Warming Up Winter: A Sweet Romance In My Life

It’s the middle of winter. It's cold and nasty outside but I'm feeling cuddly warm. I've entered the world of romance.  A sweet romance....a book. I'm writing it and loving it.  My characters are in their late twenties or early thirties. Her name (at least for now) is Carrie. His name is Parker. I really like the guy in the story. I pretty much took several characteristics from the special guy I fell in love with many years ago. Lots of things change. People have a ton more technology and probably more money than Tom and I had when we were dating but... the good stuff? The stuff that makes the hero in the story a guy worth keeping? That simply doesn’t change. 

So my new character is honest. He’s a hard worker. He doesn’t think of himself more highly than others. He has values, morals, and a true sense of right and wrong. And he has a great smile.

It’s a boy meets girl and hopefully gets the girl in the end kind of story. Of course the trick is to keep the story moving and the reader guessing if things will ever work out for these two.

The Real Critic: My Mom

I’ve been talking about the book and about my characters with my mother. My mother is good at asking questions. “Why did he go to Florida to do the internship?” “What happened to her mother?” 

One My Best Critics...My Mom

She can be a good critic, too; a much needed person in any writer’s life. She hasn’t read any of it yet. I won’t let her do that until I finish laying down the first draft. But I’ve introduced her to the characters, the setting, and the plot.

She‘s a good listener. I’ve been filling her in on what is happening with these characters. I’ve shared with her some of the backstory. Even parts that will probably never make it into the book but it's stuff I need to know so I can understand where these folks are coming from, so to speak. 

These people –these characters –are becoming like members of the family. My mom asks how they’re doing or I’ll tell her something I learned about one of them. Like the day I discovered the picture on Carrie’s desk wasn’t her husband and baby as Parker thought.  And it wasn’t her dad holding her as a baby as I once considered. No, there’s another whole story behind that picture. I can’t wait until Parker learns the truth. Shhh –I’ll be revealing that to him soon.

When the characters start to seem real to my mom I know she’s hooked. So am I. So stay tuned. The best is yet to come.

Be sure to share your comments. I’ll answer.

And Remember: Ambassador International will release Libby’s Cuppa Joe in March! Message me or leave a comment if you want to get in on the fun!