Challenge #3, October Madness Write-a-Thon

At first, I wasn't sure how this challenge would pan out for me. For challenge #3 of Britney Gulbrandsen's October Madness Write-a-Thon, we were instructed to take the main character from our current work in progress, set a timer for five minutes, and write our character into a scene from the book we are currently reading. Okay, so I cheated a bit. I took a character from a book I just finished and worked him into the setting of MY novel. And I liked it! I learned a couple of things about my character. Check it out below. :)

Challenge #3:

“For your girlfriend?” I ask as I place the lid over the chocolates.

Pretty boy practically turns red. “No, for me.”

The dude walks into the bakery and orders a dozen chocolates. What am I supposed to think?

“Maybe they should be for her though,” he says.

Ah, he does have a girlfriend. Figures. The guy is hot, I’ll hand him that much. Not my type, but I’ll bet a lot of girls would faint if he showed on their doorstep with these chocolates.

“Should be?” I prod.

He offers a half grin and shrugs. “She likes someone else.”

“Oh,” I say and start ringing the chocolates up at the register. “But you like her a lot?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“How much?”

By the way his eyes suddenly widen, I can tell he wasn’t expecting my boldness. Get used to it, buddy.

“A lot,” he finally admits.

“Then tell her.”

He looks a little blown away at this idea. The he suddenly becomes interested in the formica counter, staring at it like he’s actually considering my suggestion. “Just…tell her? Just like that?”

“No, idiot,” I say. “Kiss her.”

At first, he thinks I’m pulling his arm. He laughs out loud, not taking me seriously. And I am serious.

His laughing dies down when he can tell I’m not joking. Lest he thinks I’m an imbecile in these matters, I add, “Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”

He nods, his smile growing. “All right,” he says.

I’m not sure what will come of him and his girl, but this customer is leaving a whole lot happier than he was when he came in. Mission accomplished.

My Tuesday Progress: 1500 words written in my new YA! Woohoo!

Author Interview With Jennette Green, and a GIVEAWAY!

I recently had a 24-hour obsession with a book. Couldn't put it down! The Commander's Desire by Jennette Green totally sucked me in. I started it at 8:00 pm the other night thinking I'd read one chapter and then get on with the night, go to bed early, etc... Well, I was over halfway into the novel before I finally turned out the lights at 1:00 am!

The romantic tension took me by surprise, blew me away. SO good. I appreciated that this novel was a clean romance while also being so gripping. The plot, characters and vivid writing all drew me in and held me there! I finished the book the next day. Captivating!

Today I'm excited to have Jennette here on my blog for an author interview! And don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter GIVEAWAY below to win an eBook copy of The Commander's Desire! 

First of all, let's introduce Jennette and The Commander's Desire:

Princess Elwytha wants revenge on the monster who murdered her brother. In a false exchange for peace, she offers herself in marriage to the enemy Prince. The plan? Kill the Prince's battle-scarred Commander-the man who ended King Thor's life with one filthy sword thrust through the back. To her horror, the Commander agrees to take Elwytha as his bride. Worse, the wedding date will be sooner than expected. Not all is lost, however. Now she has more opportunity to be alone with him-and exact justice. But the deed becomes difficult to carry out. Fighting her innate sense of honor, she begins to see the ironclad integrity of the man behind the scars. And with this knowledge comes doubt. Did he slay her brother? What exactly is the new king's plan? Whom can she trust? Elwytha must decide well, for more than her life is at stake. Soon she must betray either allegiance to her kingdom-or the man who is quickly claiming her heart.

Jennette Green

Jennette's Website

Jennette's Facebook Page

The Commander's Desire on Amazon

The Commander's Desire on Goodreads

Welcome, Jennette! Thank you for taking the time to interview on my blog. What books inspire your writing? Can you share with us your five favorite novels?

I love romance novels by Lisa Kleypas--she writes absolutely fantastic attraction/sexual tension between characters. They can be a bit steamy, however! I prefer to write clean romances that my older teenaged daughter can read. I also love the witty dialogue of Julia Quinn’s books, and the warmth of books by Debbie Macomber and Betty Neels. Five of my very favorite romance novels are:

1. Devil in Winter, by Lisa Kleypas

2. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheevers, by Julia Quinn

3. Here Comes Trouble, by Debbie Macomber

4. Husband Next Door, by Anne Ha

5. The Silver Thaw, by Betty Neels

I love book recommendations. Thank you! I will add them to my Goodreads. Jennette, your book drew me in and wouldn’t let go! You play with your reader’s emotions very well, keeping them hooked. Can you share your tips on writing captivating romance?

I like to place my characters in an emotionally charged dilemma; one that compels me to write and figure out exactly what will happen, and how they will resolve their difficult situation. I hope if I’m intrigued, then the reader will be, too. Sometimes, the premise for a novel just comes to me, out of the blue. Others, it’s as a result of watching several movies, or television shows. Typically, a few small things in the shows catch my imagination. From there, the ideas gel in my mind and the plot is born.

How did you come up with the premise for The Commander’s Desire? Where did the idea start?

Believe it or not, I think (it’s been about eight years ago now) the main idea for The Commander’s Desire came from a medieval movie I watched. I think it was Tristan and Isolde. One of the characters in that movie just appealed to me on some strange level. I don’t remember his name, but he was a big, hulking guy. His character, combined with aspects of Marke’s (Rufus Sewell), unrequited love for Isolde, somehow mixed together in my mind, and the character of the Commander was born. The premise of the book came at the same time.  

How awesome! I love hearing about how novels took shape. I remember watching the 2006 version of Tristan and Isolde and really enjoyed it. I am intrigued with the historical setting of your novel. I want to see Scotland someday! What kind of research did you have to do while writing this story? What was the hardest part?

I did a ton of research for the book. The hardest part was finding historical data for the time period around 715 A.D., when the book takes place. Very little information could be found, although what I did find was fascinating. King Osred of Northumbria was a debauched young man, and petty kings did fight amongst each other in Galwyddel and in other areas of Scotland at that time. It was all very intriguing!

Are any of the characters in The Commander’s Desire modeled after someone you know?

No, not really, although in some ways, Elwytha is a little like myself--a little too good at protecting her heart. :)

The Commander totally won me over. At first, I wasn’t sure what I’d think about him (like Elwytha!). By the end? Major hunk. Honestly, I can see your book as a movie. If it were to be made into a movie, would you have casting suggestions? Which actor would be your dream choice to play the Commander? Elwytha? The Prince? Elwytha’s brother, Richard? Any others?

Thank you so much for your kind words about the Commander! Over the years, I’ve been surprised and thrilled to discover that he has touched the hearts of quite a few people. A few years ago, he won a “Readers’ Favorite Hero” of the year award, which was awesome.

It’s funny that you ask about a movie, and actors who might play the parts. Back in 2009 two wonderful fans of the book, Miranda Hetherington and Clancy Fraser in Australia made a fan video trailer of the book, by putting together music and movie clips. It can be found here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIW0upII0zM

They chose great actors to play the parts of Elwytha (Keira Knightly), the Commander (Clive Owen), the Prince (Dougrey Scott), and Richard (Rufus Sewell (from a different movie--not Tristan and Isolde)). They did a fantastic job, and I feel forever grateful and blessed that they took the time to make this video trailer. It’s really something special to me.

Clive Owen                          Keira Knightley             Dougrey Scott

Congratulations on the "Readers' Favorite Hero" of the year! I'm not surprised at all. That is fantastic and well deserved. And what a neat video! I just watched it. I can totally picture those actors in those roles. Clive Owen would be perfect as well as the others. I hear you have some exciting news about The Commander’s Desire being made into an audio book. Can you tell us more?

Yes!  Currently Christy Lynn of www.CLVO.net is narrating the book--and, may I add, doing a fabulous job!!! She is really talented. The Commander’s Desire will be available as an audio book at Audible and iTunes in late September/early October 2013. 

That is great news. Thanks for sharing. Last of all, please tell me there is a sequel!

I do have notes and a few scenes for a sequel! However, they have sat on my computer for a number of years now. I’m still waiting for that special idea to gel, and bring the whole storyline together. I love Rex, and I want his story to be something unique and special. One day I do hope to flesh out the manuscript and write the sequel. 

Right now, I don’t have much time to think about that book, though, for I have about nine writing projects going on, concurrently. LOL. Crazy, I know. Most are fully written, although two are in the works. Then there are edits, etc. Now that the kids are back in school, I’m buckling down to get more books out there, which is what readers have been asking for. Currently, I’m writing the long promised sequel to Ice Baron, a science fiction romance. Besides that book, I have a historical romance, several Christian romances, including a new adult romance, and a paranormal series that has been on my heart for many, many years, and which is close to being ready to be published. It seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day. :)

Ditto on not enough hours in the day. Your passion for storytelling is evident in your writing, Jennette. Thank you for providing such a fabulous book to read and for interviewing on my blog today!

Now. GIVEAWAY time! Get as many points as you can by following the directions on Rafflecopter below. The giveaway will end Monday, September 9th, at midnight (Eastern Time). Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Some of Jenette's other books:

                                    Her Reluctant Bodyguard          Ice Baron

Author Interview with Jennifer Jabaley

A few weeks ago I picked up Crush Control by Jennifer Jabaley and died of laughter! This young adult romantic comedy about hypnosis gone crazy is a fun read, and I'm excited to have Jennifer on my blog today. First, a little bit about Crush Control:

When Willow Grey was nine, her mom dropped the bomb of ultimate betrayal: they would be moving from their small town in Georgia to glitzy Las Vegas. Willow was devastated to have to leave her best friend, Max, behind. So she decided to take control of the situation: she told Max to relax, to let his eyelids droop and then she said: "Max Montgomery, for as long as we live, you and I will be best friends..."

Now, at seventeen, Willow and her mom move back to their hometown and Willow is determined to pick up where she and Max left off. But even though he's still her best friend, his heart now belongs to someone else—and Willow realizes that what she feels for him is so much more than just friendship. For the second time in her life, Willow finds herself using hypnosis to get what she wants. But what starts off as a harmless experiment soon spirals into chaos and Willow is forced to wonder: Is the heart really something you can control—with mind control?

Welcome, Jennifer! I'm curious. Have you been hypnotized before? What was it like? If not, are you ever tempted to be hypnotized?
No. I did attend a hypnosis show in Las Vegas while researching for the book but I was not hypnotized myself. I learned that people who like to remain in control are not easily hypnotized.  I'm pretty type A and I don't think I'd really relinquish my control - especially not on a stage!! Now if it was for a medical reason - like to help fight a habit or something - I might be amenable to try.

A trip to Vegas for research. Not bad! I'm a pretty remain-in-control type person myself, so I've always wondered if I could be hypnotized. Jennifer, you have a knack for writing humor (I was laughing out loud!). What advice/tips do you have on writing humor?
Oh, well, thank you! I do not think I'm witty at all but I like to create situational humor - which in my opinion is much easier to do. I have great respect for naturally humorous people! I, on the other hand, have to assemble circumstances that everyone can relate to, like embarrassment or humiliation.  I think the biggest tip for writing comedy would be to read comedy or watch it. See what works, what you connect with and what comes across as trying too hard.  

If you had mad hypnotist skills like Willow and could hypnotize anyone, who would you hypnotize and what would you have them do?

Oh, my kids and my husband, lol! They would suddenly love to do the laundry and clean the bathrooms.... :)

Wise choice! Any reoccurring nightmares? Humor us. 

Ok, I'm going to go with this one because no one has ever asked me this before and I have a very true story. When I was in about third grade I had a recurring nightmare (I'm talking this went on for months - close to a year) where the Incredible Hulk smashed through the sliding glass doors in our house and kidnapped me.  He'd haul me over his shoulder, drag me into the woods in our backyard and then I'd wake up.  Oh, it was terrible.  When The Avengers movie came out and my kids got Hulk masks it kind of made me shudder.

Hilarious! Why are people always chasing us in our dreams (the Hulk, no less)? Character, setting or plot: which one is most important to you and why?

For me, it's all about characters.  I've given a lecture at writing seminars about characterization and it's my absolute favorite topic. Because I think if you relate and identify with a character, really, almost any plot or setting will work. Conversely, if the reader does not identify with the character, it has to be a really, really intriguing plot to make it work.

Agreed! And I'd love to hear your lecture someday. On that note, do you have any advice to give aspiring authors?

Find an idea or story that you love.  You will have to love it as much one year after you start working on it as you do the day you think of it.  Sometimes more.  A novel takes many years to go from creation to publication (if that's your goal) and you have to be willing to invest a lot of blood sweat and tears into it. And learn that people's opinions of your work are not their thoughts about you as a person or your worth. Nowadays with the internet, there are so many avenues for authors to read crushing reviews or negative thoughts about their novels.  It can be crippling if you let it. You really have to remember that fiction is subjective and not everyone is going to like what you write. Write what YOU love and be proud of it.

I've invested tears and sweat for sure but no blood yet, so I'll keep going! Great answers, Jennifer. Thank you for interviewing on my blog!

I LOVE COMMENTS!  If YOU could hypnotize anyone, who would it be and what would you have them do (within reason!)  ;)

Interview with Author Kay Lynn Mangum

Today I am super excited to have Kay Lynn Mangum, author of The Secret Journal of Brett Colton, for an interview! I recently read her YA contemporary novel When the Bough Breaks and loved it. Amazing characters, well-written, and touching. I can't wait to read The Secret Journal of Brett Colton, and how cool is this...I get to interview the author beforehand?!

Welcome, Kay Lynn, and thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions. Just for fun...

Five of your favorite movies. Go.

Star Wars (Who doesn’t love this movie??)

Gone With the Wind (Always brings back great memories of watching this with my mom – it’s her favorite of all time!)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (I watch this whenever I feel down – it always makes me laugh!)

Mrs. Miniver / The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (I couldn’t pick between two of my favorite black and whites!)

Rebel Without a Cause (Truly the first “real” teen movie ever made.  And still one of the best.) 

Agreed! Those are all great ones. My husband and I still pop in the old Star Wars every now and then (and we've probably watched them a million times!). Next, please list five of your favorite novels (I know, rude to ask for only five since I’m sure there are many!)

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman

Alexander Lloyd’s The Book of Three series (I can’t pick just one from this series!)

The Blue Sword and Sunshine by Robin McKinley (I couldn’t pick just one of her books!)

Anything by Lois Duncan 

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (I couldn’t leave this off – it’s such a wonderful novel!)

What hidden talent do you possess besides writing? Don’t be shy!

I love photography, and am usually the one called on to take pictures at any and every family event.  After taking one beginner class just for fun, I was hooked, and had to invest in a camera that would allow me to take great shots.  I’ve taken so many pictures over the past few years I had to get an external hard drive just for storing pictures alone! 

Why did you begin writing?

I learned to read before I started kindergarten and loved the magic books created for me, giving me a door into other places and times.  I began thinking up my own stories, and acting them out with my stuffed animals and dolls as plays until I learned to write and could put them down on paper.  It was just something I did for fun.  I loved creative writing assignments in elementary school and figured my teachers were telling everyone their stories were great, so I didn’t pay too much attention to any teacher who told me I wrote good stories.  

By sixth grade, my teacher told my parents to encourage me because she knew I’d be published someday. That’s when I started to take this “hobby” -- just something I did for fun to entertain myself -- much more seriously!  It was a strange thing for me, being told something I did for fun could become an actual career if I worked hard enough at it, but I took my teacher’s comments seriously and spent my junior high and high school years taking writing classes and entering short story contests.  After I placed in a few of them, it seemed a natural progression to move from short story writing into novel writing.  All of the novels I’ve written so far – both my published and unpublished books – are based on my short stories.  It’s been great to have so much ready material to draw from for writing novels!

Wow, was that sixth-grade teacher spot on. I hope she knows what an impact she had. How awesome! Do you have any writing quirks?

I have to have complete and utter silence in order to get any good writing done.  No noise, no music -- I even turn off my phone so there’s no chance of that going off and distracting me.

Ah, peace and quiet (I've almost forgotten what that sounds like!). :) Character, setting or plot: which one is most important to you and why?

If you don’t have three-dimensional characters the reader is drawn to and cares about – especially your main character – it’s going to be hard for a reader to care about your plot.  It doesn’t matter how great your plot is, or how clever the twists and turns are, if you haven’t created characters your reader cares about and wants to see “win.”  I’ve learned this the hard way.  Be sure to not get so involved in the plot that you forget to develop your characters.   

I agree! And, might I plug in, your characters really jumped off the page at me, so you know what you're talking about! Do you write with an outline or just see where the story goes?

I don’t write the first word of a novel until I’ve outlined the entire thing.  That doesn’t mean that I’m going to stick completely to my outline, but for me, having an outline to use as a road map helps me to get from the beginning to the end of the story without finding dangling plot threads at the novel’s end.  And, an outline helps me to avoid lengthy re-writes due to forgetting that something I’d established at the beginning of the book was forgotten about along the way.  This doesn’t work for all writers, but it’s the only way I can write a book!

Have you written a book you love that you have not published?

I’ve written two since I wrote my third published novel – one of which I’ve reworked and rewritten a good five times now since 2009.  I’m trying to break into the national market through gaining agent representation, and although I’m still sending out agent query letters on both books, in the meantime, I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity I’ve had to attend writing conferences and make connections with other writers, agents, and editors.  I love writing too much to stop, so hopefully I will find that perfect agent for me who will connect with my books and love them as much as I do! 

What project are you working on now?

At the moment, I’ve been having a lot of fun writing a YA novel that takes place in the 1950’s based on experiences my parents had while they were in high school.  It’s completely outlined, and I’m now writing the chapters.  I’m hoping to have this one completed before Thanksgiving.

I, for one, can't wait to read it. Sounds like an intriguing setting/time for a novel. Last of all, Kay Lynn, do you have any advice to give aspiring authors?

Believe in yourself.  Believe your work is great and worth your time to create, yet at the same time, know it can be improved and be prepared for criticism.

Surround yourself with friends who believe in you and your dreams, and will encourage and support you.

Don’t be afraid to let other people read your work.  Having others read and comment on your work can really keep you motivated, and it makes it less frightening to submit your work to contests, writing conferences, agents, and publishers.  Good writing friends who can edit and critique your writing is better than gold.

Most importantly, don’t give up.  If you love writing and feel strongly about being a writer, never stop trying!

Thank you once again, Kay Lynn!

ALSO... a giveaway of The Secret Journal of Brett Colton will be posted this Thursday, September 6th. Hooray! So be sure to check back then and enter!

The Power of Food in Fiction...and a Yummy Praline Recipe!

We humans tend to love food. Big surprise, eh? Just writing this post makes me want to grab a little snack, a treat, a munch, and morsel, a smackerel, a goodie (see, so many terms of endearment!). Readers can form a subconscious yet strong bond to a novel and its characters through the use of food, do you agree?

What do Various Food Items Represent to you?
What would Chinese take-out every Friday night unveil about a character? Fudge ice cream? Filet Mignon? James Bond sipping a hot chocolate? I don’t think so. What if the hero in any given novel first sees the heroine holding a ball of cotton candy? Now take the cotton candy away and substitute it with crème brulee. Different, right?

I was reading my monthly Romance Writers Report when I stumbled upon an article on Food in Romance Novels that made me sit up and say, "Woohoo! I agree!" It made me think about my own novel. In retrospect, I’ve found a few passages in my YA contemporary romance that uses food to accomplish something (at least I hope so!).

Food in My Novel

Seventeen-year-old Sienna Owens is on vacation in Georgia when she meets Austin Dobbs, a sweet (and quite attractive) recent high school grad. While they’re on River Street, Austin convinces her to get an almond praline ice cream cone, because the best pralines in the world are on River Street, or so he claims (mmm, and I agree!). Austin seems to know everyone on River Street: the ice cream scooper at the River Street Sweets, the sample guy, even the saxophone player collecting cash in a hat on the street. When Sienna asks Austin how he knows so many people…

He flashes a dimpled smile that makes my knees all tingly and holds up his ice cream cone. “I just eat a lot of almond praline.”

I laugh and then lick my own cone, the cold sugariness taking me back to a time when everything about life was coated in numbing sweetness. I liked it better that way.

Tragedy recently struck Sienna’s family, and she is torn between wanting to move on and yearning to relive (no, redo) the past. Austin makes her feel carefree again. Alive. He’s the type of guy who eats pralines ‘n cream on a Friday night. It serves as a subtle hint I want the reader to pick up on about his character. You tell me, what does ice cream say about a guy (ha ha, this is totally my husband’s favorite food, so I really want to know!)?

So I guess I was using food—ice cream—to hopefully give readers a taste for Sienna’s longing to change the past as well as a glimpse inside the mysterious Austin. Always an elusive answer from that Austin, a man with a past of his own, as Sienna will discover.

Praline Recipe
And now for the recipe part. Anyone been to River Street in Savannah, GA? (Read my thoughts on River Street in my about me page). Much to my husband’s delight, I scoured the internet, pieced together a recipe (of all the recipes I researched and sampled, the recipe I use is most similar to this one onallrecipes), and did the trial-and-error thing to come up with…

Austin’s Pralines

2 cups               Toasted pecans (some broken in half, others whole)

3 T.                  Butter

1 ½ cup            White sugar

¾ cup               Brown sugar

!¼ cup              Evaporated milk

1 tsp.                Vanilla extract

 Directions:

1.      Toast pecans (on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet in oven 350 degrees for 4-5 min).

2.      Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.

3.      Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, evaporated milk and vanilla in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring, and boil appx. 3 minutes (heated to 240 degrees F).

4.      Stir in pecans and remove from heat.

5.      Immediately put pan in ice bath for 10 seconds. Yes, strange. Do it.

6.      Beat with beaters until mixture develops a cloudy shine.

7.      Then spoon them out lightening fast (spoon onto prepared baking sheet). Let cool completely. Super yum!

Novels with Food Scenes:

Ever read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol or seen the play? Odd, I know, but every time Scrooge eats his bedtime porridge, I want to dig into a bowl of that Cream of Wheat my dad (who has since passed) used to make for me growing up. See, powerful. Simply by taking a bite of porridge, Scrooge has reached into me, made himself a character I want to spend time with despite his not-so-likeable self. Such a rich guy eating mush? Intriguing.

In Jane Eyre, her teacher gives her a little “seed cake” and hot tea, symbolizing warmth and relief. What about pumpkin juice in Harry Potter? Or the Turkish Delight in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia that seduces children into following the wicked White Witch? In The Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah, mother and grandmother Anya Whitson hordes food, stashing even the smallest amounts into her freezer for safe keeping. At one point, her daughter finds her ripping down wallpaper and cooking it for food. Anya’s relationship to food is tragic, to say the least, hinting to her daughter the truth of her heartbreaking past as a young girl in Leningrad during the Stalin Regime.

Me With a Praline, Being a Goofball

Actually, my husband made me laugh (he tends to do that) and then he snapped the picture.

I Love Comments!

If you could sit down with any character in fiction and eat something, who would it be and what would you eat? Have you used food in your writing? What is your favorite food and what does it say about you? 

Larger-Than-Life Characters

Larger-than-life characters conquer the impossible within the world of your novel.


I was viewing various Mormon Messages in preparation for a
talk I’m giving to a group of LDS youth, and I stumbled upon this story. In
addition to evoking a tear, this short clip had me thinking about
larger-than-life characters. Isn't this kid awesome?!



Spencer Zimmerman, to me, is a real life example of a larger-than-life character here. During a time of life when peer acceptance is so critical and it is easier to be self-centered than selfless, Spencer focused on others around him who needed his friendship. His actions are larger-than-life because they are in opposition to what typical teenagers would have done.


I love characters. Character, plot and voice are perhaps three of the top key components of a good story for me. For the most part, novels who tell the stories of larger-than-life characters are the ones we’re drawn to, right?

“In life and in fiction, when people act in ways that are unusual, unexpected, dramatic, decisive, full of consequence and are irreversible, we remember them and talk about them for years.” – Donald Maass Writing the Breakout Novel

Larger-than-life characters are complex. “Three-dimensional.” They have strengths, weaknesses, conflict, goals, deep thoughts, self-awareness and a dose of humor doesn’t hurt. Larger-than-life characters conquer the impossible within the world of the novel.

Have you ever thought back on an experience and wished you’d
have acted differently? Have you ever failed to seize an opportunity? Ever
wished you had said something else, something life-changing that would have
helped someone and now the opportunity is lost? Or, on the flip side, have you
ever thought of the perfect come back after an argument is over? A perfect line
that would have had your friends laughing out loud? Ever wished you’d have
taken the higher road?
Well, at least your characters don’t have to, at least by the story's end. Authors have time to think out the perfect snippet of dialogue and contemplate their character's decisions.
One easy way to make characters larger-than-life is to have them conquer their weaknesses. Is a character painfully shy? Let them take charge and speak up. Is a character egotistic?
Try humbling them. Do they let others take advantage of them? Give them some backbone. Are they held captive and can't see a way out? Let them fight for freedom. Do they have goals they’ve been striving for but can’t accomplish? Give them the determination to clear every hurdle in their path and reach the finish line.
photo credit