I have learned I'm a character-driven author, which for me means my plotlines come from understanding a few things about the people in my stories:
The most formative moments of their life
Their 'worst nightmare scenario'
Events that would upset their 'status quo life'
How I can force them to challenge their beliefs and behaviors, and
The changes they need to go through to complete their transformation
Asking these questions is like 'pressing the toothpaste out of the tube', if you've heard that saying before. Characters have a way of coming to life when you delve deeper into their backstory and inner workings, which throws up all sorts of ideas and possibilities for plotlines, and that's when the fun really begins.
Letting Go was originally designed to be a one-off story about a career-oriented woman who had kept family secrets from her son who, of course, discovers them. In my mind, there was no possibility of a series from this story. However, as I developed Callie's backstory, details emerged that impacted the plot in a big way.
I learned Callie never wanted to work for a big pharmaceutical company—sterile environments made her claustrophobic, and the thought of dealing with patients almost put her off medicine altogether.
She dreamed of distilling essential oils and mixing therapeutic creams in a more rustic environment, and walking through fragrant fields to collect herbs and flowers for her plant-based medicine. Her chemistry degree was purely there to apply scientific rigor, so she could position botanical medicine alongside its pharmaceuticals counterparts.
But widowed and raising a child on her own meant pharmaceuticals was a lifeline she could grasp onto, and a foundation she could build a secure future for her son. And then ...
The next thing I knew, a whole host of characters began coming forward, telling me why Jackson's Bridge (a community I'd never imagined before) could help Callie start over and heal, once she'd walked her son through the truth about his father's death. Beautiful settings sprang forward, and eventually, a fully-fledged community had come to life that I thought I could share with the world.
I got to know each character intimately using the questions above. Plotlines began to emerge, creating in a seemingly endless number of stories that I could weave together in standalone novels that tie back to the community. And that's when the slow-burn romance between Callie and Dave Woods started to blossom.
Through this process, plotlines with emotional resonance are born—and character transformations are both believable and relatable. I hope you enjoy reading them just as much as I enjoy crafting them for you to enjoy!
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