Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler — a best kiss!
Sarah Tomp’s coming-of-age novel, My Best Everything, has the best of everything we want in a good story:
- Characters with chemistry
- Revved up emotions
- Romance
- Adventure
- High stakes, and
- The best kisses!
What makes a good kiss, in literature? You might want to read Emily Temple’s post, “10 of the Greatest Kisses in Literature” (The Atlantic), before you formulate your answer. Authors who make this list include Shakespeare, Margaret Mitchell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Vladimir Nabokov and Lord Byron.
Sarah Tomp makes my list. In Tomp’s novel, when Lulu and Mason finally kiss, half way through the story, it’s worth the wait. Here’s how it goes:
The way you looked at me loosened me from the inside out.
You finally kissed me.
Long and sweet and deep.
I never knew kisses could feel like that. The trembling in your arms told me something had hit you too. I wrapped my arms around your neck, found your hair was almost long enough to take ahold of. Your hands felt strong and warm against my back. Tentative touches and tastes shifted closer, firmer. We opened up to each other, grew more certain in our kisses. (Tomp, 2015, page 199)
Writers, I challenge you to write your best kisses. Whether it’s the first kiss or kiss number 1000, describe how your characters act and react, and how they feel.