I’m wild about heroes who play the role of “Protector.” From True Grit to Terminator 2, there are hundreds of stories that feature this iconic hero. Often a loner or someone who has been shunned by society, the Protector defies convention and risks his life to keep the heroine safe. Of course, there are heroine twists on the Protector, too. Sigourney Weaver’s character in Aliens must protect the orphaned girl, …Read the Rest
Come on, you’ve got one. Who is it? Cruella de Vil? Lex Luther? The Wicked Witch of the West? Voldemort? Great stories often require great villains. Without them, our heroes cannot be truly heroic. They provide the force we long to see our hero overcome. But great villains can’t just be evil. We need to understand them. Frighteningly, we often need to empathize with them. In 1989’s Batman, brought to …Read the Rest
Hans Christian Andersen brought us some lovely, compelling tales about characters who didn’t quite fit into their world. The Ugly Duckling. The Little Mermaid. They recognized that they belonged among a different crowd. They just didn’t know how to get there. The Little Mermaid has always drawn me as an iconic character. She knows she doesn’t fit in. She’s desperate to experience the human world, and she goes so far …Read the Rest
Let me just start out by saying that I love the character Harry Potter. I’ve seen the movies through The Half-Blood Prince. Thrilling, enjoyable, and for someone who didn’t raise her own kids, what a treat to watch Harry, Ron and Hermione grow up over the years. But as a writer, I hid my dark secret until recently: I’ve never read the Harry Potter books. Well, okay, I’ll confess—I did …Read the Rest
Am I the only person who, while watching television, sits through the commercial breaks and analyzes each commercial? I’m hoping one or two other people raised their hand out there. My husband just shakes his head. “Why are you trying to work out a commercial character’s motivation?” “Because if they’re going to make a 30-second story out of a commercial, then it should make sense.” There are good and bad …Read the Rest
Today’s blog is in celebration of my release this week of Lying Eyes, a romantic suspense with an important subplot between the heroine Iris and her father Cosmo. Click the Carina Press button to learn more about the book! Father-Daughter relationships tend to be unique and special. I’m not sure if they’re more important to the daughter or the father, but for centuries, stories have featured the highs and lows …Read the Rest
As a kid, I loved cartoons. LOVED them. Saturday morning, no questions asked, the television room was mine. Bugs Bunny. Scooby Doo. Pink Panther. I even went through a comic book phase—albeit, short-lived. Archie. Superheroes. Beetle Bailey. No, I can’t even recall where I was finding Beetle Bailey comic books. Newspaper comics were also important, especially on Sundays: Peanuts. Garfield. Bloom County. BTW, did you know that Comics.com is the …Read the Rest
Up until I started this blog, I assumed (as I suspect many did) that Bram Stoker created the vampire in his 1897 novel Dracula. But a trip to Wikipedia leads one to believe that the term “vampire” first gained prominence in Western Europe in the early 18th century. These legends stemmed from the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and after nearly a century of growth, it took hold in an 1819 …Read the Rest
Cinderella. Snow White. Sleeping Beauty. Need I say more? Fairy tales have endured for generations. Their story structure continues to inspire, intrigue and excite us. Believe it or not, fairy tales do have a structure. Nearly all of them feature a main character (protagonist) who is set upon by outside forces (a villain). This protagonist begins the story with the behaviors and reactions of a child—someone awaiting rescue. Through the …Read the Rest
Many story-lovers will agree that they like their characters “flawed.” Perfection is, well, annoying to read about. Heroines tend to not quite fit the social norm, and heroes often desperately need to be redeemed in some way. But I’m fascinated with the number of ‘addictive’ personalities that have cropped up in popular stories. From Sam the bar owner who battled the bottle in Cheers to the Vicodin-addicted champion of bedside …Read the Rest
I'm a storyteller at heart. After fifteen years in professional theater, I turned from the stage to the page to write fiction. It's been a journey honing my craft in this new medium, but my debut novel LYING EYES is now available from Carina Press and other online retailers. I love contemporary and historical tales that combine romance and adventure. When not writing, I run an online community to help goal-oriented writers achieve their dreams.
To learn more about me, visit my Website.
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