Sunday Snippets: Topic: Villain(s) 9/18/2016

A change of pace this Sunday this Sunday.  Instead of a snippets from my featured novel, "Brede".
I thought I post a writing topic.

One of the most important characters in a story, the person we love to hate.  The 'villain'.

Villian

noun

1.

a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted towickedness or crime; 

scoundrel.

2.

a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency 

in the plot.

My personal faves (if you can label a villain as such): 

White Witch from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C. S. Lewis

The White Witch is a beautiful, proud, and cruel villain who has made herself Queen of Narnia against the wishes of all who live there. It is because of her that it has been always winter and never Christmas for the last 100 years. If anyone tries to rebel against her, they are sure to be found and captured by her spies, at which point the rebel will be imprisoned or turned to stone. She is also the witch who wages war against Peter, Lucy, and their Narnian army.  (She still frightens me).

Jane Eyre was really is like a Cinderella story in some ways, with plenty of villainy for our heroine to cope with as she proves herself a princess.  (Skillfully written, this novel is a favorite of mine).

Darth Vader, Star Wars. The Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard of Oz.

Do I write these type of villains?  

No. ( I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.). Usually, villains in my novels are people who did not start out as evil; if the villain is evil, she/ he is mostly off stage (remember Meerkat Manor gives me nightmares).

In my YA novel, Whisper upon the Water, Sister Enid, did a great deal of good before her focus changed.  Since this was a YA novel (Dream Real Award Winner, National Book Award Nominee, and Frankfurt eBook Finalist), which deals with Native American issues, I was careful not to make the evil a racial focus.  Instead, Sister Enid and the circumstances where a product of the times: ignorance and fear, which became hatred.

The Purpose of Villains.

In my opinion,the villain can be worth more than the hero. I say this because the villain, or antagonist, serves many purposes. In his or her simplest form, the villain is a foil to the protagonist. The values and goals of the hero are contrasted and challenged by the villain. 

The villain and the hero both play different roles in the plot. While the villain initiates and develops the conflict, the hero finds the solution.  In many novels and stories, the villain is far more complex than the hero. What led them to choose his or her path?  A hero may have "greatness thrust upon him," but a villain leads a life of isolation. What I mean to say is that no matter how difficult it gets for the hero on his or her journey, Good will always be there for support. In contrast, the villain chooses Evil —a path he or she will walk alone. 

The antagonist and villain figures of fiction and real life teach us more about ourselves than the hero. In the villain we identify our best and worst qualities by either disagreeing with the villain's actions or attempting to comprehend the vile deeds he or she commits. 

It must be emphasized that heroes and villains are interchangeable and far from black and white, but in their most stereotyped forms, they contrast. A hero may struggle, but his or her values are strong and unwavering. A villain, like Darth Vader, may switch to the Good side. 

Villains provide fiction with entertainment, plot and philosophical depth. In many ways, it is the villain that defines the hero - chooses him. 

Happy Reading,

Connie 

Please visit the other wonderful writers who participate in our weekly blog hop:

http://mizging.blogspot.com/ Ginger Simpson

 http://triciamg.blogspot.com/Tricia McGill

/http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/ (Juliet Waldron)

Sunday Snippets 12/20/15 #SundaySnippets

For today's Sunday Snippet is from "Brede" Rodeo Romance Book, 2.
This is my Romantic Suspense and this snippet features my heroine, who left for dead, has no memory of the trauma--or who she is.

"Remember your name and everything else should fall back in place." Her head pounded and her chest felt tight.  Physical excursion brought on a coughing spell and she wondered if crawling across the room might not have been a better course of action.

All of her discomfort receded into the background when she found herself standing in front of the bathroom mirror.

She was staring at a woman's reflection.  She touched the cold glass with her fingertips, as if the contact could trigger a forgotten memory.

Surely, the tall, thin woman sporting a nasty purple bruise on the side of her face had a name.

She ran her trembling fingers through her shoulder-length dark read hair and traced the cut above her left eyebrow.

Funny, she never imagined she'd be so attractive.  She swallowed and did a second take.

How could this possibly be real?

If this was really happening to her, she'd be short and average looking; that was how fate was, fickle and capricious.

Instead, she found the woman before her possessed an almost hypnotic beauty, intense and alluring.  Was it also they type of beauty that kept women at arms' distance?  She glanced at the bruise that marked her cheek and jaw.  But what about the men?

Did her looks bring out the best or worst in the men she encountered in life, or had a jealous boyfriend been the one who injured her?

She looked into the green eyes shadowed with fatigue, and her entire being filled with sorrow and hopelessness.  Something terrible had happened, but she was terrified that the perpetrator would come back and hurt her again.  Or maybe, this next time, he'd succeed in killing her.

If you have enjoyed this snippet and find out how the story end, please click through to you fave ebook vendor.

Also, please visit my friends blogs and enjoy more snippets.

Happy Reading!

Connie

http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/  (Janet Waldron)

http://mizging.blogspot.com/  (Ginger Simpson)

http://triciamg.blogspot.com/  (Tricia McGill)


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Sunday Snippets #12/6/2016

Welcome to Sunday Snippets!

Today I will take a snip from my Rodeo Romance, Book 2, Brede.

"You saved my life," she said.

He raised a hand to her hair and stroked its softness.

"Do you realize how close you came to dying?"

"No," she whispered.  Yet she did know how close she'd com to death--she saw the truth in the stark expression on his face.

She'd felt his strength, his determination.  He'd been the one who'd pulled her back from the edge of death and willed her to survive.


Please stop by and visit my fellow Sunday Snippets authors.

Remember Bred is on sale of 99 cents this month!

Be sure and Hop to these Sunday Snippets Blogs:

Juliet Waldron

Trisha McGill

(Ginger Simpson should be back next week.)

See you next Sunday,

Connie

                                    Remember to stuff those eReaders with BWL Holiday Bargains!                           

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Sunday Snippet November 29, 2015

For today's Sunday Snippet I'd  like to share the transcripts from a podcast interview I gave when "Lynx" Rodeo Romance debuted at my publisher,  BWL, Ltd..

Connie: Today’s rodeos feature the most skilled cowboys and cowgirls.  They show off their roping, riding, and many other talents to the world.  Being a rodeo cowboy, especially a bull rider, is a dangerous occupation where the only the strongest and smartest will take home the victory. I’d like to welcome, Lynx Maddox, one of rodeo’s top bull riders, to today.

Lynx:  “I’d like to thank all of the romance readers and Rodeo fans for  logging on for my interview.”

Connie:  “For the readers who aren’t familiar  with PRO rodeo cowboys who support community projects  for worthy causes.  Lynx, you were at the Fairgrounds this weekend to support and build awareness for projects to prevent domestic violence, isn’t this correct?”

 Lynx:  “Yes.  Dan and  were at the Snake River Stampede last week where a local band helped collect donations to support a newly built women’s shelter.”

Connie:  “I know you are reluctant to brag. . .but virtually all former and current  world champions have competed at the Stampede at one time or another. However, few are as generous with donating their purse winning as readily as you are.”

Lynx:  “Now, I wouldn’t say that.  Everyone does what he or she can to help contribute to these worthy causes. . .be it in dollars or in time. . .Weren't we gonna discuss the sport of bull riding?”

Connie: “Yes, Wildcat, we are.  According to the ABBI guidelines for judging bull riding, based on five categories:  buck, kick, spin, intensity, and degree of difficulty.  All of which sound extremely uncomfortable for the rider.  Would you mind explaining what this all means?”

 Lynx: Dry chuckle.  “‘Buck’ refers to the height achieved with the front feet and shoulders as a bull begins each jump of a trip. Technically correct bulls will complete this action by kicking their hind legs, however not all will kick, and that is a separate category from buck. Bulls that “get in the air” and get their front feet a foot or two off the ground as they peak and break over get the most credit in the buck category. Another consideration is the number of jumps they complete during the course of the trip. Still another factor can be how much ground they cover.”

Connie: “I know the ‘Kick’ refers to the extension and snap of the hind legs at the peak of each jump. But I don’t know the determining factors for scoring.”

Lynx: “Again, the score is determined by how high and how hard the bull kicks, how much vertical body angle he achieves as he kicks, and whether or not he kicks each and every jump. Additionally, bulls that kick at the peak of each jump instead of waiting until their front feet reach the ground deserve more credit in this important category.”

Connie: “So at any time, a bull rider can find himself falling under one of the massive animals?”

Lynx: “Well, I reckon so, but that is not the aim of the rider. . .”

Connie:  “Sorry, but. . .”

Lynx: “Heard about what happened–”

Connie:  “In Cheyenne, Wyoming?  Yeah.”

Lynx:  “The ‘Spin’.”  Takes a sip of coffee.  “Also referred to as the speed category, spin is the most difficult to assess if a bull is only ridden for a jump or two. In this situation, a judge must assume that the amount a bull was spinning (or the number of rounds) would have continued at the same rate for eight seconds. For this reason, it is important, in order to achieve high marks in the spin department, to “turn back” or begin to spin as early as possible so that more time is spent spinning than covering ground.”

Connie: “The ‘Spin’ is assessed the same way?”

 Lynx:  “Basically yes.”

Connie:  “The final category is ‘Degree of Difficulty’.  Difficulty equals painful, I take it?”

 Lynx:  “Naw.  By the end of the ride most bull rider’s bodies are numb.”

Connie: Smothering a laugh.  “Please continue.”

Lynx: “There are a number of factors that can occur in a bull’s trip that elevate the degree of difficulty, and it is important to note that the bull that does everything else right automatically has a high degree of difficulty for that simple reason. Therefore, just because a bull is honest and doesn’t use tricks to get a rider off, he shouldn’t be penalized in this category for doing things right. Having said that, there are those elements of a trip that some bulls employ that make them harder to ride than bulls that don’t. These things don’t necessarily make a bull better, and again it should be mentioned that the most desirable methods of increasing degree of difficulty are by doing the core elements (buck, kick, and spin) well. Furthermore, the bull that is using time and energy performing some of the trickier elements generally associated with degree of difficulty is usually losing ground in some other area. The most generally defined elements of this category are: drift or fade, accomplished by a bull covering ground as he spins; moving forward in the spin; belly roll; drop; direction change; and lack of timing.”

Connie:  “Lynx, thank you so much for taking time from your packed schedule to explain the element of rodeo to us .  You make bull riding sound like everyone’s nine-to-five job.  But we all know that isn’t true.  Rodeo is a very dangerous sport.”

 Lynx: “I can’t deny that fact.”

Connie: “Where are you off to tomorrow?”

 Lynx:  “Tonight.  After I wrap things up at the Fairgrounds, I’m driving up to Running Springs, Montana.”  Rising to his feet, he tips his hand and exits the booth.

Connie: speaking over the canned music, ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas,”Thank you, Wildcat.  Let’s all thank Lynx Maddox for stopping by today.”


Now hop on over and visit my other Sunday Snippet Pals:

http://mizging.blogspot.com (Ginger Simpson)

http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/ (Juliet Waldron)

http://triciamg.blogspot.com (Tricia McGill)


Don't forget to come back next week for more Sunday Snippets.

Remember to stuff those eReaders with BWL Holiday Bargains!  

bookswelove.net

Or Shop Here

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Sunday Snippet #11/22/2015

This Sunday’s Snippet is from my Contemporary Romantic Suspense novel, “Brede”.

“My head hurts,” she whispered. A sharp, throbbing pain embedded itself in the center of her left temple.  She touched her raw fingertips to the tender area, and tried to grasp a fleeting memory. . .of what, she wasn’t certain. 

At that moment, a man leaned over her.  His eyes reminded her of the ocean; soft blue water reflecting through frosted crystal—sad, lonely eyes.

                The warmth from the blankets seeped into her chilled body, but the sound of the pounding rain sent terror crawling through her.  She bolted upright, her heart thumping so card she couldn’t catch her breath.

                “Lie back down,” the man instructed. “You’ve had some sort of accident.”

                Pain lanced through her body and her head.  Beneath the wave of pain, she heard the concern in his deep voice, and pressed an unsteady hand to her forehead.  “Accident?”  Her fear receded, but didn’t go away completely.  An accident explained the sharp, pain embedded in her left temple and radiating down the side of her jaw, but it didn’t explain what she was doing here.  Here?  Where was she? And who was this man standing over her?

To purchase this novel click on my blog links visit:

my website home page:  http://novelsbyconnievines.com

http://www.amazon.com/Brede-Rodeo-Romance-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00DRPHILY

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/brede/id673408077?mt=11

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Connie%20Vines%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall

Happy Reading,

Connie 

Please stop by and read the snippets this month's Blog Hop members have posted!

http://mizging.blogspot.com (Ginger Simpson)

http://triciamg.blogspot.com (Tricia McGill)
http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/  (Juliet Waldron)  

Do Random Acts of Kindness Make a Difference?

This month’s topic:  Tell when you either performed or received a random act of kindness that made your day better.

“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.”

—Bob Kerrey
American politician

I find this is a topic a timely one, but also a topic that can be viewed as one of multi levels.

For those struggling for survival, the basic needs of human kind, food, water, or shelter would qualify.

However, I believe that we as humans have a basic instincts that nudge use to do what is right and good.  However, whether we act on that subconscious nudge, is another matter.

I witnessed an unexpected act of kindness that was unexpected and yet very profound.  This appeared on my Facebook "On This Day" alert.  I had posted this event one year ago today for my friends to read.

Today, I would like to share this post with  you.

At my day job,  I interact with may students and families.  We are all guilty, especially when we are stressed, of passing judgement upon others.  There is one family that is very challenged in dealing with day-to-day living.  The parents have two teenage sons.  The father seems down-trodden and the wife addled and not very high functioning.  However, I must confess that the interaction between this couple that  I witnessed humbled me.  

While waiting for their sons, they discussed a few matters and then the wife confessed that she didn't no very well in her art class (she is enrolled in occupational training).  She said she wasn't as good at drawing as he (her husband) or her sons.  She was afraid she'd fail her class.  Her husband (the look in his eyes reflected his knowledge of her limitations), he said, "You always try hard and take pride in your work. Everything will be okay.  You acted as a TA.  Remember?  That will count for something with your instructor."

When she looked up at him her face mirrored her love.  She knew she knew her limitations, but she also his kind words make her stronger and able to keep trying.

I witnessed the meaning of honoring one's wedding vows at the most basic level.

This was very profound and life changing for me.

This family own rusty, travel-weary bikes, often reside in a hotel, and rely on charity bus passes to take their son to the doctor.

This family was provided with a Thanksgiving basket and clothing today.  Yet, I am the one who was the unexpected recipient of a holiday gift.

Never, never discount the power of an act of kindness.

I hope you have enjoyed my post.  Please visit the other sites in this month's blog-hop.

Happy Reading,

Connie

Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
Skye Taylor  http://www.skye-writer.com/

Bob Rich  http://wp.me/p3Xihg-z4

Holly Glover  http://www.hollieglover.co.uk

Judy Copek  http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com

Helena Fairfax  http://helenafairfax.com/
Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Rachael Kosinski http://rachaelkosinski.weebly.com/
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com/

Sunday Snippet #11/15/2015

Fall has arrived in SoCal!  With the promise of El Nino to take the edge off our drought worries, I found myself baking with several items available at local farmers' markets, or if you live in a rain rich region, you make have these vegetables and fruits in your backyard.

My featured novel this month, "Brede", is set in New Mexico.  To honor the bounty of this diverse state, I have posted two delicious recipes that you may wish to try this winter.  Both are simple, filling, a good for you.  As you know, Brede's mystery woman isn't know for her culinary skills.  However, sandwiched between her dramatic failures, she does manage to turn out a tasty meal or two!  

Pull out your slow cooker (I know you have one somewhere in your cupboard) and prepare these Fall treats!

Carrot and Coriander Soup

Root vegetable, such as carrots, are great for slow cooker soups.  Their earthy flavor becomes rich and sweet when cooked slowly over a gentle heat and goes perfectly with robust herbs and spices, and their texture becomes beautifully smooth when pureed.

Serves 4
1 lb carrots, preferably young and tender
1 tablespoon. sunflower oil
3 tablespoon butter / low fat margarine
1 onion, chopped
1 stick celery, plus 2 -3 leafy tops
2 small potatoes, peeled
1 1/2 pints/ 3 1/4 cups boiling vegetable stock
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
1/4 pint/ 2/3 cup milk
salt and ground black pepper

Trim and peel carrots and cut into chunks.  Heat oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and fry onion over a gentle heat for 3 - 4 minutes until slightly cooked. Do not let it brown.

Slice the celery and chop the potatoes, and add them to the onion in the pan.  Cook for 2 minutes, then add the carrots and cook for an additional minute.  Transfer the fried vegetables to the ceramic cooking pot.

Pour the boiling vegetable stock over the vegetables, then season with salt and pepper.  Cover the pot and cook on low for 4 - 5 hours until the vegetable as tender.

Reserve 6 - 8 tiny celery leaves from the leafy tops for the garnish, then finely chop the remaining celery tops.  Melt the remaining in a large pan and add the ground coriander.  Fry for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the aromas are released.

Reduce the heat under the pan and add the chopped celery tops and fresh coriander. Fry 30 seconds, then remove from the heat.  Ladle the soup into a food processor, blender, or use an immersion blender (or a potato masher if you wish like a few veggie pieces).  Using the same pan, stir in milk and heat until piping hot.  

Check the seasoning, then serve garnished with the reserved celery leaves.





Pumpkin and Banana Cake

Rather like a cross between a carrot cake and banana bread, the luscious cake is an excellent  way of using some of the scooped-out pumpkin fresh after making Halloween pumpkin lanterns.  A cream cheese topping provides a delicious contrast with the dense moist cake. 

Serves 12

2 cups of self-rising flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
10 tablespoons/ 5 oz. of light brown sugar
3/4 cup/3 oz. pecans or walnuts, chopped
4 oz. pumpkin flesh, coarsely grated
2 small bananas, peeled and mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup/1/4 pint sunflower oil

For the topping

1/4 cup/2 oz. 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup/ 2 oz. soft cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup/ 4 oz. confectioners' sugar.
pecan halves, to decorate

Line the base and sides of a deep 8 inch round bake tin or souffle dish with baking parchment.  Place an upturned saucer or metal pastry ring in the base of the ceramic cooking pot, then pour in about 1 inch of very hot water.  Switch the slow cooker to high.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt (or just dump it all in a bowl like I do).  Stir in the sugar, chopped nuts and grated pumpkin until thoroughly mixed.  Make a slight hollow in the middle of the dry ingredients. 

In a separate bowl, combine the bananas, eggs, and sunflower oil, then stir into the dry ingredients.  Turn into the prepared tin and level the surface. 

Cover the tin with a pieced of buttered foil and place into the slow cooker.  Pour sufficient boiling water to come just over halfway up the sides of the tin.

Cover the pot with the lid and cook on high for 4 - 4.5 hours, or until the cake is firm and skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Carefully remove the cake from the slow cooker and stand the tin on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes.  Turn out and leave to cool completely, then peel off the lining paper.

To make the topping, put the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat until blended and smooth.   Sift in the confectioner's sugar (I do sift here) and beat again until smooth and creamy.  Thickly spread the topping over the top of the cake and decorate with pecan halves.  Chill in the refrigerator for a least 1 hour before serving to allow the topping to harden.


I hope you try and enjoy these delicious recipes.  Remember "Brede" Rodeo Romance, Book 2 is 99 cents during the month of November.

Stop by and see what everyone else is talking about this week's Sunday Snippets!

Happy Reading,

Connie

http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/  Juliet Waldron  

http://mizging.blogspot.com/       Ginger Simpson

http://triciamg.blogspot.com/  Tricia McGill

bookswelove.com

Sunday Snippets By Connie Vines #Sunday Snipppets 06/27

Happy Sunday everyone!
This post is being sent via my iPad from the "Happiest Place on Earth"--Disneyland, Anaheim California.

Thank you for stopping by to this week's blog hop.

Today's snippets is taken from my Native American novel, "Whisper upon the Water".

Annual Report of the Department of Interior

Gathered from the cabin, wickiup and tipi, partly by threats, partly by bribery, partly by force, they are induced to leave their families, to enter these schools and take upon themselves the outward appearance of civilized life.

CLIMBING OUT of the wagon, I was herded, along with ten other girls, to stand in a line outside the White man's lodge. One of the first girls in the line was very young, and clutched the hand of her older sister. Judging from the long deerskin dresses with flared skirts and wide, long sleeves trimmed with fringe that they wore, I knew the two were Comanche. I eyed the bits of metal and beads sewn on the front of the older girl's dress and glanced down at her buckskin moccasins and wondered whose camp they had raided to gain these adornments.

Comanche. The hatred between our two tribes ran as deep as the gullies that cut through my people's lands.

Purchase via Amazon.

Purchase via Tower              Purchase via Powell's Books 

For my International Readers: 

India       AU       UK      NZ      CA       UN Murmullo Sobre el Aqua/ /Spanish Version

Thank you for stopping by for this week's blog hop.

FYI "Lynx" is on sale on Amazon beginning July 1st!  Check my website for additional info.

This week's participants, please stop by and see what is happening in their novels, too.

Connie

http://triciamg.blogspot.com (Tricia McGil)

http://romancingscifi.blogspot.com/ (Vijaya Schartz)
(Ginger and Jamie will return next week)

Sunday Snippets By Connie Vines #SundaySnippets #0621

Today is Father’s Day. 

According to Wikipedia, Father’s Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. 

Even though my own father passed away over a decade ago, his paternal bond and code of honor still influences my life and my life choices.

Do paternal ties influence your ‘heroes’ as you write?  I believe so.  My father was a third generation Texan.  He competed in local rodeos while attending high school (thus the ‘cowboy code’) and later, he enlisted in the military (duty, honor).  I believe that the heroes of my novels reflect this same code. 

Who was the ‘paternal’ figure who had a positive influence in your life? Father, brother, uncle, teacher, spiritual adviser?

Perhaps a super hero had a positive influence on your life.  Or, maybe, it was a slow-talking, upstanding man.  A man who reminded you of a Texas cowboy.

Here is a snippet from “Lynx” Rodeo Romance Book 1, published by BWL (Books We Love).  “Lynx” is available in paperback and eBook.

**

Did he love her?

Rachel glanced across the table at Lynx. His earnest smile and green eyes were working their magic.  She could feel her uncertainty and shyness slipping away. Ina another few moments, she’d be begging Lynx to kiss her.

The truth was, being involved with Lynx scared her. Realizing that she loved Lynx made her nervous enough. But ‘commitment,’ even a hint of long-term relationship, made her clutch the table for a reality check.

His brand of charm and passion was well-nigh irresistible. He was a rodeo man.  He was  from Texas. And she love him, deeply, passionately. Desperately.

He made her yearn for things she’d only dreamed about having—things she desperately wanted but never hoped to touch.

When he looked at her, Rachel felt the pull. He wanted something from her, something she wasn’t certain she had to give. Lynx looked beyond who she was and saw who she could become. . .

**

I hope you enjoyed my snip from "Lynx".

Please stop by and visit the authors who are participating in this week's Blog Hop!
(We hope to see the list grow!)  Sharing is encouraged--see social media buttons below.

http://mizging.blogspot.com (Ginger Simpson)
http://triciamg.blogspot.com (Tricia McGil)
http://romancingscifi.blogspot.com/ (Vijaya Schartz)
http://www.jamiehill.biz/ (Jamie Hill)

Purchase links:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/connie-vines
http://www.amazon.com/Connie-Vines/e/B004C7W6PE
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/connie-vines/id624802082?mt=11

My publisher's author page:
http://www.bookswelove.net/authors/vines-connie/

Characters Take Over #Round Robin, August

T

This month's Round-Robin topic is about secondary characters taking over a story. I must admit that I have read stories where I found the secondary character more interesting than the main character or really wanted to read the story of the secondary character.  I believe that several of my secondary characters have tried to take over the story. However, to date, I have been successful in stalling the secondary character.  How? (More on this later).

My main characters aren't women who are easily elbowed from center stage.  Still, my secondary characters don't take kindly to keeping his/ her light beneath a basket, so to speak.  In Lynx, Rodeo Romance Book 1, Charlene Davis (Rachel's best friend) is a no-nonsense, extremely funny, redneck sorta woman.  Charlene is a loyal friend to Rachel.   In Brede, Rodeo Romance Book 2, Caldwell, the old cook, makes a valiant effort to take over story (Caldwell is mentioned on nearly every review), but my main characters do keep control of the story.

In my YA novel, Whisper upon the Water, the secondary take over was quite different.  When I plotted my novel I had planned on making Anna Thunder my main character.  However, as my plot line and characterization became more concrete, I discovered that Tayiana  was truly the heroine of the novel.  While Anna's story was also important-- Tay's story was more compelling, more haunting.

How have I stalled my secondary characters?  I bribed them, of course!  

Anna Thunder will appear in my Spirit in the Sky while Lynx"s sister was the heroine in Brede.  

As for Charlene and Caldwell, time will tell.

Sometimes a writer can introduce an unexpected characters whose personalities are stronger than those of the main characters. What matters is the story. Hopefully their presence will make the story more believable, add excitement and humor,  while  increasing the reader's enjoyment.

I hope you have enjoyed this month"s blog topic.  Please check in for updates on my releases:  Lymx, Rodeo Romance, book 1--in print!  And my sassy and fun novella, Here Today Zombie Tomorrow.  Followed by my anthology, Gumbo Ya Ya: for Woman who like Romance Cajun & Men HOT & Spicy

I thank you for stopping by.  Please follow the link to Geeta Kakade's blog.

Connie 

Geeta Kakade http://geetakakade.blogspot.com/

Those participating:
Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/
Anne Stenhousehttp://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com
A.J. Maguire http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/ 
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Margaret Fieland http://margaretfieland.com/my_blog

Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.webs.com

Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
Geeta Kakade http://geetakakade.blogspot.com/
Rhobin Courtright http://rhobinleecourtright.com