Hi, my name is Terry Newman, and you may know me as the author of paranormal romantic comedies—most recently Imprinted on the Heart, or Rewrites of the Heart, or even Hearts on the Rocks. Or not.
People often ask authors where our creativity comes from. It’s a question I have a difficult time answering, because honestly I just don’t know. It just seems to come out of nowhere.
“Wait a moment, here. You’re not quite telling the truth.”
“Blake, I’m busy here.”
Sorry, folks. This is Blake. Blake Teesdale. He’s one of the characters in my romantic comedies. He and his girlfriend, Alex Zurich, are creations of JJ Spritely, the romance author in my books. They’ve jumped out of the pages of the story JJ was writing for them, and into her real world to help her write her own love story.
“One of the characters who drives your creativity.” Blake shakes his head, his black wavy, hair dancing from side to side.
“Well. You’re certainly are part of my inspiration.”
“We are more than inspiration.” Blake gestures air quotes. “You may try to take credit for me, for us, but, well, we all know we’ve made you the successful writer you are today.”
Am I blushing? Because I feel as if I’m blushing.
“Blake, I don’t think this is the place—”
“Of course, this is the place. You’re talking about creative forces. Bloody hell, Terry, you give your so-called writing muse, Moose, his own column on your website. He does absolutely nothing.”
I can’t argue with the man. I do have a column called Fridays with Moose. And it usually ends up with Moose just walking out on me, leaving me to write on my own.
“You’re not writing on your own, though.” Blake crosses his arms over his chest. He harrumphs. “We. Are. Right. Here. Unlike your so-called muse, we don’t leave your side.”
True. But my characters, especially Blake, do try to take down their own paths. They like doing things their own ways, despite my repeated rewriting of scenes.
“Of course, we do! That’s our job. We’re here to challenge your imagination.”
“Oh, so refusing to accept the lines I give you in dialogue is ‘challenging my imagination’? I call it just being stubborn.” Now I’m crossing my arms over my chest.
“Okay, so maybe not every instance of my stubbornness”—he gestures air quotes— “resulted in a successful scene, but there were some that did.”
“All right, I’ll give you that. There have been some instances.”
I sigh. And folks, some of those scenes worked. “That garbage can scene in Imprinted on the Heart, that was your idea.”
Blake stands a bit taller. “I thought it would work, even though Kenn wasn’t crazy about it.”
Blake’s referring to Kennedy King Cooper, JJ Spritely’s boyfriend. In the latest book, Imprinted on the Heart, Kenn tries to propose to JJ, but the results are, well, less than successful. In the garbage can scene, Blake and Kenn are…wait, I can’t tell you what happens. That’ll spoil the scene. Just know that garbage cans were involved (perhaps in a snowstorm).
Blake and I share looks, and I believe we’re on agreement about the sources of creativity.
“Stop it right there, Blake Teesdale.” That voice—the voice of Alex—sounds upset.
“If we’re talking inspiration, then you have to include me.” The green eyes of Blake’s girlfriend are ablaze with determination.
“Love, I did say ‘we’, as in all of the characters.” Blake’s British accent is more pronounced.
“I know, but you’re taking credit for the garbage can scene. What about all those scenes with Merlin, when I refused to back down, regardless of how Terry wrote me.” She ran a hand through her hair. I think Blake whimpered.
“No one is denying your contribution to those scenes,” I say. I bite my lower lip. “You stood up to Merlin in his office. You defied the odds.”
“Terry,” Blake tugs at my arm, “they”—he points in the direction of the fourth wall— “don’t know what role Merlin plays in the story.”
“Oh, right. Thanks.”
I look at the fourth wall—I’m looking at you. “Merlin is in charge of sending fictional characters into the ‘real world’ in order to lend destiny a helping hand.”
Alex coughs. “For a man that’s supposed to help people fall in love, he sure is businesslike.” She glares at me as if it’s my fault the wizard is the way he is.
Oh, right. It is my fault.
“Alex, you know I appreciate all the suggestions you give me. You’re the only one who keeps your mind in the right place, and always reminds us that the happily ever after is the most important part of the romance novel.”
She smiles, and I continue. “Blake can’t do that, Moose can’t—or won’t—do that. And I certainly get lost in the details sometimes that I forget that. So thank you. Without your creative input, my books wouldn’t be nearly as good.”
Alex’s eyes glisten. Blake hands her tissue from seemingly out of nowhere. She blows her nose. “Aww. Thank you.”
Bottom line, folks, every author owes much of their creativity to their characters. I glance at Blake and Alex, their arms around each other’s shoulder.
“That’s better,” Blake says. “Thank you.”
The relationship of authors to their characters is complicated.
Scroll down to read more about Blake and Alex in their latest adventure…
Title Imprinted on the Heart
Author Terry Newman
Genre Paranormal Romantic Comedy
Publisher Next Chapter
Book Blurb
JJ Spritely, history professor and romance author, writes love stories, but her own happily ever after seems out of reach. She’s frustrated her most recent book is sitting in a warehouse instead of in the hands of her readers. And her relationship with her boyfriend has stalled. What else could possibly go wrong?
How about a return visit from Alex and Blake, the fictional characters from her yet-to-be-released book? They’ve jumped out of the pages of their book into JJ’s world before. They mean well, but they cause chaos wherever they go.
Kennedy King Cooper wants to propose to JJ, but his track record with this sort of thing isn’t good - and to further complicate matters, the new professor, Robert J. MacWhouton, is monopolizing JJ’s time. If he doesn’t ask her soon, he may lose her forever.
Alex and Blake are determined to give destiny a helping hand. They stand ready to do whatever it takes to help Kenn propose before a kilt-wearing romance hero wannabe sweeps her off her feet. If only they had a plan.
This time, it seems, no one is guaranteed a happily ever after.
Excerpt
“It appears an opportunity has been lost. Headquarters isn’t very happy about it.” Merlin took off his cap and set it on the desk. It had been several days since the three of them had met to discuss the assignment. But Alex knew this was all about their ruining the proposal the other night.
Alex shifted her weight in the chair. Blake glanced her way.
“I’m sorry,” Blake said. Alex wondered how headquarters retrieved their information. They appeared to have a good network.
“JJ and Kenn were alone last night,”—Merlin picked up a sheet of paper and appeared to be reading it—“and he didn’t ask her. Very disturbing.”
“Last night?” Blake leaned forward. “Are you sure? We weren’t with them last night.” Alex reached for his hand.
“Does your report say what happened?” If she and Blake didn’t interrupt them, she wanted to know who. “Did MacWhouton crash their date.”
Merlin shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. But, according to headquarters there was a ninety-nine percent chance of JJ saying yes. This puts us far behind now.”
“What?” Alex popped out of her seat. “Only ninety-nine percent chance? My god, JJ has to say yes. She loves the man.”
Merlin sat back in his chair. He studied his aviator cap that lay to his left. “You think, if given the right circumstances, JJ would be willing to marry Kenn? You’re that sure of JJ’s love?”
“Of course, I am. She’d marry him in a hot minute. She’s madly in love with him. Everyone can see it.”
“The problem, according to headquarters,”—the wizard leaned forward—“is MacWhouton. Headquarters says—”
“Enough with Headquarters already. I have no idea who the hell they are or what their purpose is. And how dare they give percentages on Kenn and JJ’s relationship.”
Alex paced the room. “You can’t rank odds on who’s going to love who.”
“It’s whom, love. Who’s going to love whom. It’s the—”
“Blake Teesdale, forget the grammar for a moment. This is serious. What if JJ and Kenn’s relationship falls about?” She sat next to him and held his hand. “What are the implications for us? She created us. Where will that leave us?”
Blake gazed into her eyes. “With an author whose love life changed. That’s all. Our story’s written. We’re not going to disappear.”
She took a deep breath. “You’re right. Of course…Still we put them together. They belong together. We’ve got to keep them together.”
Merlin cleared his throat. “As much as I’d like to agree with you about calculating odds…” The wizard retrieved an oversized sheet of paper from his desk. “It shows on this chart that the chances of Kenn proposing is quickly shrinking”—he picked up another sheet and studied it—“while the chances of JJ entering into a relationship with MacWhouton are increasing at an alarming rate.”
“What? You’re really calculating odds? Do you think this is a horse race or something?” She jumped out of her seat—again.
“Now, love—”
She shook off Blake’s hand. “Don’t love me. JJ and Kenn are meant for each other and despite the odds, they will get engaged. I guarantee it.” She let out a large sigh. “Even if I have to lock them both in the same room.”
“If only Headquarters felt that way. They play the long game, though. And they estimate what will happen next based on what has gone before, the individuals’ actions, as well as their thoughts.”
“Their thoughts? That’s a bit intrusive, don’t you think?” She gave Blake a look, hoping he’d do something about it. What he could do she didn’t know. But he was her hero, he’d think of something.
Blake stuttered. “How do you collect these thoughts? And once you have them, where do you record them?” He leaned forward. “Come to think of it, what kind of algorithm does headquarters use to calculate all of this? It sounds fascinating.”
“As fascinating as all this is, I’m telling you we’ll personally make sure Kenn and JJ get engaged. Won’t we, Blake?” She made sure she pronounced his name with care.
“Love, statistics don’t lie. What can we—”
“You know what you can do with those statistics, Merlin.” She marched toward the door. “Blake, let’s go and defy the odds.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
UNIVERSAL BOOK LINK: https://books2read.com/u/mlPOYv
BARNES & NOBLE: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/imprinted-on-the-heart-terry-newman/1147004665?ean=2940181021341
RAKUTEN KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/ebook/imprinted-on-the-heart
Author Biography
Terry Newman, award-winning author, writes romantic comedy with a splash of fantasy.
As long as she could remember, she has played with words. In junior high school, she documented the life of a married couple: two No. 2 pencils, Penelope and Peregrine. In high school, she wrote about UFOs and penned an occasional political satire.
She’s also written more normal things. She was the editor-in-chief and ghostwriter for a national health publication, a small-town reporter, and most recently, a freelance writer.
All of her novels are set in fictional towns in northeast Ohio, where she grew up. She has a daughter, a son-in-law, and a grandpuppy. She lives in North Lima, a real town in northeast Ohio with all of her characters. She reports it does get crowded at times.
Social Media Links
Website: https://terrynewmanauthor.com/