Amore! by Terri Weldon

Terri Weldon

Being a romance writer I’m thrilled to have a chance to post two days before Valentine’s Day. After all, Valentine’s Day is the most romantic day of the year. It evokes images of red roses, chocolates, and love letters. All things you want for your heroine, regardless of the genre you write. In fact, I think our belief in love is one of the reasons we write.

Since we all know the course of true love never runs smoothly in our novels, what would cause our heroines to believe in true love? Parents? Not for my heroine in the book I’m currently editing. Her parents are more interested in money and social status than their daughter. Boyfriend or husband? She doesn’t have one. God? She feels like God turned His back on her the day her sister died.

Enter my hero. A wonderful man with a personal relationship with Jesus who was raised by parents that exemplify true love. He longs to see my heroine develop a relationship with God and then to spend the rest his life loving her. In fact, he’s willing to sacrifice anything, even his job as a homicide detective, to protect her and win her love. Sigh. A happily ever after. Just what readers want. Any editors out there reading this? Um, not that I’d turn any requests down, but please know that was meant as a joke.

Before I bid you farewell, I’ll share with you a quote from my most treasured love letter, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” ~John 3:16 NKJV

Just think about it, God loves you and me so much that He sacrificed His only Son so that our sins could be forgiven. There is no greater love. I know that’s why I believe in a perfect love and I pray you do too.

Let’s have a mini-brainstorming session. Leave a comment and tell me what your hero is willing to give up to prove his love to your heroine.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Misty Winslow is determined to find her prince, and she meets the man of her dreams through an Internet dating service. Or is he, because the new dentist in town also sets her heart aflutter.

It's love at first sight for Tyler Davenport, but before he can finish his first root canal, Misty is involved in an exclusive online romance with Wes99—Tyler’s online persona. How can he tell her he’s the man she’s been waiting to meet, and how rational is it for him to be jealous of Wes99! Soon Tyler's pulling out all the stops to woo Misty.

As Christmas approaches, Wes99 and Tyler both ask her to meet them under the mistletoe. Which man will she choose?

Terri is a lead analyst by day and an author by night. She enjoys gardening, reading, and playing in the hand bell choir. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction.

She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Terri has three dogs – a lovable mutt and two adorable Westies.

Terri is a member of ACFW and OCFW, a local chapter of ACFW. Her dream of becoming a published novelist came true in November 2013 when Mistletoe Magic, released from White Rose Publishing. To learn more about Terri visit her website at www.TerriWeldon.com.

Help for an Unlikable Character by Rachel Hauck

Rachel Hauck

Happy Monday, writers. Has anyone ever told you your main character isn't likable? Rachel Hauck is here with some great tips to help us write them so readers will root for them. Read on! ~ Annette

Help for an Unlikable Character

by Rachel Hauck

No one starts out to create an unlikeable character. But in the course of inventing conflict and flaws, adding tension and motivation, we sometimes create narrow, slightly negative heroes and heroines.

One of my first submissions to my earliest agent came back to me with: “I don’t like the heroine.”

When I braved an e-mail to ask about it, she said, “Just make her more sympathetic.”

Oh, okay… Now how do I do that?

I got practical. What makes me like someone? What makes me likeable? What makes me like a character?

Compassion. Sense of humor. A sense of strength, even if they are in a hard place. An idea of where they want to go. Who they want to be.

Likeable flaws. Yes, there is such a thing!

If you’re getting feedback that your characters are unlikeable, consider that you’re not allowing enough of their true inner journey/inner struggle show.

Here are a couple of reasons why your character might not be likeable:

1.                       You’ve not done enough emotional character work. What are his fears, dreams, goals. What’s the lie he believes? What happened in his past that shaped him at the time of the story opening? What internal journey do you want him to go on?

2.                      You’re trying to be funny but it’s coming across snarky. I’ve seen this a lot. Writers trying to quip and be cute, but it ends up sounding rude and mean. So make sure you’re humor isn’t attacking or making fun of other characters.

3.                      You’re not giving enough character history and motivation for why the protagonist is doing what he’s doing. If he’s robbing a bank, show the reader it’s because he’s at wits end to find a way to ransom his kidnapped wife.

4.                      Last reason why your protagonist might not be likeable: you don’t have a definitive story goal. What does she want in this story? What will she do at the end she couldn’t do at the beginning?

So, what tangible things can you do to make your characters more likeable?

1.                      Give her an endearing flaw. What if she’s so black and white she doesn’t understand any of life’s gray issues? That becomes part of the story journey and character development.

2.                     Put the hero in a sympathetic situation. Instead of having him instigating something, have him reacting to a situation he finds himself in. For example, my unwed father character finally gets a chance to meet his daughters. It’s been ten years. Why mess up his life, and theirs, now? But he’s been given the opportunity and as uncomfortable as it is, he’s going to take it. Sure, he got himself into it, but given the chance to do the right thing, he does.

3.                      Give her a noble quest and cause. What good thing does she want in the story? In the scene? Even if your protagonist finds herself in an odd spot, what good does she want to come from it?

4.                      Create dialog with secondary character that reveals the protagonist’s true identity. Even if he’s in the middle of robbing a bank, show how he’s doing so to rescue his wife. He’s desperate. We see lots of characters we like in this kind of tight situation but we cheer for them. We know good will somehow come of it.

Watch movies, read books with edgy protagonists. What makes you like and cheer for the characters? Study likeable characters then apply what you learn to your characters.

Happy Writing.

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Princess Ever After by Rachel Hauck

Princess Ever After released February 4, 2014

Regina Beswick was born to be a princess. But she’s content to be a small-town girl, running a classic auto restoration shop, unaware a secret destiny awaits her. One that will leap from the pages of her grandmother’s hand-painted book of fairytales. Tanner Burkhardt is the stoic Minister of Culture for the Grand Duchy of Hessenberg. When he is tasked to retrieve the long-lost princess, he must overcome his fear of failure in order to secure his nation’s future—and his own. Yet lurking in the political shadows is a fierce opponent with sinister plans to abolish the throne forever. Overwhelmed with opposition, Regina must decide if she’s destined to restore old cars or an ancient nation. Together—with a little divine intervention—Regina and Tanner discover the truth of her heritage and the healing power of true love.

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Learn more about best-selling and award-winning author, Rachel Hauck at her website. 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelhauck

Twitter: @RachelHauck

A Heroine to Love by Donna Fletcher Crow

We yearn to create a story that engages readers and tempts them to read into the wee morning hours. How do we accomplish that? An editor helped author Donna Fletcher Crowe recognize an important key. ~ Dawn

A Heroine to Love

by Donna Fletcher Crow

What do you look for first in selecting a book, especially if the author is unknown to you? An exciting plot? Captivating characters? An enticing background? Of course, we want all of them in our stories. Along with a meaningful theme, beautiful prose and. . . Well, the list goes on. But it seems that more than anything else, it’s the people that matter most.

This really came home to me when I received that all-important, long-awaited acceptance letter for A Very Private Grave, The Monastery Murders 1. The editor said, “We think that Felicity is a heroine readers will really care about.” That was it. Well, of course, I was thrilled. I didn’t really care why they accepted it just so long as they did! But what about my breathtaking, intricate plot that I had lost so many nights of sleep over? What about the amazing background development of sites that I had slogged through mud and wind to visit? What about all the history I had pored over in cold libraries to get just right? What about. . .

That was an excellent lesson to me. I had loved Felicity and had worked hard to make her a living, breathing character, but my editor’s comment showed me the importance of the heroine. And he’s right, isn’t he? We love Pride and Prejudice because we suffer with Elizabeth (well, and also because Mr. Darcy is so gorgeous!). We reread Jane Eyre countless times because living Jane’s life vicariously is such an amazing experience.

Felicity started out a very different woman. Because I was using my daughter Elizabeth’s experiences as Felicity’s background: studied classics at Oxford, found she disliked teaching school in London, went off to study theology in a college run by monks in rural Yorkshire. . . For the first few chapters of my rough draft, Felicity was Elizabeth— sweet, devout, compliant. Fabulous qualities in a daughter, but in a heroine B-O-R-I-N-G.

So the real Felicity was born— brilliant, impulsive, loyal, headstrong. Felicity went off to become a priest so she could set the world right with no doubts that she would be able to do so. At the end of A Very Private Grave she tells Antony, “I thought I knew everything. Now I realize I don’t know anything.”

Antony replies, “I can’t think of a better place to start.”

In A Darkly Hidden Truth Felicity, who never does anything by halves, has decided she’s going to be a nun— in spite of Antony’s pleas that she help him find the valuable stolen icon, in spite of the fact that her mother is about to arrive from the States unexpectedly, in spite of the fact that a dear friend has disappeared. . .

Again, Felicity has a lot to learn, and, even though it seems she must learn everything the hard way, she is making progress. Especially when it comes to choosing the course for the rest of her life. Will it be the veil or Antony?

Who are some of your favorite fictional heroines? What makes them special to you?

Donna Fletcher Crow is the author of 38 books, mostly novels dealing with British history.  The award-winning Glastonbury, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history, is her best-known work. Donna and her husband live in Boise, Idaho.  They have 4 adult children and 11 grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic gardener.

Her newest release is A Darkly Hidden Truth, book 2 in her clerical mystery series The Monastery Murders. She also writes the Lord Danvers series of Victorian true-crime novels and the romantic suspense series The Elizabeth & Richard Mysteries. To read more about these books and to see book videos for A Darkly Hidden Truth and for A Very Private Grave, Monastery Murders 1, as well as pictures from Donna’s garden and research trips go to: www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com.