Today's guest blogger, and former opera singer is author of VEXING THE VISCOUNT, EMILY BRYAN, who talks about scene stealers. Great photo, Em!
Thanks for having me here, Bonnie! Today, I’d like to talk about secondary characters, or as some of them turn out to be—SCENE STEALERS!
Back when I was singing professional opera, occasionally one of the supernumeraries (spear carriers, we used to call them) would do something to upstage the main characters. (Dare I confess to doing it myself sometimes when I was spear carrier?) It’s not always planned, but it happens.
It happens in fiction too. An unsuspecting writer creates a secondary character to fill a need in the hero or heroine’s life and all of a sudden, the bit part refuses to stand quietly holding the spear. It happened to me when I created my heroine’s mother for PLEASURING THE PIRATE. She’s also Daisy Drake’s great-aunt in VEXING THE VISCOUNT.
Meet Isabella Wren, better known as ‘La Belle Wren’ in demimonde circles. That’s right. She’s a courtesan and she’s good at it. She moves in the most exalted circles. As the 18th century counts celebrity, she’s a rock star. She’s bone-deep beautiful, wickedly sensual and calculatingly clever. She’s used to being the center of attention.
Why did I ever think she’d fade into the background until she was needed?
First in PLEASURING THE PIRATE, she began poking her way into the story through her daughter’s memory. Isabella sent Jacquelyn to the finest schools, but couldn’t leave her education totally to the headmistress and her minions. She sent her distant daughter detailed letters schooling her in the art of love.
“Ignorance is not always conducive to bliss,” Isabella says.
When I turned in the initial manuscript for PLEASURING THE PIRATE, my editor said, “I love Isabella! She’s outrageous, but she sucks all the air out of the room. You have to tone her down.” She was right. When ‘La Belle Wren’ made her entrance, the rest of the cast faded a bit. Isabella knows how to ‘take stage.’
But instead of toning her down, I opted for ratcheting my heroine up to meet her. I gave Jacquelyn an extra dollop of her mother’s spine, courage and wit. When the two of them join forces, my formidable pirate hero doesn’t stand a chance.
Isabella was too much fun to let go, so she makes an encore appearance in VEXING THE VISCOUNT, due out February 24th. In this story, Isabella has married an earl and is now Lady Wexford, but she’s still the same witty courtesan at heart. And when her niece Daisy, follows her advice, disaster and mayhem can’t be far behind.
If you’d like to read an excerpt of both stories, please visit http://www.emilybryan.com/ . Remember, I will be giving away a copy of VEXING THE VISCOUNT to one person who comments here, so be sure to leave a note!
Back when I was singing professional opera, occasionally one of the supernumeraries (spear carriers, we used to call them) would do something to upstage the main characters. (Dare I confess to doing it myself sometimes when I was spear carrier?) It’s not always planned, but it happens.
It happens in fiction too. An unsuspecting writer creates a secondary character to fill a need in the hero or heroine’s life and all of a sudden, the bit part refuses to stand quietly holding the spear. It happened to me when I created my heroine’s mother for PLEASURING THE PIRATE. She’s also Daisy Drake’s great-aunt in VEXING THE VISCOUNT.
Meet Isabella Wren, better known as ‘La Belle Wren’ in demimonde circles. That’s right. She’s a courtesan and she’s good at it. She moves in the most exalted circles. As the 18th century counts celebrity, she’s a rock star. She’s bone-deep beautiful, wickedly sensual and calculatingly clever. She’s used to being the center of attention.
Why did I ever think she’d fade into the background until she was needed?
First in PLEASURING THE PIRATE, she began poking her way into the story through her daughter’s memory. Isabella sent Jacquelyn to the finest schools, but couldn’t leave her education totally to the headmistress and her minions. She sent her distant daughter detailed letters schooling her in the art of love.
“Ignorance is not always conducive to bliss,” Isabella says.
When I turned in the initial manuscript for PLEASURING THE PIRATE, my editor said, “I love Isabella! She’s outrageous, but she sucks all the air out of the room. You have to tone her down.” She was right. When ‘La Belle Wren’ made her entrance, the rest of the cast faded a bit. Isabella knows how to ‘take stage.’
But instead of toning her down, I opted for ratcheting my heroine up to meet her. I gave Jacquelyn an extra dollop of her mother’s spine, courage and wit. When the two of them join forces, my formidable pirate hero doesn’t stand a chance.
Isabella was too much fun to let go, so she makes an encore appearance in VEXING THE VISCOUNT, due out February 24th. In this story, Isabella has married an earl and is now Lady Wexford, but she’s still the same witty courtesan at heart. And when her niece Daisy, follows her advice, disaster and mayhem can’t be far behind.
If you’d like to read an excerpt of both stories, please visit http://www.emilybryan.com/ . Remember, I will be giving away a copy of VEXING THE VISCOUNT to one person who comments here, so be sure to leave a note!
And check back tomorrow to see whose name my DH has drawn as the winner. Good luck!
