During our snippets over the past couple months we have first kisses and first touches. Today's theme is character sketches.
I've begun to try and plan my stories more, but up until now it's felt a lot like I'm the secretary writing down what I see. Scenes, actions and emotions unroll before me, to my great delight. And my exasperation when I can't get back to a story for a while. I want to know what happens next too!
When it comes to my characters that means that I'm discovering more about them as the story develops; surprises and rich moments of unveiling. For someone like Robyn, the heroine in Wolf Signs, I knew certain parts of her history, but not always how she was going to react. And that makes it all the more exciting. Robyn was headed back to the cabin after being surprised by the arrival of Keil and TJ. I thought she was heading back to grab a notepad and introduce herself…she's deaf, it's the logical thing to happen, right?
Well, it seems Robyn has a temper…
Robyn stopped in shock.
That was the ASL sign for “love”.
Robyn’s last straw broke and she stomped the rest of the way up to the cabin and threw open the door. Dropping her things on the bench, she kicked off her boots and marched up to him and started the deaf equivalent of shouting with her hands and body in his personal space.
“You do not insult me like that. Asshole. I accept your apology for the mistake before, but you go too far. You are rude. What does…?” She pulled the paper she’d retrieved from the window and pointed to the line “approach in wolf”. “What does this mean?” She stepped back and crossed her arms while she waited for his response.
The look on his face was priceless.
Confusion, complete and utter confusion.
Robyn spun toward the waver as he stood and she caught the last thing he said. “…using sign language?” She nodded, bicycling her hands in front of her while mouthing “sign language”.
The larger of the two men made sure she was watching him before he spoke. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand sign language. I think I’ve upset you and I didn’t mean to. Is there a way we can talk?”
All the bluster drained out of Robyn like sand through a sieve. Typical. She came to get away from the drain of communicating with people and instead she was going to have to use extra energy.
Oh well, maybe they’d eat a few pieces of her cheesecake and save her the calories.
Wolf Signs, available from Samhain Publishing
Grab a coffee and come get the scoop on other author's characters:
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Lauren Dane
McKenna Jeffries
Michelle Pillow
Moira Rogers
Shelley Munro
Taige Crenshaw
Victoria Janssen
Mark Henry
Leah Braemel
I loved Robyn and Wolf Signs, especially with how you handled her deafness.
Hey Vivian,
I agree with Leah. I really loved that uniqueness of having a deaf heroine. And Robyn was a great one too!