Behind the Character: Holly Barros from Keeping It Up

Sometimes, people ask me, "Where do you get your characters from?" Naturally, my first instinct is to say, "Why, from under the sofa cushions, of course!" Which makes me look like a jerk and nobody comes away happy. Rather than give in to my over-the-top Dad Joke impulses, I wanted to write a newsletter series about where characters come from.

The first character I want to talk about it Holly, from Vamping It Up and Keeping It Up. I really identify with Holly, because in my youth, I also made a man the center of my life, wearing what he liked and doing what he thought was fun (hint - it wasn't fun for me). I wanted to write a story about a woman discovering who she really was without him. Women's power is one of my favorite themes in my writing, and I come back to it frequently. I was desperate to write a story about a woman learning to love herself.

It took me a while to get to know Holly. I knew she was going to be of Latin descent (part Portuguese, part Central American). I wrote and wrote, trying to find a way to show that her parents loved her, but also wanted her to take the safe path in life. We deserve to choose our own adventures instead of having them chosen for us.

We also deserve to believe in ourselves and to use our voices about what matters to us. Holly needed to find her voice. And she sure was shy about telling me who she wanted to be. I got very excited when I realized that her secret desire was to go into politics. Women are woefully underrepresented in politics and that shy Holly wanted to break out of her cocoon and step onto the world stage made me so happy!

I also wanted her to have the world's greatest mentor to teach her confidence. Enter Holly Barros and Aunt Celeste.
 (To be continued....)

I made Pinterest boards for Vamping It Up and Keeping It Up!
Live Like Celeste
Vamping It Up
Keeping It Up

 

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Have you read Vamping It Up or Keeping It Up? Can you tell me what you liked about the books? What do you want to see more of in light-hearted erotica? Authors loooooooooooooove feedback. :)

Thank you!