I’m so pleased to have author MaryLu Tyndal visiting today. 
Known for her swashbuckling tales of romance and adventure, MaryLu’s stories blend amazing historical facts with high seas suspense and fascinating characters.
Her website is lovely. Check it out at:
With stories bordering on ‘inspirational Pirates of the Caribbean’, I wonder who her favorite characters are?
Who is your favorite hero and heroine you’ve ever written and what it their behind-the-scenes story?
Out of all the heroines in my novels, my favorite is and probably always
will be my very first heroine, Charlisse Bristol from The Redemption.
Charlisse holds a special place in my heart because she and I share the same
past. You see, we both grew up without a father, and we both grew up in an
emotionally abusive home. And like Charlisse, I left home at an early age
seeking anything to fill the very large hole that had formed in my heart.
Charlisse thought that if she could just find her real father, then surely
he would love and adore her and then everything would be right again in the
world. But in reality, her real father turned out to be a vicious pirate!
Although I often think it would have been better if my real father had been
a pirate too, my experience equaled hers in that my father wanted nothing to
do with me. Yet that was all part of God’s plan because like Charlisse, I
was forced to seek something else to fill that void in my heart. And in that
seeking, I found that God’s love was what I’d been looking for all along.
My favorite hero is Rafe Dubois from The Raven Saint. Rafe is the ultimate
“bad boy”. (I do love the bad boys!) Yet he’s a bad boy with a heart of
gold. He would be the perfect hero in every romance story; strong,
courageous, wise, bold, honorable, if not for his severely wounded heart.
And because of those deep wounds suffered from an abusive and competitive
father and a woman he loved who abandoned him, he appears on the outside to
be a cold-hearted ruffian who is only out for himself. I just love
characters who act one way on the outside but are completely different
within. How true is that of human nature? And even sometimes of ourselves if
we were honest. In Rafe, I wanted to show my readers that you can’t judge a
book by its cover, or in this case, you can’t judge anybody by their
attitudes or actions alone. You must dig deeper to find the genuine person
within. And unless that person is pure evil, there is always a reason for
their misbehavior. If we would only set aside our judgments for a moment and
take the time to truly get to know someone, maybe then, we could help them
and impact the world for the better.
Pepper: Woohoo, I can’t wait to read The Raven Saint. MaryLu’s fascination with bad boys-turned-good sounds a whole lot like Julie Lessman’s. J The Raven Saint is scheduled for release in January 2010. It’s on my wishlist.
Thank you for being with us today, MaryLu – and readers can check out your wonderful blog at:
http://www.crossandcutlass.blogspot.com
A guy’s review of The Red Siren J Noteworthy, here. Guys read romance, especially if it involves pirates. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1748260/the_red_siren_by_marylu_tyndall.html?cat=2
For a review of The Blue Enchantress read: http://www.victoriahillfarm.com/2009/09/book-review-blue-enchantress.html
Character Creation Tip for the Day:
Redemption. Your main characters, flawed as they are, must show some change throughout the story. Stagnant characters equal stagnant stories. Change can be big or small, but any type changes the dynamics of the story. Redemption in a story automatically adds hope, and hope helps draw a reader through to the final page – hopefully with the desire to keep reading (in a satisfied sort of way).
Next week?
Get ready for another week of Who’s Got Character, starting with Regency Author Extraordinaire, Linore Rose Burkard.
MaryLu,
I loved reading your answers. What fun! I have a inspirational ‘pirate story’ in my head, but have had to make those characters wait in line. SOOO many stories, so little time.
With your books, do you feel that way? Like you’re being mentally attacked by all of your imaginary friends – and in your case, they may have sabers or pistols in hand?