The Loudest Yell Gets a Story First

MUSE MONDAY
Today, I'm thinking about secondary characters - the supporting cast. What usually happens to me when I'm writing is that I form attachments to the people who populate the world of my primary characters. They have entire lives that my readers know nothing about. But I do. I'm wondering if when you read a book do the secondary characters ever interest you to the point you wish the author would tell their stories?

The only problem when this happens to me is that I might not have time to get into their story right away. I've decided (just today - you're the first to know) that I'm going to start making time. I might have other stories in my head that I need to tell, but I also owe it to my supporting cast members to not ignore them too long. Or at the very least, I will put them on my "To Be Written" list.

My partial TBW list to date:
Paulie - Remember Claire's best friend in Honey On White Bread, my1945 historical romance? Paulie was flighty, hard to please and had a huge crush on the guy that had a huge crush on Claire. All it got her was the loss of her virginity and a slap in the face with the knowledge she was nothing more than a stand-in for Claire. There is something brewing with the return of her father that left the family years ago, and there's a guy who worships the ground she walks on. Paulie has her flaws so I'm not too sure about telling her story - even though she's demanding I unleash her on paper.

Ruth - Ruth had a bit part in Honey On White Bread as the wise older sister of Paulie and Benjamin. She had short, bleached hair and smoked unfiltered cigarettes. Ahead of her time, she believed women could work at whatever they wanted and deserved equal pay. She was a waitress but intended on owning a restaurant some day. Sassy lady. Her story should be fun to write.

Phoebe - She's the best friend of the heroine, Lacy Dahl, in The Art of Love and Murder. This is kind of unfair to mention since this is an unpublished book and I've already started writing Phoebe's story, Southwest of Love and Murder. Phoebe murdered her first husband - on paper - but now he's actually been murdered, exactly as she wrote it. She's an artsy, free spirited writer and she's falling for an uptight, playboy rancher named Mason. There's lightening between them while they deal with a murderer.

Penny - Or The Black Fairy, as Lacy named her because of her goth attire. Penny is a very minor character in The Art of Love and Murder. Penny mans the front desk of the haunted hotel where Lacy stays in Flagstaff. We don't know a lot about Penny except she's likeable. She has told me about a man who comes to stay at the hotel who is down on his luck, a drifter. There's a mystery our little goth fairy gets deep into.

Dirk and Margie - I have to include both because I'm not sure who will take the lead. These are older characters, even for me to write about. I like older characters with all their history and experience. Dirk made a brief appearance in The Art of Love and Murder and has a bigger role in Southwest of Love and Murder. He's the father of Mason and Lacy's husband, Chance. He's a rough, tough ranch owner who has a sweet spot for Margie, who is a petite, spitfire of a rancher. They're in their early sixties, long time friends but ready for some romance - if they can avoid the dangers they face.

There are more but you get the picture. Lots of characters vying for attention in my head. I wonder who will yell the loudest once I have the two books I'm working on right now finished?

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What Comes First - the Story or the Characters?

Muse Monday

It's a question all authors get asked at some time or another. My answer is quick - the characters. My imagination is so character driven that there are times I've really had to search out their story. I might have only a vague idea. For instance, Sleeping with the Lights On started with a fifty year old woman who hadn't found the right man or the right career. I knew Sandra Holiday was upbeat and funny, but why hadn't she found what she needed in life? I gave her a past, and voila! The story began. I started her on her path of discovery but she led the way and got into all kinds of trouble.

1945 friends

Honey On White Bread also started with a character, Claire Flanagan. This young woman was inspired by my mom, so when I created her past, I plucked a few events from my mom's childhood. I wanted to write a story set in the 1940's. Although still character driven, this time I allowed the era to determine my direction. But Claire's sass jumped right off of page one and gave me the reason for the book.

For my novella, The Morning After, I answered a submission request from my publisher. They set the scene (at least one pivotal moment in Amarillo, Texas at the Lonesome Steer Honky Tonk) but the story was the writer's choosing. So...Texas, dancing, drinking and romance. A thirty-something lady came to mind. Abigail Martin woke up with a hangover in Amarillo after a wedding at the Lonesome Steer. And since she needed a sexy cowboy to spice up her dull life - redheaded Bobby Stockwood swept her off her feet. And he gives the meaning to the word character.

The hotel Lacy stays at in Flagstaff

I'm currently writing a series, my Love and Murder series. I tried to start a bit differently this time. My intent was to write three murder mysteries and begin with the storyline. I came up blank. And then Lacy Dahl popped into my head - a woman looking for her past and a new future because her present had been yanked away. Why wouldn't she know her past? Why was it dangerous for her to make that discovery? So, as I did for Sandra Holiday, I created Lacy's past. Only this time, it was my secret. Or I thought it was. Once the story began, it got way more involved than I first thought. 

Because I write romance, there are of course heroes in all of my books. And where they come from is about as mysterious to me as where my heroines come from. All I know is, they're born before the story. I know most of their pasts, how they look, how they dress, how they smell and how they sound long before they divulge their stories. I share that with my characters - discovering the story.

Emotional, Random and Scattered. #26

A random picture from a trip to Seattle.

It's random thought day. Tidbit day. This and that day. Because I'm scattered. Last week took me on an emotional roller coaster and left me like when you've been on a boat all day and you still ride the waves even after you're on solid ground. Okay, long run-on sentence. Sorry.

Jimmy Thomas

I wonder if Jimmy Thomas is as cute in person as he is on his covers (or at the top of this blog). I'll find out next week.

I wrote 'the end' today on my latest manuscript and emailed the last three chapters to my critique partners. Part of the book takes place in the  haunted Monte Vista Hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona. As soon as I get their comments, I'll polish it up an ship it out. I'm hoping this book gets me an agent. I'm really, really, really hoping.

Paulden is dry. I'm going through bottles of lotion.

Soaking in a tub is twice as important but I do it half as often. Oh wait! I do shower.

It must be some sort of law you have to have at least two dogs if you live in Paulden.

Last time I mentioned putting up wind breakers for the plants - this screen like material we would cover the chain link fence with around the garden. Lance tested the theory and it doesn't work unless the break is within a few feet of the plants. I suppose this decision has saved us some money. And I suppose only the strong will survive.

Our latest victims are three rows of leafy greens. Bugs. Nasty little boogers. More research. Now we're investing in a thousand feet of a light weight material that you cover the rows with until the plants are big enough to sustain such attacks. Still, not guaranteed. Not sure where this fits in my budget, but if we're ever going to feed ourselves we need the plants to survive. Some day, I'll go to the grocery store and have a really small tab because most everything comes out of our garden. That's the plan, Stan.

This Crazy Blogging Thing

I've spent the morning researching blogging. It's the kind of research that makes my skin crawl and convinces me I have the condition called Restless Leg Syndrome. I THINK I managed to link my Amazon and GoodReads author pages to this, Discover Yourself, blog. And so I discovered I really don't like this kind of techie business.

I'm done for today. I really have to get back to book one in my Lacy Dahl series, to be renamed when I figure out just what I want to call them. Lacy is the heroine in book one, and the next two books will result from her adventure of discovery. Funny story before I dive back in - my hero, and her soon to be love interest was named Lance Meadowlark. My son's name is Lance and for some reason this hero felt like a Lance - until I got to the love scene. Then the ick factor exploded. I didn't characterize my hero as my son, but I could not write a love scene using my son's name. Lance became Chance.