Favorite Authors and their Main Characters

Since granting myself permission to take a hiatus from writing when I retired from the University of South Florida last May, I have been tweaking the outline of my next novel (a mystery/romance). Admittedly, I’m getting closer to actually writing again, especially with some recent energy boosts; for example, I truly feel honored to have been featured in this month’s Fabulous Florida Writers. Nonetheless, I truly have been enjoying the opportunity to relax, ride my Harley, workout at the gym, play softball, fish and read. In fact, just since getting my Kindle for Christmas I have read 13 mystery novels. And not that I’m a creature of habit (lol), but if you walk through my house and look at my bookshelves and/or look at the list of the books I’ve read on my Kindle, you’ll not only see novels – you’ll see many of the same authors. Obviously my favorites.

What makes a good novel – theme, plot, story structure, setting, style and tone? All of the above. Yet for me it’s also my enjoyment of the main characters, typically in a series featuring the specific recurring character. Some authors have more than one series. And even though I may have favorite authors (usually because I like their writing style, story development, etc.), I also tend to really like a specific character. It’s almost like I know them (which is what a good writer intends). Below are eight of my favorite current-day authors and their main characters who I’ve gotten to know quite well over the past few years:

• Stuart Woods – Stone Barrington (and Gino, his detective buddy)

• Robert Parker – Spenser (and Susan, his long-term main squeeze)

• Michael Connelly – the erasable yet lovable Harry Bosch

• Randy Wayne White – Doc Ford (and his joint-smoking buddy, Tomlinson)

• James Swain – Tony Valentine (and Gerry, his slowly yet ever-maturing son)

• Jonathan Kellerman – Dr. Alex Delaware (and Milo, his gay detective friend)

• Patricia Cornwell – Dr. Kay Scarpetta (and her niece)

• James Lee Burke – Detective Dave Robicheaux

At the end of my first novel, My Sweetpea: Seven Years and Seven Days, I purposefully left the door open for a sequel. (And, interestingly, some reviewers have asked if/when a sequel will be coming out – many have said, “I want to know what happens to Sheila and Troy!”)

Question: Who are some of your favorite authors and their main characters?

Bill

The Role(s) of Control in Life and Loving Relationships

It is amazing how frequently I see that people tend to think of “control” as being a less than good (or even bad). Yet let’s remember two things: (1) control is the ability to purposefully direct, suppress and/or change; and (2) if we didn’t exercise some controls in our lives, our lives would be in total chaos. When talking with my “pro bono clients” about control issues in their lives, I frequently challenge them with two questions: (1) are you controlling things in your life in ways that make your life and the way you live it better? and, (2) are there any other controls that you could exercise that would improve your life and the way you live it?

In my 33 years of work as a licensed psychologist, specializing in working with couples, one of the primary problem areas people in troubled loving relationships had to attend to was their “control issues” – within themselves and their loving relationships. “Control problems in relationships” typically are related to the couple’s boundaries and associated controls. For example, in my co-authored book with Dr. William A. Lambos, Our Loving Relationship, we discuss these two latter phenomena directly:

Boundaries are the limits of how far you can go and remain comfortable with yourself. Boundaries define the “space” in which a given individual is not invited or welcomed at a given time.

Controls are those things you do to assure that you stay within your boundaries and assure that other people do not violate your comfort zone.

In two of my three novels, “control” is directly and portrayed. For example, In My Sweetpea: Seven Years and Seven Days, as Sheila and Troy’s marriage starts to fall apart, his “active control” and her “passive control” quickly turns their relationship dance from a foxtrot to a Macarena. And in If Ever Again… It’ll be for Love, after Diane divorces her over-controlling husband, recovers and then starts to fall in love with Michael, she subconsciously perceives many of his loving gestures as controlling. (As I discuss in Chapter 4 of my pop-psych book, Living Life, Anyway – 2^nd Edition, “…we can control things actively by ‘what we do’ and we also can control things passively by “what we don’t do’.”)

Interestingly, when my “clients” who are in recovery tell me that they are staying sober because they “gave up control” (e.g., “Let go, let god.”), I ask them: “When you choose to give up control, isn’t that a form of control?”

Aspects and phenomena regarding “control in life” and “control in loving relationships” easily could entail a book’s worth of address and discussion. To wit, this herein discussion doesn’t even scratch the surface. Nonetheless, I hope my musings have challenged you to think about the issue(s) of control and how it interfaces with your life and the way you live it... as well as your adult loving relationships.

Question: How was or has been “control” been good (or bad) aspects of your life and your loving relationships?

Bill

Our Fascinations and Obsessions with our Cars

An automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods. And, interestingly, the United States is home to the largest passenger vehicle market of any country, which is a consequence of the fact that it has the largest Gross Domestic Product of any country in the world. Overall, there were an estimated 247,421,120 registered passenger vehicles in the United States according to a 2005 DOT study. This number, along with the average age of vehicles, has increased steadily since 1960, indicating a growing number of vehicles per capita.

Over the years, people have been obsessed and fascinated with specific kinds of cars – from powerful muscle cars to sleek sports cars. I vividly recall when I took my first job after graduating from undergraduate school as a high school English teacher – while I was saving money so I could go to graduate school, I still was fascinated and at times obsessed with the possibility of buying a new, 1966 Jaguar XKE Convertible (which at that time would have cost approximately my whole year’s teaching salary -- $5,000). I still think about it (and if you look at the picture herein, you may understand why), but today that car, in excellent condition, would cost about $100,000. But let’s remember, our dreams fortunately are free.

Many of the characters in my novels have their fantasy cars – for example, in My Sweetpea: Seven Years and Seven Days, Troy drives a vintage Corvette convertible and after their divorce Sheila buys a new, red, sporty two-door car with a sunroof; and in Fear of Feeling Loved, after a few paychecks at her new job, Marcia buys a new Chrysler Sebring Convertible. (See, it’s not only the boys with their toys.)

Okay, now I ask you: what car or cars are you or have you been fascinated and/or obsessed with?

Bill