Welcome to another installment of Romance Writers Weekly. This week, I wanted to know how much of a writer’s personality ends up in their characters. If you’re a reader, do you ever wonder if an author is anything like the characters he or she creates?

Hopefully you landed here from immensely talented Carrie Elks and read her take on it. Will you find bits of Carrie in her fantastic Love in London series?

As for me and my writing, it’s hard to say. Allow me to ramble a bit.

I’ve been told, by those that have read The Calum, that one of the things that sticks out is the humour. I’m proud of the one-liners in particular.

It weird, though. I’ve never thought of myself as particularly funny or witty. Despite evidence to the contrary, I’m a rather shy individual. Maybe it feels safer to let my characters say and/or do things that I’d never feel comfortable doing myself?

Nah, that’s not it.

I think all of the snark seeps into my dialogue and inner-monologues because it’s endemic to the characters themselves. They come from me, so there have to be bits of me in there, right? Right. So, I must have a decent sense of humour. Or a twisted one. Depends who you ask. 😉

When I write a villain or someone of questionable morals, I’m still drawing from my own personality. I call that the “what if” side of me. I’ll ask my mirror: What if I were in a similar situation as this character, and had a similar background. Would I make different choices? The same? I’d like to think I wouldn’t do some of the things my villains do.  But I’m human. Humans are capable of just about anything. The goal is not to do wrong. As a writer, I get to explore what happens when we do.

For me, it’s less “write what you know” and more “write what you want to learn more about.” That’s one of the things I love about writing. I get to examine any aspect of the human condition I choose, even the very essence of  what it is to be human, without getting into (too much) trouble. Wee!

Now head over and check out how much of the lovely Dani Jace ends up on the page. I know her love for the Outer Banks of North Carolina certainly does.

By the way, we at Romance Writers Weekly are doing a huge giveaway for Mother’s Day. You could win book bundles and Amazon gift cards!

Win OODLES of books and big (Amazon) cash!

See you next time!