Despite having written four novels and numerous stories, and teaching fiction at UCLA Extension, Book Passage and elsewhere, the whole notion of what makes a character compelling, or how to construct such a character, continues to feel like mercury in my palm. Just when that inscrutable line is crossed, between a fully realized character and one not so fully realized, remains as enigmatic to me now as ever–perhaps more so. Recently, I told a writer friend that I’ve come to use music more and more in my characterizations, sometimes thinking of characters as chords, or melodies, or allowing the timbre of a particular instrument to inspire an insight into their inner life. If a chord inspires a character, it can be quite simple, a dyad or triad: straightforward, clear, with a distinct tonal character: A vigorous, optimistic soul for example (G major), or a fragile worrier (C sharp minor). Or the chord and character can assume more complexity as I probe quirks, secrets, miseries, joys, regrets, contradictions. The result here is more complicated, tonal clusters of stacked thirds, jarring minor seconds, sprawling ninths and elevenths, diminished sixths, augmented fourths. These too have a distinct tonal sense but it’s not easily…

The School For Heiresses #3 May 2009On Sale: April 28, 2009Featuring: Venetia Campbell; Lachlan Ross384 pages ISBN: 1439140170EAN: 9781439140178Mass Market Paperback (reprint)$5.99 Romance Historical Buy at Amazon.com Beware A Scot’s Revengeby Sabrina Jeffries Lady Venetia Campbell’s visit to her childhood home in Scotland takes a dramatic turn when she’s kidnapped at pistol point by her father’s sworn enemy. Sir Lachlan Ross is widely feared in his guise as The Scottish Scourge, but Venetia remembers her former neighbor as a handsome youth whose attentions she craved. Now a wickedly sexy man, Lachlan’s appeal is even more intoxicating…and much more dangerous. Though Lachlan tries to treat her as his foe, his scorching kisses tell another story. And despite his plan to use her as a weapon against her father, Venetia is determined that Lachlan’s lust for revenge will be trumped by an even more powerful desire…. Excerpt The music began, and Sir Lachlan Ross forced himself to move, forced himself to ignore the throbbing in his half-healed ribs and the ache in his recently-broken thigh bone. Although certain steps proved a minor agony, dancing with Lady Venetia was better than standing about, listening to her aunt talk of his family, unraveling his…