by RJ Blain
Paranormal Suspense / Urban Fantasy / Supernatural Thriller / Light Paranormal Romance
Date Published: June 25, 2015
Book Description:
The world is full of corpses, and Jackson knows them by name. When a group strives to destroy the Inquisition, his powers may be all standing between the supernaturals and extinction.
However, when he learns the truth behind the deaths of his wife and unborn daughter, Jackson may prove to be the greatest threat of all to the survival of mankind...
Purchase Link:
Guest Post:
Writing Characters
When I read a book, I want to follow the story of a
character who captures my heart. I want to care what happens to them. I want to
see them succeed. I want to hold my breath and worry if they’ll fail. I want to
laugh with them, and I want to cry with them.
Good characters breathe life into a book. A story with an
excellent plot will fall flat if the characters aren’t vibrant. Writing good
characters is hard. Over the years,
I’ve had the honor of working as an editor with some truly talented authors.
Their characters were fantastic—the stories needed work. These stories were so
often some of the best to work with.
Once an author understands how to write characters readers
love, they can fix the mechanics. Learning to write characters readers love is
difficult. Why?
How can one put to paper what makes a reader love a character?
So many times, it’s a combination of everything that character is. Every
decision and emotion a character has melds to give a reader a truly
interesting—and touching—experience.
When I think of characters I truly love, I realize they have
one thing in common. They are relatable. They aren’t me—but I can understand
where they are coming from. I can relate to their interests or their situation.
I understand them on a deeper level.
Characters I love to read resonate with me. Their situations
and the way they deal with them are something I can appreciate or sympathize
with. When I write, I try to capture that by working with characters—people—who
appeal to me on some level.
That leads to the murky depths of the Mary Sue—or the act of
inserting a character you want to be or are. I don’t write like that, nor do I
want to write like that. Honestly, I try to remove myself as much as possible
from my characters, although some things inevitably seep through.
I want to tell the stories of interesting people. The
keyword is in that single sentence. It’s people.
Good characters feel like real people. Good characters touch on what it is to live, and
through them, we experience something new—or something familiar from a
different way. A good character sometimes challenges our beliefs. Sometimes, a
good character stands in solidarity with us. Sometimes, a good character is a
person we wish we could be, if life hadn’t gotten in the way.
Sometimes, a good character has the calm comforting presence
of a close friend.
Good characters tough others, and that’s a skill that has to
be learned through experience. Sometimes, in order to learn to write good
characters, an author merely needs to take a look at the world around them and
capture it on the page.
Sometimes, an author needs to look at the works of others
and learn what separates a good character from the flat, shallow ones.
I personally believe good characters are experienced each
and every page. Without them, a book simply can’t shine. That’s why I read—for
the experience of meeting new people.
It’s also a strong part of why I write. I want to meet these
new people, too.
About the author:
RJ Blain suffers from a Moleskine journal obsession, a pen fixation, and a terrible tendency to pun without warning.
When she isn't playing pretend, she likes to think she's a cartographer and a sumi-e painter. In reality, she herds cats and a husband, and obeys the commands of Tsu Dhi, the great warrior fish.
In her spare time, she daydreams about being a spy. Should that fail, her contingency plan involves tying her best of enemies to spinning wheels and quoting James Bond villains until she is satisfied.
Contact Links:
Website: http://rjblain.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rj_blain
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