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I feel like I know Nick pretty well. In addition to starring in his own story, he has cameos in just about every other story of the main Corral series and the holiday spin offs. Sometimes by name. Sometimes by just 'the bartender'.
In writing his story, though, one comment my editor made was about not knowing him very well. I think that's an overall dilemma in a short story. Nick's clocks in at just over 8,000 words. With a narrative that short, there isn't a whole lot of time to really dig deep into a character's psyche. It's more of a 'what you see is what you get' kind of situation.
In fact, most of what we know about Nick comes from the heroine's POV. Here we're in her head on the opening page:
Nick would make someone a good husband. Not her of course. It wasn’t like that between them. Although she couldn’t deny the hint of attraction that simmered right beneath the surface, hooking up with Nick, as good as it probably would be, wasn’t worth risking their friendship over. Lovers came and went. Truly good friends were much rarer and harder to find.
Besides, she knew Nick. He wasn’t interested in settling down. He wasn’t a player in the strictest sense of the word, but happily ever after with one woman wasn’t on his radar anywhere in the near future.
I did have some fun throwing in some phrasing that went along with Nick's career of bartender, and hopefully put us deeper into his POV when we do get into his head.
His mouth went dry and his head buzzed like he’d had too many shots of Jager.
The idea burned through him like a sip of perfectly aged Tennessee whiskey. Smooth with a warmth that spread until it consumed him.
It was like someone poured one-hundred proof tequila on his already shriveled soul. And shoved the worm down his throat for good measure.
...with an intensity that built like a shot of liquid cocaine burning into his belly.
New Year's Eve at The Corral makes its debut on December 14.
In the meantime, Halloween at The Corral had its worldwide release yesterday!
The Wild Rose Press: (It's on sale there for $1.00!)
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Until next time,
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
I love these vivid "liquored" descriptions! They convey a feeling most readers can imagine--even if they don't imbibe.
ReplyDeleteSkilled writing, IMO.
Thanks Ana. I went to a workshop given by one of my favorite authors and she made a point to say to always find key words and phrases that tell something about our characters. So when it comes time for internal dialogue, we get a bit deeper into their POV.
DeleteJust wondering if you've tried them all to experience the sensations! :-D
ReplyDeleteJager, whiskey, tequila, shot of liquid cocaine.
DeleteSounds like a bar moll's dream!
Definitely not all of them, and most of my wild and crazy drinking days are behind me! :)
DeleteI love how you've described him! Congratulations on the new release as well!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jen. I hope readers will relate to him.
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