I am delighted to welcome Rolynn Anderson back to my blog today!
JAN SOLVANG, my heroine in SWOON, keeps a suitcase packed. It’s tucked in the back of her closet and she’s never told anyone it’s there. Nor does she explain to a soul that she’s got four complete sets of clothing in the bag along with shoes, cosmetics, money and a passport. Jan won’t let herself think about why she’s always primed for a trip in FADEOUT, the first novel in the Funeral Planner Suspense Series, but in SWOON, she’s forced to deal with her secret.
Now, I’m an Army brat and I spent the first eighteen years of my life moving from country to country, house to house and school to school. Germany, Japan and Korea were our foreign stations; Maryland, Wisconsin, Georgia and Minnesota, our USA posts. Since my family had to move every two or three years, we became pros at packing, but I was always thrilled to empty boxes and settle in to each new home.
Why did I give my heroine a secret suitcase disorder when I have the opposite yearning? Maybe because I moved so much, in my mind, I made myself ready to move…I was all ‘packed’, mentally, even though the suitcase was empty.
Truly, I didn’t think about my connection to my heroine until I wrote this post. How about you? Do your heroines or heroes share your flaws or the flaws of friends or relatives?
“Don’t miss SWOON by Rolynn Anderson! If you like an interesting cast of characters, a heavy dose of mystery and a lot of fabulous surprises, you’ll be happily turning pages late into the night.ˮ
~ Brenda Novak, NYT and USA Bestselling Author of WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES
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Her dead clients won’t rest in peace.
When the dead tell tales, Jan Solvang’s first reaction is to RUN! But then she gets caught up in their mysteries.
Jan’s a boutique funeral planner, new to risk, hired to bury a missing woman and memorialize an infamous man. Yet when she digs for clues to write their eulogies, she disturbs family secrets and unmasks killers.
Roman Keller, hard-driving documentary writer, is in complete control of his life and his stories, until he falls for Jan, a woman who trusts her dog, her faint-dreams, and her instincts more than she trusts him.
Can they make the sacrifices necessary to cement their relationship or will the mayhem caused by the dead ruin their second chance at love?
SUSPENSE SPIKED WITH ROMANCE
Web: http://www.rolynnanderson.com/
FADEOUT in print & download at
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Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9yo9wwq
SWOON: in print and download
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babettejames.com 
Interesting thoughts. I believe if our heroines reflect our own subconscious desires/beliefs, etc. that we relate to, we are qualified to write them.
Good point, Lisa. Never thought about it that way. We write what we know! Rolynn
Great insight, Rolynn! I find that there seems to be a theme running through my books of self-acceptance. Usually, my characters are fighting hard against their natural instinct and need to come around to the truth and accept who they are, where they are.
That rings a bell for me, too.
Well said, Lynne. You’ve done a good job of wording your overall theme for your books. Gives grist to your plots and characters…Bravo! Rolynn
I do find that my heroines reflect who I was/am at some point in my life. The funny part is that I don’t realize it until I am finished with my project and then I see the similarities and think “Ummm…oops!”. I think it works for my characters though – it’s best to write what I know. Awesome blog!
Absolutely. I didn’t see it until I started writing the blog post about my heroine’s packed suitcase fetish. Oops is right! Thanks for writing, Tricia.
I think all fiction characters have a little bit of the author in him/her.
Which is why I wish I were a less conventional type of person! Oh, the places I could go with my writing :-0
Babette, it’s a busy time for all of us, given we’ve edged into the Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks for hosting me, once again. I always learn from you a about how to link and such things. It’s a steep learning curve for me…much less for you! So glad I met you at RT. Helps to put faces to names. Rolynn
My heroine definitely shares at least one of my traits – we always want to fix people and their relationships; we want everyone to be as happy as we are. Maybe I’ll be able to fix my characters, even if I can’t fix people in real life. Interesting post – food for thought!
HiDee, what a good take on this issues. Now I’m REALLY excited about fixing my problems in my novels! Heck, they’ll be useful to me and good stories for readers…double successful!