A visit from Lorena Bathey, plus a book giveaway!

**Giveaway is now closed**

Lorena Bathey found after writing her first book that characters were visiting her mind and wouldn't leave. She was introduced to Marissa, Andrea, Lily, Deidre and Beatrice and her first novel, "Beatrice Munson," came to life. After finishing that book, she was inspired to write more novels and she knew that pursuing her passion was the best way to live her life. So a writer she became.

After meeting the love of her life, they embarked on the thrilling life to follow their dreams bringing their families along for the ride. Today Lorena has nine novels in her writing queue all with screenplays in the works.

She's here to talk to us today about creating a strong female protagonist with whom women can relate. For some lucky readers, she is also giving away one copy of "Beatrice Munson" in hardcover (US/Canada only) and one as an e-book (anywhere).

Find her at Lorena@LorenaBBooks.com or at her website. You can also get to know her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Making a Protagonist People Love

What makes a protagonist someone that you want to read about? What characteristics are needed to have readers decide to care what happens to her? I believe that a great protagonist has layers, but at the core of how she is written is believability.

Opening up a book and reading the first page can bring such excitement. That first page sets the stage for how much time you will have to allocate to read this book. Will you be staying up late cursing time moving so fast when you just want to read or will you struggle to get through each line? With the first sentence the author pulls you into their world and you either go willingly or kicking and screaming.

When developing a character I first see her in my mind. Her physical makeup often gives me insight into who she is as a character. I see her and then I hear her. The voice of the protagonist is imperative to how the story flows and whether you care enough to continue reading. Her speech pattern, inflections, and vocabulary will allow you to create a background to who you think she is. And this will allow you to connect with her.

The strength of a protagonist is that they make you feel like they could be your friend. You understand them and want to know more. Think about the books you have loved throughout your life, aren't the ones that hold a special place filled with female protagonists that you wish you could have lunch or coffee with?

Once you connect with the protagonist then you must see her falter, hurt, struggle, and fight to be better than she was at the beginning of the story. You need to see horrible things occur so that you can root for her. She needs to undergo physical, spiritual, emotional or even psychic pain so that you can see her fall and overcome difficulty.

Why is this? Why do we need to watch someone we have grown to care about go through hardships and pain? Because we love to see the underdog win, the meek become strong, and the girl gets her guy. We love this because when we read we associate ourselves with the characters. We believe that if our protagonist can have that fairy tale man, win the lotto, chase away the vampires, then we can to.

It is the connection to the protagonist that makes the story worth reading. As we read, we picture the scene and probably even see ourselves in the protagonist herself. Seeing her overcome, win and get what she is seeking means we can do the same. While we know somewhere in us that the story is make believe, the ideal of someone good winning feels good to us and somehow inspires us.

Let's face it a great protagonist can draw us into any world and allow us unfettered access to any imaginary scenario. And that is the kind of good book and great characters we all seek.

I hope you will introduce yourself to my protagonists; Marissa, Beatrice, Andrea, Deidre, and Lily in my new novel, "Beatrice Munson." You can order it at Lorena B Books, and it is available in either paperback or e-Book. You can also order it at Smashwords with the coupon code WD65M, with which you will receive 20% off. (Coupon expires July 27th.)

Special thanks to Lorena for sharing her wisdom with us, as well as sharing her book for the giveaway!

"How to Win Beatrice Munson":
Please comment below with your e-mail address.
(Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.) Also, please indicate where you are located in your comment. If live in the US or Canada and do NOT do this, you will only be considered for the e-book.

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. "Beatrice Munson" is about a woman whose high school nemesis moves back to town. Please tell us: Have you become friends with your high school nemesis? Or do you still hold a grudge?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.)Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

Hardcover is US/Canada only; E-book is international.
Giveaway ends July 3rd at midnight EST.

More by Lorena Bathey:


Coming soon: "House on Plunkett Street"