Month: April 2018

I think it’s inevitable that writers tend to write the things they know—and that includes places, pets, and yes, people. The trick when it comes to people is not to write them so real to life that they recognize themselves. Most people don’t see themselves through the same lens that the rest of the world uses. If I say to a friend, “Why do you always seem to xxx?” they will say back, usually with a hurt or confused expression, “I don’t.” I probably would do the same. I read once that the flaws we see in others are often the same flaws we have ourselves. Yikes!!

 Just to be clear, I do not know these people and they are not in my books. 😉

So, ignoring the guideline I just set out, some of my friends might well recognize themselves in my books, but more through dialogue than through description. What someone says usually sticks with me and I use that for the basis of my character. So my husband might recognize himself as Tyler Birch in Impatient Passion when I have him say that his father told him he could go to any school he wanted but that dad was sending the money to Virginia Military Institute. That was true and we still laugh about it. Jack’s (and Tyler’s) relationship with their fathers came through in those few words.

By the same token, the grumpy but kind of endearing characteristics of Margaret in Passionate Destiny were based on a boss I had. He told me that he went to graduate school in Kansas. We had lived in Kansas and loved it because the people were so friendly. That’s exactly what Staten Island born-and-bred Joe didn’t like. “You can’t even stand in a X@%$ grocery store line without someone talking to you and asking about your ^%@! life story!” Without the expletives deleted, that’s the very sentiment Margaret expresses in the grocery of her new, small Virginia town. If Joe didn’t recognize himself in those words, I did something wrong!

On the other hand, my mom and her twin probably would deny ’til the cows come home that they are really Dan’s aunts in The Man of Her Dreams. They are two funny ladies who interrupt each other, contradict and agree, insult and quibble, yet obviously love each other dearly. They finish each other’s sentences just like Dan’s aunts, too. A conversation with them is like watching a tennis match, with your head turning back and forth as they deftly weave their words into single thoughts. Amazing!

When you write, are you more careful or less to hide the real person behind the character? It’s fun both ways as long as no one ends up with hurt feelings.

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee
Naval Maneuvers When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!

Gosh, is there any better feeling than finishing that manuscript you’ve been working on for months? Nope. It’s time to celebrate, dudes and dudettes! I’d like to say that I grab my honey love, give him a big ol’ smooch, and take him out for dinner and dancing. I’d like to say that we come home to climb under the sheets and light the night on fire! I’d like to say all that, but honestly…?

First, I take a nap. Then I take the opportunity to cook something for dinner. I mean cook something instead of imploring Jack to bring home Mickey D’s or slapping cheese between two slices of bread. Finishing a manuscript means I might prepare something as exciting as pasta with a bottled marinara sauce and salad in a bag. (That’s what passes for coking in our house.) Last, I kiss Jack goodnight and go to sleep. After all, tomorrow’s a big day. The manuscript might be finished but editing and polishing are waiting to start.

I love writing.

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee
Naval Maneuvers When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!

Glass breaks.

Well, that was a short post!

It’s never fun getting a bad review. I don’t care how much people say it’s a learning experience or how we grow through facing up to the negative. Poppycock! That might be true eventually, but at the beginning I find it just plain hard. That book was my baby. I nurtured it, fed it, held it in my arms until I released it into the cold, cruel world and I wanted nothing but good things to happen to it. And then some random person comes along and says it has no merit?? Where is that person? I have something to discuss with him (her).

But then I settle down and read the review again. Usually I find that the reviewer has a point in some small way. Maybe I didn’t fully explain why the artist shot the armadillo, or perhaps I overplayed the role of the dance hall girl in my contemporary thriller. All things are possible. By then I can see where I need to do better in the next book.

And I guess people who say a bad review can be a learning experience are right after all…

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Thanks!
Dee

Naval Maneuvers When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines! eBook or print!