Blog Tour for Through the Years
Thanks Kim, for hosting me today. This is the sixth stop on blog tour for Through the Years.
I wanted to talk a little about juggling so many characters. This book contains by far the most characters that I’ve ever worked with at one time. Since it encompasses fifty years, there are friends of the two main characters, spouses of those friends, as well as Edward’s wife. Kids and grandkids, in-laws.
It was actually kind of hard to keep track of when I was writing it. I literally had to make a family tree to keep everyone straight, not to mention to try to figure out how old everyone was at any given time.
Since it was so much work for me to keep straight, I was really afraid that it would be hard for my readers too. I had numerous friends and family read over it before I submitted it, to make sure that everything was easier to keep track of as a reader than it had been as a writer.
I was told it was. And my absolutely wonderful editors at Dreamspinner didn’t have any problems, so I guess I managed it better than I was afraid I was going to be able to.
It was still a really different problem to have.
Always before, I’ve had a small cast of important characters with perhaps some minor characters thrown in. But in this story, just about everyone is important. We need to track Edward’s kids, of course, and the fact that he has a wife for a while is very important. But, because of the dynamic of Edward and Gene and three other friends from college, they all are intricately involved in each other’s lives, so all of their kids and spouses are really important too.
It was fun to write so many characters, even if I did worry about it for a while. I think it helps draw the reader in…make them feel like family. That’s what several people who have read it have said, anyway.
What about you writers? Have you had a book with what seems like a million important characters? How did you handle them all? Did you have to make some kind of chart or other visual aid to help when you were writing?
And readers, what do you think about books with a lot of characters? Love it? Hate it? Somewhere in between?
Comment below to be entered into the raffle.
Here’s how the raffle works:
I’ve listed the tour stops below and have given either the link to the blog in general or to my post specifically. Feel free to stop by as many as you want. For each stop that you comment on, you will receive one entry to the giveaway. I’ll check all the stops numerous times throughout the tour and will draw five winners on Thanksgiving Day, so even if you come in late to the tour, you can go back through the list and comment on past stops.
I’m giving away five prizes. 1) a signed paperback copy of Through the Years; 2 and 3) electronic copies of Through the Years, 4) your choice of either a signed paperback copy or an audiobook of Living Again (the audiobook won’t be available until December), and 5) an electronic copy of Haunted.
Blog Tour Stops for Through the Years
| Blog Stop | Date | Blog Owner | Blog Address |
| 1 | October 6 | Anne Barwell | http://annebarwell.wordpress.com |
| 2 | October 7 | Grace Duncan | http://www.grace-duncan.com/ |
| 3 | October 8 | Jessica Skye Davies | http://jessicaskyedavies.blogspot.com |
| 4 | October 9 | Shira Anthony | www.shiraanthony.com |
| 5 | October 10 | Emma Tett | http://emmy-j.blogspot.co.uk |
| 6 | October 11 | Kim Fieldings | https://www.kfieldingwrites.com/ |
| 7 | October 12 | Bike Books Reviews | bikebookreviews.blogspot.com |
| 8 | October 13 | Tempest O’Riley | http://tempesteoriley.com |
| 9 | October 14 | Sean Michael | http://seanmichaelwrites.blogspot.ca/ |
| 10 | October 15 | Allison Cassatta | Allisoncassatta.blogspot.com |
| 11 | October 16 | Jana Denardo | http://jana-denardo.livejournal.com/ |
| 12 | October 17 | Louise Lyons | http://louiselyonsauthor.wordpress.com |
| 13 | October 18 | PD Singer | http://pdsinger.com |
| 14 | October 20 | Shae Connor | http://shaeconnorwrites.com |
| 15 | October 21 | Suki Fleet | http://sukifleet.wordpress.com |
| 16 | October 27 | Charlie Cochet | http://purpleroseteahouse.charliecochet.com |
| 17 | October 28 | Elizabeth Noble | http://www.elizabeth-noble.com/my-blog |
| 18 | October 29 | Tara Lain | http://taralain.com |
| 19 | October 31 | Sophie Bonaste | http://sophiebonaste.blogspot.com |
| 20 | November 4 | Kit Moss | http://kitmossreviews.blogspot.com |
| 21 | November 10 | Lane Hayes | lanehayes.wordpress.com |
| 22 | November 13 | Mike Rupured | http://rupured.com |
Thanks again Kim, for letting me stop by today.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5539
Blurb for Through the Years
Edward and Gene were instantly drawn to each other when they met at college in Maryland. Fast friends, they developed a “closer than brothers” relationship. But then Edward began to feel more for Gene. In 1967, those kind of feelings would not be tolerated. Not even by Edward himself.
Gene always thought he was asexual. He had never been attracted to anyone… until he met Edward. He dreamed of Edward as more than a friend throughout college, but he knew Edward would not welcome that kind of attention. So Gene wasn’t surprised when Edward reacted badly to a drunken kiss just before Edward’s graduation. He was surprised when Edward moved to Florida and had little to do with him for years afterward.
When fate finally brings them back together, Edward is married and has a little girl. Gene gladly accepts the role of “Uncle Gene,” happy to have Edward in his life in any capacity. Together, they face all the trials and tribulations life throws at them, including the death of Edward’s wife, and as each grows and matures, their life views change. The relationship they’ve secretly wanted all along is closer than ever, and if Edward can break free from his homophobic upbringing and admit his feelings for Gene, there might still be a chance for them to share their lives in the way they both desire.
A Bittersweet Dreams title: It’s an unfortunate truth: love doesn’t always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.
Brynn Stein has always loved to write. Fan fiction, original fiction, whatever. While Brynn wrote in numerous genres – everything from mystery, to contemporary, to supernatural – she had always tended toward strong male characters. And then she discovered ‘slash’, male/male romance, and all those strong male characters were finally allowed to express their love for one another. It seems that there are always at least two characters clamoring to tell Brynn their story.
Brynn lives in Virginia with one of her two two-legged children, and two four-legged ones. Her supportive family encourages her writing and provides a sounding board for fledgling stories. When she isn’t writing, Brynn teaches children with special needs. In free time, when such a thing exists, she reads anything she can get her hands on, and haunts bookstores. She draws and paints, and enjoys the outdoors—especially if she can get to the beach—and is always thinking about her next story.
Please feel free to contact Brynn at any of the following:
https://twitter.com/BrynnStein http://brynnstein2.wordpress.com https://www.facebook.com/
or
Never written anything with too many characters. Applaud anyone who does. When you write something spanning 50 years, it becomes an epic and you have no choice but increase your numbers. Then you’re into a human resource management. Really looking forward to see the end result!
Thanks Xena. I do have to admit that all the characters started feeling like family after a while.
As a reader I find that having too many characters can be confusing early on in a story, but usually as I become involved in the story-line I am able to follow everyone. When characters have unusual names it may take me longer. Congrats on your new book! ardent(dot)ereader(at)gmail(dot)com
The characters are added slowly over time, so hopefully it’s not too confusing.
sounds interesting!
leetee2007(at)hotmail(dot)com
It’ll be fun to meet all the characters!
vitajex(At)Aol(Dot)com
I don’t mind when I read a book with a gazillion characters as long as the story line flows smoothly and I know who’s saying what. I have a semi finished story where there are also quite a lot of characters. I wrote it for NaNo two years ago and it wasn’t too bad to write which amazes me since it was NaNo and you know how press with time those stories are. I am looking forward to reading your book and get to know ALL your characters.
Thanks for the giveaway!
zeoanne@gmail.com
It sounds great. I’m looking forward to learning more about it.
humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
Thanks for the comments. you all are entered in the raffle.
Thanks for the giveaway and congrats on the new release!
I do not mind a lot of characters as long as it doesn’t get confusing!
I’ll be drawing the winners tomorrow. Check back and see who won.
This looks like a great book. I love the idea of a lifespan story.
Thanks to everyone who commented. Late comers, I got your names too. I just didn’t reply to your posts directly as I wished I had had time to do. I think I’ve learned my lesson. No more raffles being concluded on Thanksgiving Day.
And the winners are:
Julie Small – Signed copy of Through the Years
HB – electronic copy of Through the Years
Zeoanne – electronic copy of Through the Years
Lee Todd – Signed paperback or audiobook of Living Again
Xena – electronic copy of Haunted
Please send your email address to brynnstein2@gmail and I will get your prize right to you. Winners of electronic copies, it’s easier if you have an account with Dreamspinner so I can just move them to your bookshelf. For signed paperback copies, I need your physical address (you can email it to me so it’s not visible to anyone else, and please let me know if you want me to write anything in particular. Lee Todd, let me know if you’d rather have the signed paperback copy or the audiobook.