Munday: Romance
Elly is an original character. :) And I hope this isn't boring. LOL
1. Are your characters involved in romantic relationships? Did these develop organically, or did you work them into the plot?
El'Ari Brooks-Donovan is married to heartof_thezone and they were married to Trey Donovan. Trey was killed in their canon a year ago. El and Dree themselves happened rather organically, but they've always been married. Not long after Trey died, circumstances in the canon led El to fall in love with Garrett and Rebecca Cain. This relationship happened completely organically and it was a lot of fun to just let it happen. And it's been a lot of fun to write the dynamics of these relationships.
2. How much detail to you put into their romantic lives? Do you fade to black, or could you make an erotica writer blush? Somewhere in between?
Depends on who I am writing with and mood. We go anywhere from fade to black to scorchingly hot.
3. Do you prefer to write both partners in the relationship, or do you co-write with someone? What are the pros and cons of this method for you?
I have two other co-writers. Elly is my only chaacter. The other characters she has relationships with are written by my co-writers.
4. Do you think romance is an important part of a well-rounded character's life, or would you rather skip to the action? How do you balance romance time with a character's overall plot?
Romance is very important. We do romance and action all at once. We have plotlines that are mostly action, but the relationship dynamics are always there. Then we have silly fluff moments that are just fun romantic stuff.
5. Do your characters have any failed relationships? How did those breakups affect their development?
Oh yeah. She's had both extremes. A failed college relationship became her best friend, her doctor and her son's Godmother. And on the other extreme, a recent failed relationship led to him betraying her in the worst way. His betrayal led to Dree and El being captured by a wicked witch and their husband Trey's death.
6. Do you tend to write your characters as any particular sexuality (hetero/homo/bi/pan/trans whatever)? What is the reason for it?
El is firmly bi-sexual and she's polyamorous. She falls in love with who she falls in love with and doesn't apologize for it. But when she falls in love she falls deeply and will only be with those people. At the moment she's happily in love with three people and she has no intentions of adding to her mix of lovers at this time.
7. Have any characters ever developed romantic relationships, or made relationship choices that surprised you? How did that work out?
Yup. El's relationship with Garrett and Rebecca surprised us all, because their Mun/writer had no intentions of writing them as anything other than a committed monogamous couple. Then he ended up sleeping with El and it kind of snowballed from there. We were passing emails back and forth going i can't believe I am shipping these three.. so we decided what the hell, lets let it happen and see where it goes. :)
8. How romantic minded are your characters? Are relationships important to them, are they more interested in casual flings, or do they avoid it all together?
El can be very romantic when she wants to be, but her romantic gestures are little things from the heart. She doesn;t really go for the fluffy hearts and flwoers things (often, though she has been known to do that.) She'll go for gifts from the heart.
Her relationships are extremely important to her. As someone who was orphaned at age 5, any family is precious to her.
9. How faithful are your characters in their relationships? Do they cheat? Are they cheated on? Would they make an episode of Cheaters look tame?
El is non-monogamous, so to an outside eye it may look as though she's cheating, but to those who know her know that once she is in committed relationships, she is deeply committed and won't stray outside of them.
10. Is your character (or has your character ever been) married? Did the marriage result in children if so? How is their family life?
Yes. Yes. El and Dree have three children. Max, and the twins TJ and Leora. Garrett is Leora's father and Trey is TJ's father. (A little bit of magic and luck is the reason the twins have two different fathers) Their family life is complicated, but very happy. Max is coping with the loss of his father by looking up to Garrett as a father. The twins will happily grow up with three mothers and a father. It's complicated, but it's a happy family that works.
11. What would your character consider the ideal romantic evening? The best romantic gift?
With Dree the best romantic evening is cuddled on the porch watching the ocean glisten in the sunsset (their planet has two suns and two moons) and then once the kids are asleep sneaking to bed for relaxing lovemaking. With Rebecca and Garrett a romantic evening could be dinner, whiskey, Garrett playing the fiddle, laughing and frolicking. (Sometimes skinny dipping is involved ;) )
1. Are your characters involved in romantic relationships? Did these develop organically, or did you work them into the plot?
El'Ari Brooks-Donovan is married to heartof_thezone and they were married to Trey Donovan. Trey was killed in their canon a year ago. El and Dree themselves happened rather organically, but they've always been married. Not long after Trey died, circumstances in the canon led El to fall in love with Garrett and Rebecca Cain. This relationship happened completely organically and it was a lot of fun to just let it happen. And it's been a lot of fun to write the dynamics of these relationships.
2. How much detail to you put into their romantic lives? Do you fade to black, or could you make an erotica writer blush? Somewhere in between?
Depends on who I am writing with and mood. We go anywhere from fade to black to scorchingly hot.
3. Do you prefer to write both partners in the relationship, or do you co-write with someone? What are the pros and cons of this method for you?
I have two other co-writers. Elly is my only chaacter. The other characters she has relationships with are written by my co-writers.
4. Do you think romance is an important part of a well-rounded character's life, or would you rather skip to the action? How do you balance romance time with a character's overall plot?
Romance is very important. We do romance and action all at once. We have plotlines that are mostly action, but the relationship dynamics are always there. Then we have silly fluff moments that are just fun romantic stuff.
5. Do your characters have any failed relationships? How did those breakups affect their development?
Oh yeah. She's had both extremes. A failed college relationship became her best friend, her doctor and her son's Godmother. And on the other extreme, a recent failed relationship led to him betraying her in the worst way. His betrayal led to Dree and El being captured by a wicked witch and their husband Trey's death.
6. Do you tend to write your characters as any particular sexuality (hetero/homo/bi/pan/trans whatever)? What is the reason for it?
El is firmly bi-sexual and she's polyamorous. She falls in love with who she falls in love with and doesn't apologize for it. But when she falls in love she falls deeply and will only be with those people. At the moment she's happily in love with three people and she has no intentions of adding to her mix of lovers at this time.
7. Have any characters ever developed romantic relationships, or made relationship choices that surprised you? How did that work out?
Yup. El's relationship with Garrett and Rebecca surprised us all, because their Mun/writer had no intentions of writing them as anything other than a committed monogamous couple. Then he ended up sleeping with El and it kind of snowballed from there. We were passing emails back and forth going i can't believe I am shipping these three.. so we decided what the hell, lets let it happen and see where it goes. :)
8. How romantic minded are your characters? Are relationships important to them, are they more interested in casual flings, or do they avoid it all together?
El can be very romantic when she wants to be, but her romantic gestures are little things from the heart. She doesn;t really go for the fluffy hearts and flwoers things (often, though she has been known to do that.) She'll go for gifts from the heart.
Her relationships are extremely important to her. As someone who was orphaned at age 5, any family is precious to her.
9. How faithful are your characters in their relationships? Do they cheat? Are they cheated on? Would they make an episode of Cheaters look tame?
El is non-monogamous, so to an outside eye it may look as though she's cheating, but to those who know her know that once she is in committed relationships, she is deeply committed and won't stray outside of them.
10. Is your character (or has your character ever been) married? Did the marriage result in children if so? How is their family life?
Yes. Yes. El and Dree have three children. Max, and the twins TJ and Leora. Garrett is Leora's father and Trey is TJ's father. (A little bit of magic and luck is the reason the twins have two different fathers) Their family life is complicated, but very happy. Max is coping with the loss of his father by looking up to Garrett as a father. The twins will happily grow up with three mothers and a father. It's complicated, but it's a happy family that works.
11. What would your character consider the ideal romantic evening? The best romantic gift?
With Dree the best romantic evening is cuddled on the porch watching the ocean glisten in the sunsset (their planet has two suns and two moons) and then once the kids are asleep sneaking to bed for relaxing lovemaking. With Rebecca and Garrett a romantic evening could be dinner, whiskey, Garrett playing the fiddle, laughing and frolicking. (Sometimes skinny dipping is involved ;) )