Welcome back 👋
Thanks for joining me for another behind the scenes look at Dance Around It! In this writer reveal, I wanted to tell you a little bit about how I created Denny's character, and why writing about veteran identity is so important to me. At the end I tease the next book in this series and who the main characters will be!
Captain Dennis "Ducky" Golden
Some characters I can "hear" better than others, and Denny's voice is loud and clear in my head when I'm writing. He's a gruff old Vietnam vet who doesn't have a filter on his mouth and isn't good at expressing his feelings, but has a really big heart.
Denny doesn't just serve as a mentor to West as he navigates life outside the military, he also serves as a stand-in father figure. If you're familiar with Sailing West, you know that West's father was never kind or loving towards him, and never trusted him to make decisions about his own life. Because of this, West never had a close relationship with an older male. When West and Denny meet, the two form an unlikely friendship.
As someone who never experienced fatherly love, West has trouble understanding Denny truly cares for him, until it's too late. I think deep down, he doesn't believe he's worthy of a father figure's love. On the other hand, Denny's upfront demeanor and PTSD have isolated him and made it difficult to connect emotionally with people. In West, he sees not just a friend, but a fellow helo pilot who he can relate to.
Fun fact: All pilots have call signs. You don't give them to yourself, they are given to you by your fellow pilots. For example, Tom Cruise goes by Maverick in the movie Top Gun. Denny's call sign was Ducky which I just thought fit him. West's call sign was Posh. He was given this call sign for two reason. First because he sings Spice Girls whenever it's karaoke night, and second because he grew up in a mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.
When I was creating the outline for this story, I thought about keeping Denny alive, but I knew nothing short of his friend dying would keep West from the audition.
RIP Denny 😭
Now, for the big announcement! The next book in this series!
Here's a cute pic that catches the vibe I'm going for.
Maren's bff, Tanushree Nandy, is going to star in my next story! Tan is wild and fun and has such a positive outlook on life. Her spunky personality is going to collide beautifully with Dominick Du Bois (AKA Romeo)—the grumpy grant writer by day, male stripper by night.
Tan and Dominick are going to be my very first crack at the grump/sunshine trope, and I cannot wait! Tan is the perfect character to pair with a grump because she's such a ray of light.
Not to worry, you're going to get to see lots of Maren and West, and we'll also properly meet Christiane, Maren's sister, along with a cast of new characters.
Any predictions on what's going to happen in Tan's story? 👀 I thought I had a title for this book, but now I'm reconsidering. I like Swing In the City, but I'm not sure. I also like and Fix Me Up.
What do you think? Any suggestions?
Thanks again for checking out this writer reveal! I so appreciate your support!
xx
AJ