Always Happily Ever After?

[Tricialen]

True that. All life stories end with the hero's demise *sigh*

Btw. I hope you're not a motivational speaker in real life, because you sure aren't very good at it...

I caught some flak for doing an HEA in my SWB series. The entire thing was dark and at times described as "brutal"

I spent 18 months conditioning people to-although they hoped for better-expect them or one of them to die.

In the end I gave them the HEA and many were thrilled(especially after I faked their deaths) but several said I wimped out.

One of them is a very good author and the one person I deigned give an explanation to.

Simply put a lot of me and how I grew up was in that series. I lost a lot of people and friends to addiction or the other things that come with it.

I exorcised some demons writing it and for me to kill them would have been me perpetuating the cycle of garbage I had been conditioned to expect growing up.

So my HEA was the ending I had sorely wished for some that had been close to me and a "fuck you" and flipping the finger to that past life.

For those who truly didn't like the ending all I can say is I have another finger

It was my baby my way from the start with low vote and view totals(for the category) all the way through and many "why don;t you do this, or why is it so dark and you're sick" all the way through.

I thought nothing of it, but I see so many threads dedicated to being concerned-overly many times- with with how to make a reader happy that I guess I was a bit of an anomaly for a new writer.

I'm glad I wrote here for a year before coming to the boards. I think they would have affected what I as doing. By the time I did come I had enough of a following to not be paranoid I was doing something wrong.

Sorry I am nursing a very broken heart. I feel so sad and broken. I just don't believe in HEA anymore..... except in fiction.

 

[Acktion]

"City of Angels" with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan.

Was THAT a romantic movie?

Just thought I'd throw that out there. If you've never seen, then make sure to bring Ben and Jerry's and tissue.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Starts to sing 'Roxanne' in a bad Argentinian accent but falls asleep on the keyboard.

I like that version better than the original

 

[patientlee]

I also killed of a main character in one of my series and to envision villagers carrying pitch forks and torches would have to come close to what happened.

I would, however, direct you to LaRascasse's stories, he rarely wrote a happy ending and his stories did well in categories you might think need a HEA. he has a whole series called Living with Katrina as well as single stories with that character in the Romance category that are far from happy stories with happy endings but they all have red H's. The one he says made his fans cry most is his best rated, "lucid ending"

Hope that helps

I have read several of LaRascasse's stories. Lots of crying.

 

[StrangeLife]

Sorry I am nursing a very broken heart. I feel so sad and broken. I just don't believe in HEA anymore..... except in fiction.

A broken heart is a temporary affliction Tricia. Your new soulmate is out there somewhere - you just need to find him, and you're bound to eventually. It's the way of the universe.

In the mean time cats can help. They have a soothing effect on emotional pain. Just remember to heed "the two cat rule." Very important. You don't want to over-dose on cats... that can be bad.

 

[lovecraft68]

"City of Angels" with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan.

Was THAT a romantic movie?

Just thought I'd throw that out there. If you've never seen, then make sure to bring Ben and Jerry's and tissue.

That movie was frustrating. First off I got dragged to it because I can't stand "chick flicks" second let me get this straight....

Cage-the angel- goes through all this crap to become human for Meg Ryan and when he does...

the idiot woman decides while riding her bike to close her eyes and ride with no hands? Then she gets hit and killed? Who the hell wrote that?

 

[patientlee]

That movie was frustrating. First off I got dragged to it because I can't stand "chick flicks" second let me get this straight....

Cage-the angel- goes through all this crap to become human for Meg Ryan and when he does...

the idiot woman decides while riding her bike to close her eyes and ride with no hands? Then she gets hit and killed? Who the hell wrote that?

That is exactly what I thought when I saw that movie. I did like the song Iris from the movie though.

 

[Handley_Page]

Anyone seen THIS ?

I guess it could, just, change a few endings. . .

 

[Cruel2BKind]

I don't think any of my stories have had bad endings.

Even the one that looked like it was going to end badly. (it was based on computer transcriptions that referred to the execution date) had a HEA in the end.

But the one time I can think of that a story I read had a really bad ending, the guy had two endings, a sad one and the HEA. It made it even more poignant.

So that's one thought.

 

[patientlee]

Anyone seen THIS ?

I guess it could, just, change a few endings. . .

Well, I guess as long as it's fair, there is no limit to what is reasonable.

Again-

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

If awful endings is your thing no one ever did them better than David Goodis. They've been called SUICIDE NOTES.

 

[TxRad]

Is killing everyone and I mean everyone a bad ending?

Powers

 

[PennLady]

Is killing everyone and I mean everyone a bad ending?

Powers

Not if it's the *right* ending.

And hey, it worked for Shakespeare, right?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I don't recall the source but I once read that the function of fiction is to serve as a hypothetical problem with a plausible lesson.

 

[sr71plt]

Not a bad way of looking at it.

 

[3113]

sad ending is fine—if it's right and romantic

Not if it's the *right* ending. And hey, it worked for Shakespeare, right?

This. Romance readers *do* like HEA endings, no doubt about it, but if the ending will bring bittersweet tears, then you can certainly give the R&J or Camille, or "Rent" or "Titanic" (talk about the epitome of romance without the HEA ending for the couple) ending.

The key is for the ending to be "romantic"—not happy or sad. If you end it with the couple breaking up bitterly or brutally or horrifically or comically, THEN you really should consider a different category. But sad rather than happy? That's no-never-mind.