Friday, February 13, 2015

SNEAK PEEK FOR SWEET BUNS

Welcome to Cedar Falls, a small North Carolina town nestled amongst the Smokey Mountains. 
Zane Fisher is prepared to fight against a proposed casino from being built in his small hometown.  Sure, it would bring in more visitors to their dying town, but at what risk?

Aidan Dempsey is sick of the bad coffee Cedar Falls has so far had to offer.  After an exceptionally bad cup, he’s decided to swear off the stuff, that is until he’s dragged into the local bakery.

Not only does he find the best cup of coffee he’s ever tasted, but the bakery owner, Zane Fisher just might be the sexiest man he’s ever met.  Too bad Zane seems hell bent on avoiding him as he’s the project manager for the casino Zane is against.


Will they be able to find common ground or will Aidan be doomed to only having bad coffee?

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Creating a New Series - Final

The last step before I start writing the actual series was to come up with the names of the characters.  As this series is around an entire town, I had to come up with the names and types of characters for the various business the town will have.

First a list of all the business were created along with the type of person that would own it and work in it.  Once that list is finished a rough estimate of how many characters would need names is compiled. Obviously it won't be a complete list as more businesses would be added over time, but it was a good start.

Now comes the fun part, naming the characters.  To do this I go to both the Internet and a baby names book I have.  As this is a regional series I did searches on some more traditional southern names like Betty Sue, or Bobby Joe.  But at the same time I also choose names that I think fit the characters the best.

Choosing a name is a very subjective thing.  For the first book I used Zane and Aidan as I have a fondness for the names.  But there are certain characters that I choose a name for the personality it represents to me.  An example is Jesse, one of Zane's best friends.  The name, for me anyway, represents someone who is a lot of fun, which Jesse is in spades.

As I fill each character's name on the list, the characters start to talk to me, insisting I tell their story. Now that I know their names, I'm able to do just that.

I hope you enjoy this series.


Shea Balik