Setting as a Character by Annette M. Irby

Beach chair and sea ^

Name your favorite place. Describe your happy place. For me—the beach. Saltwater is best, but a freshwater lake is also relaxing for me.

As a writer, we might choose to write about our favorite places. Perhaps your favorite place isn’t a “place” exactly, so much as it’s a time. I have lots of writer friends who write historicals. Or maybe you prefer to write about a make-believe land and create a world for the sci-fi marketplace.

Our family loves beach vacations. The sand, saltwater, marine life, and mysterious depths of the sea inspire me. So one summer day, I went looking for a book to take me there. A summertime read that would let me escape to the beach. I was specifically looking for a compilation of novellas that were set along the coast. No luck. Most of the novella compilations that year were set on ranches, which are great, but generally aren’t too beachy. So I decided to write a novella set on the water.

That novella turned into a full-length novel and became the book I’m featuring below.

In this story, I use Friday Harbor, Washington, and the Salish Sea almost as a character. The setting lives. I immerse the characters, and hopefully the readers, into its beauty. The setting is moody—sometimes a marine layer fogs in the harbor, chilling the residents. The setting sparkles with diamonds on a sea of blue, or stars on a velvet night sky. The setting woos the characters (just like our favorite places woo us). The setting challenges my characters—deep water can harm people, even good swimmers. 

Hopefully readers will taste the grilled salmon and the rich fudge, and smell the salty air, crunch the crushed seashells underfoot on the shore, and feel the frigid water wash in on the incoming tide. Hopefully, the song of the gulls and eagles crying overhead will inspire them. And the views of the orcas performing for tourists will give them a moment of living vicariously through the book, through the setting.

How about you? What’s your favorite place? Have you written about that location? Would you like to? I’m working on a series set in my favorite place—the Salish Sea and Puget Sound. It all started with a dream and a visit to the setting, where I fell in love.

Write on, friends!

~~~~~

 

Finding Love in Friday Harbor, Washington 

Releasing 9/1/17 from Mountain Brook Ink. The e-book pre-order link is now live. 

FLI Friday Harbor, WA

Will keeping his promise lead to another broken heart—or help them find love again? 

Professor Mikaela Rhoades has a plan: she’ll encourage her students’ marine biology research through an exclusive program while helping an old family friend’s whale touring business stay afloat. The challenge is the tour captain is her first love and ex-fiancé. Mikaela longs to help his family in the wake of his father’s death, but she’s keeping secrets. She’ll have to face her past and overcome her concerns about the future to make it through the summer. 

Captain Hunter Cahill has taken over the family touring business after his father’s death. Unfortunately, he’s drowning in grief and accumulated debt. He’s hoping the incoming stodgy professor will help resurrect the failing business, but he’s not prepared when that professor turns out to be Mikaela, his former fiancée. To make matters more difficult, he’d promised his father to pursue her if she ever returned to the island single. The more time they spend together, the easier it is to keep that promise, though she still plans to leave at the end of the season. How much will it cost him to spend the summer romancing Mikaela?

~~~~~

Annette M. Irby *

Annette M. Irby has been writing since her teen years when she sat pounding out stories on a vintage typewriter just for fun. Since then, she’s joined Christian writing groups and launched blogs so she could share the joy of writing. She likes to say she’s addicted to color as flowers and seascapes inspire her. In her off hours, she enjoys gardening, photography, and music. She lives with her husband and family in the Pacific Northwest.

Learn more on her Seriously Write Page.

Links to connect with Annette:

Website: www.AnnetteIrby.com

Twitter: @AnnetteMIrby

Facebook Reader Friends Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/252272708574760

Book Review Blog: www.annetteirbyreviews.blogspot.com

* Author  Photo Credit: Sarah Irby of Irby Photography

^ Beach chair photo credit: Pixabay

Why Did HE Just Do THAT! by Peter Leavell

Love is humanity’s greatest trait and ethic.

Romantic love blooms under the most incredible circumstances. Like water's relentless pressure to find a way through rock, love will always find a way.

As a male, I read romance.

I appreciate the well-crafted, well-chiseled male characters women create in their novels. I like complex and attractive people as much as the next guy. The fiction men in the novel make decisions based on an elaborate thought process readers can outline.

Here’s a quick thought.

Men in real life sometimes do things without a reason.

Yep. No reason at all. They just up and do them.

I know. I just opened a whole new world of understanding for you.

Reading that he has no reason, however, will have acquisition editors shredding your manuscript. I’m here to help. Here’s a few of men's motives despite contrary wisdom.

—Pit Himself Against Nature. Christmas Eve night, from my in-laws’ window, I watched the heavy snow fall. The party had settled into quiet chats, and I had the urge to jog. “It’s 5 degrees and the snow is over a foot!” my wife said. “Are you crazy?” I went anyway, and I remember every step of that two-mile jog, the blinding snow, the slippery paths, the frigid wind. I loved every second, and when I made it back, I played games with the others late into the night.

—Fix Things. He must fix things, even her. Why? Simple! He enjoys fixing things. He loves her. Enough even to die for her, if it will fix things. Relationship experts tell women to make it clear she’s venting before she tells her feelings. In a novel, he could try to fix something she’s simply vented to him.

—Connect Emotionally. Here's what connection looks like. A strong woman who cries in his arms is a profound moment for him. Moving. He may not know what to do or say—that’s a learned behavior. But when she leans on him for strength, then takes that strength and moves forward, he’s on top of the world. Your character might be trying to get her to divulge a problem. If she keeps coming back to the well for strength without moving on, however, he’s gone, because…well, read the next point.

—Love is Secondary to Respect. He may make unpopular decisions knowing that love is put on hold and people are angry at him, like volunteering for the infantry. Or selling a car the family likes because he thinks gas prices are going to go up, and buys a smaller vehicle (yeah, did that). Sometimes he’s proven right, which doesn’t always create love in others, but creates respect. This respect makes him WANT to be a better person. When he’s proven his worth, people come to him for advice, help, and for company. He has nothing left to prove. Your character may decide the hope for distant respect is more important that immediate love. But if those around him don’t listen to his advice, he’s not respected, and he moves on. (I’ve seen many women with this attribute as well).

—Vanity. Looking good is important. Men find the best quality they see in themselves and enhance the attribute. Hair. Muscles. Smile. Chin. Beard. (On a side note, men always see a woman’s best attribute first as well, which is why they do cat calls etc…). Your character may spend a lot of time trimming his nails.

—Silence. Men enjoy time when they’re not feeling or thinking anything. It’s awesome. It’s important. It’s NOT needed all day, but some men live that way. Getting him off the couch can be an interesting novel!

Best of luck helping your readers understand why your dudes do what they do!

~~~~~

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com.

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Casting the Movie of Your Novel by Sandie Bricker

If you know me and my experience as a writer, you know I started as an aspiring screenwriter. Movies, television, visual mediums of all kinds have been a passion of mine since a very young age. So it should come as no real surprise that I’ve retained that passion and adjusted it accordingly for writing novels.

In most cases, each of my book concepts start with the germ of a character. Something quirky about them draws me to wanting to develop them further, and before I know it … I’m lost in imagining what kind of trouble they’ll stir up, how their fish-out-of-waterness will have them reacting to certain situations, what kind of person might offset their personality in an interesting way. Before that phase is complete, I’ve almost always “cast them” in my mind by choosing an actor/actress to play the part as I’m dreaming up their storyline.

While I’ve never been a real fan of character profiles – pages and pages of questions to answer about people I haven’t fully drawn in my own mind yet – I do find that a storyboard is helpful. I  usually use a white board in my office to post those casting photos and make general shorthand notes. For instance, here’s an example of what I created while writing the Jessie Stanton series.

STORYBOARD: JESSIE STANTON SERIES - SANDRA D. BRICKER

As novelists, it is our responsibility to take the reader from shadowy sketch to clear identification with the character on the page. And yet how many times have entertainment headlines reflected outrage of eager viewers when a casting decision has been made that failed to resonate with their impression of a beloved character? Ben Affleck as Batman? Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones? Never mind acting abilities! These were not the faces in the minds of moviegoers. While this sort of thing is certainly regrettable for filmmakers hoping to round up those entertainment dollars by cashing in on commitment to translating the written word to the big screen, it speaks to the adeptness of those authors who created the original material.

Imagine the repercussions if actress Kaley Cuoco, for instance, had been cast as Sheldon’s girlfriend Amy instead of Penny on The Big Bang Theory. Even though Kaley’s acting prowess might have allowed her to suitably characterize Amy in her own way, Mayim Bialik – through wardrobe, makeup, facial expression, and the like – personifies Amy Farrah Fowler in every subtle way. Viewers can’t imagine anyone else playing Amy, which is what we aim for in creating characters on the written page as well.

In the original draft of Star Wars, the character of Han Solo was scripted as a green-skinned alien. It wasn’t until the third draft that visionary George Lucas decided to morph Han into “a tough, James Dean-style starpilot about twenty-five years old. A cowboy in a starship—simple, sentimental and cocksure of himself.” Try for a moment to imagine Star Wars without that dramatic revision to one of its most beloved characters.

When I’ve conducted workshops for authors about characterization, one of the exercises attendees have found particularly helpful is one that helps them define a main character by avoiding physical stereotypes while still relying on the general nuances of appearance.

Have a look at these two people:

Now use your visual imagination to define character distinctions, quirks, etc. of each of them. Ask yourself about their details. Where are their hometowns? What do they do for a living? Give each of them a unique character trait, habit,  or vice. Explore their greatest fears, their moral/ethical beliefs, and their greatest passions in life. 

After doing so for the first set of main characters, repeat the exercise for this second set of actors:

When you’re finished, they are sure to be very different. And if they're not, go a little deeper. Ask yourself why.

So now it's your turn to weigh in on this subject. What are YOUR secrets to creating memorable and unique characters?

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SANDRAD. BRICKER was an entertainment publicist in Los Angeles for 15+ years where she attended school to learn screenwriting and eventually taught the craft for several semesters. When she put Hollywood in the rear view mirror and headed across the country to take care of her mom until she passed away, she traded her scripts for books, and a best-selling, award-winning author of Live-Out-Loud fiction for the inspirational market was born. Sandie is best known for her Another Emma Rae Creation and Jessie Stanton series for Abingdon Press, and she was also recently named ACFW’s Editor of the Year for her work as managing editor of Bling!, an edgy romance imprint for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. As an ovarian cancer survivor, Sandie also gears time and effort toward raising awareness and funds for research, diagnostics and a cure.  

Connect with Sandie:

Author website: http://sandradbricker.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SandieBricker

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandradbricker