Nov 1, 2013

Fish (or pig) Out of Water

On my evening walk with the pooch tonight I saw both the cutest and saddest sight. Rather than me describe it, I'll show you the very bad picture I took. Can you make out what it is?
                                    
I first noticed a flock of sheep moving together into the corner of a paddock. And then I saw the brown thing trotting towards them and thought what a porky little dog it was. 

And then I stopped in my tracks. 

It wasn't a porky little dog but a porky little porker! A wild piglet who must've come down from the bush and was running as fast as his little legs would carry him towards the big white woolly pigs. Of course, the big white woolly pigs thought he was a porky little dog and so were racing from one corner of the paddock to the other. I just wanted to jump that fence and give that poor piggy a hug. Doesn't he look forlorn in this shot?!
And it got me thinking about one of my favorite romance tropes - Fish Out of Water. I LOVE a story about someone in a situation that's completely foreign to them - the businessman visiting the girl on the cattle ranch, the corporate woman who has to do community service and falls for the guy working in the soup kitchen.
                                           
There are some great Fish Out of Water heroes and heroines, too. Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" is the first heroine that springs to mind. I loved the way she struggled and ultimately triumphed in a world that was so foreign to her. And heroes? I happen to be writing a Fish Out of Water hero right now. He's a tatooed, mortorcycle riding private detective specialising in philandering spouses and he has to take over his parents' Wedding Hall business...

Do you have any favourite Fish out of Water stories?

9 comments:

  1. Barbara

    That poor piggy :)

    I love a fish out of water story but of course I can't think of any at the moment my memory is shot LOL

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. Helen, I'm going to go looking for him again today. I hope he's not still trying to cuddle up to the white woolly pigs :(

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  2. That is one lost piggy, Barb :-)
    Love a good fish out of water story and would of course be remiss to not mention my sister's fabulous book called "Fish Out Of Water" about a mermaid/cop in small town USA. Literally a fish out of water :-)

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  3. OF COURSE! I knew Roz Baxter had a Fish out of Water book called "Fish Out of Water"! It's on my TBR list right now!

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  4. That poor little piggy, Barb.

    I love My Fair Lady. Hmm, Fish Out of Water stories. I can't think of one atm. But sometimes I feel like a Fish Out of Water in the town I live in. I think I'm the only person here that doesn't surf.

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  5. Barb, I want to give that little pig a hug too. And maybe explain to the sheep that he's just looking for friends...

    I love fish out of water stories. Right now I'm reading Amanda Ashby's Demonosity, where the modern teenage heroine has been thrown into the middle of a good versus evil fight involving medieval knights, demons and a mysterious black rose. She's certainly struggling with the concepts. :) I'm loving it!

    And before that I read Georgette Heyer's Arabella, where a poor vicar's daughter from rural Yorkshire has the opportunity to go to London for her first season, but everyone thinks she's an heiress and becomes the belle of the season. She's constantly learning about new rules, usually when she breaks one. But they're learning from her too. It was gorgeous!

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  6. I have a soft spot for pigs, so I just want to give that one a big smoochy cuddle. I hope he finds his herd.

    Count me in among the fish out of water story lovers. My Fair Lady was great good fun. I also loved Pretty Woman's reaction to living the high life and Freaky Friday made me chortle as a kid. There must be lots more but I can't think of them. I have to say, though, that I too loved Heyer's Arabella.

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  7. Aww, Barb, that is so cute and sad! Poor little Babe is having a serious identity crisis!

    I do enjoy fish out of water stories. Linda Howard's Killing time is a good one - the heroine has travelled back from the future to stop someone from interferring with history. She thinks she's studied all the present day speech patterns and mannerisms. It's fun and LH does a great hero!

    I like the sound of GH's Arabella too - must put that on my tbr!

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  8. Hi Barbara,

    That's so lovely. As an optimist I'm hoping the sheep will accept him soon. Why not? I had great fun writing my own fish out of water story - an Australian dairy farmer who ends up as a princess.

    Love Eliza Dolittle. Such a great character. Most of the best fish out of water characters I've come across have been in romances, I have to say!

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