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Laughter, to me, is so important - especially in books. It can lighten a tense moment, and keep a sad one from being too melancholy. It can give the reader a chance to breathe after something major has happened. Humor is something I incorporate into every book I write. My female characters can be balls out funny, or sometimes it's a little subtler.
Alex, the star of Dragons Prefer Blondes, has a very dry wit. She fights such darkness every day of her life that she has to find the humor in most situations whether it's running from paparazzi, slaying a dragon or planning her crazy friend's monstrosity of a wedding. When she's dealing with the super hot Jake, her love interest, she often uses humor to make it look like she doesn't care, but of course she does. Whenever she's dealing with Ginjin, a handsome dragon warrior, who thinks marrying her will solve his problems, she is the queen of sarcasm.
It surprised me how funny this very dark character was by the time I finished the book. Then I realized that most of the women, my friends and family I'm closest too, have this same trait. In the darkest situations they lighten the load with humor, and I do the same thing.
So how about you, do you use humor to diffuse situations? Do you know any good jokes? Who is the funniest friend you have and why? Tell me, I want to know.
I'm doing a treasure hunt contest on my Big Summer Blog tour. All you have to do to enter is make a comment here, or visit and make comments on any of the blogs on the list at www.candacehavens.com.
Candace Havens, 
Dragons Prefer Blondes, 
paranormal romance, 
Berkley, 
Penguin Books
Humor
I try to look on the positive side of a situation. I try to tell jokes, but I can't tell a joke even if you give me the punch line though. LOL
Humor in Books
Candace,
It's the same way in my family. Humor is the key to keeping us all from cracking under tragedy. I remember when we were still teenagers, we had a cousin who'd committed suicide and not long after we found out, my younger sister brought a friend home to get a haircut from me. As I was cutting his hair, my sister and I were telling jokes (can't remember any of them) and otherwise goofing off. Well, at one point, he said something to us about it (he knew about our cousin) and we told him, that's just our way of dealing with the bad stuff. That doesn't mean that we didn't mourn our cousin - believe me, at his funeral, we were inconsolable - but that is how our family gets through the tough times. So for me, the characters in your books would be very realistic.
Margay
RE: Margay
I think this a healthy way to handle things as long as you are confronting your issues with your cousin and not just running away from them. It's healthy to laugh at bad situations if you ask me. It makes it a little easier to get through it and deal with it instead of avoiding it.
Laughter, sometimes, is the best medicine! :-)
-Chris
Golf Blog
I adore Candace Havens
Hi :)
Thanks for the great blog.
I really want to read this book.
Love from Canada
twitter.com/RKCharron
xoxo
My grandad, my children's
My grandad, my children's Gramps, died this January. It was so sad for us all as he was the comedian in our family. Always a funny story or practical joke on hand, even when he became housebound. Since then my son has filled the gap.
Take a look at my little man http://sarahkay1.livejournal.com/6549.html
He is our comedian. Seconds before this picture he was sobbing and as soon as my camera came out - ta da!!! bless my little man!
Humor, har.
I love the element of humor in books, even (or especially) those which are otherwise dark. No accident that's what I tend to write, too :-)
And I do use humor to cope with LIFE and crap and stuff.
Here's a joke for you:
How many Spoiled Brats does it take to change a light bulb?
Two--one to dial the phone, and the second to say, "Daddy, I need a new apartment!"
The humor in your books is one of the things that makes me love them! I bought the last 2 copies of Dragons Prefer Blondes from my local Borders this afternoon, and I'm bringing 'em to RWA Nationals for you to sign! (And I told them they'd better order more, too.)
Answers
Hey Gang,
Thanks for sharing your stories, and jokes. LOL. And heck, just for hanging out with me.
Sheila, I can't remember jokes. And I'm always so proud of myself when I do. BUT I can only remember the really stupid ones like... Where do Pirates like to eat? AAAAArby's! LOL. I know.
Oh, and why can't witches get pregnant? Cuz ghost have halloweeeeenies. These are jokes I learned as a kid and pretty much the only ones I can ever remember. Though, people tell me all the time I'm naturally funny. I'm just not good with the jokes.
RK, They better have my books there in Canada! Let me know.
SeriouslyKooky I'm so sorry about Gramps. I lost my Grandma last month and it was big-time tough. She was my greatest champion. But we still managed to have quite a few smiles at her funeral service. Gosh, I'm getting teary typing this, and this is supposed to be a happy blog. Thanks for sharing. :-)
Deborah, you are officially my favorite person in the world. I'm thinking you may hold that title for at least 24 hours. :-) If only everyone I knew could buyout my books and tell the store to order more.
I love it!