A Perfect Man: First Chapter and Purchase Links

I'm so excited that A Perfect Man is out! For those who are curious as to what it's about, here's the blurb:

How far will she go to find her perfect man? How far will he go to be one?

When Karen Hardeman sets foot on the Foothills University campus, it’s her first step toward proving her abusive ex wrong. Just her luck, her first writing assignment in Intro to Romance sends her in search of the perfect hero—a quest she’s never managed to conquer.

Worse, her professor forces her to collaborate with the most overconfident, annoying guy in the class.

Seth Sayers is also at Foothills to find new direction—preferably one that takes him far away from the family drama that’s followed him since his father’s death. He didn’t mean to humiliate Karen by rewriting her manuscript from the hero’s point of view. He blames the painkillers the ER doctor gave him after stitching up a wine-induced cut on his hand.

As their collaboration progresses, Karen begins to trust Seth with her manuscript, then maybe a little piece of her heart. But Seth’s half-brother resurrects Seth’s suspicions about his father’s death. Until he finds the truth, he can’t be the hero in anyone’s life. Even his own.

Warning: Some alcohol consumption. Okay, writer amounts of alcohol consumption. There are also some adult situations, but nothing too explicit. It is a romance-writing class, after all.

A Perfect Man was released from Samhain Publishing on May 12.

Other order links include:

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble

And anywhere else books are sold.

Here's a sneak peek at the first couple of scenes:

Chapter One:

Karen Hardeman walked onto the campus of Foothills University, into her new life, and straight into her ex-boyfriend.

She was mentally counting the total number of steps from the Graduate Parking Lot entrance to the Student Center Annex, site of her first class, which had been intimidatingly dubbed a “seminar”, when she saw him. This was supposed to be a new beginning, a fresh start, a personal renaissance. But there he was, unmistakable with his hipster goatee, round tortoiseshell glasses, and hair just a little too long.

The thought, he probably needs to get new jacket photos done, spiked her brain simultaneously with a shot of triple-espresso-strength adrenaline straight from her gut to her heart. Both sent her scrambling behind a magnolia tree as he approached on the sidewalk. Luckily he was looking at his phone, so maybe he hadn’t seen her. Although his average-at-best appearance hadn’t changed much, he exuded his customary attitude of I’m a bestselling author, and I will do what I want.

Karen wondered if he’d forgiven her for telling him she had a surprise for him for his thirty-fifth birthday and moving out while he was away for the afternoon at a writing retreat. Probably not. He’d certainly been surprised, though.

“Hello, Karen.”

She looked up from her phone, which she’d been studying with all the logic of a cat who doesn’t think you can see it if it can’t see you. “Oh hi, Marius.” She tried to pull her lips into the ice-queen smile she’d practiced for just such an occasion, but all she could manage was convenience-store-slushie duchess.

“Lovely day here in the mountains, isn’t it?” He grinned like he’d just caught her sneaking buttercream icing out of the fridge—that had only happened a few times, and she’d justified it as a better coping mechanism than alcohol—and she leaned against the tree to preempt her spirit’s fetal-position reaction to his inevitable insult.

“Well,” he continued with that huge gotcha grin, “I was just visiting my good friend and former editor Sue Ellen Forrester-Schmidt. Maybe you’ve heard of her? She started the new MFA program in genre literature here. I just wanted to wish her luck on her first day.”

Karen reacquainted her upper molars with her lower ones so her mouth wouldn’t fall open. Of all the rotten, stinking luck!

“Yes,” he continued with a smug smirk, “my agent, Artie—you remember Artie, right?—introduced me to her at a party last year, and we hit it off. I heard she came here when Southern Lyon Books got bought and laid her off, so I was just checking in to see how she’s settling in.”

“How nice of you.” Karen sagged against the tree, its smooth bark solid under her arm and its steadiness supporting her, because life had become unfair once again.

“So what are you doing here? I wondered where you went.”

He wondered where she went, like she’d just left for a walk one day and hadn’t come back, not moved out of their little apartment and their life of almost a decade together.

“I decided to go back to school.” She tried to access her inner ninja and feinted left, then tried to pass him on the right, but he blocked her. He always blocked her.

“What program?”

“It’s a master’s program.”

“In what?”

Karen straightened to her full five and a half feet, almost as tall as him—which had always driven him crazy—and said, “It’s none of your business, Marius.”

He stepped aside and held a hand out for her to pass him, which she did. He waited until she was almost ten feet away before calling after her, “Tell Sue Ellen I said hello. Oh, and Karen? Surprise!”

She clenched her fists. Of course he knew. He always did. So instead of walking into her first class full of confidence and hope, she just knew the professor would hate her.

It was hard to move forward when the past kept biting her in the ass and dragging her back.

The cool of the Student Center Annex welcomed Karen like a polite hug—come on in, honey, but let’s not get too close. She checked the schedule and found the room. Thankfully, the professor hadn’t arrived yet, so she had time to compose herself.

Eyes down, she slunk to the only empty desk in the circle of six and slid in. The seat snagged the back of her thigh, and she was sure she’d just gotten a huge splinter. The encounter with Marius had left her confidence shriveled at the bottom of her gut, like a tequila worm burned by the immersion in his intoxicating but deadly ego. The burn stayed with her, reddening her cheeks, and she barely noticed as her classmates’ glances brushed over her. Each felt weighted with judgment—too fat, too frizzy, too cowardly, imposter.

She almost ran a hand through her dark curls but remembered she should leave them alone or else they’d turn her into a frizz monster, which would make her look even lovelier on top of the sunburn she’d acquired when she moved in the previous weekend. She could almost feel the freckles blooming on her skin. Sophisticated writer, that’s me.

This morning just got better and better, and now she was going to have to sit through an hour lecture on the romance genre. Hell, she needed Romance 101—the life course, not the writing course. What did she know about romance? Would she have to bare her soul and write sex scenes for strangers? What if they laughed at her like Marius had?

“Face it, babe.” His words from earlier that year echoed in her mind. “You can try this writing thing, but you just don’t have what it takes.”

The skin at the back of Karen’s neck tightened, and she knew Doctor Forrester-Schmidt had walked in and probably checked for her first, after talking with Marius. Oh God, what did he tell her? How screwed am I?

Karen had liked Doctor Forrester-Schmidt well enough at the program interview. Now, when the professor came in, she looked at each of the students intently, but her face didn’t reveal whether Marius had mentioned Karen. Not even a blink when their eyes met. Even now, at the end of August, the former editor in chief for Southern Lyon Books wore her signature long black skirt and suit jacket but seemed unfazed by the heat.

Is the woman even human?

“Welcome, class,” she said and surveyed them with a catlike half smile. “I’m glad to see the inaugural class for the genre literature program has such a range of backgrounds and ages. Let’s go around and introduce ourselves, shall we?”

Karen’s heart gave a little squeeze when Forrester-Schmidt’s cold, gray eyes passed over her, but the professor’s javelin gaze speared the guy next to Karen. She hadn’t paid much attention to him, aside from noting he doodled spaceships in the margins of his yellow pad. His shaggy, light-brown hair hung in his hazel eyes and made hers itch by looking at them, but he had sweet dimples and nice-looking lips. The vintage men’s shirt he wore showed off his biceps and the breadth of his chest nicely, and Karen wished she’d at least said hi when she sat.

“Why don’t you get us started, Seth?” the professor asked.

The young man next to Karen cleared his throat. “I’m a programmer who wants to put his computer knowledge to good use by writing and editing science fiction.”

“And does he always speak in the third person?”

“Um, no,” he mumbled, “I was just trying to be grammatically correct.”

“And although you succeeded grammatically, you failed stylistically. Karen, tell us about you, but please don’t use the royal I.”

Karen felt for the poor guy. Marius had liked catching her out like that, especially when she tried hard to impress someone. With an apologetic glance his way, she said, “Hi, I’m Karen. I most recently lived in Atlanta, but I grew up in Birmingham and went to school in Arkansas. I was a front-office manager for a medical practice, but I couldn’t take the politics and left to pursue my first love of writing. I was actually just there to support my writing habit.”

She waited for the chuckle, which didn’t come. Now Seth sent her a sympathetic glance.

She shifted in her seat and straightened. She didn’t need another guy’s pity, not today. “And, um, I’m not sure where I want to specialize. I’m just open to learning new things right now.”

“Thank you.” The professor looked around the room. “If you’re already tied to a specific genre, then you will be miserable during parts of this program because we expose you to all of them. Whether you go on to be a published author or have other plans for joining the publishing industry, the best thing we can do for you is give you an idea of what genre fiction has to offer. Who knows?” She smiled at Karen. “You might find something you didn’t realize you love right under your nose. You never know until you try.”

The knot of tension loosened in her chest, but then the panic returned when she wondered if Forrester-Schmidt meant she, the professor, had feelings for Marius.

Oh God, oh God.

Karen’s mind bounced the possibilities around, and she missed the other four class members’ introductions, aside from snippets.

“Now,” Doctor Forrester-Schmidt said and handed out the syllabus, “this is the first part of the program: Romance. This genre sells thousands of new titles per year, making it the most popular fiction category. We’ll also cover related genres like chick lit and women’s fiction, which are fair game for your semester projects. And while these areas seem to be the stronghold of women, men’s voices are also needed.” She raised an eyebrow at one of the other students, a redheaded guy who had rolled his eyes. “Even those who were raised in semirural Georgia and like to wear all black on their first day in school.”

The guy blushed like a redhead.

“While we will be reading plenty of excerpts, as well as writing a novella, your first assignment is to go to the bookstore and pick out what you think is a ‘typical’ romance novel.”

Karen flipped through the syllabus as the professor discussed what the “typical” romance novel might be. She would only consider buying one author for this assignment—Delilah Phillips. She wrote lighthearted contemporary and had been Karen’s savior during her darkest times with Marius.

“Ms. Hardeman?”

She looked up.

“If you will please rejoin us on this plane of existence. You may make your travels during speculative fiction, but writing romance, like love itself, requires your full presence and attention.”

This time the heat in Karen’s face wasn’t sunburn. “Sorry.”

Doctor Forrester-Schmidt towered over Karen’s desk and looked at the page she’d been reading. “Ah yes, our semester project. As an added bonus, I’ve booked one of my former authors to come into the class to speak toward the end of the semester. The student who has written the best project will go to dinner with this author and myself.” She looked around. “It’s someone who writes in the genre, but who has a more, shall we say, modern slant on it. The student with the best project, which will be judged by me and this author, will be able to spend an entire evening with…” she paused, “…Delilah Phillips.”

If it were possible to be simultaneously rooted to the ground and buoyant with joy, that was how Karen felt. She almost blurted out Delilah was her favorite author, but she didn’t want to seem an eager beaver trying to tip the odds in her favor.

She did a better job of looking like she paid attention during the second half of class, but her mind wandered to Ms. Phillips’s characters. She couldn’t wait to ask questions—like how did she come up with her heroines? Were they based on her life? What about the heroes? How did she come up with such flawed but utterly loveable men?

And did she have any advice on how Karen could find one for herself?

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to get first peek at the cover, blurb, and excerpt from my upcoming steampunk novel, please sign up for my monthly(ish) newsletter. I'll also talk about the best devices for reading at night to minimize impact on sleep and my current favorite summer wine.

Published Character on the Couch: A Couples' Session with Theodora and Seth

This Thursday I'm happy to welcome Theo and Seth of Catherine Butzen's The God Collector, out last month. This sounds like a fantastic book, and I got my copy from Amazon today. Of course, I'm partial to heroes named Seth these days. ;)

Their love is ancient history if they can’t catch the thief out to kill them.

Theodora Speer loves her job at the Columbian Exposition Museum designing murals, but a sense of movement—in her art and in her life—eludes her.  She meets the museum’s enigmatic donor Seth Adler while working on a new exhibit: a strange cache of shabtis, or clay funerary figurines, accompanying a prize mummy, and something sparks.

Seth Adler’s interest in the Egyptian artifacts and in Theo goes deeper than patronage, but he can’t tell her that. A series of robberies has everyone on edge and when the Columbian is hit, Theo and Seth are implicated. Someone thinks there was more to the ancient Egyptian funeral rites than meets the eye and wants the mummy and his grave goods.

Seth and Theo are forced on the run, and it may be too much movement for strict realist Theo to keep up with. But the man—and the mummy—are more than she realized. And if she can’t reconcile the past and the present, she and Seth may have no future.

Here's the interview:

If your character were to go to a psychologist – willingly or unwillingly – what would bring them in? Yes, a court order is a valid answer. 

Theodora Speer would willingly visit a psychologist to untangle her own personal concerns, especially following a rather ... explosive meeting with a certain man. Seth Adler would not be brought in, by Theo or anyone else, unless he was directly ordered by a presiding legal authority. Disobeying could risk exposing his false identity, and to him, personal preservation and playing the long game are everything.

Is the presenting problem one of the main internal or external conflicts in your book? If so, how does it present itself?

Yes and no. The problem is that Seth is not, so to speak, what he appears to be. He has trouble figuring out how to relate to other people because he rarely wants to, and he's learned to wait out problems simply by outliving the person who's causing him the problem. Theo, on the other hand, has only one life to live, and she can't comprehend the type of mindset that would leave a country for a hundred years just to wait until an enemy has died. They clash in The God Collector, and they are likely to clash in the office.

It's always interesting to see how people act when they first enter my office. Do they immediately go for my chair, hesitate before sitting anywhere, flop on the couch, etc.? What would your character do?

Theo hesitates before taking a seat on the couch. She sits with knees together, hands resting on the cushions beside her, fingers fidgeting with nothing. "Too much coffee," she says, trying to grin. Seth does not sit; he remains standing against the wall, remaining formal and withdrawn.

Does your character talk to the therapist? How open/revealing will your character be?

Theo tries to explain the situation. It doesn't go well. She mumbles something about Egypt and toys with the necklace she wears, which shows what looks like a melted ankh in silver. Seth picks up the slack somewhat: "One might say the issue is a fundamental clash of mindsets," he says. "I prefer to wait; she prefers to act. I can't object, because it's saved my life--" 

"In a manner of speaking," Theo interrupts, shaking her head bemusedly.

"And you wonder why I don't like modern people," he tells her. There's a note of teasing in his voice, though it's hard to discern past his glacial exterior. "They'll never respect you once they've got their hands on your heart--"

"In a manner of speaking," Theo repeats, grinning. The free hand on the couch cups, as if she's remembering holding something.

Your character walks into the bar down the street after his/her first therapy session. What does he/she order? What happens next?

When it comes to bars, Theo goes alone. She orders a screwdriver and sits blankly, staring at the air for a few minutes while she sips. Then she takes a pen out of her purse and begins to sketch on the bar napkin. The shape that emerges under her hand is not entirely human: a twisted, liquid thing, struggling to live even while it has no body to inhabit. She crumples up the napkin and throws it away.

When you're building characters, do you have any tricks you use to really get into their psyches, like a character interview or personality system (e.g., Myers-Briggs types)?

Interviews are definitely helpful. I studied some psychology, and I often find myself returning to my old textbooks when I'm trying to build a new character, but just sitting them down and asking "What's your problem?" is surprisingly useful to me. Sometimes I'll have two characters pick a fight with each other just to see what they shout--they've surprised me more than once!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I look forward to meeting your characters in your book.

If you're a writer who needs help with a character or an author who would like to send someone over to be interviewed, please email me at cecilia (at) ceciliadominic (dot) com

Speaking of heroes named Seth, I'll be doing a blog hop in anticipation of the release of A Perfect Man on May 12 with cool prizes overall and all along. Please join the Facebook event for more info and prize updates.

Amazon Gift Card winner!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by my signing at Hermit Woods Winery in Meredith, New Hampshire at the end of March. I had a blast meeting and chatting with everyone. And of course drinking wine. The lucky winner of the $20 Amazon gift card is Tara M. I sent the gift card earlier - please let me know if you didn't get it. Thanks, and have a great weekend!

Published Character on the Couch: Tara from Brighid's Flame

Just a quick note about an upcoming appearance... I'll be signing books and chatting with fans this coming Saturday, March 28, from 2:00 to 4:00 at Hermit Woods Winery in Meredith, New Hampshire. I'll try to bring up some of this lovely Southern weather for y'all!

Today I'm happy to welcome Cate Morgan, who is a fellow Samhain author and who shares the same wonderful editor Holly Atkinson, and her character Tara from her just-released novel Brighid's Flame.

Learn it easy, or learn it hard. You don’t mess with New York City.

Keepers of the Flame, Book 3

Tara Fitzpatrick is amazed how far she’s come since the Seven-Year War, when she and her best friend Stephen eked out a bare-bones existence in the Central Park Shanties. Now she has it all: Stephen at her side, rewarding work for the powerful Vincent Dante’s foundation, and a budding romance with Julien, Vincent’s heir.

If only the Underground movement would stop inciting civil unrest against Vincent’s efforts to rebuild the Big Apple, Tara’s life would be perfect.

Then Julien is shot before her eyes, shattering Tara’s world. Her pursuit of the shooter leads her down a rabbit hole dug by betrayal, misconceptions, and inescapable truth.

Suddenly the fate of an entire city rests on her shoulders. The man she was trained to protect is the man she is now forced to destroy. And the acceptance of her true destiny as a Keeper of the Flame comes at a terrible price—if she even survives the fight.

But if she’s lucky, perhaps the fight alone will be enough to save the city she loves.

Warning: Contains powerful alpha men, kick-ass women, dark secrets, and cat-and-mouse games. Also, explosions—because explosions are fun.

1. If your character were to go to a psychologist – willingly or unwillingly – what would bring them in? 

Yes, a court order is a valid answer. If Tara were to see a psychologist, it would be because she was ordered to by her superiors. Being in private security in an apocalyptic New York, she is essentially military during a shattering era of human history. That's a lot of pressure for a girl from the Central Park Shanties! 

 

2. Is the presenting problem one of the main internal or external conflicts in your book? If so, how does it present itself? 

Tara's issues are combination of both, but mainly internal. She was with her mother when she died in the first attacks of the Seven-Year War, and she a majority of the war either in the system in a series of horrible homes, being very angry and restless and unable to control any part of her life. She was a fighter, that's for sure! When she was rescued from the Shanties--a whole Lord of the Flies situation--she was safe for the first time years. Then her world is turned upside down when she learns those she loves and admires have been keeping some pretty dark secrets from her, and she feels betrayed. And--here's the kicker--she discovers that she's not entirely human. And yet she has humanity's fate quivering in the palm of her hand.

 

3. It's always interesting to see how people act when they first enter my office. Do they immediately go for my chair, hesitate before sitting anywhere, flop on the couch, etc.? What would your character do? 

Tara stands to attention and looks straight ahead until asked (or ordered) to sit. When she sits, she does so bolt upright, on the edge of her seat, ready for action at a moment's notice.

 

4. Does your character talk to the therapist? How open/revealing will your character be? 

She has trust issues, so she doesn't say much. She'll answer direct questions because she must, but she won't give away a whole lot. not even in body language. She may admit to being weary, however, because there hasn't been a single day of her life since the War started that she hasn't been fighting.

 

5. Your character walks into the bar down the street after his/her first therapy session. What does he/she order? What happens next? 

Tara doesn't really drink, and she doesn't have any other vices other than really bad coffee, because she doesn't like to be out of control. If she's in a bar, it's to meet someone--her best friend Stephen, a contact. She'll order coffee, and get right back to business, or talk to Stephen about the session.

 

6. When you're building characters, do you have any tricks you use to really get into their psyches, like a character interview or personality system (e.g., Myers-Briggs types)? 

It's pretty rare when a character more or less downloads themselves into my brain to tell me their story. (In fact, it's a little disorienting when they do.) And every book is more or less different as far as my prep work and drafting process is concerned. But, generally, I have four things that go into a character's profile, all sourced from theatre techniques:

 

1) Character Sketch--not just physical appearance, but notes on their body language, where they live, any objects that are close to them. Their wants and desires.

 

2) Back Story--birth, background, childhoods, first kiss, relationships and friendships, all the way up to the point where the story starts.

 

3) Dream--this is fast-drafted, an almost stream of conscious depiction of one of my character's dreams. It usually runs a page or two at most, and I highlight all the repeated images and symbols to help me tap into that character's psyche.

 

4) Wardrobe--what would the character for certain occasions? What rituals do they perform in their dressing or grooming that stand out? Why? Is their closet messy, or perfectly organized? I'll refine this as I get plot points down and a scene list. But they all have that one object or wardrobe piece that defines their character. For Tara, it's her uniform.

Cecilia says: Tara sounds like a fascinating character, and your book sounds really interesting! Thanks so much for stopping by.

You can find Cate at her website, which includes buy links.

If you're a published author and would like to have a character come by or if you're unpublished and would like some help with one, please email me at cecilia (at) ceciliadominic (dot) com.

Published Character on the Couch Interview: J.C. Stockli's Lucca and Evie

Quick update: I got my new laptop, installed everything, and figured out after a couple of days that it had a problem with its fan. Back it went, and now I have a replacement that - fingers crossed! - will work out and will last as long as its grand-predecessor (5.5 years).

Also, I will be appearing as a guest this weekend at MidSouthCon in Memphis. It's like DragonCon but older and more sane crowd-wise. I'll be on five panels on various aspects of writing and the genres I write in, and I will have my first two books for sale and signing on Pro Row on Saturday at 1:00. Please come say hi!

Now for the real purpose of this post. I'm super excited to welcome J.C. Stockli, an indie-pubbed author, and two of her characters to my couch. I haven't read her book yet, but I'm definitely going to now that I've met her characters because it will be entertaining for both my urban fantasy author and psychologist sides. Oh, and check out this gorgeous cover!

The Nothingness:  Addictions of the Eternal, Book One

A dispirited addict learns that history repeats itself deep within hidden worlds. Evie Westvale is lost in the lifeless existence of her drug-laden fishing town. She finds much more than fellow addicts lurking beneath the docks. Craving escape from her inebriated reality, she discovers the presence of a dark stranger who haunts her dreams in the most delicious ways. Lucca has come to prey on the dregs of Fallhaven. He has not arrived by accident, and he is not alone. Riding waves of blood and lust, Evie is forced to confront her dark past and an irresistible future, but can she survive the tempest brewing inside?

The Nothingness is the first installment of the Addictions Of The Eternal, a series inspired by the New England coastline that depicts the struggles with addiction and stages of recovery through the lens of dark/paranormal fantasy.

The Saving (Addictions Of The Eternal: Book Two) - Coming Soon in Summer 2015

1. If your character were to go to a psychologist – willingly or unwillingly – what would bring them in? Yes, a court order is a valid answer.

Blythe has been nagging Evie for years to get help, but Evie refuses to admit that she has a drinking problem. Who doesn't need a drink after a bad day... or just in general? That's not addict behavior, regardless as to the severity of self-destructive behavior. Right? A psychologist would just be one more person to pass judgement on her, and Evie faces enough chastisement when she looks in the mirror. She doesn't need that outside of herself. (shakes head with vehemence) No, no psychologists please. (CD: Awww...)

Lucca on the other hand... he stirs something in Evie; she's terrified of it. She may be convinced to get help if it means learning more about what draws her to him. He'll go for the hell of it, to indulge in the process, but does not expect any revelations. He's spent enough time in his own skin to be completely comfortable with his vices... and lack of virtues.

2. Is the presenting problem one of the main internal or external conflicts in your book? If so, how does it present itself?

Absolutely. Evie's strife (obsession/addiction) is personified by Lucca and his world, but ultimately involves her internal struggle with realising her self-worth. Her story is one of acceptance and healing. This is the theme of the series and presents itself in many forms, from actual substance abuse to agoraphobia, hearing voices, up to the fantasy-design with another being.

3. It's always interesting to see how people act when they first enter my office. Do they immediately go for my chair, hesitate before sitting anywhere, flop on the couch, etc.? What would your character do?

Evie pauses at the door. Shaky fingertips fidget with the strap of her bag. Not until she is asked to sit down, will she move. Rather, she scans the room for a calming focal point, something to make her feel more at home. Absent any such idol, her taste buds scream, and her stomach is in knots. Evie eventually makes her way to the couch and settles at the end, cradled in the crook of the arm. Her hands remain tucked between her knees, and she continues to scan the room for an anchor point.

If Lucca were to follow Evie, he stalks the perimeter of the room, inspecting knick - knacks and decor. He keeps an ever watchful eye on you and likely snickers at your discomfort under his gaze. The playful tip of his tongue remains hidden behind his crooked smirk.

4. Does your character talk to the therapist? How open/revealing will your character be?

Neither Evie nor Lucca will speak until spoken to.

Evie will be more apt to open up if she feels comfortable around you, but that means you offer her a drink or a some pot. Then she'll let you in. (CD: I've often thought about having a secret wine stash at the office. I doubt the Ethics Board would approve me sharing, though.)

Lucca will likely only offer obscure answers that raise more questions.

5. Your character walks into the bar down the street after his/her first therapy session. What does he/she order? What happens next?

Evie goes straight to the bar and orders a double shot of Jim Beach chased by a dark stout  (any label will do).  She's breathing heavy and mumbling for her inner voice to shut the hell up.

Lucca's still amused by how uncomfortable he made you during the appointment. He settles into a dark corner and monitors those around him with his ever present Cheshire grin. He doesn't order anything unless he has to because he doesn't drink alcohol.

6. When you're building characters, do you have any tricks you use to really get into their psyches, like a character interview or personality system (e.g., Myers-Briggs types)?

I build play lists on Spotify. Certain characters listen to different music. That music evokes a different set of emotions, which help to build that character. I'll listen to the same music for months (or longer) while I connect to that character.

Nice! I did playlists for characters in one of my contemporary books and found it to be helpful, too. Thanks so much for stopping by, and I can't wait to read the book so maybe Lucca will speak to me after that. :-)

In addition to her website, you can find J.C. on Facebook and Twitter.

Do you have published characters that would like to stop by for a visit or unpublished ones that need a little psychological help like this one? Please email me at cecilia (at) ceciliadominic (dot) com

Brief announcement - I heart technology

Greetings, all! Thanks to everyone who has sent me characters for my couch. I got some good momentum going, and then this happened:

Okay, my computer didn't let me know with a Clippy image, which would have been quite hilarious and tragic at the same time, but it let me know in no uncertain terms that:

So now I have my new computer and am transferring files, and I promise I'll post character profiles when I get the chance. Thanks for your patience!

-C.D.

P.S. I did unexpectedly have to buy a new laptop, so if you haven't read my books yet and want to give them a try, now would be a great time. And if you get them from Samhain through the links to the right, I might even get paid before this credit card bill is due!

Character on the Couch: Officer Brady

After a brief hiatus to address some work and health issues, I'm back to welcoming characters to my couch. Georgia Romance Writers colleague S.L. Morgan brought me this interesting young policeman, who isn't being cooperative.

Character name: Brady

Age: 31-32

Gender: Male

Brief description and relevant history:

Brady is a police detective, he became a cop to solve crimes as his sister's abduction, rape and murder (when he was a young teen) was never solved. Although he would like to go to college, he doesn't have time. However, he doesn't believe a formal education necessarily makes a person smart. He sneaks off (tells no one) on his days off to go visit cultural and historical sites and museums to learn on his own. He doesn't want anyone to think he's ignorant because he never went to college. He believes his job is detrimental to a relationship as he was dumped by an intelligent person and due to his odd working hours. He is extremely turned on by intelligent women, they feed his desire for knowledge.

Where you're stuck, or why your character needs a psychologist:

I need to understand what drives his desire for knowledge and why he's afraid to tell anyone what he does on his days off. He needs a hobby other than visiting museums and I'm not sure what to have him do that would intrigue my heroine (she's a linguist).

I asked the following questions to get more info:

Brady believes a formal education doesn't necessarily make someone smart, but he's into self-education. Where did he acquire both of these values? Were his parents educated but didn't have enough common sense to balance their book smarts? Or did he get messages from uneducated parents that book-learning isn't real education? Was either of his parents, likely his father since boys tend to identify more with them, a self-taught, well-regarded expert?

Brady wanted to go to college. But, he gave it up to become a police officer due to his sister's tragedy. He did not have the time, money, nor grades to get into college, so he's educating himself with his weekend trips.

Brady's sister's abduction, etc. obviously had a profound effect on him. How did he feel at the time it happened? Did he take any responsibility? Did he feel that if he had only known _____, he would have been able to save her? Or was he in school at the time and blamed himself for putting learning above family, like maybe he was at an honors club meeting the day she wanted him to take her to the pool and ended up going by herself and disappearing? This could be an interesting little flashback from both the crime's perspective and to illuminate his motivations.

 Brady was doing boy things (I think I had him working on his bike) and his sister went up to a car of other teen boys. She jumped in the car with them before he could stop her. But, since they were kids from his school, he didn't think much of it and didn't say or do anything until she never returned. He feels guilty for: 1. Letting her go alone with a bunch of boys. 2. Feeling relieved that she was out of his hair. 3. Feeling guilty for not telling his parents until it was too late where and when she left (she was eventually raped and killed and her body left under the bleachers at school. No one was convicted.). 4. He became a cop to protect other "sisters".

What area of linguistics is your heroine in, and how do she and Brady meet?

Andrea is focusing on the dead languages (Old English, Latin, Sanskrit, and the fourth I forgot). She is a favorite of the linguistic teachers as her parents were involved in the acquisition of authentic dead language documents. She and Brady had a one time meet at a presentation she was giving at a museum where Brady was visiting. He actually approached her and asked her out to coffee. She chickened out and stood him up by leaving by a back door.

Ouch! Poor Brady. Here are my thoughts on how to move him and his story forward:

It seems to me that you’re stuck with Brady’s internal conflict, which Leigh Michaels calls the “long-term problem.” She defines it as having come up before the story begins and is connected to the character’s past or personality. You have the good makings of one because he does have a bad past experience in the kidnapping, rape, and murder of his sister, and his actions indicate a lot of potential for internal conflict. You need to clarify motivation and how it connects to his current self-educational efforts beyond that he’s engaging in them because he missed out on going to college.

When people feel guilty or undeserving, they can get defensive and act like they don’t want what they really crave. For example, Brady could feel that he doesn’t deserve a college education because his sister won’t have the opportunity for one. Also, he could be getting his informal education because going back to school for a formal one would mean he’d have to admit just how badly the incident with his sister affected him emotionally, which is contrary to his professional persona.

Since internal conflict is something a character needs to move beyond to resolve the external conflict, it seems to me that Brady’s going to need to embrace this smart, education-craving side of himself, both to make the romance work and address another external conflict. Since he’s a cop, I’m guessing your book has some sort of crime as part of the plot. You’re right that you do need to figure out why he’s keeping his weekend museum trips secret. Has he been mocked for his intellectual pursuits, either by his colleagues or friends? Or does he not want to admit to himself or others why he’s engaging in them because he might have to acknowledge some unexpressed grief or unaddressed trauma?

With regard to the romance, you have the piece that will drive the heroine away – that he doesn’t believe education makes people smart, which is an attitude educated people tend to get annoyed with. Also, you mentioned he was dumped by an intelligent woman, which means he may be defensive around Andrea even if he is attracted to her. Yes, you need the piece she can connect with. If she’s a professor, she may sense that he wants to learn and relate to that. Or perhaps he needs to consult with her on something related to her field, which helps her see that he does respect her knowledge and education. A third option would be that she has an affinity for “lost” things due to what her parents did, and it currently shows because she is a scholar of dead, or lost, languages. Brady does sound lost in a lot of ways. You also need to clarify her internal conflict, to which you give us a clue with her sneaking away on their date.

Brady and Andrea sound like a really interesting couple, and I look forward to reading more about them in the future!

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Do you have a character you're stuck on? Or a fascinating already published one who wouldn't mind coming by for an interview? Email me at cecilia (at) ceciliadominic (dot) com