tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post8241013101804443797..comments2024-03-28T12:46:20.637-04:00Comments on alien romances: Uncivilized behaviorRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-48446700097605983602007-11-05T13:39:00.000-05:002007-11-05T13:39:00.000-05:00I think some of Cherryh's books (Alliance and Merc...I think some of Cherryh's books (Alliance and Merchanter series) have dealt with dreams in hyperspace, Rowena. I think also that in SF/SFR/PNR, dreams as precognition or as an alternate universe peeking or leaking through is quite acceptable. <BR/><BR/>Like you, though, I don't want the "Pam's Dream" it was all a dream ending. That's cheating. <BR/><BR/>And where do you divide dreams, precognition and hallucinations? In the opening of the second chapter of FINDERS KEEPERS, my male protagonist, Rhis, is out cold in sick bay and hallucinating/dreaming (not unlike the kinds of things that run through my mind when I'm Nyquil'ed to the gills). The real and the unreal mesh. Conflicts heighten or become silly. Since FINDERS was a RITA finalist, I'm guessing the scene wasn't too sucky. It made sense with the plot and the character, and therein may lie your answer.<BR/><BR/>As for how bad can the male protag get in PNR/SFR? Only to the extent that you can redeem him. Redemption is the key. See Susan Grant's HOW TO LOSE AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL IN 10 DAYS where she takes the antag from a previous book and makes him the protag in that one. Now, Ms. Grant didn't invent that ploy--it's been done before and will be done again. She just did it will and recently (so readers can find it and go, ah! that's what that is). <BR/><BR/>I think in SAVE THE CAT! Snyder states that if you have a protag do something nasty and you want to get away with it, just make the antag do something nastier. <BR/><BR/>Uncivilized behavior is a matter of comparative degree. Your hero may have to kill the mother and the baby, but if the mother is an axe-wielding murderess and the baby is Satan incarnate, your hero is now, well, a hero. ~LinneaLinnea Sinclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03633057411107208569noreply@blogger.com