Ines Johnson is on the guest couch today to discuss how The Grand Gesture and its use in fiction today, including an excerpt from her own story "Pumpkin: A Cindermama Story. So, grab your favorite beverage and join us on the couch. We're being very casual today.
The Grand Gesture
Traditionally the Grand Gesture is
known to be a common plotting point in romance stories where the hero does
something bold or gives up something big in order to show the heroine that his
love is true.
In Pride and Prejudice, Darcy puts aside his contempt of Wickham to
help save Lydia’s reputation. This grand gesture is what finally convinces Elizabeth
to take his hand.
In Twilight, Edward’s grand gesture, the thing that shows his true
love of Bella, is when he sucks the poison out of her wrist without killing
her.
For more on grand gestures, we’ll
turn to the hero of my latest release, Pumpkin:
a Cindermama story. This romance is a fairytale retelling of -you guessed
it- the Cinderella story.
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Having given up on fairytales after falling for her toad of an
ex, Pumpkin is afraid to take a chance on town royalty Manny who believes she
may be his soulmate.
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EXCERPT:
The Mistress of
Ceremonies hurried through her introductions and then the microphone was in
Manny's hand, but he didn't take out the notes of his prepared speech.
"Many of you
knew my mother," he began. There was a murmur of nostalgic assent
throughout the crowd.
"You may not
know that after her diagnosis, she spent most of her days watching romantic
comedies. She believed she could laugh the illness out of her body. Her
favorite moments in these films were something called the Grand Gesture. That
scene just after all hope is lost because one of the lovers, normally the guy,
has done something stupid that's led to the end of the relationship. So he
thinks up this bold, romantic move to get the woman back."
A glance around the
room told Manny that he held the largely female crowd in rapt attention.
"An example of
a grand gesture would be a guy telling his estranged wife that she completes
him in the midst of an angry mob of women. Or rescuing her underwear from the
class geek and returning it to her at her sister's wedding. Or holding a boom
box over his head, in front of her bedroom window, early in the morning, while
blasting the song that was playing as he deflowered her."
A different wave of
nostalgia swept through the crowd this time as they remembered these treasured
moments of Hollywood cinema.
"In the real
world, some people might call these behaviors creepy, or stalker-ish. But not
my mother. She loved them. She believed in love, believed that when you loved
someone you said it loud, you showed it often, and you never gave up."
Manny paused here,
partly for effect, mostly to collect himself as visions of his mother's joyous
face played in his head. He rubbed the heel of his hand against his chest.
"The national
divorce rate is 50 percent."
There was no
surprise in the room, where most of the men were older and the women on their
arms were younger.
"There's never
been a divorce in the Charmayne family. Not one recorded anywhere in our family
line."
The sparkle of
young women's eyes threatened to blind Manny from where he stood on the stage.
"What that
means is when a Charmayne gives you their pledge, they are committed."
The decision was a
split second one, but once Manny made it he stuck with it. He stepped around
the podium, mic in hand and dropped to one knee. The gasp of every woman in the
room was near deafening.
"To earn your
vote, I will do whatever I have to, including blast Peter Gabriel in the
streets. Charmaynes don't quit. I'm committed to this, to the people of this
town. I hope that I can count on your vote."
The room erupted in
thunderous applause, and the women's eyes sparkled even brighter.
We’ve seen literary heroes perform
the feat of a grand gesture near the end of the tale. In Pumpkin: a Cindermama story, my hero Manny talks about this moment
in the first act. I take a moment early in the book to teach the reader the
rules of the grand gesture in this speech so that they are prepped for later in
the book when I break these rules in favor of a more non-traditional grand
gesture near the end of the story. To find out who messed up and how they
declared their love in a grand way, pick up the book.
Blurb:
Single mother Malika “Pumpkin” Tavares
lost faith in fairytales after she fell for a toad. Now she believes she’s not
cut from the storybook, heroine cloth and searches for Mr. Good Enough amongst
the sidekicks and supporting men of the town.
Love at first sight isn’t a cliche for
town royalty Armand “Manny” Charmayne. For generations the Charmaynes have
spotted their soulmates by seeing a golden aura the first time they laid eyes
on The One.
When Manny meets Pumpkin he
sees…nothing, but sparks fly off the richter scale. The more he gets to know
her the more he considers defying fate, if only he can convince her to take a
chance on love again.
Amazon Purchase Link:
ISBN: 978-0-9909228-4-1 AISN: B00TKP8ZMQ
About the Author:
Ines writes books for strong women who suck at love. If you rocked out to the twisted triangle of Jem, Jericha, and Rio as a girl; if you were slayed by vampires with souls alongside Buffy; if you need your scandalous fix from Olivia Pope each week, then you’ll love her books!
Ines writes books for strong women who suck at love. If you rocked out to the twisted triangle of Jem, Jericha, and Rio as a girl; if you were slayed by vampires with souls alongside Buffy; if you need your scandalous fix from Olivia Pope each week, then you’ll love her books!
Aside from being a writer, professional reader, and teacher, Ines is a very bad Buddhist. She sits in sangha each week, and while others are meditating and getting their zen on, she’s contemplating how to use the teachings to strengthen her plots and character motivations.
Ines lives outside Washington, DC with her two little sidekicks who are growing up way too fast.
Social Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24927912-pumpkinFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ineswrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ineswrites
Website: https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/
Publisher: http://heartspell.com/
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