The Love Triangle Plot--Guest Post by Jess C Scott

The Love Triangle Plot--Guest Post by Jess C Scott

BOOK SUMMARY: A hybrid elf child combats a dark elf’s scheme to exploit and turn a virtual reality system into a weapon of mass destruction.

My upcoming publication is an urban fantasy project titled, The Darker Side of Life [Book #2 in the (Cyberpunk) Elven Trilogy].

The trilogy contains both cyberpunk and urban fantasy elements. Amidst the action-adventure components of the plot, there is also an authentic love story.

I looked at the title: The Darker Side of Life, and reflected on my views as to what constitutes the ‘dark side’ of life.

One of the things I’ve always been irritated by is how a shallow, obsessive, dangerous, unequal ‘romance’ that’s actually based on lust or physical attraction, is often portrayed (by the commercial/mainstream mass media) as an ideal romance. It makes me wonder if these stories are a reflection of society’s shallow views of romance and love, or whether these stories fuel the current trends in love and relationships.

I don’t want to give readers the illusion of deep emotion by offering empty lust (without much character development). For me, a love story has to offer something more than two guys competing for a girl’s affections out of vain attempts to outdo each other. I wanted an intense love triangle driven by a variety of elements (friendship, rivalry, love, lust, principles)—I didn’t want to create the love triangle just to “add more drama and tension” later if I found myself plot-less in the later installments of the series.

That being said, the sexual impulse will always be a very strong drive, which is why it’s one of the components of the love triangle in The Darker Side of Life (the other elements are added in as the plot progresses…).

Regardless of the plot elements, I enjoy offering authentic presentations of love/romance/sex in my writing projects (where the deeper emotions and psyche are explored throughout the course of the story), because the need to be intimately connected to others is central to our well-being.

This means honestly exploring our feelings and attitudes towards love, lust, sex, and romance. And oftentimes, this can be done through fiction that’s both entertaining and meaningful ;)

Excerpt from The Darker Side of Life (Book #2):

* This scene shows the “beginning” of the love triangle.

The water was cleansing and welcoming to Anya, when she first dipped a toe in. She swam out to meet Laer. The day was melting away, trembling with heat and flame as a cool white moonlight took its place.

“Where did all that fire go?” she asked, putting a hand out to break up some of moon’s shimmering reflection on the surface. Up in the sky, the new moon was white as bone glinting in the darkness.

It means, ‘the moon’s reflection upon the water’s surface.’  She remembered Nin’s words when he was explaining the meaning of his name: Ithilnin.

“White heat,” Laer said, pointing to the light of the moon. Laer felt stalwart and secure in this world. He was going to play it his way and get to her before the night was done. “White heat—like the intense emotion or excitement of ‘insta-love’, where people meet and twenty seconds later they’re madly in love, willing to give up their lives for one another.”

“That’s not love,” Anya replied, careful not to accidentally swallow a gulp of water while speaking and gently swimming. “That’s infatuation.”

“So it’s not your kind of thing?”

“Not really.” Anya thought insta-love was an extravagant passion that caused people to act foolish and rash and stupid at times. Almost like a mental disease. “I prefer a love that slowly builds over time.”

Then again, she’d met and gotten to know Nin over the grand time-span of forty-eight hours. It was intense, and impulsive in some ways.

But did she think it was foolish? In the sense that her feelings were insignificant or trivial?

Laer turned himself around so he was swimming on his back, facing Anya while talking to her. “I like a slow build-up too.”

She let him get closer to her, when he suddenly swam deftly and gracefully over her body, touching it for a lingering moment or two, before moving on.

She continued to swim, and he repeated this movement over her, both moving with ease in the water.

His warmth passed into her—Anya couldn’t deny it was sweet to feel him.

Author Bio:

Jess is an independent author/artist/non-conformist who’s dedicated to writing original stories that are both meaningful and entertaining. She works in a diverse range of genres, such as contemporary fiction, YA fiction, poetry, urban fantasy, and cyberpunk. She is currently completing The Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy.

Website: www.jesscscott.com
Book Site: http://www.elventrilogy.wordpress.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jessINKbooks

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jesscscott

* Be sure to check out Jess’s newest short story, ‘SKINS’ (http://www.jessINK.com/skins.htm), where Laer (the dark elf) seeks revenge on a couple of devotees of the exotic skins trade.