Sunday 18 September 2011

A close look at Mike Williams - the love interest in For One Night Only

Both of my romances presently available on Kindle are selling well. I have had mostly good comments on both Vittorio's Virgin and For One Night Only but the most recurrent question seems to be. 'Is Mike based on someone you know?' The odd thing is nobody has asked me if Vittorio Bianchi is based on a real person. I have come to the conclusion that either Mike's character is so convincing that readers can only assume he is a real person OR that he is the sort of man we can all attain and as such, just what we are looking for.


Most of  my characters are loosely based on people I have seen or met at some time or other. I take different aspects from different people to make up a whole. My work is largely inspired by real life experiences, either my own or somebody else's. I like to keep it as real as possible, too much fantasy can result in unconvincing story lines. But, I am sorry to say, Mike Williams is largely a figment of my imagination.

He is very ordinary, the sort of bloke you see everyday in the street or in the supermarket; he may come and fix your boiler or you may even be married to him.
I have read a lot of romance and sometimes I get very tired of super good looking alpha males with some deep seated psychological hang up that can only be put right by a certain woman; the woman made for  him.

I wanted a new type of love interest and so, after some deliberation I decided to try and put a chubby Welshman in the spotlight. Mike is, deep down, a good hearted, ordinary man who has lost his way. He is bored, unhappy in his job and his lifestyle has become stale.  Usually it is the female characters that play this role but I wanted  a different perspective.  I wanted Mike to be the one to realise his dreams. During the novel his character slowly unfolds, the reader is taken deeper into his psyche to discover a man that is surprisingly sensual, funny and who loves his wife and kids without reservation.

When his wife, Nicola, is tempted away from the marriage bed, he is prepared to forgive her everything and, after a heap of trials and misunderstandings, they manage to overcome their problems. Perhaps the truth is that men like Mike don't come along very often after all.

I enjoyed portraying an ordinary man as a lover. After all, how many of us ever get to share a relationship with a stinking rich Adonis? Mike may not have a fleet of Porsches or a Mayfair mansion but he has so much more.  He has his faults and dubious habits but is a family man, the sort of guy that watches sport on a Saturday afternoon with his feet on the coffee table, goes to bed in his socks, eats pizza straight from the box.  We all know, or have known, a Mike Williams, haven't we?  And you'd not swap him would you? Isn't the ordinary, frustrating man snoring on the sofa beside you right now, secretly the man  of your dreams? Shouldn't we let them  know it?

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Kindle update

 I have just checked out my author page  Mary Middleton on Amazon Kindle and was most surprised to see how quickly Vittorio's Virgin is selling.  For One Night Only is lagging a little behind. I wonder if I should think up a more intriging title?  Anyway, its still all going very well. If any of you wonderful people are into reviewing I'm sure some lovely reviews will help move things along. The more I sell, the more I can afford to write.  Maybe the dream of being able to earn a living from writing, rather than just funding an expensive hobby is getting closer. Let's hope so.
The Greek Tycoon's Secret Daughter is proving a little more troublesome than the other novels were to write but the plot is more intricate and the characters definitely don't like being told what to do.
Sometimes I just let them get on with it to see where they will take me but there are plot lines that Jonathan in particular needs to adhere to and he is proving a very forceful person. If he wasn't so gorgeous I might get very cross but he looks at me with those dark troubled eyes and I find myself weakening, giving in to his demands.
Many of you, I know, are not looking forward to winter but for writers there is nothing better than a warm fireside, rain lashed windows. A day, uninterrupted by phonecalls or visitors and unhampered  by the guilt of not mowing the lawn is like heaven to me. Once the oil tank if filled, the store cupboard and freezer well stocked, I, for one, will look forward to producing a lot of work over the coming winter season.