I’m in the early stages of writing my fourth novel, as always both exciting and frightening, in about equal measure. Bringing the lead women to life is the biggest wall to scale, and by the end of writing each novel, they have to feel like real people to me.
Character development is critical to a novel’s success, I believe. I’ve found that, when reading a story, if I can’t relate to any of the characters, I lose interest fast. For an author, the challenge is to make them interesting…and flawed! No-one is perfect in real life, and overly virtuous personalities are unlikely…not to mention boring, if not outright annoying. Characters have to stuff up somewhere in the story, but not too much – they have to be relatable on some level for you and I to nod our heads and commiserate. That’s life, eh?
While I’m here, just a follow-up about Closeness, which has proved popular with readers. So much so that last year Bella Books nominated it for a Golden Crown Literary Society Award in the Romance Short Novel category – a vote of confidence, thanks BB team! You can find the GCLS here: www.goldencrownliterarysociety.org In April, I was notified that Closeness was a finalist, which I was thrilled about.
At the GCLS Awards ceremony in July, Closeness didn’t gain a ‘Goldie’, but I’m chuffed and proud that it made the finals. I’m happy to say it’s been a favourite with many. And ‘tickled a few pickles!’
Thanks, my friends. Keep in touch. YLW.
P.S. ALL messages answered, asap