Thursday, January 10, 2019

In the Book: #Hero Takeover #RomanticSuspense

Joshua clings to the side of a mountain in Arizona
The first book of my new series has a working title of Magpie, a Joshua, Arizona book. You can deduce from the title that Magpie MacKenzie is the main character. The arc of the series will cover the MacKenzie family and their life in Joshua, Arizona.

I'm thirteen chapters into the first draft and a curious thing has happened. Zack Peartree, Magpie's counterpart and hero has jumped in and is dominating the story line. I don't like to use force on my characters. It's usually good if they develop organically. BUT...I'm going to have to curb his appetite for being in the spotlight. Or it's possible I just need to step up Magpie's game.

This is one of the fun things about writing a novel. As a reader, you might assume authors know their story and sit down at the computer and pound it out. Not necessarily. This is the hardest facet of writing to explain to someone who isn't familiar with the process. At least, not my process. It's important to stay on the path as far as the theme and the story. The plot can and does wander from time to time which can be a nightmare to get back on track. You don't want to end up in Florida if you're headed to Maine.

For now, Zack can have his way. I think if I haven't seen Magpie step out of the shadows by chapter
Stairs take you to the street above
fifteen, I'm going to have to backtrack and discover where she shut down. She needs to find her mojo again.

Brenda and her husband are gypsies at heart having lived in six states and two countries. Currently, they split their time between the Lake Roosevelt basin in Central Arizona and the pines in the north. Wherever Brenda opens her laptop, she spends most of her time writing stories of discovery and love entangled with suspense.

She blogs and has guests: https://brendawhiteside.blogspot.com/


2 comments:

  1. Hmmm, maybe it needs to be Zach's story with Magpie taking a backseat? Would that work if you let him have his head in the first few chapters?

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    1. I really want the three books to be mainly the 3 siblings. I do have to relook at it.

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