Monday, August 27, 2012

Embarrassing Moments. Oh…and it’s Release Day!

Ah, embarrassing moments. I’ve had my share of them, let me tell you. There was the time I got stuck in a restroom in India. Yeah, India. I could not for the life of me get the cubicle door open, there was no way to climb under or over it and every other woman who came in couldn’t speak a word of English LOL. There was the time I headed to an interview, running really late, only to realize I still had my slippers on O.o. Then there was the time I was in Toronto preparing for a big presentation, ironing my ONLY clean business blouse when I burned a huge iron pattern onto it. And that’s nothing compared to the time I— Wait, you probably don’t need to know that one J.

Did I disclose all this to make myself look like an idiot? Well, I hope not! Hopefully, it provides some examples of someone being human. Granted, ‘being human’ probably doesn’t happen to others as often as it happens to me, but it’s what makes us unique, individual, gives us our personality, our quirks, like building blocks to who we are today. As a writer, it’s critical to create characters readers can relate to and people relate to others they can really identify with. Someone who is gorgeous and perfect and rich and successful and never makes a fool of themselves isn’t necessarily a sympathetic character, isn’t necessarily one a reader will like. Characters need flaws, weaknesses, traits that set them apart. Sometimes they need to make mistakes, react the wrong way, do something foolish or unpredictable. It not only makes a character more relatable so a reader will want to root for their happily ever after, sometimes it provides a great opportunity for plot interest.

I’ve used embarrassing moments or characters behaving badly in some way in my books before. Not necessarily to create a funny or shocking scene in of itself, but to build a realistic character. In my latest release, RISE OF HOPE, my hero is a real gem. At first J. He’s moody, surly and downright rude. Of course, it’s part of who he is, a product of his upbringing, how he handles truths he might not be ready for, but underneath it all he has a core of integrity that’s unshakeable. In other words, he’s redeemable, but I had fun playing with how much of a jerk he could really be. Below is an excerpt from RISE OF HOPE and Seth being, well… Seth:


  “First… Tell me…who am I to you?” she demanded.
  His gaze flew back to hers, held, heated.
  Who are you? What are you? What am I? What does all this mean?
  Yeah, he might not have given her the answers she was looking for or done it well, but at least he could have tried to field those questions. But did she ask those? No. She was sharp, really sharp. It figured. She asked the one thing he couldn’t answer, didn’t want to think about and wasn’t ready to face himself.
  “You’re a job,” he bit out. “I’m helping you escape. I’ll deliver you somewhere safe and make no mistake, I’ll protect you with my life, but you’re a job.”
  Nothing more. He thought it, but couldn’t get the words out. For sure she’d know he was lying. And who the hell was he trying to convince anyway?

So, come on. I showed you mine, now you show me yours J. Share one of your own embarrassing moments, you know, to make sure I don’t look like an idiot here on my own. To celebrate the release of RISE OF HOPE TODAY one lucky reader who comments on my blog will be randomly selected to win...a $25 gift card to an online ebook store of choice. I'll keep it open through Wednesday 11:59 pm Eastern. Good luck!

18 comments:

  1. Those are pretty funny embarrassing moments, though I bet they weren't at the time! Let's see. I was a pretty naive kid. I remember starting a new school in the 8th grade and the entire class had to go on a camping trip (one where facilities were available). We were told not to forget toiletries. I wasn't really sure what that referred to so guess what I brought. Rolls of toilet paper. Everyone laughed and you can guess what my classmates did to my cot with those rolls!

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  2. LOL. Rula, I can totally picture you with rolls of toilet paper in your backpack LOL!

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  3. My daughter has had a few ankle surgeries lately (to correct a disability)so, we're always going to the foot doctor. Last week, I tripped over the fan & ended up at her foot doctor (yes, I fractured my big toe). To my embarrassment & his suprise, I was the patient. Guess who eats her words on the 'looking where you walk' lecture. Leann leamei1981@yahoo.com

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  4. My most embarrassing moment...8th grade. White pants. That time of month begins. It as awful. I won't even go into how bad it got. Anything else that has happened since, like falling, hasn't bothered me.

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  5. Hey, Leann, that is embarrassing :).

    Oh, Angel. I couldn't even imagine. Pretty hard to top that!

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  6. I was at an arcade with my high school boyfriend and we became separated. I finally spotted him watching some guy play a game so I wandered over, put my arm around him, and leaned over to see what he was watching...then realized that it wasn't my boyfriend. Oops.

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  7. My most embarrassing moment was on my honeymoon. My Hubby and I were in a cabin. We were doing what honeymoons do against a wall when my mother and her best friend knocked and yelled for us. My hubby dropped me. I twisted my ankle and ended up on crutches for a week. It even more embarrassing trying to explain it to the E.R. doctor. They still make fun of us to this day
    kaylyndavis1986@yahoo.com

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  8. Dreama, that one could have...possibilities :).

    Kaylyn, ah, the embarrassing moment that never ends LOL. Love it!

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  9. Hi Kaily! I am a total klutz so I have all sorts of embarrassing moments but the funniest one was when my hubby and I lived in a downstairs apartment when we were stationed at Camp Pendleton. Lets just say I forgot to close our bedroom window and I was a bit too vocal. The neighbor above us stomped across the room and slamed her bedroom window shut. She never liked me after that, lol! Yeah we still laugh about that one.

    Have a wonderful night!

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  10. Alina, sounds like you had way too much fun with that one LOL.

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  11. I was getting a ride to school with a friend and their older brother was driving. I slipped on the ice and slid right under the car.

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  12. Okay, I still get teased with this one. I was in TJ Maxx looking for shoe deals. While I was looking at a pair of cute boots, my sister and kids started laughing hysterically. While I was looking at the shoes, a little girl was running down the aisle and slammed into my behind and bounced all the way back down the aisle. The size of my moneymaker cushioned the impact and sent her flying! They still laugh at me for that one. BTW, I was embarrassed but not enough to put down those boots!

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  13. I was the geekiest, nerdiest kid in high school with few friends. One day walking down an empty hallway (so I thought) one of the most popular boys waved and flipped his oh so perfect hair. My heart jumped thinking he was waving at me so I timidly waved back...only to hear whispers and giggles behind me from two of the hot field hockey girls--the real targets. Ah, even though it's been 18 years I still get a little queasy remembering how I had to finish walking down that hallway with those three talking behind me about how could I possibly think *he* would wave to me!

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  14. Congratulations on the book! Accidentally walking into a door

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  15. The most embarassing moment for me was at my wedding. I sorta forgot somme of the words and thought I had said oh sh** in my head, when in fact I said it out loud. My grandmother who was 82 could be heard through the church say my WHOLE name in horror. Even at 100 she still did not let me forget. Marie melisk1966@yahoo.com

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  16. I'm a klutz. I've fallen out of gazebos and up stairs. Im not a small chested woman, but I was dumb enough to wear a white tank to an amusement park...and ride the water rides. I once had a very serious discussion with a group of musicians about how I would play Dueling Banjos...all by myself (I thought it was just a title, not realizing you needed two banjos to play it). I could go on and on....

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  17. I have so many weekly--I tend to run into doors before opening them. It's a coordination thing between my eyes and my body.

    But I remember in 3rd grad all the kids were in a rock throwing fight and I jumped in, picked up a rock, and whack! got hit in the mouth and chipped out my tooth. Never even threw my rock and I went down for the count. I looked for my chipped tooth for a week. Just had it re-made last year and had to tell the dentist the story again. UG!

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  18. I'm slow to post this, but...congratulations to donnas!!! You won the $25 gift card and you have email ;). Thanks for everyone for stopping by!!

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