Spotlight and Giveaway: Marin Thomas talks Character Bibles

Character Bibles

The authors of Harts of the Rodeo—Born to Ride series were all given an editorial bible…a few handouts describing the backdrop of the series and a brief outline for each authors' book.  Some authors cringe at the thought of not creating their hero or heroine from scratch, but I find being handed an editorial "bible" challenging and fun.  Best of all, I'm always surprised by how much I learn through research as I plot my book.

This was the character summary I was given for the heroine in Beau: Cowboy Protector. 

"Owns a restaurant in town, across from Wright's Western Wear and Tack, where Beau sells his custom saddles and bridles.  Has a genetic disorder where she is going blind, and she's wondering how she's going to work in the future. Fuchs Endothelial Dystrophy, (a disease of the cornea). Her aunt Jordan has just come to live with her to help her out—but Jordan's genetic blindness is much more advanced."

I'd never written a character with such a forbidding future….I can't imagine knowing years in advance that one day you would wake up and see nothing.  My first job before beginning my book was to research the genetic eye disease that my character had inherited.  

According to Wikipedia  Fuchs Endothelial Dystrophy (FED) is a slowly progressing corneal disease that usually affects both eyes and is slightly more common in women than in men. Although doctors can often see early signs of Fuchs' dystrophy in people in their 30s and 40s, the disease rarely affects vision until people reach their 50s and 60s.

Thankfully, I was able to give my character a little bit of hope… Some patients with FED are good candidates for a corneal transplant where their diseased cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue.  And in much of the research I did, I learned that many people with FED don't go completely blind until they're in their 50's or older.

Since Sierra is 31, I decided that she'd had trouble with her vision for a long while before my book opened.  Because Sierra made appearances in the previous 4 books in the series I asked the other authors to give readers a glimpse of Sierra's vision troubles…for example, she had a small fender bender in book 1 because her peripheral eyesight was deteriorating and she hadn’t been able to see the car parked directly behind hers.  When my book opens in October the readers shouldn't be surprised by the predicament Sierra finds herself in at the end of the first chapter.

The challenge with writing a character with a debilitating disease was how to make her sympathetic yet strong enough not to lose faith in herself and her ability to confront handle her personal crisis. 

Sierra wouldn't be human if she didn't experience a wide range of emotions after receiving the devastating news…denial, anger, fear, determination.

 After the initial shock of her diagnosis wears off, Sierra decides to create her own bucket list and do the things she's always dreamed of doing before she loses her sight. So what's on Sierra's bucket list….?  You'll have to read the book to find out...

Giveaway: I will be giving away a copy of my Harts book Beau: Cowboy Protector and a little Texan door Hanger to one lucky Winner. 

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After writing Beau: Cowboy Protector, I gave serious thought to creating my own bucket list.  I've always dreamed of driving historical Route 66 in a pink 59' Cadillac.  If you could only do one thing on your bucket list…..what would it be?

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 About the Author

Marin Thomas Best-selling Harlequin author Marin Thomas grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin. She left the Midwest to attend college at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she played basketball for the Lady Wildcats and earned a B.A. in Radio-TV.  Following graduation she married her college sweetheart in a five-minute ceremony at the historical Little Chapel of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over the years she and her husband and two children have lived in seven different states but have now come full circle and returned to Arizona where the rugged desert and breathtaking sunsets provide plenty of inspiration for Marin's cowboy books.  Beau: Cowboy Protector is Marin’s 22nd book for the American Romance line. For more information on Marin’s books visit www.marinthomas.com and stop by her blog, All My Heroes are Cowboys, www.marinthomas.blogspot.com where Marin chats about the men who wear Stetsons and Wranglers