Today is another big day for me. I was recently interviewed by Denise Moncrief, another well respected author out in the world, doing what she was born to do. Her questions (see link below) were interesting and something I had not given much thought to until she posed them in early August. Because I had not paid much attention to exactly where my men materialised from (I assumed they were merely figments of my imagination), it took a while to come up with the answers and it got me thinking, where do they really come from?
Are my heroes men I secretly desire to get to know better? This is an easy answer - no. Not one of my Heroes fall into this category of unrequited love on my part. I can honestly say, there is no one in the world at this very moment that I feel remotely interested in, which is a happy thought indeed because it gives me something to look forward to! I look forward to finally connecting with 'him'.
Are my Heroes men from my past who are (hopefully) inconspicuously disguised as Heroes in my books? My original answer to this was also "No, there is no one from my past that is playing the role of Hero in any of my book(s)..." or at least, nobody who makes an appearance 'in full'. There are certain aspects from some of the really great men I have dated along the way, but none appear 'in whole' as any of my Heroes. If I were to tease out characteristics of them individually, I could say "yes, that one is like CT because he's sporty without arrogance, and that one is like CS because of his philanthropic ways, and that sexy voice definitely belongs to MVdW...sigh... These were very important men from my past who have, in essence, given shape to certain Heroes within my books, but none of my Heroes are completely based on any of them as none are real. And any similarities to the above mentioned are embellished/changed/and mostly a figment of my imagination of what the perfect man would need to be for my Heroine - I always give her the man she needs to help her carry on in life, in a manner to which she deserves.
But what about the sub-characters, such as the the good-for-nothing men from my Heroine's past who show up to rock the proverbial boat every now and then, and the ne'er-do-well women who take great pleasure in their attempts to move in on my Hero so as to get in the way of my Heroine's happy ending? Who are these people? Upon on deeper reflection a few more new thoughts occurred to me. I know we are suppose to be talking about my Heroes, but what of the villainous mongrel(s) and the shrewish floozy(s) whom inevitably make an appearance and ultimately FAIL in their vain attempts to ruin my Heroine's life for their own selfish and disingenuous reasons...who are they? I will say this - I may never have known you personally, and we may never have met, but I am glad you came into my life when you did and were there to stop me from making a colossal mistake....so thank you. I can honestly say I truly appreciate all of the good things that you have helped bring to my life through your act of kindness, so may God bless you. You educated me and made me a wiser person. AND I now have a clear idea of what a true 'slapper' really is which has assisted me in my portrayal of certain character flaws in my antagonists.
What would I have done without you? All of you, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
God Bless
xoxo
Maggie
Denise Moncrief can be found at the following links:
Hi Maggie! First thank you for mentioning me in your post. I enjoyed reading your answers and having you on Suspense, She Writes. I LOVE this post. I think this is true of most writers. We don't use anyone we know in full, but pick up bits and pieces of people we have known to develop our characters. So pieces of our own experience flavors our writing. Enjoyed reading this post very much. It's been good getting to know you better.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there is more to our writing than meets the eye Denise. You are right, pieces of our own experiences always find a way into the stories we write and the characters we create - all characters, good and evil.
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