Predator Blog Tour: Creating Characters Readers Love By Janice Gable Bashman

There’s something special about putting words together to create something new, taking characters I’ve invented, throwing them into a situation and seeing how they will react. Will they fail to live up to my (and their) expectations? Will they succeed? How will things turn out?
In Predator, my protagonist Bree Sunderland is smart, intuitive, and curious. She loves to investigate and explore. She is also a typical teen who falls in love and experiences all the emotions that go along with it. Bree can be headstrong and she stands up for her beliefs, no matter what the consequences. Yet she is also caring and kind.
When I initially created Bree I wrote a character sketch: age, height, weight, hair color, what she likes to eat, do for fun, listen to music-wise, etc. Then I wrote pages and pages of free thought in her voice, as if she were telling me about herself. How I initially envisioned Bree is not how she turned out. She had a mind of her own and developed and changed as the book progressed based on the situations she faced. She is much stronger emotionally than I (and she) had thought, and she will do what it takes to not only survive but to protect those she loves. But like all of us, she has her weaknesses and her strengths. Without them she would be a cardboard cutout of a character and one readers would not be able to relate to.
Writing a character readers will love is difficult work, but it’s also a lot of fun. I hope you love Bree as much as I do.
Here’s the blurb for Predator:
The hunt is on! Sixteen-year-old Bree Sunderland must inject herself with an untested version of her father’s gene therapy to become a werewolf in order to stop a corrupt group of mercenaries from creating a team of unstoppable lycanthrope soldiers.
When Bree went with her scientist father to Ireland, she thought it would be a vacation to study bog bodies. She never expected to fall in love with a mysterious young Irishman and certainly never expected to become the kind of monster her father said only existed in nightmares.Dr. Sunderland discovers that lycanthropy was not a supernatural curse but rather a genetic mutation. When they return home, her dad continues his research, but the military wants to turn that research into a bio weapons program and rogue soldiers want to steal the research to turn themselves into unstoppable killing machines. Bree’s boyfriend Liam surprises her with a visit to the United States, but there are darker surprises in store for both of them.
As evil forces hunt those she loves, Bree must become an even more dangerous hunter to save them all. Predator gives the werewolf legend a couple of new spins by introducing the Benandanti (an actual folkloric belief that certain families of Italy and Livonia were werewolves who fought against evil), as well as a modern scientific approach to mutation and the science of transgenics.
She will become the thing she hates, to protect those she loves!

Janice Gable Bashman is the Bram Stoker nominated author of PREDATOR (Month9Books 2014) and WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE (w/NEW YORK TIMES bestseller Jonathan Maberry) (Citadel Press 2010). She is editor of THE BIG THRILL (International Thriller Writers’ magazine). Her short fiction has been published in various anthologies and magazines. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Mystery Writers of America, Horror Writers Association, and the International Thriller Writers, where she serves on the board of directors as Vice President, Technology.
Author Links:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

About The Book:  “Predator is a fast-paced, creepy page-turner! Bashman had me at the opening sentence and she’s still got me. I want more!”
Nancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling Author, The Rules
The hunt is on!
Sixteen-year-old Bree Sunderland must inject herself with an untested version of her father’s gene therapy to become a werewolf in order to stop a corrupt group of mercenaries from creating a team of unstoppable lycanthrope soldiers.
When Bree went with her scientist father to Ireland, she thought it would be a vacation to study bog bodies. She never expected to fall in love with a mysterious young Irishman and certainly never expected to become the kind of monster her father said only existed in nightmares. Dr. Sunderland discovers that lycanthropy was not a supernatural curse but rather a genetic mutation. When they return home, her dad continues his research, but the military wants to turn that research into a bio weapons program and rogue soldiers want to steal the research to turn themselves into unstoppable killing machines.
Bree’s boyfriend Liam surprises her with a visit to the United States, but there are darker surprises in store for both of them. As evil forces hunt those she loves, Bree must become an even more dangerous hunter to save them all.
Predator gives the werewolf legend a couple of new spins by introducing the Benandanti (an actual folkloric belief that certain families of Italy and Livonia were werewolves who fought against evil), as well as a modern scientific approach to mutation and the science of transgenics.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Chapters Indigo! | TBD | iBooks

Winner will be drawn October 18, 2014
·         Four (4) winners will receive a digital copy of Predator by Janice Gable Bashman (INT)·         One (1) winner will receive a digital copy of Predator by Janice Gable Bashman AND a $10 Amazon Gift Card or B&N Gift Card – Winner’s Choice (INT)
a Rafflecopter giveaway