to go to get yourself on Morgan's blog! I was so excited to see a name I knew!

    Great to see the cover art. Nice job.

    Darlene Oakley (editor, Lachesis Publishing, LBF Books and Sinful Moments Press)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice post. I wish you success with your book.

    Cheryl

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chris-As an EMS old timer (was an EMT-I back in the mid-80's) I can't wait to read INCENDIARY!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Chris,
    Awesome post. Your book sounds very interesting, and I totally agree with your take on the differences between men and women. It does seem like we come from different planets some time. Men tend to have more expectations than women, in my opinion...at least my husband does. If he acts a certain way, he expects others to share his feelings. We've had many discussions on this. And I'm an "arm flinger" in the car, too. Years ago, there were no seatbelts and it was okay for our kids to ride in the front seat...no airbags either. Throwing out an arm when braking became a habit, and some are just hard to change. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love writing from a male POV! So different and yet so simple.
    wolferock AT earthlink DOT net

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like writing from a male POV also. It's a lot of fun and I can let my imagination stretch more.

    Morgan Mandel
    http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous4:22 PM

    I too love writing from the male point of view, and the female POV, and that of a ferret or a woodchuck when called for -- ha! Gotcha! Great piece on your new book Chris. Rooting and tooting for you!

    Rob Walker

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks everyone for stopping by. The above piece is from my workshop Show Up Naked: Writing the Male POV.
    cmr

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fascinating, Chris. I'd love to learn about how you're structuring your course, too...

    ReplyDelete

Your Comment Is Welcome