Monday, August 8, 2011

Writers...Sheesh!




Reyna Cruz here, main character in Raquel’s book, Purple Knot. I’m here to give you a peek inside the strange world of her writing habits.


Ever seen one of those Bugs Bunny cartoons where Bugs is talking and then all of a sudden the artist erases his ears and draws antlers on him?  How about when he’s eating a carrot and then the artist draws a wick and fire and it’s suddenly dynamite?  Yeah…it’s like that.

She starts out with a pretty good structure. I know what’s going on. I have a goal…a mystery to solve and then, WHAM!  My ex-fiancĂ©, Jimmy, is suddenly at my front door.  What in the world?  So okay, there’s a good reason.

But then she adds something tragic. Someone I love is in trouble…dire danger and I’m all ramped up and still dealing with the feelings over Jimmy being back in the picture. But she’s decided we’re in love still, right?

Uh, no. She just got some comments from her Beta Reader, darn her! Apparently I’m conflicted about Jimmy and though I want to kiss him…I don’t. And then there’s a total misunderstanding and he’s pulling away. Raquel is so mean!

So now she’s writing in a plot twist that’s not too bad, I can totally handle it. Wait…what?  Critiques are back from her writers group. Oh, no.  That plot twist is now so much more dramatic, the stakes so much higher. I can’t believe she turned the tables on me like that! 

Okay, well it’s time for her to do the report cards for her kids. She homeschools, you know. So I’m just stuck here, probably for days, mid-air…literally.  I wonder if she’ll write something soft for me to land on?

Ouch! Not quite the way I expected that to end. She’s ramping up to the climax of the book, making Jimmy declare, uh, wait she deleted that.  Now she’s pacing and eating chocolate. Not good.

Uh, oh. I recognize that crazy look in her eyes. Her fingers flying over the keyboard at break-neck speed. I’m shocked…I had no idea what was coming!  And Jimmy and me, we…are you serious?

Raquel may be a bit crazy and she may make a lot of changes, but it’s always an adventure. I hope you come with me along an amazing journey in, Purple Knot! You won’t be sorry.

~Reyna "Rain" Cruz, Private Investigator


(Post originally appeared on Purple Knot blog tour.)
Photograph by Todd Huffman.