Black Moments and Resolution

Before I jump into the meat of today's post, I have a few random comments and observations to make.

1. Erica has finished the first draft of Trevor and the Tooth Fairy! I stand in awe. Not only did she complete this book in the amount of time it takes me to write a chapter (okay, not quite that much faster, but close), but it is just an amazing, incredibly special story. Funny, sexy, smart, and unbelievably original. If you don't see it on a bookshelf someday soon, I'll eat my words (and I have a lot of them to eat!).
2. I'm getting ready to submit Carnally Ever After to Cobblestone Press's Tryst^TM line. I asked my CPs to take a look at my cover letter, but other than that, it's set to go. It should hit cyberspace today or tomorrow. They say their response time is less than 45 days, so we'll see how it goes.
3. I have discovered chat. Chat is like crack. Chat can suck three hours out of your day before you even realize it's gone. I should stay away from chat. Alas, I cannot. My name is Jacqueline and I am a Chataholic...

So yesterday I said I would talk today about Black Moments and their resolution because I think getting these two elements "right" is one of the hardest things about writing a romance novel.

I had an epiphany about what makes a good Black Moment/resolution when I started thinking about the ending of A Scandalous Liaison as I prepared for my third (and Lord knows, I hope) final pass. The Black Moment itself is good. The hero and heroine agree that they simply can't be together if their marrying means she'll lose her estate. Based on their character arcs and internal conflicts, this is completely believable. It seems like the right and logical choice to them, even though I hope my readers see it's the wrong one!

But the way the story originally worked out, it actually seemed like this decision was the right one. And the whole point of a Black Moment is that decision has to be the wrong one. The resolution has to occur because the characters resolve their conflicts and realize they made the wrong choice in the Black Moment.

In the current version of the ending, the heroine's brother (who can seize her estate and refuse to pay her dowry if she marries without his consent) changes his mind regarding his consent to their marriage too quickly and easily. The heroine still has to go and rescue the hero from the nasty, evil bad guy, but she doesn't have to realize that her estate doesn't matter a hill of beans to her compared to her love for her man! Nor does the hero have to realize that in trying to protect her from one loss, he's forcing another, greater one on her. And that's just wrong!

To fix this, in the final version, my heroine's brother has to be a dick for a bit longer (although he's really not being a dick, but trying to protect her from what he perceives as her worst fear--marriage to a fortune hunter who doesn't really love her). It'll all work out in the end, of course, but she and the hero will both have to overcome their internal conflicts without a deus ex machina solving their problems for them. And that will make the story much more emotionally satisfying.