Characters – Extreme Versions of Ourselves?

One piece of advice I took very seriously when writing my first novel was “Write what you know.” Inspired by TV and movies as well as real life, I wanted to place a hero/heroine/villain triangle into the middle of a suspenseful circumstance. I tucked this idea away for when the time would come when I’d begin writing that first story. And, as is often the way of things, that time occurred during one of the busiest times in my life. I was working at a daycare center, and though I was certain I’d have plenty of time to write between working a rotating schedule and an hour-long lunch break, it really didn’t work out that way. The hours increased (though the pay never seemed to) and I was spending so much time in the world of preschool that the elements of my story changed. I kept my original premise but it didn’t take long before my students and coworkers found their way into my story and Dangerous Proposal took on a life I’d never expected it to.

Placing myself in the heroine’s shoes was nothing new to me. Intrigued by the world of romance, I’d been reading every romance novel I could get my hands on and I enjoyed envisioning myself as the heroine and falling in love with the hero. It made the stories I read seem more personal to me and it also made me aware of how much I had in common with the women I was reading about, and of qualities I aspired to having. In a world where we sometimes feel as though everyone around us feels differently about things than we do (*raises hand*), it can be comforting to feel a connection to the main character of the book we’re reading. It strengthens and justifies our beliefs. It makes us feel as though we’re not alone.

If I enjoyed making these connections, surely other readers did too. And as I progressed in my writing career and joined organizations with other writers, these thoughts were reinforced and confirmed. More so, when a reader connects with your protagonist there is an excellent chance she’ll connect with your writing on the whole. One more reason for me to keep doing what I loved–though perhaps I’d gone a little over the top with Dangerous Proposal, putting the heroine, Lena Benson, into a relationship with a man with questionable morals, (as I had been in a few years before) giving her my profession, my favorite vacation spot, my hopes and dreams, giving the heroine my qualities and experiences helped me to connect with her and made my heroine (and my story) all the more authentic.

Of course, in books, the circumstances are typically larger than life. An author who walks the line between contemporary romance and romantic suspense, I want my characters to experience the thrill of danger on their way to happily ever after and guns, kidnappings and criminal enterprises often play a role. Most of us don’t see such things in our everyday lives and brushing aside the idea that suspense naturally stems from danger, it’s exciting to take a walk on the other side of the fence. To compliment these larger than life scenarios, my characters often have unique backstories–they fall for the villain, or in other cases they may learn that they’re related to the villain by blood. They find themselves on a criminal organization’s radar, or the person they have unrequited feelings for shows up at exactly the wrong time.

When writing my second novel Dangerous Ally (which actually became my debut novel) I went all in for the larger than life scene–heroine, Lilah Benson, a well-renowned journalist, is offered the opportunity of a lifetime to break a frontpage story about the villain, diamond-smuggling kingpin Lucas Ramone, who just happens to be the former fiance of her older sister. I’d never found myself in such a situation but I still managed to give Lilah a few qualities I could relate to at various times of my life. Though very successful, Lilah’s actually rather insecure as she constantly compares herself to the people around her (namely her sister) and feels as though she doesn’t quite measure up. I also found myself relating to the hero, Lucas, who feels an extreme need to compete and win at all he does. Finding I could relate to my former villain made him easier to reform as I broke him down piece by piece, making me even more aware that my characters were actually extreme versions of myself.

Creating the concept for the Rabourn Theater Series, I wasn’t really thinking of how I would connect with my characters. Inspired by my love of Phantom of the Opera, I began by doing a bit of research, then dove into a world that was entirely unfamiliar to me, centered around a profession I’d never played any part in. Though not particularly far away from me distance-wise, the characters resided in a town I’d never visited, in a state in which I’d spend only a small amount of time. Moneywise, they stood at extreme ends of the spectrum–some were extremely rich and others extremely poor, so poor that they were forced into exotic dancing as a primary source of income and in some cases engaged in prostitution as well. As the majority of us fall somewhere in the middle of the two extremes, I wasn’t necessarily expecting to relate to anyone in this series. I surprised myself by relating to all. Though I’ve never had a multi-million dollar business dropped into my lap, I understand the stress that comes with trying to stand up to people who question your ability, as Hannah Rabourn does in An Amorous Dance. And, like her younger cousin Alicia, I’m all too familiar with being forced to work in a less than desired profession while longing for more hours in the day to explore my passion.

If you’ve never considered it before, you may be surprised to realize you can relate to many of the characters you read or write about. As a writer, I find it particularly fulfilling to place a character I relate to, into a larger than life scenario and see them come out the victor. It reminds me that we too possess the ability to succeed at the challenges we face, and find true love. It’s encouraging. Who doesn’t need a little encouragement right now?