Homework: Paws and Peril
Editor Rachel Young hands you your romantic suspense assignment, with a side of kibble....
Calling all suspense lovers out there! Calling all dog lovers out there!
Tender & Tempting Tales will be opening for submissions in January for romantic suspence stories that includes a dog.
I’m looking for romantic suspense stories that involve dogs in the plot. The central love story should unfold around a backdrop of danger, mystery, or a high-stakes mission of some kind. The story should feature two interwoven plots: the romance plot (concerning the romantic couple) and the suspense plot. The suspense plot should directly impact the romantic plot in some way—shared danger. (Forcing the protagonists together? Threatening to kill one of them?) The plots should be balanced, not suspense with a little romance thrown in, or vice versa. Stories can be contemporary, but that’s not a requirement. I’ll take historical, futuristic, paranormal, alternative reality… anything you can come up with! Is your suspense a fire survivor and an arson investigator on the trail of an arsonist? Or maybe a woman who inherits a remote family estate, only to discover the estate is involved in local missing persons being investigated by the local sheriff? Or how about a prosecutor and defense attorney in a murder trial who are also in a secret relationship? You decide.
The story should also prominently feature a dog (please, don’t kill the dog; this will get your story thrown in the no-no pile immediately). The dog can be a loyal companion, a talking sidekick, a shape-shifting hero…. The sky’s the limit.
The story should also culminate in an HEA, where the suspense plot is resolved, the antagonist defeated, and the couple achieves their HEA, with their loyal dog companion, sidekick, or however you portrayed the dog, by their side.
How spicy should the romance be, you ask? Heat level of at least three chili peppers (open-door intimate scenes), but no erotica, please. I’m not looking for sex for sex’s sake. The scene(s) need to fit the plot.
Stories should be between 5,000 and 7,000 words.
For full submission guidelines, please check out our Write For Us page. Use this form to submit to Paws and Peril when you’re ready!