The Soul of the Story: Why Characters Always Come First

I am, and have always been, a character-driven romance author. People often ask me how I keep a world of over 50 books interconnected and alive, and the answer is simple: it always starts with the people.

Before I can write a new series like Firebrook Valley, I have to imagine who lives there. I might have a vague idea of a location or a plot, but before a single word of the story hits the page, I fill notebooks with what motivates a character.

I knew the entire backstory of Gabe Holliston—his relationship with his ex-wife, his parents, and exactly how he interacts with his children—long before I wrote the first scene. I know what is strong in him and what is broken. As I imagine him raising his children, I look at them through both his eyes and theirs. What were their challenges? Who would they have been to each other?

Then, I ask the most important question: What do these characters yearn for?

When I imagined the Burkes, I spent just as much time getting to know their history and their failures. I need to know what they are proud of and what they are ashamed of. Who are they in their best moments, and who are they in their worst?

Once I know them, I look for the match. Why do these two people, out of everyone I could imagine, belong together? Do they bring out the best in each other? Only when I have that answer do I set the notes aside and create the "plot" for them to work through.

By the time the "magic" starts, they are real to me. When they struggle, I’m rooting for them. When they cry during a scene, I’m crying right along with them. And when I finally write the words "The End" on a happily-ever-after, I’m smiling in exactly the way I hope you are.

That reminds me, I should post about the time I was asked to leave a library . . .