It is my pleasure to share a guest post from author Kathleen Duhamel, who shares her thoughts on...
CREATING
MEMORABLE HEROINES
By
Kathleen Duhamel
A
few years ago, when I began writing what became my first novel, Deep Blue, I had no idea it would ever
be published, much less met with positive reviews. I also worried that my
characters were too old to be relatable. Until recently, conventional romance
and women’s fiction seldom featured characters past their thirties. When Deep Blue begins, Claire Martin is a
58-year-old “barely not starving” artist and her love interest is 62-year-old
musician, Robert Silver. Would readers be turned off by the idea of these two
enjoying a healthy love/sex life?
Deep Blue is also not a conventional “romance” in the sense that not every
problem in the relationship gets resolved before the last page. Life tends to
get a lot more complicated when you’re attempting to balance the demands of
children, grandchildren, health issues, career pressures, and aging parents,
and I wanted to touch on these issues in the book. Surprisingly, the age issue
I worried about turned out to be a bonus for some readers, who found the senior
love story “refreshing.”
What
began as one book has morphed into three, with Deep End, the third book in the trilogy, published in December 2017.
As in the first and second books, what drives the plot is Claire’s emotional
journey. While love is certainly part of that journey, she also is forced to
deal with several unresolved issues in her life as a new wife and unexpected
stepmother.
Here
are my tips on how to create a strong female character that readers will
remember.
Give her a spine.
She insists on solving her own
problems without having to be “rescued” by her man.
However, she’s also a bit of a risk
taker, and after being advised by her BFF to “go for it,” she begins an
improbable, long-distance relationship with Rob. The same risk-taking behavior
emerges in Book 2, Deeper, when she’s
forced to acknowledge her husband’s eight-year-old love child and must decide
if she’s willing to continue her marriage under vastly different circumstances.
Drawing
on the same inner strength that got her through cancer treatment, she is ultimately
able to express her disappointment and anger to Rob, while re-affirming her
commitment to him and her new step-son.
The
greatest test of her inner resolve occurs in Deep End, when a disaster forces her to confront the possibility of
life without her beloved husband.
Give her a guiding principle.
Claire’s
favorite quote, which also becomes her mantra, is from Goethe: “Nothing is
worth more than this day.” It is the perfect summation of who she is and how
she approaches her post-cancer life. Not even a life-threatening illness could
take away her fun-loving spirit and her determination to live fully, the very
qualities that initially attracted Rob to her.
Allow her to have flaws.
She’s
far from perfect. Claire worries about her scarred abdomen, disfigured from
cancer surgeries. She continues to obsess over Rob’s first wife, a brilliant
screenwriter killed in a car accident. Doubts about her relationship and
endless taunts by Baby Mama land her in legal trouble and cause her to lose a promising
new client. Her loathing of the news media manages to gain her more publicity,
instead of less.
Like
so many of us, she tends to suppress her negative feelings until they erupt in
a damaging way. Although she struggles
at times, the fact that she is able to move past her inner turmoil and re-focus
on what is most important in her life makes her a well-rounded and likeable heroine,
scars and all.
,
by Kathleen Duhamel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Contemporary Women's Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
After years
of struggle and harsh criticism, happily married rock star wife Claire Martin
has finally achieved the career success of her dreams. As the featured artist
in an international traveling exhibit, she looks forward to her best year ever,
while her husband, singer Robert Silver of the legendary band Deep Blue,
contemplates a return to touring.
Things are also looking up for
Claire’s best friend, Denise Hrivnak, who’s planning her wedding to Robert’s
musical partner, Art Hoffman. However, what should have been most joyful day of
Denise’s life turns to tragedy when an unexpected event forces both woman to
contemplate the terrifying possibility of life without the men they love.
Besieged by the paparazzi and sick
with worry, Claire waits for answers in a Las Vegas hotel room, thinking over
her improbable relationship with Rob and praying that love alone is strong
enough to bring her beloved husband back from the brink.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Before
Claire can say a word, I glance across the room to see the older man rise from
his chair and begin ambling toward us. When he gets near our table he announces
in an apologetic tone, “I don’t mean to disturb your meal, but there’s
something I’d like to tell you, Robert, and I’ll never have this chance again.”
Let
me guess. He has a friend/relative/colleague who wants to be a singer/songwriter/musician
and would I mind listening to his demo? I produce a cursory nod and he
continues.
“My
wife was a big fan of yours.” His shoulder sag. “She died a few days ago.”
Claire
gives him a sympathetic gaze.
“When
she went into hospice care, she asked for her little CD player and all her Deep
Blue CDs. I wanted you to know your music gave her some happiness and comfort
during her final days. Your voice was the last one she heard before she slipped
away.”
An
enormous lump rises in my throat, rendering me incapable of speech. Claire
blinks back tears.
“Do
you mind if I give you a hug?” she asks.
Without
waiting for an answer, my wife rises and wraps her arms around the
grief-stricken stranger for a few seconds. She takes both his hands in hers and
says, “Your wife was fortunate to have had someone like you in her life.”
“We
were married for 37 years.” His quivering mouth attempts a smile. “I always
thought I was the lucky one.”
Amazon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Kathleen Duhamel is a
contemporary women’s fiction writer and the author of the Deep Blue Trilogy (Deep
Blue, Deeper, and Deep End) as well as the novella At Home With Andre. She
wrote and illustrated her first short story at the age of eight, and has been a
writer for most of her life. Her love of the written word continued throughout
her varied career as a newspaper journalist and editor, public relations
executive, freelance travel writer, and owner/operator of two small businesses.
A native of Texas, she has spent most of her adult life in Colorado. She lives
in the Denver area with her husband, a geriatric standard poodle, and a spoiled
cat. She is a lifelong devotee of rock and soul music, contemporary art, and
popular culture.
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