A voyage of discovery

Progress is being made on the search for the crimson lady. Some of you might remember the name was the scarlet lady not so long ago. That was before an astute English friend pointed out that Virgin very recently launched its first cruise ship, named… wait for it… the Scarlet Lady. (Thanks, Mike.) Here she is, with a mermaid on her bow (phew). Mike suggested I approach Sir Dick, seeking sponsorship. But I don’t wish to encourage a ‘cease and desist’ order, so the scarlet lady is now the crimson lady, and I’ll still be able to use my wonderful graphic of the woman in the red dress.

That’s the kind of thing that happens in this writing business. It’s a voyage of discovery.

I start off with an idea, something like a broken mug that’s come from a famous ship and I take it from there. But as I progress, I have to stop and think about lots of things. For instance, I know Tara Wyndham lives with her grandfather. But why? Well, Tara doesn’t get along with her mother, Cherise. Tara’s father died a few years back and Cherise has becoming a partying cougar. What’s more, mommy dearest takes every chance to get Tara married off. Tara doesn’t like the party lifestyle, so she goes to live with Grandfather. From there, I wonder what Tara’s two uncles are like. Sander, the oldest, took over the family business when Grandpa retired. (Note: I can call him that but Tara always calls him Grandfather.) Grandpa is not impressed with his daughter’s behaviour. It just occurred to me (this very minute) that he’s threatened to cut off her allowance. Then there’s Ezra, who stormed out of the house years ago over a political dispute.

All that eventually leads to another question. What is Grandpa’s relationship with his kids? And where’s Grandma? She might not be important to the story in as much as she might not influence the plot. But I might need to know enough about her to understand the motivation of my central characters. I’m not sure yet, but I think Grandma left her husband because he was a harsh man who alienated his kids. But he has seen the error of his ways and dotes on Tara, his lovely granddaughter.

I suppose some of you are wondering what Tara looks like. I did, too. I had a person in my head, a beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair and violet eyes – someone real, who I knew years ago. So I went looking for a model on the stock photo sites.

I don’t describe my characters too much. I think it’s up to the reader to decide what they look like. But at some stage, a cover has to happen. So, here’s an idea of what Tara MIGHT look like.

And now I’d better get back to writing that book.

By the way, if you haven’t read any of my books, my Science Fiction Romance novel, The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy, and my weretiger paranormal, Black Tiger, are both free everywhere. At that price, how could you go wrong?