So I wrote the three spicy novellas of The Yacht Club and each one has what I call a hint of magic. I don’t want to give too much away about the characters, but each of my three leading ladies has a special gift (although Pax would argue about the gift part). But why magic?
So now I’m sitting here trying to answer that question and wondering why I thought a blog post about it was a good idea. The corny answer to the question would be that it was just the way the stories arrived out of the depths of my crazy imagination. Often it feels like I have no say in the matter, the characters are the ones calling the shots and this time they showed up, bringing the magic with them. A more cynical answer would be that after writing Daisy’s story and wanting the next story to tie into the same theme, I took the easy route. I needed Kimi to be able to do some physically difficult things and be able to break into a house without getting caught so I used magic as my deus ex machina.
But there is more to it than that. Let’s face it, most romance (the kind in books) is fantasy. At one time, it was all dashing heros and swooning heroines, but these days the heroines can be just as daring. Whatever the case, we read it to escape, to be entertained, and in some cases to forget, at least for a little while. So why can’t romance have magic too? Let’s face it, having the ability to read minds is just as believable as a gorgeous billionaire coming to sweep me off my feet.
I’m not saying that someone has told me romance can’t have magic, I’m just trying, perhaps badly, to tell you why The Yacht Club does. But honestly, it really is because that’s just the way the characters showed up. It started with Daisy and her magic tattoo. Then came Kimi, and as I said, she needed a little extra help to get her where I needed her to be, so why not give her the gift to open locks? Finally there was Pax. Poor Pax, she has it the worst, but she is also making the most of her bad situation because I don’t write about wimps.
I could have titled this post “Why Romance?” but I’ve explained my choice to write romance before and as to why I choose to read it, well the answer is really right there – it’s my choice. For a great article about romance and reading whatever the hell you want, check out this post by Smart Bitches Trashy Books (as you can tell by the name, there’s a bit of a language warning so if you have an issue with swearing the article might not be your thing).
lisa emme 
I love that you’re making about “Why not?” Because that’s exactly what the answer should be. I don’t think it was the easy way out to continue with the theme, because even coming up with magic is a creative process. And yes, Kimi could have also been a trained catburglar in her youth, stealing things at the behest of an evil mastermind caretaker running an orphanage of thieves. But that’s not her story. Her story is that she has this ability, and yes, exactly, why the hell not?
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Thanks! And you’re right, her ability is part of her story, just like Pax’s is. Although I like your backstory too (always been a sucker for Oliver).
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That should have read “making a point about..” mind faster than my fingers again 🙂
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