Family dynamics fascinate me.
In truth, people in general fascinate me, which is why being a writer is the perfect occupation. When watching a movie or television show, I get caught up in the characters. I watch their facial expressions, their body language, and dig deep into their motivations.
People are complicated creatures and that's what makes them fun to play with as an author. Two people can react very differently to a situation depending on their personality, their history, and what else is going on in their life at the time. When someone comes face to face with a crisis, they could either tackle it head on or run and hide. That's why understanding your characters and their motivations is so important.
The inciting incident in my new release, Claiming His Kiss, stems from Ali, our heroine, having some problems with her neighbors. They're being a little loud with their bedroom activities, which is causing Ali to have trouble getting a good night's sleep.
Now, Daniel, our hero, would have confronted the problem head on. That's his personality. But Ali, she's not as confrontational. She'd rather suffer through some less than perfect nights of sleep than go to her neighbors and ask them to tone it down.
There's also Daniel's solution, even if it's meant to be temporary, to Ali's problem. His protective instincts, another aspect of his personality, kick in and he invites her to move in with him.
Okay...invite maybe isn't the right word. Tells her she's going to move in with him is closer to the truth.
He wrapped his fingers around her elbow and guided her the rest of the way to her car. “I’ll follow you home.”
She stared up at him. “Why?”
“Because you’re going to pack a bag and come home with me.”
And while he may have relented should she have put up any real resistance, this also tells us a lot about who he is as a person. He protects those he cares about even if it means putting himself in an uncomfortable, or somewhat compromising situation.
Closing his eyes, he took several deep breaths to calm himself. Ali was a beautiful woman. Any fool could see that. But she was thirty-two years old. She was young enough to be his daughter. Hell, his oldest was only five years younger than Ali.
But
given Daniel's personality, he puts her needs ahead of his. He sees a
problem and it's in his ability to solve it, so he takes the bull by the
horns and dives head first into unknown and very tempting waters.
Ali sighed, drawing his attention, and he looked over to see a smile pull at her lips. Warmth spread through his chest, the urge to brush his fingers along the side of her cheek almost impossible to resist.
He flexed his fingers on the steering wheel and reprimanded himself before returning his attention to the road. “Control yourself, old man.”
Creating tension in a story is always entertaining. Not only for the reader, but for me as well. Drama and conflict push the story forward. Sometimes it's from outside sources and sometimes it's internal. Either way, it makes for an interesting ride.
Finding out how Daniel and Ali's story turns out in Claiming His Kiss (Serpent's Kiss #4), available now at all major online retailers.
