Hi everyone. It's Jo with a pirate CBK. Yo-ho-ho! I'm back and with a new, faster computer and I even remembered how to get into Typepad to create this post. Yay!
I thought I'd pick up a question from a Canadian.
Wendy from Halifax asked, "I have a question and it is completely off topic, but it popped into my head recently - have you ever finished a book, sent it in, had it published and then wished you had added another chapter to the end of it, or changed how it ended?"
Hi, Wendy. We spent 7 wonderful years in Halifax when we first came to Canada and it's still one of my favorite places. Except for the long winter. It does go on a bit. This is a picture I took there a few years ago of some of the lovely 18th century houses down near the waterfront.
Your question's hard for me to answer because I tend to forget such details after a while, but generally by the time I send a book in I've decided I've done my very best with it. I don't think I've ever realized later that I'd made a terrible mistake. The end might not be perfect, but it's the best I can do.
Endngs are an interesting subject in themselves, however. In one sense the end of a romance is a no-brainer, but there are all kinds of subtleties that can make or break them.
Pacing, for example. A novel usually builds to some dramatic point and resolution. Round about there the story more or less ends, but if the book ends there it's horrible. The characters and the reader need some wind-down to recover and enjoy. Sort of like after orgasm. :) Getting enough ease-down and opportunity to savor is part of pacing.
Sometimes as a reader I come to the end of a novel and turn the page expecting more. That's not usually a good sign. Certainly with a really good book I don't want it to end, but that's not what I'm talking about. In that case I'll sometimes flip back and read the later chapters again. I'm talking about the sort of page turn that needs more, that's not quite satisfied yet.
On the other hand, but more rarely, the ending goes on too long so I'm thinking, Enough, already. This flaw isn't so bad because I can just skip, but it still gives an off taste. And the thing about endings, the thing that makes them so important, is how they can colour our feelings about the whole book. I've read books that thrilled me down to my toes but that did something at the end that stole some of the pleasure and I never got it back. I'm unlikely to re-read that book, and I might be hesitant to buy the author's next book.
There's a saying. The beginning sells the book. The ending sells the next book.
Of course giving me an unexpectedly tragic twist at the end is guaranteed to ruin a book. To me, that makes the heroic journey of the characters meaningless. But even a bittersweet ending can ruin it. Particularly in romance, I want the characters to have bliss after the fight. They have their future, after all, and some rain will pour on their parade now and then, but at the end of the book, right then, after their courageous struggles, I want to read bliss.
In other genres, I will accept a heroic tragedy -- if it's the only way to defeat evil, for example. But not 
a "shit happens" tragedy. The death and suffering has to be meaningful and it has to achieve something. Sorry, but I think the ending of Romeo and Juliet is of the shit happens type.
Shit happening is one of the conventions of the literary fiction genre and often people will see bittersweet, tragic, or even meaninglessly depressing endings as proof of art. There's another saying. Tragedy is easy. Comedy is hard.
In romance, in addition to present bliss, I want future stability. Heading off into the wilderness, or boarding ship to go in search of somewhere to put down roots doesn't work for me. What if there's a ship-wreck? What if they end up on a tropical island and get eaten by cannibals? That sort of thing is for the story, not for after the last page. Afterward is for peace, prosperity, stability, and security. But I know that is a quirk of mine, so I'm not saying it's essential for a satisfying romance.
One thing I don't require in a romance ending is the "I love you" moment. Some readers really need the man say the words and if he doesn't, it spoils the book. To me, the proof of his love and devotion is in everything he does during the novel, so it's worked or not worked by the end. I don't mind if it's there. It's just not important to me.
So, what sort of endings do you most enjoy in romance novels? Are there things you have to read there for it to be perfect?
Do you have different preferences for different genres?
What about historical novels based on real people? If you know that the character will come to a nasty end a few years after the book ends, does that bother you?
Don't forget to keep an eye out for Dragon Lovers, which could appear on shelves at any time.
Guaranteed happy endings and I hope they're all satisfying.
Thanks for the inspiration, Wendy. E-mail me to say what book you'd like.
Jo :)