Paige Hawthorne: Blog

Of course the most frequent 'ask' I receive goes something like this, "Dear god, please for the love of all that's holy, stop writing." Other readers are not so charitable.

But there's an interesting subgroup who take opposite positions on the relationship between Winter and Walker, between a fictional mother and her fictional son. Some readers are uncomfortable and skip-read the naughty bits. A sub-subset want me to take the playful sex to higher levels.

For those of you who are uneasy with the bedroom stuff … sorry. My fan base has mushroomed to almost four readers and Fan Numero Uno is my real-life son. Now what it says about my readership - - a 12-year old is the most enthusiastic - - is a matter for professional demographers to ponder.

Paige

One savvy 'Winter' reader pointed me toward a rumination by Lee Child. The gist was that people don't remember plots so much as the character. And that's certainly the case with me.

Reacher, Stephanie Plum, Spenser, Isabel Dalhousie … each one is unique and memorable. To me, anyway.

So, that's my challenge with Winter Jennings. I need to … do something with development, with pizzazz, with um, character.

Paige

Would someone please explain - - again - - how I can activate the Comments option at the end of each chapter? Thank you.

No, I don't think I'm suffering from early dementia. It's more that I'm pretty busy with what some people call real life. I can usually remember things pretty well.

No, I don't think I'm suffering from early dementia. It's more that I'm pretty busy with what some people call real life. I can usually remember things pretty well.

Paige

"Winter's Dilemma" is both made-up and based on a large slice of reality. The story mentions some major Silicon Valley companies and their research procedures. These notations are derived from responsible journalistic sources. No, not just the Internets.

For example, the secure cell phones mentioned here - - Solarin, Blackphone, and the Boing Black - - really do exist.

And the real-life Silicon Valley luminaries who are pouring, collectively, many billions of dollars into life-enhancing searches … well, they really are trying to defeat, or at least slow down, the aging process.

So, I've tried to take some tech actuality and twist both it and the fictional characters involved into something else. But it's a something else that could, maybe, be really happening.

The scientific mistakes, or improbabilities, are my own doing. As with Winter, science ain't my jam.

Paige

I cheerfully admit to paying homage to some of my favorite authors by poaching plot lines, characters, settings, situations.

But I am not one of those bubbleheads who is only as smart as the last person she talked with.

Yet. Yet, I sometimes find that my thinking, my actual thought process, is influenced by whichever book I am currently reading. And this borrowed ambiance - - British accent, anyone? - - sometimes spills over into my writing.

Example?

I'm revisiting "Friends, Lovers, Chocolate" by Alexander McCall Smith. So here I am, incorporating the philosophical musings of Isabel Dalhousie into the thought patterns of Winter Jennings. And trying to find ways to slide words like 'eleemosynary' into the dialogue.

Now I don't think this is fatal, flaw-wise. Although when the Winter series is turned into a movie, it could make Central Casting's task more difficult. I need to make Winter more … Winter. Fuck.

Paige