I was a little worried that the heroine of my newest Romantic Suspense Cold Blooded comes across as a little overemotional at the start of the story. The readers meet her under duress, and then it gets worse. Pip West finds her best friend face-down in the lake and spends an hour trying to revive her before paramedics arrive and pull her away. Naturally she’s devastated, but there’s a certain dispassion to a book’s audience, especially when the reader has only just met the heroine.

“Don’t make her a whiner.”

In the back of my mind, I hear former editors’ comments about how “no one likes a crier.” And “not to overuse tears.” So, I allow Pip to cry for a little while but then I force her to get a grip and pull herself back together from those million, non-orgasm induced, shattered pieces.

It got me thinking about friendship. About women. Those deep […]