The winner of Adrienne’s book, A Just Deception, is …. Florence! Florence, please contact Adrienne at adriennegm@adriennegiordano.com. You’re going to love it!
As a reader, I love when a character demands my attention and gets me emotionally invested in his or her journey. As a writer, I sometimes find my secondary characters grab my attention. When this happens, I know that character needs his or her own book.
Man Law by Adrienne Giordano
While writing Man Law, my debut release, I kept thinking about the character of Monk. At the time, I didn’t know why this character kept begging for my attention. All I knew was he always wore a do-rag. Outside of the nickname Monk, I didn’t even know what his proper name would be. But that do-rag, it kept calling to me.
I started jotting character notes. Monk would be a fixer, an over-the-top alpha male who loved to get into the action and take on people’s problems. I kept going back to the do-rag though. I originally put the do-rag on Monk to differentiate him from the rest of the secondary characters in Man Law, but as I sketched my character notes, I realized there had to be more to it.
I figured out that Monk (I still hadn’t given him a proper name) was a bit of a rebel. As a young boy, he drove his blueblood mother crazy with his constant adventures. Yes, he’d be known for rappelling from the school roof or climbing a neighbor’s trellis. You see, Monk is an adrenaline junkie who never quite fit into the blueblood social set. He learned to live with it.
Then he started wearing a do-rag. If you ask him why, he’ll say he likes the way it looks. If you push him on it, he’ll tell you it’s a tiny bit of rebellion against his upbringing. After all, his mother couldn’t have one of her sons wearing that “thing” on his head.
A Just Deception by Adrienne Giordano
And to think, it all started with a do-rag.
Readers, has there been a character who you’ve found unforgettable? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of A Just Deception.
Thank you to the Magical Musings crew for hosting me today.
Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women’s fiction. She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her work-a-holic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog. A Just Deception, book two in the Private Protectors series is available from Carina Press. Risking Trust, book three in the series will be available on November 7, 2011. For more information please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com. Adrienne can be found on Twitter and Facebook.
A Just Deception available at:
Adrienne, thanks for being our guest today. And what a fun post about how a do-rag shaped your character. Monk/Peter sounds fascinating! This makes me want to buy it.
Hi Edie. Yep, it all started with that do-rag. I have the book cover posted on my bulletin board and I drew a do-rag on it. LOL. The model Carina used on the cover is exactly how I picture Monk in my head so I was thrilled when I first saw it. Heck, I’m still thrilled when I look at it.
I just couldn’t resist putting a do-rag on him.
Thanks for popping in!
Adrienne, congrats on the success of this series. These books are built on such strong characters, and I love how you allowed them to shape themselves organically out of character quirks, mannerisms, clothing choices. The best characters really do have a life of their own.
Hello, Ms. Amy! Thank you for the well wishes. You have been such a huge help to me on this journey. Particularly with helping me fix up the early chapters of this book before submitting it. So, thank you for everything!
And yes, I do like to let the characters shape themselves. I do a long character interview with each hero and heroine before I start writing. It helps me figure out what their voice will be and what theur hot buttons are. What I love about writing this series is I get to revisit the characters. I wrote a scene yesterday for the fourth book in the series where Billy and Monk are doing battle over something and Monk’s voice just came roaring back to me. Just–boom–there he is. So much fun!
Thanks for saying hi.
Hey Adrienne! Congrats on Monk’s release! I loved, loved, loved this story as much as Man Law, and your writing is amazing. Funny that you should mention how Monk’s voice came roaring back while you were working on Billy’s book, because everytime I read your stories and Vic pops up, I can hear his voice so clear! You do a great job differentiating between the strong characters in the books, and I adore them all.
Hi, Misty. Thank you for being such a great supporter of this series! I so appreciate all you’ve done to get the word out.
As for my characters, my hubby thinks I might have multiple personalities. He walked into the office one day while I was working on final round edits for Man Law and first round edits for A Just Deception. I was sitting at my desk with my eyes closed and the hubby asked what I was doing. I told him I was channelling Monk. He shook his head, spun around and left! I was amused by that.
What’s really funny is sometimes I’ll have a character say something and one of my critique partners will comment that it sounds more like something one of the other guys would say.
Thanks for popping in and having me on the blog today!
Adrienne Giordano`s last blog was …Hello world!
Hi Adrienne,
Lovely story! Don’t you just it when secondary characters steal the show! These books sound great! Major congrats on your release!
Hi Dale. I don’t know what it is with my secondary characters, but they always do seem to want to steal the show. They’re all so mouthy!
Thanks for popping by!
Adrienne Giordano`s last blog was …Hello world!
Adrienne,
. I love the way those little details help us see what a character’s personality might be like and, then, the way an author might begin to shape a story’s plot from there. Congrats on your book series — it looks great!!
Welcome to MM! So glad to have you here, and what fun to get a little insight into the creation of your characters
Marilyn Brant`s last blog was …ENTANGLED is Out Now!
Adrienne, well done on your series. I tend to follow and get invested in the MC of many mystery, suspense or thriller books. In all genres there are unforgettable characters that strike a cord. Your character, complete with do-rag and a penchant for solving other people’s problems sounds like a great guy
florence fois`s last blog was …Change is a good thing …
Hi Marilyn. Thanks for stopping in. An editor pal of mine actually pushed me on the do-rag when I told her Monk was going to be my next hero. She kept asking me questions about the do-rag and each time I answered she’d ask “Why?” It’s a great way to get insight on characters and the reasons they do things.
I learned a lot about him from that do-rag!
Adrienne Giordano`s last blog was …Hello world!
Hi Florence. As a reader, I love when I come across characters that make me wonder about them. Win from Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar series is one of those characters. On the surface, he shouldn’t be a likable guy but he’s always helping Myron get out of jams (sometimes by killing people!). He’s just one of those great characters that sucks the reader in.
Thanks for coming by.
Adrienne Giordano`s last blog was …Hello world!