When I first write a character that is going to be more than a pass through I have a spreadsheet that I use to “build” them. It lists the basic information; Height, weight, hair, and eye color. But if I wanted to use the whole questionnaire, it is very detailed. When it was first sent to me by my first editor I looked at it and said to myself I don’t even know the answers to some of these question about me let along so fictional person I make up.
But what was built for Cassandra was interesting. The obvious things like she’s 5’8, 160 pounds, brown hair with red hi-lights and blue eyes. Her parents where Cynthia and Timothy, and other James she had only been with one other person, Mark. She loves comedies and Dove chocolate. She drinks copious amounts of Dr. Pepper (and never gains a pound, the bitch) but makes her own homemade wines from fruits she collects in fall. Her favorite book is the Earth Children Series also known as the Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean Auel.
Cassandra’s favorite song is Drift Away by Uncle Cracker and her favorite game to play is Moncala. It’s an ancient game played with a board with divots carved out and stones. Her favorite place is the park where she meets James.
Her favorite color is every shade of purple she’s come across. And she loves the sound of the saxophone. She drives a hybrid convertible, and lives with an Irish wolfhound named Odin and a black cat named Freyja. I say lives with because anyone who’s ever owned a cat or a large dog will tell you, you don’t own these animals, they own you heart and soul and mostly body. As in your body is their play toy AT ANY POINT they choose.
Some of the things in the profile were completely random, like her favorite song, but things like her car, were thought out. An earth-first type pagan is not going to own a Hummer or other large gas-hog.
One of the other things about Cassandra is the fact that she’s empathic. Now I will admit that I am also empathic, but it’s more of an intense sympathy thing. Wow can’t really even explain it. Anyways I wanted to make her much more attune to the feelings of others and to show that not all gifts really are gifts, whether you ask for them or not.
One of the other things that was thought out about Cassandra was her spirituality. When this story was first plunked out, I was much more structured in my religious beliefs. Over the years, I have mellowed but I left her the way I originally wrote because there are not a lot of girl next-door witches. There is a ton of witches but they are the Tabitha, Sabrina and Willow types. I love all those girls but they are not real you don’t pass a hundred of the in a lifetime let alone in a day. I wanted to have someone who was real who could be and might be your next-door neighbor.
Thank you for having me and I hope you enjoy Cassandra and James as much as I have. Watch for Xavier and Emiko soon in Saver’s Savior.
Feb 13 Interview and promo
JeanzBookReadNReview
February 14 Guest Post
Lisa’s World of Books
Feb 15 Guest blog
Roxanne’s Realm
Feb 17 Interview and review
Butterfly-o-Meter Books
Feb 18 Guest Blog
Reading Lark After Dark
Feb 19 Guest Blog and review
Lissette E. Manning
Feb 20 Promo
Fictions Fascination
Cassandra’s Heart
By Yasmina Kohl
James Austin never looked for love because he never thought he'd find it. James just wanted to find a better way of training a shy colt.
Neither was looking for the other, but someone decided to put them in each others way. Trying to clear his mind James watches as a sad and lost Cassandra wanders in the park. He knows he should be thinking of Sparks, the colt, but he can only think of the sparks he feels from the brunette.
Cassandra knows she needs to move on in her life before her gift of empathy takes too heavy a toll, but she doesn't want to acknowledge the feelings that are stirred by the handsome man in the park.
Can they find their way to each other?
About The Magical Ways Series
To a casual passerby, Magical Ways is a high-end clothing boutique. To its employees and customers, however, it is a family, a good one.
Okay, yes, dysfunctional, but there is fun in dysfunctional after all.
Five sisters by choice come together and help each other get through the bumps and bruises of life. Along the way they add a brother or two or well, six.
About the Author
Yasmina is from a small town in the middle of...naw you know better. Yasmina is originally from Vancouver, WA and then by way of the Navy and college ended up in Grays Harbor County with her husband and her two kids and now the two black cats. Yes, she has two of the furry beasts.
During the day, she keeps the people happy or tries to anyway. At night, she tries to keep her sanity by escaping aforementioned family to write down what the evil muses have shoved in her brain all day.
She waits for the graduation of her kids (one imminent and one not so imminent) so that the house will become quite.
She listens to an eclectic mix of music when she writes, anything from Shinedown to Nora Jones and a little of The Asteroids Galaxy Tour thrown in for the fun of it.
Her sarcastic sense of humor has and will continue to get her in trouble but hey who cares?
Yasmina has been writing between cries of MOM and YASMINA for ten years and plans to write for many more. Her first published stories were fanfiction for her favorite TV series but the first story she tried her hand at was Cassandra's Heart now available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Smashwords.com and soon in print.
http://www.yasminakohl.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/yasminakohl
0 comments:
Post a Comment