A #WIPWednesday Report
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| My Inigo |
On Facebook, of all places!
Today is a writer friend of mine's birthday, and to celebrate, she hosted an Author Party on Facebook and invited a host of great author friends to help her share in the fun.
Every half hour, from 2p until 8p, we met someone new and interesting, learned all about them and their published works, and played some fun games with them.
In the past, I've attended these kinds of parties and had as much fun or not as much fun, but it's good to know someone is thinking about me to invite me, so I try attending them all.
I''ve also read a few blog posts and even an online magazine article that question the validity or worth of such events, and I have to say they are crazy to think it isn't a good idea.
Well, let me be more precise and say that they aren't quite crazy if the people who offer to help out at one of these events thinks that it will help generate lots of sales.
Which, by the way, rarely happens. At least not at any of the Author Parties I've attended. The authors are genuine and just want everyone invited to have a good time -- no more, no less.
I like them for the social aspect alone. Meeting a lot of fun, nice, and interesting people, and spending quality time with folks who share my passion for writing Romance novels is a definite confidence booster.
We are pretty much a hilarious bunch of laid-back souls who just want to have fun, share jokes (not all of them dirty) and stories, get to know one another a bit better, and build friendships that last.
I don't see anything wrong with that.
Now about my WIP . . .
In-between attending Facebook author parties and working with three BETA readers, I've found time to get a bit more work done on my third novel in rough draft form.
Here's a refresher on the Leads:
INIGO
Status: 2nd brother (first story in a Brothers series)
Occupation: former Rugby player
Strengths: Adventurous, Energetic, Courageous, Confident, Enthusiastic, Dynamic, Quick Wit
Weaknesses: Selfish, Quick-tempered, Impulsive, Impatient, Foolhardy, Daredevil
Stature: 6'3", 190lb, wavy light brown hair, soft, honey eyes, fair skin, sexy voice
Age: 31
DOB: April. 7, Aries
The loose cannon; the guy who acts up and displays aggressive tendencies not only as a way to cope with his inner fears but also to get a deliberate rise out of Iliya (the oldest brother) and sometimes to make his youngest sister (fourth, final story in series) cry or complain.
Outwardly, he's fun-loving, easy-going, and adventurous - the life of the party - and that along with his great looks helps win him friends and dates with ease.
Inigo resents the fact that Iliya took on so much responsibility without asking for any help, and the fact that his parents died before he was able to do something that would make them proud weighs heavy on his conscience.
Part of that resentment shows itself when Inigo refuses to attend college and buys a motorcycle instead, taking off the day after his high school graduation to roam America for about a year. Within that time, he tries out for a rugby team and makes the cut. He plays for a Canadian team and travels the globe doing what he really enjoys and never really knows just how proud his oldest brother is with the accomplishment.
After ten years, numerous injuries and a final ankle break, Inigo is forced to retire. He's made tons of money, been in the spotlight for years, and had the time of his life with a lot of famous or beautiful women. He returns to the family and decides to push his way back in by confronting Iliya and annoying him by taking his time deciding what he'll do with the rest of his life.
He meets a beautiful woman -- a concert flutist and good friend of his little sister -- when he's asked to pick her up at the airport. It is a bad timing on his part scenario that doesn't help the two estranged brothers to mend fences right away.
She is nothing like Inigo and everything like him. They're both headstrong and determined, they both love a good time, and they both harbor resentment about the past, but they are different in taste, social circles, and attitude.
They'll compliment one another nicely, but it won't be easy for either of them to get cozy right away.
The plot unfolds when she (Linley Adams) ends up being implicated in her half-sister's drug smuggling arrest. In front of Inigo and his good friend, Perry Lindstrom (from my second novel, Love Over Time) Linley is approached by Detectives and escorted to police HQ for questioning.
Inigo feels helpless and wants to do whatever he can, so he contacts an attorney friend with ties to the Rugby franchise. By the time that man is able to arrive in Detroit, however, and while Inigo is at headquarters waiting for any word on Linley, he sees a tall, strikingly handsome man enter the building and inquire about Linley.
This sparks unfamiliar jealousy in Inigo and makes him realize that he hasn't actually said or done anything to make Linley think that he is even interested in her on a romantic level. He is left to feel out of place and like he is in the way, and yet he is also compelled to stay there until he knows for certain that Linley is fine and won't be falsely charged for a crime he knows without having to ask she couldn't possibly commit.
Then another young man enters the building on Linley's behalf and Inigo's flagging resources are now dwindling. Should he stay or should he go? Will she even care? DOES she even care? Does he, really, not knowing her as well as he thinks he should in order to be feeling the things he now feels for her?
And this is as much as I've accomplished in the story.
Sub-plots include his little sister's secret plan for her good friend, Linley, and her oldest brother, Iliya to meet, fall in love, and get married. It's what the little sister wants, and when she discovers that the plan has backfired; that it is her second-oldest brother -- the one who ran away like a coward, deserting her and the family -- the little sister isn't happy.
Then the issue with Inigo and his oldest brother, Iliya, and how they need to iron things out if they're ever going to get along like two mature adults. The past is stuck between them, and the wedge is pretty embedded within them both, so it will take time and patience: two things neither brother really possesses but will eventually learn how to embrace.
And finally, the love story.
Linley has played 2nd Chair flute for the DSO for a decade now, and one day her enthusiasm for the job and the music just disappears. Scared and confused, she decides to take up her good friend's offer to stay at an up-north house on a lake to think about what to do with the rest of her life.
She's contemplating a job with the London Philharmonic when the drug-smuggling case unfolds in Detroit and she is implicated by her vindictive half-sister. This makes Linley think her future with any orchestra is no more, and that along with the heartless actions of her older, mean half-sister work to put Linley in a bad state of mind.
She misses Inigo, though. For a reason she doesn't quite understand, she's able to relax, unwind, and not think about anything around him. It's refreshing and fun and something she's lacked most of her life. She wants that and him but doesn't think she'll escape the false charges against her and she'll be behind bars for the next twenty or so years.
She certainly doesn't believe he's just outside the interrogation room waiting and worrying about her.
An excerpt will be posted on #SnippetSunday
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Chapters: 16
Word Count: 43,993
Writer's Block: low
Mood: confident
Problems: show vs tell
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