By CELIA YEARY
When I began writing my first romance
novels about Texas—titled the Camerons of Texas, I quickly found I love a
family setting. I don’t think I’ve written anything about a stand-alone person
meeting another stand-alone person. In fact, I have made a genealogy chart so I
could remember all these characters—whether the star or a walk-on.
In addition, I found secondary characters that were not family but made darn good characters.
One is Starr Hidalgo. If you’re an author you probably have done this, too.
We never want to kill a good character.
Starr first appeared in ALL MY HOPE AND DREAMS, about a naïve rich East Texas lady—Miss Cynthia Harrington-- who meets and impulsively marries a wealthy West Texas rancher named Ricardo Romero.
When Ricardo takes his new wife west, she is in love and only sees a wonderful life with her new very handsome Spanish husband.
But…hold on. Ricardo cares for his new Anglo wife, yes…but he also somewhat cares for his long time friend Starr Hidalgo. While he thinks they have a good friendship from childhood on, she has other plans.
Oh, yes, Starr is strong, capable, and very beautiful.
Starr has a role in All My Hopes and Dreams, enough for us to wish she’d go away. She has devious plans for Ricardo, Ricardo’s mother, and Ricardo’s father. And Miss Cynthia Harrington, the pale skinned woman who is now married to the man she planned to marry stands in her way.
This is where the story gets complicated.
So, find out the ending in All My Hopes and Dreams.
But when that book was published I
learned readers did not like Starr at all because she was trying to
destroy the marriage between Ricardo and Cynthia.In addition, I found secondary characters that were not family but made darn good characters.
One is Starr Hidalgo. If you’re an author you probably have done this, too.
We never want to kill a good character.
Starr first appeared in ALL MY HOPE AND DREAMS, about a naïve rich East Texas lady—Miss Cynthia Harrington-- who meets and impulsively marries a wealthy West Texas rancher named Ricardo Romero.
When Ricardo takes his new wife west, she is in love and only sees a wonderful life with her new very handsome Spanish husband.
But…hold on. Ricardo cares for his new Anglo wife, yes…but he also somewhat cares for his long time friend Starr Hidalgo. While he thinks they have a good friendship from childhood on, she has other plans.
Oh, yes, Starr is strong, capable, and very beautiful.
Starr has a role in All My Hopes and Dreams, enough for us to wish she’d go away. She has devious plans for Ricardo, Ricardo’s mother, and Ricardo’s father. And Miss Cynthia Harrington, the pale skinned woman who is now married to the man she planned to marry stands in her way.
This is where the story gets complicated.
So, find out the ending in All My Hopes and Dreams.
Still, I sort of liked Starr. She was fearless, smart, beautiful, and not completely domineering. I left her with a little self-respect to know when she was not doing the right thing.
What does an author do with such a good character?
Write her story—now titled Starr Bright.
BLURB:
Conrad Taylor has mixed emotions about his ranching neighbor Starr Hidalgo. He can't stop caring about her, even though he is suspicious about her morals.
Starr Hidalgo depends on Conrad as good ranchers do, but she can't keep from admiring his good looks and strong personality. If only he would relax around her so they could become acquainted on a personal level.
As the tension between Starr and Conrad heats up, they learn more about each other, which can bring them together...or tear them apart permanently.
EXCERPT:
She pulled off her hat, dismounted, and hung her hat on the saddle horn. As she approached Conrad, she threw back her head and fluffed her long black glossy hair.
He didn't move. Good thing the fence was between them.
"Morning, Starr. What brings you out here so early in the morning?"
Smiling slightly, she said, "You."
Lord have mercy. He tried not to even blink.
"Yeah? What do I have that you want?"
Two could play this game.
She paused and smiled. "Water. I forgot mine."
She never forgot anything.
"Sure."
He leaned down and picked up the canteen, uncapped it, and handed it over the fence.
She tipped it up, leaned her head back, and took a good long slow drink.
He couldn't have looked away if someone had leveled a pistol at his head.
FOUR "FIVE STAR REVIEWS!"
Celia Yeary...Romance...and a
little bit 'o Texas
Celia, Starr sounds like a great character. I also have introduced secondary characters I just could not let go. While writing Darlin' Irish, I knew I would have to write a book about Jessie Devlin's brother Tye. Then along came Lil Crawford, a Texas cowgirl who almost came between Jessie and her love, David Taylor. And I decided Lil needed to be the heroine in Tye Devlin's story. She was a bit tricky to work with, but well worth it in the end.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, isn't it? They stick in our minds like they were real people! Starr is the only one I have used that wasn't a family member. So your Lil Crawford would be in the same as Starr.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I enjoyed your comment.
I agree Celia, there are just some characters who won't let us go. I love all my characters, but some do drive me crazy or they are crazy and do have to be disposed of. LOL.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding us of our secondary characters, for I've told a few of them myself. Doris
Celia, Starr is the kind of character you just can't let go of! She made me so mad in All My Hopes and Dreams, yet, I understood her and why she couldn't accept defeat where Ricardo was concerned. BTW, All My Hopes and Dreams is going to be included in our big sale coming up this weekend as a .99 book! YEE HAW!
ReplyDeleteStarr had a lot of personality, so its only fitting she got her own book. I love the excerpt!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I like that excerpt, too! The hero is Conrad, and oddly enough, when I wrote that story, I named Conrad right off. When the story was published, an author friend from Illinois was traveling through Texas, and she and her new husband looked me up and met me at the favorite local coffee hang-out. She introduced her new husband. She said, Celia, meet Conrad." I grinned and said, "I feel like we've met before."
DeleteCelia, I have read both books and loved All MY Hopes and Dreams and Starr Bright. Starr was a dominant character I couldn't help but admire and I'm glad she found someone who was her equal in the end.
ReplyDeleteLinda--you said the magic words to make me happy. And trust me..today, I needed them. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I will admit that Starr irritated the heck out of me, but I see she also has some characteristics are worth exploring. Nothing like a redeemable "sorta villain".
ReplyDeleteSecondary characters have a way of taking over a story sometimes. I've had a few go that way. I wonder sometimes what the psychological element in the writer is with these secondary characters. Secondary characters are often emotionally deeper than some of the main characters from the previous story. They just holler, "Hey! I'm here and I can do even better than them." Well, maybe that's just me loving them.
I thoroughly enjoyed both these stories You did a fantastic job with these two books. And I always look forward to your next story. I'm like, hey when is that Celia going to get a new book out 'cause I need a story fix.