Friday, May 3, 2019

Friday Diane Bator is visiting and Talking About Writing #MFRWAuhor #BWLPublishing #Heroes #Heroines #Villains


1)      Do you write a single genre or do your fingers flow over keys creating tales in many forms?  Do your reading choices reflect your writing choices? Are there any genres you would not attempt?
My fingers tend to flow over the keyboard, or my pen on the paper, and my stories can turn into mysteries with suspense, romance, fantasy, all with a kiss of comedy.  My reading choices can range from paranormal to mystery to non-fiction depending on the day. Sometimes what I read will definitely influence my writing and I’ll end up leaning more toward the intrigue or the romance depending on the book of the week. As for what I would not attempt, I lean away from non-fiction and anything that is too fact based. I love letting my imagination run away with me. Currently, one of my side projects is co-writing a fantasy novel, which I never thought I’d write! So I never say never.

2)      Heroes, Heroines, Villains. Which is your favorite to write?
I love a hunky hero who looks like he has things under control, but has a few issues. He’s not perfect, nor does he try to be. He’s just real.
My heroines are never damsels in distress, mostly because I’m not! She may start out a bit naïve and doesn’t realize how strong she is until she has to face adversity. Much like all of us.
Villains can be fun. Even the red-herring kind who make us believe they’re horrible people then turn out to be hiding a soft spot. Or the ones who are just thoughtless and appear as a villain because they’re out of tune with the real world. Or they’re just mean through and through!

3)      Heroes. How do you find them?  Do pictures, real life or plain imagination create the man you want every reader to love? Do they come before your plot or after you have the idea for your story?
The hero I’m currently writing about came from a conversation with a firefighter. As if he wasn’t hero enough material, he volunteers his time around town stringing Christmas lights and playing Santa Claus (which will come in another book.) He manages to catch our heroine off guard with not only his bravado, but by being overprotective of her even when she just wants him to go away. A lot of the time my heroes come before the plot idea or are the motivation for the plot. Once I have the basic idea, I spend time on Google Images and find my man! Images, both for setting and character, help form them as real characters in my head.

4)      Heroines. How do you find them?  Do pictures, real life or plain imagination create the woman you want every reader to root for? Do they appear before your plot or after you have the idea for your story?
Heroines can evolve from situations I face or other women face. In All That Sparkles, my heroine Laken Miller is a former model whom no one seems to take seriously. After a nasty divorce from a B-List actor, she is forced to reassess her life and take a new path working with her sister Sage in a vintage clothing store.  While I did find pictures of Laken for my own mental images, her heart is a lot like my own and she has had to learn how to move on after not one, but two major life crises. Her story came as her character evolved and she interacted with the people around her.

5)      Villains or villainesses, or an antagonist, since they don’t always have to be the bad guy or girl. They can be a person opposed to the hero’s or heroine’s obtaining their goal. How do you choose one? How do you make them human?
Sometimes villains can be the person sitting next to us that we never would suspect. People we once thought were friends. Same with in books. Sometimes a villain doesn’t appear to be a villain until the bitter end. Being a pantser, I have a hard time nailing down my villain until the bitter end. Sometimes. Other times, I know from the start whodunit and have to weave in a great deal of red herrings to keep readers guessing.  This means the villain cannot be all good nor all bad. There has to be some element of doubt as to their guilt.

6)      What is your latest release? Who is the hero, heroine and/or the villain?
My latest release is All That Sparkles. Laken Miller is a former model in remission from cancer whose husband left her for a younger model with a larger cup size. She left Hollywood and moved to Glitter Bay to live with her sister while she figures out what she wants to do next. Her sister, Sage Miller, runs a little vintage clothing store called Vintage Sage. Laken works for her but spends most of her time shopping and buying the items she’s supposed to sell.

The hero in my novel is actually of the four-footed variety. Sammy is an English Sheepdog pup Laken finds who becomes her sidekick and helps her solve the death of the tea shop lady.

As for the Villain, I’m not giving anything away! You’ll have to read the book!

7)      What are you working on now?
My current work in progress is a Thistlewood Manor Mystery. A whole new series.
A.J. Cadell, an up and coming romance novelist receives the opportunity to be a writer in residence at Thistlewood Manor, thousands of miles away from her home in Boston. She relocates to Cedar Grove, Washington where she discovers links to her missing father and meets a hunky firefighter named Mac. When someone kills the woman who lives across the hall, she is thrust into a mystery that entangles her into a web of lies with a family she never knew existed.

8)      How can people find you?
Website
Blog
http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Twitter
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diane-Bator-Author/263599617046736?ref=hl
Goodreads
Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-bator-35b63418/
Smashwords
BWL Publishing Inc
http://www.bookswelove.com/authors/bator-diane-mystery/
Amazon Author Page:

http://www.amazon.com/Diane-Bator/e/B009CGCPRE/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1373146510&sr=1-2-ent


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