Tell us about the main character in your WIP, recent release, or the main character in the book you’re reading.
What’s your favorite thing about that character?
In one short paragraph:
- Showcase their personality.
- Showcase their flaws.
- Showcase their inner struggles.
- Showcase something special about them.
Good morning, Sue. Wow, what an assignment. As one of my sons always used to say, “That sounds too much like work.”
But, for you…: I recently published a prequel to my Mad River Magic series, Bolt’s Story, in which I reveal the background for Bolt, the red-headed daredevil on crutches who leads the group of cousins into all kinds of missions impossible.
At the mirror moment, when Bolt’s muscular dystrophy is progressing and Bolt has descended into deep depression, a young physician in a wheelchair, who also has muscular dystrophy, has just given Bolt an object lesson, seeing how much juice he can squeeze out of an orange.
“We don’t have control of whether we are given a grapefruit, an orange, or a lemon in our life. We do have control of how much juice we squeeze out of it. Just like we don’t have control of what illness or disease or diagnosis we are given…We do have control of how much life we squeeze out of the time we are here…So, the lesson is: Go for it. Live every moment like it could be your last. Be willing to take risks. Take chances…Live boldly.”
Bolt inspected the doc, nodding his head slowly. Where he was now was not how he wanted to spend another minute…”Yeah, I want to do that.” He gradually spoke louder. “Yeah, I can do that!”
Okay, I cheated. I used two paragraphs.
Have a wonderful weekend and squeeze all the juice out of life you can!
Perfect message, Steve. Wishing you and the fam a fab weekend, my friend!
Happy Friday, Sue! I’m currently reading The Singing Sandsby Josephine Tey, a grandmaster of mystery IMHO. The novel is set in the early 1950s in the UK. The hero is Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant, on leave to deal with “stress” (PTSD), and discovers a corpse in a compartment of the train he is after it arrived at his destination in Scotland. A newspaper with the body has a cryptic message written in pencil in a margin, something about “the singing sands etc.”
Grant is a keen observer, fiercely intelligent, with a sharp sense of humor to match his sharp eye, and doggedly persistent when it comes to solving a mystery. His flaws are the classic detective one of being very committed to his work. He’s also unable to be in a committed relationship, probably because of that obsession (the book has him staying with his childhood sweetheart, his cousin Laura and her husband and children). His inner struggle in this book is that PTSD / Burnout / “Exhaustion.” Along with his wit, humor, and keen mind, he’s also Scottish, but walks effortlessly in the English world, and doesn’t put on airs with others. He’s able to look at things from outside himself, and that detachment might be his undoing.
Okay, that was a longish paragraph 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!
You demonstrated exactly what I had in mind. Thank you, Dale! Sounds like a character I’d follow through 300+/- pages.
Have an amazing weekend!
The male lead in my Tawny Lindholm Thriller series is a brilliant, brash, arrogant attorney named Tillman Rosenbaum. At 6’7″ with a James Earl Jones voice, he dominates any courtroom he enters and intimidates most people (except Tawny who can *sometimes* tame the lion). Although he tries hard to hide it, he’s really a mensch.
He appeared near the end of the first book and refused to leave the series. He’s great fun to write b/c I never know what is going to come out of his mouth.
I love Tillman, Debbie! About the only one who can tame him is Tawny, and I love that about her. They’re a great couple.
I’m working on novelizing a short story I wrote a couple of years ago: Lady Pilot-in-Command.
Cassie Deakin is a talented and experienced private pilot who considers her best friend to be Charlie, the Cessna 172 her father bequeathed to her. She’s insecure in her relationships with men, and she steers clear of any situation that could be even remotely dangerous. But when things get dicey, Cassie comes through with “flying colors.”
Sounds like a great character, Kay!
Recent read: The Rose Code, which follows three British women who stumble into jobs at Bletchley Park working to break the enigma code during WWII. Their dedication to learning on the go, to put everything else in their lives (more or less) on hold, and their determination impressed the heck out of me.
For my WIP:
When the former head of Blackthorne, Inc summons Dante Russo, he has no choice but to accept a “Find and Retrieve” assignment. Even though it means being far away from home for several weeks, he needs the job to continue paying the rent for his aging grandmother’s assisted living facility. He’ll have to trust her caregivers to see after her. What should be a pleasant Croatian cruise on a luxury yacht turns into something far more than he expected—or is qualified to handle.
THE BLETCHLEY CIRCLE is a British mystery series about women who were coders for Bletchley Park years before. Bored with their average lives, they can’t resist using their skills to solve complex murders by serial killers.
Nothing like a strong female lead. Love it!
What’s your favorite thing about your MC? Tenirax is incapable of staying out of trouble. He has as much talent for that as for poetry. He has never recovered from the early loss of his father and unconsciously blames his feelings of abandonment on authority of all kinds. Thus he is irreverent and agnostic in 16th Century Spain, an era known for its orthodoxy. Need I even mention the Inquisition, lurking in far off Madrid? Tenirax falls in love rapidly and deeply, never recognizing the nature of the forces that drive his heart. Something special about him? There was that awful night in Bilbao, many years ago . . .
Love characters who can’t seem to stay out of trouble, J!
Verity Long’s perfect life in her small Southern town is ruined when she catches her fiancé trying to molest her sister, and the town bitch queen destroys her for daring to dump her son. Now broke and jobless, Verity finds the burial urn of mobster Frankie the German, and he’s so angry he gives her the ability to see the ghost plane. Unable to turn away from ghosts wanting peace and current murders waiting to be solved, kind Verity hopes to keep her home and fruit on the table for her pet skunk by stopping violent hauntings. Unfortunately, her first client is her ex’s good brother, and sparks are flying. — “The Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries,” by Angie Fox. Paranormal cozy.
I finished book 11 last night. I really enjoy Verity whose kindness and ability to give happy endings to everyone but herself makes me smile. I end each story with a happy glow. Frankie and his mobster attitude adds a bit of tart to Verity’s sweetness as they become reluctant partners.
Verity sounds like an easy character to love, Marilynn. A pet skunk? Awesome!
I’m working on a (light horror) short story for a local competition.
Emma Jean is fourteen and living with her Aunt Stella. Emma Jean doesn’t speak much. She’s too busy trying to remember her dead mother’s musical voice. Every time Emma Jean opens her mouth and squeaky words come out, her mother’s voice fades a little more.
Emma Jean is terrified of looking in the mirror. There’s always a skeletal arm, no bigger than a Barbie Doll’s, reaching from the other side of the glass, reaching and grasping the frame as if trying to climb into Emma Jean’s world.
Ooh, Emma sounds terrific, Priscilla! Love how if she speaks, she’ll lose her mother’s voice. Rooting for you to win!
I am re-reading John Connolly’s (no relation to Michael Connelly) Charlie Parker no relation to Yardbird) series. His most endearing quality for me is that he is heavily into revenge. Your results may differ.
Thank you, Sue. Have a great weekend!
Hahahaha. A vengeful character sounds right up my alley, Joe!
Hope you have a great weekend, too, SJ!
Hi Sue and other KZers. I’m well into developing a series titled City Of Danger where I initially had a concept of linked episodes that could stand alone. Then I came across a quote that made me switch directions for a progressive episodic style. This is what I found:
“However many characters appear in a story, the real concern is just one: its hero. It’s her fate readers identify with, as they see her gradually develop towards a state of self-realization which marks the end of the story. Ultimately, it’s in relation to this central figure that all other characters in the story take on their significance. What each of the other characters represents is really only some aspect of the inner state of the hero herself.”
BTW, City Of Danger’s mc/hero is Susan Silverii. Gotta love a girl named Sue.