Wednesday 14 November 2012

Method In The Madness

I Don't Get It


I don't understand why some readers expect a character to be a certain way. 'Donna Rigden', one of my characters, gets hammered for falling in love too soon or being 'in and out' of love too much. First off, Donna is not an average human being. She's what some would call a brooding mare. There's nothing normal about her. She's the product of genetic manipulation through selective breeding. She has been bred from the best with the best, for a purpose.


The Weepiest Woman In The World

Some say Donna is too weepy. OK, I'll buy that, but Donna experiences emotion on a higher level than most women. She connects with those around her, especially those she loves and is acquainted with. Donna is empathic; she feels other's pain. I know some think that's far-fetched, but take my word, it's real. I should know.

Donna Is Too Immature To Be A Doctor

Donna gets too involved with her patients. Yes, that's probably true, as well, but, I don't want my characters stereotyped. I don't follow the flock. I want my characters to be real, to act real, and to come across, as real. Donna knows she has a problem; she cares, too much. It's one of the weaknesses she has to deal with. Someday, she may learn to turn some of this off, but I'm not ready for her to do that yet.

Everyone Falls In Love With Donna


Donna falls for two men, straight away, and they fall for her. Yes, but, Donna and Richard have been talking to each other ever since her cousin introduced them. There is a legitimate reason why Donna falls for Sam, but it's introduced in 'Blood of the Rainbow -Raging Storm' and elaborated on in 'Blood of the Rainbow II - Roses and Regret' - the prequel to 'A Vested Interest book 1 - Immortality Gene.


Donna's Secret

Gary is the only one who knows Donna's secret. He will not betray her. He knows the problem with Richard and with Sam, and (I'm not going to spoil it for you). Something else, and unless you read at least as far as 'Dark Secrets', you won't know this. There are two forces determining Donna's choice:

  1. Covert villains.  These people have their own agenda, and it doesn't matter how much Donna hurts, that is their driving force. Again, this does not come out until 'Dark Secrets'.
  2. Unseen forces. Because of another dark force, which doesn't come out until 'Regret and Retribution', Donna believes it is her destiny to be with Sam. That reason is explained in 'Blood of the Rainbow II' - the prequel series to 'A Vested Interest'.
These two dark forces do not want Donna with anyone other than Richard. They don't care who she's in love with, they don't care how many affairs she has. Donna and Richard have to be more than friends. As long as that happens, they wouldn't care if Donna is in love with anyone, at all. As far as their agenda is concerned, love has nothing to do with it.


Don't Blame Me

Donna has been bred to attract the opposite sex - genetically manipulated, you might say, through bloodline. Richard can't help but fall for her. Sam can't help but fall for her. Any man is on dangerous ground when it comes to Donna, and it's the same for Richard and Sam. That comes out in 'No Secrets' as well as a lot of other things.

Time Is Ticking

This all happens in a matter of months with some of the outrageous things happening in weeks, even days. Some of the readers say this is unbelievable. For one thing, since Donna and Richard connected through her cousin and maintained that contact via telecommunications, people say Internet Romance is not possible. Even if, the couple get together, the relationship never lasts - wrong!

Internet Romance

I met my third husband - the love of my life - my destiny - through Yahoo Chat, in a room called Animals in August of 1997. In November, of that same year, me and my two small boys flew to England. Because of circumstances beyond our control - UK Immigration - my sons and I were only allowed to stay for a month. The first thing my husband said to me - at Gatwick Airport - was "Hi," and then he kissed me. Trust me, it was love at first sight.

After a forceful, tearful and devastating goodbye, me and my two sons spent the next four months in Texas with another Internet friend. In April, my husband came to the States. Again, Immigration played an intrusive part in our lives. After 90 days, when his temporary visa ran out, my husband had to make a choice. Either he went  to Canada or Mexico, or returned to the UK. Me, my husband, and my youngest son went to Canada.

I won't go into details - I might later write a book on that too - but on 19 May 1999 my husband and I were married in Chatham, Ontario, with a little boy sitting on the floor drawing dinosaurs, with a green crayon, at our feet. Since then, we have not spent a single night apart, nor would we want to. We have our differences and we argue, but we have never walked away from each other. In fact, we find it hard to stay mad at each other. Most of our heated arguments ends with both of us laughing.

In Conclusion


Another thing I wish to point out, is when you're writing a book, especially a romance book you don't want your story to turn out like World Book Encyclopaedic. Things have to happen fast. Sometimes opportunity won't wait for all of life's little problems to work themselves out. My motto is, if you feel you need to do something - do it, and worry about it later. Life is nothing but a fun ride anyway. You've got to get on the carousel, choose your horse, mount up and hold on for dear life, cause, honey, fate waits for no one. The world is not going to stop spinning while you debate the morals.


Oh - by the way - since the first ebook is free - what's all the fuss about?

2 comments:

John Chapman said...

It's so frustrating when a reviewer doesn't understand that what they see as an error is written that way on purpose. Unfortunately you can't explain more without giving away the story.

John Chapman said...

Just re-read this and spotted the 'heated arguments' bit. What do we argue about? Would you believe things like whether a comma should follow a word in the books or not. We've never argued about anything which most people would consider a real issue.