I love March Madness.  Here we are almost to the end of the NCAA tourney.   I’m still revising TESSA AND CLAUDINE and my main character, Tessa, has become a big basketball fan now that she’s moved to Indianapolis, a big basketball state.  In fact in a recent chapter she attended a high school tournament at the Butler fieldhouse, so in light of that I’m rooting for the Butler Bulldogs.  I know it’s a long shot, but Tessa wants me on their side.

          The fun part about writing fiction is that the characters slowly come to life as the story progresses.  At first, they are like paper dolls.  I can get them to do what I want.  But, not for long.  The characters soon start driving the story forward on their own.  I remember the time, when I was writing my first book, ROW AWAY FROM THE ROCKS, and my husband invited me out to dinner.  (I think it was because he came home from golf at dinner time and I was still working on the computer).  

          At dinner, he said, “So how’s your book coming along?”

          “Okay, I guess,” I said, “but I’m so angry at Carrie, my main character.  She always has to have everything her way.   I’m getting sick of her attitude.”  

          My husband rolled his eyes and looked at me like, oh man, she’s really gone over the edge.   As for me, I got excited because at that moment I realized that my character had become real.  

           And now my characters in TESSA AND CLAUDINE hve reached this stage.   Each time I sit down to redo a chapter, I reread the chapter before making changes and wonder just where some of the scenes came from.   I suppose I have my characters to thank for some of the fun surprises.

           Well here’s hoping we have some plenty of surprises in the tournament next weekend.  Obviously, we have four dynamite teams– Duke, Michigan State, West Virginia, and Butler – vying for that top spot.