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I’m a girl, I can’t lift heavy things! (A study on creating the Perfect Suspense Heroine)

By on January 31, 2011 in Heroines, Suspense

Who is the perfect suspense heroine?  A courageous woman?  A timid woman?  A strong woman?  A fragile woman?  A confident woman?  A struggling woman?    When I first met my husband, twenty –two years ago, I was a strong, lithe, hard core camping woman who could carry a Duluth pack and a canoe alone on a portage.  I thought I was sooooo tough.  In our group of fellow guides, there was a girl who loved asking the guys to carry things for her.  “I’m a girl, I can’t lift heavy things!” she’d say and I’d roll my eyes.  Never, I vowed, would I ask a man to carry things for me.    Then came the day when I was trying to carry a baby, a toddler, our carryon, a diaper […]

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Man up (Creating a Suspense Hero Day 1)

By on January 25, 2011 in Heroes, Suspense

  Today, we’re going to take a look at our suspense Hero.  See, when you’re when you’re writing a suspense, it’s all about the guy who rises from the dust, the ball in hand.    (Ooops, it’s playoff season.  And I just watched the Pack (my second favorite team!) beat the Bears. Go Pack!) so you may get football illustrations)   But, just as quick review, last week, we divided a suspense novel into three sections:    Act 1: The Game  The set up:  Players, the Goals, the Rules, Board/Playing field.    Act Two: The Guts All the great stuff happens during the Guts phase – confronting fears, reaching out in the darkness for the girl’s hand, stealing a kiss, and failing big, and learning something new about yourself.    Act […]

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Coming up with characters!

By on December 7, 2010 in Protagonists: The Basics

Susie’s note:  So, we’re all crazy busy this time of year, so instead of digging deep into a series, I thought I’d finish the year by answering a few questions that have come in over the past year.    Q: How do you come up with such a wide range of characters? Journalists, Cowboys, party-ers and missionaries are just a few and they are all so different. What makes you think of them?   A:  Oh, my favorite thing is to learn about people and their occupations.  I love to discover their challenges and defeats, their special skills, their hopes and dreams – and I especially love hero types – spies, cowboys, soldiers, etc.  So, it is a natural for me to take an occupation I’d like to learn about and […]

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I’m Important Too! (the care and feeding of Secondary Characters!)

By on July 22, 2010 in Editing Basics, Protagonists: The Basics, Secondary Characters

The use of Secondary Characters:   I’m important too!!    So, I’m sitting here at my husband’s office, mulling over today’s blog, and the front desk guy (a friend named Jim) asks me, of course, what I’m writing about:    Me:  The Use of Secondary Characters in a book. Him:  Or misuse.  (he’s an avid reader). Me:  (because I haven’t had my coffee yet…) Huh? Him:  Well, think about it, just the name:  Secondary Character.  How would you like to be called a Secondary Character?  They’re important, too!   He’s brilliant!  And right!  See, secondary characters are key to a great story.  Think of Watson, to Sherlock Holmes.  And Danny Glover to Mel Gibson (sorry to bring him up, but again, I’m needing coffee), and how about um…Bert and Ernie?  […]

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