Loud Neighbors

Bulletproof Mascara Villain: Val Robinson

I was kept awake last night by Nikki who is flirting with her ex-boyfriend.  This is a problem that I know Nikki is love with her current boyfriend – Z’ev.  Why is she behaving this way? What could drive her into the arms of another man? How do you explain this kind of behavior, young lady! The real problem, of course, is that writers are crazy and we listen to all the voices in our head and sometimes the voices are quite loud.  In this, case the edits for my third Carrie Mae Mystery are demanding to be heard and dealt with.

In general, the edits are going quite well. Each edit is adding the layer of depth and realism that really make a book sing.  It’s like adding jewelry to an outfit; a good round of edits can make the entire thing sparkle.  Unfortunately, some edits can cause a chain reaction changes through-out the book.  Suddenly an author can find herself questioning the timeline (does this scene need to be moved to Tuesday?), the continuity (were they eating peach or blackberry pie before?), and worst of all – would the character really do that?

All of my characters are quite real to me. I have entire dossiers about their past.  There are pictures. There are idiosyncrasies and favorite swear words and moral codes and lines that each character wouldn’t cross. But the gray areas, such as, “Would you kiss your childhood sweetheart in the moonlight on a warm summer’s night?” are sometimes harder to negotiate. 

But making the big decisions, like who gets to kiss who, is why I get paid the not so big bucks.  Although, if you want to find out if Nikki gives into temptation you’ll just have to pick up a copy of High-Calber Concealer in November 2015.

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.