Squawk Radio
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Eloisa on Werewolves
It should be clear from Elizabeth's post, below, that Lori Handeland's Blue Moon has swept through the Squawkers like wildfire. I thought it might be fun to be a bit more specific about exactly what I like about this book.
It's in paranormals, oddly enough, that I'm currently finding the most realistic dialogue and characters. The heroine of Blue Moon doesn't have a perfect body. She's not all that terrific looking. Here, she's about to have sex with Cadotte: "I was tempted to turn on the light so I could see him, but then he could see me, and that didn't tempt me at all. I was a big girl—everywhere. I swear that naked, I looked even bigger." This novel is about people shifting skins: OK, some of those people are turning into werewolves. But others are just learning to live with the skins they were given, if that makes sense. Cadotte is gorgeous, and it is wonderful, touching and hysterically funny to see Jessie grapple with the idea of being with him long-term. Cadotte asks her why she's humiliated to be seen with him, and Jessie answers with a moment of blinding truth:
"Because everyone will wonder what you're doing with me," I blurted. "You're hot, Cadotte. I'm not. For a guy like you to be with a woman like me…" I shrugged. "I must give great head. I must f-k like a rabbit. I must—"
He put his hand over my mouth. "Shh," he whispered. "You do. So what?"
God I love reading realistic dialogue. And if it's showing up in tandem with wolves sprouting from humans in the north woods, I'll take it! Has anyone else seen this kind of really truthful dialogue lately?
It's in paranormals, oddly enough, that I'm currently finding the most realistic dialogue and characters. The heroine of Blue Moon doesn't have a perfect body. She's not all that terrific looking. Here, she's about to have sex with Cadotte: "I was tempted to turn on the light so I could see him, but then he could see me, and that didn't tempt me at all. I was a big girl—everywhere. I swear that naked, I looked even bigger." This novel is about people shifting skins: OK, some of those people are turning into werewolves. But others are just learning to live with the skins they were given, if that makes sense. Cadotte is gorgeous, and it is wonderful, touching and hysterically funny to see Jessie grapple with the idea of being with him long-term. Cadotte asks her why she's humiliated to be seen with him, and Jessie answers with a moment of blinding truth:
"Because everyone will wonder what you're doing with me," I blurted. "You're hot, Cadotte. I'm not. For a guy like you to be with a woman like me…" I shrugged. "I must give great head. I must f-k like a rabbit. I must—"
He put his hand over my mouth. "Shh," he whispered. "You do. So what?"
God I love reading realistic dialogue. And if it's showing up in tandem with wolves sprouting from humans in the north woods, I'll take it! Has anyone else seen this kind of really truthful dialogue lately?
Eloisa James, 7:46 AM
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