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Friday, June 22, 2012

Opal Carew on Developing Characters


I believe we all have challenges in our lives to overcome.  We want to grow and thrive, but situations from our past—traumas that have left us fearful of certain situations—can hold us back.  Just like the characters in books, if we want to achieve our goals, we need to push past these fears.

Whenever I find myself striving to achieve something and making no headway, I look at what I’m doing and how I might be self-sabotaging.  I sit down and think about what might be holding me back.  It could be from a basic fear of success (or failure), from a belief I don’t deserve the goal, a fear that I’m too weak, that I don’t work hard enough, that I’m not smart enough, etc.

Once I determine what it might be, I go to a list of possible methods to help counteract the fear.  Meditation, left-hand writing (a technique to activate the right brain to draw out the subconscious beliefs), talking to someone who knows me well and knows about energy healing, affirmations, and many others.  I have taken many workshops and worked with a holistic healer for many years to help release blocks to my success and happiness.

I think this is why I love writing so much.  I take my characters through the growth they need to make in order to find love.  They make that growth by having to face something about themselves or the person they’re falling in love with, in order to make the relationship work.  Since I write erotic romance, a major part of that path is healing attitudes about sexuality.  Even in my Amber Carew books, which aren’t explicitly erotic, often the growth occurs through the vulnerability of intimate moments together.

This is certainly true in my story MAN OF HER DREAMS (formerly VIRTUAL LOVE), where she must grow past her fear of letting go of control by giving herself totally to a man she has grown to love, but still does not know his name or what he looks like.

MAN OF HER DREAMS will be on Amazon for free starting on Sunday (3 days only), then will appear for sale on Barnes & Noble and other on-line stores towards the end of the month.  If you have a Nook and would like a free copy, simply email me at OpalCarew @ BestRomanceAuthors.com and I will email you an Epub copy.

Best,
Opal
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2 comments:

Pat Cochran said...

Thanks for the information on character
development. I may never write a book,
but it's good to know how your charac-
ters come to be!

Pat C.

Laurie G said...

Sunday morning, Amazon says your book is only free for prime members?