Carol Moncado

HeThis week, COTT is featuring a Clash of Leading Ladies. But just how are interesting characters born? Here’s one author’s experience. Welcome Carol Moncado.

Do you ever wonder how authors come up with their characters? I’ve heard of authors who fashion their main characters after a barista at their favorite coffee shop or some guy on the bus who looked interesting. The further I get into my writing journey, the more I find my characters often come from real life. For instance:

The weekend before Easter, I was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy – where half your face just stops working. Fun.

Not really, but it’s great story fodder. That’s me. The story is one I started recently.

She was wearing an eye patch.

At church.

On Easter.

A pink eye patch.

It might have been what drew my attention to her, but it wasn’t what kept it. She stood there, singing along with the praise and worship band, her hands raised. Worshiping her Maker with abandon. But only half of her face worked. The whole thing lit up but only half of it moved. The half with the eye patch seemed to be paralyzed, but it didn’t bother her.

Now, to be fair, the heroine is younger, skinnier, with darker, straighter hair than me, but that’s where the idea for her came from.

In February, Travis [one of the shift managers at my favorite Panera] informed me I needed to name a character after him. Travis-with-the-faux-hawk became the hero in a manuscript.

I flopped into the recliner and ran my hands over my face until my fingers furrowed rows in my faux-hawk. The one that made the kids think I was way cooler than I really was.

But Travis won’t see his name in print. A week ago, he was in a car accident. At age 22, he left this life – leaving behind the love of his life and two children.

I’m deeply saddened by news of Travis’ passing. To me he was more than ‘just’ a shift manager at the Panera I frequent. He was a nice guy I loved to chat with. Another manuscript I planned to work on is about a widow. That’s all I knew until last week. Now, she’s a widow with young children a few years after a senseless tragedy.

Twenty-two is too young to be a widow.

Bethany Sheer knew this with absolute certainty.

And even though twenty-two had passed her three years earlier – along with her husband, the love of her life and the father of her two children – she remembered all too clearly what the pain tearing through the heart of the young woman on the news felt like.

Someday, I hope to be able to share Travis-with-the-faux-hawk with his family. To let them know that he touched my life. That he inspired a character in a novel – and so did they.

Because the best inspiration is what we find all around us.

When she’s not writing about her imaginary friends,Carol Moncado is hanging out with her husband and four kids in the big yard of her southwest Missouri home, teaching American Government at a community college, reading, or watching NCIS. You can follow her ramblings on her blog .

**Be sure to head over to Clash of the Titles and cast your vote today!**

A young architect at a prestigious Chicago firm, Bethany Quinn has built a life far removed from her trailer park teen years. Until an interruption from her estranged mother reveals that tragedy has struck in her hometown and a reluctant Bethany is called back to rural Iowa. Determined to pay her respects while avoiding any emotional entanglements, she vows not to stay long. But the unexpected inheritance of farmland and a startling turn of events in Chicago forces Bethany to come up with a new plan.

Handsome farmhand Evan Price has taken care of the Quinn farm for years. So when Bethany is left the land, he must fight her decisions to realize his dreams. But even as he disagrees with Bethany’s vision, Evan feels drawn to her and the pain she keeps so carefully locked away. 

For Bethany, making peace with her past and the God of her childhood doesn’t seem like the path to freedom. Is letting go the only way to new life, love and a peace she’s not even sure exists?

Bethany Quinn [which is also the name of the daughter of one of my dear friends from high school – I found it slightly distracting though it’s unlikely many others would] returns home after twin tragedies force her hand. One hit after another comes in the form of job problems, relationship issues, death and disease, and any number of other things. Feeling beaten down, she wants to run, but is forced to stay and deal with it all.

Including Evan.

Her grandfather’s right hand man on his farm and the brother-in-law of Bethany’s best friend. Will Bethany be able to put the past behind her? Will Evan be able to break down her walls? Particularly those related to Christianity?

This is Ganshert’s debut novel. It’s well written and well plotted. I’d heard wonderful things about it, which is why I requested it to review. As much as I wanted to love it as much as the others I’d heard talking about it, I just didn’t.

Ganshert did a good job with her settings. I felt like I was in rural Iowa, small town USA. I could see the farm and the town, including the cafe. I loved the cafe. She also did a great job of making me feel like I was in Chicago for the brief time Bethany was there. Not that I’ve ever been [I live in slightly bigger than small town USA so that helps], but I could still see it in my mind’s eye.

For some reason – nothing I could put my finger on, mind you – I had a hard time connecting with the main characters, particularly the heroine. I liked Evan better, but still didn’t connect with him very well.

There were a couple of things left either unresolved or unexplained that sort of bugged me – like exactly what happened with the pastor – Ganshert hinted at it and I could make some assumptions, but if she came right out and said, I missed it.

I liked the book, but, as much as I wanted to, I didn’t love it. I will be picking up Ganshert’s next release. It’s the story of the heroine’s best friend and the character I most connected with.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Thanks to Waterbook/Multnomah and Blogging for Books for a free review copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

Last Saturday was the birthday of my now seven-year-old! Such a beautiful little girl! Her Easter pic:

It was also our monthly MozArks ACFW meeting with special guest Kathleen Y’Barbo Turner.

Look at that smile on Tracey’s face! I love that gal!

And there’s the spot where the doc lasered the scar on my nose :p. Probably scared poor Rachel and Laura [first time visitors]!

Here’s me and Kathleen:

Then someone took pity on me and fixed my nose [her name is also Kathleen – I don’t know her – I think she’s friends with one of the other gals I tagged in the pics on Facebook]. This is what I’d look like when my face still only partly works, but my nose looks more normal ;).

So many of my friends said such lovely things about how they hardly noticed because they were just happy to see me and not my nose ;).

So… goals…

I haven’t been very good about posting how I’m doing on my goals for the year, but today I went through and made a plan for my writing goals between now and ACFW Conference in September.

They’re ambitious to say the least.

There will likely be lots of grace involved [if I get all of this done, I’ll be amazed, but it’s doable if I really treat this writing thing as a job – in fact, on the writing days, it’s less than 1K most days the kids are home, none most weekends, and 3-5K the days the kids are all at school].

Anyway, here they are:

1. Finish three WIPS [the new Bell’s Palsy one, Rolemodel Romeo and Baby Burbs – the 2nd/3rd books in the Craigslist series]
2. Start and/or finish polishing 3-4 manuscripts [the one still in Genesis, the Speedbo 9/11 one, the Bell’s Palsy one, and maybe the one from #3].
3. Start a new manuscript during NovelSista weekend with Jess and Kristy – my goal for that weekend is 15K/day + 2K on my travel home day [since I’ll be taking the train partway home]. Finish it in July.
4. Create and/or update synposes, one sheets, sell sheets, etc. before conference

See? Ambitious ;). For the rest of this month, my goal is to write the missing scenes from the Genesis manuscript and start hard copy edits for the Speedbo 9/11 thing. No specific word count, just finish the extra scenes for the one WIP. Would like it to be in the 6-10K range when all is said and done. It’s currently at about 77K and needs to be 83-90K when it’s all said and done so…

Anyway, there you have it. Doable? Yep. Gonna happen? We’ll see ;).

Coming this week:
Book reviews! I’ve been busy reading and will be posting several reviews this week!

Okay – so I’m into alliteration these days ;). Go with it :D.

First, good news! No – great news! Yesterday, the semi-finalists were announced for ACFW’s Genesis contest! To my great surprise and delight, one of my entries made it to the next round!!!!

• The Contemporary Romance category had over 80 entries.
• Twenty made it through to the semi-finals.
• Three will be chosen as finalists near the end of next month.
• The winner is announced during the gala at the ACFW Conference in Dallas next September.

I don’t know what my chances are of finaling. There are some insanely talented authors in my category. And some insanely talented authors who DIDN’T semi-final. To even be included in that group is an honor and so humbling.

But for now, I’m smiling. Sort of ;).

Because look. I almost have a smile again!

And I felt sunshine-y ;).

As for surprises… Went into the doc who did the first surgery [Mohs] in February. He decided to laser my scar so that it’ll be even less noticeable. That’s great and all. But it hurt and by the time I got to the car, I was literally shaking. Had to sit there for a while until I calmed down. And I’m glad it’ll be better. But right now it just HURTS! [No pic of that forthcoming…] And it’s bleeding a bit. And my glasses bother it so I’m wearing my contacts for the first time since January. My right eye especially is bothering me [that’s the Bell’s Palsy eye].

I feel whiny.

I’ve had a great week. Got great feedback from an editor last week and already got the Genesis score sheets from that same manuscript [it didn’t semi-final] and there were some really lovely comments on those. A different manuscript semi-finaled which means I have TWO that are making progress in contests. That’s GREAT! And hubby is gonna bring me a new Smokehouse BBQ Chicken sub for dinner [even though he won’t get home until late].

But I still feel like I just can’t catch a break.

Cuz it just hurts :(.

Sidelined by injuries from a vicious assault, chaplain Riley Hale is determined to return to her former duties as an ER nurse. But how can she show she’s competent when the hospital won’t let her attempt even simple tasks? Determined to prove herself, Riley volunteers at a controversial urban free clinic despite her fears about the maverick doctor in charge.

Dr. Jack Travis defends his clinic like he’s commander of the Alamo. He’ll fight the community’s efforts to shut its doors, even if he must use Riley Hale’s influential family name to make it happen.

As Riley strives to regain her skills, Jack finds that she shares his compassion—and stirs his lonely heart. Riley senses that beneath Jack’s rough exterior is a man she can believe in. But when clinic protests escalate and questions surface about his past, Jack goes into battle mode and Riley wonders if it’s dangerous to trust him with her heart.

It’s no secret that Candace is a friend of mine, but I’ve been looking forward to this book since waaaaaay before then! I forget exactly how I first heard of Candy [through a post on Megan DiMaria’s blog maybe?], but I’d already read the first two in Calvert’s Mercy Hospital series and met her about the time the third on came out. In that third book, Code Triage, we were introduced to Riley Hale and I couldn’t wait to read the next one. In the eighteen months since then, Candace has become a very dear friend and one I am so so so so glad to know!

I literally squealed when this book hit my mailbox and was so disappointed I couldn’t read it right away. Within a couple weeks, though, I was immersed and finished it in record time.

Riley’s been hurt, both physically and emotionally. Jack isn’t far behind. He’s running a medical clinic no one seems to want and his past is determined to catch up with his present and continue to torment him far beyond what it should. Riley works at his clinic and becomes immersed in the conflict surrounding it.

The story kept my interest from page 1 until “The End” [which is, by the way, my least favorite part of most books – you know, where there’s no more words to read] but what truly brought it alive was the characters. From Riley’s next door neighbor, Wilma, the staff in the hospital ER and other wards, Bandy Biggs who works at the clinic with his paraplegic dog Hobo to Vesta, whose tormented past hold her hostage in the present and who must overcome it for everyone’s future. They are rich, wonderful characters who have stuck with me long after those dreaded words “The End” passed.

This is the first book in Candace’s new Grace medical series and I, for one, can’t wait to get my hands on the other two!

Overall Rating: 9.5 out of 10 stars

Accused of murdering a child under her care, Irish healer Rachel Dunne flees the ensuing scandal while vowing to never sit at another sickbed. She no longer trusts in her abilities-or God’s mercy–though when a cholera epidemic sweeps through London, she feels compelled to nurse the dying daughter of the enigmatic physician she has come to love. James Edmunds, wearied by the deaths of too many patients, has his own doubts about God’s grace. Together, they will have to face their darkest fears . . . and learn what it means to have real faith.

It’s not unusual for me to read a book quickly – in fact, most books I read, I read quickly. Nancy’s The Irish Healer was no exception.

Rachel left Ireland in disgrace – both from the outside and the inside. From the moment I stepped foot on the boat beside her, I could feel her pain as well as the salty air. Herriman’s debut novel brings alive the journey from Ireland to England and then London itself in a way I could only wish to copy.

James is also running from his past. And his new assistant is Irish which certainly doesn’t endear her to his staff. But she stirs something in him, long forgotten. They fight the mutual attraction, but we all know that can’t go on forever.

Herriman pulled me in and didn’t let go. My heart broke with Rachel. It bled for James as I finally figured out what he was hiding from. And when the cholera epidemic hits, I wondered what more tragedy they would have to face – and would they be able to face it together? Or would it tear them apart?

As with all romances, there is the requisite happy ending, but knowing the destination didn’t make the journey any less pleasurable. I look forward to more from Ms. Harriman – hopefully in the near future!

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars

You had to know it was coming. Really. You did.

Overall, I’m doing pretty good with this whole Bells Palsy thing but there’s some stuff that you just have to whine about. But that’s okay – because we’re gonna get to the cheese too :D.

Thing to whine about:

1. I can only use half my face.
2. I can only use half my face and they have me taking EIGHTEEN pills a day. [Okay, today it’s down to sixteen as they wean me off the steroids.]
3. Brushing your teeth when only half your mouth works. Think about it. You’ll figure it out. There’s no picture to go with that one.
4. No vision on one side when wearing a patch over your eye. This may lead to running into people or throwing off your balance so that you run into walls going up stairs or though narrow areas with a laundry basket.
5. Can’t sleep well at all. Getting better but not great.
6. Plus I still have this sinus infection. That doesn’t help.
7. Eating is hard. Try slowly enjoying a spoonful of ice cream or yogurt or what have you with only half your mouth.
8. Spilling. All the time. If I’m careful it’s all good, but still not easy. And still dribble down the front of my face…
9. Cranky. I am. I know this. I’ve warned my kids that it doesn’t take much to get on my bad side right now and for the most part they’re cooperating. But I still hate being cranky. Especially around bedtime on the night’s Matt’s not home cuz they always push push push their bedtime back [I need water, I need this, I need that*] and then I kinda snap a bit. And I hate that.

There’s probably more but that enough for now.

So… the cheese. Because I love cheese.

1. Cheese bread. Have been making some and it’s yummy and I can actually eat it. [Pic coming tomorrow]
2. Cool eye patches made for me by my sister [who is still making fun of me, by the way ;)] that I can coordinate with my outfits.
3. Weight loss. Since the stomach bug hit us a couple weeks ago, I’ve lost about 10lbs. Probably not the best way to do it, but I’ll take it and go from here. Workouts [hopefully] start again next week.
4. Blog fodder. Let’s be real. I don’t post as often as I should and I don’t ‘market’ my blog as much as I should, but yesterday was my second highest hit count ever [I think – if not, 3rd] ;).
5. Story fodder. I’ve already started the story where the heroine has Bells Palsy and the hero has the paparazzi…
6. Brainstorming**. Lying in bed with a sleep mask on but unable to sleep makes for some great brainstorming sessions. Now if I could just remember what the super cool profession I had for that Bells Palsy heroine was…
7. Grateful. By the time it’s back to working right, I’ll never take a working face for granted again!
8. Hugs and support. I’ve gotten so many hugs and so much support from all my family and friends. That’s always good.
9. Lopsided kisses from the 4yo. Let’s face it. He’s cute. And a riot but you guys doing get to see as much of that. Not till the books come out with his antics in them. He’s been so sweet to me the last few days [the other kids too, but especially him].

Plus I still feel like I look cute. Even if I am getting funny looks ;).

*See? I’m getting cranky just thinking about it ;).
**Not to be confused with barnstorming, which is a totally different thing.

First off, huge props for Janella coming up with the other E word – EBOOKS! So the last post [well, besides the ‘ad’ for Kathleen’s visit] should have been “Easter, Eyepatches, and Ebooks”. Duh. Thanks, Jen! [Seriously – do you know her yet? Cuz she’s awesome :D.]

Plus this is my 200th blog post. Deserves a party but I can’t enjoy the cake anyway ;).

So… Tuesday. Back to work. I work part time and am a mama, housewife and author. My part time job [that I love] is teaching American Government at a local community college. And that’s great. Except it means today I had to talk for two and a half hours. And my speech* deteriorates the longer I talk. The F, B, and P sounds are especially hard for me so talking about things like the Federal court system and Brown v. Board and so on was loads of fun. My students were pretty cool though and didn’t give me too hard a time, though they did ask me to repeat things a couple times.

Plus, I felt like I looked cute ;).

My sister has finished a couple more eyepatches for me, but the hubs forgot to pick them up on his way home Tuesday night so I’ll have them Wednesday night. They work well, forcing my right eye to rest so that when I really need it [for say, driving], it’s not already worn out. But my left eye wears out faster, too, because it’s picking up more slack.

Tuesday, several people, including students and co-workers, said they could see an improvement from first thing in the morning to the time I left about 1:30 in the afternoon. Asked Matt tonight after he got home and he winced and told me he didn’t think so, but by then it had been a long night so that could be why.

So where’s the lopsided love come in?

Monday, I asked the four-year-old if he wanted a kiss. He scrunched up his face and said, “Mama, you’re lopsided.”

I laughed and said, “Well, how about a lopsided kiss?” And this is the face I got:

What a sweetie! Love that boy!

Next time… Whine and Cheese – don’t miss it!

*See, Janella, told you I’d talk about speech this time ;).

This month, Kathleen Y’Barbo is our special guest at MozArks ACFW! Be sure to join us if you can!

[Yeah, so another E word wasn’t coming to me – ideas anyone? You’ll get props in the next post… for whatever that’s worth ;)]

First a few notes – there’s some FABULOUS free ebooks right now! These are Kindle links, but I believe all of them are also available on Nook.

Candace Calvert : Code Triage [the heroine from her forthcoming Trauma Plan Preorder  [not free] is introduced in this book]
Mary Connealy: Out of Control – book 1 in the Kincaid Brides books
Sandra Bricker:
Always the Baker, Never the Bride is currently 9.98 and is book 1 in the series [I’ve read this one and my sister has read both the others – they’re up soon in my queue – watch for reviews]
Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride book 2
Always The Designer, Never the Bride book 3
Janice Thompson: Fools Rush In – book 1 in the Weddings by Bella series – all of them sooooo worth it! And she’s got another series of four related books coming out sometime soon – or the first one is anyway ;).

Be sure to double check before you buy, but there you have ’em.

Easter was yesterday and my kids looked so nice!

At least until it was time to hunt for eggs with Grandma – then they looked goofy ;).

So… me…

My face is still only half working. I’ve been pondering this post since yesterday, trying to figure out what I’m going to say. I want to be witty and funny and make you smile [since I can only half smile so that between the two of us we’d each have 3/4 of a smile and that’s pretty good] but I just can’t at the moment. A big part of that is probably because I’ve been trading kids’ clothes today. You know, that day twice a year where you trade winter and summer clothes. All the appropriate clothes are out of the closet under the stairs, but the winter clothes aren’t ready to go back in, so have to finish that laundry and would REALLY like to get it all put up RIGHT this time so it’s super easy in October, but I’m not holding my breath on that one. I do have a big black trash bag overflowing with clothes we’ll be giving away and another one full of shoes [and we have some more shoes to go through – see what still fits or will fit someone in the future and all that good stuff].

You’d think “Hey, it’s half your face. It’s not like your body isn’t working right. It shouldn’t be that hard.” And I’d agree with you if it wasn’t me. But it wipes you out. I thought the same thing a couple months ago with the whole nose thing. “It’s my nose! It’s not like I got my leg cut off!” But the same thing was true then.

Yesterday, I went to church looking something like this [here is your promised pic, Mary, dear]:

I felt way cuter than I looked, I think. The people at church fell into three groups:

1. Random people I didn’t know who didn’t look at me TOO funny, but still did see a few sideways glances [but only from people on my left… cuz of the eye patch on my right eye ;)].
2. Friends who already knew what was going on – gave me big hugs and sympathized.
3. Friends who looked at me, double taked and asked “What on earth? Are you okay?” or some variation thereof, then hugged me and sympathized.

All in all, not too bad. I felt cute and I don’t feel like I look weird, but then I can’t really see that only half my face is working. The eye patch helps my right eye rest when I don’t need it so it’s not too tired when I do [like while driving, etc.]. My left eye is overcompensating though and it gets tired too.

Do you know how hard it is, though, to take 18 pills a day when only half your mouth works?! Fortunately, my biggest group of pills is “only” 8, but I did almost choke on two of them the other day so I make sure not to do it when no one is around ;). Should take a pic of all of them for next time…

I hadn’t planned to start a new WIP until I’d finished editing/polishing-until-shining both Finding Mr. Write and the Speedbo* project. Possibly not until July at the Novel Sisters Writing Retreat with Jess and Kristy. But, as I mentioned the other day, ideas were fomenting and yesterday during praise and worship, the opening scene wrote itself in my head. Last night, I wrote 2500 words and today another 350 in between everything else. I had some really good ideas last night on the heroine’s** profession and some good conflict, but I had my sleep mask on [another part of the whole Bells Palsy thing] and didn’t write it down. :p

I really wanted to work in some more $5 words so Janella*** could find another red sticker under her seat****, but none are coming to me…

So I shall end this here and try to have more fun stuff next time. The urgent care guy called yesterday and said I should be seeing some improvement in the next couple of days though it’ll be several weeks to several months before I’m back to normal [Quiet, Ruthy! You too, Mary!]. Haven’t seen anything yet and tomorrow, teaching two classes should be interesting as my speech tends to deteriorate when I talk a lot. Just do my best I suppose. It’s all I can do :D.

*Be sure to check out my Seekerville Speedbo page – I finished! I reached the end and hit 70K – even though I did that on 4/1]
**Named after dear friend, Pepper Basham. Cuz Pepper is an awesome name.
***If you don’t know Janella, you should. She’s awesome.
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