Today is the release day for Whispering Hearts! I love this book so much. I find it to be a sizzling hot read that gives me chills at the same time!
It was hard for me to get behind Rachel’s shields and understand who she was when I was first writing the book. I was fooled along with everyone else by her socialite’s veneer. The first peek I had into her true personality was while she and Garrett were on sabbatical (meaning, I was working on another project and had to pause in writing their book).
I like to talk to my characters in my head. It’s one of my writing exercises that I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog. I imagined myself in the scene I was working on at the time, and explained the situation to Rachel and Garrett. I asked them to get comfortable in Garrett’s living room (where they were in the action of the book).
I came back to check on them a few weeks later, and Garrett was slouching on his couch with his hands folded on his chest, his head resting on the back of the cushions and his eyes closed. Rachel was sitting in the recliner with her legs pulled up under her, reading one of the fashion magazines that I noticed Garrett kept on his coffee table (which was an important insight into his character—he never really gave up hope that she would be a part of his life, to the point that he subscribed to magazines she’d like to read).
She looked up, startled, and her magazine slipped—revealing the superhero comic she was secretly reading instead!
Now, I’m a comic book fan and superhero comics are my favorite. But she wasn’t even reading one that I followed! It was like when I discovered that Dante (the hero of Wandering Soul, the first Summer Park Psychics book) loved reading Steampunk—a genre he introduced me to. I wasn’t really interested in exploring it before he became such a fan. He’s an engineer/artist from the Victorian era—of course he loves Steampunk! But I digress…
I imagined myself sitting down on Garrett’s couch and asking Rachel questions. Why that superhero? Why hide what she was actually reading? Garrett of course became interested (poor guy—he was really bored during that break), and we had a very interesting conversation.
I knew there was more to Rachel than met the eye, but this mental exercise gave me a glimpse at a side of her that I was only just discovering. We started having a lot more fun together when I started writing their book again after that, and of the three heroines in The Summer Park Psyhics books (Elsa, Rachel, and Jazz), I honestly think Rachel and I would be the closest friends if I met them all in real life.
I’m really happy that her story is out in the world now and that people are enjoying it! There are already some great reviews out there that have been so nice to read. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it too and hope you enjoy it as well!
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