Okay so where to start.... I'm almost to the half way point of my book which considering my schedule is a miracle. I had hoped to have a first draft done by the New Year but that's looking very unlikely at this point. Still I'm pleased with my work thus far. I spent several weeks rewriting my characters "cute/meet" and I' must say it's added a dimension that wasn't there in the beginning. I find I tend to get bogged down in the details of scenery and character development and run right past the passion and heat us readers of Romance live for. Suffice it to say the HEAT is on baby!
As you may have read I am huge Amanda Quick fan. She's inspired me to include a level of suspense in my novel to go along with my characters romantic struggles. After doing extensive research on the city of San Francisco it wasn't hard to come up with this aspect of my book. Murder, human trafficking, booze and drugs were rampant in 19th Century San Francisco. Plenty of material to create a world of intrigue and the characters of the times! A wonderful example is Mrs. Lillie Hithcock-Coit.
A character of the first order in a time when ladies were to be demure and proper at all times, she whooped and rallied for the old Volunteer Firemen of Knickerbocker Engine No. 5. She was nationally known as the heroine of the 'hooks and ladders'. She rode horses astride, shaved her head to accommodate the many wigs she was known to wear and she caroused in the saloons dressed in masculine attire. Gasp! Quite a liberated eccentric and the citizens of San Francisco loved her for it.
At this point in my novel I'm entering dark passages. The villain is based on a real life serial killer during the late 19th century. Beautiful and well liked in the community he was above suspicion when young girls started to disappear never to return. Writing this type of character has been a challenge I wasn't expecting. A lot of his attributes were chosen for me so my hesitation during the passages has been quite a hurdle. To create an atmosphere my reader can feel as dangerous has me a little stumped. Like most serial killers my villain is quite smart as well as quite mad. I don't want the reader to know what is coming but I do want them to know something is coming. I want them to be just as caught off guard as the characters. So, that's the challenge at this point.
Promise to write again soon! Happy reading.
