I finished up revisions on COLLIDE and sent it off to my wonderful CPs. Now I'm thinking of book 3 and what I will possible write about. Even though SWAY and COLLIDE aren't an actual series, they are both retellings of classics, and a couple of characters from SWAY make a brief appearance in COLLIDE. I want to continue with that theme for book 3 (three books total sounds right), but at this point I have no idea what classic I want to retell.
I did PERSUASION in the first place because I love that book, LOVED the movie version, and felt like it would make a great modern day story. NORTH & SOUTH is also a favorite, and even though it was a lot harder to put that story in a modern setting, I loved writing every minute of it. But what to do next?
I don't want to pick just any random classic. The story has to be one that I really FEEL, even if I don't love it. And it has to translate to modern times. I thought at first about doing a Dickens, so I watched GREAT EXPECTATIONS and then NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, both faves of mine. The problem with Dickens, or maybe the great thing about Dickens, is that his stories are so much more than love stories, and to cut out those other elements would seem untrue. (I already feel like I did this a bit with COLLIDE/NORTH&SOUTH.)
So I put it to Facebook, asking for people's fave classic love stories. GONE WITH THE WIND was the top, but to be honest, I don't even want to touch that. Also, that book isn't really a romance to me, probably because of the end, which I've never liked anyway. (Sorry, GWTW fans.)
I don't want to do something obvious and overdone, like PRIDE & PREJUDICE, ROMEO & JULIET, or JANE EYRE. As much as I love Jane Austen, I don't want to do another of hers either.
So where does that leave me??? Well, I have a few ideas, nothing concrete yet. My writing time right now is being taken up by watching movie adaptations of classic romances to find the one that really sings. Hopefully this won't take longer than this week so I can start writing next week, or at the latest, the beginning of December.
Any classic romance recommendations for me?