Guest Blog with Gweena Sebastian & Giveaway

For the Love of Books has let Gweena Sebastian take over the blog today.  Gweena is a writer of military romances about gay lovers.  
The floor is all yours Gweena, 


It’s a character flaw

I get into some pretty spirited conversations with writing friends of mine when it comes to the topic of character. Let’s just say I’m a bit passionate about it. I love a lively debate, especially when we don’t agree on character and what he or she would do. I find it fascinating to see another person’s reason for arriving at why a character would or wouldn’t do something and why I may see it entirely differently.

When it comes to my writing, I’m even more passionate. I’m a character writer, my stories come from that angle and it’s the only way I know how to write. I need my characters layered and rich, with back stories, emotions and flaws. Especially flaws. My characters have all kinds of faults and flaws.

But let’s face it, who in this world is perfect? And perfection to me means tedium. It’s highly overrated in my opinion.

To date, probably my most flawed character is from my first novel, Lost and Found. Mark Connor is a former Vietnam veteran who comes with a boatload of issues. He’s an alcoholic and smoker who makes no effort to hide his bitterness or anger with the world in general. He’s also gay. He’s controversial as I found out through various reviews. People either really liked Mark and rooted for him in the hopes that he would eventually accept happiness when it’s offered to him, or they absolutely hated him. Either way, I consider it a win. Why? Because he was being talked about. They’re talking about a character I created and I couldn’t be more flattered.

Some characters seem to be a bit flat at first blush. But if you take the time to get to know them and see what motivates them, you find yourself looking past the surface noise and seeing what’s really going on underneath. Sometimes it takes another person’s angle on that character to wake you up to the possibilities.

I don’t want easy characters. What I do want are characters who invoke a host of emotions and make you think. Even if you don’t necessarily like someone like Mark Connor, I want you to appreciate and understand where he comes from and why. There’s nothing neat and clean about him. He’s a lot of raw and sharp edges and I made him that way deliberately. But under all of that he is a man who is still grieving over losing the love of his life, even forty years later.

I feel the best stories are those that are character driven. In my case, I tend to come up with the character and let him tell me his story. What happens, how it happens, why it happens and how he reacts to it is all based in what makes up that character.

How many of you get attached to a character on a television show? Come on, you know what I mean. You feel like you know him or her, inside and out, what they will say or do next. Then something happens that has you dumbfounded, confused and mouth hanging open because the character you thought you knew did something completely out-of-character. You know what I’m talking about. It’s what you’re ranting about the next day with your friends, saying how the hell did that happen? It’s just not right, what were they thinking?

You’ve ‘invested’ in that character and then someone changes it up and they didn’t consult you about it first. Uh huh. I’ve been there too. But it’s got you talking and more than likely you aren’t the only one. And there it is, the character debate I mentioned at the beginning.

The best characters are the ones that make people talk, because that means they make you think. That’s a good thing in my opinion. If I can motivate you to talking about a character like Mark, then I’ve done my job.

Blurb for VN2- my new novel available July 29th, 2011

Ian Davidson is a Truebred, son of a general and a soldier uncomfortably destined for an officer’s role in the military. Worse, he’s got a gift; he can read other’s thoughts and feel their emotions. His father has used him and it to get ahead in his own career despite the fact that Ian can’t quiet the voices in his own head. But when the Bond chooses Nathan as his mate, the pain ebbs and the voices cease. If only he could be sure bonding with Nate doesn’t mean he’s going to be controlled by a partner as much as he’s been controlled by his father, and his destiny…

Several months ago, Sergeant Nathan Williams lost his Bond partner in battle and along with it, his will to live. But a trip to the local recreation hub for black market supplies buys him more than he bargains for – a Bond with a new partner, Lieutenant Ian Davidson. There is something about Ian that forces Nathan to believe that the Bond between them could be stronger than his previous one. If only he can convince Ian to give in and give the Bond a chance.

When Nathan is captured on VN2, the worst post in existence, Ian is forced into new territory that he is not familiar with – the leadership of a reluctant special forces unit and his newly discovered feelings for Nathan. The struggle to accept the Bond spills into the battlefield, and Nathan is pushed to the brink with memories of his old Bond. It becomes sexual tension hell when event after event threatens to tear the couple a part when both wants nothing more than to tear each others clothes off.