Sticking with a Single Point of
View
By Kimber Vale
When writing, there are a
couple of options as far at point of view is concerned. There is the first
person (I did this, I did that, I, I, I, I, I).
I don’t use it much, for reasons that are probably obvious in the
parenthesis. All of the I’s get tedious to read and write; you don’t have any
alternative but to use them over and over in first person.
Then there is second person.
You walk into a room. You see a hot guy. You’d love to take his bleep out of
his pants and bleep the bleeping bleep out of it.
I don’t know about you, but I
don’t like anyone telling me who I want to bleep. It’s none of their bleeping
business. No. In my opinion, second person is a bleeping nightmare. Never gonna
happen.
Now, we move into third person,
and this is generally where I butter my bread. I won’t go deeply into the objective,
omniscient, and limited, blah, blah, English lesson stuff I would need to look
up to make sure I’m not wrong about it. Basically, third person is he said, she
said. I will say briefly that omniscient third has the narrator/author actively
incorporating her own thoughts and feelings, weaving them into the story almost
like another character. She’s in everyone’s head at the same time. For me, and
most romance pubs I’m aware of, that one is right off the table along with
second person.
Most of the time, third person
is told from a single character’s view point, unless there is a distinct break such
as a new chapter or a scene change/page break to indicate that a second
character is taking over telling the story. Generally, in romance, if an author
is using third person, she (and any male authors out there, don’t get your
boxers in noose, I’m just sticking with she for
brevity’s sake) will include the thoughts of both main characters throughout
the work.
Occasionally, though, she might
stick with only one character.
Now, this can be tricky,
because the reader never gets to see inside the head of the other lead. It can
be hard to warm up to that character if you never know what he’s thinking.
I stumbled on this realization
while writing my book Double Takes. The entire book is written in a limited
third person (hah! I said limited!). Gio Savale, my MC and
rocker-turned-reality-TV-star gets to tell his entire story. The reader is
stuck in his shoes as he meets Lance, his love interest. We know right away
what affect the meeting has on Gio, but Lance, not so much. We’re left
wondering just as Gio is. Is he gay? Is he interested?
Am I reading way too
much into everything the guy said?
I tried to make Lance—his
motives, his desires, and who he is as a person—shine through for both Gio and
the reader. He had to be likeable without us looking through his eyes.
It was an exciting challenge.
But why didn’t I just give both guys their own head space and save myself the
trouble? Maybe because there were a few things about Lance that he didn’t want
to share with Gio or the reader.
Eventually, the truth sets him
free, though, which is why the epilogue of Double Takes is the only part of the
book told in Lance’s point of view. ;-)
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Blurb:
Ah, the life of a rock star.
Everyone thinks it’s nothing but sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
Not for Giovanni Savale.
For the lead singer of Three
Deaf Mice, a band that reached its pinnacle in the late nineties, it’s nothing
but an ugly divorce with a custody battle, money trouble, and now the nightmare
exposure of starring in a reality television show. When his producer decides to
cash in on an infamous interview Gio did years ago, and give the self-confessed
bisexual rocker an onscreen boyfriend, things really hit the fan. Gio is
certain his sexual experimentation back in his drug-abusing days meant nothing
— after all he’s been married for nine years, clean and sober for nearly as
long, and he has a son. And Gio is not remotely attracted to Kyrie, the funny,
flamboyant actor they choose for his love interest.
Of course, Lance Garrett,
the mysterious and sexy owner of the local antique shop, Double Takes, is a
whole different story. The guy has Gio planning out a future he never imagined.
With the threat of losing all custody of his ten-year-old son, ghosts from the
past returning for revenge, and the cameras rolling, can Gio keep his head
above water and his heart from getting broken?
Excerpt:
“Holy shit. I can’t believe
you’re here.” Lance’s face lit up with a warm smile.
Gio grinned. Holy shit was exactly what he had been thinking. Holy fucking shit. Lance is a god, to be exact. Gio’s gaze
swept appreciatively over Lance’s broad chest. His pecs were chiseled and
sprinkled with blond hair. Movie star abs rolled down in waves of muscle
bracketed by defined ribs. Gio had the urge to count them with his tongue.
“Sorry to show up in the middle
of the night. Were you sleeping?” Gio forced his gaze back to Lance’s face. The
smoldering hazel eyes and deliciously furry jaw did nothing to reduce the flow
of blood to his stiffening cock.
“No worries. Just watchin’ TV.
My wild and crazy Friday night.” Lance stepped aside and beckoned Gio in,
closing the door behind him.
“Come on up.” He turned and
started up the stairs like Gio visiting was an everyday occurrence. Gio
followed and examined the tattoo on the guy’s right shoulder as he climbed. It
was the top half of a male angel, with shoulder-length hair and outstretched
wings. In one hand he held up the scales of justice. Gio couldn’t make out the
content of the pans on either side. The words Never
Forgotten were scribed inside a sash along his waist.
“You hungry?” Lance asked over
his shoulder.
“I just ate a platter of bar
food.”
“You were out partying?”
“I had a date.”
Lance stopped in front of his
door and unlocked it with the key he had tucked in his palm.
“Can’t be too careful, huh?”
Gio said. Cities were cities, but still it seemed a little paranoid to lock
your door just to walk down the stairs. Maybe he had an undesirable neighbor.
“Just a creature of habit, I
guess,” Lance answered as they stepped into his place. He dead bolted the door
behind them. “Too many bad guys out there.”
“And yet you let me in.”
Lance turned to Gio with a
serious expression. “Are you a bad guy, Gio Savale? If you are, tell me now.”
His face broke into a faint grin. “Yeah, it would shatter a decade-long
fantasy. But if you’re here to spend the night, it’ll hurt much worse
tomorrow.”
Gio’s stomach flip-flopped. Was
he here to spend the night? And was he a good enough guy to live up to whatever
Lance made him out to be?
I’m just a guy. Not a god. Not a
hero. Hell and gone from perfect. Gio
raked a hand through his hair as he searched for the truth. “My life’s a
fucked-up mess.” He coughed a laugh. “I’m totally conflicted about even coming
here…” He shook his head, asking for understanding with his eyes. “But I
couldn’t stop myself.” Gio stepped closer to the man he’d inexplicably wanted
since the first moment he saw him. “I’m just a guy who can’t get you out of my
head. Is that good enough?”
Lance closed the distance
between them. Their bodies nearly touched, and his warm hands reached up to
frame Gio’s stubbled cheeks. “That’s perfect,” he said.
Lance’s mouth came down on
Gio’s. Exactly how Gio remembered, the same soft strength in those lips called
to mind the hot dreams and sleepless nights since their last meeting. When
Gio’s nose brushed against him, the same scent of minty soap was on Lance’s
cheeks. The smell teased while the kiss deepened and their tongues sought to
share a single space.
“Uhhmm…” Lance groaned. The
spike of blood to Gio’s dick rivaled a pounding headache, and this man was the
only medicine that could save him. Lance’s hands still cupped Gio’s face. They
massaged him from outside as his tongue did the same within. Gio slid a hand
around the back of Lance’s head, combed fingers through his hair, and pressed
their mouths together in a near-brutal meeting.
Lance had a few inches on him,
but Gio could still detect hot iron as it rubbed against his lower belly. He
pushed up on his toes to meet it with his own thick wood. Gio swayed his hips
against Lance’s, ground and thrust into his hard-on while their tongues paced
the movement.
Lance broke from the kiss. His
mouth trailed rough nibbles across Gio’s jaw and down his neck as he murmured
against Gio’s skin.
“Can’t believe this is real.
You’re really here.” Lance’s hands slipped under Gio’s shirt and skated over
his back, tickling and making him grow harder. Gio pulled the thin cotton over
his head and breathed a sigh as skin met skin, the fiery peaks of his nipples
teasing against warm flesh and soft fur. He spread his hands over Lance’s
ripped torso, palmed a muscled pectoral, and tweaked the erect bead between his
thumb and forefinger.
He couldn’t believe it
either—couldn’t believe how much this guy turned him on, couldn’t believe this
could feel so natural. Without a single mind-altering substance in his body, he
still had the guts to follow his fierce instincts.
Gio bent to flick his tongue
over Lance’s nipple. That same scent assailed him. Body wash, maybe? Made him
want to get in the shower and soap him up. Jerk him off. Or it could be lotion;
Gio pulled the hard crest between his front teeth as he imagined rubbing Lance
down with a handful of slippery lotion. He sucked the tip into his mouth and
Lance arched into him with a guttural sigh. Gio snuck his hands around to grab
the guy’s ass and pull Lance’s full cock against him. Fuck.
He wanted to taste him everywhere. See if that Irish Spring smell mixed with
the musk between his legs for the ultimate aphrodisiac.
With a deft hand, he slid the
elastic of Lance’s PJs down the man’s long, full prick. No underwear.
A tremor erupted through Gio. It shivered from his neck, down his spine,
puckering his nipples. In Lance’s foyer, Gio sank to his knees.
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Bio:
Kimber Vale writes romance of
all stripes, from hot hetero stories to mouthwatering men falling in love
(under the name K. Vale).
Keep up with Kimber’s news and follow all her tour
stops on her blog: http://www.kimbervale.me
and friend/follow her on Facebook and Twitter @KimberVale.
Come for the sex. Stay for the story.
and friend/follow her on Facebook and Twitter @KimberVale.
Come for the sex. Stay for the story.
http://www.authorkimbervale.com
Find Double Takes:
Watch the Double Takes book
trailer:
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Kimber has a $25 Amazon or
Barnes & Noble gift card (winner’s choice) up for grabs!
Thanks so much for hosting me, Evelise! :)
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