Avoiding the “Too Stupid to Live” Heroine in Regency Romantic Suspense Plus: Read a Deleted Scene from The Spinster’s Christmas If you’ve ever shouted at a movie screen because the heroine ran into the dark woods instead of toward safety, you’ve probably encountered what writers call a “Too Stupid to Live” (TSTL) heroine. As a reader and writer of Regency romantic suspense, I’ve always tried to avoid falling into that trap. But sometimes, even the most logic-loving authors can make mistakes. When I was about to release The Spinster’s Christmas , I hired a professional macro-editor to take a look at it. I wrote the book during a difficult season in my writing journey, and although I sensed something wasn’t working in the manuscript, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Turns out, it was a classic case of being too close to the story to see the problem. My editor pointed out a scene near the climax where my heroine—normally level-headed—suddenly runs away from safety and int...