What Kind of Novels Do I Write?
The answer: The kind I like to read. I hate to plow through a story and then learn that the lead, who I am liking, dies. I’m sorry, but I like stories that end happily. That doesn’t mean that their heroes will not come up against danger, sickness, grief, challenges, hardships — well, you get the idea.
I read for fun and relaxation, so it has to be easy reading. That means I don’t want to go nuts trying to remember which guy is which. I also dislike long paragraphs of explanations which wear you out before they end. I like novels that move along, and as they do, I want them to give me glimpses of locales, personalities, and human emotions. I love to eavesdrop on what the characters are thinking, and feeling. I don’t like mushy love stories, but I am not against a love affair.
And so, when I finish a book, I want to be glad I read it and happy with how it ended.
Where Do You Get Your Ideas to Write a Novel??
I get asked that question often. I am not always sure that I am believed, but every one of them began the same way.
I first decide on a character. Then I put him (her) into a setting and give him a personality. At that point, something happens that always surprises me. In my imagination, the person comes alive and I start following him. That’s it!
As I do this, I am often astonished as to where he goes, whom he meets, what he does, and what happens to him. In the first draft, I let him tell me who he is. In one of my books my main character was going to be a grocer in a rural area of Oregon. In a way it was, but he was no longer the main character because a son burst into my imagination and took over the story.
There doesn’t seem to be a pattern as to what kind of person will end up possessing me. The leads or characters have nothing in common but they keep arriving in my imagination, sometimes in the middle of the night. Currently I am being captured by a private investigator and I am not sure where he is taking me, but I am looking forward to our journey together!