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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Torturing My Characters: One Inspiration at a Time

by Chautona Havig · 2 Comments

The sun has gone down.”

My friend’s disappointment shrouded the restaurant table.

Now I can’t give you the koliva.”

How do you respond to that? I don’t know. I just asked the obvious question. “Why?”

The veil of dismay lifted. Her eyes lit up. And she began to explain.

Torturing My Characters One Inspiration at a Time

Note: Links in this post may be affiliate links and may provide me with a small commission at no cost to you.

My friend… I love her.

You know, her Greek accent never makes it difficult to understand what she says Strange, how that is. Occasionally, she pauses, searching for the English equivalent to a word for which there is none. But otherwise, our conversations flow.

She’s told me about her son’s baptism, the traditions for naming children, the delightful idioms that make as little sense in English as some of their English equivalents. Don’t believe me? What do we say when it’s just pouring outside?

It’s raining cats and dogs.”

Tell me that makes sense. I mean, really. The Greeks aren’t any more logical. They say:

It’s raining chair legs.”

Or, rather, that’s the literal translation, anyway.

We say a race is “neck and neck.” I suspect because of horse racing, but I can’t prove that. The Greeks say, “Breast to breast”—like runners in a marathon. And then there’s the bit about eating someone’s cabbage. I never do get the saying right, but the gist is that you’ll get ahead of them somehow.

And she says My Big Fat Greek Wedding is pretty close to how it really is!  Hollywood got it right, for once!

Can you imagine how fascinating our conversations are?

Greek Birthday
This looked almost like a Greek Birthday cake to me!

It’s her birthday. We go out to lunch. She gets to pay for it. Why? Because she’s Greek. And in Greece, if you go out for your birthday, you pay for everyone. It’s rude to invite people out and expect them to treat you. (I still haven’t gotten it into her head that if I invite her, then it’s not RUDE. Hmph). So, I let her win that one. After all, my birthday is coming in a couple of months.

My birthday arrives.

She insists on paying for lunch. Why? Because I am not Greek. I am American. And in America, you treat the birthday person.

Look, I’ve got mad skills of persuasion. I almost always win these arguments—or at least have the quickest draw on the check. Seriously, I’m good.

She’s better.

And I shamelessly use her for inspiration. This time, to torture characters.

Picture it: An American police officer—I’m thinking Chicago. She and her partner pull over a man matching the description of a wanted suspect. They take him in for questioning and identification. He’s Greek. He’s not their guy. And he’s amused.

So where’s the torture, you ask? I’ll tell you. But first, just remember. Like I explained back in THIS POST, it is an author’s duty to torture her characters. It’s what we do! Without it, you get a conflict-less, yawnable book!

Torturing my characters one inspiration at a time.

I’m going to make her fall in love with this guy. Lest you think this book is just another romance, well it is. But not the kind you think it is. Sure, she’s going to find herself head-over-heels for a Greek dude. And yeah, he’ll help her work through some of the demons in her past. Sure, he’ll have to move back to Greece to help his father and make her choose between him and her family life in America.

Wait, what?

Yeah. That. I’m going there. I’m sending this non-Greek, linguistically-challenged, American cop to live in a little Greek village on an olive farm. Yes, I am.

And that’s not all. She can’t work in Greece. Nope, she can’t. She can’t help with the family business, either. When you don’t speak the language, it doesn’t work. So, while the family fights to keep the farm up and going, she’ll be getting to know everyone better—and making lots of cultural mistakes.

Like serving koliva for dessert one night because she knew how much her husband loved it at that 40-day memorial dinner they just attended.

Don’t know why that’s a big deal? Yeah, well she doesn’t either. But trust me. It is. And you’ll just have to wait to find out why.

Meanwhile, she falls in love all right–with Greece.

Greek FlagSummer 2018. I’m going to Greece. It’s called research. And guess what? The joke’s on me because I’m the one being tortured until then.

Meanwhile, I can’t wait for our next lunch meeting. I won’t be able to grab the check. It’s her birthday. But hey, if she has to pay for her own birthday lunch, maybe she can spin me a few more stories for her supper. I need more inspiration. Greek friends are cool… and they’re great at helping me torture my characters.

I’ve got one question for YOU.

What do I name this book?  I want to call it “Eat Their Cabbage” but my friend tells me it’s no good.

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Comments

  1. Andrea Rossignol says

    April 20, 2017 at 1:15 pm

    Ooh! I can’t wait to read it! (but I suppose I’ll have to!) And what a great way to research!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      April 20, 2017 at 10:57 pm

      It’s going to be awesome. Even if the book stinks. 😉

      Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
byChautona Havig

Hey, we’re back after a couple of weeks of vacation, and boy did I need it. And, have I got a fabulous interview for you. Nancy Naigle and I talked about her books, her most recent release, What Remains True as well as her Christmas books and the one I’m most anxious to read, The Shell Collector. Listen in and learn about what Nancy says about this bet she has going on in What Remains True. Great stuff!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Need a Great Romantic Read to Wind Up Your Summer Reads?

As I said in the podcast, a while back, someone told me I’d LOVE The Shell Collector–one of those people who recommends books you HAVE to read if they say you do.  So I bought it and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since. Well, now it’s on my GoodReads shelf, and I’m about to start it (and I optimistically thought I’d be done with it by the time this episode released. Oh, me of too much faith in myself and my time management!)

Author of over thirty books, not to mention a bestselling author who also has movies made of her novels (And The Shell Collector has been optioned! EEEP!), Nancy loves to write Christmas books and small-town stories. Seriously, as we talked, I felt like she was talking about me half the time. We’re so very alike in so many ways. It was fun.

Nancy also pointed out that her first books (if you go WAY back) are not Christian fiction and are a bit spicier than she prefers to write and definitely more than she writes today. So be warned there, but she did assure us that they are all closed-door books.

What Remains True by Nancy Naigle

One woman wants to win a bet. One man wants to become a rodeo champion. One little girl may give them both something even better—from USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle.

“A commitment-phobic rodeo star and a divorcée with secrets find love in this wholesome romance. . . . As uplifting as it is sweet.”—Publishers Weekly

Working at a little shop on Main Street in a small town is exactly the break that executive Merry Anna Foster needs following her divorce. She’s made a bet with her ex-husband that she can live on the amount of money she’s giving him in alimony. If she can do it, then Kevin will have to stop complaining and leave her alone. But after three months of this new life, will she even want to leave Antler Creek?

Adam Locklear, bull rider and owner of the local feedstore, is having the best year of his rodeo career. He’s also a bit distracted by the pretty new neighbor living in his old bunkhouse. But Adam has no time for matters of the heart. He’s got his future all mapped out, and that future doesn’t involve a woman just yet. It doesn’t involve parenting a little girl either. However, Carly Fowler still suddenly leaves five-year-old Zan—the daughter Adam didn’t know he had—in his care.

Is it possible that the future holds a life even better than what Merry Anna and Adam had each dreamed of? One that includes both tenderness and even love—not just for each other but for Zan too?

You can learn more about Nancy’s books and movies on her WEBSITE.

Oh, and PSST… I’m loving the audiobook of this one!

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Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
August 9, 2022
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