Sally Clements's Blog, page 2

Character Depth and Grey's Anatomy - part one

There's a lot to learn from TV series - and today I thought I'd write a post about how Grey's Anatomy manages to create such compelling characters through the use of family. I haven't gone into all the family members of the various characters, just a few, to illustrate...

If you don't watch Greys, it doesn't matter - this post will be general enough to make my points (hopefully) so don't tune out just yet!

Grey's Anatomy is the creation of the hugely talented Shonda Rhimes.


So, the titular character in Grey's is Dr Meredith Grey.
She's married, and has 2 kids. She's a busy doctor juggling work and family. But where the character depth comes in, is her history - her family dynamic. 
She's driven to succeed in her job, because her mother was a famous surgeon who would only love her if she was successful. Her relationship with Dr Shepard (McDreamy) starts with her one night stand with a married man - her mother also had an affair with a married man. She is fearful of developing Alzheimer's Disease - just as her mother did. She's closed off and slow to trust. Her mother left her father, and she had little contact with him-he had another family after his marriage to Meredith's mother broke up. She relies on close friends, and is suspicious of strangers.

So Meredith's wound: Brought up by a woman determined to succeed in her career, and see her daughter follow in her footsteps. Only child. Hothoused, Lonely. Not shown love, and therefore unable to handle it when she is shown it.

How is this illustrated? By throwing family members at her! Her mother reappears in flashback episodes - in a moment of lucidity from her disease, she confesses she is disappointed at how ordinary Meredith has become. Next, her half-sister Lexie starts to work in the hospital, and we see how different their upbringings were, and how difficult Meredith finds it to trust. In the current season, another half-sister that Meredith didn't know she had, Maggie, appears. When Meredith learns that Maggie is her sister, her reaction is typical. First she doesn't believe her mother could have had a secret child and given it up for adoption, so she challenges Maggie. Next, she accepts the fact, but doesn't hold out the hand of friendship, it is up to her more balanced, emotionally giving husband to embrace the newcomer. The family, appearing in flashback or real time, explain how Meredith is the way she is - and with her wounds visible, the audience gets to see her work through them, to grow and change.

Meredith's struggles with emotional matters is also illustrated through her interactions with her husband Derek's big, open, family. He has many sisters, some of whom pop up in Greys. In one scene, his sister Lizzie arrives and berates Meredith for not letting her know that they have adopted a daughter - she says "We're family."   But family means something different to Meredith, and we see how uncomfortable she is being embraced by her sister-in-law, she wants to keep things at arms length. When later she softens towards Lizzie, she confides that she is pregnant...sharing precious news to let Lizzie know that she does understand what family means to Derek and his sisters-showing that she is trying to change.

In my next blog post, I'm going to continue in this theme - and explore some of the other characters' family dynamic and how bringing family members in to the series acts as a powerful way to show the clash between their hidden inner selves (formed through childhood and family) and their surface selves.

Meeting the President.

On Wednesday, I met the President in Áras an Uachtaráin (The Presidential Palace) and gave him a copy of Catch Me A Catch. I chose this book, as it is set in the West of Ireland.It was a wonderful experience!

New paperback edition on the way...

Snowbound Summer coming soon in paperback! Here's the cover...

Did you know my books are also in paperback?Get them here:  (and the one at the end isn't by me!) 

Run away with Runaway Groom...

Runaway Groom is free....run and catch it!

Amazonapplenookkobo 

New on NetGalley today...

Snowbound Summer is available for reviewers on NetGalley today...
https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/show/id/58861

Merry Christmas! (and a new book, because it's Christmas...)

Merry Christmas, everyone!And a very happy New Year, when it comes.

It's Christmas Eve, and I have a new book freshly arrived on Amazon for the holidays (it'll be out on other venues in the New Year, when they're open for publishing!)

Snowbound Summer is the third book in the Logan Series, featuring Nick Logan - the yummy vet who has made fleeting appearances in the two earlier books. I'm delighted to share his story!


Here's some more about it...

Summer in the snow…
Restaurant owner Summer Costello, reeling from recent failures in her perfect life, is hiding out in her childhood home. When she finds an injured dog outside in a snowstorm, she calls the local vet, who turns out to be her younger brother Declan’s best friend, gorgeous Nick Logan.
She’s his secret crush–no woman Nick’s dated has matched up to the fantasy of being with Summer, the woman who blazed out of Brookbridge for a new life in London years ago. Now, a dog needs his aid, and despite treacherous conditions he drives out to help. She’ll be there with her boyfriend, and surely his infatuation will have burned itself out?
Stranded in a snowstorm, Summer sizzles with attraction for the man Nick has become. And when Summer confides her long-term relationship is over, and suggests a clandestine fling, is there any way Nick can resist her, even though she’s the one woman Declan warned him to keep away from? 

Available as of today on Amazon.com here
and Amazon.co.uk here

And everywhere else in the New Year.

Merry Christmas!

Gone Fishing...

Well not exactly, but I've been absent for a while - have just finished up one project, and November is Nanowrimo so...








Happy writing, everyone.


My progress bar is on the right, and I'm Darcy Raven during National Novel Writing Month, if anyone wants a writing buddy.

Busy friends....

A lot of my friends have been busy recently, and I have a slew of new romances filling up my kindle!
Romy Sommer - To Catch A Star...

Teresa Adler is the ultimate Ice Princess, with a heart as frozen as the winter landscape of her beloved home, Westerwald. All her life, she’s belonged to the ‘inner circle’ of wealth, privilege and position.Christian Taylor: Heartthrob. Movie Star. Bad boy. The mischievous actor sets temperatures soaring in the picturesque baroque principality – and with a wicked glint in his eye and a chip on his shoulder he sets his sights on the one thing he’s told he can’t have. Teresa.While Tessa holds the ultimate clue to the secret of Christian’s parentage, it is the heat of his touch that will make this Ice Princess feel more alive than she ever has before…
Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Nook, and everywhere else you can buy e-books...

Zara Cox - Soar..
Welcome back to The Indigo lounge, the scandalously sexy sky-high playground where anything can happen. Buckle up. Emotional turbulence guaranteed...
SOAR, the sizzling conclusion to the next duet in the Indigo Lounge Series.

Seven Nights, Seven Highs…the story continues!

Dark and sinfully sexy Noah King thought he'd left his past behind in New York. He should have known better. The past isn't not done with him yet.

Leia Michaels thought she was finally free. Free of the shadows of her past. Free to contemplate a future with Noah. She should have known better. The past isn't done with her either.

Perfect for lovers of Sylvia Day's Crossfire series, SOAR is the conclusion to the scorching duet in the bestselling Indigo Lounge series. Step back aboard and check your inhibitions at the door.

*Warning* This book contains explicit sexual scenarios that will make your pulse explode. 18+ only.
Release Day today! Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Nook, and everywhere else you can buy e-books.

Rachel Lyndhurst - Sicilian Engagement...
Money buys the perfect woman …
Billionaire Sicilian, Lorenzo Ferrante, needs a fake fiancée, and fast, in order to close a deal that will set him free from ties to a sordid past he never wanted any part of. Starting fresh somewhere else is all he wants for himself and his little girls...
Lora Pryce-Howard has been conned into playing Ferrante's fiancée thanks to her low life brother. And if she wants to keep her business, a roof over her ailing mother's head, and her brother alive she'll play along. She refuses to be seduced by a luxurious Mediterranean lifestyle, but Ferrante's soft words and burning kisses make leaving all the more difficult...
Release Day today! Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Nook, and everywhere else you can buy e-books.


Catherine Coles - Emergency - Two Blue Lines

And my friend Catherine Coles has a fantastic entry in the Mills and Boon Competition - So You Think You Can Write (SYTYCW)... Emergency - Two Blue Lines... Read it here!  

Great reads, brand new, and available now. Congratulations, all!

Something for nothing, and something for 99c

Challenging Andie is free at the moment.....

 
 Jaded war correspondent Ryan Armstrong reports terrible events without letting them pierce the armor covering his heart. When his colleague Emily Harte is murdered, he feels responsible for her death, and travels to England to return Emily’s effects to her daughter.
Bereaved, primary school teacher, Andie Harte has set herself a list of challenges to prove she can be as brave as her recently murdered mother, but when she’s hounded by the press the need to escape means she must accept help from Ryan. During their time in seclusion, attraction blossoms into an affair. Their relationship was only supposed to be a fling. When the time comes for Ryan to return to Bekostan, can she risk loving a thrillseeker, or is that a challenge too far?
Ryan avoids love, knowing the pain losing it can bring. A life without Andie is sensible, but is it possible?
Available everywhere. Including...Amazon.comAmazon.co.ukBarnes & NobleiTunesKoboGooglePlay
And my new release, Racing the Hunter's Moonis 99c ... here's an excerpt


“Hungry?”
Betty’s heart pounded hard enough to burst. She swung around, and her startled gaze shot to the man who filled the doorway. A man with midnight-blue eyes.
Him.
Her hand fluttered at her throat. What on earth was the stranger from this morning doing here? Had he followed her?
“You’re Betty?” His eyes scanned her face with an I-don’t-believe-it look. He took a step forward, then another.
Everything in Betty rioted with the urge to escape. She eyed the doorway behind him and edged farther behind the table, putting solid pine between them. Her mouth was so dry it was as if she’d spent days crawling through the desert. He knows my name. She swallowed. “What are you doing here?”
 “Calm down.” As if realizing her agitation, he stopped. Held up his hands palms-out. “I’m Joe Carter.”
“You’re Joe Carter?”
“Is there an echo in here?” His hands lowered to his sides. The tension seemed to leave his shoulders and the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile.
Smoothing a hand over her hair, she glanced down at the table. A funny, fluttery feeling on seeing that smile replaced the panic she’d felt moments earlier. Unwanted awareness of him chased the tension from her body and filled it with warmth.
She rubbed the ache blooming at her temple. “Very funny.” To her annoyance, her words came out husky-soft, rather than sarcasm-laced. “I’ve been waiting here for almost two hours for a carpenter to show up, and now you? If you’re Joe, what were you doing grabbing me this morning?”
He avoided the question and looked past her at the open freezer door. “Looks like you were keeping yourself busy. Raiding the freezer, were you?”
Huh. “I was hungry. Someone kept me waiting.” The only reason she would ever break into someone else’s freezer was under desperate circumstances. “What are you, carpenter or…”
“It’s complicated.” He smiled, and once again attraction grabbed her insides with both hands and twisted. “But I have got a job to do this evening before we talk. I’m hungry too.” A black eyebrow arched. “Maybe you and I could have dinner after I’ve assembled the bed?”
Faded jeans rode low on his lean hips and clung to his thighs. Above them, he wore a chunky navy sweater under a battered black leather jacket. Average, everyday clothing. But the breadth of his shoulders, the glimpse of tanned collarbone evident in the dip of the sweater’s crew neck, were far from average or everyday. She scanned down. Work boots. Big work boots. Big feet, big… Cutting that thought off at the pass, Betty’s gaze shot up to collide with his.
Amusement danced in his eyes. “Well? Like what you see?”

Links: Amazon.com, Amazon UK, iTunes, Kobo, B&N, GooglePlay
 

Tea with Nora Roberts...and new release day!

So yesterday I had tea with Nora Roberts in the Lodge at Ashford Castle...which was fabulous.

And today, it's release day for Racing the Hunter's Moon - which is also fabulous. I'm liking this week already! 

Here's a little about the story:
Pretending to be a couple may drive them crazy. Feisty mechanic Betty Smith should have only one thing on her mind—catching the conman who swindled her mother. Not the sexy stranger who kissed her then completely disappeared.
Undercover FBI agent Joe Carter needs to focus on the bad guy who got away, not the gorgeous headstrong brunette who watches too many cop shows and keeps interfering in his case. Unfortunately, catching their prey before he skips town means working together.
But while entering the vintage car rally as a couple seemed like a good idea at the time, faking feelings for each other turns out to be the easiest part. Neither one can allow anything to get in their way, but staying away from each other is impossible. They both know, though, once their plan is complete, so is their time together.

Here are the links:
Amazon.com,
Amazon.co.uk
iTunes
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
Kobo
GooglePlay
And Racing the Hunter's Moon is also available as a paperback at all online paperback retailers.