Favourite Couples

I write romance, and as I'm currently having a bit of a confidence crisis with my latest WiP I've been thinking about my favourite couples.

Now, I can't think of any in books that I like that much. You know, the couple that you route for. The one you "ship". Apart from maybe Darian and Ash from Glitterland. And there are definitely none in films. But TV shows... TV does good with the couples. I guess it's because it can be stretched out more than in films, explored more, unless of course the film is a romance (which, to be honest, I don't tend to watch). A good couple has a will they/won't they on/off thing going on. I also have to like both characters. But there has to be something more. Some chemistry. Something that'll suddenly get me on board that ship.

So, here are my faves.

1. Ste and Brendan from Hollyoaks. Hollyoaks is pretty good at having couples I like - Darren & Nancy, Dennis & Blessing (that moleman speech?), Paul & Mercedes, Carmel & Jim, Grace & Esther... But Stendan are the best. Ok, I'm not good with the whole domestic violence thing, but Brendan's tragic past and Ste's acceptance... I just love them. They were tragic and romantic and funny. Stendan in Dublin still makes me blub. The couple had a tragic ending with Brendan taking the wrap for his sister's murder of their nasty peodophile dad and ending up in prison, but the ride was great.

I'm going to link to music vids in case you're not familiar with the couples. Watch them. Even if you are familiar.

Stendan

2. John and Aeryn from Farscape. He's a human. She's an alien. He's a scientist. She's a soldier. Farscape is probably my favourite TV show of all time anyway - it's full of strong female characters and I absolutely adore Aeryn. They were on and off. Lots of tragic little moments and will they/won't they. But they get a happy ending. Complete with baby.

John & Aeryn

3. Seth and Summer from The O.C. AKA Summereth or Sethummer (according to Seth!) He's a nerd. She's one of the popular kids. It's classic. The O.C., like Farscape, is chock full of strong women and Summer is one of the best. She has brilliant character growth throughout the series, and she's also hilarious. They will they/won't they throughout but end up married and have baby bunnies. It's all good.

Seth & Summer

4. Percival and Gwaine from Merlin. AKA Perwaine. I'm cheating with this one because they weren't shown as being a couple, but we all knew they were totally doing it. I watched the whole series of Merlin for that one forehead touch moment, I swear. Tragic end, poor Percival was brokenhearted.

Perwaine

5. The newest one! Sienna and Trevor from Hollyoaks. I said Hollyoaks did good couples didn't I? They get two in my top five. Their story is still ongoing, but already we've had on/off will they/won't they moments, and lots of chemistry. He's a bad boy with PTSD. She's posh, with a tragic backstory and mental health issues. I don't know how their story's going to end. But I'm onboard the ship for the ride.

Trienna

~

A good couple has to be worthy of a montage. I can just about envisage one for Rowan and Daniel from my own Shuttered. I can definitely imagine one for Liam and Jimmy from mine and Liz Powell's Otherworld - they have all the hallmarks - on/off, will they/won't they, chemistry and tragedy. I'm not sure about my current WiP, but I'm working on it.

(You can buy both Shuttered and Otherworld from Amazon, plus various other online bookstores, or direct from the publishers.)

Otherworld release day

So, Otherworld by me and Liz Powell, is released from Torquere Press today!

Archetypal English toff William "Liam" Barnes is in big trouble. He's borrowed money from Irish gangster Davey McGrath with one simple proviso: get the prism from Matthew Luttrell - seducing him if he has to - and bring it back to him. But the prism isn't with Matthew, and Liam makes a decision he can't undo, meaning he's now twenty thousand pounds in debt to a vicious gangster and has no idea where to find the prism.

That is, until he meets stoic Irishman Jim Henvey, the real owner of the prism, who has a cruel demi-goddess of a mother on the warpath for him. Liam and Jim quickly find themselves tied up in each other's messes, and with more than just the mortal world out to get them, is there any way they can find their way out of a battle between dimensions together and still have time to figure out their feelings for each other? Or will they sink deeper into trouble?

I'm going to talk about locations used in the novel. There are a few different settings we used, some real, some not.

Liam's hometown, Charham, is fictional. It's set in Devon, which is a county in England's West Country, where I'm from. It's loosely based on my hometown - the market scene near the beginning of the novel takes place in my town's High Street where they have market day every Saturday. Then there's Ramsgate, in Kent - which is south east England. Ramsgate is real. It's a picturesque seaside town with a thriving fishing industry - perfect for Jim and his family.

Cork, where Jim hails from, is also real. It's the name of a town and county in the south of the Republic of Ireland. I have an Irish friend (though he's from Donegal, not Cork) who helped me with a lot of the Irishisms in the novel. The little Irish village of Ballinbrook in Cork, is fictional.

And then there's the Otherworld. The "in-between." Fictional? I guess we won't know until we get there.

~

Morning came and went. Liam woke late and cursed himself, knowing Jim had probably already gone out with his father on the boat. He'd just have to catch him on the way back, that was all, so he walked to a supermarket, brought himself a packet of cigarettes, a pasta salad, and a newspaper and strolled back to the seafront.

He peered into an arcade and watched two young lads kicking a penny drop machine until they set the alarm off, then they barged past him as they raced away from the owner and ran down the street, laughing.

He walked a little farther and sat down on a bench overlooking the sandy beach. The harbor was to his right, and he gazed at it for a little while until the wind caught at his newspaper and he had to snatch it up before it lost pages. He folded it in his lap and weighed it down with the pasta salad, cracking open the lid and pulling a face at the ridiculous little plastic fork.

He ate, watched people go by, smoked a cigarette, and looked up at the time on the town's clock tower, too lazy to pull back his sleeve and look at his watch. It was 1:30 p.m. and he had no idea if fishermen returned to harbor to eat their lunch.

The local paper was vaguely amusing if only to see how the other half lived. An article on oiling seagull eggs from the previous edition had apparently sparked letters to the editor in this one. Mrs. R. Fisher seemed to think it barbaric and actively encouraged the gulls to her garden, while Mr. V. Langley said the birds were a menace and needed to be shot.  

Otherworld is published by Torquere Press. Buy it here

You can follow me on Twitter: @emizzy. Or visit my website: ejtett.weebly.com

Also by Emma Jane:

The Queen's Guard - a short story published in Torquere's Men in Uniform anthology

Compulsion - a short story published in Dreamspinner's Hot off the Press anthology due for release November 2014

Shuttered - a novel published by Dreamspinner Press, due for release December 2014

Also by Liz Powell:

Hunted - a novel published by Manifold Press

Otherworld

So... I'm very happy to announce that me and another author, Liz Powell, have signed with Torquere Press. The contract is for our novel, Otherworld, which is a contemporary fantasy with a romance going on between the two MCs.

It's about an artifact known as the 'prism' (cos, well, it's a prism) which can transport the soul of the person who touches it into the after life, or 'otherworld.'

James, son of the Celtic Goddess Cliona (based on Clíodhna and Fand), has taken the prism and ran away to England to work as a fisherman with his dad. However, nasty Irish gangster Davey McGrath is after the prism and sends our other hero, posh boy William (aka Liam) to get it back.

Cue Liam and Jim falling for one another and all sorts of shenanigans as they run from the law, gangsters, and James's scary mother.

No release date or cover art to reveal yet, but I'll come back to do that when I know. As of now, we're sorting out tax forms and waiting to be assigned an editor.

All very exciting. :)