Brook Cottage Books is thrilled to welcome Jane Lark to the blog today with a guest post as part of the 'I Found You' blog tour.
Getting into the mind of a character
The first thing I do when I come up with a story idea is develop the characters. I have to really understand who they are and what motivates them before I even begin to work out where their story is going to go, and the story for I Found Youcame from a single image of Rachel standing on a bridge. I didn’t just see her standing in the electric light, I felt her pain, so then I had to unravel that and give her a back story and a personality before I began to write.
I’ll be honest, I Found You, wasn’t the easiest story to write. I don’t want to write characters you’ll find everywhere, and the New Adult genre is flooded with bad guy verse good girl. In I Found You, it’s Rachel who’s a mess. Don’t get me wrong Jason has issues of a different sort - but Rachel is the bad one. Where people tolerate a guy who has a dodgy back story though, they are less tolerant of a girl, so the story weaves a fine line, trying to draw out empathy for Rachel when she’s lived a fast life.
But there are reasons for her messed up mind and bad judgments which come out later. Those reasons do pile on complexity though because there are times, as a reader, you just won’t get her, at the same moments Jason doesn’t get what the hell is going on either. That’s because she is not a stereotypical person, only a small percentage of people would truly understand Rachel…
But in my day job, part of what I work on, is developing diversity, I promote accepting the differences in people and reducing judgement and so I deliberately wrote this to stretch people’s minds and challenge attitudes, and encourage acceptance of those who don’t fit in the usual round peg hole. That’s Rachel…
Publisher Harper Impulse
Publishing date: 5thDecember 2013
Tomorrow is for regrets. Tonight is for being together.
On a cold winter night, Rachel and Jason’s lives collide on Manhattan Bridge. She’s running from life, he’s running toward it. But compassion urges him to help her.
His offer of a place to stay leads to friendship and trouble. There’s his fiancée back home in Oregon and a family who just don’t trust this girl from the wrong side of the tracks.
But when the connection between them is so electric, so right… everyone else must be wrong. And as the snow begins to settle on the Hudson, there’s nothing but the possibility of what could be – of this, right here, right now. Them.
About the Author
Jane is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional Historical and New Adult Romances.
She began her first novel at sixteen, but a life full of difficulty derailed her as she lives with the restrictions of Ankylosing Spondylitis.
When she finally completed a novel it was because she was determined to be able to say I’m a writer.
Now Jane is thrilled to be giving her characters life in others’ imaginations at last.
Jane is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development, and uses her knowledge of psychology to bring her characters to life.
Jane is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development, and uses her knowledge of psychology to bring her characters to life.
‘Basically I’m a sucker for a love story. I love the feeling of falling in love and it’s wonderful to be able to do it time and time again in fiction, plus my understanding of people helps me write the really intense relationships I enjoy creating.’
Website http://www.janelark.co.uk
Twitter https://twitter.com/JaneLnabooks
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