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I am so proud to introduce book 28!
Jade
I LOVE this cover and the message it sends.
Please click below to preorder for Kindle!
Now onto Jade…
When is it time to let a character go?
I ask myself that question a lot. With so many books and so much story already told, I sometimes wonder if characters have run their course.
I look at my favorite series and television shows and I think about the death of a favorite character.
I always hate it.
But such is life.
Villains are sometimes even harder to kill. I have yet to be able to kill Rebecca.
Chris and Janet were hard for me to let go. They were so terrible, but the potential for them to wreak havoc was too good.
As for the rest, I have come close with a few characters.
I think I’ve said it before, But Bill was never meant to be a character in the series. He was to exist only in memories, but advanced feedback caused that to change.
I seriously considered killing Julie. I even named the next book ‘Heartbroken’ because of what it would mean to everyone.
I remember receiving my first hate email after the end of “The Unthinkable”. I knew how important Julie was to the series and I weighed the story moving forward.
What would work best?
A little side note- when a book is released, I am usually two books ahead with writing, so I know where we are going.
I knew Julie would live, but I seriously considered killing her off.
Then there was Tommy.
For me, I don’t know If I could write the series without him. If he died, I truly believe the series would end with him.
I know that might not be true for everyone else, but for me, he is the glue.
I call Julie the glue in the book, but Tommy is the reason the series was born.
He needed a reason to live.
In a way, so did I.
So I guess I think of him as my lifeline with these characters. He speaks for me in so many ways, and I don’t know how to continue the series without him.
Which is why writing his torture and the aftermath has been so hard.
I know- I’m the one who decided to do it. 😊
But there was a reason.
For much of the series, Brittany’s HIV and Naomi’s health issues have been the focus of Tommy’s fears. He has watched them both struggle in different ways and it’s been so hard for him as a husband, father and doctor.
I felt a crisis coming for him and I couldn’t figure out exactly why it was happening.
He and Brittany were happy. Naomi was doing well.
But something felt off to me and I knew it was more of his story. I wanted to delve deeper into his issues and some of the things he never really dealt with.
I needed him to have an ‘out of body’ experience in a way to really break down some of his walls.
I wanted to visit the people from the past- some we knew and some we didn’t- to help him see some truths about life.
I was also setting him up for a struggle unlike any he has faced.
Who is he if not a surgeon?
What happens to us when we face a change in our ‘normal’? What do we go through when we suddenly can’t do the things we always took for granted?
I think about that a lot. As someone who has had to find a new normal, I wonder about what could have been.
Tommy is struggling with that and as we move forward into the next books, his struggle will become more challenging.
But onto the main question of this post.
When is it time to let go of a character?
I posted a poll recently which asked which of the characters the series could not survive without. I received over 60 votes which is amazing to me.
I think the results surprised me.
Elizabeth and Evan received the lowest votes.
I adore Evan and Liz is my spirit animal. I don’t know if you guys don’t like them as much or you just feel the series is more about the other characters. Either way, it was surprising to me.
David and Naomi received the most votes for the kids and I love that. They are both such a great characters (if I do say so myself) and are evolving into wonderful adults.
Jack, Bill and Julie got the most votes. Tommy and Brittany and Stephanie were close behind.
I will continue to post a few more polls because it helps me to know what you’re thinking moving forward.
But more about my main point.
Killing off a character…
Jade.
Is she expendable?
Has she run her course as a character?
Can the series survive without her?
Can Mike?
She has three beautiful daughters and an amazing job and she is finally truly happy.
So why blow that up?
Book 28 is about a lot of things. Love and loss are just a few.
If you have read the entire series, you might be surprised by the direction I am going. It’s not always about the obvious. I’m hoping for a surprise or two thrown in there.
In the meantime, please let me know your thoughts, as always, on here or facebook or by email.
I am also ready to begin sending out my newsletter with some sneak peeks and giveaways, so if you haven’t signed up, please do. The signup is on the top right part of this page.
One last note- get ready for an announcement about the first novella in the series coming out this summer- Julie’s story.
-Robin
