Why a Monkey? by Alison Henderson

Why a monkey?

I love to add humor to my stories, even the most action-packed suspense or mystery. An unexpected laugh can give the reader the perfect release from relentless tension.

Each book in my Phoenix, Ltd. female bodyguard series features a specific humorous element. In UNWRITTEN RULES, a pair of meddling grandmothers stir things up for the hero and heroine. BOILING POINT includes a cooking robot named GRAMPA who attacks the villain with a kitchen torch at the opportune moment. A white-faced Capuchin monkey named Balthazar, who likes to play dress-up and steal every shiny object he can lay his hands on, thwarts a would-be kidnapper in UNDERCOVER NANNY.

The inspiration for Balthazar came from a most unexpected source. OG is a big fan of early rock ‘n roll, and one of his favorite songs is a number by the Coasters called “Run Red Run.” Here are the lyrics to the first couple of verses:

“Oh, Red went and bought himself a monkey
Got him from a pawn shop broker
Taught that monkey how to guzzle beer
And he taught him out to play stud poker
Last night when they were gambling in the kitchen
The monkey he was taking a beating
The monkey said Red, "I'm going to shoot you dead
Because I know that well, you been a cheating."

Well, run Red run, because he's got your gun
And he's aiming it at your head
Run Red run, because he's got your gun
And he's aiming it at your head
You better get up and wail
You better move your tail before he fills it full of lead.”

After listening to OG sing this for years, I knew I had to add a monkey to one of my books. Balthazar is that monkey. Given the source material, he has a lot to live up to, but I think he rises to the occasion admirably.

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com

If You Love Janet Evanovich's Books, You'll Love Mine (I hope) by Alison Henderson

I want to say up front, I'm a HUGE fan of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books--her explosion-prone every-girl heroine, hunky heroes, wacky array of supporting characters, and endlessly inventive villains. But most of all, I love her humor. I almost fell out of my chair when I read Grandma Mazur's account of shooting the roast chicken in its gumpy at the dinner table. 

I would never try to claim I am as brilliantly funny as Janet, but her unique brand of humorous romantic suspense has been a major influence on my Phoenix, Ltd. female bodyguard series. I don't do scary well. I'll never write hide-under-the-covers-with-a-flashlight, serial-killer suspense. I want readers to worry how my characters are going to thwart the unknown antagonist, but I want them to laugh while they're doing it. 

Taking a page from Janet, one of my favorite ways to add humor is with colorful supporting characters. Because my books are stand-alone stories instead of a series featuring the same central character, there's no opportunity for a single, fabulous sidekick like Lula. Instead, my bodyguard heroines are beset by a meddling Chinese grandma, a malfunctioning cooking robot, and a light-fingered Capuchin monkey with a bad attitude. These secondary characters are perfect for lightening the mood whenever the situation gets too tense.

I also love snappy dialogue--classic, old movie-style bantering. I have a dry sense of humor and a smart mouth, and so do most of my heroines. Even the men are no slouches in the wit department. I like dialogue so much, large swaths of my first drafts read more like screenplays than novels. Sometimes, my characters are so chatty I can barely type fast enough to keep up with them. I have to go back later and add all the physical and emotional elements to round out the story.

Here are a couple of my favorite lines:

"It's not too late," Carter said in a stage whisper. "You can still change your mind and travel as my masseuse."

She sent him a quelling glance. "You do know I'm carrying a gun, right?" from UNWRITTEN RULES





As he carried her up the grand staircase, visions of Tara flashed through her mind. Although he didn't take the stairs two at a time like Rhett Butler, all she needed was a lush, red velvet dressing gown to transform into Scarlett O'Hara. Oh, and a night beyond her wildest dreams. 


That was so not happening. from BOILING POINT

When it comes to writing humor, I bow at the feet of Mistress Evanovich, but if you love her books as much as I do, I invite you to check out UNWRITTEN RULES and BOILING POINT. And the third book in the series is due out early this summer.

Cheers!

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com  

The Dangers of Children and Animals by Alison Henderson

I've heard many actors refuse to work with children or animals because they're cuter and tend to upstage plain old ordinary adults. This could easily apply to books as well, so what do I do? I boldly step out on the tightrope and include both a precocious four-year-old and a monkey to my current manuscript!

This is not a groundbreaking technique. Many romance authors have featured babies and pets in their books for years, but it's new for me. The heroine in my first book was a widow with a newborn, but he was too young to play much of a part in the story. In Child's Play, the plot centers around threats to the hero's young niece, Grace, so she's front and center for a large part of the book. And then there's Balthazar. While most authors stick with dogs or cats, I decided to add a monkey--and he's not just any monkey.

 To give you an idea, here's the scene in which Casey, the bodyguard heroine, meets Balthazar:

“Oh, and I have to warn you…don’t leave any jewelry or valuables out in your room.”

She frowned. The university might not be located in the best part of town, but the up-to-date security system she’d noticed when she arrived should be sufficient to deter any garden-variety local thieves. “We’re on the second floor. You don’t have a problem with cat burglars, do you?”

Alec’s lips tightened. “Not cat. Monkey.”

She halted. “What?”

“Balthazar.”

“Who is Balthazar?”

He grimaced. “Follow me, and I’ll introduce you.”

He headed around the open center stairwell, past the bathroom and Grace’s room, to a smaller room that could once have been a nursery or servant’s quarters. In the center of the room stood a large kennel, the kind one might use to house a Great Dane—or a small polar bear. Standing on his hind legs and clasping the bars like a convict in a ’thirties prison movie was an angry-looking monkey in a diaper who shrieked the moment he spied Alec.

“Meet Balthazar.”

Casey took a couple of tentative steps, but froze when the monkey glared at her and shrieked again.

Alec walked closer to the cage. “You don’t have to be afraid. He needs a major attitude adjustment and will steal anything that’s not nailed down, but he won’t hurt you.”

Balthazar bared his teeth in a wicked parody of a grin.

Casey kept her distance. “What kind of monkey is he?”

“He’s a white-faced capuchin from Costa Rica. They’re exceptionally intelligent. I just wish this one could be persuaded to use his brainpower for good instead of evil.”

“It’s none of my business, but why keep him if he’s so much trouble?”

Balthazar coiled his tail around one of the bars like a snake and sent her a simian death stare.

“He’s only here for the term. He actually belongs to Tomas Huerta, a colleague of mine in the Anthropology Department. Tom adopted him after he was kicked out of a companion animal training course for being an anti-social little klepto. We agreed to monkey-sit this quarter while Tom’s away digging in Central America.”

“How does Grace feel about having a monkey in the house?” Casey knew how she felt.

“She’s the main reason he’s here. She’s crazy about him.” Alec gave a soft snort and shook his head. “Tom made sure to ask me when Grace was in the room. He knows how hard it is to say no to her.”

“Why would anyone want to say no to me?” a small voice interrupted.

They turned to see Grace standing in the doorway. She marched up to the kennel and stuck her fingers in to rub Balthazar’s furry cheek. The monkey nuzzled her hand then shot Alec a defiant so-there look.

Alec glanced at Casey with raised brows, as if to say See what I mean? then smiled at the back of his niece’s small, blond head. “I know it’s hard to believe, but on occasion, I do know more than you.”

      Grace turned her head and gave him a long-suffering eye-roll. “Oh, Uncle Alec, don’t be silly.”

So far, I'm managed to keep the child and the monkey from taking over, but I'm having lots of fun writing them both. Grace is adorable, and Balthazar is an incorrigible pain in the patoot, but ultimately, he saves the day. 

Alison 
www.alisonhenderson.com

"F" is for Funny by Alison Henderson

I love humor in fiction, all fiction. Funny situations, witty dialogue, absurd characters--I love them all. 

When I was younger, I cherished  deeply emotional stories. If a book made me cry, so much the better. I wanted to experience every high and low along with the characters. I think it began with Gone with the Wind. When the movie was re-released, I was thirteen--the perfect age to revel in angst. And nobody did it better than Margaret Mitchell. Melanie's death scene would wring tears from a statue, much less a thirteen-year-old girl. I saw that movie four times, and re-read the book until the cover fell off.

I continued to adore intensely emotional stories for many years. For example, one scene in Paradise by Judith McNaught still brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Only a special writer can pull readers so completely into a story. In my first two books, I gave my characters serious problems and was surprised and gratified when a reviewer wrote that she cried while reading one. I hadn't set out to evoke tears, but I appreciated the intensity of her response. 

So when and why did my tastes start to change? It was a gradual process influenced by life itself. The more serious life events I experienced first hand, the more I sought escape in my reading and writing life. I became a huge fan of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books with their outrageous characters and situations and decided to try my hand at writing lighter. I can't approach Janet's skill at writing comedy, but I did have tremendous fun injecting a healthy dose of humor into my next two projects.

My most recent release, a Western historical novella entitled The Treasure of Como Bluff features a paleontologist heroine who discovers an amnesiac greenhorn at her dig site. One reviewer compared their dialogue to Gable and Lombard or Tracy and Hepburn, and the premise allowed numerous opportunities for silly shenanigans, including forcing the hero to parade around in a pink sunbonnet. Here's the blurb:

In her race against rival bone hunters, the last complication paleontologist Caroline Hubbard needs is an unconscious stranger cluttering up her dig site. Nicholas Bancroft might have the chiseled features and sculpted physique of a classical statue, but she's not about to let him hamper her quest to unearth a new species of dinosaur and make her mark on the scientific world.

Nick has come to Wyoming in search of silver but, after a blow to the head, finds himself at the mercy of a feisty, determined female scientist. Despite his insistence that he's just passing through, he agrees to masquerade as Caroline's husband to help save her job. Once their deception plays out, they face a crucial decision. Will they be able to see beyond their separate goals and recognize the treasure right in front of them?

I may write more serious books again in the future, but for now I'm happy to bring a little  laughter to my readers' lives. What about you? Have you reading and writing tastes changed a bit over time, or do you still love the kind of stories that have always moved you? 

Alison Henderson
www.alisonhenderson.com
http://alisonhenderson.blogspot.com