Welcome Jannine Gallant

Join us in welcoming Jannine Gallant as our special guest in the round corral today!

Thanks for having me on your blog today, ladies. I always enjoy visiting Word Wranglers. Today, I thought I’d talk about backstory. Every book has it because our characters weren’t born the second they appear on the page. They’ve already lived through their childhood, teen and young adult years, and those experiences have made them who they are. Of course the reader needs to know their backgrounds, but weaving that information into the story can be a challenge. At all costs, we have to avoid the dreaded info dump! I try to feed backstory into conversations, but even that has its pitfalls.

In my new release, Every Vow She Breaks, someone is leaving my heroine, Claire, creepy wedding paraphernalia and notes that accuse her of breaking a vow. She and the hero assume someone Claire was involved with in her past wants her back. So, of course I had the two discuss her ex-boyfriends while they were sitting around the campfire one evening. Easy-peasy. Backstory revealed. Ta-da! Then my CP got ahold of the manuscript. (Sigh) She told me trying to keep all the old boyfriend suspects in that scene straight gave her a headache. Plus it made my heroine look like a tramp when they were all lined up like that. Okay, maybe she had a point… So, I whittled the conversation down to a discussion of one suspect. Then, when she runs into ex number two a couple of chapters later, the facts about their past are discussed. Even further into the plot, my hero discovers a third suspect. At this stage of the game, he wonders how many more men will come crawling out of the woodwork. That added some nice tension. So the lesson here is the reader doesn’t need to know everything right up front. Sometimes saving that information for later on in the book can be much more effective.

Thoughts? If you’re an author, how do you handle backstory? If you’re a reader, do you want to know everything about a character immediately, or do you enjoy a few surprises?

Blurb:

A Promise Can Follow You To the Grave…

Claire Templeton is drawn to the majestic beauty of the California Redwoods in the hopes of capturing an unexplained phenomenon on camera. What she doesn’t expect is to run into her first love, Jed Lafferty, the boy she worshipped as a child, the man she’s never been able to forget.

Carefree, fun-loving Jed doesn’t believe in fate, preferring to make his own luck. But when he runs into the little girl who used to follow him like a shadow, now an irresistible woman, he can’t help feeling the odds are turning in his favor. Letting Claire walk out of his life the first time might be his single biggest regret. But when strange gifts and cards left for Claire turn sinister, it’s clear someone else from her past isn’t ready to let go . . .

About the Author:

Write what you know… I've taken this advice to heart, creating characters from small towns and plots that unfold in the great outdoors. I grew up in a tiny Northern California town and currently live in beautiful Lake Tahoe with my husband and two daughters. When I'm not busy writing, I hike or snowshoe in the woods around my home. Whether I'm writing contemporary, historical or romantic suspense, I bring the beauty of nature to my stories.

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Comments

  1. Welcome to the Wranglers, Jannine. Good luck with your new release!

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  3. Glad you join us today, Jannine! All the best with your new release!!

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  4. Just me. The CP (sigh) basking in the glow you actually took my advice. That time!

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  5. Hey, I'm smart enough to take advice when the advice is excellent! LOL

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