Finding Tom - Guest Post by Kerrianne Coombes

Please welcome the very lovely Kerrianne Coombes to the blog, with a guest post on her upcoming debut romantic release Running Home.
 

Finding Tom…. 

When I start a story I always sit down and write a background for my two main characters. I always ask myself questions like, what do they look like? What is their temperament like? But I also ask myself, where are they from? I am sure that this is what 99% of writers do, but sometimes I go a bit too far ;-) I tend to ask myself what has brought them to the point where my story begins, and then I delve into the ‘soul’ of that character and write little snippets from their lives.  I find that this practice makes me get to know my character and understand their motives behind certain parts of my story. 

Take Tom for example. He is my leading man in Running Home. He is an ex-military soldier, turned recluse, who believes he is better off removed from society. *Awwww* He has taken on the small farm left to him by his parents—who both have sadly died *Another awwww* So when I first thought of him, I had to ask myself why he is a recluse. 

The scene that I wrote—which I will not share, for lack of editing—is a scene when he goes into the local village and comes face to face with people who blatantly stare at his pronounced limp. This is not something that Tom is used to, nor comfortable with. Before his accident, Tom was a very fit, able bodied man. His whole life was about being super capable, and immensely in control of his body. And while I was writing this scene I understood how terrible this would feel for a man such as Tom. 

My brother was in the military. He is someone who I am so very proud of. What they—military men/women—have to deal with on a daily basis, baffles me. I know I could not do it and come out sane. These people, are a cut above the rest—real life heroes—and so, I wanted Tom not to come across as a dick for stepping away from life. I wanted him to come across as a little vulnerable, without being annoying. 

After writing this scene I found out that Tom stepped away from ‘normal’ life, not to feel sorry for himself, or mope. He stepped away to save the last vestige of his original self. On his farm, he is king, no one to judge, no one to watch him and question him about his limp. Tom likes to feel in control. 

So imagine what happens to Tom when I throw Joanne Sloane into the mix!

Blurb

Tom Cane, Ex-military man and self professed recluse turned farmer, wants nothing more from life but the chance to wallow in his own pity.  The shrapnel lodged permanently in his leg a daily reminder of his failings during his last tour of duty.  On a cold, rainy, British evening fate delivers a new reason to live in the form of Joanne Sloane, the daughter of a socialite and abused wife of an up and coming businessman.  Desperate and in fear of her life, she flees her home and stumbles onto Tom's land. Together their passions ignite and the need to rescue one another entangles them in a bitter fight for their lives.

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