Magic of the Muses: characters

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Don't leave me hanging!

Even with a series, don’t leave me hanging! That’s my feeling.

I expect the dollars, time and emotions I invest in reading a novel to buy a great story that includes a satisfactory ending. Nothing leaves me more disappointed that feeling the book I read was little more than an advertisement for the next in a series.

When I turn that last page or click off the eReader, I want all plots resolved and all characters to be in a comfortable, complete place.

Someone said the first page of a novel must entice people to read your book. The last page (whether in a series or not) must entice them to read your next book. Leaving the reader disappointed is not a good way to accomplish that.

If cliff hangers aren’t the way to incite further interest, what is? Good writing is, of course. Also, especially for a series, insanely wonderful characters will do the trick.

If I’m intrigued by the way the characters did or did not handle life and circumstance, I’ll want to read more. If their imperfections drove their lives but I loved them anyways, I’ll want to see them through into their next adventures, hoping they’ll change for the better. If their wit or strength or spiritual natures are incredibly inspiring, I’ll crave more of their enlightenment and humour. If their pasts are a little hazy, their motives less than clear, their dreams and aspirations hidden—I’ll demand those secrets eventually be shared with me.

The best books for me contain characters that are so intensely real I fall in love with them. The best series are those where each novel wraps up the plot, consummates the relationships and leaves me wondering, given their strengths and foibles, their current place in life, their pasts and their promise, their tears and fears, how will the characters fare in the future?

When reading a series, I’m invested in the characters just as I was in my own children. I worry about them, hope for them, seek to understand them. I love them to bits. I don’t mind spending time with them, learning more about them, seeing them through trials, sharing their dreams.

And, always, always, always I’m pondering their futures.

Brought to you by THETRAZ Book 1 in the BackTracker Series

“…can't wait to read the sequel...”

“Exciting, powerful, & tragic.”

“I came away wanting more!”

“The first of a series, igniting an appetite for the sequel…”

Monday, November 10, 2014

In the Cold Light of Day

Please can I just say a big thank you to you Eileen for allowing me to guest on your fabulous Blog, Magic of the Muse. We first met when your book, The Traz was published and from then on we have become special social media friends.

My latest book, In the Cold Light of Day was published on 26^th October and I have once again returned to the sixties as the time frame to set my story. I just love to write about the times when mobile phones, lap tops, the World Wide Web and computers in general were nothing more than a futuristic dream. Set in the London area, In the Cold Light of Day is a moving story about gambling addiction taking the reader into a world of lies, deception and eventually fraud. This book, like all of my books, it is an emotional read, one that gets to the very core of the characters feelings. A little warning; readers may need a tissue close by. I admit to having felt emotional when I was writing this book!

You asked what inspired me to write about gambling. “The initial idea came to me after I had heard how a business man had lost everything he owned through gambling. A few weeks later I met a woman who had a family member who was addicted to internet gambling, again another story of unnecessary loss. From then on my story slowly began to unfold. It took several months to write and edit before I was happy enough to send it to my editor. Even then I was nervous about her reaction. Thankfully in the end I had nothing to fear as her final words to me after delivering my manuscript back were, “Good luck! You deserve it. I’ve loved this story.”

Here is the blurb….

Bertie Costain has worked hard all his life in the building trade and now owns his own London-based company. In 1967, approaching fifty and still unmarried he enjoys a playboy lifestyle, but when he meets Kitty, an attractive, wealthy widow ten years his senior, he swiftly proposes.

Swept off her feet, Kitty adores him. The happy couple seem to have it all, but Bertie has a secret. Kitty has no idea their home is mortgaged to the hilt, or that the many expensive gifts he brings her come out of his winnings at roulette. Proud of his apparent success and ignorant of his gambling addiction, she happily loans him large sums of money, ostensibly for his business.

Convinced with each spin of the wheel that his run of bad luck will change, Bertie gambles for increasingly high stakes, falling deeper and deeper into debt until, facing financial ruin and with nowhere to turn, he resorts to fraud. As their lives begin to unravel, Kitty learns the horrifying truth.

In the cold light of day can their love survive the pain and destruction Bertie’s addiction has wrought?

Pauline’s Bio:

I am a Yorkshire girl from the UK, but have lived in several different locations over the years; Suffolk, UK, Surrey, UK and the Netherlands. Today, I live on one of the beautiful islands of the Canary Isles with my husband and our two gorgeous rescue doggies.

Years ago I gained a BA (Hons) degree from the Open University, today I spend my time writing fiction. I have five books published, plus a 20 minute short festive story.

My passion is to write about events that happen in life and change everything for those involved as well as those caught up in the maelstrom. I want my characters to sit at your side, steal your attention and sweep you up in their story. Stories that will bring tears to your eyes, have you laughing out loud and sometimes, what they share with you, will stay in your hearts for a very long time.

Pauline’s Author Showcase Trailer