The time it was about a character Q&A

When I saw that my girl Brighton Walsh was releasing a new novella, I pretty much invited myself into her blog tour.  Since we had already done an interview when she was promoting Plus One, I asked if she would talk about the amazing questionnaire that she gives her characters.

But, before we get to her post, let's find out about Brighton's new book.

When a storm strands Claire Hanlin in Chicago on Christmas Eve, the last person she expects to come to her rescue is Logan Dawes, the man she almost married two years ago. The chemistry between them is dangerously potent, but with nowhere else to go, Claire accepts Logan's offer to stay with him for the night.

Back in the home they shared, surrounded by reminders of Logan and his young daughter, Claire begins to realize how much she misses the family she almost had. After a few cups of Christmas cheer, she falls right back into her ex's arms-even though she knows it means setting herself up for heartbreak all over again.

The magic of the season has thrown him together with the woman he's never stopped loving, and Logan's not about to pass up this gift. He's not the workaholic he was two years ago-his family comes first. Now all he has to do is prove it to Claire, before the snow stops and she flies out of his life for good.

And without further ado, here's Brighton...

When Stacee asked me to stop by and share my brand of crazy regarding my character questionnaires, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I'm an organized writer, and any time I read about something that helps with that it's like I...well, it's like I walked into an office supply store with endless aisles of Sharpies, to be quite honest.

Sometimes characters just come to me. I know the hows and the whats and the whys of them before I write the first word of the book. I've dreamt about them and figured out their back story and who their best friend is an why they had such a hard time getting through high school.

Other times, I only have a faint idea of who this person is -- and it's usually a vague descriptor. Like hot construction worker. Or lonely single dad. (Notice those examples were both heroes. Because obviously.) When that happens, I need to delve deeper to figure out how they work, what makes them tick, so that when I start writing them, I get their tone and their voice down right.

When that's the case, I go to one of my character questionnaires. Yes, I have multiple (office supply store junkie, remember?). The first time I filled one out, I answered a couple questions, felt ridiculous, and promptly put it away. It felt weird. How should I answer this? As the author talking about the character? As the character himself? I didn't know the rules of it, so I just stopped. (hint: there are no rules; do it however you want.)

The second time, I tried it while I was in the planning stages for the novel that's coming out next year. I pushed all thoughts out of my head, tried not to worry about what was "right" and just answered them as quickly as possible and without thinking. That led to finding out things like my hero slept in only his underwear (boxer briefs), he's right handed, and he played some pranks in high school. Exhibits A, B, and C:

     How attractive are you?
     Is this a real question?

     Is the bathtub moldy or covered in rust?
     That shit's disgusting.

     What sort of curtains do you have? Frilly lacy ones, Venetian blinds, pull-down      
     shades?
     The fuck kind of questions are these? I don't know.

When I finished that questionnaire (all two-hundred and eighty-one questions of it), I had a very clear idea of exactly who my hero was, what history he had, and it even fueled some scenes in the novel because I found out things I didn't know before. I was so excited at this discovery that I went right on and did it for my heroine and was pleased when I had the same results.

It's worked on every character I've had since then, and I can't start a novel until I've completed it. The questions the characters skip, the questions they answer seriously and the ones they brush off all tell you something about their character, as well.

Some writers like to have their characters develop organically on the page. They learn who they are through scenes and chapters and situational elements. And more power to them! I wish I could forgo the sometimes tedious questionnaire and skip straight to the good stuff.

And then I remember this is the good stuff to my Type A brain and answer away.

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Huge thanks to Brighton for taking the time to talk about part of her process.  Make sure you're following her on Twitter, liking her Facebook page, subscribing to her blog and adding all of her books on your GoodReads shelves.  I can promise you, you're not going to want to miss out on her boys.

Season of Second Chances is out now and you can buy it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Kobo.

The time it was a friend

I've had the pleasure of knowing Brighton for a few years now.  I've even been lucky enough to read some of her early stories.  So, of course when I heard she was getting published, I begged asked if there was any way to help promote it.  She graciously agreed to do an interiew.

But before we get to my fangirling her answers, check out the info on Plus One.


Olivia hates the singles scene, so when her best guy friend, Ian, offers to be her plus one to a series of weddings she has to attend, she agrees. Although she doesn't want to complicate their lifelong friendship, she can't pass up the chance to have a steady date without the dating drama. What she doesn't expect is to now find Ian so incredibly sexy.


When Ian sees his old friend Olivia dolled up for wedding #1, the boyhood crush he once nurtured transforms into smoldering attraction. It doesn't take long for their no-strings arrangement to turn physical. But as Olivia's desire to stay "just friends" becomes clear, Ian's feelings are deepening. In the time they have together, how will Ian convince Olivia that one plus one can make for a lifelong pair?


Sounds good, right?

1. Where did the idea for Plus One come from?

It came from the prompt "secret crush". I actually wrote it with the intention to submit it to a call for submission from a small publisher. When my critique partner read it, she encouraged me to skip the call and submit to some larger e-publishers. Thank God she's smart and I listen to her.
 

2. Olivia and Ian are great characters. Both are full of excellent traits. How did they develop?

 

Thank you! Ian's character came to me first because his was the first line in the book I'd thought of. I've always loved the friends to more storyline, and the idea that it was the hero that fell for the heroine instead of the other way around attracted me to his story. From there, I was sort of like a witch at a cauldron, just throwing in every trait I'd love to read in a hero. And voila! err...abracadabra! Ian was born.

Olivia came to me in bits and pieces. The idea that she was stuck on a bad date popped into my head and then the cat urine guy materialized. And then I started thinking about what other awful, awful men she must've gone out with and what that would do to a person's outlook. After years and years of bad dates, I knew she'd be a little jaded, a little cynical, but overall, I didn't want her too anything. She had to be smart and strong and confident and funny because, to be honest, as a reader I don't like reading heroines who aren't any of those things, so as a writer I refuse to write them. When it came down to it, I wanted to create a heroine I'd be friends with.
 

3. I love when we get POV from both characters [I especially love boy POV]. Was Plus One always planned as a duel POV?

 

Yep, from the inception. When a story idea first takes root in my mind, it always comes to me as one person's story first. In this case, it was Olivia's voice I heard, but based on the secret crush angle, I knew I'd need Ian's POV as well. And, plus, I really love guy POVs, too.
 

4. Were there any scenes that you had to cut that you miss?

 

I didn't have to cut a single scene. I'm a fairly compact storyteller. I like to get in and out and get to the good stuff (insert that's what she said joke here) without unnecessary distractions or meandering. Of course, that means my editor asked me to expand a couple scenes and flesh out a few more details, but no scenes were cut. 
 

5. You're a genius when it comes to building the UST. Why do you love it so much?

 

A genius?! Well, I don't know about that, but I do love to be called a genius so I'm not going to argue with you. I love UST because, frankly, the reward is so much sweeter when you've had to wait just a while for it. Of course, there's such a thing as too much UST, but I like to write with realistic pacing. It's against my religion to write a meet, greet and fuck. I want to build the yearning between the characters so the readers feel it, too. So when that first sex scene comes, they aren't giving me their wtf faces while reading and wondering where that came from but instead maybe a little giddy (and by giddy I obviously mean flushed and excited) at the fact that it's finally happening.
 

6. And the sexah scenes... Are they easy for you to write?

 

Extremely. If I could write a book with sex, sex and only sex, I could whip out, like, 50 books a year. Alas, see opposition to my religion in the previous answer.
 

7. What is your writing process like? Are you a plotter or a pantser?

 

Typically, in the beginning, I get a plot bunny and I let it ruminate for a few days or a week or two. Characters always, always, always come to me first and the plot is the last thing that gets filled in. I play around with personalities, life circumstances, hero and heroine obstacles, etc. Then I fill out a character outline--this varies and I don't think I've used the same one for any two stories, but it's all basically the same, only some are more detailed than others. Once characters are fleshed out, I start outlining scenes. Sometimes these come to me as random, ridiculous one-liners or maybe a piece of dialogue to jog my memory. Or sometimes I write 500 words outlining a scene because it's fresh in my mind and I don't want to lose it.

Even with all that detail, I'd call myself someone of a plotser, I guess, more so on the plot than the ser. I've worked using both methods, and I've found I'm a much more efficient writer when I have a clear guide as to what needs to happen next. That doesn't mean I follow it to a T and won't deviate from it (especially if my characters are trying to get each other naked 3 chapters before I originally thought it should happen), but if I don't have a scene at least a little fleshed out, I will sit and stare at my blank document on my laptop and watch all the different scene possibilities play out in my mind like a movie until I've sat there for three hours and written nothing.

8. You get the very first letter/email/call that Plus One is going to be published. Tell me what you did immediately after.

 

It was a phone call. I went up to my bedroom to take the call because my husband and (then) three year old were just getting lunch in the kitchen and they were being a little obnoxious (don't tell them I said that). So, got the call, got an offer, did a whole lot of listening while doing a fish impression, then hung up and just sort of stood there for a minute waiting for it to sink in. I was...I don't even know that I can explain it. Giddy and excited and on the verge of jumping out of my skin--sort of like what I'd imagine it'd feel like to hang out of an airplane right before you jump--but I just stood there. And I cried (of course). And then I got over that, ran downstairs, jumped around the kitchen, and told my husband, "HOLY SHIT, I'M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!" Except, you know, I sort of whispered shit because my kid was there eating his mac and cheese. And because I'm a lady.
 

9. What comes next for you?

 

Lots of amazing things, I hope. :) I've got a completed contemporary erotic romance novel I've just started querying to agents. That book is the first in a planned set of three companion series novels. I was also recently attacked with a wild and ferocious plot bunny, so book two that I'd been writing has been put on hold so I can flesh out a little of this New Adult plot idea. So, short answer: more writing.

Speed [ish] round:

1. What's your go to guilty pleasure thing to eat?
 

What's not my guilty pleasure thing to eat? I love food. But, for the sake of this, I'll say Salted Caramel Cake Pops from Starbucks.
 

2. What are you reading right now?

 

This will no doubt have changed five times over by the time this posts, but right now at this minute, I'm reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio with my eight-year-old son, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (for the first time!), and Saved by the Bride by Fiona Lowe. 
 

3. Who are your favorite swoony boys?

 

Oh, man. This is a toughie. Okay. I'm not going to over-think this; just gonna say the first ones that pop in my head (and in absolutely no particular order):

Lucas
Brady
Brian
Tyler
Shadow
Adam
Etienne
Nev
Jase
Van
Jack

Well. Hmm. I maybe like swoony boys a little?

4. Are there any authors that you fangirl over?

 

I'm not much for fangirling, but I am pretty excited to meet Jill Shalvis at RWA this year.

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Huge thanks to Brighton for taking the time!!

Brighton Walsh is a storyteller at heart. Whether through words or pictures, she's been weaving tales for as long as she can remember. After decades of cultivating her writing, she finally decided to give life to the voices in her head and set forth to write her first novella. Love is her first love, and writing about it is a dream come true. When she's not overwhelmed by the incessant chatter in her mind, you can generally find her with her nose buried in a steamy book or partaking in some retail therapy. The setting of her life story takes place in the Midwest, characters including her very own real life hero she found in her supportive and swoony husband, and her two energetic kids who (fortunately) know nothing about the naughty things she puts down on paper.
 

Want to stalk find Brighton? Here are her website, Twitter, and GoodReads pages.

 

Go buy Plus One today: Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo. Want to win a copy? Check out Brighton's release day post and enter to win one of 3 giveaways!!