Romantic Tension, thy name is Julie.
I am so pleased to have Julie Lessman answer character questions for me today.
Winner of the Book Of The Year Award at the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Conference in Denver, Julie is a master-craftsman/woman at making the written word breathe with energy, conflict, and tension. Her heroines are powerfully memorable and her heroes are dangerously loveable.
Her romances are called ‘edgy’ Christian fiction, and here’s the reason: You truly are jumping from one emotional ‘edge’ to another, experiencing heartbreaking, heartwarming, heart stopping, and heart pounding scenes.
Learn more about her and her books at www.julielessman.com
Now…for the Q & A:
Who is your favorite hero &/or heroine from any book you’ve written (They don’t have to be from the same novel) and why are they your favorites?
Favorite heroine? Well, this may shock you and your readers, but Charity O’Connor is right up there as a favorite. Don’t get me wrong, I love Faith O’Connor, the heroine from book 1, A Passion Most Pure, but in all honesty, she is more like the woman I am today—heavily dependant on God, emotionally involved with Him and a person who prays at the drop of a hat, so I almost feel one with her. But Charity—goodness, my heart goes out to her and the woman I used to be—selfish, manipulative, lost. I think that’s why she fascinates me so much, because I look at her (and women like her) in the same way I suspect God looked at me back then—with eyes full of love and hope that we all can become new creatures in Christ Jesus. And quite frankly, I think she is just downright funny and quirky and such a hoot that she makes me laugh.
Favorite hero? (Pepper inserts here: why do I suddenly feel the need for a primal growl – it’s all Julie’s fault 🙂
Mmm … that’s really a hard one because I love ALL of my heroes, truly! But if I had to pick one who I enjoyed writing the most, it would be Mitch from A Passion Redeemed. Because Charity O’Connor is a favorite heroine of mine and so wonderfully flawed, it was a total pleasure to pit her against the most unlikely man in the world — Mitch Dennehy. Old enough to be her father AND a man who wanted nothing to do with her, Mitch was just so wonderfully gruff and grouchy and stubborn, that he just naturally made me smile while I was writing him. I love old movies, and A Passion Redeemed reminds me a lot of the old-fashioned romance movies where the utterly male hero butts heads with the feisty heroine (think The Quiet Man or It Happened One Night), when deep down underneath, there’s an attraction so charged, the two light up whenever they connect. Gosh, I love that, and I think Mitch and Charity typified that to me more than the other couples, although Faith and Collin come close. 🙂
T0 read a review of A Passion Redeemed check out this site:
http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/2008/08/review-passion-redeemed-by-julie.html
What is the behind-the-scenes story behind these two characters? Where did you get your ideas for them?
Charity is loosely based on my sister, Ellie, who was two years older than me. Like Faith and Charity, Ellie and I often butted heads because she was … ahem … quite voluptuous and very attractive to boys while I was … well, basically not! I mean, this is the sister with whom I had hair-pulling fights while growing up, and even one or two as adults (imagine me in a suit and heels, rolling around the floor in a fight with her during our twenties)! I spent over thirty years praying for her and trying to reach out until five years ago when she became a born-again Christian. Now she is a beautiful sister in the Lord as well as in blood, and truly one of my most ardent intercessors and supporters. I love her more than I can say.
With Mitch, I just needed somebody tough and stubborn to handle Charity! 🙂 As I mentioned before, I love old movies and those wonderful crusty, nose-to-the-grindstone heroes like Clark Gable who played an older newspaper editor in Teacher’s Pet with Doris Day. You know those “tough guys” who swear off marriage forever until some sweet, little thing fells ’em like a tree? That’s how I envisioned Mitch, only younger and better looking, of course! 🙂
Read my review of her most recent book A Passion Denied at:
http://greatchristianfiction.blogspot.com/2009/05/passion-denied-julie-lessman.html
Character Creation Tip for the Day:
Passion – to be specific, all characters worth reading about must have a goal or purpose to be on the page. Bring them alive with giving them a passion of their own. Whether their passion is another person, a dream, an occupation, a secret desire…passion does have a purpose in character creation.
Tomorrow?
Delve into the world of dragons, demons, angels, and imagination with Christian fantasy writer, Bryan Davis. Who…or what might he pick as his favorites? 🙂
This does not shock me that Charity is your favorite Julie…since I know of your love of Gone With the Wind. Charity is a lot like Scarlett! And you know I love all your heroes…LOL I have crushes on every single one! 😛 I’m chompin’ at the bit to see what Cluny is like!
xoxo~ Renee
Renee,
Good morning. Are you an East Coast girl too?
I was up a bit after midnight and found this post! In no way am I an early bird 😀
xoxo~ Renee
“Romantic Tension, thy name is Julie”??? Grin … oh, PEPPER, you started off my day with a chuckle on that one — THANK YOU!! God help me, I do tend to like tension, but only the romantic kind. I can be reading a book while my husband is watching TV and if a perfume commercial comes on (you know those really romantic ones that air around Christmas?), well, I zero in like a zombie, eyes glazed to the screen until it’s over, and then I go back to my book. I swear I was born with an extra romance gene!! 🙂 This was SO much fun, Pepper, thank you! Great blog idea AND great tip for the day.
RENEE … WOW, thanks for getting up so early to come say “hi,” although you do have that East-Coast advantage, I suppose. So I didn’t shock you?? Darn … I SO love to shock people! And, yeah, you’re right — GWTW IS one of the reasons I love Charity so much .. the Scarlett O’Hara factor. Sigh … what a book … Margaret’s, not mine! 🙂
Have a great day, guys!
Hugs,
Julie
Oh Julie, I started your day off chuckle? Woohoo! One of the best ways to start the day.
You know, I think we must be kindred spirits too. I have that extra romance gene. My poor boys, they’re constantly rolling their eyes at me over my ‘sighs’ and ‘oooh, did you see that?” comments 🙂
I’m SO glad you participated. I’m nearly chomping at the bit to find out what’s going to happen with Katie and Cluny. Great teaser in your newsletter. My romance gene went into hyperspeed after that read 😉
Oh, Julie, you did NOT roll around in the floor fighting in a suit and heels with your sister while in your 20’s!! LOL I’m want to say I’m shocked, but I’m sitting her giggling!! 😉
Pepper, I agree. I can’t wait to see Cluny as a hero!!
Hey, MISSY!
Grin … yep, and although I might be a bit foggy on the suit, I did have nylons and heels on for sure. I looked pretty ragged when I got back to work, I can tell you that. Gives a whole new meaning to the term “out to lunch,” doesn’t it?
Hugs,
Julie
As always you are thoroughly entertaining, Julie 🙂 Thanks Pepper for this fun chat with Julie. Cluny’s got my vote, too 😉