Creating Composite Characters from People You Know
June 3, 2023 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger
As far as composite characters go, take Don Draper from Mad Men. He’s widely thought to be created as a composite of several advertising execs from the mid-century. His name was likely from Draper Daniels, a Chicago ad executive, as well as Albert Lasker, Emerson Foote, and George Lois.
Of course, there is Ebenezer Scrooge, who was based on politicians and businessmen of Charles Dickens’ time.
Many of us unintentionally create characters in our books that are based on ourselves, family members, co-workers, or friends. After all, who do we know best?
However, when it comes to deliberately writing about those people in our lives, we want to make them into believable characters yet disguise them enough that they are not just “cut and paste” copies of actual people. The point is to capture their essence and incorporate them seamlessly into our book.
You may think that person has a particular personality quirk that makes for an interesting addition to your cast of characters, but if you think they wouldn’t like it, make sure you make them different enough to be unrecognizable, or you may lose a friend or even open yourself up to a lawsuit.
Perhaps you’d like to use a historical figure or a famous celebrity of today. Make sure to do your homework before you write about them. In this day of social media and “fake news,” it can be all too easy to be misled by incorrect information. You don’t want any backlash when you release your work. Being careful will prevent any legal action. Remember that readers are very intelligent and inquisitive people. They WILL know if you got something wrong, and that will ruin the believability of your story.
We fall in love with many fictional. They’re exciting and engaging, beautiful and dangerous, mysterious, and sometimes evil to the core. Don’t rely too much on a real person to capture your readers’ attention. This can be a very dangerous game, indeed.
There is no reason why you shouldn’t use people you know to help you conjure up the characters in your stories. Just remember that doing so successfully takes time and effort to get right!
After all – what better way is there to honor or get revenge on someone in your life than to make them a character in your book?
The Skylar Drake Series
Tracy Reed: Our June Featured Author
June 1, 2023 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Beautiful Men, fashion, Sophisticated Romance, the Big Apple, Tracy Reed
Tracy Reed: Our June Featured Author
A California native, novelist Tracy Reed pushes the boundaries of her Christian foundation with her sometimes racy and often fiery tales.
After years of living in the Big Apple, this self proclaimed New Yorker draws from the city’s imagination, intrigue, and inspiration to cultivate characters and plot lines who breathe life to the words on every page.
Tracy’s passion for beautiful fashion and beautiful men direct her vivid creative power towards not only novels, but short stories, poetry, and podcasts. With something for every attention span.
Tracy Reed’s ability to capture an audience is unmatched. Her body of work has been described as a host of stimulating adventures and invigorating expression.
Books by Tracy Reed
Room with a View
May 30, 2023 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic tagged as Dianna Sinovic, Room with a View, short story, tree house
The top floor of Brindle Hall overlooks a grove of red maples, the crowns of the trees only a few feet below the windows. Nyla smiles at the leaves in motion below her. It would be like living in a treehouse. A bit, anyway.
“How much is the lease?” She’s sure the price is beyond her budget, but she has to ask.
The agent names a price that’s a stretch, but the trees outside the windows are calling to her.
He promises the key and the paperwork by tomorrow. She can move in the following week.
Later, sitting on the couch she’s temporarily commandeered at a friend’s house, Nyla considers the floor plan of her new place. Two tiny bedrooms, a kitchen/dining room combo, and the living room with the balcony overlooking the maples. It must do.
Sam helps her move, but not without grousing. “You have too much stuff.”
“You mean books.” She knows that’s where she overbuys and shrugs. “I can’t help myself.”
They load box after box of books onto the handcart and take the elevator up. When he departs, after a feast of carryout pizza and chocolate chip cookies she had stashed for emergencies, she sits on the floor amid the boxes, which take up much of the living room.
She reaches into one of them, lifts out a volume, and opens the cover. Through the sliding glass door to the balcony, the maple leaves rustle.
Nodding, she checks her phone.
Almost time.
An hour slips past, as she reads several chapters. The darkness of the evening deepens beyond the windows, and Nyla switches a floor lamp on low.
After emptying her pockets, she lays her phone on the kitchen counter and places her shoes next to the fridge. On the balcony, she gazes down to the sidewalk that runs along the front of her building, four floors down. It’s empty and quiet at this hour.
Overhead, clouds drift past a waxing crescent shining in the east. A slight breeze brings the odor of diesel fumes and—as her nose morphs into a beak—mice and a wandering housecat. She can hear the rodents skittering in the alley. She shakes out her wing feathers, russet brown and soft, and swivels her head to check herself in the window. Her ear tufts stand out against the night’s backdrop. With a brief hoot, she hops onto the balcony railing.
One push up and she’s airborne, skimming above the maples, and then over the nearby streets of the town.
Dianna’s Books
Beach Reads Box Set Free for a Short Time
May 29, 2023 by marianne h donley in category Spotlight tagged as Beach reads, box set, free reads, Penny Reid, Summmer books
★★BOX SET★★
Ten full-length novels from some of your favorite bestselling romance authors. Grab your Beach Reads Box Set, Volume 3, for ZERO PENNIES on Amazon for just a short while! This special bundle features stories perfect for fun in the sun. A great way to introduce you to new authors to love, grab this romance bundle before it’s gone!
★ ★TEN BOOKS INCLUDE ★ ★
Ten Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend by @PennyReidWriter
Faking Ms. Right by @clairekingsleybooks
Come Back for Me by @CorinneMichaels
Then Came You by @authordylanallen
Flawless by @authorelsiesilver
The Wrong Game by @KandiSteiner
Boss in the Bedsheets by @kcanterbary
Forrest for the Trees by @kilbybladesauthor
Ignite by @AuthorMelanieHarlow
Rockaway Bride by @PippaGrantRomance
★ ★Grab your copy today!★ ★
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5YSXK8D
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5YSXK8D
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C5YSXK8D
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C5YSXK8D
Alina K. Field May Featured Author
May 28, 2023 by Alina K. Field in category Featured Author, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Alina K. Field, Featured Author of the Month, Regency Romances
Award winning author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German literature, but her true passion is the much happier world of romance fiction. Though her roots are in the Midwest, after six very, very, very cold years in Chicago, she moved to Southern California where she shares a midcentury home with two furry four-legged girls and keeps a dependable stash of lollipops for the munchkins in her life.
She is the author of several Regency romances, including the 2014 Book Buyer’s Best winner, Rosalyn’s Ring. She is hard at work on her next series of Regency romances, but loves to hear from readers!
Books by Alina K. Field
Featured Books
THE LAST MILE
A novel of taut suspense and danger from New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin.
More info →
THE SECRET POISON GARDEN
Rita Calabrese finds her newfound journalistic zeal on a collision course with her fierce maternal instinct.
More info → 
