Eve Gaddy: I'm Just a Vessel

Those are words I'll never live down. When my kids were younger we went on a family vacation. I'm sure I was either working on a book or on deadline. We were talking about my process and how I know what the characters are going to say or do.

I said, "I'm just a vessel for my characters. They talk and I type."

They thought that was hilarious and still tease me about it. But it really is true. I struggle a lot until my characters take over. Sometimes they're very chatty, which is great. But often they have to have their words and thoughts dragged out of them.

I have all kinds of ways to convince my characters to talk. Sometimes I interview them. I don't ask them about their favorite color or first pet or their childhood unless it's important to my plot. Usually, I sit them down and start firing questions at them and don't let them leave until they've opened up. Questions like, what do you think about the heroine? Why are you resisting her? Why do you hate shrinks? What is it about medicine that first drew you to it? And the oft asked question especially of the heroes, Why are you being a jerk? Often, what comes out of the interview winds up in a scene. In fact, I think it always does. Not all of it, but the important part.

My hero in my current book--yes, I'm on deadline and in deadline dementia--is an emergency room doctor. He's also a horse whisperer. He refuses to say he's a horse whisperer, instead he merely 'has a knack with horses' or he simply 'soothes them and calms them down.' I knew there was a reason for his denial of something that's quite clear to everyone else, but he wouldn't tell me until yesterday. I would have appreciated knowing this earlier, but the dang characters won't be pushed. They'll talk when they're ready and they don't really care if I have a deadline.

Don't get me wrong. I really like it when the characters come alive for me. But why are they so stubborn about doing things in their own good time?

You can find out all about my horse whisperer/ER doc in the upcoming Love Me, Cowgirl, part of the 2016 Copper Mountain Rodeo series from Tule Publishing. It should be out some time this fall. This hero, Sean Gallagher, is the brother of another doctor in Marietta, Dr. Jack Gallagher from Sing Me Back Home. Sean's heroine, Honey Jordan, is a cowgirl who is a competitive barrel racer. I don't have the cover yet but I'll post it when I do.

Catch me on the web at www.facebook.com/evegaddyauthor or www.evegaddy.net . If you'd like to hear more about my releases, here's a link to sign up for my newsletter: www.eepurl.com/boxz6f

Eve Gaddy: I'm Not Messy. I'm Creative.

A friend of mine, author Nancy Robards Thompson, posted an article the other day that I could really get behind. 

This article talks about the ties between being messy and being creative. Finally, someone showing scientific support for the idea that messiness can be a good thing!

One of my favorite lines from the article is this: "While it might look completely random to strangers, a lot of times, a person’s mess is very methodical – with respect to himself." So true! I keep telling my husband that yes, I do know where to find things in the place(s) I call an office. Those piles of papers are in a sort of order. One that makes sense to me. (Okay, not always. But usually.) He is always shocked when he asks me where something is and I'm able to go right to it in my piles of clutter.

I have two offices now. One is in my actual office and the other is in our den. For some reason the husband doesn't like my office taking over the den. Go figure. But sometimes it helps to have a different place to create. I can't create in a coffee shop, so I go to my den. Or back to my office if the den is too distracting.

Sometimes the mess will get to be too much for even me to tolerate. I like to clean my office in between books, but since I started working on more than one book at a time, that isn't always possible. Then I just have to wait until the mood strikes me. Which isn't often.

I'll admit I put things in odd places sometimes. Once I took a stick away from my dog--he would eat them and then throw up--and I couldn't figure out where to put it. For some reason, outside did not occur to me. (See, I think outside of the box!) My daughter found it and wanted to know why there was a stick in the breadbox. I still hear about that.

I lose my phone constantly. Sometimes I can't figure out where my phone is only to realize that I'm talking on it. I have several places to look when I lose my phone, but sometimes I'll put it in a random spot. And if it's on silent I'm really in trouble.

But I'm creative, not messy. I'd show you a picture of my creative office, but I cleaned it two days ago and I can't find the pictures I took of my desk and office when they were truly creative looking. That's okay, though. It won't take long to return to normal.

How about you? Do you work best in a clean, organized space? Or do you thrive in chaos and clutter?