{"id":2963,"date":"2019-07-03T04:35:11","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T04:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=2963"},"modified":"2019-07-03T04:35:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T04:35:23","slug":"pieces-of-me-iwsg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=2963","title":{"rendered":"Pieces of Me #IWSG"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Welcome to the Insecure Writer’s Support group blog hop for July.\u00a0<\/p>\n

July 3 question: What personal traits have you written into your character(s)?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think every one of my major characters has a small piece of me written into their personality. But the one that has the most of me is Harmony Duprie, the main character in my female sleuth series. At least, that was true in the first book. She has grown and evolved in each book, and has developed her own unique personality. In fact, I’ve changed the series name to recognize the fact. What were once called the Oak Grove Mysteries are now the Harmony Duprie Mysteries.<\/p>\n

One easy to see similarity between Harmony and myself is our profession. She’s en ex-librarian turned internet researcher. I planned on being a librarian when I was growing up, and took some college classes in the field. I even worked as a part-time librarian in a small town for a year or so.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course, as a librarian, Harmony has a love of reading. I’ve given her tastes similar to mine. That erotic novel about the billionaire dinosaur-shifter president? She won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. But she’s more than willing to tackle the driest historical accounts to find the interesting tidbits of information.<\/p>\n

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Another aspect of my personality that Harmony shares is her need for having time alone. Although she enjoys her friends, there are times that she just wants to be by herself. Her little apartment serves as her sanctuary. I have my writing cave.<\/p>\n

But I keep discovering aspects of her that have no basis in my likes and dislikes. She likes to start her morning with a cup of coffee\u2014not unusual. (But I don’t like coffee at all and don’t drink it!) here’s a quick snipptet from the first book, The Marquesa’s Necklace, that features her habit:<\/p>\n

I must have set my alarm out of force of habit, because I woke up earlier than I needed to. I was sitting on the second-to-bottom step drinking my coffee, reading the paper, and patting Piper when Elijah arrived. He put his coffee down, pulled a doggie treat out of his pocket, and tossed it to Piper. Piper didn\u2019t bark or growl or anything. He just wagged his tail, gobbled up the goodie, and allowed Elijah to pat him.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s up with that?\u201d I asked, astonished. \u201cPiper doesn\u2019t let strangers touch him, not ever!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Elijah picked up his coffee and sat down beside me. \u201cPiper and I reached an agreement,\u201d he said, picking up the front section of the paper. I was done with it, and had moved on to the sports section. \u201cI bring him dog cookies, and he lets me help keep an eye on you. He figured it was a fair trade, from what I can tell.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I snorted into my coffee cup. \u201cSounds to me like you got the raw end of the deal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDepends on your point of view, I guess.\u201d He avoided my eyes and I didn\u2019t press the issue. I hadn\u2019t gotten enough sleep to worry about what he meant.<\/em><\/p>\n

We sat in companionable silence, sipping our coffees and enjoying the crisp morning air. It wouldn\u2019t be much longer that I could do this. Once winter arrived, I\u2019d be banished back to my apartment. At least until spring. Winters tend to be long here.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course I didn\u2019t tell him, but I enjoyed having Elijah share the moment with me. He would be gone all too soon. I\u2019d lost my ghost in the library.<\/em><\/p>\n

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If you want to find out more about Harmony, check out her stories HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n

Don’t forget to check out how other IWSG authors share their personal traits with their characters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The awesome co-hosts for the July 3 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe,<\/a>\u00a0Natalie Aguirre,<\/a>Jennifer Lane,<\/a>\u00a0MJ Fifield,<\/a>\u00a0Lisa Buie-Collard,<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!<\/a><\/div>\n
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