Janet here. I attended the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat held in Nashville before the ACFW conference and was part of the “Pucker Up” panel with authors Julie Lessman, Ruthy Logan Herne, Kristi Ann Hunter, Melanie Dickerson and Pepper Basham. The discussion of kissing in our books was lively and fun. The level of sensuality in the panelists’ books varied with our publishers.
As many of you know, I'm blessed to write for Love Inspired Historical. I've never seen rules on kissing for this or other LI lines. So how do un-pubbed writers know what a publisher prefers when it comes to kissing? I'd suggest studying the level of attraction or sexual tension of the publishing house you’re targeting by checking their guidelines and more importantly, reading their published books.
As many of you know, I'm blessed to write for Love Inspired Historical. I've never seen rules on kissing for this or other LI lines. So how do un-pubbed writers know what a publisher prefers when it comes to kissing? I'd suggest studying the level of attraction or sexual tension of the publishing house you’re targeting by checking their guidelines and more importantly, reading their published books.
I've found these tips help me write kissing scenes that please Love Inspired readers, while keeping the romance strong and believable.
- · Watch the focus.
I don't focus just on the hero and heroine’s physical attributes such as beauty and physique. Instead I try to show the traits these two admire in each other. That doesn’t mean the romance has to be unemotional or devoid of magnetism. Far from it!
- · Up the sexual tension with conflict.
The key to writing emotionally satisfying love story is to give the reader loads of sexual tension. Sexual tension is the emotional reaction/the attraction that the hero and heroine feel for each other, yet resist because of the conflicts between them. Their conflicts come from the external goals in the plot and from internal goals from their back story. Back story is what they experienced before the story opens and is still impacting them today. I love the push-pull of the romance. When the characters are ambivalent, both attracted yet not trusting one another, the sexual tension will be strong.
- · Make them wait.
Normally kisses in Love Inspired novels shouldn’t come early in the story. Though the hero and heroine may feel attraction early on, they need time to discover what they admire in each other, to develop that attraction so that even with all the conflicts between them, they’ll take the risk of kissing.
- · Use the “almost kiss”
With all that attraction, how do we make them wait to kiss in a way that’s believable and forwards the plot? The best way I’ve found to delay the kiss and still keep the attraction strong is to use the “almost kiss.” The hero and heroine want to kiss, come close to kissing, but then she/he comes to her/his senses and resists. Another technique of the “almost kiss” is for someone or something to interrupt them. Though if the “almost kiss” is overused, your readers may be irked.
To show the progression of kissing, all of my examples are from my Love Inspired Historical novel The Bounty Hunter’s Redemption.
The “almost kiss” in the hero Nate’s point of view:
“You’re a beautiful woman, Carly.” He lowered his head until his lips hovered over hers, wanting only to kiss her. Desperate to kiss her. Waiting for her permission.
Disquiet filled her eyes and she lurched back. “You should leave.”
What had he been thinking? A kiss suggested permanence, a future. Something he couldn’t offer. Didn’t even know he had.
Though Carly broke off the kiss, Nate realizes kissing her would’ve been a big mistake. The attraction is strong but the conflict between these two is stronger. Give your hero and heroine’s strong external conflicts and strong wounds from their past so their reluctance to kiss is believable.
- · Combine admiration and caring with the kiss’s sensuality.
Nate brushed two fingertips over her lips, so soft, parting now, rosy and beckoning. He wanted to kiss her badly. He wanted to be that good man she sought. He wanted to give her everything.
“You smell good,” she said, leaning in, as if she couldn’t get enough of his scent.
He touched the silky, fragrant strands of her hair. “You’re beautiful, Carly, inside and out.” He lowered his head, looking into her eyes for permission.
Her eyelids drifted closed. “Nate,” she whispered.
His name, rolling off her lips, filled with longing, was all the invitation he needed.
With a moan, he pulled her to him, brushing his lips over hers. With Carly in his arms, the years of loneliness fled. As he deepened the kiss, Carly rose on tiptoe and slid her arms around his back. The touch of her soft curves shot through his veins, igniting the wild beat of his heart.
With a sigh, she broke away. “I…I have to work. I can’t get wrapped up in…”
“In what?”
She raised her forlorn gaze to his. “In foolish dreams.”
- · Relive the kiss
I don't use a lot of kisses in my stories so I try to get as much impact as I can from each one. One great way is to have the hero and heroine relive the kiss, either the next time they meet, or when they’re alone or both. I usually relive the kiss in both characters’ points of view.
Here Carly is reliving the kiss in her thoughts. The memory of the kiss still impacts her and gives her hope:
Her gaze swept the shop and the walk beyond. Seeing no one, she hurried to the full-length mirror and held the shimmering red confection in front of her, swaying to the tune of the Blue Danube waltz playing in her head, visualizing Nate’s strong arms around her, holding her close. His arms would cherish and protect, exactly as she’d felt during their kiss.
Her mind zipped back to the soft pressure of his lips on hers, the thrilling tingle that raised goose bumps on her arms and warmed her clear to her toes. That kiss suggested tomorrow. A relationship of permanence.
Would he kiss her again?
Then she relives the kiss again when they meet for the first time since the kiss:
He moved closer, his stride loose, confident, almost a swagger. Carly’s traitorous thoughts zinged to his kiss. To the softness of his lips, the hard muscles of his chest beneath her palm, the wild beating of his heart.
As wild as her erratic pulse now. He stopped near her, his smoldering eyes locking with hers then lowering to her mouth.
He must be thinking of their kiss. That kiss had left her exhilarated, full of yearning, and oh, yes, of trepidation, leaving her as unraveled as a tattered tea towel.
- Make the kisses sweet, playful.
With all the conflict and struggles the characters go through, I sometimes like to end my stories with the spirit of fun. The kisses in these last scenes are typically sweet with promise and not as sensual. By now Carly has changed enough to risk love, even to take the lead in the relationship:
She motioned to the gun belt riding Nate’s hips. “Are you giving that up?”
Without one word, Nate released the buckle and tossed his gun belt onto the floor, then pulled her close. “Only a fool would choose a six-shooter over an amazing woman like you.”
Tears stung her eyes. “I love you, Nate. Goodness knows I’ve fought it with everything in me. But there it is.” She raised her chin. “So what are you going to do about it?”
He grinned. “I like a woman who knows her own mind. Guess it’s time to buy a livery.”
“What?” she said, swatting at him.
“Appears my feisty seamstress’s apt to stitch a nip or a tuck in my hide if I don’t get it said.”
He dropped to the floor on one knee and took her hand, gazing up at her. What she saw in the depths of his smoky-gray eyes spoke the words she longed to hear and knew were coming.
“I love you, Carly, with all my being. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you!” She rose, pulling him to his feet and into her arms. Nothing had ever felt so right.
He lowered his head and kissed her. She gently cupped Nate’s jaw and returned that kiss, her heart hammering wildly in her chest.
Then in the last lines of the book, Carly’s son Henry appears. Nate’s kisses are not about the romance here. They’re a pledge to Carly and her son for a Happily Ever After and hopefully a sigh-worthy moment for the reader:
Nate gathered Henry in his arms then stood and tugged Carly close in the other, kissing both their cheeks. A kiss with the promise of now and forevermore.
Henry took Nate’s cheeks in his hands. “You aren’t gonna leave town, are you?”
“No, my boy. I’d never leave a town where I found myself, found my family, found God. All waiting on a bounty hunter to find his way home.”
Whatever publisher you’re targeting, have fun writing those pucker up scenes, add conflict, add heart stopping romance and those kisses will be a highlight for the reader.
For a chance to win your choice of one of the Seeker’s eBooks, share a memorable kiss from a novel you read or wrote.
Or tell us about your real-life first romantic kiss. That should be fun!
I brought a breakfast buffet of scrambled eggs, fruit, fried potatoes, crisp bacon and French toast, along with persimmons, guaranteed to make you pucker up. Actually when they’re ripe and made into a persimmon pudding, persimmons are a delight, at least for me.
Or tell us if you’ve tasted the unique flavor of persimmon pudding?
Janet
Dean grew up in a family who cherished the past and had a strong creative
streak. Her father recounted fascinating stories, like his father before him.
The tales they told instilled in Janet a love of history and the desire to
write. Today Janet spins stories for Love Inspired Historical. She is a
two-time Golden Heart finalist, a Genesis and a Carol finalist and a member of
Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers. Her novels
are Golden Quill, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Booksellers Best,
Inspirational Readers Choice Award finalists. Visit Janet at her Website: www.janetdean.net and group blog: www.seekerville.blogspot.com
