Good thing they’re fictional
If my characters weren’t made up, they’d probably have restraining orders out against me. I peek into their windows, examine their lives – hopes, dreams, extramarital affairs and all.
The character profiles I wrote months ago are simply jumping-off places. It’s amazing – and a little intrusive – to discover what my characters tell me about themselves, how they evolve from the way I first envisioned them.
This happens as I write, I swear. I don’t know half this stuff until I set it down on paper.
A colleague of mine recently suggested that I make an outline so tight I could write my book in a month – but that’s not how I operate. A loose outline, characters that change as I write about them – that’s what works for me.
I can’t explain it, but there it is.
I’m just glad my characters don’t have legal rights.
In other book news: I’m anxiously waiting to find out if Meeting Murder gets reviewed (and if so, what the reviewer says) by the Midwest Book Review. They get over 2,000 book submissions per month, though, so I’m not holding my breath. Much.
Also, my first actual fan (translation: the first person I didn’t know to buy my book) has started a Facebook group called “Fans of Meeting Murder,” which has me very excited.
And in about 2 weeks, if I stick with my loose outline and strict writing schedule, I’ll be working on my first-ever love scene. With sex (God help me). I’m seriously considering falling back on a meaningful gaze and a brief description of wind-chimes…
Sigh.
