Hey, y'all! Welcome the one and only Kimberly Lang — Modern Heat author, lunch buddy, chapter mate, and friend. Kimberly has very kindly agreed to write a couple of posts about Modern Heat and how they differ from Modern.
So you want to write that *other * kind of Presents – a Modern Heat.
Part 1 – It’s all about the attitude.
It’s great that Lynn asked me to do a couple of posts on writing for Modern Heat – after all, Lynn and I spend a lot of time debating the difference between a Modern and a Modern Heat. (Yes, all are released in the US as Presents, but in order to avoid confusion here, we’ll call them Modern and Modern Heat.)
I’ll start by echoing Lynn’s earlier advice… read the books. Decide if you love them. Only if you love them will you be able to write them. If you read all the Presents released every month, you’ll probably see that two of them are not quite like the others… there’s something different.
That “something different” is what makes a Modern Heat a Modern Heat. If that “something different” sparks your Muse, then maybe Modern Heat is the right place for you.
Everyone asks about the Modern Heat hero – and I’ll go into him in more depth next time – but to me, the tone and the attitude are what set us apart from the Moderns. The editorial guidelines describe it as “a flirty young voice and a whole load of sass!”
Say you meet a set of twins – equally pretty, equally charming, equally intelligent. One is quieter, more intense, and sees the world in dramatic, black and white terms. The other is sunnier, a bit bouncier, and dramatic in the sense she’s the president of the drama club. If you present the same situation to each of the sisters, they will react differently – because their personalities are different.
That’s the key to writing Modern Heat as opposed to a Modern. It’s not a matter of making your hero Alpha-light or giving your heroine a better job. You, as the author, have to approach those same themes and hooks from a different angle – a flirty, sassy angle.
If “Pride and Prejudice” is a Modern, “Emma” is a Modern Heat. Same themes, same hooks, same setting, same author — totally different tone.
Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightly are both Alpha heroes, but the tone of the book affects how we perceive them and sets the stage for how they will react (and how those actions will be received by the other characters) in a situation.
The tone of a Modern Heat also affects the pacing of the novel as a whole. Modern Heats move. You can’t have that spunky, sparkly tone in a book that doesn’t move along at a fast clip. To pick a whole new image of fireworks (hey, it’s late at night, I’m doing the best I can), Moderns are Roman Candles, shooting up a steady stream of colorful explosions. Modern Heats are sparklers – flashy and hot and fast burning.
I know that’s probably not 100% clear, so I’ll go back to the beginning: read. Pop over to the Mills and Boon website – because it’s easier to tell the Moderns from the Modern Heats – and do a quick read of the first chapters they have there. Alternate between a Modern and a Modern Heat and see if you can identify that change in tone, that different attitude. (Lynn’s book is there in the August offerings and my new one is in the September listings – just a suggestion. 🙂 )
Tone and attitude mark the biggest difference between a Modern and a Modern Heat — and your characters, as we’ll talk about next time, have to match that tone and that attitude.
Questions so far? Comments?
Kimberly
(For a list of the Modern Heat authors and releases, visit www.sensationalromance.blogspot.com. We’re all listed there.)
Gee, thank you Kimberely for explaining the diverse difference to a Modern Heat and a Modern. You know, it doesn’t matter how much I go over the different names I still get them mixed up. Presents, Modern, Modern Heat, Romance, its a twister. lol..
What I would like to ask is the ages of the characters in a Modern Heat to a Modern/Presents. I know they are younger in a Modern Heat, but how young, and how old in a Modern/Presents.
Thanks for a great informative post,
Suzanne 🙂
Hi, Suzanne! I’m sure Kimberly will be along soon, but I have to say that for me, I’ve not worried about the potential difference in ages. My heroines so far have been in their 20s, which I think is true of MH too. My oldest hero so far has been 31 — and I think MH heroes can be in that group. I think Kimberly told me she has a 34 year old hero in one of her books!
I really think it just comes down to tone. My next hero is 35 or so. My heroine will be around 28, I think. One of these days, I’ll push a heroine over 30. In fact, I’ve sort of written the first chapter for my next book after the one I’m working on now, and I get the sense the heroine will be around 30 or 33.
Kimberly is here. Kimberly just can’t type before her second cup of tea. Kimberly also seems to be speaking in third person this morning…
My heroines are usually in their late 20s — mostly because I want them to be a bit settled and grounded in their life. My heroes tend to be in their early 30s — although I did have a hero who was 35. Again, it’s attitude. I know some very old-soul 25-year-olds (although I was not one of them) and some very young feeling 36-year-olds (cough, cough).
I wouldn’t get too hung up on age though (although they do need to be legal in all states but not on Social Security just yet!). Age is a state of mind — and an attitude. That holds true here as well.
We are basically writing characters who are the same age. 🙂 It’s the tone and spin of the story. Mine are darker and laden with baggage. Perhaps that makes them seem older than their years. Hmm…
Do you know if the editors would consider a submission for a trilogy in which the first book would be a Modern and the other two would be Modern Heats?
p.s. Lynn, just wanted to add that your articles ROCK! I’m blown away by the amount of insightful and articulate information you’ve given us…thanks so much!
Welcome, Kimberly, I enjoyed your article very much, too!
Thanks, Rebecca! Glad if it helps at all! 🙂
As for your question, that’s really something you’d want to ask the editors. I can’t speak for them at all. My gut feeling is that you need to write one type of story to begin with. You have to build a readership and not change mid-stream — your readers wouldn’t know what to expect!
But that’s my feeling and what works for me. I’d suggest popping over to I Heart Presents and asking in the comments trail for the writing competition posts. Or going to eHarlequin and asking in the thread for the competition.
The editors may have an entirely different view than I do. 🙂
Thanks, Lynn…will do!
Had to just chip in here as one of Kimberly’s Modern Heat buddies and say her description of the differences between Modern and Modern Heat are spot on.
Wish I’d thought of that Roman Candle/Sparkler analogy…
Yup, it’s all about tone and attitude and voice and I think, as an aspiring writer, you will know from reading the books, both Modern and Modern Heat, where your voice will fit.
I absolutely adore the passionate intensity of the Moderns, but when I put finger to keyboard, my heroines immediately start getting all minxy and answering back and my heroes can’t seem to resist goading them and before I know it sparks are going off everywhere and they’re flirting with each other outrageously and… well, the tone and attitude isn’t quite right for Modern.
You have to go with what you write best and once you start writing you’ll know what that is. Whatever you do, don’t force the fit, because your readers will know.
Would you say that the level of sensuality in the Moderns differs from the Modern Heats? If so, in what way?
I’d say both are pretty darn sensual, and like everything else, the “when” “how” and “how much” is going to depend on the story.
Sexual tension is what’s important — the sizzle needs to be there from the first moment they meet.
However, if by sensual, you mean graphically depicted, that’s going to vary from author to author and story to story. Some of mine are more explicit in that than others.
The only hard-and-fast rule is that they must sizzle 🙂
Thanks for the info, Kimberly! You can’t have a good romance without the sizzle. I’m looking forward to reading your books!
I’m going to agree with Kimberly about the sexual tension. It’s individual, I think, and not line dependent. Mine are pretty darn hot — and no one has ever told me to tone it down.
Hi, Heidi! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂 It’s interesting how you can totally appreciate Modern, but can’t write it. Likewise, I enjoy the Modern Heats, but they aren’t me and I wouldn’t begin to know how to write one!
Echoing Kim’s thoughts about drama and tone being important differences between Modern and Modern Heat stories. It’s hair-tearingly hard to keep story tone light and sparkling if the dramatic arc of the story is dark, passionate, and brooding. On the other hand, if you lighten the story and characters up too much there’s not enough to lose (except reader interest – you lose that real fast).
For me, writing for Modern Heat is about finding a comfortable balance between darkness and light and then walking that tightrope without falling off. Slippery little sucker.
Thank you for answering my question.
Suzanne 🙂