Embedded Files
Serena Brooks
So I’m often asked if I sometimes write characters based on people in my life. The legal answer is no. I would never do that. All characters are fictional with no ties to the real world. You’re welcome, Margarita. (She’s my lawyer, and the lawyer in Order of Protection and Evidence of Desire who looks so much like her is obviously not her.) Now that Margarita’s not listening, hell yeah. But before I get into how I’ve fictionalized the people in my life, let’s do me.
I like to think there’s a piece of me in every character I write. With the exception of all the various versions of Jeremy Harris, but that’s another story altogether. Let’s talk about what I have in common with one Serena Brooks.
A lot of Serena’s problems with writing groups come straight from my life. When I started my publishing career, I got involved with two local RWA groups. One was great until it wasn’t, and the other was always somewhat problematic. They didn’t believe erotic romance was really romance. In both groups I—and the others who were writing menage and BDSM—dealt with being marginalized. Jokes were made about how easy it must be to write nothing but sex. How I didn’t have to worry about characterization or emotions. At one point several of us were called liars for talking about the money we were making. So I guess I put a lot of that hurt and rage into Serena’s character.
I did used to dance around when I was stuck. I would put headphones in and kind of bounce around the house until an idea came to me. My assistant, Chloe, and I really have staged scenes to make sure they were possible. We also have used ballerina barbies for some of these. Her besties greatly resembled mine.
I suppose all of this adds up to why Serena is the only woman in all of Masters and Mercenaries who Ian flirts with besides his wife. I didn’t even think about it at the time. Ian’s charming with Avery in London. He can be gentle with Eve. He was pretty much an ass to Grace in the beginning. But while he has some submissives in the background, Serena is the only one we see him genuinely flirt with. And Jake does not take it well. Looking back, it’s because Ian was always my husband, and I guess I wanted this version of me to get a little attention.
If you’re a writer, let me know if you put some of your own characteristics into your characters? If you’re a reader, what characters do you feel close to?
The picture is of me during my Serena era—i.e., I was writing the book during this time and I naturally added in Kris Cook, aka Lee Swift, who looks an awful lot like Serena’s bestie, Chris. This was taken in early 2011, I think. Lee and I still talk almost every day, and we still work together though we write screenplays now.
Book mentioned:
Google Sites
Report abuse