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Tropical Tale No. 12-
Vol. 2 - Character Chaos
Mystery Bookstore, Poisoned Pen, Once Upon a
Mystery, Once Upon a Crime, Mysteries to Die
For, are the names of some bookstores around
the country that sell detective stories,
mysteries and murder novels. While my
books all have a murder in them, they are not
exactly a who-done-it. Rather, I
write romantic adventures in which somebody
usually dies.
One
of the questions I was asked during my recent
book signing of FORBIDDEN PASSION in Ft.
Lauderdale was, "do you have to do a lot
of research to write about your characters or
are they based on real people?" The
answer was, no, I may research the subject
matter to death but the personalities are
usually a combination of several people and
require no research. I always collect
personalities while I am traveling and make
notes of their idiosyncrasies. However,
if a person has an underlying motive for his
aberrant behavior, then I will consult a
psychologist or read many books on that
particular trait to get in to their mind to
find out what motivates him, and why he
interacts like that with the other characters.
Emotions fascinate me. So do locations.
Later, when I sit down at my computer to
write the story I never know how they will all
get along. I do not use a blueprint or
an outline. I struggle with the
development of the story line as I proceed
from chapter to chapter. I usually do a
lot of walking to go with my thinking, and
sometimes I even talk to myself. At
least, that is what family members think.
"She's at it again!" In
reality, I am having a very enlightening
conversation with a character in my book.
And I recognize that I can be difficult to
live with during the interim but that goes
with the territory. If you can't stand
the heat you stay out of my office! When
my husband asks for dinner, I tell him to make
a pizza. When my mother calls with a
problem, I tell her to "fix it yourself
because I'm very busy." When Zuzi
puts her paws on my knee, stretching and
looking up at me adoringly with those big
brown, expressive eyes, I melt, but my
character pulls back, tugging at my attention.
When she barks nonstop, I have to get up
to feed her, while I tell my protagonist who
is drowning in sorrow to freeze - I'll be
write back - I mean - right back!
Hold that thought, and hold that position
because genius has stepped away from the
magical keys for a moment to take care of a
little, growling tummy.
One
of these days, I expect a character to jump
out of the screen and yell at me, "to
hell with the dog, you can't leave me here
like this; you wrote me into this predicament
and I will never speak to you again until you
extricate me from this dilemma, you calloused
author!" Of course, I retort,
"get back into your exotic locale while I
take care of my hungry dog, I only have two
hands you ungrateful character, or I will
write you dead in the next chapter!"
That usually shuts them up and gives me
the power for the day, as the character
creeps back into the pages of fantasy. Now,
if only I had that much control over reality.
A
deserted island in the Caribbean full of
sponges, which I have visited
several times before, keeps beckoning me, the
mermaid author with my laptop to swim to it.
At least for the duration of the next few
chapters so that I can be free with my
friends; the ones I created in my mind, and we
can live happily or unhappily ever after
between the covers of my next book.
Dinner? Who needs to eat? I can
live on yogurt and fruit, conch salad and
nuts, while walking barefoot in the sand with
the trade winds disarranging my hair, as I
contemplate the Bermuda Triangle,
dreaming of a handsome man. When I meet
him... what should I do with him? Any
ideas?
Alinka
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Alinka is an
accomplished writer, having worked as a
freelance journalist covering the war in El
Salvador, and having previously published one
romantic novel, FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
Photos: Alinka in El
Salvador.
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