Backstory-Perfect Planning

Let’s talk backstory or as I like to call it- The good stuff. We’ll start with Devlyn, the Heroine:

Coming from the south, she was brought up with a respect for authority, her elders and doing things “the right way.” Ever polite and sociable, you would say she was raised to be a lady. Her family is middle class, her father a deacon I his church and the manager at a local department store. Her mother works part time as a substitute teacher and full time homemaker. She has a little sister she adores and would do anything to protect her. Her life is charmed to an extent. Everything is planned and she is more than happy to go along with the plan.

The town she’s from in SC is small and very much attached to the past. Everyone has their place and NO ONE had better get out of line. Devlyn knows to toe the line, at least until she graduates. Then, she can do as she likes. Smart and funny, Devlyn catches everyone’s eye. Including Ryan’s. But she knows she can’t go there. Ever. His family is old money and old money comes with old ideas of people and where they belong. Besides, Ryan would never take the chance. He’s too content with the way things are.

Ryan’s turn:

Except…he’s not. Ryan is the baby of his family, with nine years between himself and his brother, his only other sibling. Having money is nice and Ryan enjoys every bit of it, but he’s feeling stifled. His mother, rigid and stuck in the past, makes it her mission to make sure he upholds traditions…all of them. His father is hands off, only getting involved when needed, which is hardly ever since his mother rules with an iron fist. His brother…they deal with each other, but that is the extent of it. It’s clear to all those on the outside and inside, he’s his mother’s favorite, though there is no joy in it.

He’s had his eye on Devlyn for what has felt like years. Admired her, wanted her, even needed her when he let his guard down. He knows all about the small minds of his town and family, but that’s not him. He's different…he’s more. And he wants more. Taking a chance, he makes his move, surprised by both the fear and happiness that shines in Devlyn’s eyes when she realizes he's serious. He’s led a sheltered life and has little idea of what could happen if word got out they were dating. A moment in the gym locker room at school opens his eyes and he suddenly understands the fear and the need for secrecy. It hurts to not be able to touch as he likes, to not go on dates, to watch as others make passes at Devlyn. he wants to push them all away and taker her some place safe, where they can just be.

Prom is the culmination of strategy, bribing and just plain praying to God that everything would come together. Even though they couldn’t go as a couple, it still felt like a date, especially when he got to dance with her, feel her skin against his for a few brief moments. After prom is even better, more than he could have hoped for in even his wildest dreams. To wake up next to her in the early hours of the morning is a memory he’s going to cherish. As as he drops her off at home, he begins to make plans of the future. Once he gets his trust fund, they’ll be free.

Two months before school is to let out for the summer, his mother comes into his room, face stern. That’s not something new, but his father is behind her. That’s new. His father never gets involved. Stomach in painful knots, Ryan listens as his mother sends him away, shipping him off to boarding school in London that night. All he can think of is Devlyn and if she’s going to wait for him. He tries to write her, tell her that he is coming back, but he never gets a response. Not even his letters come back. After too long, he puts it all away, determined to never let it happen again. No one would ever get back in.

Devlyn doesn’t know any of this…all she knows is that one night of passion and her whole life has changed, shifted so much that she barely recognizes it. When she tries to find Ryan, tell him what’s going on, he’s gone and she is all alone, with not even family to count on. Doing what is best for her, she leaves the state and lands in Texas, as far away from her past as possible. It’s not what she planned, but she is strong enough to make it work for her. Too much is riding on her shoulders to fail.

My writing story

I started writing back in middle school. It was going to be a huge mystery story, with twins, poison and a private eye. When we moved from Germany to TX, I lost track of the story, but not the bug. Through high school, I wrote poetry and prose, needing an outlet for my teenage angst that only high schoolers understand. After that, I put the pen away, going through my fair share of ups and downs as I became an adult. Fat forward to college and my 2nd college roommate. She was a writer and talking to her…ignited the bug in me again. I remembered all the love I had for storytelling, the need to see characters who represented me better than what was in mainstream. Don’t get me wrong, I love some Nora Roberts and Linda Howard and Julie Garwood. I just found myself  hungering fro more interracial, more realistic, less…a size 10 and more size 20’s. that’s who I was and still am. I’m a big girl with an appetite for love with knowledge that love isn't always simple. Sometimes you’re at the end of a relationship or you still pine for another or maybe…you just aren’t that emotional. Nothing is wrong with that and I wanted to showcase it.

Then…life hit again. This time a divorce and picking up the pieces. The divorce took a bit of wind out of my sail and where I was writing for hours a day, I now find it a struggle to write for minutes.

I’m coming along though. Slow and sure. I find blogging to be a good way to unplug the dam that I built and the water sometimes gushes, sometimes trickles…but it does flow.

Character Inspiration…

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.
- Herman Melville

The inspiration for my characters in “Perfect Planning,” is not so much a person, but an event. A moment in time that changes the lives of everyone involved. When this moment happens, what do the participants do? How will this moment change them? Will they rise to the occasion or will they falter?

I wanted to see what could happen to all those involved and how they would deal with it. I needed to show how some would react to a change that is both monumental and every day in it’s simplicity. I also wanted to show the dark side of being unbendable, of not acknowledging that sometimes what you think, your beliefs, are wrong and if you don’t change, you run the risk of being left behind. I do touch on racism in this story, as it often comes up in interracial relationships. As much as we want to deny it, it happens and it hurts all those involved. I do put in a twist to this story, because racism is not always black and white, there are layers and hidden feelings that have to be explored and I needed this story to show it.

Perhaps, on a deeper level, this story does reflect some of my history in interracial dating and relationships. I can’t that I being some of the feelings and experiences to this story, but a true writer always does.

 

My writing drug of choice is…

Research…who’d have thunk it?

First, let me say that I LOVE research. Digging and hunting and finding that little nugget of information is just…exhilarating. I love it and can often spend hours just looking and reading. Which can lead to problems. I get easily distracted and this can be an issue if I have a deadline. One thing leads to another and I’m off on another track, completely somewhere else. I often have to tell myself to stop and get back on track.

So, how do I do my research? What magic do I perform that pulls all my little details together? I start with what I know, branching off from there. Usually I’m just looking for a little information, perhaps something to round off a scene or back up something that I’ve said. Sometimes though, especially when world building, I need more. I start with the internet, since it’s right there. I use google search, going to trustworthy sites for my information. I do use Wikipedia, but only if it has been verified. If the information is not enough, I want to go deeper, its off to the library with me. Now, this is dangerous territory for me, since books are my love. Reading, getting engrossed in a story…mmmmmmmmm…nothing like it. If this is the case, I gotta come prepared with a list of what I need and a deadline. Can’t spend the day dawdling.

I know some people are like why research if you are world building? Just put what you want. For me, I need a basis, something to work away from. If you don’t know something, how can you build away from it? Maybe what you think is new…isn’t. That’s why you research, so at least you know what it is you are railing against.

Sometimes, I may do an interview. I find somebody in the field that I’m writing about, maybe my character is a police officer and I find someone willing to answer a few questions. I usually do this if I want to add that personal touch or if I’m basing the character I’m writing about on the person I’m interviewing. Makes things a lot more personal.

Okay, so it’s not really magic, but it is satisfying to find some tidbit that maybe I didn’t know and perhaps my reader doesn’t know either.

All in the name of writing.

Next week, we are going to talk about my character inspiration for the novel I talked about earlier, “Perfect Planning”