Characters Make the Book

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy. ~Edward P. Morgan

It's amazing sometimes at how different people are. I know, that should be obvious, but it's never more obvious to me than when various people comment on books.

As I've been working through the suggestions given to me on "Now and Forever", one CP has mentioned something things (little things, really, but they clearly stood out to her) that have struck her as odd. Mostly, she questions my hero's behavior in places -- says he's acting far too immature for his age.

I'd never even considered that. Either I hung out with guys who acted immature for their ages or she hung out with guys who acted older than their years. My thought, though, is that my guy should probably fall somewhere in between. So, I've taken her advice on some parts, but not on others, and it will be interesting to see what readers have to say (assuming this story ever sees the light of day).

I recently read a book where I felt the heroine was too perfect. She never got ruffled, never got angry, never got scared; she was always calm, level-headed and reasonable which was ridiculous considering the situation she was in (this was a romantic suspense book). I didn't like her. Ironically, it was those very traits the hero found attractive. Still, it really bugged me ... and when I looked at reviews after I finished, I discovered that more than half the folks who'd read the story felt the same.

Clearly, the author didn't go out of her way to make her heroine a person no one would like. I have to admit to being surprised that no one in her CP group or her editor mentioned it (though, I suppose they might have and she ignored them -- she's a very popular author, so might be able to get away with something like that).

No real point to my rambling other than I know we authors try to create protagonists that people like reading about (unless you've created an anti-hero ... but that's an entirely different thing), but it's amazing how badly we fail sometimes without realizing it.

I'm very much a reader of character-driven stories, so if a character doesn't work for me, the story won't work no matter how amazing the plot or writing. I had to finish that book I'd mentioned above, because it was one sent for review, but had I been reading it for pleasure, I might have stopped. I say *might* because I liked the hero and the secondary characters, so that may have made the difference.

And ... I'm done rambling. *G*

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The other day I was so excited because my neighbor mowed his "lawn". I had someone comment that I got excited about strange things... but the fact is, his lawn is primarily weeds, and they spread into OUR lawn if he lets them go to seed. Drives me NUTS.

It's hard to keep a lawn looking like this:



When your neighbor has a lawn looking like this (and actually, this is the nicest part of his lawn because our sprinklers hit it ... you should see the other side of his driveway -- there are these odd weeds that are tall and spiky EVERYWHERE):


I've pulled dandelions four times now, ending up with full buckets every time (and we don't LOOK like we have that many):



It's a good thing I enjoy doing yard work...

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You Are a Round Cut Stone

You have excellent organizational abilities. You can make sense of any mess. You are driven to fulfill your duties. You take every responsibility seriously. You are decisive and resolute. You choose well, even when the choice isn't easy. You are quite disciplined. You exercise self-control in all aspects of your life.

What Stone Cut Are You?

How they got that answer from the questions they asked mystifies me... and, though I don't like round cut stones, the answer is exactly me. Scary.