Halloween Happiness

Nothing Like a Good Shiver!

It's coming! Halloween. My favorite holiday that features my favorite color -- orange! I have lovely memories of trick-or-treating as a child. Back in those more innocent (or maybe less informed?) days, packs of kids roamed the neighborhoods -- adult free! I even recall going inside a stranger's house where we plunged our hands into bowls of candy and heard a spooky story from the home owner about a guy being swallowed by a whale. Then she handed out tiny Bibles. That would NOT happen today. Parents would have to have their heads examined to allow their tots to trot into a stranger's home for some story telling.

I vividly recall running behind some kids and watching in amazement as they each fell backward onto the dewy grass as if ghost had knocked them silly. Much moaning and groaning emitted from them. I moved forward cautiously, waiting for the force field or powerful ghoul to whollop me. Then the moonlight stole across black panes of wire -- a fence! Practically invisible in the dark night. One of the fence's victims had red squares on the left side of his face the next day.

While the spookiness is upon us, try your hand at writing something that scares the pants off you. You never know if you have a knack or natural talent for something until you give it a whirl. Just start off writing spooky stuff during the day. Writing scary scenes at night takes nerves of steel.

October -- Falling in Love

Heroes of Distinction

What is your kind of hero? What kind of man makes you weak in the knees and tugs at your heart? I have always had a soft spot for the misunderstood hero. Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice and Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. In real life, it's the same. My first big crush was on a "bad boy" who was nice to me. I saw the kind side of him and fell madly in love.

Most (all?) of the leading men in my novels are misunderstood. The heroines get a glimpse of their soft hearts and begin to fall in love, even while warned by others to steer clear of the troublemakers. I don't like bragging, swaggering heroes. I like the quiet, confident type. A sense of mischief doesn't hurt either.

Men that rage and throw things and make idle threats also turn me off. I like a hero who can rein in his temper and only resorts to violence to protect others.

Creating the perfect hero to bring out the best in a well-crafted heroine is no easy task, but it is infinitely enjoyable.  Usually I get it just right and on occasion I know I missed the mark by a smidgen. I hate when that happens. When I get reviews from readers that are polite and use words such as "nice" and "good read" I know that I could have done better. Only when reviewers and readers tell me that they fell in love with the hero and wanted desperately for him to win the heart of the heroine do I know that I got it right. Thankfully, that happens most of the time. It's a great feeling.

Almost as good as falling in love for real.

By the way, you can discover my heroes by going to Amazon. All my novels are available for Kindle readers there or you can buy them as paperbacks.

Let's keep in touch!