The characters drive my stories. I used to fool myself and think I was in control. That the plot came first. Ha! Remember yesterday when I said The Passenger all began with Paolo?Â
Who was I to think I ran the story?Â
It’s true. I envisioned Paolo – when I was sixteen – on the city bus on the way home from an after school activity. That afternoon I noticed a man who looked a little worse for wear and quickly made up a history for him. Â
I decided he was alone in the world, having lost his family years before. Then I started with the “what ifs.†What if he died there on the bus? Would anyone help him? I put a young woman (Elizabeth) there willing to help him. I knew her kindness to him at his death would only be the beginning of a lasting friendship.Â
Those were the seeds for the story… and it all began with envisioning Paolo. Of course, the bus became a streetcar but that’s another topic, perhaps.Â
See you tomorrow!Â
- About the Author
- Posts in the Past
Thanks to a family with an overabundance of imagination and a love for books of all kinds, Joie grew up learning the value of a good story. Early on, she realized writing was as essential to her as oxygen and recorded her first story at six and finished her first novel at twelve. Along with giving into her lifelong passion for storytelling, Joie works full-time and treasures motherhood while bringing up her son, daughter, and Cardigan Welsh Corgi.
To learn more about Joie and her work, visit her blog “Spirited Chatter,” which she co-hosts with fellow multi-published author, Ann Marie Bradley.
