Perspectives

I’m still working very hard on Dark Star, and enjoying the hell out of the process. Something has come up though: Tonya is a young woman in her early thirties, and I’m so not a young woman in my early thirties. In fact some people think I’m my children’s grandmother. (I guess that beats people thinking I’m the nanny, but not by much). Anyway, I had to vet Tonya’s reactions fairly thoroughly because I suspect a younger woman’s tolerance for male bullshit is a lot higher than my own. At least I know that when I was young I put up with a lot of crap that leaves me wondering just what the hell was my problem back in the day.

Nowadays my bullshit threshold is practically nonexistent. Y’all know I love my husband’s dirty draws (after all I do wash them), but he knows that if he nuts up I’m like, One less egg to fry, motherfucker. As I get older I’m more that way about a lot of things. It’s definitely liberating, but when I’m creating younger characters it can be problematic. This wasn’t an issue with Let’s Do It Again. Those characters were older and had some life stripes on them. I enjoyed writing that book immensely and think I will do more with “women of a certain age.” Never fear, Tonya’s been talking in my head for so long I know I’ve got her right, but it’s a bit disconcerting to create someone who’s a decade and a half your junior. Of all the characters I’ve ever written Tonya is the one who is most like me. I didn’t realize it until I re-read Rock Star in preparation for writing this book. So yes, Tonya’s a bit of a bitch. Okay, actually Tonya is totally a bitch, but I like her. Of course, there’s a strong possibility no one else will.