by Crystal Caudill | Apr 1, 2020 | Counterfeit Love, Writer's Life
Welcome to the end of a crazy month (so crazy, I’m a day late on this post) with the prospect of one more left to go. It’s wild how much our world can change within a matter of weeks. I pray you are staying home, staying healthy, and if you are one of those essential workers getting out every day to serve the rest of us, THANK YOU SO MUCH. My prayers are with you no matter where you may be working.
I am back at editing my Secret Service story, so to shake things up a bit, I thought I’d share the inspiration for each of my Secret Service heroes.
Meet the Heroes of Counterfeit Love
Broderick Cosgrove
Broderick works as an undercover Secret Service operative during the early 1880s. He is focused, loves puzzles, and sees his service to country as primary in his life. He pursues justice and truth with care so that no innocent person comes to harm and all who are guilty face a punishment befitting their crime.
His goal in Counterfeit Love: Ferret out the leaders of an elusive counterfeiting gang before they can get the new counterfeit twenties into circulation and damage an already fragile economy.
The Challenge: His former fiancée has somehow become entangled with the gang. She is innocent, but how can he prove it and protect her while doing his job?
The real inspiration behind the character:
Andrew L. Drummond, Chief of the Secret Service between February 1891 and January 1894 – The initial inspiration for this story came from his book True Detective Stories. One of my favorite stories is where he was “arrested” and escaped jail with a counterfeiter in order to build the trust of an elusive gang. Where did his escapades lead him, but Cincinnati? The location of my story.
Andrew Darlington
While Andrew Darlington may not seem the hero type, he is a man trying to overcome a secret past which could cost him his job as a Secret Service operative. Therefore, he strikes every case with a vengeance. Collateral damage don’t matter so long as the criminal is brought to justice and put behind bars.
His Goal in Counterfeit Love: Prove Theresa Plane is the real mastermind behind the elusive counterfeiting ring. No one knows better than him how corrupted and devilish a woman’s soul can be.
The Challenge: Broderick Cosgrove has been swindled by the woman and now he must work around a fellow operative to bring the truth to light.
The real inspiration behind the character:
William P. Wood, Chief of the Secret Service from January 1863 to May 1869
Chief Wood earned a reputation for rash aggressiveness. In the book Illegal Tender, David R. Johnson described Chief Wood as “prowl[ing] the boundaries between legitimate and deviant society” and “lacking scruples and good judgment.” This was the basis for my backstory for Darlington. He is a complex character which you only scratch the surface of in Counterfeit Love.
Josiah Isaacs
Poor Josiah Isaacs is an accidental play boy. He can’t help it that women take his friendliness to be flirtation, and bless his soul, he’s incapable of purposely breaking a woman’s heart. He’s been cornered into a proposal multiple times, and uses cases which take him away from home to convince the women he’s not a good for them so they break it off. He’s smart, caring, and understands Broderick’s position, but duty to their job must have the final say in the case.
His goal in Counterfeit Love: Allow Broderick–his partner and friend–the support and space he needs to prove whether or not Theresa Plane is guilty, but stand firm in revealing the truth should evidence prove otherwise.
The Challenge: Withholding information from their superiors could cost their job, and when the evidence continues to point toward Theresa Plane’s guilt, his friendship with Broderick becomes strained.
The real inspiration for the character:
There isn’t one particular Secret Service operative who stuck out to me to inspire Isaacs. He is sort of a meshing of many operative stories and characters. For me, I wanted a character who would play off the others and be fun to develop, and what more fun can I have than with a man who doesn’t mean to flirt and keeps getting engaged even when he never wants to marry? The story I have planned for him will be so much fun!
by Crystal Caudill | Oct 18, 2017 | Writing Craft
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of voices in their head, must be an author.”
Okay, so not the most eloquent remastering of the Pride and Prejudice quote, but a truth all the same. Only for authors is it socially acceptable to be insane. If anyone else talked about hearing voices in their head it would be a one-way ticket to the asylum. But voices we hear – the voices of our characters.
A couple months ago, I talked about developing our “Author Voice”, but sometimes what I find even more challenging is developing unique character voice. Someone once told me that each character must have a voice so unique you can read a line or two without an identifier and still be able to determine whose POV it is or who is talking.
Am I the only one that cringed and wanted to hide their manuscript?
Over the last few months, I have developed a few tricks to help me create these unique voices, especially in my character POVs.
Character Voice Hints
1. When writing in a certain POV, I try to sink into what is called Deep Point of View. Essentially it is writing like the entire scene is happening through the thoughts of the character without actually being thought dialogue.
Example:
Instead of: She touched his forehead to check for fever.
Try: Burning heat suffused the air between her palm and his forehead. Oh no. The fever had returned.
2. Give certain frames of references to each character.
Example:
My heroine grew up under the guidance of her military grandfather, who treated her just like a soldier. When writing in her POV, I use military terms, descriptions that line up with military thinking, and actions that reveal her military upbringing.
“His words cannonballed into the soft soil of her soul, crushing it beneath their weight and force.”
My hero, however, does not have this upbringing, but he is a Secret Service operative. So I have him behave, think, and speak like one.
“Edward beat him to the corner seat that gave a clear view of the room. Only criminals and lawmen worried about protecting their backs while observing others.”
Please note, these are unpolished sentences, but they are just to give you an idea of how to work that in.
3. Give them unique phrases and quirks.
Example:
The heroine may say “Oh skunk!” when she is upset, while the hero may rub at a hidden rock in his pocket.
4. Take into account their education level.
If the heroine has had a lot of education, then her word choices should reflect it, but if she is a self-taught woman her choices may be different.
Example:
“The sunset is absolutely exquisite tonight.” vs “It sure is a pretty sunset tonight.”
5. Consider Dialect
Each region has its own turn of phrase and accents. In July, my family and I went on a mission trip and one of the leaders was from Minnesota. Her “o” sounds were unique as well as her use of “You betcha” and “Oofta sakes.” If your characters are from different regions or ethnic backgrounds, take that into consideration.
Example:
One of my villain’s henchmen is Irish. I did a little research and made sure I wrote the dialect correctly and even worked in some sayings into the conversation.
“May the cat eat ye, and the devil eat the cat!” (My personal favorite.)
Your Turn
How do you help the voices of your characters to stand out as unique? Are there certain resources you use to help? If you are comfortable, share a couple examples of your character voices.
by Crystal Caudill | Aug 23, 2017 | Writing Craft
Voice seems to be one of those elusive things I have encountered as an aspiring author. What is it? How do you know what your voice is? How do you know if it is unique? Until recently, I just avoided the whole issue because it seemed so convoluted.
But the day must come when we chase down that elusive concept in order to fully develop into who we are. So here it is, wrong or right, my own view and explanation of voice.
Author Voice:
An author’s voice is not one tangible element in a novel, it is the culmination of all the flavors an author brings to their writing. From genre choice, to settings, typical characters, humor, to even word choice – it all goes to develop a unique voice.
Take a look at this picture:
What story comes to your mind?
My first thought was a woman lying in bed, fumbling for a shoe to throw at the cat that never stops meowing out her window. Typical image? Yes, but give me time and I will develop it into a storyline that is unique. What if she killed the cat by accident? And what if it was her neighbor’s prize winner? Or even better, there was a note attached to it revealing a danger no one could have foreseen. Oh, so many ideas are skittering through my mind…
Maybe your first thought was a mystery, a ghost story, or something altogether different. Your author voice can change depending on your genre choice, and most of us tend to pick a particular genre and stick to it.
Three Examples:
Mary Connealy has a voice I love. She has humor focused on the cowboy days of the west. Her females are almost always strong, independent women with quirky ways. Her characters are always unique and at odds with each other. Whenever I pick up one of her books I know there will be an element of danger, sweet romance, a splash of humor, a cowboy setting, and characters that make me smile.
Jen Turano is another author with a unique voice. Whenever I pick up one of her books, I know they are going to take place in a city setting, with characters who are oddball in some way, danger will ensue, and hilarity prevails. When I need a good laugh, I turn to her or Karen Witemeyer.
My friend and critique partner, Joanna Davidson Politano, will be releasing her debut novel in October. While I won’t share details of her story now (you will have to wait until next month) Joanna has a voice that makes me swoon. Whenever I read her submissions, I know I will step into a Regency world clouded with mystery. Her books read like a mix of Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier, and Dickens. To read her work is to float through a world that entrances and intrigues, and I absolutely cannot wait for you to read her books!(Okay, swooning over.)
Bottom line, your voice is what a reader can expect to find when they pick up your book.
Finding Your Voice
Evaluate your writing. Do you notice certain trends? Are your stories dialogue heavy? Witty? Detail oriented? Do you add humor to your work? A little? A lot? Do you have odd ball characters? Do you choose a particular type of hero?
What settings do you tend to choose? Cities, the country, a particular region? Are they darker, brighter? Winter, Summer, Autumn, Spring? That can change with each book, but if you notice a particular trend, that just may be part of your voice.
Is your writing very formulaic or is it organic? Susie May Warren is very formulaic in her writing. She works in twenty chapter patterns and has a plan of what has to happen in each segment of her story. For others, there is no discernable pattern beyond the standard three-act plot.
By evaluating your writing, you can determine your strengths and weaknesses, elements that you want to refine and improve upon, maybe even elements you want to weed out of your writing altogether.
My voice is still developing, but I have decided that my voice includes a few elements: Danger and murder plots, women who are independent but get into lots of trouble, heroes who generally fall into the law enforcement category, clear villains, a splash of humor (although nowhere near the amount I thought I would have), and broken families. Forgiveness, redemption, and family are strong threads in what my stories encompass. Do I have a lot of work left? You betcha! Is my voice completely clear and finished? Nope, but I am working on it.
Now it is your turn to share. Comment below.
What do you want a reader to expect when they pick up your books? Have you discovered your own voice? Do you agree or disagree with my view of author voice? What would you add to this?
by Crystal Caudill | Mar 15, 2017 | Writing Craft
Characters are more than just the sum of their actions. In the previous weeks, I discussed character archetypes and negative/positive personality traits, but all of these really just boil down to actions. So what more do you need to create a living, breathing, well-rounded character?
To give your characters the breath of life, you need to give them a past full of good and bad experiences, even though their full back story will never be revealed to the reader. Susie May Warren does a fantastic job of explaining how she does this in her book The Story Equation (SEQ), and I highly recommend getting it. For the meantime, here is the basic process derived from her SEQ.
Developing Character History
Your character is who they are when they walk on the page due to their histories. As an author, it would be impossible create a comprehensive life story for your character from birth to the time they walk on the page. Many of those details are not important.
The important details of our lives are those life-altering parts. Those moments in time that end up wounding you, burying a lie deep into your heart, and creating fears. Susie May Warren calls these Dark Moment Stories.
Dark Moment Stories
These dark moment stories aren’t as vague as “my parents divorced.” As bad as divorce is, moments within the divorce will be what really shaped the experience of your character. They are the stories that can be retold in detail to another character.
For example, take a story of a four-year-old boy whose father walked out on him. That memory is so painful, so poignant it becomes immortalized in the mind, twisting and growing roots down to the soul.
He can remember his Dad loading up the car, ignoring the son as he followed behind asking questions.
“Daddy, where are you going?”
“Can I go, Daddy?”
“Why is Mommy crying?”
“Can I help?”
Then it happened. Dad closed the door, separating the boy from him forever. The boy runs to the window and watches as the car putters off into the distance without one backward glance from the driver.
Imagine the wound developed by that. What fears would develop from that experience? The fear of abandonment. The fear of being unworthy. The fear of being out of control.
Lies will develop from this experience. I’ll never be good enough. I am unlovable. I can’t trust people. People I love will always end up leaving.
These lies and fears developed from the wound determine the actions of our characters and make them believable. The wounding story is what makes us sympathize the character and even connect with the character. You don’t have to have your father abandon you to understand the feeling of abandonment.
Bringing your characters to life means giving them experiences that readers can connect to and identify with. Give them experiences that define who they are at the beginning, but are overcome and redefined at the end.
Exercise Your Brain
This week, come up with your own dark moment story for a character (or use a real experience, we’ll never know!). Then tell us the possible lies and fears developed from that dark moment story. Come back and encourage one another and comment on the different stories.
by Crystal Caudill | Mar 1, 2017 | Writing Craft
What draws you into a book? Is it the thrilling plot? The sizzling romance? The comical situations?
Or is it something more?
I am willing to bet that the reason you love your favorite book is not because of the plot but because of the characters that move through the plot.
As a writer, it is absolutely crucial to create characters that are well-rounded and real. So just exactly how is this done?
Creating Real People
A couple weeks ago I discussed the idea of using archetypes to develop a general idea of your character’s profile. While the universal elements of archetype may draw a reader initially to a character, there must be something more than just kiddie pool depth for your characters to become favorites. They must be real.
Real people have good qualities and bad qualities, or flaws as they are often referred to in the writing world. We see these traits in people through their actions. You don’t hear people going around announcing “I’m cynical” or “I’m adaptable” to the world (usually), and even if they did, you wouldn’t believe them until you saw it through their actions.
I can say I’m a morning person all I want, but until you see me actually 
willingly getting my butt out of bed before 9 AM and happy about it, you might doubt it. By the way, if you haven’t guessed, mornings and I are not on speaking terms.
Thus, as a writer, it is critical to determine the personality traits of your characters, both good and bad, and determine ways to show this subtly through their actions.
Positive and Negative Traits
If you are like me, at the beginning, I struggled with deciding what are personality traits and the behaviors that go with my characters. Enter one of my favorite writing resources, Angela Ackerman’s and Becca Puglist’s Positive and Negative Trait Thesaurusus (or thesauri, depending on your grammar philosophy).
Each thesaurus includes a definition, category (they have a whole intro section on this), similar attributes, possible causes, associated behaviors, associated thoughts, associated emotions, positive aspects, negative aspects, examples in literature and film, traits in supporting characters that may cause conflict, challenging scenarios, and even how a negative trait can become overcome.
Whenever I create my hero, heroine, and even my “villain”, I am sure to pick out 3 – 4 positive and negative traits each to help define my character. Sometimes the traits are a major part of their character, and sometimes the traits are just one of those little quirks that people have.
Determining How a Character Behaves
After I have listed out their traits, I also list out the associated behaviors I can see my character doing. Sometimes I begin to see a pattern of behaviors that are repeated across traits and I realize these behaviors need to be something highly visual in my storyline. For quick reference sake, I “distill” my characters down to a few, easy to reference traits and behaviors to post onto my bulletin board.
Here is my heroine’s “distilled” list:
Values: Security, Loyalty, Honesty
- Holds on to goals long after prudent
- Unparalleled sense of morality
- fight for what is right no matter what
- Ferocious Loyalty
- Not letting others help
- Determined
- Refusing to admit defeat
- Acting without thinking of the consequences (courageous, impulsive)
- Spontaneous
- Acting in response to emotions (this and the next behavior cause inner conflict at times)
- Firm control of emotions
- Light manipulation to keep attention away from self
- Honest
- Thinks in metaphors
- Growing quiet, lost in thought
- Adventurous
- Creative problem solving
It might still need a little fine tuning, but I use it as a general list as I work through my story.
What about you? How do you determine what traits your character has? What traits do you admire in heroes or heroines?
You’ve learned part of my process above, but the traits I love most in my hero and heroines are quick wit, loyal, independent, and strong senses of justice. This is perhaps why most of the stories in my head center around some of those themes.
Come back in a couple weeks when I talk about Creating Well-Rounded Characters – Giving Them Life on 3/15/17.
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