Monday, January 30, 2012

Meet Mike Sullivan

One particular character in TheTwain Shall Meet almost didn't make his debut as planned. We were inches away from a major character re-write before the final draft of book was settled, much to my alarm.

There is a subtle method to my madness in the connecting storylines and character developments in all eight books of the Collective Obsessions Anthology. Each one threads to the next, with every detail – no matter how small – seeming to appear without effort. However, certain dialogs, character quirks, locations and various scenes were carefully plotted. It is also one of the reasons it took so long to write and finish the eight-part anthology.

I had to zealously pitch the character of Mike Sullivan in The Twain Shall Meet to my editor, who was of the initial opinion he was far too young to have feelings of intense love and incapable of the emotional temerity to methodically stalk Shannon Larkin.

In the beginning, Mike is almost too good to be true. Sweet, happy and seeming to be without a care in the world. Physically, he is nearly perfect – almost a mirror image of his ancestor Colm Sullivan, the first lighthouse keeper at Banshee Point as he appears in Passion Forsaken (Book #1 in the Collective Obsessions Anthology). Mike is tall, blond and fully graced with the deep voice of a man.

Mike's feelings for Shannon ignite during an off-chance meeting when they are small children, and then accelerate when both of them are well into their teens. Mike's knowledge of a century-old secret between their respective families convinces him destiny brought them together. Nothing will change his mind in the matter, not even when Shannon disentangles herself and moves on without him.

After she read through the manuscript, my editor sent me the following note:

My only concern is about Mike being fourteen when his obsession for Shannon takes full grip of him. I'm not sure how realistic that will appear. Does any teen feel that deeply for anyone, really?

To rationally validate the existence of Mike and his actions in The Twain Shall Meet, I wrote back:

As for Mike being so young and obsessed....I sort of liken it to more modern times, even though the particular storyline takes place in the 1970's. Kids as young as eleven, twelve, thirteen seem quite capable of meticulously planning school massacres (taking guns to school and blowing away their classmates), so surely they are capable of other obsessive behaviors in relation to sex and feelings of love/hate. What about the stories of female teachers seducing their young male students, some of them convincing the teens to do just about anything for them? Shannon is not a teacher and Mike is not her student, but I think the "obsessive" behavior is definitely possible. Rare, but possible.

Maybe Mike was just ahead of his time. And don't forget, he might have inherited the "mad" gene from one of his wayward ancestors. Actually, Mike's physical appearance and maturity were based on a real person I knew (when I was seventeen and he was fourteen), as were some of the scenes between the fictional Shannon and Mike. So yes, I think the behaviors are possible in teens.

Did I convince you?

My pitch worked because Mike's character remains unchanged in The Twain Shall Meet. As he is an integral part of the story, especially in the beginning of the book, I'm relieved the artistic hurdle was overcome.

And yes, I did base Mike's character on a "real" person. This particular fellow was someone I knew many years ago, and we did have a romance of sorts. However, the "real" Mike was not a demented stalker and we remained friends long after our summer fling. He read bits and pieces of The Twain Shall Meet and was tickled by the embellishments I chose to weave into his character.

I'm grateful my editor agreed to give Mike a chance in The Twain Shall Meet. His character is not one that will soon be forgotten, which is fully demonstrated as the Collective Obsessions Anthology progresses.

Twain Arrives!

It's official! The Twain Shall Meet was just released by Club Lighthouse Publishing. I'm so happy and beyond thrilled that I’d dance a jig on top of the house if I could…

Click here for more about The Twain Shall Meet, or click here to read excerpts from the book.

I doubt I'll be able to get my head out of the clouds tonight. I'm too excited to come back down to earth just yet.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Sunday, January 22, 2012

New Excerpt

I just uploaded a new excerpt from Quixotic Crossings - click here to take a look.

When Quixotic Crossings was released last July, I spent a good deal of time deciding on which excerpts to provide from the book. Silly me, I completely forgot about two of the more interesting and rather pivotal characters in the storyline: Jean-Claude Sullivan and Mason Berger.

Jean-Claude and Mason were gay, two men in love during an age when such things were never openly talked about (1930's and 1940's).  While I don't claim to be on expert on the various issues facing gay people nowadays, I wanted to include their relationship as part of the character development of George Sullivan, Jean-Claude's son from a disastrous first marriage. George is present in the Collective Obsessions Anthology right until the end, up to the eighth and final part of the series, Megan's Legacy (which is scheduled for release near the end of 2012).

George is purely heterosexual, although the influence of his father is often felt throughout the storyline.

The new excerpt is set in Paris in 1948, where Jean-Claude and Mason went into exile from Larkin City, Maine (thanks to a pay-off by Roddy Larkin).

Click here to read the new excerpt.

Enjoy!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Mish-Mash

I'm not sure why I resisted for so long, but I finally caved-in and snagged my domain:

http://deidredalton.com/

Keep your eyes peeled for TheTwain Shall Meet, due for release any day now...