caitdonnelly.com

Shaping a Hero

One of the most frequent questions people ask me is, “Do you use real people in your novels?”  The answer is no—not really.  To paraphrase Mary Renault, who, by the way, is one of my very favorite authors of all time, a writer’s mind is like a magpie’s nest, with odds and ends, and features and habits and mannerisms that all jumble together and reassemble someplace outside conscious control.  So a single character in one of my stories may be made up of bits and pieces of many people I’ve met, or known, or even just seen at some time or another.  Sometimes I remember the reference, or the journal page where I made the observation, but usually, my characters just bubble up from the matrix of my imagination.My heroes, on the other hand, all stem from one clear source.  He was my first love, first lover.  I tore him out of my life because I was sixteen and naïve, and life got away from me and sent us to opposite sides of the world.  But he left a lifelong imprint of what I think a man should be.  My heroes may differ in build and coloring, but they all share his inner crystalline core of honor and truth, and in each of them you will find echoes of his intelligence, his humor, his sensuality, and his compassion.

Author: Cait Category: Uncategorized January 2008

RWA–Wonderful and Supportive

(Photo to right: Cáit with NYT Bestselling Author Allison Brennan at PenRWA Spring, 2007)
One of the nicest surprises I ever had was coming to my first RWA meeting. I’d been to other writing groups, workshops and panels at conferences for other genres of fiction, and I wasn’t expecting anything like the supportive, caring atmosphere at RWA. Other authors actually being positive and helpful? It had to be a fluke: I went home to see if the Moon was in some particularly benevolent aspect to something important. Another meeting, with the same results, and I decided it was just that particular chapter. Then I went to the Emerald City Writers Conference, and found it was just the same, only moreso–there were a couple of hundred, enthusiastic, helpful writers there to offer support and share their experiences. It was a real eye opener.

I have since moved to another area, and joined another RWA chapter, and found it to be just as friendly and helpful as the first one. It wasn’t a fluke, at all.

Published writers attend these local chapter meetings, sharing their experiences and expertise with a generosity that can’t be surpassed.

So I strongly advise anyone wanting to improve their craft and learn about our industry to try out their local RWA chapter. Be ready to love it!

Author: Author Category: Uncategorized August 2007

Something I’ve learned that may help other aspiring writers.

My first novel ever was so deeply autobiographical, it was practically a roman à clef. Because it was so personal, and the story was so important to me, progress was torturously slow, editing incredibly difficult and painful. And however hard I worked, it read like a bad machine translation of some (deservedly) obscure 19th century Russian.

As I’ve moved forward, I’ve also moved ‘outward.’ Maybe part of it is the realization that I will be writing more books and don’t have to say everything in just one.

That doesn’t mean what I write in book three, or six, is less important to me, that it’s less well researched, or not as deeply felt. What it does mean is that I can take the time and space to really develop one or two things in a book, instead of trying to cram it all in. I look back now at one of my earlier manuscripts and say–”Whoa! that’s at least two different books jostling for space in 400 pages!

What I’ve set out to do is create a sort of series, with different sets of characters working through a single premise: that ‘paranormal’ abilities, like most other human attributes, are part of a continuum. Some people are farther out toward the ends than others, but the paranormal touches most of us at some point in our lives. Each novel in the set — I’m thinking three, right now–will have different characters who deal with one of the more familiar manifestations of extra ability: telekinesis, psychometrics, reincarnation–there are two of those, one dealing with ties of love, and one with ties of hatred. There may be others waiting in the wings. We’ll have to See. (Big grin.)

Author: Author Category: Uncategorized August 2007

Welcome

Welcome to my new Blog Page. I’ll be posting comments here and invite you to add your thoughts, as well.

Author: brady Category: General April 2007