What To Do When You Hate Your Main Character

As a reader, we all know what happens when you open a book and hate the main character -- you throw the book across the room and stop reading. But what do you do as a writer?

After Henry Wade made his appearance in The Reluctant Grooms series, and I met his nieces, I thought they were all very lovely, and it would be a breeze to share their stories.

My mother's illness aside, (finding time to write was another thing altogether) I wrote the first three stories (Henry REGRETS AND RESPONSIBILITIES Faith DUNBURY PARK and Hope WHEN HOPE AND PASSION COLLIDE) and follwing the series arc, began formulating the idea for Prudence. I knew from the beginning she would be a hard character to write because -- I didn't like her.

Prudence is a spoiled rotten brat with no compassion or empathy for anyone other than herself. She is cruel and contemptible and even her cousins are afraid of her wicked tongue. Hence the title, JUDGING PRUDENCE. I thought it apt because everyone judged her, including me.

I knew she had to have some redeeming qualities, however, I couldn't see them. She was a mean little witch and just wanted everything her way. Writing her story every day was like pulling teeth. I despised her and just didn't think she deserved a happy ending.

However, as part of Henry Wade's family, how could I do that? As a writer of romance, how could I not let her find her HEA? As a reader, if I left her out of the series, that would mean I would have to rewrite all the other books, and that was not going to happen.

Characters, like people, generally have a secret they try to hide from the world. It may be big or small, but most often, they don't want anyone to know about it. Well, I finally found Prudence's and it's a whopper. It explains why she is the way she is.

Once I realized what she was hiding, the story seemed to improve, the flow seemed much better, the intrigue and plot line worked, and I was a happy little writer once more.

Does Prudence get her Happily Ever After? I'm not sure. I'm not finished writing yet, but what I do know is that she will have to change her ways if she wants to get what she deserves. And this will be the fun part of writing her story -- her comeuppance.

I'm hoping to have the story finished by Thanksgiving, but I said that last year too. Let's hope things work out a little bit better this time around.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2018

Why I've Been Away For So Long

It's been such a long time since I've been here, I'm sure there's no one left to read this blog. However, I feel that I owe you an explanation. It's not an easy one.

My mother has Alzheimers.

It runs in our family, my grandfather had it. My mother's sister was diagnosed in the 90's with it. (Although, there's more to her diagnosis than was previously thought.) I began to notice the early signs in my mother about eight years ago when we were on vacation in Rhode Island. I tried to talk to my brothers about it, but they were both in denial. As well as my father.

Cut to three years ago when things really started to go south. I begged her to get diagnosed--perhaps we could get some medication to help. Nope. She denied the signs. So did my father.

Finally, after much urging, (a car accident, almost a fire in the house on Thanksgiving, and a flood in the basement) did my father say "Yes, we need a diagnosis." My mother hated me for it.

After another year, after much pleading, begging, and arguing, did my father realize we needed more help than I alone could give her. Up until then I was her primary caregiver.

The help didn't work out the way I intended it -- to give me more free time to continue my writing--and in the end, my father finally relented and hired a full time caregiver. She's not working out the way I intended either, however, she's there with my mother for most of the day, which has FINALLY left me time to get back to work.

There's so much more to this story than I'm willing to share on the blog -- perhaps someday -- but for those of you who are living with or working with or know someone with this dreaded disease, you will understand. Not only does it destroy them, it destroys everyone who loves them.

However, for the purposes of this blog, I just wanted to let you know why I've been away for so long. But I'm back now and hopefully, will continue on this blog until the remainder of the The Ladies of Dunbury series is finished. (Five more books.)

I will try and post every other week on Monday. I hope to see you around. Or at least measure a click on my analytics. I'll also be around on Twitter. You can watch the word count as I post it. @gallagher_anne

Anne Gallagher (c) 2018