Published: December 13th, 2013
Description:
What Would You Do If, In One Moment, You Learned Your Entire Life Was A Lie?
"I did it." These three words, uttered by Brianna's father, changed her life forever. Confident in her father's innocence, Brianna had been convinced that the jury had made a mistake. Instead, with her father's admission of guilt, everything she believed to be true is suddenly called in to question.
Heartbroken and confused, Brianna sets out to find out the truth about her past. But what she discovers is more than she could have ever imagined. From the aunt who helped raise her to the new love in her life, it seems as though everyone in her life has a secret agenda. Shattered a little more by each revelation, Brianna finds herself alone with no one to trust.
Now That I'm Stronger invites you along on Brianna's journey as she courageously uncovers the truth about her past and finds the strength to embrace her future.
The labels don’t work
Brie is young, naive and sheltered. In some moments you will want to take her aside and shake her. Other times you will want to give her a hug. That’s what makes her real. Haven’t you had similar feelings toward a friend or family member? It’s okay for your feelings for Brie to change over the course of the book. I can create the characters and tell you their stories but I can’t dictate how you feel about them.
GUEST POST
You’re a Character
“You’re a character.” Has anyone ever said that to you? Perhaps after you said something funny or amusing or let one of your quirky mannerisms show. The truth is we are all characters. As characters, we have numerous traits that make up our personalities and cause us to act and react in certain ways. Fiction writers spend a lot of time and energy trying to make their characters more like us – more like real people, like someone you might run into on the street (or run away from, depending on the book).
Escaping our stories
Our lives are each made up of our own stories. Sometimes when our stories stress us out, or we need to escape for a little while, we immerse ourselves in the stories of others. Whether picking up a book or picking up the remote control, we get a temporary reprieve by fixating on the comedy or drama of others. We visualize these characters as real people – complex, interesting and unpredictable.
The labels don’t work
People hate stereotypes and generalizations. She’s always angry. All men cheat. Not only are these generalizations never true, they also simplify us and people are anything but simple.
Now think about it in terms of a fiction character. You’re reading a book and in the book there are two main characters. One is labeled as a villain, and the other is the hero. No matter how many interesting plot twists the book has, you already know what’s going to happen. The villain is going to do something bad because he is a bad person and the hero is going to do something good and save the day. BORING.People are not like that. I for one have never met someone that is all bad or all good all the time. Okay, so I’m not saying that the lying cheating husband is really a great guy at heart. But maybe he loves his kids – you see, not all bad. Maybe as you get to know him you start to understand why he does some of the things he does. You may say to yourself, so what he wasn’t hugged enough as a child and that’s why he grew up to be a lying cheat, I still don’t like him. And that’s okay. The point is that when an author gives a character a balance of good and bad, they are writing a more realistic character. I’m pretty sure you don’t like everyone you come in contact with in real life either.
Am I supposed to like this character?
When a character is made to fit perfectly into the role of villain or hero, not only are you able to predict what the character is going to do, you also know what the author wants you to feel about the character. You like the good guy and hate the bad one, right?
After reading my debut novel, Now That I’m Stronger, someone told me that they didn’t know what I wanted them to feel about, Brie, the main character.
“Are we suppose to like her or not?” she asked me. The question was sent via email so she couldn’t see me smile.
My answer? You feel what you feel.
Brie is young, naive and sheltered. In some moments you will want to take her aside and shake her. Other times you will want to give her a hug. That’s what makes her real. Haven’t you had similar feelings toward a friend or family member? It’s okay for your feelings for Brie to change over the course of the book. I can create the characters and tell you their stories but I can’t dictate how you feel about them.
Think of it this way. It’s like a friend setting you up on a blind date. She tells you about this great guy that she knows. “He’s funny and smart” she says. She gives you the Cliffs Notes – height, build, occupation.
She sets it all up. You walk into the restaurant, and there he is. What do you feel? Your well meaning friend can’t set that part up. That’s all you – it’s your individual experience.
Is your friend going to be the maid of honor at your wedding since she introduced you to Mr. Right? Or are you about to come down with some mysterious illness. “Yes, yes I think it’s contagious” and back out of the restaurant as quickly as possible? For which, of course your friend will never hear the end of it.
Well, I’m setting you up too. Meet Brie, hear her story and yes come back and let me know how it went.
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Valina Rudolph knew two things from a very young age: she wanted to be a lawyer and she loved to write fiction. She attended John Jay College in New York City, where she majored in Legal Studies and English and she received her law degree from Hofstra Law School. Rudolph currently works as an attorney in New York City. Her love of fiction writing has never waned and Now That I’mStronger is her debut novel. Rudolph lives in Far Rockaway, New York with her husband.
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