THE MIRACLE GIRL

It's my pleasure today to introduce T. B. Markinson.

T. B. just recently released The Miracle Girl and she's here today to talk about character creation. 

Take it away, T. B. Markinson!

Hello! It's a pleasure to be here today and to meet all of you.

I’m often asked how I create the characters in my novels. This question fascinates me, since I don’t know the answer. When I start a new writing project, I don’t know much, including what will happen, who’ll grace the pages, and how long it’ll take. Soon, as I begin to get to know the characters and their stories, I learn as much as possible about them. Even more than the reader. I’m lucky. I get to spend hours with the characters to find out who they are, to uncover their dreams, their fears and what makes them tick. Some characters are difficult to get to know. Others are open books. Each one is a delightful challenge.

In my latest novel, The Miracle Girl, JJ Cavendish at times was a difficult nut to crack. She’s an alcoholic and addict. I’m neither. Also, she has a devastating secret that she’s desperate to keep under wraps. However, we had certain things in common. She used to be a travel writer. And I love to travel. I was able to pull memories from my previous travels to relate to JJ. At one point in the story, JJ shares an experience she had in Zambia.

Back in 2010, I spent several wonderful days in Zambia, which is one of the most stunning places I’ve ever visited. While listening to JJ’s recollection, these were the images running through my mind. Below you'll see the Zambezi River, Victoria Falls, and some of the amazing creatures I saw.

Wonderful photos T. B. how exciting to have visited such an amazing place.
Thanks for sharing with us.

Now onto T. B.'s book
The Miracle Girl

                         To secure a loving future, she must shed an addicting past.

The blurb:

Newspaper publisher and world traveler JJ Cavendish continually feels pressured to live up to her Miracle Girl nickname. Not many people know she’s living a carefully crafted lie. She may not hide ties to the LGBT community, but she does hide past struggles with addiction.

When the Colorado native is handpicked to take the helm at a dying Denver newspaper, she ends up reconnecting with her long lost love in this contemporary lesbian romance. Only there’s a catch. If JJ fires the most belligerent editor at the paper, she risks losing the love of her life.

Mid-afternoon office romps abound in this romantic comedy while also focusing on what it takes for a newspaper to remain relevant in this age of social media.

Must JJ lose everything in order to gain a life more fully her own?

Available on Amazon:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon Canada

Excerpt:

“This was a mistake. I’m sorry. I should have known.” She fumbled around looking for her jeans.

         “What was a mistake? This?” Once again, I pointed to the bed.

Earlier that night, both of us had walked across the stage to receive our degrees. I received one in journalism, and Claire a business degree. She had some job interviews set up for the following week, while I was heading to Europe to backpack for six months. It was my graduation gift from my parents. They had started putting money into a college account before I was born, and when I received a full four-year ride, they decided to give me the money when I graduated. My desire was to see a bit of the world before I started a career.

         Claire let out a long breath. “I’m sorry, JJ. I love you. I really do. But I need more stability in my life. Not a gypsy.”

         “Gypsy!” I couldn’t help laughing at the idea and fell back onto the bed. I wasn’t loaded, but I’d never struggled financially. When I returned from Europe my father had a job lined up for me at the Denver newspaper where he worked. He was a sportswriter and arranged for me to start in the advertising department. Not my ideal job, but it was a job nonetheless during times when not many graduates had one lined up. At least it wasn’t the mailroom.

         “I shouldn’t have started something I knew wouldn’t go anywhere. This was too risky.” Claire sat heavily on the couch on the far side of the room, shaking. My studio apartment didn’t allow much room for escape.

         “This? You mean I’m a risk?” I placed a hand on my chest. “Or do you mean being with a woman?” I slipped her T-shirt over my head and wrapped my arms tightly around my chest, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable in the small space.

         “You know I don’t give a crap about being with women or with men. You’re not the first woman I’ve slept with. You know that.”

         “Yes, but you’ve never had a serious relationship with a woman. You’ve only been serious with Andrew.”

         Andrew had been Claire’s boyfriend during most of her undergrad. He was a bit of a prick, but I tolerated him for Claire’s sake. I never let on that I was in love with Claire, and Andrew never suspected.

         “Andrew asked me to marry him. I wasn’t sure at first, but …”

About the Author:

T. B. Markinson is an American writer, living in England. When she isn’t writing, she’s traveling the world, watching sports on the telly, visiting pubs, or taking the dog for a walk. Not necessarily in that order.

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Thanks again for having me on your blog!

It was my pleasure T. B. Thank you for sharing such lovely photos of Zambia.

Readers how do you create your characters? 
Do you hunt for them? 
Or do they find you?
Are they close to you and your personality, or something completely foreign? A stranger?
Please share...

Have you read The Miracle Girl?

*****

Today the WEP-Write...Edit...Publish first flash fiction challenge has posted. Sign up to participate via the InLinkz and amaze with your Spectacular Settings piece.

FARTS, RAGE, ROMANCE & DEATH

This weekend I read a truly delightful book and it had a beginning, middle, and a very satisfying end. Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade by Susan Flett Swiderski has been in my to-be-read queue for way too long, but I finally checked it off the constantly growing list.

My Review:

Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade

By

Susan Flett Swiderski

                Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade is a book of literary fiction that, and as you can tell from the title, touches on a time of life many of us could write volumes about. You know the one where female hormones fade and all those Y-chromosomes make their presence known in the form of unexpected rage, uncontainable bodily functions, and flashes of unemotional intelligence.

        This wonderfully humorous book follows the journey of one irrepressible glass half-full dirty-blonde, Pearl Bryzinski. She's married to George, a hardworking, beer drinking, not a romantic bone in his body, good guy. She has three lovely children, and the first-born can do no wrong, he's her little boy, until suddenly one night his expectations and her reality clash. Pearl has supportive gal pals, a volatile relationship with her mother, and a father she's put on a 'can do no wrong' pedestal. 

        It all sounds ideal, but nothing in life is that easy. I enjoyed following Pearl through the minefield that is the change. I especially enjoyed how menopause influenced her actions and reactions to the people in her life that she had managed to put in the crayon box of eight colors, only to find that true colors can't be found in a box of eight or even thirty-six.

        I hate crying, but when an author can evoke tears and laughter, empathy and compassion, I call that miraculous and take my hat off to Susan.

        Despite the fact that there is no mystery, no murder, and no horror, this will always be one of my favorite books!

         Writers who take ordinary life and write it with a cleverness that keeps me turning the page are, in my opinion, super talented. Susan Flett Swiderski is one of those writers.

          Read her blog, I Think, Therefore I Yam and you'll see humor and genius in every post. I look forward to more amazing reads from this brilliant writer.

Susan Flett Swiderski grew up in Dundalk, Maryland, where everybody calls everybody "hon", fishing and crabbing is a way of life, and eating steamed crabs is practically a sacrament. Although she loves her home in Georgia, a part of her heart will always linger beside the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The rest of it enjoys life with her husband and love of her life (Luckily for her, they're the same person.) and their two spoiled cats Dot and Dash. Strange names, perhaps, but not for a couple of amateur radio operators. Susan and her husband, that is. Not the cats.

Her Blog: I Think, Therefore I Yam

 

Buy here - AMAZON

Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade 

 Susan Flett Swiderski

Living the perfect life has always been easy peasy for Pearl Bryzinski, because she’s practically a pro at ignoring the negative and putting a positive spin on the facts, but it’s impossible for her to find anything positive about Daddy skipping town with that blue-haired floozy in a flashy brown Pinto. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t ignore the fact that he’s gone… or the fact that she’s becoming a drama queen who can sweat like a sumo wrestler doing push-ups in a sauna. It’s almost enough to suck the blush out of her rose-colored glasses. Whether she likes it or not, she’s gonna have to turn some of her wishbone into backbone.

Layer by layer, assumptions and misconceptions peel away, as Pearl learns to buck up in the face of reality, and to laugh at her imperfect… but not so bad… life. Supported by a down-to-earth husband who loves her with every blue-collar bone in his body, a mother who isn’t the self-centered witch Pearl imagined her to be, three terrific grown kids… okay, make that two terrific kids, and a Golden Boy who’s a far cry from 24-carat… and a bunch of wonderful wacky gal pals, Pearl comes to realize that her mixed bag of family and friends makes her life damned near perfect. Pearl being Pearl, she’ll never give up her rosy specs entirely, but learning to handle reality also means learning to deal with death.