Nice to ‘Cute Meet’ You

Once upon a time, I was not a romance writer but a girl who would go about her daily business always thinking of people and different things they might say and do.  I did that for about 25 years.  And then one day, after reading a book I’d been given at a little comic book convention, I had the most amazing idea…write this stuff down!  And then my next brilliant idea…learn how to write this stuff down.  I enrolled with ed2go, an online courses system, in Lori Wilde’s “Romance Writing Secrets”.  My favorite lesson?  The Cute Meet.

What I love about the Cute Meet, or the life-changing event that brings the hero and heroine together in conflict (thank you Lori Wilde for that definition) is that it can be exactly as its name implies, a sweet sort of first meeting of two people who are destined to fall in love but it just as rightfully belongs to those characters who dash around in a more dramatic story.  I tend to write an angsty-flavored tale but my boys and girls get down with their Cute Meets just as nicely.  The purpose of the Cute Meet?  Throw the plot into action!

So what are some of your favorite Cute Meets?  I know there are some great ones out there, whether they come from your favorite book, movie or real life, I’d love to hear which ones have stuck with you.

I know I’ll never forget the time when in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Night Pleasures, Amanda Devereaux woke up handcuffed to the blond stranger, Kyrian of Thrace…her first words to him, “Excuse me?  Are you alive?”  Of course he didn’t respond right away and she started in with the usual niceties like, “Guy?, Mister?, Mr. Gothman?…”  Poking at him, feeling something special that took her breath away.  Love her… and when he comes to, they are without a doubt thrown into the story of their lives.

And then there’s real life where Cute Meets happen all the time.  In fact, one day in this very pond, a certain blond mermaid was wading through the comments section of that day’s lovely post about Accountablility Partners.  She didn’t really know what one of those was so she made a smarty pants reply that she didn’t know about a writing partner, but she could sure use a legs-shaving accountability partner.  It was from that silly remark that she hooked not just a wonderful writer friend, but someone who definitely catapults her writing on a daily basis, helping to set her plots into action.  So technically, I call that a Cute Meet.  Thanks Lynne!  So glad I “Cute Met” you here.

Well, that’s enough from me.  Please share some of your favorites!

 

40 thoughts on “Nice to ‘Cute Meet’ You

  1. This is solo weird! On Sunday my mom and I were at the store talking about this very thing had I been single I would ha
    ve just had a very cute “cute meet”. We bought Avari a bike and let her ride it around the store. She ran into a guy shopping and tipped her bike over. He set her in the upright and sent her on her way. A few minutes later we were in produce together looking at apples, smiled and parted ways. A few minutes after that he was in line behind us. A very long line! He played with the kids the whole time. I was loading up the car and low and behold he was parked next to us. Lol I wasn’t paying attention at the car return and ran into him with my basket. And that’s not even the end! Apparently we both needed coffee and ended up at the same starbucks, where it was his turn to not pay attention and he pulled out in front of me and about hit us. He rolled down his window to shout apologies at me and ended up just laughing when he saw who I was. Lol perfect cute meet!

    1. See! I knew real life was filled with Cute Meets! Just as long as he didn’t cute meet you all the way home…;) I think those types of things are the perfect perk-us-ups to sometimes un-fantastic days. Maybe you could adopt him as Uncle Cute Meet. Sounds like he was great with the girls. Thank you SO MUCH

      1. Hey, I wasn’t done commenting 😉 As I was saying, thank you SO MUCH little sis, for sharing that. I love it when the stars align and the universe tweaks my baby sister’s world in order to provide inspriation for my blog! Love you!

  2. I’m a bit brain foggy this morning. But this post is sooo cute! I’m going to think about a good cute meet for ya.

    1. Aww, thank you…look forward to hearing from you once the fog lightens up a bit. I remember our cute meet. Once upon a time, two girls anxiously made it through a WRW meeting as sort of newbies. Not sure what to say to each other, talk of FOOTBALL saved the day. And wouldn’t you know it? Age old rivals, the Steelers and the Chargers, brought us together that day!

        1. Oh Kerri Mermaid, you always get me with that one and I fear you always will. Actually, I look forward to hearing that from you, and always will. That’s our Tina/Meg cute meet story!

          1. Hey you Fabulous Mr. Flores, you’re not supposed to be impersonating me and answering my posts! Out of here, shoo-shoo. 😉

  3. Cute meets–huh. I think you just gave me inspiration for the start of my WIP revision . . . which I have been agonizing over. Thank you, Carlene!

    1. Woo Hoo! Yay, Loni-Mermaid! Glad I could help now go Cute Meet your way through those revisions!

  4. Hi all, just wanted to chime in here and let you know that I will be momentarily away from the pond starting at 11 AM Eastern time. I am hoping to Cute Meet my way to Mr. Comic-Con Badge Resale date! Wish me luck! If you leave a comment and don’t see it right away, I’ll pop back in as soon as I can to approve it for you! Cheers!

    1. Back again, dips toes into the waters. Alas, made it into the Comic-Con buying room just as it sold out again! Will try again at their next batch of sales. Speaking of this fabulous convention, inspiration runs wild here and Cute Meets happen all over the place. Masked, costumed, hysterical Cute Meets.

  5. My favorite cute meet in a book is in–you guessed it!–Kristan Higgins’s To Good to be True. Grace Emerson thinks someone is breaking into the house next door and calls the cops. While waiting for the cops (and having had too many drinks at a wedding earlier) the doorbell rings, and who’s at the door? Well, the breaking-and-entering guy, of course. And she proceeds to beat the hell out of him with a hockey stick. Later, we find out that he bought the house, and the key wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Loved the fact that the first two meets she ends up hurting the guy. So funny. And his name… Callahan O’Shea. Oh my! Yummy.
    Great first meet in a book. This one won the RITA in 2010.

    1. Kim, I LOVE that book as well! Callahan O’Shea is ridiculously cute and yes, takes a lot of punishment from Grace. That was a great Cute Meet. Thank you for stopping by and reminding me of one of the most adorable fiction heroes ever written. I mean, I can still remember how his eyes tilt down at the corners, sort of like Paul Newman, I believe, was how the description went. Yes, yummy!

    2. Great Cute Meet!!! Callahan O’Shea rocks my socks! I love when he tells her his name and she’s just like, oohhhh great name! Because you know we were all thinking it too!

  6. Hi Carlene! I have one favorite “cute meet” that comes to mind. I don’t know if I’m allowed to use names here, so I’ll call them Mr. and Ms…but you’ll know who they are. Mr. fell in love with Ms. when she came to town to visit her ailing brother and was sitting in a chair with legs crossed swinging her sexy little cute foot and speaking in that same little cute accent. The feelings became mutual when she saw how much he loved and cared for her ailing brother. That was just the beginning….I hope this is ok to post.

    1. ABSOLUTELY that is ok to post! And I’m so glad you did. I had that one in my notes as a favorite as well. I’m just tickled that I’m not the only one who recognizes what a perfect Cute Meet that was between Mr. and Ms. 😉 Thank you for sharing it! Love you, Aunt Terry.

  7. Who could you guys possibly be writing about? I’ll be back later with my own, since Terry stole mine. Hugs

    1. Smiling so big I almost got dizzy and fell into the pond. Which theoretically wouldn’t be a problem since I’m part fish…anywho, good to see you here at the pond, Ms.
      Love you and look forward to seeing what you return with since your Cute Meet was “stolen”!
      😉

      1. Okay, how about the movie Legally Blonde. Love the way the manicurist met the delivery man. Or Steel Magnolias when Daryl Hannah hooked her true love, the guy ended up playing the Easter Bunny for her. Or the all time classic, Pretty Woman. All simple but cute meets I love.

        1. All wonderful Cute Meets! I’ll have to go with Legally Blonde as my favorite from this bunch. Also, the template for much of Pretty Woman is used in a writing book I have by Dianna Love and Mary Buckham called “Break Into Fiction”. See, you’re onto something and you didn’t even know it!

    2. Sorry Anna! But I didn’t have one of my own! Although, if I’d thought of it, I guess I could have used the plot line from When Harry Met Sally…I watch that movie EVERY time it comes on 🙂

  8. Nice…A little too girly for me but I remember when we were driving to Pittsburgh to meet up with your brother, the ankle-biter season had just finished and I was remembering how great the kids had done and how awesome the experience was, even though we didn’t win a game that season. At that moment I “Cute Met” coaching football and knew it was something I wanted to be involved with for the rest of my life.

  9. OK, I’m currently obsessed with Josh Lanyon’s Adrien English mysteries and Adrien and Jake meet when Jake is investigating Adrien as a murder suspect. Does that count?

    1. Hey, sometimes the only way to find your true love is to suspect them of murder. You know, it’s just that way for some folks. 😉 Thanks for stopping by Avery Mermaid!

  10. Awww…the cute meet…LOVE IT! But gosh, I’m struggling for a personal ‘cute meet’ I can actually write about:) my…but character-wise my brain is a fuzz ball – and I’ve got nothing…because there are too many thoughts in my head…nonetheless enjoyed your post and the comments. Also learned something – even in urban fantasy I need to find the cute meets:)…

    1. Hi Denny Mermaid! Thank you for stopping by, fuzz ball brain and all. I had a lot of fun trying to come up with cute meets from all kinds of books. I love the simplicity and significance all wrapped in one single moment.

  11. Shucks, I had a real life Cute Meet of my own, once upon a time — when I was dating Handsome Idiot User-Man and Nerdy Gentle-Soul and Hapless Roommate heard the commotion and peeked (peeked!) around the corner to see who HIUM had brought home now. I looked at him and… was not impressed. It took time and Gentle-Soul sticking up for me in a fight later on to open my eyes.

    1. Awww, Susan Mermaid. It sounds like you were treated to a couple fo Cute Meets with Gentle-“patient”-Soul. Sometimes it takes more than one. 😉

      Thank you for sharing that with us! I don’t know about everyone else, but I see lots of potential with all these real life Cute Meets.

  12. Ok, as soon as I saw the title, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and I cannot believe not one person mentioned it…the movie, The Holiday! Where Kate Winslet meets the older gentleman and he’s a retired Oscar winning screen writer and he tells her about the “meet-cute.” OMGosh…love that movie!

    While I’m thinking about The Holiday, in the back of my mind I’m also thinking, “I can’t wait for my Cute Meet!” 😀

    1. I LOVE that movie! And loved that screen writer. Good call, Kathleen. Of course then there’s Jude Law who I’d love to Cute Meet someday. I can only tell you that when you have yours, it’s going to be one lucky person. So hey, universe and stars, prime him now. He’s about to stumble onto the sparkliest gal I know!
      You know, you and I have had some pretty fabulous cute meets, come to think of it 😉 And I’ll be in San Diego this summer….just sayin’

      1. Yes, that’s the one. There was a period where I watched that movie at least once a month. It just kept coming on TV and I just kept on watchin’ it!

  13. Oh yes, Cute Meet with Cam, Martin…who else? Mark is soon! Can’t wait for this summer! A load of Cute Meets on the way!

    1. Just slipped under the water to day dream for a bit….Ahhhhh, Cam-Merman…..

  14. Hi Diana-Mermaid! First I would like to welcome you to the pond, officially! And then thank you for getting your fins wet by dipping into my cute meet waters. There are so many special ingredients that go into the making of a love story and absolutely, you wouldn’t have much without the “how they met”! Weddings—so much good stuff going on there! Welcome!!!!!!

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