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Using GMC: Diana
Here’s what happened when I released my stubborn hold on who I thought my characters were.
I asked my heroine why she didn’t want to run the family gun shop. (Yes, I talked to her. I was a little cautious about it because the notion’s kinda kooky, and I really didn’t want my kids to hear me talking to myself, so I whispered. LOL )
It works!
I asked, and she told me, “Look. I’m spending every day with my mom and she’s driving me nuts. I have to find the missing paperwork pronto or the ATF’s gonna shut her down and guess where she’ll be living? No way, sister. I love my mom, but I need my privacy.”
So, in the interest of showing you how I used Debra Dixon’s book, I’ll share Diana’s character info. It still needs work, but wow! After doing her GMC chart and those of three other characters, not only was I able to write my first chapter, I knew where I was going!
NAME : Diana (gun shop co-owner/teacher) Paints every spare minute she has. Mockingbird is totem
WHO SHE IS: a self-deluding paper tiger (tough on the outside, scared within)
WHAT SHE WANTS: Starter goal: has to find missing logbook. Get thru ATF audit. Bigger: Own her own art studio. Express herself via painting. Keep shop from being closed.
BECAUSE: 1. Logbook has info for ATF search phone call. 2. ATF doing audit. 3. She doesn’t want her mother living with her. 4. she wants to get back to her private life
BUT: Can’t find logbook. Her mother lost additional ppw. Her mother needs her in the gun shop. (obviously!)
INTERNAL WANTS: needs to please. Then : to know herself; to be regarded as ‘real’ artist; autonomy
BECAUSE: It’ll make her feel important; like she’s contributing something to the world; she’ll be expressing herself
BUT: She’s afraid: of failure, of creating garbage, of the unknown. She doesn’t believe she has the talent; won’t put her art on display. And she’s worried her mother won’t be able to run the shop effectively by herself.
My hero’s character info is still missing the internal want/need, but I was still able to write the first chapter because I had his external want pretty clear in my head. I’ll be tweaking both as I go.
You see how nowhere in Diana’s goals is there a wish to fall in love? Falling in love is what happens as she’s pursuing her goals. If falling in love were her goal, I think she’d be a weak and boring character. I want her to have an interesting life that she ultimately invites the hero –and the reader–into.
Same goes for the hero, Mark. His immediate desire is to plop down in his easy chair and read a book he’s been itching to read for several days but hasn’t had time for. Problem is, his 5-year-old nephew is having trouble getting to sleep because his mother’s recently been killed in an accident. It’s a simple conflict, and it will grow into something bigger as the story progresses.
Romance Authors’ Pseudonyms: Did you know…?
Many of today’s hottest romance and romantic suspense authors wrote for Harlequin, Silhouette, Kismet, Candlelight, Gallen, McFadden, and Loveswept, among others. However, they didn’t all use the names they’re currently writing under.
NOTE: Many of the links are to used books; they will likely expire because these are collectible. Many of the links are to searches in Bookfinder.com. If no books are listed, it’s because they’re just that hard to find. My apologies in advance for this.
You may already know that Sandra Brown wrote under the names Erin St. Clair and Rachel Ryan, but did you know she also wrote under the name Laura Jordan?
Two titles I know of were written for the Gallen line:
- The Silken Web, and
- Hidden Fires.
Another, Roses at Dawn, was written for Kensington.
I’m still looking to see if she wrote under than name for anyone else 🙂
Diana Palmer also has had several pseudonyms, and she wrote several romances for the McFadden line of books, which is currently difficult to find (and sometimes expensive.)
Her other names:
- Diana Blayne
- Kate Curry
- Susan Kyle
If you’re a fan of the Dark Shadows series by Marilyn Ross, you might be interested in knowing that author’s pseudonyms (and guess what, it’s a guy). Marilyn Ross is W.E. Daniel Ross:
- Leslie Ames
- Marilyn Carter
- Ann Gilmer
- Miriam Leslie
- Diana Randall
- Ellen Randolph
- Clarissa Ross
- Dan Ross
- Jane Rossiter
- Rose Williams
If you follow Elizabeth Lowell, you probably know she has also written under the name Ann Maxwell, as well as A.E. Maxwell. But did you know she wrote under the name Annalise Sun? 🙂
Other pseudonyms you may be interested in:
- Kay Hooper = Kay Robbins Taken by Storm
- Lindsay McKenna=Eileen Nauman, Beth Brooks
- Joan Hohl=Amii Lorin, Paula Roberts
- Rachel Lindsay=Rozella Lake, Roumelia Lane, Janey Scott
- Jayne Ann Krentz=Jayne Talor, Jayne Bentley, Jayne Castle, Amanda Glass, Amanda Quick, Stephanie James
- Barbara Delinsky = Billie Douglass, Bonnie Drake Lover from the Sea
- Marion Chesney=Jennie Tremaine, Ann Fairfax, Helen Crampton, Marion Chesney Gibbons, M.C. Beaton
- Janet Evanovich=Steffie Hall
- Madeline Baker = Amanda Ashley Night’s Master
- Elaine Barbieri = Elaine Rome Stark Lightning
- Susan Barrie = Jane Beaufort, Rose Burghley The Garden of Don Jose #928, Anita Charles, Pamela Kent, Barbara Rowan, Mary Whistler
- Beverly Barton = Beverly Beaver Close Enough To Kill
- Meg Cabot = Meggin Cabot, Patricia Cabot, Jenny Carroll Safe House
- Candace Camp = Lisa Gregory, Kristin James Sapphire Sky, Sharon Stephens
- Isobel Chace = Elizabeth Deguise, Elizabeth Hunter
- Marion Chesney = Jennie Tremaine, Ann Fairfax,, Helen Crampton, Marion Chesney Gibbons, M.C. Beaton
- Maureen Child = Ann Carberry, Kathleen Kane Wish upon a Cowboy
- Daphne Clair = Laurey Bright, Clarissa Garland, Claire Lorel Miss Miranda’s Marriage
- Donna Clayton = Donna Fasano Where’s Stanley? (Harlequin Next)
- Virginia Coffman = Kay Cameron, Virginia C. Deuvaul, Jeanne Duval The Lady Serena, Diana Sanders , Ann Stanfield
- Janelle Denison = Danielle Kelly Family Man (Stolen Moments)
- Ann Major = Margaret Major Cleaves Wild Lady*
- Patricia Matthews = Patty Brisco, Laura Wylie The Night Visitor
- Patricia Maxwell = Jennifer Blake, Maxine Patrick, Patricia Ponder, Elizabeth Trehearne
- Carla Neggers = Amalia James, Anne Harrell
- Sara Orwig = Daisy Logan Southern Pleasures (Second Chance at Love)
- Susan Elizabeth Phillips = Justine Cole The Copeland Bride
- Rosamunde Pilcher = Jane Fraser A Day Like Spring (Harlequin Romance, No.1232)
- Fayrene Preston = Jaelyn Conlee
- Janet Louise Roberts = Louisa Bronte, Rebecca Danton, Janette Radcliffe
- Sharon Sala = Dinah McCall
- Meryl Sawyer = Meryl Nickels
- Candace Schuler = Candace Spencer, Jeanette Darwin
- Valerie Sherwood = Jeanne Hines, Rosamond Royal
- Lass Small = Cally Hughes
- Rebecca Stratton = Lucy Gillen
- Elise Title = Alison Tyler
- Jane Toombs = Jane Anderson, Ellen Jamison, Diana Stuart, Olivia Sumner
- Linda Turner = Linda Raye
- Anne Weale = Andrea Blake
- Sheryl Woods = Suzanne Sherrill, Alexandra Kirk
- Rosalind Laker = Barbara Paul The Seventeenth Stair by Barbara Paul
- Charlotte Lamb = Laura Hardy Burning Memories, Sheila Holland, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf
- Elsie Lee = Elsie Cromwell, Jane Gordon Mistress of Mount Fair
- Rachel Lindsay = Rozella Lake, Roumelia Lane Harbour of Deceit (A Harlequin Romance, 1920) , Janey Scott, Roberta Leigh
- Norah Lofts = Juliet Astley Copsi Castle
- Charlotte Macleod = Alisa Craig A Pint of Murder
- Ann Major = Margaret Major Cleaves Wild Lady
These authors may have other pseudonyms I haven’t found yet–if you know of any, feel free to leave a comment. 🙂
REMINDER: Many of the links are to used books; they will likely expire because these are collectible. Again, I apologize for this.
Of course, there are tons of other authors I haven’t mentioned. If you’re interested in one that isn’t here, email me your question and I’ll check my references.
Stacy
A day in the life of a writer: Charting GMC
I went to Debra Dixon‘s talk at the monthly meeting of San Diego’s chapter of RWA. My novel has been stuck in chapter one because I haven’t properly charted out the GMC of the characters. Today I’m charting three characters:
hero: Mark
heroine: Diana
heroine’s mother: Betsy.
GMC stands for Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. Dixon says the ideas she presents are not new, but I think her book’s the only one of its kind. You can find it here: http://www.gryphonbooksforwriters.com/home/gmc.htm
Finally realized that the reason I’ve been struggling with Diana and Betsy is that their relationship is enmeshed. Funny how characters try to tell you things and you just don’t listen.
this story’s been wanting to come out its own way and I’ve been trying to force it into a tiny box.
Diana is not talking to me, but Mark has spilled his guts, and so has Betsy.