Saturday, March 4, 2017

Dealing With Distractions



They won’t leave me alone. If you’ve ever written long stories or novels, you probably know what I mean. They whisper in your ear. They laugh and giggle. The nasty ones sneer or even kick you while you’re down, trying to sleep. It’s super annoying and I can fully understand why many authors decide to murder them. Of course, I’m talking about my characters from Penniless Hearts: Penny, Dan and that helicopter pilot Darin. They won’t bugger off and jump out of a plane with a bad parachute, although that’s a supreme idea, but they continuously needle me to finish writing more about their
This is the third cover.
Do you like it? 
escapades. Two years ago, I began writing Penniless Souls and one third of the way through, my life took a turn into some crazy medical-infused territory. We all have our challenges but this depravity feels like a family curse that needs more than the economy version of an exorcism. So, on top of my family problems: phobias, funerals, aches, surgeries, therapies and numerous pains; (thankfully not
I made this hat
and wear it to bed.
all mine—it’s never all about me—thank goodness.), these character trolls are nagging me to finish what I started. I’ll never forget the time Penny had her hands on her hips before she raised an arm to throw something at me. Yes me--her creator. John is patient and rarely shows up but Dan is awful and I’ve already written some chapters to shut him down. Now Tina wants in and she wasn’t even supposed to show up in the sequel. Recently, I began wearing a soft, brimmed hat to bed thinking that it would help block them out but no such luck.


The new setting is Vegas baby and I was under the false impression that what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas. Trust me, it doesn’t. You’ll meet Penny twenty years later. Her daughter Lani is all grown up and John is still doing carpentry but the economy is taking a nosedive and the only place to find construction work is Vegas. Penny and John decide to move temporarily to Sin City where they live in a high-rise off the Strip. She doesn't work for the newspaper but a famous artist hires her to paint murals for his lakefront resort. Meanwhile, hazel-eyed Lani is living with John’s sister where she meets a good-looking guy called Peter. Darin’s out of jail and has changed his ways and Dan? Well, like I said he has been dealt with. Now, I had better get back to writing another chapter before Penny and Tina throw me on the ground and start kicking and pulling my hair. Ingrates. 

16 comments:

  1. Isn't it frustrating when characters take advantage and boss around their creators? Good post, Eve!

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  2. You've got some mean and pushy characters. Plunking them down in Vegas might be good for them.
    Sorry you've been through so much lately.

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    1. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Who said that? :)

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  3. Life has a way of interfering in the things we are passionate about, but then so do our characters! Great post that makes me think about some of my own forgotten characters...

    Kelly Cooper kicks my left temporal lobe.

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  4. Some authors say characters don't take over the story. I disagree. If you've done it right, their personalities, backstories, etc. can take the story in all kinds of interesting directions.

    An author I've known for years (we had the same editor at Berkley) once told our editor she was having trouble finishing her manuscript because the characters for her next book were on her mind. "These people keep visiting me," she lamented.

    "You have company?" our editor asked.

    "Something like that, yeah."

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  5. Happy or sorry (?) that they will not leave you alone but I love your hat !

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. Thanks, the hat story is actually interesting because I made it 25 years ago for a tea-party. I made all my friends one and now it really comes in handy! :)

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  6. I must admit that I am completely bumfuzzled right now. For I rushed over here to see what might be going on after seeing the comment you left on AsTheCrackerheadCrumbls about needing the new humor category on SiteHoundSniffs.com right now, and you know what I found? I found that you are Eve Gaal, who befriended me on Facebook and whose site I could not find listed as Eve Gaal on SiteHoundSniffs--even though your name comes up in its search bar. Come on now, HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?!!!!? Yeah, Intangible Hearts should come up on its search bar, but not Eve Gaal. Well, at least not before I added your website to the listings. We would still like to display its header, and we will go ahead and do it unless you come looking for my head (or worse).

    Oh, and how was that for humorous? Yeah, you are probably laughing at me--not with me. My wife does that a lot. Sigh.

    P.S.: I obviously can't spell for diddly, either [Insert Groan Here].

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    1. No worries, I think you might have had me under The Desert Rocks. Too hard to remember everyone's handle so I just stick to my name now for the addresses. By the way, don't worry, I think you're funny.

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  7. PS Eve--I love the cover! I told Miika the last one didn't look like paradise, it looked like an ad for antidepressants. This one is beautiful!

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    1. It took me a long time to decide on a face because I always think it's better for the reader to make up the face in their minds or maybe they can relate better if they don't see a face forced upon them but when I looked through all the top 100 books on Amazon, I saw a lot of faces. I'm so glad you like it!

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  8. I've never attempted to wear a hat to bed--it would never last through the night. I rarely wear hats period, despite my profile picture.

    I know what you're saying about being nagged by a story I'm writing. It also happens when I'm reading. Sometimes I'll be reading a book and fall asleep in the midst and begin dreaming the story. The routes those dream plots take can be pretty interesting at times.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Thanks Arlee for stopping by my blog! My hat is soft and made of cotton--I even wash it in the washing machine--so it lasts. I think that's fascinating that you can take another writer's story and improve on the plot by dreaming various outcomes. Sounds like you need to write those down big time and sell them to Hollywood!

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